(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, the title of the sermon this morning is the imminency of the Antichrist, the imminency of the Antichrist. Look down at your Bibles in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2 and verse number 1 it says now we beseech your 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 who opposeth and exalted himself again above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Now let me give a disclaimer here. This is a sermon where you're going to have to pay some pretty good attention to, okay? And we're going to give a lot of information and we're going to go into a lot of details. We're actually getting into end times Bible prophecy this morning and I was thinking I was like should I preach this Sunday morning or Sunday night, you know? This is not exactly your Sunday morning type sermon but I feel like people are more tired on Sunday night so they would have a harder time to like grasp the truth. So right now your minds are fresh, you got the coffee in you, you got some of the breakfast, you know, so I think you should be fine. But this morning as I mentioned I'm going to preach on the imminency of the antichrist. Now what is imminency? What does that word mean? Well, imminency is an adjective used to describe something that is likely to occur at any moment, right? It's impending. And in fact this is a word that is commonly but wrongly used to describe the second coming of Christ which is also known as the rapture. Now when you talk to people who believe in what's referred to as the imminency of Jesus Christ or the pre-tribulation rapture, they will often quote you or they establish their beliefs based upon Matthew 24 verse 36 where the Bible says, For no man knoweth the day or the hour, know not the angels, but my Father only. And they base their way of thinking in that portion of scripture because it states that no man knows the day or the hour and to that I say, Amen. No one knows the day or the hour of the coming of Christ. You have date setters that come every few years, you have like a robber breaker, you have herald camping, you even have the Jehovah's Witnesses that will place a date upon the coming of Christ, but they're all false, okay? And it's true, we don't know the day or the hour, but this is an inaccurate assessment of the rapture because of the fact that earlier on in the chapter, Jesus gives us observable occurrences that take place prior to his coming. Wherewith we can determine that the rapture will happen after that, okay? And in fact, hold your place there in 2 Thessalonians, we're gonna go back to that. Go to Matthew chapter 24, let's look at some verses here. These are common, but it's good to look at, good to read through. Matthew 24 and verse 31, excuse me, verse 29. It says here in verse 29, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. What do we see there? The rapture. And in fact, when you talk to people who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, they will use Matthew 24 as their text verse, as their text chapter, because it talks about the rapture there, it talks about gathering them, it talks about one being there and the other one disappearing, you know, one is working and then the other one is taken. This is the rapture, amen? But here in verse 29 to 31, we see a couple of things that actually take place prior to that, right? The sun and moon being darkened, stars falling from heaven, powers of heaven shaken, and then the son of man comes in the clouds. These are clear events that the Lord gives us to determine when the rapture will take place, okay? But aside from what we see in Matthew 24, we just read in 2 Thessalonians 2, other things that also take place. What? The great falling away, right? And also the man of sin being revealed. Now what does it mean when it talks about the falling away? This isn't a word for the rapture. A word that is commonly used for the rapture, or a phrase, excuse me, is the gathering together unto Him, right? Not the falling away. And in fact, look, this is not a, we go back to the Greek type of church, but those who believe in this doctrine, it would do them well to actually look at the Greek word. When it talks about falling away, it's actually the word that's being used is apostasia, right? So falling away is referring to the fact that churches, Christians will get into apostasy, they'll get into false doctrine. And don't we see that so much the more as we see the day approaching? A lot of false doctrine coming up, a lot of people accepting and embracing false doctrine and propagating it. This is what we see. This is the great falling away, right? But we also see here, look at, go back to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 3. It says here, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, what day? The day of Christ. The gathering together unto Him. 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 here we see that it's referring to the fact that Christians will be here when the Antichrist is here. We will be here if it happens in our lifetime when the Antichrist comes on the scene. You say, well, if it's saying that the man of sin is being revealed, why are you saying that his coming of the Antichrist is imminent, that it can happen at any moment, right? Well, the man of sin being revealed, what we see here is actually referring to the fact that he receives a deadly wound to the head, and then he comes back to life, okay? So in end times Bible prophecy, we have the events taking place in Revelation chapter 6, 7, and then of course the parallel passages are Revelation chapter 13, and then it's also mentioned in chapter 17. And it talks about the fact that this man, the Antichrist, will receive a deadly wound to the head. What does that mean? He dies, okay? A deadly wound