STUDY THEME: VICTORY IN JESUS--NOW AND FOREVER 3-19-00 UNIT 2: THE WORLD'S DESTINY AND THE LORD'S VICTORY. "WHAT ABOUT THE ANTICHRIST?" REV. 13:1-14:13. PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO REVELATION 13. Last Sunday in Revelation 12 we were introduced to some of the participants in the end time scenario. We met the woman representing the nation of Israel, her child Jesus Christ and the dragon whom we know as Satan, the Devil, designated in Scripture as the deceiver, liar and murderer. Today in Ch. 13 we will be introduced to the other characters in the great end time drama. First, we will meet two different beasts. You understand these will be men whom John describes with symbolic language. One of the beasts comes up out of the sea. The other will come up out of the earth. So we now have an evil unholy trinity. As we have the holy trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; we will now see revealed the unholy trinity of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet who will serve as the public relations servant of the Antichrist. Please do not be disappointed that the name Antichrist is not found in Revelations 13. In fact, it is not found anywhere in the Book of Revelation. But then, neither is the word RAPTURE. The word Antichrist appears in the N.T. only in 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; and 2 John 7. In 1 John 2:18 John wrote to first-century believers: "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour." John used the word antichrist to refer to those who denied Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, and he used it as a title for the end-time figure, The Antichrist. Many people identify the "man of sin" or "man of lawlessness" described by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the Antichrist, who will come during the end time. But Paul also went on to write In Vs. 7 "The mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth alredy work." Based on these passages, there seems to have been godless leaders throughout history who called themselves antichrists, but there will be a future, end-time Antichrist. Although not all Bible students are willing to identify the Antichrist with the beast of Revelation 13:1-10, many do use that title. There was tremendous interest during the year 1999 about the possible return of Christ and the appearance of the Antichrist in the world. Some Christians were cautious however about people begging carried away but others were entirely skeptical and some even believed that the Antichrist is nothing but the figment of somebody's imagination. According to the N.T., especially in 1st & 2nd John and in the Book of Revelation, there is clearly an awesome evil person whom we can rightly call the Antichrist. Revelation 13 is one of a number of Bible passages that reveal the power of the devil. Jesus in John 12:31 called him "the prince of this world." Paul in 2 Cor. 4:4 called him "the god of this world." As we read of his seeming victories in Revelation, keep several things in mind: (1.) Satan is a created being. He had a beginning, and he will have an end. (2.) Satan operates only by permission of God. We see this in Job 1-2. We see it in the words in Rev. 13: 5-7 "given unto him." (3.) Satan is doomed, and so are those who follow him. He has been defeated, and he will finally be totally defeated. 1. PLEASE READ REVELATION 13: 1-4. In Ch. 12 we saw that Satan has limited power now as God through the Holy Spirit puts restraint upon his power. He will be restrained until in Ch. 4 the Church is raptured and Satan's power is increased. As long as the church is here, so is God's Holy Spirit calling men to God. Once these are removed God's restraint upon Satan shall be reduced and Satan will then have great power. By what means does Satan make war against the tribulation saints? (those saved during the tribulation period.) How does Satan attempt to control the world? Revelation 13 answers both these questions. Let's see how. In Rev. 13: 1 John sees a repulsive monster rise out of the sea. The sea in Revelation always represents the largest mass of people. In this context it would represent the Gentiles since they are the largest number of people. This tells us that the Antichrist will come from the Gentile people, not the Jewish. You may want to compare this sea beast or Antichrist of Vs. 1-2 with the sea beast of Daniel 7:2-7. This symbol of Satan's earthly power--the beast that rises from the sea--is a political power shaped in Satan's image. He is a grotesque composite of parts from a leopard, bear, and lion. He is described as a spotted leopard while Jesus is described as a lamb without spot or blemish. Daniel in Ch. 7 identified his four beasts as representative of four kingdoms--Babylonian, Median, Persian, and the Greek kingdoms--and the ten horns in Daniel 7:24 symbolized ten kings of the last kingdom.; that of Rome. John's sense of Daniel's vision is obvious, but he is creative. He made one beast out of the four, thereby attributing to the City built on 7 hills (Rome) the combined symbolism of the four. One mouth for seven heads is strange, but John is concerned with the symbol, not with artist's details. In Vs. 3, one of the heads was mortally wounded but its critical injury miraculously healed. This healing clearly approximates the resurrection of Christ from the dead. John writes in Vs. 3-4 "all the world marveled--and followed the beast, saying, ‘who is like unto the beast'? Who is able to make war with him?" This beast, the Antichrist, is given authority "over every tribe, tongue, and language. And all who dwell on earth will worship him." This wonder is one of several reasons for calling the beast the Antichrist. He mimics and opposes the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a superpower of immense might. It achieves at least a temporary control of the world. Satan uses this political power as the agent to stamp out and destroy the work of God's people. God allows this power to make war with the he saints and to overcome them. The beast's purpose becomes clear in Vs. 4. He is seeking nothing less than to popularize the worship of Satan, and he is successful. His worshipers appear to be all of mankind, but there is a limitation. Those whose names have been written in the Lamb's book of Life will never bend their knees to the beast. In Ch. 20 we will find there are two kinds of books at the Great White Throne Judgment. The Lamb's Book of Life and God's books of judtgment from which God will judge those not appearing in the Lamb's Book of life. 2. PLEASE READ REVELATION 13: 5-6 . The sovereign God will establish the limits within which the Antichrist will be allowed to speak and operate. God will allow him to utter blasphemies, to bring the rage of Satan to its culmination on earth for 31/2 years; the