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you Now in Revelation 13 we read about the rise of the Antichrist to power, but before we get into chapter 13, jump back to chapter 12 verse 17 quickly. The Bible reads, and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So we need to have that in mind going into chapter 13, that this is about the dragon or the devil or Satan going out to make war with the remnant of the woman's seed, and then notice the last two phrases there, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So who's he going after here? Believers. The people who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who keep the commandments of God. Now look at chapter 13 verse 1, it says, I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. So in these first two verses we hear about this beast, seven heads, ten horns, and then it's compared unto these animals, a leopard, a bear, a lion. Now go back to Daniel chapter 7 and if you go back to Daniel chapter 7 we're going to see some very strong similarities between Daniel chapter 7 and Revelation 13 to help us identify the identity of who this beast is and what it means when God says that this beast rose up out of the sea and had seven heads and ten horns. Who is this? Well go back to the book of Daniel chapter 7 and it becomes quite apparent who this is. Now we're going to start reading in verse number 2, Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea and four great beasts came up from the sea, exactly like we saw in Revelation 13, except these are four separate beasts. It says that they were diverse one from another, verse 4, the first was like a lion and had eagle's wings, I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet as a man and a man's heart was given to it and behold another beast, a second like to a bear. So is this sounding familiar? The first one was like a lion, the second one is a bear and it raised up itself on one side and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it and they said thus unto it, arise devour much flesh, after this I beheld and lo another like a leopard, again the same animal mentioned in Revelation 13, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl, the beast had also four heads and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions I beheld a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly and it had great iron teeth, it devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it and it had ten horns. Now before we go on further in this passage, in the book of Daniel you'll see some of the same prophecies being repeated over and over again and one of the common themes in the book of Daniel is that he's often seeing a vision of these four kingdoms that are going to come and this is no different. These four beasts represent four kingdoms. If you go back to chapter two, if you would, to the famous passage where Nebuchadnezzar has the dream and this is the one where Nebuchadnezzar forgets the dream and he wants the astrologers and the magicians and the soothsayers to tell him both the dream and the interpretation, of course they can't do it, Daniel and his three friends come and Daniel is able to interpret the dream, he's able to tell him you had a dream of this giant image or statue and if you remember the head was of gold, the body was of salt, let's go ahead and read the interpretation of that dream of the giant image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, look at verse 36 of chapter two. This is the dream and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength and glory, and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath thee given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all, thou art this head of gold. So we see that this statue that's basically in four parts, gold, silver, bronze, and iron, the first part, the gold head, is Nebuchadnezzar, it is the Babylonian empire. It says in verse 39, and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee. Now this is important, I want to point out the fact that he's referring to that gold head as both being the kingdom and him personally, because he says another kingdom is going to arise inferior to thee, speaking specifically to Nebuchadnezzar. So what I want you to see is that these beasts represent both a kingdom and a king. They represent both, okay? Because a lot of people will argue about this saying, well, you know, the beast in Revelation 13 is a man, the antichrist, and then someone else will come along and say, no, no, no, the beast in Revelation 13, it's a system, you know, it's a government. Here's the thing, it's both. It's a kingdom and a king, and we see that clearly in Revelation 2 here. It says after thee, verse 39, shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise, and whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, for as much as thou sawest the iron mixed with myreek clay. Look at verse 44, and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. So what do we see in chapter 2 here? Four kingdoms prophesied, worldwide powerful kingdoms, followed by a kingdom that God sets up, not man, and that kingdom it says will never be destroyed. Well if we study the book of Daniel, we study the Bible, we know that the first kingdom is Babylon, that's Nebuchadnezzar, right? The second kingdom, represented by this part of the body right here, is the Medo-Persian empire that came and took power after the Babylonians. Okay then after the Medo-Persian empire was the Greek empire, and then after the Greek empire was the one that was mentioned as being as strong as iron, which is the Roman empire. And the Roman empire was pictured by the feet of the statue, and the feet have ten toes. Back in Daniel chapter 7, we see the same thing, we see four kingdoms, and the fourth one has ten horns, so you see the ten horns correspond to the ten toes, and it's the same four kingdoms being lined out in Daniel 7 as what we saw in Daniel chapter 2. Look more closely if you would at verse 4 of Daniel 7, because this would be the one representing Nebuchadnezzar. The first was like a lion. Now first of all, the lion is the strongest among beasts, it's the king of the jungle. The Bible tells us that it is the greatest animal in that way, and of course Nebuchadnezzar was the supreme king of the four kingdoms, and it says that the first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. Look, this is discussing the story about what happened in Daniel chapter number 4, where Nebuchadnezzar, if you remember, his wings were plucked as it were. His sanity was removed from him, and he was driven among the beasts of the field. He ate grass like an ox, he lost his mind. He ate grass like an ox, and the fingernails of his hands grew like claws, and his hair became as bird feathers, and then eventually a man's heart was