means a wound that kills him. He dies, but the Bible states that he comes back to life, and in fact it states that his soul or a demon comes from the abyss, right? From the bottomless pit and indwells him, and at that point he becomes that ruler of that new world order. He becomes what's commonly known as the son of perdition, the Antichrist. Now, but here's the thing, you say, well, that makes a lot of sense, you know? If that's him and he revives, of course we're going to know, but here's the problem. That's not the first time he shows up. You see, a lot of people think, well, why is it imminent? Why is it that he can come at any moment if we know that he's going to receive a deadly wound to the head, he's going to come back to life? Well, here's the problem, is that he comes before that. He comes before that, and in fact he's a major public figure, even prior to him receiving the deadly wound to the head. Right. You say, well, won't we know then if he's already a public figure? Not necessarily. Right. You see, the first time that the Antichrist comes, the first time he steps on the scene, we won't know it's him. It's going to be imminent. We won't know who he is until he receives his deadly wound to the head. Now, go with me if you would to 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2, and look, what am I referring to? Well, in Revelation chapter 6, you see the opening of the seals, right? And these seals are basically revelation that Jesus Christ is opening up to give John the understanding of what's going to take place in the end times. But these seals are commonly referred to as the tribulation, right? We see the first set of seals, the first seal that's open is the Antichrist going forth conquering and to conquer. So that's the first time he actually comes on the scene. He's the man on the white horse with the bow and a crown going forth conquering and to conquer. That is the first time. But guess what? We're not going to know it's him when he's doing that. Now let me give some basic things here. Let's get into some basic understanding of the significant character of this guy, the Antichrist in end times Bible prophecy. First of all, who is the Antichrist? And look, don't go to movies on the Antichrist. You know, Damien, Omen, the little kid born of like a jackal or something like that. Those are the worst sources you can go to, to gain an understanding of who the Antichrist is. You know, all these effects and he's like killing people throughout his life or whatever. And then, and then if you go to the Christian so-called movies, the Antichrist is always like a Muslim. I'm serious. It's always like a Muslim. But look, I submit to you that the Antichrist is not Muslim. He's going to be a Jew and look, let's say he's not a Jew. He is going to deceive the Jews into thinking that he is their Messiah and their Messiah is not, it's not going to hold characteristics of Jesus Christ in the sense of that he's divine, right? That he's God, their Messiah prior to him even becoming the Antichrist is someone who has political power, who's going to help them gain money. And then what is he going to do? He's going to turn on them afterwards. Why? Because he's going to claim to be God and they're not going to like that, right? We'll get into that in just a little bit, but don't go to movies. Don't go to Hollywood. Don't go to Christian films. Just go to the Bible to find out these attributes and these characteristics of the Antichrist. Who is he? Well, look at first John chapter two, verse 18, little children, it is the last time as you have heard that Antichrist shall come. Even now, are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. Now look, this was written thousands of years ago and back then it was the last time. How much more is it today? And here we see that John is stating, Hey, the Antichrist will come. And then he states, even now, are there many Antichrists? What is he talking about? There's a lot of false prophets out there. And even today you have the guy in Russia who's acting like he's Jesus Christ, right? He's an Antichrist, but he's not the Antichrist. Throughout the centuries, throughout the years, you've always had people who were an Antichrist, but they were not the Antichrist. You say, well, why are they coming on the scene? Because of the fact they need to prepare people for the Antichrist. Okay, now you're in chapter two, go to chapter four, excuse me. So it tells us there in chapter two, that ye have heard that Antichrist shall come. Look at chapter four, verse three, verse one, excuse me, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, even the Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, where have you ever heard that it should come and even now already is in the world. This is not saying that the Antichrist was already there at that time. It's the spirit of Antichrist. You see spirits referring to these demons are eternal. They've been here for thousands of years, right on this world since its creation since its inception. And so that same spirit has been carried through generations in dwelling people to deceive the masses. And then ultimately, it will culminate in this man known as the Antichrist. It says and this is that spirit of Antichrist, where have you ever heard that it should come and even now already is in the world. Go back to Matthew 24, Matthew 24. So this is where we receive this title known as the Antichrist. Now look, Antichrist just means that he's going to come in the place of Christ. But we can also say that he's going to be against Christ, right? Matthew 24, verse four, we see here that he's a false Christ. Look at verse four, Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many, the Bible says. Skip down to verse 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, the Bible tells