The Beast Comes to Power

Transcript

GR 2029
01/28/2018
The Beast Comes to Power
Revelation 13:2-9
Gil Rugh

We're going to the book of Revelation in your Bibles, Revelation13. And we're in a section of the book of Revelation where we are seeing something of the work of Satan in attacking God's people Israel. Remember God called the nation Israel, chose them to be the nation, the only nation on the whole earth at any time that would be the nation that was particularly His. He would save people from other nations, but this is the only nation as a nation chosen by God. As such the devil is constantly opposed to the nation Israel and where we are in the book of Revelation, we see something of the climax of that opposition of the devil to the nation.

Now remember the book of Revelation is written to the churches, local churches everywhere, at all time. We are to learn from it. We get some perspective on the future but it is a reminder to us that there is a relentless spiritual war going on and we need to be careful. We are not to be drowsy, not to be sleepy, as Paul said. We are moving toward our redemption, but we are in a serious spiritual war.

God chose the nation Israel for Himself, but because of their sin and rejection of Him and His Son, He has set them aside for a time. We have picked them up now in the book of Revelation, but during the period of time in which we are living, called the church age, you understand what the church is. We are the bride of Christ, we are God's people. And you know what that means, it means the devil hates us with a deep hatred. He is opposed to us in every way, works to bring about destruction and ruin, does all he can to destroy God's people.

So we don't want to be reading ahead and saying Israel's future and they have difficult times. Understand we are in a spiritual warfare. Paul wrote to the Ephesian church and said “we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces in the heavenlies.” And thus we need to take up the whole armor of God. Now, even as we see the forces of the devil at work, we don't want to be thinking we are just observers. We are participants and the enemy of our soul, the enemy of our church never stops. We want to be faithful.

We come to Revelation 13 and we are going to spend time on details. If we don't work through the details, we can't understand the Word of God. If all we do is come to the Word of God and get some spiritual comfort and a few words of application, we will never grow. We are like our children. They are going to learn so we teach them the alphabet, then we teach them words, then we teach them putting it together in sentences and so on. We just have to grapple with the details of the Word of God. What God has said is important, we believe in the verbal inspiration of Scripture. God didn't just speak so we can get a general idea of what He says, every word come from Him.

So we want to study the Scripture, concentrate. And we are doing that in Revelation 13. We are in the middle of what we call the 70th week of Daniel, a seven-year tribulation period that will climax with the return of Christ to earth. We are not in that period now. Before that seven years occurs, the Rapture of the church will take place and we will be caught up to meet Christ in the air. The seven-year period will begin when the leader we are going to talk about in Revelation 13 signs an agreement with the nation Israel and God moves to complete His program with that nation in preparation of the coming of His Son back to earth to establish a kingdom.

Revelation 13, we looked at the opening portion of this. The dragon, referring to the devil as Revelation 12:9 made clear, “standing on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea having ten horns and seven heads. And on his horns were ten diadems and on his heads were blasphemous names.” And we looked at this, what John is seeing is something drawn from the book of Daniel and it has already appeared in the book of Revelation in the previous chapter. He sees a beast coming out of the sea, we'll talk more about him in a moment, that beast “has ten horns and seven heads. And on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.”

We went back and looked at the book of Daniel. And if you put up the chart on Daniel 2 and 7, you see here what Daniel saw. From his day, twice, Daniel 2 and 7, God revealed something of His purposes for the future regarding nations that would impact the nation Israel. And Daniel's visions and revelation began where he was, so he starts with Babylon. It was seen as a head of gold in the image of the man in Daniel 2, as a lion in Daniel 7. Then Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Daniel 2 different metals, Daniel 7 different beasts. Then in Daniel 7 you have more detailed information, instead of just calling them toes as they were in Daniel 2 on the image of the man, they are identified as ten horns. And then you get another bit of information that wasn't in Daniel 2, there is going to be a little horn that comes up last among the ten.

