Anti-Christ & the Trinity of Evil

Chapter 13: 11-18

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

“He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

Let me begin by stating that I believe the Bible teaches that the Rapture happens before the beginning of the Tribulation. God rescues His New Testament church and other saints before the period of the Tribulation starts. Some may differ with me as to how soon after the Rapture the Tribulation begins, but it is my belief and understanding from all that I have seen that we will be raptured prior to the beginning of the Tribulation.

Some have asked if I believed that the rapture was first because of some of the warnings that I mentioned last week. Let me remind you that every apostle, including Paul, was actively looking for the rapture. But every one of the apostles was also executed for the sake of the Gospel. Nero murdered hundreds or maybe thousands of Christians in the first century because he hated them. In the book, Trail of Blood, one bishop is quoted as saying that, had not the Catholic church killed off the Anabaptist for some 1,200 years, they would have been overrun by them.

Today there are brothers and sisters in the Lord who are being imprisoned and even killed by regimes around the world. We have had pastors arrested for the sake of the Gospel in places like North Korea and other places. I can hear you say, but that is over there. Have you read the news? Have you watched the news? There are political people in Canada and the USA that are aggressively working to bring in Socialism as the predominant economic tool of the west. Look at the Socialist regimes of the 20^th Century and think of how Christians were treated in the Soviet Union, China and other places.

I am not a fear monger, but God’s people need to be spiritually prepared to have some trouble before the Tribulation. Being a Christian is not all ‘rainbows and cotton candy.’ When you are the source of truth in a world of lies, you will be hated. Don’t believe me? Then read the Gospels and look at the life of Jesus.

Today we will look at the Trinity of Evil:

In his desire to copy God and ‘be like’ Him, Satan will create an imperfect trinity just like God exists as a perfect Trinity. There will be the anti-Christ, the False Prophet and an Image that will appear to be breathing/alive. Remember that John is writing at the end of the first century after Jesus; they did not even know what electricity was, furthermore a robot. It is clear that some of the things that John wrote were truly for our time; and when we sit to study these things, we can see that we truly are, as far as we can draw from the scriptures, the last generation before the rapture and then the Tribulation.

The progress of robotics over the past 20 years has been so good that we probably do not even know how good they are. In 1984 when Terminator came out, we all loved the sci-fi idea that robots could rule the world. Now here we are 34 years later and we have robots that can run, adapt, learn, mimic human behavior, and some are getting so fast with their processors that they may soon be able to out think humans. The bane of technology is that it is only good in good hands. Like any tool, in the wrong hands it becomes a weapon and stops being a benefit.

The Lamb/Dragon, verses 11-14

The anti-Christ understands that we need something or someone to worship. From the very beginning of Creation, we were built to worship someone or something. Satan is mindful of this. Other than the US Constitution which deliberately prohibits the merging of the State and Religion, every other major dominant world government from the Tower in Babel, the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and especially the Romans, the political leader has always demanded spiritual worship. They want to be seen as gods or at least appointed by the gods so as to stop dissension and thwart those who would challenge their position. Who in their right mind would challenge a god? To some degree, the Pope is still seen as ‘God’s representative’ here on earth and is often addressed as Il Papa, The Father, in deliberate disobedience to the written scripture:

Matthew 23:9 “And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.”

This is assigning the position of our Heavenly Father to a mere man. God alone is our Heavenly Father; and as such, no other man is to be called The Father as a title. This has NOTHING to do with being called a father when you have a child. It is an act of worship that is only allowed to be directed at the true and living God, hence the model prayer begins, “Our Father,” referring to God the Father.

The world of the anti-Christ will incorporate politics and religion in the leadership. The anti-Christ will have two (2) apparent equals, one who is the religious leader. How do we know that? He appears as a lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He will appear to offer peace in a time of great turmoil, but this is just a charade. He will speak like a dragon; his words are dangerous and deadly. His job is to point the whole world to worship the beast, the anti-Christ.

Like the anti-Christ, he will be able to, or appear to be able to, call down fire from heaven; and as well, he can perform great signs and wonders. This is demonic warfare at its finest. Satan, possibly indwelling the anti-Christ, gives some of his power to this man who is his religious leader. This leader can perform signs and wonders just like the anti-Christ.