us. So this is something that we can see today and even in those days as well. But this is foreshadowing the actual Antichrist is going to come. He's going to have his false prophet, right, the ram with the horns or excuse me, the lamb with the horns that speaks as the dragon, who's going to do great signs and wonders. But this is also known as a false Christ, go to go to go back to Second Thessalonians chapter two. So he's a false Christ, he's an impersonator. And you know, it shouldn't confuse us or shouldn't come as a surprise because of the fact that Satan is a major counterfeiter of God. He takes everything that God does and he twists it. He takes every idea that God has, and he molds it into his little agenda that he has, right? God has his Christ, Satan has his false Christ as well. Look at Second Thessalonians chapter two, verse three. He's also known as the son of perdition. Look at verse three, 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. Now, what does son of perdition mean? It means he's going to hell. He's a son of the devil, right? He's a reprobate, as we would call it. But here's the thing, there's a reason why he's specifically called the son of perdition. And in John 17, we see this title, this reference, also spoken of by who? By Judas. Judas also carries that title as being the son of perdition. Now why is that? I believe personally, it's because Satan indwelt Judas, right? Now he was a devil from the beginning and a bow down to the truth because the truth was not in him. But Satan literally indwelt him when? When he betrayed Jesus Christ. So it was at the indwelling of Satan in him that he carried out the most wicked act of betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, right, in his evil ministry or whatever. Just as the antichrist, I'm sure he's a devil from the beginning and a bow down to the truth, but he does not get indwelt. He does not get possessed by Satan until when? Until he resurrects, okay? And at that point, he claims to be God, he carries out his wicked agenda as well. Now so that's who the antichrist is. You're in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, look down at verse number 8. Not only that, but he's Satan's last attempt to deceive the world. Look at verse number 8. And shall destroy with the brightness of his coming even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. So what's his purpose? To damn people to hell? That's his purpose. His purpose is to carry out Satan's agenda to deceive people so that they don't get saved. So that they don't come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's the main purpose, okay? But we see here they use signs and lying wonders with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Now look, this is not very hard to understand because today people are deceived. I mean over the smallest little details, you go on social media for example. People believe everything. Flat earth, hollow earth, you know, reptilians. I thought that was something only a mortal comeback, right? Reptilians, they believe in all kinds of nonsense out there. And look, with minimal facts, with minimal evidence, they just have to get a pixelated video and they'll believe it. A really bad pixelated video and it's just like fact. And then when you ask them like, how do you know this is true? It's like I researched it, like where, like on Instagram? You went on the encyclopedia of Instagram and that's the research that you've done? You know, Nephilims, they believe in Nephilims. So and that's today. How much more easier is it going to be to deceive people in these days when they're not going to have a pixelated video, they're going to have an actual image. They're not going to have a pixelated Instagram post, they're going to have the antichrist actually coming back from the dead. You know, things that we see on social media today are meant to dumb people down, meant to just dilute them of their knowledge and reasoning and logic and understanding so that when the time comes, they'll just readily accept the antichrist, they'll just believe it. They'll just be deceived, okay? So we see that. Now, what role does he play in the end times? Go to, excuse me, go to Revelation chapter 13. I'm going to read to you from Daniel chapter 11 verse 21. And let me just make another disclaimer here regarding the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is one of the most cryptic books in the Bible. And specific chapters I'm referring to is chapter 7 and the most hardest chapter in the book of Daniel will be chapter 11, okay? Very obscure, very cryptic, so you can't really use Daniel to help you to understand the book of Revelation. What you need to do is take the book of Revelation and have that help you to understand the book of Daniel. But that's not to say that you can't look at the book of Daniel and see similarities between the two. Now, the reason I say that is because in Daniel chapter 11, you have a lot of prophecies of the antichrist, of the new world order and things that are taking place in the book of Revelation, all right? But the immediate interpretation, the immediate context is what? Is an antichrist, not the antichrist. In fact, it's actually mainly talking about a man by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes who comes from the Seleucid empire of the north when the four kingdoms were split in the day of Alexander the Great, okay, which is part of the Grecian empire. He dies. His kingdom, because he had no successor, his kingdom was split into four different regions. The two main ones was the Seleucid empire and the Ptolemaic empire of the south. Antiochus Epiphanes comes from that north and he holds a lot of characteristics of the antichrist of the end times, but he is not the antichrist. So and the reason I say this is because you