So that's a little bit of a picture. Now while that chart is up, drop down to Revelation 13:2, then we'll pick up here what's in that. He saw this beast, and you'll note he said, “The beast I saw coming out of the sea was like a leopard. His feet were like those of a bear, his mouth like those of a lion.” Now you see what is happening here. Look at Daniel 7 on the chart. You see a lion, a bear and a leopard. Now what John does, he is looking backwards. So you see this beast was like a leopard, his feet were like those of a bear, his mouth like the mouth of a lion. So he looks back over the three previous kingdoms. And you'll note what happens. He is in the fourth kingdom here as we will see, Rome, but every kingdom absorbs something of the previous kingdoms when they conquer it.

The easy example, the Romans conquered Greece, but what were our New Testaments written in? Greek. So the Greek language was picked up and it is carried over, and even though the Romans have conquered the Greeks there is element of Greek culture and so on absorbed into the Roman Empire, as it was from Persia, as it was from Babylon. So that's the picture of this beast that he sees coming up. This is a culminating empire that has absorbed the others.

Now John's picture, we have four here, then five, then six. Where does he get the others? We have seven heads here and the heads are kingdoms. You can take the chart down a moment. I saw the sea, coming out ten horns and seven heads. We came over to Revelation 17, this is review, but it's good for you and me. Come to Revelation 17:9, and we're talking about a beast here, we'll talk more about this. But the beast, the beast, the beast keeps coming up in Revelation. Verse 8, “The beast you saw was and is not and is about to come out of the abyss and go to destruction.” We saw some and we'll see more of this, we just touched on it in a previous study what we are talking about. Verse 9, “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, they are seven kings.” So the heads, the mountains, kings are what they refer to. A king represents a kingdom, the heads, the mountains, they are kings. “Five have fallen, one is.” So if you would put up the major empires chart you can see what John does. Daniel started where he was, with Babylon. Babylon was in power, Daniel was a captive taken to Babylon when they conquered Israel. But now John is looking back over previous history as God reveals to him, he goes back to the beginning of Israel's history. Remember the Bible is only interested in empires that impact Israel and so we go back to Egypt. So you have Egypt, where Israel became a nation during that time of slavery; Assyria, the nation that took the ten northern tribes into captivity. Then we pick up where Daniel was—Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. So that brings us six, but we have seven mountains in Revelation 13:9-10. Verse 9, “The seven heads are seven mountains,” so we have seven. That brings us to the ten nations, we have made them subsets of Rome because if you remember in Daniel 2 the iron comes down into the toes, so that Roman Empire continues. Sometimes we talk about it as revived because it seemingly is not existing as an empire now, but it will be revived.

So that makes the seven. And he explains why now he could see an eighth in the future. Verse 10, “There are seven kings or kingdoms. Five have fallen.” So you come through Greece, the first five on our list there. Those kingdoms have come and gone. “One is,” #6, Rome is ruling. John has been put into exile on the island of Patmos by the Romans, Romans rule the world at this time. “The other has not yet come,” that would be #7, that is yet future. “And when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth.” So that's where we get eight. He is one of the seven and he goes to destruction. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom,” that's #7. They were the ten horns on that fourth beast in Daniel 7. So it's part of the Roman Empire, they have the iron in Daniel 2 in the ten toes. “They have not yet received a kingdom, they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.” So these are going to be together, even though they are separate. So there will be sequence here.

Verse 13, “They have one purpose, they give their power and authority to the beast.” So that's why he becomes the eighth. The ten nations form a revived Roman Empire for the first 3½ years of the seven years. Then the Antichrist assumes ultimate power and they agree to that, that he should be the ruler of rulers. So for the last 3½ years you have the final form of the Roman Empire, the rule of the Antichrist. So that's the overview we are talking about.

If you come back to Revelation 12 and you'll note in verses 3-4, “John saw a sign in heaven, behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and diadems,” the crowns of rulers on the seven heads. So the same description that we saw in Revelation 13 that we are looking at, only now it is on the dragon because the dragon is the devil and he is the ultimate source and power behind all these empires.

Remember we looked at Luke 4, in the temptation of Christ the devil said I can give you all these earthly kingdoms because they have been given to me and I give them to whomever I wish. So no wonder they have operated by and large in opposition to Israel and dominated Israel and often caused great suffering for Israel. The devil is behind them.

Now when we come to Revelation 13 we have the beast, but he has the seven heads and the ten horns and so on because the beast is the one empowered by the devil. And he will be the ultimate form, the conclusion of earthly empires in opposing God's work. So the picture is not that complicated.