given unto him once again. He was lifted back up onto his two feet, and that's described here in verse 4, proving that Daniel 7 is talking about the same four kingdoms that are talked about over and over again in the book of Daniel. Okay, why is that important? Well, let's keep reading in Daniel chapter 7. After this I saw in the night visions a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. It had great iron teeth, it devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Okay, I want you to notice that phrase, a mouth speaking great things. Go down if you would to verse number 17. It says these great beasts, which are four, are four kings. So first of all, we know that they're four kingdoms, here it says they're four kings, it's both. And it says, but the saints of the most high, verse 18, shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Jump down if you would to verse 21, it says, I beheld and the same horn, remember this is the horn that spoke great things, I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom, thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be divers from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it into pieces, and ten horns out of this kingdom, or ten kings. And on and on, you say, Pastor Anderson, I'm totally lost, what are we talking about here? Okay, these four kingdoms preceded the first coming of Jesus Christ. Okay, you had the Babylonian Empire, then the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and then the Roman Empire, these universal kingdoms where they took over everything, you know, all of the civilized world at that time. Christ came the first time during the Roman Empire, during that fourth kingdom. But you see, at the second coming of Christ, the Bible talks about another worldwide kingdom, okay, and that's what we see in Revelation 13, and if you look at Revelation 13, it uses those same animals to represent it, because basically this beast of Revelation 13 represents a worldwide kingdom, just like was being prophesied back in Daniel chapter number 7. And this worldwide kingdom is like a repeat of the Roman Empire. Jesus Christ came the first time while the Roman Empire was in rule. This new world empire that we see in Revelation 13 is likened unto the Roman Empire. It's similar to the Roman Empire in many ways, in the sense that it is going to be as strong as iron, it's going to crush all opposition, and it's going to devour the whole earth or take over the entire world. Go back if you would to Revelation 13 now with that knowledge in mind. And if you remember back in Daniel 7, it talked about this little horn on the beast that had ten horns, it specifically homes in on one of the horns, and it says that this horn spoke great things, spoke blasphemy, and it says I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them. With that in mind, let's go back to Revelation 13, understanding what this beast represents. The beast represents two things. When we see the beast mentioned in Revelation, number one, it represents the worldwide kingdom, having seven heads and ten horns. But number two, it represents the man who is at the head of that kingdom, who is the Antichrist, or the man of sin, or the son of perdition. It represents both. That's why it's foolish to say, well, no, no, it only represents the man, or oh, no, it only represents the kingdom. No, it's both, and that's clear in Daniel 7. Revelation 13, 1, it says I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet was the feet of a bear, and his mouth is the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. So he's put in power by the devil himself. Verse three, and I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given him a mouth speaking great things, it's exactly what we saw in Daniel 7, and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven, and it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, and on and on. So what we have here is a worldwide kingdom, a kingdom that rules over, look at the end of verse 7, all kindreds and tongues and nations, I mean he's ruling the entire world. Like the Roman Empire took over that part of the world back then, this end times worldwide kingdom will take over the entire world, all nations, all tongues will be under control of this one world government, the man at the head of it, the Bible teaches, is going to receive a deadly wound, and his deadly wound is going to be healed, and that's going to cause all the world to marvel and everyone to worship him and say that there's no one like him. Now, when it says that he received a deadly wound, you know, some people will say, well, you know, he received a wound that would normally kill you, but he was healed of it. Well, I look at that and I think, you know what, I don't think people would really be that amazed if that happened. And then other people will say, well no, he actually died. Now I'll tell you right now, he actually did die, and the proof for that, flip over if you would to Revelation 11, there's a couple places to prove that. You think about it, there have been a lot of people who've gone through things that should have killed them and survived, right? Did the whole world wonder? Was the whole world amazed? No. I mean, I think of, for example, the Congresswoman in Tucson that was shot point blank in the head and everybody thought she would die, but of course she survived. Because sometimes people can amazingly survive these type of deadly wounds, or wounds that would normally be deadly. But the reason that the whole world is going to marvel at this deadly wound that he receives and has healed of is because it's going to be just that, a deadly wound. He's going to die and come back. Look if you would at Revelation 11 verse 7. It says, when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. So the antichrist, or the beast here, is seen as ascending out of the bottomless pit, basically coming back from the dead. So if you would to Revelation 17, where something similar is stated in Revelation 17 verse 8, the Bible reads, the beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. Now, if you study your Bible, when it uses the term is not, it means that they're dead. For example, when they thought that Joseph was dead back in Genesis, they said Joseph is not. Okay? And that's a term that the Bible often uses. So when it says the beast which thou sawest was and is not, it's saying he used to be alive, now he's not alive anymore, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder. See that's what amazes them. What amazes them is that he was, he is not, and then he's going to ascend out of the bottomless pit. And they will wonder whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. And again, we'll go into that more once we get to Revelation 17. But it says when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is, I mean he's back from the dead. Now look, Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again. The Antichrist will seek to replicate that or duplicate that and basically show people that he really is Jesus Christ by coming back from the dead after receiving this deadly wound to the head. Now go back if you would to chapter 13. So we see that the beast having seven heads and ten horns represents an entire worldwide, one world government, global government, worldwide kingdom. But it also represents the man at the head of that kingdom who the Bible calls the Antichrist or the son of perdition, the man of sin, or the beast. Now it says in verse number 3, it says I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death. His deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast. Look at verse 5. It was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And here's a key right here in the second half. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. So we see the Antichrist comes into power over the whole world. He begins to be worshipped by the whole world when he receives this deadly wound and his deadly wound is healed. That's what makes everybody wonder. That's what makes everybody begin to worship him. And from that point when he takes power of the whole world, how long does he continue? Forty-two months. Now how many years is that? That's three and a half years, right? So when we think of the seven year period, often called Daniel's 70th week, when we think of that seven years in which a lot of the events of the book of Revelation play out, which half of that seven year period is the Antichrist going to be reigning in? Is he going to be reigning in the first half? Or is he going to be reigning in the second half? Well that question is easily answered. Go to Revelation chapter 16. This is when we see toward the end of God pouring out his wrath. At the end of the seven years, God is pouring out his wrath and it says in verse 10, the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seed of the beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the God of heaven. So wait a minute. When the fifth vial is poured out, which is toward the very end of the seven years of God pouring out his wrath, when the fifth vial is poured out, it says that it's poured on the kingdom of the beast. So is the beast still in power? He's still running his kingdom. He's still in power. So he's still continuing in that 42 months, which makes it clear that we're talking about the second half of the week here when we're looking at the 42 months that the Antichrist or the beast is reigning. Another thing that proves that is that in Revelation 11, which again covers events at the very end of the seven years, when the two witnesses are killed, they're killed by the Antichrist, which shows that he is still in power. Not only that, but in Revelation 19, flip over if you went to Revelation 19, we're in Revelation anyway, look at Revelation 19, 20. The Bible reads, and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and then that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. So he's thrown into the lake of fire at the very end of the seven years right before the millennium starts at the end of chapter 19. That's where we see him coming out of power. So when it says he continued 42 months, we're talking about the second half of the week. That's the 42 months that we're dealing with. Let's go back to chapter 13 and keep reading. So it says in chapter 13, verse number 5, that he continued 42 months, it says in verse 6, he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. In Revelation 12, 17, we saw that the dragon goes out to make war with the saints. Next thing you know, he's putting this guy in power. Because the Bible says the dragon's the one who gave him his seed and his authority. And when the dragon or the devil puts this guy in power, what's the guy set out to do? To make war with the saints. So basically when the antichrist comes to power and begins to persecute the saints, he's fulfilling the will of Satan. He's fulfilling the wrath of Satan that we saw in chapter 12, verse 17. Now here's my question. How can the dragon and the antichrist make war with the saints if the saints are supposedly all gone? In the pre-tribulation rapture. They're all gone. Right? They all say, no, no, Pastor Anderson, these are different saints, you know, these are the tribulation saints, you know, which of course is not a biblical term, okay. But they just make this up and say, well these can't be them, you know, these are different people that he's making war with, this is a different group. Now I've heard some people say this, they say, well we know that these are not church age saints because of the fact that it says that the devil overcame them and you know, of course, Jesus said, upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And so these cannot be church age saints, they must be tribulation saints. These are not even biblical terms. In fact, turn to Ephesians chapter 3 because I want to show you once and for all right now, there is no such thing as the church age, okay, and you know, we hear these theological terms and we take them for granted and people talk about, we're living in the church age and the church age, let's see if the church age is biblical right now. Because people will tell us that, you know, we know that these cannot be church age saints because they're being overcome by the devil. Well look what it says in Ephesians 3, 21, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, amen. Now can you honestly look at that verse and then look up at me and tell me there's a church age? Where are you getting this stuff? I mean the Bible never mentioned the church age, it says glory is going to be to him in the church throughout all ages. So how can you say there's a church age? Moses was with the church in the wilderness and right now you're sitting in a local church and the Bible says there's going to be glory to Jesus Christ in the church throughout all ages. So there is no end to the church age. There is no church age. Glory to God in the church throughout all ages. But you see we just hear this theological jargon and oftentimes we just take it for granted and accept it even though it has no basis in the Bible whatsoever. But you see here, go to Matthew 16 if you would where that scripture comes from about the fact that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. Because look, the Bible said in Revelation 13 that the Antichrist is going to make war with the saints and overcome them. The wording that it used back in Daniel chapter 7 was that he would make war with the saints and prevail against them. Now look, what does that mean? It means that he's defeating them physically, does it not? I mean we're talking