read this and you'll find certain characteristics and attributes and events that took place in Daniel chapter 11 that is not going to happen in the end times. It's not happening in Revelation 17. It's not happening in Revelation chapter 13. It was just unique to Antiochus Epiphanes of those days, okay? But let me read to you some of the things here in Daniel chapter 11 verse 21. It says, and in his estate, he shall stand up, shall stand up a vile person. This is referring, this is a foreshadowing of the antichrist to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. Verse 23 says, and after the league was made with him, he shall work deceitfully for he shall come up and he shall become strong with a small people. So the first thing that I want you to notice about the antichrist is this, he will obtain political power through flatteries. That's not very surprising now, is it? I think that's how every political leader obtains position, right? Through flatteries, deceitfulness, vain promises, you know, all politicians are like that. Oh no, there's one that, no, doesn't exist. They have to flatter, lie, deceive in order to obtain that position. So when the antichrist does it, it's just another day in the office. You know, it's just like, oh, he's just another politician, right? That's how he's going to obtain. That's why you won't know it's him when he comes into office, you know, when he gets into power because it's just like any other politician. Now I want you to notice something significant regarding Daniel chapter 11, verse 23 says, and after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully for he shall come up and become strong with a small people. Now I believe that when it talks about being strong with the small people, he's referring to the Jews. He's going to be strong with, they're going to support him. They're going to propagate him. They're going to promote him. He's going to be strong with the small people. And it says he shall enter peaceably even into the fattest places of the province and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers. He shall scatter among them, the prey and spoiling riches. Yeah, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds even for a time. Now you're in Revelation chapter 13, look at verse number two. So he will obtain political power through flatteries, but he will also partake in a global conquest. Okay. What does this mean? He's going to go forth conquering and to conquer. Look at verse number two of chapter 13 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. Now when this is after his resurrection, his so-called resurrection, this is after he comes back to life, but we see here that he's referred to as the beast. Okay. Then that's going to be significant. We're going to go into that just a little bit. Look at verse number three. So we see that he will partake in a global conquest. He will also be killed and be brought back to life. Look at 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. Now it doesn't say in scripture, so I can't say that this is a hundred percent sure, but I would, I would think that he's going to come back to life after how many days? Three. Why? Because he's trying to mimic as much as possible the actual Christ, right? But we see here that his head was wounded. Now why was it wounded? Well, you know, again, this is all speculation. It could be the fact that we see in Revelation chapter six that he's going forth conquering and to conquer and he's partaking in these battles. He might be one of these people who, uh, one of these Kings so-called that are actually partaken in the battle. Now the reason I would believe that he's actually doing that is because you read in the Old Testament that the Kings would actually go forth to battle. We read about David falling into sin and it talks about him and it states at a time when Kings go forth to battle, David tear behind back in Jerusalem. So I think he's going to be one of those Kings that says, you know what? I'm for the people and I'm actually going to go out to battle, right? He receives a deadly wound to the head. His deadly wound is healed and then the world wonders after the beast. Now keep in mind when the Bible talks about the beast, it is referring to the antichrist, but it's also in reference to just the system, the new world order system. And look, also when it's referencing the beast, it's not just talking about the new world order. It's not just talking about the antichrist, but it's actually talking about also the 10 kings who are ruling within that system as well. Okay. And we'll get into that just a bit. Look at verse number seven. So he will receive a deadly wound. He comes back to life and what happens? What's like the main thing he wants to do after he comes back to life? Well, he's in a wage war against Christians and he's going to put them to death. Look at verse seven, and it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. This is what we see in Revelation chapter six, martyrdom. The rapture is being put to death. Now look, come on, let's think about this for a second. If people out there believe that the rapture takes place prior to all this, then who is he waging war with? Saints. They're not supposed to be here at this time, if that were true. Hello. They're not supposed to be there. He's not waging war with the saints in heaven. He's waging war with the saints on earth and he's overcoming them. And in fact, this is still tribulation, by the way, this is not the wrath of God. Because of the fact that in Revelation chapter six, you see the martyrs under the altar who were slain for their testimony and their witness of Christ. And they're asking God, how long will thou wait, O Lord, before thou avenge our blood? That means God has not yet poured out his vengeance or his wrath upon the