Come back to Daniel 7, the repetition helps us. None of this is new, it is just being clarified and some additions made. In Daniel 7:23, we'll pick up and see how it coordinates. The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth. Now remember Daniel didn't start with Egypt and Assyria as John does, he just started where he was, with Babylon. So for him Babylon was the first, Persia the second, Greece the third and Rome the fourth. So the fourth kingdom, a beast, a kingdom. The ten horns, “out of this kingdom ten kings will arise.” That's why we say the ten nations come out of Rome, that's what the Bible says, they come out of the Roman Empire, that kingdom. “Another will arise after them.” So that's where we get the eighth, the Antichrist. So what Daniel saw, John just reiterates in Revelation 17, plus going back to the beginning of Israel's history with Egypt and Assyria. And this one, this last person becomes the most important. He'll subdue three of the ten, speak out against the Most High, wear down the saints of the highest ones and they will be given into his hand for a time, two times and a half time.

So come back to Revelation 13, we'll be coming back to Daniel, the end of Revelation 13:1, “on his head were blasphemous names,” because each of these empires are empires opposed to the true and living God. We are familiar with most of them, they were the enemies of God's people. Now sometimes God used them for positive things, as in Babylon's case Nebuchadnezzar is going to become a believer. But the empire of Babylon is opposed to the Jews, they captured the Jews and so on. God will use Persia to bring about a restoration from the Babylonian captivity, but still it is a nation dominating and controlling the nation Israel and so on. They have blasphemous names, they are godless empires; they worship their own gods. Even when they give some respect to the God of Israel, it is just part of . . . Like the Persians they showed kindness to whatever god of the country they conquered. It was a way, we want to get the favor of every god. So they are really the opponents of the living God, they have blasphemous names, they are empires ultimately under the control of the devil.

Verse 2, “The beast which I saw,” that’s the beast coming up out of the sea of verse 1. We noted “it was like a leopard, like a bear, like a lion” because all these former empires were conquered and absorbed into this final empire. “The dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.” Now this doesn't mean that God is not ultimately in control and He sets in power whom He will, but within His sovereign plan the devil has the power and authority to delegate and raise up rulers and establish kingdoms and so on. “The whole world lies in the evil one,” 1 John 5 says. He is the god, small “g,” of this world. We've talked about his power. The dragon gave him his power, great authority. Important to realize here, this final form of the kingdom, #8 with the Antichrist is the most demonic, devilish controlled kingdom that has ever been. Here the devil will have greater power than he has had before, we will see that in passages we look at.

Look at verse 3, and we get into an area here where there is some disagreement. “I saw one of his heads as it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.” And there is discussion and disagreement, is the beast the kingdom or is it the final ruler of the kingdom, the one we call the Antichrist? And so in verse 3, is it the kingdom that was killed and now is resurrected? Or is it the personal Antichrist? I want to talk to you about the possibilities, I tend toward the fact it's the personal Antichrist. Now we want to recognize the kingdom and the king do mesh together. I think the beast coming up out of the sea has seven heads, those seven kingdoms come through the ten-nation confederacy that form a revived Roman Empire.

But the beast is himself the eighth, and so since he is the dominant, most significant, most powerful, these others are seen in relation to him, on his head. But as he comes out, like the dragon in Revelation 12, here the beast is the dragon's man. It becomes a question, I don't have any question the Roman Empire is revived, I think it is revived under the ten-nation confederacy and it will continue to exist in the person of the Antichrist. And so the nation is revived. But I tend to think here that it is the person that is resurrected. So one of his heads has been slain refers to what goes on in the seventh empire, among the ten, evidently in that context because we are going to find when he comes to full power he'll have forty-two months to go in verse 5. So we know where we are with his rise to power. We saw that in other passages as well.

So I think what we have here is the final representative of the final form of these empires in opposition to God and His people center in the Antichrist. So I would take it as a personal resurrection here. Now let me say some of those who don't hold to this, and there are good men who hold it is the kingdom. Usually they make a transition in Revelation 13 to the personal Antichrist, so the difference is maybe not that great, it's just a question, could the Antichrist be raised from the dead. And one of the major questions comes, only God can create life, but there is no life created here, no matter what your view. The life of the Antichrist was created when he was conceived in the womb by his parents, there is no new life created with a resurrection, if it is that.