about physically speaking, he is going to physically be at war with them and they are going to physically be defeated. Now look, this is mentioned in Revelation 2.10. The Bible says, Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried. And ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. God said look, the devil's going to cast some of you into prison. You're going to be killed, many of you. Be faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. So look, is God saying that we're not going to be defeated physically? Or is he telling us in many cases we will be defeated physically? He's saying look, some of you are going to go to prison. Some of you are going to be killed. Physically we're going to be defeated. But wait a minute, are we being defeated spiritually? No because the Bible says, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The Bible says in Revelation 12-11, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And by the word of their testimony it says, And they loved not their lives unto the death. So are they being killed? Yes, but even in being killed it says they overcame the devil. The Bible says, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, nay in all these things we are more than conquerors. Look we're on the winning side. They can throw us in jail, kill us, prevail against us, overcome us in this life, physically defeat us, beat us, jail us, kill us, like they did to the apostles and the prophets. But they can never defeat us spiritually. We are on the winning side. And if you're beheaded for Christ, he said, you're going to be ruling and reigning and you are going to receive a better resurrection if you're killed for the cause of Christ. So is that really defeat in a spiritual sense? No it's only a physical defeat in this world, but you're more than conquerors in Christ. Now look what the Bible actually says, because here's what they'll say, Well these cannot be church-age saints because they are being overcome by Satan. And the Bible said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Well let's look what the passage actually teaches in Matthew 16, beginning in verse number 18, it says, I say also unto thee, this is Jesus speaking, that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Let me point out one thing first of all. Number one, is Satan the gates of hell? Let me ask you this, is hell Satan's kingdom that he rules over, like Porky Pig with a pitchfork or something? Hell. You see, hell is created by God, and guess who has the keys of hell? Satan's not walking around with a keychain of hell. No, Jesus Christ said, I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore, amen. He said, I have the keys of hell and of death. Jesus Christ has the key of hell. Jesus Christ is the one who is the ruler of this world and this universe. He is over heaven and hell. The devil's not going to be ruling and reigning in hell. The devil's going to be tormented in hell someday. People that worship Satan, they think they're going to be ruling and reigning in hell with Satan and there's a famous saying that says, it's better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. You're not going to be reigning in hell, you're going to be burning in hell. And the Bible never teaches that the devil has any power or authority over hell. God is the one whose breath, like fire and brimstone, kindles the fires of hell, the Bible tells in Isaiah. He is the creator of hell. He is the one who is the superintendent of hell, not Satan. And so when the Bible says the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, gates of hell does not equal Satan. Can somebody tell me how the gates of hell is equivalent to the devil? Not at all. And in fact, if you just simply read the next verse, it makes it clear what he is talking about here when he says the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He says I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Now look, what's the opposite of hell? Heaven. He says I'll give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. Now when we talk about the keys of the kingdom of heaven, we think about the fact that Jesus Christ preached against the Pharisees who preached a false gospel, who preached false doctrine and he said that they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. And remember he said people that were entering into heaven, they made sure that they didn't get to heaven. He said you don't go in, and I'm paraphrasing, but he said you didn't go in the door yourself and you prevented them that would have gone in. He's saying you're keeping people out of heaven with your lying false doctrine, okay? And he called that shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men. Shutting the door, not allowing people out. Look what the Bible is teaching here when he says he gives unto us the keys of the kingdom of heaven, look that's the fact that we have the ability to go out and preach the gospel and basically point people toward the doors of heaven and look if we preach a false gospel we're shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men. If we preach the true gospel we're pointing them right to that door. Jesus said I am the door. If any man enter in by me he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. You know we have the keys of the kingdom of heaven right here with the word of God and the gospel. This is what opens the door to heaven, faith and faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Look he's talking about the difference here in verses 18 and 19 between people going to heaven and people going to hell. He's saying look the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it, on the contrary you have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And so look if we're killed physically that doesn't violate this. What he's saying is you're not going to go to hell, you're going to go to heaven. You're going to win people to Christ and you're going to get them to heaven. You're going to save them so that they can go to heaven and he's saying I'm going to save them. Paul said I've become all thanks to all men that I might by all means save some. And the Bible says others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. You see the Bible is teaching here that the church has the truth, it's the pillar and ground of the truth. If it's a Bible believing church and a Bible preaching church we have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And we're talking about going to heaven versus going to hell. So look if the devil casts some of us into prison, if the anti-Christ prevails against the saints does that mean that the gates of hell prevailed against us? Does that mean that we're no longer heading into the kingdom of heaven? Absolutely not. And so that's a total twisting and misuse of this passage. We're