last half known as the Great Tribulation. This last half will be launched by the abomination of desolation's mentioned in Matt. 24: 15 when the Antichrist sets up an image of the beast in the temple as recorded in Rev. 13: 14-15. Although Satan and his Antichrist are riding high at this time, remember, it is God who was allowing it. James T. Draper Jr., wrote, "Anytime there is hostility or blasphemy in our hearts toward God, Satan is the originator. He is the source of all blasphemy. When we see the hostility of this world toward God today, we have a foretaste of the tribulation." Remember, the power and authority of the beast comes directly from the dragon, Satan, the devil. John knows the beast is limited because we can never forget that only God is Omnipotent. The beast suffers from three severe limitations. (1.) his work is destructive only. (2.) his days are numbered. (3.) he will never receive the worship of that congregation listed in the Lamb's Book of Life. The beast was given a mouth, but he can use it only in blasphemy. His great authority is limited Though he appears as a grotesque beast in John's vision, very likely the Antichrist will be a man who is energized by Satan's power. He will be handsome, personable, speaking of peace in one great world government. Possibly the most attractive man the world has ever seen. He will be the human embodiment of absolute evil; or as some say, he will be Satan in human form just as Jesus was God in human form. We should not be surprised at the success of the Antichrist. He will have superior powers of intellect and persuasion inspired by Satan and will be able to influence the whole world, except the true followers of Jesus Christ. Though as far as we know, this supreme manifestation of evil has not arisen and may not come soon, we should be on the alert for his appearance. We must not allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of false security. The N.T. teaches us to be watchful and vigilant. 3. PLEASE READ REVELATION 13: 7-18. The Antichrist is the beast in John's vision, and he will exercise such authority that the entire unbelieving of the world will worship him. His authority, of course, comes from the dragon who is Satan; but it appears from the text that the Antichrist's satanic work is under the control of God's permissive will. Only those true believers, whose names have been written in the Lamb's book of life, will refuse to worship the Antichrist. He was given power not only to make war against the Saints, but also to kill them Yet victory, not defeat, lies in believers future. The death of the saints, which the world considers a victory for the Antichrist, actually is a victory for Christ. More than 50 years ago a story that illustrated the truth of this passage came out of the dismal days of World War 2. During the time of the Nazi occupation of one of the smaller European countries a Lutheran pastor was proclaiming the truth of the Gospel from his pulpit in open defiance of the Nazi Occupational forces. The pastor refused to follow the propaganda line being dispensed by the Nazi commander. For several weeks the Nazi commander sternly warned the pastor, but he continued fearlessly to proclaim the truth of the Gospel. One day the commander of the German occupation forces confronted the pastor with an ultimatum. He said to the pastor, "If you do not stop your preaching in defiance of our orders, we will kill you." The pastor stood erect before the German officer and replied: "And then what will you do?" Death for faithful believers in the end time struggle will lead to ultimate victory for Christ. The Antichrist is, in effect, a counterfeit Christ. The world would not follow the true Christ of God, but it will follow the Antichrist. The unbelieving world will, in effect, believe a lie rather than the truth. Jesus offered and still offers eternal salvation, but the world turned a deaf ear to His message. However, it will hear and believe the blasphemous utterances of the counterfeit. They will bow before the Antichrist even though they refused to worship the Lamb of God that was slain from the creation of the world. In Vs. 11 another beast came not out of the sea of Gentile people, but will instead come out of the earth or smaller populace so he will be Jewish. He is called the false prophet and will be the public relations man for the Antichrist. This beast has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. That is to say, it is a kind of wolf in sheep's clothing. This beast pretends to be something it is not, both morally and spiritually. This beast represents religious power intimately associated with the first beast--a great military and political force. John writes in Vs. 13 of the second beast: "He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence." In Vs. 14 John writes that the second beast will perform great miracles and it "deceives those who dwell on the earth." God granted him power to give breath to the image of the Antichrist so he could actually speak and cause those who would not worship his image to be killed. This second beast, called the False Prophet in Rev. 16: 13 and 19:20 will require people to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and in Vs. 17 "No one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or name of the beast, or the number of his name." Individuals who refuse to serve the "beast" are not allowed to carry out the smallest economic transactions. What is the mark of the "beast"? It is a parody of he sealing in Ch. 7 of the servants of God. The mark serves to identify those who worship the beast. Now you and I as believers need not worry about this as we will already be in heaven awaiting the call of the Bridegroom to the great wedding feast. The nations will not be without a witness during this terrible time. In Rev., 7:4-8 you will remember God selected from the 12 tribes of Israel l2,000 from each tribe. They will wear their Heavenly Father's name written on their foreheads. These are the l44,000 Jews that go forth to witness of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Rev. 17:15 says multitudes will be saved during the Great Tribulation, even as Christ delays His return to earth. Jesus said in Matthew 24:22-23 "Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." Then if anyone says to you "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do not believe it." You and I won't have to seek after Christ when He comes. "Those who are dead will hear the shout and those alive will hear the trumpet blast and all shall rise to meet Him in the air and "so shall we ever be with our Lord." NEXT SUNDAYS LESSON FROM REV. 19 WILL FOCUS ON THE RETURN OF CHRIST TO CLAIM HIS PEOPLE, CONQUER THE WORLD AND CRUSH SATAN, THE ANTICHRIST AND THE FALSE PROPHET. PLEASE READ REVELATION CH. 14-19. A.V. DAUGHERTY 3-19-00. .