So it's not a matter the devil couldn't bring the Antichrist back to life because he would be usurping God's privilege to create life. There is no new life created. In fact just as an aside God has delegated the creation of life to man. The only life He directly created was creating Adam, then out of Adam, Eve. And since then life has been created every time conception takes place. It was resolved in church history, we hold the view called traduscianism which is a way of saying life is passed on, God does not directly create a soul or spirit every time a baby is conceived. He endowed man and has planned that that life would be passed on, which is why David would say, “in sin my mother conceived me.” Because the life and the sin that had been created by Adam is passed. So it's not a matter of creating life. I'm not minimizing the significance of raising someone from the dead, but it's not an act of creation. It's a matter of bringing the spirit back into the body.

Now that happens in the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Elisha the prophet raised the widow's son, and you get the idea he had to really work at it because he went in and lay down on the dead boy, generates warmth and then gets up and walks around. Then gets back and lies down on him again. You think, why didn't he just say, get up. God chose to do it this way and use the prophet in this way. Peter will raise Dorcas or Tabitha as she is also known, in the book of Acts, from the dead. He didn't create life and there is no new life, the spirit came back into the body. Amazingly the witch of Endor called Samuel back from the grave, near the end of Saul's life there, and that was an amazing thing. We say that was God doing it but He used the witch. Some say she was shocked when she saw Samuel. She wasn't shocked she saw Samuel, she was shocked, she realized when Samuel came that Saul was the one standing next to her and he had ordered the death, execution, of all witches. So Saul says I won't kill you.

But at any rate we have these exceptions. So it doesn't break the order of resurrection, either. Some will say it couldn't be a bodily resurrection because the order of resurrection is Christ, then afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming. There are exceptions to the rule, like I say, Peter raising Dorcas. That's a resurrection, she was dead, the body had been washed and so on. Lazarus and others. So they are rare but there is resurrection.

Could the devil have such power? Well, if God chose to delegate it to him. Remember this is the time of greatest demonstration of demonic power the world will have ever seen. We'll get to that when we get to the last part of Revelation 13. Then the devil will be doing things that may be normally restricted to God's people. Elijah called down fire from heaven, the 400 prophets of Baal couldn't do it. But we are going to read there is going to be a false prophet in Revelation 13 who can do it. So there will be demonstration. It is God's intention that the world be deceived at this time.

Come over to 2 Thessalonians 2, and we'll come back here, too, in a moment. But look at verse 11, during this time, we'll see the context when we come back, “For this reason God will send them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.” Remember in Romans 1, because men reject the revelation of God, God gave them over to their sinful passions. Three times we are told in Romans 1, God gave them over, God gave them over. They want to worship the creation rather than the Creator, God gave them over. Here, what we are going to find, is God giving them over. Do you like to be deluded and deceived? Do you hate the truth? I'll give you deception. And the devil is turned loose to display powers that will only increase their deception. So it would not be surprising to me that he could raise from the dead.

One thing that really is striking to me, come to Revelation 13:3, “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain.” You ought to note, the word “if” is not in the text, they have added that and it doesn't help things. It maybe gives you a different idea that perhaps he didn't really die. He sees one of his heads as having been slain, perfect participle, as having been slain. So it is seeing him as one that has been slain. So drop the “if.”

Come back to Revelation 5. This same expression, as having been slain, perfect participle even, back in Revelation 5:6. This is the heavenly scene, we are in heaven in Revelation 4-5. Revelation 5:6, “I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb standing as if slain.” Again the word “if” is not there, hos, then the form, sphatto, to slay. Just hos, as, no “if.” You see the Lamb, referring to Christ as having been slain. There is no question what happened to Him, He was killed, slain. Down in verse 9, “they sing a song, ‘You are worthy to take the book, to break its seals for you were slain.’” There are five uses of this word we are looking at, this is the only one that is not a perfect participle. Some of you have studied Greek, but the same verb, to slay, referring to Christ. It's the same verb for to slay or kill. You were slain. Come down to verse 12, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” this is the Lamb having been slain. Again, it's another one of those participles. Worthy is the Lamb, so there is no doubt Christ was really killed.