In Daniel 8: 23-25 we see these prophetic words about the ‘wonders’ of the anti-Christ:

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”

Notice that this king will have power, but not of/by his own power. And, in verse 25, we see he will use “craft.” We could use the term ‘slide of hand,’ but it may be even more sinister than that. Satan has spiritual power as well, and he controls the demons and what they do. They serve him now. This anti-Christ will have powers given to him as well as his false prophet that are from Satan himself.

So, all we have left is to look at the “image of the beast.”

The Image to the Beast, verses 14-15

We know what an image is; it is a statue. In Daniel 3:1, we see that Nebuchadnezzar made an “image,” a statue that he wanted the whole world to worship. Once again, we see that political leaders often want to be seen as gods and worshipped like gods. The anti-Christ will be no different; he too will want to be worshipped as a god. So, the false prophet, the second person of the evil trinity, makes an idol and appears to empower it to breathe, to speak and to act.

In a video that I was able to watch on YouTube called Mankind’s Last Invention, there is some eye-opening commentary on the speed and the scope of the growth of Artificial Intelligence – the speed of processing information in comparison with man’s speed of processing information and how these are self-learning machines. Here is a short video from 2011. Imagine where we have come from this. https://youtu.be/UIWWLg4wLEY.

This idol – this machine – will be able to talk, converse, make decisions, be able to learn, speak and convey the information that the anti-Christ wants put out; and he/it will enforce the rules and have the power to kill people. If he is connected to the internet, then he/it will have access to anyone, anywhere that has an internet connection.

No wonder we have the governments of the world trying to get control of the internet. This is the framework of the anti-Christ.

In an article published on June 18^th, 2018, the Stratfor Worldview gave us an overview of which governments are now controlling what on the internet. By far, the US is the lease intrusive; but countries like China, Turkey and Russia block a lot of content from their citizens. They have the power to control the internet, and this is the foundation that is going to give the anti-Christ access to all. He will be able to limit what you have access to as far as information is concerned. If you refuse to worship the anti-Christ and his evil trinity, then you will be killed.

I cannot imagine the confusion that John must have had. He had obviously seen images before. The Middle East was full of them. No doubt there were idols of Caesar in the area; he had seen pagan gods before. But these all needed to be carried by men and stabilized so as not to fall. But here was an image that could speak, move and act of its own power. For sure he had never seen that before.

The Number, verses 17-18

No number in history has been more scrutinized than this number, 666. The mark of the beast. We have had movies about it and more speculation than the stock market. Simply put, this number is the number of perfect imperfection. God’s perfect number is 7; and as such, 777 is the number of perfect perfections. An example of this perfection is in Genesis 1:1,

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

In Hebrew this is a 7-word statement. It is the number of perfection. There is a lot of research online about ‘time, space and matter.’ But God established this principle in the very first verse of creation. In the beginning (time), God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter). Perfection. God can only create perfection, as He is perfect. In the evil parallel, we have the anti-Christ and his brood who create a number; and theirs is imperfection. The world we live in today is trying to create a Utopia without Jesus and God. No such place exists. Without God’s perfection, utopia is impossible.

There is little in the text that tells us about what this mark will be. What we do know is that, whatever the number is, the people left on planet Earth will need it to buy and to sell. Many people do not get this; they are so focused on the ‘magic’ number that they don’t see the big picture. The government will control everything: food, clothing, medications, travel and the like. There will be NO purchasing or selling without this number. We do also know that the number will be on their bodies, either on the right hand or their forehead. Right now, there is work on making invisible tattoos. There are countless articles about UV Tattoos online and infrared tattoos as well.

We have become accustomed to numbers over the last century. Here in Canada we have a Social Insurance Number (SIN); all of your credit and employment is tracked with that number. You must have a SIN to be employed and to get certain benefits. The SIN number will tell the user what province (state) you are born in or entered the country in as an immigrant. Many nations employ some form of this tracking; we are being conditioned to do so. Our kids are being conditioned to buy online with a number, either a credit card or debit card. Companies like Amazon offer almost everything including food. The framework for the anti-Christ in place. All that is left is to centralize the control of these large companies to the government, and voila! – no one can buy or sell except through the government.

We see this stuff developing right before our eyes, and we are like the frog in the pot of cold water that is boiled to death as the temperature is gradually turned up.

God calls us to wisdom. See what men are doing right before our very eyes. We cannot stop what God has told us will happen. But we can see it happening and not be ignorant of the Devil and his devices. This will strengthen our faith; we can see the word of God being fulfilled right in real time.