earth. So we see here that he's making war with the saints. You don't have to turn in Daniel chapter seven verse 25, it says, and he shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hand until a time and time and dividing of times. Now this is significant because of the fact that after the abomination of desolation is set up, until the time of the rapture, the Bible calculates that as being approximately 75 days of great tribulation. And you think to yourself, well, then at that point, we'll know what day and hour, not necessarily. We might know approximately what day and hour after the 75 days, but you got to keep in mind that the Bible's telling us that he's thinking to change times and laws, right? He's changing times and laws and wherewith it's going to be difficult to understand what time zone are we in. I mean, look, you think that's impossible, think of time change. How many people with, you know, phones and everything, they still show up late to church or they still show up early. People can't even get the time, right? Even when like everyone's in unity in regards to, you know, it's just like, what time is it? I don't know. How much more when you're being persecuted, when people are chasing you and trying to kill you, this is very much likely, okay? Go back to second Thessalonians chapter two. So he will wage war against Christians and cause them to be put to death. And there's so much more we can say about that aspect. It's going to be a very troublesome and sad time. Why is that? Because in Matthew 24 and the different portions of scripture, we read about, you know, children delivering up their parents, wives and husbands and just families turning on each other. This is a very difficult time, okay? Now he ultimately, he will be defeated by Jesus Christ himself at the battle of Armageddon. Look at verse number seven of second Thessalonians chapter two, it says, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now leadeth 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. So in Revelation, where is this taking place? Revelation chapter 19. This is where Jesus Christ comes back on a white horse with his saints, his armies. That's us, amen? He said, well, are we going to be partaking in that battle? No, we're just watching. He destroys them with the brightness of his coming. You know, I've seen way too many Hollywood movies back in my day, so I'm just picturing like the CGI just burning away as he's kind of just disintegrating. I don't know, that's probably what it's going to look like, I don't know. But that's what it says. He's just going to destroy them with the brightness of his coming, okay? Now go to Revelation chapter six, if you would, Revelation chapter six. So he, and just to give you a synopsis of what takes place after this, he destroys them with the brightness of his coming. The 10 kings who are ruling with them, who gave their power unto the beast actually survived this. And in fact the Bible even tells us that those 10 kings go into the millennial reign, okay? Their power is given up, their power is taken away, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, right? And people, there's unsaved people that go into the millennial reign during this time. It's a thousand years, after the thousand years are up, excuse me, prior to that the antichrist and his false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. Then you have the millennial reign, after the millennial reign you have the white throne judgment where the entire world is being judged, people who are in hell are given up to be judged according to the books and according to God's laws, okay? The book of life and God's laws. And then at that point they're cast into the lake of fire, okay? Now after that then you have the new heaven and the new earth, et cetera. Now when will he come? Because we saw that he's revealed when he receives that deadly wound to the head, right? That's how you'll know, oh man, this guy's the antichrist. This is the one that the Bible's been prophesying of. That's how we'll know, okay? The question is when does he come? When does the Bible guarantee that we will know that he is here and that this person is the antichrist? Now as I mentioned we'll know when he receives that deadly wound to the head, but look at Revelation 6 verse number 1, it says, and I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder one of the four beasts saying, come and see. And I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer. So please notice that this is chapter 6, prior to him receiving that deadly wound to the head. This is when he first comes on the scene. Now you would think that this is something that everyone would see, right? Because he's going forth conquering to conquer, he's conquering lands and nations. He's doing these great exploits as Daniel chapter 7 or 11 talk about. He's doing these great exploits, he's conquering. You would think, okay, that's him, right? That's him. That has to be him. He's the one on the white horse with the crown and the bow, that's him. But no one's going to think that. Why? Well, let me give you just a brief overview of the diverse beasts that we see. Go to chapter 13 of Revelation and I'm just going to talk to you a little bit about the diverse beasts that we see in Daniel. Okay, Daniel, again chapter 2, you see the great image that King Nebuchadnezzar sees and that great image can be compared to the four beasts that we see coming out of the sea in Daniel chapter number 7. Now these four beasts are diverse one from another, okay? And they represent kingdoms, they represent empires, but they also represent a man, correct? Now the first beast that we see is a lion with wings. This is representative of the Babylonian kingdom, okay? This is representative of King Nebuchadnezzar. And the reason why is because