Come over to Revelation 13 again, and we see verse 3, “one of his heads as having been slain.” Come down to verse 8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” So basically it's the same verb again, it's another one of those participles, as we have of the Antichrist in verse 3. So in the other uses of this word, it is used of Christ and His death. I think what we have here is the Satanic counterfeit of the death and resurrection of Christ. Think of the impact of that. We tell people that Christ paid the penalty for sin, His resurrection demonstrates that it was paid in full. Now you have the devil come along and raises up the Antichrist. Any wonder the world of unbelievers will fall on their faces to worship him as God? They wouldn't believe in the true Messiah of Israel, the true One who died for their sins, but here . . .

So that, along with the personal pronouns that are picked up, one of his heads, his fatal wound, the worship given to him. Verse 5, “The mouth speaking great things.” And then down in verse 11, “I saw another beast.” And in Greek there are two words sometimes distinguishing another. Heteros is another of a different kind, heterodoxy, different kind of doctrine. This is the word allos, and it's the word for another of the same kind. So you can fine tune things, if you want to talk about something, another of a different kind. Paul played on this word in Galatians, they are preaching another Gospel which is not really another. He used the two words, they are preaching another Gospel, one of a totally different kind. It is really not another, one like mine. Using two different words. Here it is another beast, one like the first beast. He is distinguished but he is of the same kind.

These kinds of things would seem to indicate a personal being.

Come back to the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7, where we were, verse 24, “The ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kinds will arise, another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones.” So these focus on an individual here, the person. “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the highest ones. They will be given into his time and his end will be.” And when we get to Revelation 19 we will see the beast being cast into hell with the false prophet. So it would seem to be strange if that is the empire. Somewhere along the line the beast takes on the personal character, and I realize there could be an interchange but it seems to me it is easier to take them together.

Come over to Daniel 9, when we talk about the Antichrist. He is “the prince who is to come,” verse 26. So again focusing on the personal individual, the prince who is to come. And in verse 27, “He will make a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice.” So you get the idea the focus is on this individual and his importance, and these passages that keep referring to this individual.

Over in Daniel 11:36, “Then the king will do as he pleases,” remember that is another title for the Antichrist, the willful king. “He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will prosper until the judgment is finished. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers,” and so on. We'll talk more about that passage when we get to the latter part of Revelation 13.

Come over to 2 Thessalonians again, 2 Thessalonians 2. In verse 3, the end of the verse, he is called “the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as God.” You get the personal pronouns referring to him, and it seems that personal emphasis that it culminates in him. This is an empire he is ruling over, but he is the focal point of the empire. And he is the individual we deal with. Down in verse 8 he is called “that lawless one who will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth, bring to the end with the appearance of His coming.”

We'll have that in Revelation 19 and he will be cast into hell. And this is the context where we read that God will send a strong delusion. “This one,” verse 9, “is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.” That doesn't mean that everything is trickery, the devil has power. But the wonders are false in that they are not directing you toward the true God and the worship of the true God.

But the devil does what we call miracles, we saw in the book of Job that he caused Job's sickness, he caused the wind to blow and destroy the house that killed Job's children. He does miracles that we call miracles, he can control things. If he can bestow the kingdoms of the world because God has given him that authority, he has power. So his representative here is deluding people.

Come back to Revelation 13:3. So my preference is to take the beast here as the personal Antichrist. Like I say, some good people—Pentecost, Walvoord, and others—would take it in verse 3 as the empire, but then it seems to me you have to make a transition someplace, otherwise you are forcing the empire into all these personal references. I think the great miracle, and I think what we will have here is the Satanic trinity where Satan wants to replace God the Father. He has his false messiah, here, the Antichrist, and the resurrection from the dead, which is false. Not that it is not a genuine resurrection, but it is a false wonder in that it will lead people away from truth. Miracles alone are not trustworthy. We have to connect them to truth and the living God. And then you will have, I take it, the second beast, his role will be what? And we didn't get there yet, but most of you have studied it. To direct the worship of the world toward the Antichrist, and what Christ said the Holy Spirit would do when He came. He would direct the worship toward Christ. So you have Satan here with this, I call it, next to the last gasp because after the Millennium he will have one final gasp, but trying to set up the kingdom that would prevent Christ from accomplishing His purpose.