God is absolute truth. The words of Daniel are just as true today as 2,600 years ago.

Look around you. Don’t be afraid of the devil; he is on a leash. Rather, rejoice that God is true, His word is true, and His plan is afoot. The end is near, and the enemy of our souls will soon be crushed as was promised in Genesis 3:15.

Be strong and keep the faith. God is in control.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Revelation Lesson 33: Blasphemy, War,  Persecution & the Antichrist

Chapter 13: 5- 10

“And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”

We live in perilous times. Death is all around us, and the preciousness of life has never been so great. As people who believe the Bible and trust in the person of Jesus as our ONLY HOPE, we are considered to be intolerant and divisive. The truth is hard on those who have lived only in lies. First of all, it is at odds with all that they know; and then, truth calls for change. Humans are not good at change.

The work of the Kingdom of Darkness is all around us, and there are people being prepared who will follow the Antichrist – hook, line and sinker into Hell. Their minds are being prepared to accept absolute lies as truth, their frame of thinking is being framed to come to erroneous conclusions, and their perception of self is being bred to worship the biggest narcissist to ever walk the planet.

When I grew up, second place was nice but not the goal. But in our modern times we have made everybody winners, and that is not real life either here or in the spiritual world. Satan is not going to come in second; God is actually going to ‘red card’ him and kick him off the field of play completely. Yet, the whole world, many of whom have access to the Bible where his demise is clearly explained, will still follow Satan willingly into Hell.

Let that sink in. Are you following Satan willingly into Hell? Or, have you trusted in Jesus as Savior? You must answer these two questions; your eternity depends on it.

One of the most important things to understand about the Tribulation is that of command and control. I bring you once again to the title of the book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We spent a significant amount of time talking about the dragon and the beast and the catastrophes of the time, but the Tribulation is about Jesus. Jesus!  Keep this in mind.

Notice in chapter 13:5 that the Antichrist is given (by God) a limited time of power, some 42 months. God has complete command and control of the Tribulation; Satan is not ever in control, not even for one millisecond. If we keep this in mind, then we will have a proper view of the book and the events that happen. God allows things to happen for a certain time, for a certain purpose and outcome. God is meticulously overseeing all that goes on, and He is never caught off guard. This is hard to see from our limited point of view here on earth, but the Bible clearly teaches that God is All-Knowing and nothing is a surprise to Him.

Be comforted in whatever circumstances you find yourself in today; the Lord knows where you are, and He is there with you.

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”

Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.”

Isaiah 46: 9-10 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’”

Blasphemy, verse 6

Blasphemy is defined as the “act of speaking sacrilegiously about God.” Another clearer definition that was given is this: “the act of insulting or showing contempt or a lack of respect for God.” This last definition is more of what we see today, and it is preparing the world of the Antichrist.

Most people, and maybe even Christians do not have a genuine ‘fear’ of God – a genuine respect for the position and the power of God. The world around us and, sadly, many of the churches around us have mistaken the grace of God for weakness, they have mistaken the meekness of Jesus for weakness, and they have mistaken the forgiveness of God for apathy to sin. This idea that masculinity is toxic is an affront to the Lord God. God is identified in the entire Bible as a He! He shows himself to us as masculine. Jesus came as a man and is a man. The apostles were men. God calls men to lead their homes and their churches. He calls men to stand and be accountable to Him.

I just saw an interview where a religious leader was touting that his denomination was going to rewrite the Bible and make it more inclusive, removing the ‘He’ attributes of God. We have the ‘Queen James Bible’ available at Amazon. Many times, Jesus is portrayed as somewhat effeminate. One previous President of the USA, one who claims to be saved and is a Sunday school teacher in the church he attends, recently claimed that God would be okay with abortion and with same-sex marriage. Folks, this is blasphemy. This is a lack of reverential fear for the Lord God. The youth of today are being prepared for the Antichrist with the irreverent shows, music and speakers.

I recently heard that a prominent preacher made an illusion to the Ten Commandments being outdated. Righteousness is never outdated. It is funny how Jesus referred to the Ten Commandments in the New Testament, validating them into the operation of the New Testament church. Jesus talked about adultery, murder, honoring your parents, loving God wholeheartedly, coveting, and on and on.