the lion is what? The king of the jungle. So he's the most, he's the strongest empire that's there at that time. The next beast that we see is a bear raised up on its side with three ribs in its mouth. Now this bear is representative of the Medo-Persian empire. This is a dual kingdom, a dual reigning kingdom that we see here, okay? That's why you see it raised on one side because of the fact that the Persian empire was stronger and greater than the Medes, okay? He has the three ribs in his mouth, representative of three kings. Under him, we see the third beast, which is a leopard, or excuse me, a leopard, a leopard. And the leopard has four wings with four heads. Now look, you read some of this, it's just like, take me to John chapter one, let's read something else, you know? You're just like, I don't know what's going on here. The leopard has four wings with four heads. This is representative of the Grecian empire. And the reason a leopard is being used is because the animal, this beast, this leopard is a fast and quick animal. And the reason it represents the Grecians is because the Grecians conquered with much celerity. They were just conquering a lot of nations. They were very fast, they just spread very quickly. And the reason it has four heads is because of the fact that Alexander the Great, when he died at a very young age, did not have a successor, therefore his kingdom was split into four. Then you see the fourth beast, which is the ten horns known as the Roman empire. Now the Bible doesn't explicitly talk about the Roman empire in these chapters, but we know it's them if you just compare scripture with scripture. One of the reasons why is because in Revelation chapter 17, it talks about seven kingdoms, seven empires that have ruled the world. First being the Egyptian empire, then you have the Assyrians, right? You have the Babylonians, the Medo-Persian empire, and then you have the Grecians. And he says five are fallen and one is. So who took up after the Grecians? The Romans. John is writing this during what? The Roman empire. So he says five are fallen, one is, one is yet to come. That's referring to the new world order, okay? So that's what those represent. Then you have the iron mingled with clay in Daniel chapter two and the ten toes which represent ten kings, and we won't get into that. Look at Revelation chapter 13 verse number one. Let's look at this same beast in Revelation chapter 13 verse number one. And 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 names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a what? 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. You say, what's the significance of the beasts, the four beasts that we see in Daniel chapter seven and the one beast that we see in Revelation chapter 13? Well, here's the significance, okay? In Daniel chapter seven, these are four different empires with great strength who did great conquests, right? Whereas in Revelation chapter 17, they're a conglomerate of all those great world empires. It's like a Voltron. Or for those of you who are not that old, it's like a Megazord. You guys remember, watch Power Rangers, okay? It's okay, don't be ashamed, all right? Right here, man. I was the Green Ranger, amen? And after the Green Ranger, I was the White Ranger, all right, on the playground. Don't look down on me because you did it too, all right? So this beast is a conglomerate. It's a mixture of all these world empires that we see in Daniel chapter seven. It's just a mixture, but now it's one world government. It's a one world order. It has the elements and the strengths of all these empires all in one. So basically, it is an accumulation, it is the completion of Satan's agenda to rule the world. He tried it with Babylon. He tried it with the Medo-Persian Empire. He tried it with the Grecians. He tried it with Rome. He was not able to until the end times when he's able to do it with this beast, okay? Verse three says, and I saw one of his heads as I wounded to death, so on and so forth. Now, here's the thing. In verse three, it talks about one of his heads, the seven heads, right, is wounded to death and the deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast. Now, why is that significant? Go to Revelation chapter 17. So the seven heads is symbolic of the seven great empires of the world. Then the ten horns are representative of these ten kings who are currently ruling and reigning with the Antichrist, okay? Look at Revelation 17 verse eight. And the beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. Who is this talking about? The Antichrist, right? Was and is not is referring to the fact that he was alive, then he was killed, and then he ascends out of the bottomless pit and shall go into perdition. We see that in Revelation chapter 19. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. And here is the mine which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman said it and there are seven kings. Never fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come. And when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Verse 11. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seventh and goeth into perdition. So pay attention here because there's a lot of sevens and eights and all these fractions are all right. Remember, there's five fallen. One is, which is the Roman Empire. The seven is not yet come. This is referring to the New World Order. The eighth is the Antichrist. But the Bible says that he's of the seven. Now here's what's significant. The seven is when they're going forth conquering and to conquer. The seven is the one that's going forth conquering and to conquer, changing times and laws. So although the beast is representative of the Antichrist, it's representative of not just him, but also the 10 kings. So you have this conglomerate of leaders who are actually going out and conquering and to conquer, doing all these exploits. So if you have 10 plus the Antichrist, how are you going to know it's him? You won't know. If there's 11 guys doing all these exploits, if you have 11 rulers going out conquering and to conquer and doing all these exploits, you won't know it's him until when? Until one of them dies and comes back to life. And of course you have this taking place today where you have rulers that are joining together and they're kind of kumbaya-ing or whatever. But we won't know that this is actually the people they're talking about until one of them actually goes forth and to conquer, dies, receives that deadly wound, and comes back. That's why he talks about the eighth, which is referring to the Antichrist, is of the seven. And at that point, he just inherits the infrastructure of the new world order. At that point, he's not claiming to be God when he's going forth conquering and to conquer. He's not claiming to be God. He's still with the Jews. The Jews are still helping him. It's not until he actually resurrects, comes back to life, that he actually claims to be God. And at that point, he turns on the Jews. You say, how do you know that? Well, Luke 21 tells us that. The Bible refers to it as the days of vengeance, where the Antichrist will actually turn on the Jews, begin to destroy them, and his armies trods down the city, the holy city, for forty and two months. So after he resurrects, after he comes back to life, I shouldn't say resurrects because he's not Jesus, amen? After he comes back to life, after his body is possessed, the Bible tells us that he reigns for forty and two months after that. So you have the abomination of desolation, his death here, abomination of desolation, rapture here, wrath of God. That covers a span of forty and two months, which is three and a half years. At the end of those three and a half years, why is it trodden down for that time? Because that's when Jesus Christ comes and sets up his millennial reign. Now, let me see here, look at verse number 12, and the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. So that confirms it right there. They have no kingdom as of yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Verse 13, these have one mind, this is after he's possessed, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. So after he comes back to life, they're like, oh man, this guy is God, this is what they're going to think. And then they're going to say, you know what, let's not have this ten kings thing going on, you just take rule, you just become our leader, you become the main man. And at that point they give their power unto the beast, he is the culmination of this new world order structure, okay? They have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Now go back to Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 24, and look, this goes great with scripture when you compare it, that this is what's taking place, that these ten kings are actually ruling and reigning also with him, they're conquering and to conquer, and that would make sense why we would not know that it's the antichrist until he's killed, because there's many of them, okay? There are many antichrists, right? There are many false prophets, and in fact, look at verse 11 of Matthew 24, this is prior to the abomination of desolation being set up, it says, and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. When he therefore see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand, et cetera. Now, go to Luke 21, and this will be the last portion of scripture that I have you turn to. So Matthew 24, verse 11 says that there shall be many false prophets, you know? A lot of people say, oh, we're going to know who it is right off the ... No, we're not. It's imminent. His coming is imminent. His coming is imminent. We're not going to know. His coming is going to be sudden because his death is going to be sudden, right? You see, the antichrist wants to copy Jesus Christ and his death, his burial, his reign, but he also is trying to misconstrue him, and I believe that that's one of the reasons why this false doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is being propagated, right? The coming of Christ is imminent. The coming of Christ is imminent. And then what happens? Who's actually going to be the imminent coming? The antichrist, and that's why they'll receive him because he's going to be the fulfillment of what everyone's been saying. Every pulpit in America says, you know, like, you know, he could come at the end of the service. At the end of the service, we've got a close fall, and, you know, we're just, we're out of here, you know, and that's not what's going to take place. What's going to happen is this man's going to show up on the scene, and that's why the apostate churches of this world will accept him readily, okay? Now, we say, what's the application? I want some application. I'm having trouble with my marriage, you know? My kids are giving me trouble, or I got a bad habit I'm struggling with, you know? I'm lazy. Can you preach on my sin or whatever, you know? Just help me with something. I need encouragement, okay? All right, well, let me just throw this in here to encourage you for this, okay? Because look, first of all, this whole sermon should be encouraging to you, amen? Amen. Why? Because we know these things. Yeah, right. So we're not going to be caught off guard. Amen. You know, we're not going to be sleeping, so to speak. We're not going to be drunken in the night, so to speak. We're going to know these things, amen? And look, if so be it that the antichrist and all these events take place in our lifetime, it might very well happen in our lifetime, maybe within the next 30 to 50 years. We don't know. At least