So verse 3, “The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.” Now note this, “And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying, who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war with him?” I mean, you think about it, I thought about going to Ezekiel 38-39 which may fit here, but I thought that might be an overload. But at any rate the Antichrist is going to be killed, maybe in connection with what goes on in Ezekiel 38-39. At any rate here about the middle of the seven years he is killed, and then resurrected. And the whole earth is amazed and they are willing to follow him. And you'll note, they worship the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. In other words it was the dragon behind the beast that enables all this to happen. “They worship the beast saying, who is like the beast?” I mean, don't we worship Jesus, the One raised from the dead? He is alive. Well, here is proof to the world. Why wouldn't you worship the beast? He is alive, he was raised from the dead, we will run it again on the internet, on television. The whole world can be confronted with the awesome power of this supernatural person.

The devil gives him his authority. Because remember Revelation 12? It's the devil who is the power behind all these kingdoms. Revelation 12:3, “The dragon has the seven heads, ten horns on his head” because the ultimate power. So the beast here is now the power that the devil is using. And you see the comparison. The Father stayed in heaven, God the Father is a spirit, but God the Son became flesh. And here you have that, Satan masquerades as an angel of light, presenting something as true with is a lie.

“They worship the dragon because he gave authority to the beast, they worship the beast.” When they worship the beast, they are worshiping the devil because the beast is the devil's representative. When you worship Jesus Christ, you are worshiping God the Father. Right? When you obey Christ, you obey the Father; when you love Christ, you love the Father. Well, during this time when people give their allegiance to the beast, they are giving their allegiance to the devil. And just to note here, this is true of all false worship, including false worship of our day. Any false worship is worship of the devil, and sometimes Christians get careless in this

A little sidetrack, come to 1 Corinthians 10. Note where he started out, sometimes we as believers get drowsy as Paul warned. We get sleepy and we forget we are in a war. You don't want to go to sleep in a war, when the battle is waging you don't want to take a nap. It gives the enemy chance. I told you in the war in Vietnam I remember reading about the enemy saying what they did, they just kept trying to wear down the Americans that were there until finally they decided, we can take a rest, take a break. And once they propped their feet and took a rest, then that's when we attacked. And if we are not careful we get caught off guard.

Look at 1 Corinthians 10, he's writing to the church at Corinth and he has to tell them in verse 14, “Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry.” Do we have to tell believers to stay away from false worship, worship of idols? Well, yes. Why? Verse 19, you see the argument that has been presented. What do I mean? “That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything?” I can go to the temple where they worship idols, and when they worship the idol they give him the food, then they pass it out, and I can sit down. So I can go there, I'm not going to worship that idol. But when you join in false worship, you are joining in the worship of demons. It's not that the idol is anything, it is just a piece of wood that you are worshiping, a piece of metal. It's not that the food offered to it is anything, except it is part of a worship time.

“I say,” verse 20, “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God.” And I don't want you to become sharers, fellowshipping with demons. I mean, what are you doing? Verse 22, “Trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy?” You are telling the Lord I know I belong to you but I'm going over here. That will stir up the Lord. Sometimes we don't take these things seriously. This is not a game. All false worship going on today is ultimately the worship of demons. Understand that, it is serious business. If your child, a little older when they get rebellious, about 2. No, I'm talking older. They come home and say I met some friends at school, they go worship the devil. I'm going to go with them. And there are people who literally sit up and want to be worshiping the devil and we say they have really gone over the deep end. You would tell your child no, that is something you cannot be part of. But you understand, all false worship is worship of the devil, he just puts a veneer over some of it. There are some cases where it is more obvious and open but all false worship. Remember he masquerades as an angel of light, his servants masquerade as angels of light, 2 Corinthians 11. So we don't want to be deluded. Just because he puts a veneer over it and we say probably similar. That doesn't mean every disagreement on the interpretation of a passage is . . . but we want to be careful, false worship is devil worship because worshiping the demons is worshiping the lord of the demons, the devil.

Now you see, that is what he wants. What did he ask Christ in His temptation? “I will give you all the kingdoms of the world, they have been given over to me, if you will fall down and worship me.” You see that's the driving goal of the devil, worship. I mean, he will start churches, great. At least we don't have those pagan kind of worship systems. Well, worship of the devil is worship of the devil, you know. Jesus said no one comes to the Father but by Me. That's it. It is narrow, there is one way.

So as we are looking at this. Come back to Revelation 13. I want to say that is going to be just a magnified time, if you will, because restraints are removed, the Spirit is taken away, something of God's common grace that holds back the fullest outbreak of evil in rebellion against Him is restrained. And in that sense the restraints are off when we get to this point in time. We don't want to be moseying along here and the devil attacks.

Back in Revelation 13, this being opens his mouth in blasphemy. So I take it, it's the beast. He has authority to act for forty-two months. You see God is ultimately in control, but He is letting Satan go farther than he ever has. “He opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, those who are in heaven.” I love it, those who are tabernacled in heaven. The tabernacle was a place God manifests His presence. He is dwelling among His people. Well heaven, that's where we are going and after the resurrection. So he is attacking God, he is attacking those who are in heaven, he is going after those who belong to God on earth as he always does. Remember Jesus said if they hate Me, they will hate you. Do you want to find out if people hate you? Tell them about Jesus Christ. If they don't like Him, they really don't like you, they may just not know who you are. Doesn't mean we are going out and stirring trouble for trouble's sake. But somehow we get a casual attitude to spiritual things if we are not careful. Then we get taken back when conflict and battle comes to churches. I expect the devil is going to be on the attack, I expect we are going to have conflict. It's going to come from within, it's going to come from without. How do I know? For the Bible tells me so. It is simple. That's what Paul had to tell the Corinthians, wake up, what is wrong with you? The devil masquerades as an angel of light, so do his servants. Any wonder there are conflicts?

So here he is attacking those in heaven. “It was also given to him to make war with the saints, to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, tongue, people and nation was given to him.” I want you to note, are you listening to the news? The issue of globalism, it wins. I know that will be discouraging to some conservatives, but globalism wins. The problem is, it will be under the authority of one man who will have authority over every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. I don't know how that could happen. Well, remember what the devil said to Christ in Luke 4? All the nations have been given to me and under my authority. I give them to whomever I want, I'll give them all to you. One person, Christ. Christ rejected that offer. The devil hasn't quit. Two thousand years later the battle rages. Do you know what? There is coming another man, not the God/man but the devil/man and he will have authority over it all. The devil can do that and it's the plan of God to allow him to do it. Create this artificial kingdom from which he wants to eliminate every child of God. Just like when Christ sets up His kingdom, He'll eliminate every child of the devil. So you see it goes on.

Verse 8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him.” The only exception are those who are in the book of life, and we can't go into the book of life because we are out of time. But we will talk about that next time. But you'll note what he says in verse 9, “If anyone has an ear, let him hear.” We better pay attention to what God says. Do you know what is happening here? Time ran out, opportunities don't just keep coming. There will be a time when God says time runs out, and He says he who has an ear, let him hear. Have you ever trusted Christ? I have heard it a lot, I know all about it and I'm giving it thought. Do you know what? God doesn't promise tomorrow. There will come a time when the door is closed, opportunity is past. He is gracious. That's why Paul said today is the day of salvation, this is the time. You say no today, God may say no tomorrow. And it's the day of opportunity, it's a day of grace, it's a day when God is providing the greatness of His salvation at no cost. People say no, I'll take it when I am ready. God may not offer it to you tomorrow. Every time you say no, you harden yourself. Today is the day. We get an idea of where we are and where we are going, but the most important things to know today is “Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him.” But the invitation is to everyone, “come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Lord, we are in awe of the details You have unfolded, of what is yet future. And yet, Lord, 2000 years ago You made them known through Your servant John. And Lord, we can see even around us how these things could possibly come to be in a world in confusion, but not really. Thank You for our salvation, thank You, Lord, that we have a Savior who loved us and died for us. Thank You that these are days of salvation and we are testimonies to that saving grace, we who have believed and received the free gift. I pray for any who are here, perhaps they sit here week after week but they have never trusted Christ. May this be a day of salvation. We pray in Christ's name, amen.