It is sad when these things happen. But we can see that the blasphemy is coming even from inside what appears to be a part of the New Testament church. In complete opposition to what this ‘pastor’ says, we see these words from Jesus in Matthew 5: 17-19:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

What a contrast to what we hear from mere men! Jesus tells us that He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to establish them. There is such a push in the New Testament church to ‘love your neighbor’ that they forget the ‘love the Lord your God’ part. You can only love your neighbor to the extent that you love God. Commandments 1-4 are the call to love God wholeheartedly, and Commandments 6-10 show us how to love our neighbor, beginning with our parents. The two are complimentary and cannot be separated.

Be wary of those that blasphemy God, whether they claim to be Christians or if they are atheists. A lack of proper reverence and respect for God leads to open rebellion against God. People begin to speak lies about God and nasty things about God, questioning His goodness and His rightful place as our Creator to whom we will have to answer.

War, verse 7

Within the permission of God, the Antichrist is allowed to make war with the saints in the Tribulation. People from every nation and language on earth will worship the Antichrist, and he will make life very hard for those who claim that Jesus is God.

As we see here, clearly there will be redemption in the Tribulation because there are enough saints to warrant a war against them. Of course, there will be millions of Jews that repent and call on Jesus; there may be some Gentiles who trust Jesus as Savior as well. It is with these that the Antichrist begins to make war. He will be ruthless and pitiless. They will have nowhere on earth to hide. He will make their lives a living hell. Torture, imprisonment and the like will go on, and there will be no safe places. In Matthew 24:9-10, we see these dire warnings:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”

In Luke 21:16, we see this sad state of affairs in the last days: “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.”

One’s own family will be so beguiled by the Antichrist that they will betray them to the authorities, knowing full well that they will be tortured and/or killed.

Even now, the war on Christianity is on and in full swing. There is a hatred for Christians that is so tangible that you almost taste it in the air. People who have swallowed the lies, hate the truth. And we, God’s people, are seen as the enemy because we believe and teach the truth. It is so amazing that in the Western world we have made the truth illegal. There was a time when telling lies was illegal.

We have celebrities like Celine Dion pushing the transgendered agenda with her new baby clothing line. You do not have a choice as to which gender you are; God makes you as either a male or a female. You don’t get to choose. You simply are. Man is trying to be God, trying to rewrite the rules that have governed us for 6,000 years and trying to change the fundamental principles of Creation. Lies, no matter how big or how frequently told, will never become the truth. So, the best way to keep a lie is to eradicate the truth tellers; that is us—the Christians, and our Bible talk.

The war is on, and you are in it if you are a child of God. Too many churches and pastors are not preparing the new converts or the seasoned Christians for the escalation of persecution. It is on, and will continue into the Tribulation. The Antichrist will be worshipped by ALL the lost and despised by the saved. He will demand loyalty or death. There will be no in-between.

Control, verse 9-10

God is in control. I need not say anymore, but I will. Some will go into captivity and some to death, but all under the watchful eye of the Lord who is in complete control. This is hard for us to understand. Why would God let this happen? He has a plan and a goal. Our job is to submit. We are called to patience and faith; trust the Lord and His plan even if it means death and imprisonment.

Surely, God will intervene and we will not be harmed; look at the three Hebrew men in Daniel 3. Or Daniel in the Den of Lions, Daniel 6. But we should not depend on this. I know there are songs and movies, and we love the idea of the Hero coming to save us. I love that too. But we are clearly told in the New Testament by Jesus that we will suffer. Too many are looking for the abundant life void of suffering, but Jesus promises us the abundant life in spite of suffering. In John 16:33, we see this clearly spoken:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

You will have tribulation – simply put, trouble in this life – but we are encouraged to “take heart,” be faithful and patient. The Lord is with us and in control even when we are being harmed and/or killed. God is in control. I cannot say this enough.

Look, folks; let’s be real. I do not want to see my wife and daughters raped or hurt or killed; I do not want to be hurt or killed. No one is signing up for that. BUT if this is the will of God for us and for His glory, we will have to put our trust in Him and His plan and be patient and faithful in these trials. We forget that the three Hebrew boys did not know if God would save them. They knew He could, but were not sure that He would; yet, they determined to obey God.

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Sadly, we are here at this time. We are like the three Hebrew men/boys, and the idols are the gay agenda and the gender agenda; and we are called to bow down and toe the line. But, we must stand for God’s truth. And for that, some of us are going to die. Be patient and be faithful; God is in control.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca