[0:00] So we'll be looking at Revelation chapter 13, reading the entire chapter. And the whole earth was amazed and fought after the beast.
[0:33] They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? And who is able to wage war with him? There was given to him a mouth, speaking arrogant words and blasphemies.
[0:44] And authority to act for 42 months was given to him. And he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God to blaspheme his name in his tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
[0:54] It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
[1:12] If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity to captivity, he goes. If anyone kills with a sword, with a sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
[1:24] Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
[1:39] He performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast, who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
[1:59] And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.
[2:15] And he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for the number is that of a man and his number is 666.
[2:32] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, we are so thankful that we have the opportunity to gather together as the people of God and read the word of God. We pray, Lord, as we have read it, Lord, now that you'd give us minds and hearts to understand it.
[2:46] And, Lord, as we understand its truths, Lord, that we would move beyond truth understanding. And, Lord, we would move to truth application. Lord, may that which we understand this morning be that which moves us to live for your glory and your honor for the rest of our life.
[3:02] Lord, continue to shape and mold us and conform us more and more to your image for your glory. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Revelation 13 continues the picture that John is writing for us, which he saw beginning in Revelation 12.
[3:18] If you remember, near the end of Revelation 11, the seventh trumpet was sounded. And with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the full wrath of God is poured out upon the remainder of the earth because the seventh trumpet contains within it the seven bowls of judgment.
[3:35] And unlike the opening of the seven seals of the scroll and the blasting of the seven trumpets, the seven bowls come very quickly. They come in very repetitive order. And it is really the full wrath of God for the sin and the rejection of man.
[3:49] And what we see here going on in the next few chapters, which follow Revelation 11, is a pause. John is stepped back. And he is not telling us what happened when that seventh trumpet sounded, but rather he is telling us the events that led up to the sounding of the seventh trumpet.
[4:06] Beginning in chapter 12, he speaks of the nation of Israel, which is referred to as a woman who was in labor pains and gave birth to a male child. That male child we know was the Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, who was called up to the throne of heaven.
[4:18] And the dragon, which pursued the woman, seeking to devour the child. And last week, we looked at this cosmic battle of redemption that throughout history, throughout mankind's existence, Satan has been battling, but Christ has been redeeming.
[4:33] And we've seen the work of Satan as he was seeking to stop the redemption of man, and yet he failed at that. And we saw, looking at last week, his continuation of that word.
[4:43] He continues to torture, and he continues to move on the face of the earth. Revelation 13 continues this picture. It introduces for us his ongoing activity.
[4:55] It introduces for us the things that he is currently doing and the things that he will do. If you remember, the book of Revelation is not a revelation of things to come, but revelation of Jesus Christ.
[5:06] It is a revelation of Jesus Christ in light of the things which are to come. So as we look at the events recorded for us in Revelation 13, let us not get so enamored or enraptured about who, what, and when, and where, but rather let us see Jesus Christ in his activity.
[5:24] Let us see who is on the throne, who is in the rightful position of authority, and let us see exactly what it is that is going on here. Revelation 13 is John stopping and looking back at the events that have happened from Revelation 4 and following and telling us of the culmination of these events.
[5:44] One thing that we need to understand as we look at Revelation 13, if we had to title it, we would title it, The Destructive Work of the Dragon. The Destructive Work of the Dragon.
[5:56] The Dragon in the book of Revelation is a reference to Satan himself. It is a reference to the prince of the air. It is a revelation of he who was cast out of heaven and led with him a third of the host of heaven, referred to as the stars of heaven in Revelation 12.
[6:13] And here we see the culmination of that work in his destructive labor, much as is the case in many things in history, and much as is the case in many different sporting events.
[6:26] What goes on at the end of the age is not something new. Rather, it is the final push of the battle that is already raging. What goes on in Revelation 13 is not a completely new event.
[6:43] And that is important for us to understand. It is the final push of Satan in an attempt to thwart the purpose of God. He lost the battle at the cross.
[6:54] There is this great transition in Scripture. When man decided to fall in the Garden of Eden, and by the way, it was a decision, and it was a decision by man, you say, well, Eve took of the fruit, right?
[7:06] But man was standing beside her. Adam was right beside her, and let Eve take of the fruit. So husbands and men, stay with me on this. It wasn't the woman's fault. It was the man being quiet and allowing her to do it because man was given the responsibility to lead.
[7:21] So he surrendered his leadership and allowed her to be deceived. That's his fault. That's why it says that through Adam, all men fell.
[7:32] And so we see here that when man fell, he did something amazing. He gave authority and power to Satan in the realm in which he was supposed to lead, and he was supposed to rule, that is, the earth.
[7:44] And from that point on, we see Satan having authority, and the word for authority is that he has absolute authority. He has absolute control. But at the cross, Satan was defeated.
[7:57] And at the cross, Satan lost his absolute authority because he lost the greatest battle he ever fought. And after the cross, the only people who are assigned absolute authority are the believers who have the authority to proclaim the gospel.
[8:13] We have the absolute authority to proclaim the gospel. The power of Satan after the cross is a very specific word in the Greek language, and it means to have a borrowed or an assigned authority, which means he can only do that which he is told he can do.
[8:30] You all of a sudden go back to the book of Job and see Satan as he is standing before the throne of God, and God allows him to go back and forth, and Satan is only giving the power to do what he is told he can do.
[8:42] So when we read the book of Revelation and we begin to see the work and the power of Satan, let us never be overwhelmed, but rather let us be understanding. But yet Revelation 13 has for us the destructive work of the dragon.
[8:58] In Revelation 13, we are introduced to what is often called the false trinity. We have the dragon, which is Satan, attempting to ascend to the throne of God. And he eventually, especially in this chapter, establishes his throne on the earth and is worshiped as God.
[9:13] We have the antichrist or the anti-messiah, that is the beast that comes out of the sea. He is the one that is an impersonator of Christ, and he mimics and impersonates Christ. He is the false messiah.
[9:24] And then we have the false spirit, the Holy Spirit, who comes to empower men to worship. We see in Revelation 13 as the second beast of the earth who leads men to a false worship.
[9:35] So we are introduced to the unholy trinity versus the holy trinity in Revelation 13. But what we see in this destructive work of the dragon is really the work and the mannerisms of our enemy throughout the ages.
[9:53] Because the things that we see being detailed for us in Revelation 13 are events that we have seen taking place. As a matter of fact, I told you much harm has been done throughout the ages because a number of people have sought to determine who exactly is the antichrist.
[10:10] And I'm sure many of you have heard this person labeled as the antichrist, this person labeled as the antichrist. I mean, we go from Stalin to Hitler to John F. Kennedy to a number of other people, Ronald Reagan, all these people have been labeled as the antichrist.
[10:24] And every one of them have been falsely labeled as the antichrist. Because there is this transition here that when these things happen, the church is already gone.
[10:35] And I want to show you this now because I will miss it later, okay? I told you that this is not an event that happens to the church. Because there's this phrase in there, he who has an ear, let him hear. I hope that you heard that.
[10:46] We'll read it again in just a minute. I just got to put this in here now because I know I'll miss it in a minute. Every other passage in the New Testament that has that phrase says, he who has an ear, let him hear. And it has this phrase that repeats that, what the Spirit says to the churches.
[11:00] Right? You read that through the book of Acts. You read that through the letters of Paul. You read that what Christ, when Christ said, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. When we get to Revelation 13, it just says, he who has an ear, let him hear.
[11:11] Why? Because the Spirit's no longer speaking to the church because the church is in the presence of the Father. The church is no longer on the earth, so he's not speaking here explicitly to the church.
[11:22] But what we see here is the mannerisms of Satan and the work that he is currently doing and he will do at the end as a final push. So let us not read this as a telling of future events only, but let us read this as a preparation for our daily battle also.
[11:41] Because we are in a battle and our battle is with the dragon, who is, by the way, very much at this present time in the business of his destructive work.
[11:54] He is destroying and he is tearing apart. He is manipulating and he is moving. And it would behoove us to be prepared for that. Number one, we see his decided method. Satan has a way in which he works and he works the same way every time.
[12:08] He is very calculated in his work. He is very calculated in how he works. He's very intentional in the manner in which he works. And this is what has led us to the numbering of people being referred to as the Antichrist found in Revelation 13.
[12:21] By the way, we need to settle this matter right now. And I'm throwing a lot of information at you and that's okay, right? Because you can handle it. Because you gave me extra time this morning. So it means you wanted extra information. I appreciate that.
[12:32] Really, from a pastor's heart to your heart, thank you so much for giving me all this extra time. Because you need to understand that throughout history, there is not just one Antichrist. Peter himself says, I tell you at this time, there have been many Antichrists.
[12:46] John writes for the fact that there are many Antichrists who have come out from us. To be Antichrist literally means just to oppose Christ. That would be false representations of the Messiah.
[12:59] A number of people throughout history have risen to the status where they claim to be a Savior or a Messiah or a Redeemer of man and yet have failed at that. Which shows us the reality that Satan has a manner in which he operates.
[13:13] He has a manner in which he works. And it would really be wise of us to understand the decided method which Satan has determined to use.
[13:23] And we see him using it as a final push here at Revelation 13, which ensures us that he is using it in an ongoing way today. Number one, in this decided method, he always uses the agency of man.
[13:38] Understand this, Satan always uses the agency of man. It says, and the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. This is a reality.
[13:49] We need to understand this, okay? Because John is referencing us here to the fact that, and I'm so sorry guys, I know I've been distracted and I have to stop right here and I know I'm on YouTube Live and that's okay. I've asked a long time ago for that back door to be open so that I can see when someone comes in.
[14:03] Someone's come in and been standing in that vestibule the whole time I've been preaching. So while all of you have been looking at me, I did not mean to be looking behind you, but I was completely distracted and I kind of have that squirrel mentality, okay?
[14:14] So my apologies to you. Some of you are all like, if I ever thought you were in danger, I would have said something, okay? Don't worry. I was just trying to figure out what was going on. One of the things that you find completely side note, completely squirrel, as a pastor, is there are a lot of times you only see things, you're the only person that sees anything, okay?
[14:34] And it really messes with you because I see it when you fall asleep when nobody else does. I see it when you're looking away when nobody else does. I see it when you're writing and drawing cool pictures when nobody else does. And I see it when someone else comes in the room when nobody else does, okay?
[14:46] So I do have squirrel tendency, but we'll work that out. I used to, and I need to do this again, it used to be that I had a group of men that knew that if I saw someone come in, I could look at you the right way and somebody would just get up and handle it.
[15:00] I need to do that again just because there was no danger there. I just didn't know what was going on. So my apologies to you. Let's get back to Revelation 13 because I know Brother Ronnie slid out that way, so I'm sure he's going to take care of it.
[15:14] Again, thank you guys. I saw a lot of you looking too, but I got it under control now, okay? We'll go back to Revelation 13. Complete side note, Lord.
[15:24] I'm so sorry for that. We're looking at the method, the decided method of Satan. It says here that he stood upon the sand of the seashore. In Scripture, the sand of the seashore is always a reference to the mass of humanity.
[15:39] So one thing we see about the work, the destructive work of Satan is he does his work among men. He stands among men. He has been cast to the earth.
[15:51] Right now we live in a realm where he has access to heaven. We don't completely understand it, but we accept it by faith that he moves back and forth between heaven and earth. He goes into the presence of God.
[16:01] He operates in the realm of the heavenlies, and he also has work on the earth. We know that there's coming a great day, Revelation 12, this great battle where he will be cast forever out of heaven and will be cast to the earth, so then he will be limited to the earth.
[16:16] And that's what John is referencing here in verse 13, in chapter 13. After that great battle, then he is forever settled upon the sand of the seashore that is on the earth.
[16:27] But let us not think that that is just a future event because he has still laid his claim to the earth. One thing that amazes me in scripture is that when Jesus was tempted for the 40 days, remember that?
[16:38] When he went to the wilderness temptation, Satan tempted him with this. All of these, he offered him the kingdoms of the earth. Remember that? He showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and said, all of these have been given to me, and I will give them to you if you will worship me.
[16:52] And Jesus says, man shall not worship anyone but God. You know, man should worship God alone. And Jesus refused to accept the kingdoms of the earth from the hand of Satan. But he did not deny that the kingdoms of the earth had been given to Satan because man forfeited the kingdom of the earth to Satan.
[17:10] Therefore, it is his, it is his world of operations. But what we see is now he is standing on the earth. He is standing on the sand of the seashore. And he says, and then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.
[17:21] This is the antichrist. This is the beast. He said, I saw this beast coming up out of the sea. And we read what many people refer to as the genealogy of the beast or the family lineage of the beast, that he is empowered by Satan, that he is moved by Satan, that he is filled with Satan.
[17:36] But what we need to understand is that this is not the first mentioning of the beast in the Bible. As a matter of fact, Daniel speaks very much of this beast. You can go read Daniel chapter 7 through 11.
[17:49] And Daniel receives a series of visions and then a series of interpretations that speak to this very time. As a matter of fact, Daniel even refers to a time and times and half the time.
[17:59] In the book of Revelation, it refers to 42 months. By the way, both of those are references to three and a half years. The Bible, surprise, surprise, says the same thing over and over again. The Bible is not a series or a collection of a bunch of stories.
[18:12] The Bible is one story. And it is a story of God's work among men and his redemption of man, right? So we see this repetition throughout the Bible. And what we see is Daniel seeing the same thing that John is seeing here.
[18:26] And it is this beast who rises up out of man who is empowered by the dragon, which is Satan. And he has this great work. One thing we need to understand is that Satan's decided method or his decided way of operation is he always works through man.
[18:44] He empowers man, he moves men, he uses men, and he utilizes men. He will always work through mankind. Why? Because he is spirit.
[18:56] That means he has no body. He has nothing which we can see, but he can move and empower and even embolden individuals. This is why Paul would say we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of the air and the spiritual forces of darkness because the opposition to the believer is not the other people.
[19:19] We need to understand this. Friend, listen to me. The people opposing you is really not the people. This is what Paul says in the armor of God. Did you ever notice in the armor of God that when Paul is laying out for us there in the armor of God, he never once tells you that a piece of your armor is so you can go beat your brother or sister up.
[19:40] It says so that you can quench the fiery darts of Satan. And the only thing that you have that's a shield of faith and the only thing that you have for the offensive is the sword of the Lord which is the word of God.
[19:53] Now sometimes I can say that if you quote scripture to me it will beat me up. It will hit me harder than your fist ever could because it goes further. It divides even to the joints and the marrow, right?
[20:03] It goes into the bones and it gets to me places where your fist can't. But we understand that our battle is a spiritual battle. Why? Because Satan always, always friend, mark it down even in the last push he always uses men to fight his battles.
[20:22] That is good for us to know on this side and it's also good for us to know on the other side be sure we're not the man that Satan is using. Not every spirit that comes to us is a good spirit.
[20:34] Not everything that leads us is a wise... This is why I caution people to be very careful about the things we put in front of us. And I know some people think that I'm a little nuts on this and I know I've said this before but this is why I'm always so cautious of be careful what you read be careful what you listen to be careful what you watch be careful what you play be careful all of these things be careful about why?
[20:55] Because Satan wants to use people. He will not be able to do everything he's not omnipotent he's not omniscient he's not all powerful he cannot be everywhere at one time but he can find somebody anywhere.
[21:10] And we need to be careful who we are presenting our body a tool to use. That is a word of caution as an individual that is also a word of preparation for the believer. We need to know that his decided method is to always use man.
[21:22] Number two we also see that his decided method is to always work through might. This is why we have this claim of so many antichrists throughout the ages that he empowers his people to rise to a place of prominence.
[21:35] He empowers this beast to be a world leader a world ruler. Many biblical scholars rightly say that in a time of such chaos as described for us in the book of Revelation in a time where even the cosmos are being darkened a third of the host of heaven is darkened and the seas are cast up you remember everything that's got us to this point all it will take is one charismatic leader to stand up and seem to have all of the right answers and all of the world will follow him.
[22:01] And that's exactly what Satan finds in this beast that comes up out of the sea. He empowers this man and he leads him to a place of might. He gives him his authority he gives him his throne he gives him his reign he gives him his rule and it says that all of the people of every tribe tongue and nation will follow him.
[22:21] You say is this even possible? History has shown us it is exactly possible. We do not have to dig very far back in history to see that it is possible when men being moved by Satan we can say seize the opportunity of turmoil and uncertainty and rose to heights of power.
[22:41] We do not have to stretch our imagination as a matter of fact all we have to do is read our history books that when the opportunity is right and the man has enough charisma I don't care how foolish it may seem right now in the moment they can ascend to a great place of power and can control the multitudes through a simple act Satan always has his man Satan always fills him with might and we see also in his decided method he always uses manipulation.
[23:11] John writes for us here this thing that we see of the heads and you say what do all the heads and the diadems and the horns mean? These ten horns and all these heads literally means the seven heads means he is one of great authority great power the ten horns are probably ten kingdoms the coming together the united kingdoms coming back I don't mean the united kingdom right just a uniting of ten kingdoms and as Daniel would say for us one horn rises above the other because he misplaces three of them and then there's the blasphemous names because world history has taught us that leaders who ascend to great places of authority normally refer to themselves by blasphemous names by the way remember that's what got the early church in trouble right because they would not proclaim that Caesar is God and they would not fall down and worship the image of Caesar therefore many of them died so that's blasphemous right so many world rulers being led by the prince of the air who is being led by Satan that is the dragon that tend to write blasphemous names across themselves and it is the same battle being fought over and over and over again and then they work by manipulation because John says
[24:16] I saw one of the heads as if it had been slain he does not say it was slain the wording in the new American standard is as if it had been slain and it came back to life now Satan is a deceiver he comes to lie steal kill and destroy and all these things but he is also a deceiver right I don't know if this individual actually dies but all I know is that he sure made it look like he did and then he brought him back to life this is manipulation all he is doing is mimicking by the way the word there the wording is exactly the same wording in scripture used to reference to death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ Satan comes to mimic and copy he just copies that's all he can do this is why you have to be very very careful Satan does not come to you with a new theology he does not come to you with new beliefs and he does not come to you with new practices he comes to you with a theology that's been tweaked just a little bit something that's been manipulated just a little bit something that is so close to the truth it looks as if it can be a truth and in a time in history when everyone is dying and everything is going crazy and a third of mankind has already passed away all of a sudden it looks as if this person dies and comes back to life therefore he has the power over death hell and the grave and all of the world begins to follow him that's manipulation that's why we need to be very very careful in what we follow
[25:35] Satan works through men he always leads them to a place of might and he manipulates people to follow him this is Satan's decided method of work number two we need to see this deception of man it amazes me that mankind with all of his wisdom with all of his understanding and all of his scientific discoveries can still be deceived that man can fall prey to such trying things we look back on history and we say how in the world could man ever fall trapped to that it really doesn't matter what point in history you're looking back but you can ask yourself how in the world could anyone ever think that was a good idea and what we see and we need to be careful this is why we find in scripture it says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling do not look at others but look at yourself and Paul says that I want to look at my own life first I want to examine my own self first and make sure that I am not falling in the gospel it is very very easy for man to be deceived we see the deception of man because man looking on at an opportune time sees one who seems to have the power over death who seems to have the power of resurrection and they begin to follow him and it says in verse 4 and they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast saying who is like the beast who is able to wage war with him this is probably the same time that the two witnesses by the way are slain because they lay open in the scene for three days remember that the slaying of the two witnesses because he is the one who waged war with the witnesses and there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and authority to act for 42 months three and a half years and was given to him and he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle that is those who dwell in heaven and it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him we see here that men are led away by deception the first way men are deceived is by the word of the beast we would have to go to the book of Daniel we do not have time to go there
[27:44] Daniel chapter 7 refers to the beast making a covenant with the people of God for a week that would be seven years and in the midpoint of that week that is three and a half years he breaks that covenant man is often deceived by word think of all the cults that you have heard of think of all the false prophets that you have heard of think of all the people who have seemed to get them in trouble what they always do is they are deceived by word someone find you at the right time in your life and tell you the right things the things you want to hear and make the promises that you long to hear and all of a sudden you begin to follow them and you are deceived by their word this is why I want you to be very careful and I encourage you not only to read your Bible daily but never take my word for granted word is a powerful thing you know the words you say are very powerful they are very powerful not only do they have the power to wound they have the power to heal they have the power to build up they have the power to tear down they have the power to be misled and I love the fact that God has gifted us with the ability to speak and I love the fact that he has gifted us with the ability to edify one another and to encourage one another but friend listen to me do not take any man's word for granted do not take any man's word for absolute always test the word in the very word of God this is why I love to hear the sound of Bibles opening up so that it is not just my thoughts or my opinions because man is often deceived by word they are secondly deceived by the beast work he is the one who is leading he is the one who is empowered he is the one who seems to be slain and yet he has risen life and then we meet the second beast at the end of Revelation 13 just so you see the consistency here it says in verse 11 then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed how does he make them do it look at his work he performs great signs so that even he even makes fire come down out of heaven to earth in the presence of men and he deceives those who dwell in the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast just because something looks miraculous doesn't mean it's worth following these signs that were given by the way it is just a mimicking of Elijah and it's a mimicking of the Holy Spirit and the final way that men are deceived is in worship do you understand that there is a community of people now gathered together and you have to forgive me because I really can't remember the name of the community it's not really a community it is a group of individuals who represent a worldwide worldwide group of people it's about 300 individuals if I remember correctly who are gathered together in an attempt to establish world peace and the agreement among them is that we will not have world peace unless we have world peace among religions so their claim is that if we can get everyone to really believe that all roads lead to the same place that we're all on the same mountain going up various hills and that we will all get there eventually and we will begin to tell people that you no longer need to proselytize or evangelize or attempt to convert anyone just leave everyone else alone and if we have peace among religion we will have peace among people and we say well that seems very off and it is but in the last days this second beast by the way who came of the earth will be that one who unites all the world in one religion and they will all worship one thing and that is the image of the beast but friend
[31:34] I want to tell you that when all the world worships one thing in the same way and you have united worldwide worship what you do not have is peace because it's three and a half years of what we reference as the great tribulation but it is a false belief to think that if we all worship the same and if we all look the same and if we all act the same then everything will be okay and Satan doesn't oppose religion as a matter of fact Satan loves religion he just wants to be the head of that religion right he wants to be worshipped he longs to be worshipped he wanted the throne of heaven and he will eventually have his throne on earth he will be worshipped as we see here in Revelation 13 he does not oppose religion and many things that I believe are empowered by Satan are that which try to convince us that we do not need to be so narrow minded or so bigoted in our thought process but friend I want to tell you something that when you open up scripture one thing you find is that the Bible is very narrow it says that there is only one way that goes to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ there is only one door there is only one way one truth one life there is only one person in which you can go before the Father there is only one way to be saved that is through the name of Jesus Christ there are not many ways to be saved there are not many ways to get to heaven there are not many ways to be accepted in the presence of God there is but one and we will boldly proclaim that as long as we have opportunity because the Bible is very narrow now that narrow truth seems to have a broad application that does not mean that we all have to worship in the same way some of us can raise a hand and feel free to do it some of us lo behold may raise both hands and jump around and feel free to do it and some of you may be a little offended by that but if we are worshiping the same person the same one then it is ok it is the worshiping or the playing out of that narrow truth in which we have freedom but we do not have freedom in that truth it is a very narrow way but Satan often deceives man in saying that all worship as long as someone is sincere they have to be right do you know that it is absolutely possible to be sincerely wrong to be sincerely wrong how many of you have ever tried to remove a reverse threaded nut or bolt every now and then you get some of those weird things that are reverse threaded and you'll tug and you'll pull and you'll crank and you'll get mad and you know
[33:54] I've done that you don't get them very often but I mean I've even put those cheater bars on my end of my ridge I mean pulling on that thing then all of my reality realized that all I was doing was tightening it up I was never loosening it I was sincere I mean all of my effort was there all of my I was putting forth my best effort I was doing what I thought was right but I was completely wrong and I needed someone to tell me I was wrong because most times the only way I find out is when I break it off and then you're really wrong right and then you're in trouble friend listen to me you know people who are sincere in what they believe and they are sincere in what they worship and if they're sincerely wrong then you are doing them a disservice by not letting them know in a loving way it is a lie of Satan to tell you to leave people alone as long as they're worshiping they're okay I'm so glad someone challenged me and I'm so glad someone moved me and I'm so glad someone told me the truth it is the deception of man third and finally we need to see the decision our decision to make
[34:56] Revelation 13 records for us here that man has to make a decision and I know I'm not getting everything out of Revelation 13 that we could and I'm leaving a little bit here but we may come back to it another time and if the Lord allows us to we'll come back to it and see the things that are there but I want you to see the decision we must make first of all we must make a decision as to where our place of residence will be one thing you find in Revelation 13 those who are led away those who worship the beast those who receive the mark on the forehead or on the right hand all are referred to as those who dwell on the earth throughout the book of Revelation those who dwell on the earth are a reference or is a wording for the man who has rejected God and is therefore lost so therefore we need to make a decision will we be the people of the earth or will we be people of a kingdom to come that is a decision that we have the freedom to make now that where will our residence be will we really be those who dwell on the earth does not mean that we do not have the right to enjoy what God has provided for us it does not mean that we have to denounce every worldly possession that we own unless the Lord leads us to do that that just means that we are not residents of the earth but rather we are residents of the kingdom to come and we need to make our mind and make our choice about where we will be referenced to because those who dwell on the earth have a major problem it says in verse 8 all who dwell on the earth will worship him that is the beast and everyone whose name here he is was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who has been slain if anyone has an ear let him hear if anyone is destined for captivity to captivity he goes if anyone kills with a sword with a sword he must be killed here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints we not only have to determine where our residence will be we need to rest in the reassurance we are offered friend listen if our name has been recorded in the book if we are no longer residents of the earth we have by faith accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior here is one of these great mysteries in scripture that we try not to define but we always strive not to deny here is the reality that we must accept by faith whether or not we can understand it but the reality is is that more than once the Bible references here if you have accepted
[37:06] Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior here is the glorious truth here is something that is so astounding that men try to deny it or men try to theorize it or men try to talk it away but rather we need to accept it here it is if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior your name has been written in the Lamb's book of life since before the foundation of the world that means before he said let there be light before he created the heavens and the earth he wrote your name down in his book it was pre-recorded it was pre-written does that mean that God knew yes does that mean that God had already knew who was going to be saved and who wasn't yes can we understand it no so don't try to right just accept it by faith but the reality is it says your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world which means it has been eternally recorded it is eternally secure and not only is it in a book written down look whose book it is it is the Lamb's book it is the one who holds the scroll in his hand it is the one who is beside the throne of the Father and it is the Lamb that was slain so not only does he own it by creative work he owns it by redemptive work it is a place of eternal security friend listen to me if you are no longer a residence of earth but you are a residence of the kingdom to come understand this find reassurance in this you cannot be more secure than you are right now it doesn't matter how many times
[38:23] Satan attacks you it doesn't matter how much comes to you because he who is destined to captivity to captivity he must go he who kills with the sword with the sword he must be killed here is the perseverance and the endurance of the saints it doesn't matter did you notice here recorded in Revelation 13 Daniel also records I believe it is in Daniel 10 that the beast is given the authority and the power to overcome the saints of God and he would only do it Daniel says for a time there is a season there is an opportunity friends listen to me we understand this Satan has his people Satan does his work and he does it in a mighty way and sometimes in that mighty work people of God die but here is the reality that does not mean they are not secure their name is written it is eternally secure it is already there it is already sealed it is there those who have not yet believed his name already written there it is the reassurance that no matter what Satan does to me I am secure and that is a decision that we must make we also understand the decision we must make sometimes will include an act of resistance we get to this often discussed page or passage of scripture in verse 15 and it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast that is the false spirit was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed kind of harks back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar right you do not worship the beast you are going to be cast into the fiery furnace well for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that didn't matter but in this last time same thing if you don't worship the beast you will be killed and he causes all the small and the great the rich and the poor and the free man and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads
[40:04] I don't know what that mark is and neither do you but he says and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell except the one who has a mark either the name of the beast or the number of his name so it says right here what it is right but we don't know exactly what it is because we don't know his name and we don't know the number of his name and hear his wisdom let him who has an understanding calculate the number of the beast for the number is that of a man and number 666 now we can go into all the splitting of frog hairs you want to trying to determine what the 666 is but probably one of the best explanations for this text that I've ever heard is that 6 is a representation of man and this is a man that is completely man because the repetition of anything in scripture three times means it is settled that is when scripture says that God is holy holy holy thrice holy he is completely absolutely holy and when it says it is 666 that means he is absolutely man 6 is the number of man he was created on the 6th day of creation 6 days he shall labor he is the number 6 but one thing you know in scripture what is the number for perfection in scripture the number for perfection in scripture is 7 so man is a 6 he is not a 7 he is close he is a culmination of creation but he is not perfect he is close but he is not quite and I don't know about you
[41:12] I don't want to be close to perfection I want to be perfect and Paul says it is not yet what I am it is not yet I am not yet what I should be but I press on towards that which I will be there will be a day praise be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior I will be a 7 because as he is so shall I be but those who are content to be a 6 they are the dwellers on this earth and they live among men and you may be great among men but the greatest among men is only a 6 it is never a 7 and sometimes we need to resist the desire within us to be the greatest and to be a part of the greatest and sometimes we need to be the humbled servant who is willing to wait on perfection I know I mention his name a lot but it is probably one of the greatest examples we see throughout history but Diedrich Bonhoeffer did this very thing Bonhoeffer lived in a time much like we see recorded for us in Revelation 13 where Satan had his man in Adolf Hitler he used his time frame of the really downtrodden time of the German Empire following World War I to rise to power and to go through the ranks to excite the people to lead the nation to go into territories that they were forbidden to go into and to start what we call the Nazi regime and much like in Revelation 13 the man of the beast is also pictured as the nation of the beast so is Adolf Hitler in the Nazi regime when you think of Nazis you think of Hitler when you think of Hitler you think of the Nazi regime
[42:40] Satan had his man and he rose to power and the people of God suffered a number of them if you read the history books a number of the people of God were led astray many of them wholeheartedly embraced the Nazi thought process and many of them would even follow the Nazi thought process some of the greatest atrocities is that right on the other side of the tree line from some churches who claim to be preaching the Bible right on the other side of the tree line were concentration camps where millions of people were suffering and dying they didn't even know it that as the church bells rung the trains went by and these trains were full of people who were going to be executed and so many atrocities going on and the people of God were deceived but there was that remnant who chose to be true to the word of God and it came to a place of resistance Bonhoeffer was a part of that he was a man who was a family of very high intellect he also had high position he was a pastor and leaving his church behind because he could no longer do what the church was ordered to do under the Nazi powers he could no longer teach and preach those things so he began to disciple young men and he traveled back and forth to America he went into other nations as a matter of fact in one of his trips to America the American believers tried to persuade him to stay here in a place of safety so that they could guard him and his life would be secure but he had made this determined effort he had decided that God was calling him to resist evil and a part of that resistance is he became a part of a pact that sought to execute
[44:11] Adolf Hitler so he went back to Germany as a pastor he said is that absolutely accurate well yes sometimes you have to oppose evil right and he had the full conviction that God was leading him to be a part of the assassination plot and he went back and began to put in place all these things to try to remove evil from the world and that plot got found out he got in trouble got sent to camp all we know is that we don't know a whole lot about his last days but we do know that one of the last decrees that Hitler ordered was the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and we also know that two days before he was killed he preached an Easter sunrise service at the camp he was located at the concentration camp that he served he was faithful to the end but he also knew that part of that faithfulness was he would resist evil friend listen to me God calls his people sometimes to unspeakable suffering and sometimes that comes because of their empowered resistance there is some evil we need to resist for the sake of the kingdom because we don't belong here and it may cost us and it may be uncomfortable and it may be trying but we need to understand the destructive work of the dragon is not just an event that will happen in the last days it is something that is already going on today he always uses men he always seeks to deceive the multitudes and all it takes is for us to make a decision which side will we stand on
[45:38] I don't know where you're at today all I know is that scripture clearly calls us that we must make a decision as to whose side we will be on my hope and my prayer much like Joshua said as for me and my family as for me and my house we will serve the Lord and that's a decision that has to be made by every individual let us pray Lord we thank you so much for all you've given us thank you for the opportunity you've provided for us to come and worship you Lord we pray that our hearts and our minds will be focused upon you Lord in all things be glorified in our life Lord use us as you see fit in the time you put us in we ask it in Jesus name Amen so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say so come and say
[47:02] Thank you.
[47:32] Thank you.
[48:02] Thank you.
[48:32] Thank you.
[49:02] Thank you.