we know what to do. Woe to the person who believes they won't even be here, and therefore they don't study these things. What's the point of studying all this? I'm going to be gone. The church is going to be gone, you know? We're going to be raptured. It's going to be over. Woe unto them, okay? Look at Luke 21. That was a tongue twister. Look at verse 34. Jesus is referring to that day of redemption because the Bible also tells us, Jesus says in Luke 21 that when you see these things come to pass, lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. And he's referring to the abomination of desolation being set up, the holy scene being trodden down for 42 months. He says when you see these things come to pass, lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. What does it talk about? The rapture's coming. Your redemption draweth nigh. And it's not referring to the salvation of your soul. It's referring to the redemption of the body because the rapture is a bodily resurrection. It's not like Casper's just going to come out of our body and just like go to be with the Lord. No, our bodies are going to be resurrected. Our bodies are going to be raptured to be with the Lord. So he says when you see these things come to pass, hey, lift up your heads. Keep your head up. That's a good way to put it when we're in the end times. But hey, keep your head up. It's going to be okay. Our redemption draweth nigh. Now look what it says in verse 34. And take heed to yourselves. This is good advice right here. Here's your application, amen. Lest that any time your hearts be overcharged with sobriety and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. You see, you may not be involved in sobriety or drunkenness, but you know a lot of Christians can get involved in the cares of this life. And it just consumes you. You're just consumed with just the problems of life, right? And these things can really just distract you from that which is most important. This is the most important aspect right here. Now we're not saying that it's the most important to the point when we're preaching on it every single Sunday. But it's important because of the fact that it marks the second coming of Christ. That means we're not going to be here forever. There is an end to all these things. You know, like, oh man, I got so much debt, there's an end to the debt. Oh man, I'm sick and I'm just never going to get over this illness. There's an end to it. But you know what? If you're consumed with the cares of this life, that day shall come upon you unawares. Why? Because you're just consumed with the hustle and bustle of life. And I'm not saying just, you know, go buy gallons of water, you know, guns and stuff and go hide in some room somewhere until this happens. We need to take care of life, amen? But balanced in the sense of we are watching. Look what it says in verse 35, for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. What is a snare? Like a trap. It just catches them off guard. Okay. Verse 36, watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. What is that referring to? Well, because if so be, if the Lord wills that we're around during that time of great tribulation, it's going to be a difficult time. And we are to pray, we're to be watchful and ask God that we would be worthy to escape the martyrdom, to escape that persecution so that we can be there at the end of that great tribulation and see the Son of Man coming into the clouds, right? To stand before the Son of Man. No, look, we're going to see him either way, man. We're going to see them in death now when we die. And we go to meet him in heaven, you know, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. But I think it'd be pretty cool to see him just coming. Talk about a breath of fresh air. To see him coming in the midst of all kinds of persecution. He sets up his, or no, he doesn't set up his millennial reign at that time, but he's going to set it up. And he brings his reward with him, right? We get resurrected and then we're only in heaven for about three and a half years and then we come back, you know? But here's the thing, we need to pray. You see, sometimes we can have this attitude of, man, I just want to go through tribulation. You know, I'm just going to be like gorilla style and we're just going to do it. Well, how's your prayer life today? You know, how's your mindset today? You're not going to be that way then if you're not that way now. You're going to be the kind of Christian you are then as the Christian you are today. Hey, are you reading your Bible? Hey, are you praying? Are you living a life that's pleasing unto the Lord? Do you have your affection set above on the things of this, on the things of this, or on the things of this earth, things of this world? You're going to be the same exact Christian then that you are today. And the application is simply this, hey, watch and pray that you may be counter-worthy to escape all these things. You know, hey, the coming of the antichrist is imminent. It can happen at any time, at any moment. No man knoweth when he comes. And this is a true saying, amen? Spire heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. We're thankful so much for just end times Bible prophecy. Sometimes churches stray away from teaching in depth what the Bible teaches, but you put it there for a reason. We should not disregard it. We should care for it, study it, and preach from it, and do our best to live a life that's pleasing unto you because of the fact that His coming, as far as the antichrist, is at hand. He can come at any moment. And I pray, God, that you'd help us to be prepared for that, help us to fortify our families, help us to fortify our doctrine, our church, and to be ready. We love you so much and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.