on the winning side, in the end we will be victorious, we know that. Let's go to Revelation 13. So we've talked about the anti-Christ, we talked about his global government and worldwide kingdom that he's going to set up, similar to the Roman Empire compared to the Roman Empire in the sense that it will devour and break in pieces and be as strong as iron. And this kingdom is not just like the Roman Empire but it's actually like all four of the kingdoms. That's why it was likened under the leopard and the lion and the bear. It's like the Babylonian Empire. It's like the Medo-Persian Empire. It's like the Greek Empire. It's like all of the above because it's a worldwide global government. One man will eventually rise out of this global system. It starts out as a global system with multiple heads and multiple horns but one man rises up. That little horn rises up to preeminence. That one head is wounded to death. That man that receives the deadly wound dies and comes back from the bottomless pit. He eventually will be worshipped as the anti-Christ. He will be worshipped and wondered after and he will rule over the entire earth and he will use that power to persecute the saints, to persecute them that have the testimony of Jesus Christ according to Revelation 12.17. And he will overcome them, meaning he will kill them. He will have them thrown in prison, etc. Look down if you would at verse 11, it says, and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. Now let me just point this out. It says he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. That tells me he looked like a lamb but when you look at what he's saying, it's of the devil. Okay, go if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Now this term is not used in Revelation 13 but this is what's known as the false prophet. And we derive that term from later in the book of Revelation. For example, chapter 19 verse 20, it talks about the beast and the false prophet which did miracles before him and deceived the nations. Everything that this guy does in Revelation 13 is what the false prophet is described as doing. So this guy is known as the false prophet. And the Bible tells us that the false prophet had two horns like a lamb but he spake as a dragon. Now in 2 Corinthians chapter number 11, we have a warning about false prophets. And in 2 Corinthians chapter number 11 verse 14, give me a second to get there, it says, and no marvel, well look at verse 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ and no marvel. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works. So we see here that the devil's ministers, those who serve Satan, they will masquerade as a Bible-believing preacher. He's saying look, they'll make themselves look like the apostles of Christ. They will look like a true prophet of God, a Bible-believing preacher. But he said that shouldn't surprise you since Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, that his ministers will be transformed into the ministers of light. So this false prophet of Revelation 13, it said he had two horns like a lamb but he spake as a dragon because what he is saying is of Satan, because he's telling people, worship the beast, worship the one who had the deadly wound that was healed. Now this tells me that he's going to be masquerading as a Bible-believing preacher. He's going to be looking like one of the ministers of light. This false prophet is going to be a man who is a false preacher or a false prophet in whom people have confidence. He will point people to the anti-Christ and say this is Jesus Christ. This is the Messiah. This is God. This is who we need to be worshiping. We need to make an image unto him. Now I thought this would have been Billy Graham, but he's too old now to fill this role. But he's going to be a guy like that, basically a preacher that everybody likes. And Billy Graham is one that everybody likes, but he's one who also accepts all false religion and promotes all false religion. I mean Billy Graham says, I'm just as comfortable in a Catholic church, in a Mormon church. He said Muslims will be in heaven, Hindus will be in heaven. He said Muslims are just following the light that they have and I believe we'll see them in heaven. He's the one that basically says all religions are going to heaven and you say, well one time I heard him say he had to believe in Christ. Of course he's going to talk out of both sides of his mouth. He's got two horns like a lamb, but he speaks as a dragon. You know the devil often tries to seem like he's telling the truth also. But we see there are a lot of false preachers today, the Rick Warrens of this world, you know who basically just accept all false religion. They seek to bring together all religions and let's put aside our differences and let's all join together and hold hands and sing Kumbaya. And basically this false prophet is going to be one that reaches out to all religions of the world and says look, let's all unite, let's all worship this Messiah. You know the Christians will believe that the Antichrist is the second coming of Jesus Christ. They'll say look, he's Jesus. And then the Jews will say the Messiah is finally here because you know they think the Messiah hasn't come yet. They reject Jesus Christ, oh the Messiah. And then of course the Muslims are waiting for the Imam al-Mahdi and they're going to say that that's him when he shows up and they're going to point to the Antichrist and say look it's the Imam Mahdi and then you know the fifth Buddha is what the Buddhists are looking for and the Krishna and whatever. All religions are waiting for this messianic figure and the Antichrist will fulfill all of it and the false prophet will be the one who does the preaching and he'll also perform miracles to try to get everybody galvanized behind the Antichrist. Let's keep reading in Revelation 13. First of all it says that he had two horns like a lamb, he spake as a dragon, verse 12, and he exercised with all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles. So people are going to believe him because of the miracles that he's doing. And it says saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. So this is how he makes war with the saints. He says you must worship the image of the beast or you will be killed. You say well how did he have power to give life to the image of the beast? Well good night, I mean with the technology that we have you can make images come to life right and talk you know. That's what the word animation means, bringing things to life if you look at what that word literally means. And so basically they're going to have an image that speaks and is alive and so forth and if you don't worship the image you're going to be killed. And he says that those whose names are written in the book of life are not going to worship the image. This is how he makes war with the saints. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's tie this in with 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 about the Antichrist. 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2 is actually a perfect fit with Revelation 13. You know it's amazing how consistent the Bible is, I mean it all just fits together perfectly. You know once you understand it, once you've read it and put it together, it all fits together so perfectly and precisely. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1 and see how this fits in exactly with what we read in Revelation 13. It says now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. What do we normally refer to that as? Most people call that the rapture right when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds and we're all gathered together. It says we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. So why are people running around saying this can happen at any moment? Doesn't he say here don't let anybody deceive you saying that the day of Christ is at hand? It's not at hand. That day shall not come except there come a falling away first. We don't have time to do it but if we look up the seven times that the day of Christ is mentioned it can easily be proven this is referring to when Christ comes in the clouds and the trumpet sounds and the rapture takes place. It says here let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. So which is going to happen first? The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him or the Antichrist saying that he's God? Which one happens first? The Antichrist is going to be revealed and say that he's God first. That's what it says. And it says anybody who tells you otherwise deceiving you. So we see that the Antichrist is going to basically be worshipped as God. Now back to our timetable in Revelation. We noted that he's going to be ruling and reigning in the second half of the week. Did we not? Meaning that his 42 month reign would start at the midpoint. Well those of you who've studied Daniel and Revelation know what happens right at the midpoint of the seven years is what's known as the abomination of desolation. And the abomination of desolation is tied in with the Antichrist setting up this image in the house of God, the temple of God where he's saying that he is God. And these things all fit in perfectly with the timetable with which we're dealing. And it says here that he sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Were you not that when I was there with you I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, watch this, with all power and signs and lying wonders. Isn't that what we saw in Revelation 13? Signs and lying wonders? Wonders are miracles. You know, all the miracles and the signs that he's going to use to deceive them that dwell on the earth into worshipping the Antichrist who in this passage is mentioned as saying that he's God, going into the temple of God, saying that he is God. Verse 10, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and then the parish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned to believe not the truth but at pleasure and unrighteousness. So we see again the masses being damned. The masses believing on him. The masses being deceived by the miracles that the false prophet will perform before the Antichrist. They'll be sucked in by it. They'll be tricked by it. Look the Bible tells us that this will take place before that day of Christ comes. Before our gathering together unto him. That's why we're still going to be here. That's why he's going to be making war with the saints because the saints are still here. I mean it's pretty simple. You say well Pastor Anderson, right there you just read in verse 7 the verse that proves a pre-tribulation rapture and it's amazing how you just blew right by it Pastor Anderson. Because I mean everybody, everybody who's here can see it in verse 7 crystal clear right? I mean everybody saw it right? The pre-tribulation rapture right? It's right there. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. There it is. Any questions? I mean there it is. Rapture, tribulation, Christ coming in the cloud, the trumpet sounding. I mean don't you see it? Oh you don't see it? Oh you don't have a Schofield reference Bible. Oh that's the problem. Oh you mean you just have God's word? That's not enough. You mean you're actually just reading the Bible on your own? You're never going to figure this out that way. You need the Schofield reference Bible because it has a whole bunch of notes that will explain this to you and tell you that when the Bible says he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. Let's talk about the Holy Spirit being taken out of the way. Okay news flash, the Holy Spirit is God. You don't take God out of the way, he's God. I mean how do you sit there and say like oh yeah the Holy Spirit's going to be taken out of the way. You and what army is going to take the Holy Spirit out of the way? I mean he's God. But in the Schofield Bible it says this is none other than the Holy Spirit being removed because he indwells the church and the church age is over. I mean it's all just man-made stuff. There's no way you'd ever read this in a million years and come up with that, that it's the Holy Spirit being taken out of the way. Now look, pronouns are words that take the place of a noun. He is a pronoun, is it not? And pronouns have an antecedent. An antecedent is the noun to which that pronoun refers, right? I don't just walk up to you and just say, he came to church. You say who? You know because first I have to tell you I have a friend named David and he came to church, right? Then it would make sense because the antecedent is David. You know what ante means? Before. So first you tell us who you're talking about. For example the pronoun I. I would say my name is Steven Anderson. I am the pastor of Faith Ford Baptist Church. The I is referring to who I am. Now if you don't know me and I just start calling myself I, you might say who are you? If I say well he came to church, you say well who's he? Oh my friend David. Don't you know that? Well no, you didn't tell me. There was no antecedent to your pronoun, okay? So if God's going to start talking about the Holy Spirit and calling him he, shouldn't he have mentioned the Holy Spirit anywhere before this? And of course the Holy Spirit's not mentioned whatsoever in this passage. This passage made no mention of the Holy Spirit whatsoever. So we can't just decide that he means whatever we want he to mean. I mean I think he is Mickey Mouse there. There's just as much evidence for he being Mickey Mouse as the Holy Spirit because neither one of them is mentioned in the chapter here. We're just going to make stuff up, right? So when it says he who now loves will let until he be taken out of the way, first of all the Holy Spirit is not only God so you don't just take him out of the way. Just get him out of your way. Okay not only that but number two, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. It says in Psalm 139 about the Holy Spirit specifically and about him being omnipresent, it says in verse seven, wither shall I go from thy spirit or wither shall I flee from thy presence? So it's talking about getting away from the Holy Spirit of God. It says in verse eight, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. I mean look it's clear he said look you can't get away from God's Spirit. God's Spirit is everywhere. God's Spirit is God himself and is omnipresent. You don't just take him out of the way, it's blasphemous to just sit there and say oh just take God out of the way. Get him out of the equation. He's God. So you know what it says, he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. That proves a preacher of rapture because I mean if we're going to take the Holy Spirit out of the way and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, you know two plus two equals four, I guess we're going to be taken out of the way. See how this logic is just reading stuff in here that isn't really there? Just adding to the scripture stuff that's not there at all. Okay well you say well who is the he? Well if we actually read the passage and see who's mentioned, the he that's mentioned would be the man of sin. That's somebody who's actually mentioned. That's actually an antecedent of the pronoun. You say well how is he going to be taken out of the way? By being killed? He's going to be killed, right? And then basically his body is going to be under the complete control of Satan. Now we don't understand maybe every bit of how exactly this is going to work, but the wicked antichrist will be revealed after the son of perdition or the man of sin receives the deadly wound to his head, okay, and is taken out of the way. Now again that's outside the scope of this sermon. I've done sermons where I delved into that and we looked at a lot of scriptures on that and analyzed that. We don't really have the time to go into all the details on that right now, but we see here that there's no way in the world that this is talking about the Holy Spirit. That's just made up doctrine that has no basis in reality. Let me say this, when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ, he's also known as the son of perdition. Only two people in the Bible are known as the son of perdition, Judas Iscariot and the antichrist, and the Bible talks about when the sop was handed to Judas, Satan entered into him. He was actually possessed by Satan, okay, and I believe that the antichrist will also be possessed by Satan, and that's what I wanted to say. I don't know if I made that clear earlier. Now if you would, go back to Revelation 13, we'll quickly finish up here. It says of the false prophet in verse 16, he coseth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred threescore and six. So this is, of course, the famous, well-known mark of the beast. And notice your King James Bible says that it will be located in your right hand or in your forehead. All the modern Bibles are changing that to on the hand. When the Bible says it's in the hand, this could be something that's implanted. You know, we don't know exactly what this is going to be. Could be like an implantable chip of some kind. You know, that's speculation, but it does say that it's going to be in the forehead or in the hand and that you're not going to be able to buy or sell unless you have this mark of the beast in your right hand or in your forehead. And then it gives us that number, of course, the famous 666. You know, we see the technology in place where this could be implemented tomorrow. Now it's not going to be implemented tomorrow. You know, there's a whole chain of events that lead up to this that are laid out very clearly in Matthew 24. But let me say this, this could be sometime in the near future because we see the technology easily in place to eliminate cash. See you can't do this in a society where people are using cash or coins because of the fact that there would be a black market where people are just exchanging money without going through the proper channels. You know, today there are people who do all kinds of cash transactions and they don't pay taxes on it and the government doesn't know anything about it, right? But here we have a government that is able to stop anyone from buying or selling unless they have this mark. Basically all of their purchasing is going to be done through this mark. You know, if this were an implantable chip you could easily see how you could maybe go to the store, pay for things and then just scan to pay and then you've paid. You could easily see how the money could go electronic. You know, I've noticed more and more that there are places who do not even accept cash. And I know that I myself rarely even use cash anymore. You know, because a lot of times I'm working and traveling for business and you know, it's just a lot easier to use credit cards and then you can track all your expenses and everything. And you know, it seems like these days less and less people are carrying cash or using cash and people are moving over to just doing everything as an electronic transaction. Even on the airplanes now, you buy a bag of peanuts and you literally scan your credit card on the airplane. Not only that, Coke machines now, even a Coke, I mean that's when you know they're charging too much for the Coke, you know what I mean? It used to be like a quarter or two quarters. Now it's like you're scanning a credit card for a Coke. It's like how many, how much is this thing? Seven dollars or something? But anyway, you know, we're seeing now that a credit card is being accepted everywhere and then now they're selling these little things to plug into your smartphone where you can take credit cards. Well pretty soon instead of taking a credit card with your smartphone, you'll just scan the mark or the implantable chip with your, that's the way it's going folks and we can see this prophecy being fulfilled. Now here's the thing, paper money. Paper money can be worthless tomorrow if they say it's worthless. The paper doesn't have any intrinsic value. Now if we were dealing in gold and silver, okay at least gold and silver have a use. Paper is just a piece of paper and just like the Confederate money, as soon as the Confederate states of America, you know, basically were defeated, all of a sudden none of their money was worth anything anymore. So tomorrow if they wanted to, they could say alright, turn in all your cash, it's not going to be worth anything after a certain date. It's all going electronic now. It's all going to be through cashless means. And the way they could easily sell this to people is say you know what, we'll get rid of crime. No more drug dealing and black market and we'll be safer and it's for the children and all this and they'll eliminate cash and make it to where you must have a mark in your right hand or in your forehead to buy or sell. It's around the corner. You say this is a depressing sermon. This is not what I wanted to hear on Wednesday night. Okay but let me just close on this one thought. Back up if you would to verse number 10. This is back where he talked about the anti-Christ making war against the saints and overcoming them. But look what it says in verse 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. What's God telling us there? Everybody's going to get what's coming to them in the end. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Look we don't have to worry about this and be defeated. The Bible says fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison. He said look bad things are going to happen but fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We're more than conquerors. We're on the winning side. Our patience and our faith is to know that in the end the score will be settled, every wrong will be righted, and we will be rewarded for whatever we endure for Jesus Christ. So this isn't anything to be depressed about or upset about but it is something we should know about. And most Christians today don't know about this stuff. They don't know Revelation 13. They're not even having this explained to them. And when their church does touch on Revelation they just say, but isn't it great we're going to be God? And they give them this false hope and this fairy tale. It's good to know about it and to understand it going into it so that we will not be perplexed and confounded. But let me tell you something. I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. This doesn't keep me up at night. I don't sit around and go, oh man, I don't know if I have enough food stockpiled. I don't know if I have enough weapons and ammo. Look, enough weapons and ammo is an oxymoron. No, I'm just kidding. Enough food stored up. I'm just saying in the end Jesus Christ is our hope. We know that we're safe. We know we're on the winning side. Look, our hard times ahead, you know, this may happen in our lifetime. It may happen a hundred years from now when we're all gone. We don't know the timing. But if it does happen in our lifetime, my attitude is even so come Lord Jesus. Bring it on. You know what? It'd be great to be in that generation. If it happens, it happens in our lifetime. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Either way we end up in heaven. Either way we rule and reign with Christ. And so don't be sad or down or depressed about this or scared all the time. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of asylum. I'm not afraid of this. I want to know about it. I want to prepare for it mentally, spiritually, physically, but I'm not scared of it. Because you know what? Greater is he that is in me than he that's in the world. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for warning us. Thank you for giving us a description of what will take place. Telling us about this kingdom that's going to take place, this worldwide kingdom. The man of sin. The son of perdition. The war with the saints. That he will make war against them and overcome them. Kill them. Put them in prison. There are going to be those that are going to be persecuted. And Lord we know that people are being persecuted right now. Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Lord help us to realize that we're more than conquerors and if we do help have to face these things, help us to be faithful unto death. And in Jesus name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. It's early this Tuesday morning, the 11th of September, 2001. Al, it is such a pretty morning isn't it? It is a perfect fall morning. On September 11th, 2001, the world changed. The land of the free has now become the land of the enslaved. The people of our once glorious United States have traded their liberty for security. But has it all happened by design? December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, United States of America will suddenly and deliberately attack. Many questions linger about the events of that day, that day of infamy. One thing we know for certain, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor set in motion a course of events that would eventually lead us to a one world government. Japan began this war in treachery. We shall end it in victory. In the aftermath of World War II, the United Nations was created and the path for a one world government accelerated. Each war brings us one step closer to what the Bible calls the end of the world. Checkpoints are being set up everywhere. The police state is tightening its grip on the people of the United States and to those who understand biblical prophecy, what comes next will not be a surprise. At some time in the future, the King James Bible states that everyone on the planet will be required to take a mark in order to buy or sell. As our current economic system collapses and as technology expands, cash is becoming a thing of the past. The reality of a cashless society is not far off. In fact, it's already being implemented. Despite denial by many religious leaders, evil men are working around the clock to bring in a new world order. We can see the end rapidly approaching and the stage being set for the emergence of the Antichrist. We can hear the voices of those who are subverting our U.S. Constitution and promoting this global government system. And with all this right around the corner, this film is more important than ever. Satan is working behind the scenes to set up a one-world government and a one-world religion in preparation for the Antichrist. He has also deceived modern evangelical Christians into believing that they will be removed from this earth before the Great Tribulation takes place. This doctrine, known as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, teaches that Christ may return at any moment and that there will be no signs of His coming. As a result of this deception, most Christians are completely unprepared what the Bible has warned us is coming. Although the Scriptures clearly state in Matthew 24 and elsewhere that the Rapture will take place after the Tribulation, big-name preachers, Bible colleges, and popular films such as Left Behind have taught the masses to expect that the Rapture may occur at any moment. But Left Behind is a work of fiction. Christians today are not being warned about the events they will face in the Great Tribulation. To learn the truth about the Rapture, we must look within the pages of the Bible itself.