“The Amazing Prophecies of the End Times”
Sermon # 6
“The Anti-Christ – The False
Savior of The World”
The Bible tells us that the time is coming when the whole world will be united
under the leadership of an incredibly intelligent, tremendously dynamic, awesomely
powerful but totally evil man.”
“The world is headed toward a unified political and
religious system that defies imagination. The word of God has much to say about the
warfare between God and Satan, between this world and the heaven-lies. Scriptures reveal
that this conflict will climax when Satan brings his masterpiece, the man of sin, the
Beast (the Anti-Christ) on the world scene as head of a confederation of nations. The
coming world-wide dictatorship will be characterized by lawlessness, godless-ness, and
authoritarianism. The dictator will aim to exterminate every believer in Jesus Christ and
to outlaw God from the universe.” [J. Dwight Pentecost. Prophecy for Today:
God’s Purpose & Plan for our Future. (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1989) p.
92]
Tonight I want us
to consider five dramatic events in the Anti-Christ’s life.
First, The Rise To Power
The Bible has a lot to say about this
end-times world leader. In fact the Bible records over 20 different names for this future
world leader; “king of Babylon” - (Isa. 14:4), “little horn” (Dan 7:8,
8:9), “king of fierce countenance” (Dan 8:23), “the prince who shall
come” (Dan 9:26), “willful king” (Dan 11:36), “man of sin” (2
Thess. 2:3-8) and the “son of perdition,” and “that wicked one” (1
John 2:18). The term “Anti-Christ,”
is used only by the Apostle John here in Revelation and in 1 John 2, but it is clearly the
same person under consideration in all these other places.
Something is presently holding the
Anti-Christ back. In 2 Thess. 2:5-7 we read, “Do you not remember that when
I was still with you I told you these things? (6) And now you
know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. (7)
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of
the way.” Although the Bible does not specifically
state the identity of this restrain-ing influence, other scripture helps to under-stand
that it is the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit as manifested through the local
church. Just think of it, what if the power of the Holy Spirit was suddenly removed from
the earth? It would be only a brief time before Satan would move to consummate his dream
of world domination.
It
is not until after the restraining influence of the church is removed by the Rapture that
the Anti-Christ will be revealed. As we noted
in our message on the Tribulation, the event that inaugurates the Tribulation is found in Daniel
9:27 when the Anti-Christ “the ruler who will come,”
makes a covenant with Israel for seven years.
Anti-Christ’s Time Line
Rapture
2nd
Coming
Peace Treaty
w/Israel - Mortal Wound- Abomination
Armageddon
Seven Year Tribulation Period
The Anti-Christ is a part of a Trinity of Evil. (Rev 12 & 13)
Father – Satan (Rev 12) “a
great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his
heads.” (12:3)
Son - The
Anti-Christ – “a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and
ten horns” (Rev 13:1-10) the sea symbolizes the Gentile nations of the world.
Spirit – The False Prophet – “another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two
horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon” (Rev 13:11-17) references to the land or earth in prophetic
Scripture symbolize the land of Palestine,
the land given to his chosen people, Israel.
There are three things that the Anti-Christ
will do in his bid to acquire power and ultimately the worship of men.
The first thing the Anti-Christ will do in
Some have maintained that
the ten nation confederacy will come out of the European Common Market or European Union
as it sometimes called, a guess we will just have to wait and see.
Secondly, The Mark of the Beast.
This is not something that happens to
In our day we can already see the move toward
a cashless society. The rationale for the acceptance of the “mark” will be that
it will solve the two major problems with the use of credit cards, the proof of identity and protection from theft or loss. Since the mark will be on the right
hand or the forehead.
A national ID card is already in the works.
It was made a priority because the terrorists who perpetrated the September 11 attacks
used fake ID’s. We need to know if the people boarding planes are who they say they
are. Frank Pellegrini writes for Time
magazine and in a recent article (January, 2002) he says, “The Department of Transportation, acting on
instructions from Congress, has begun work with states to develop electronically smarter
drivers’ licenses that can be checked for validity across the country, and that have
more than just than that always-awful picture — like a fingerprint or retinal-scan
imprint — to match the card to its holder.
So it’s more of a national ID system, a linking
of Departments of Motor Vehicles — and the records they keep on you — across
state lines, with some extra on-card security measures thrown in . ….the plan means
that a state trooper in California would be able to pull the records of a driver from
Georgia — and be certain that those records were the driver’s, and not an
innocent look alike he stole the card from. ….And
the smarter cards, ‘hardened’ with biometric data, would make identity theft
much trickier, at least in person. (Georgia, incidentally, already uses thumbprints on its
drivers’ licenses.) … What if your
state/national ID card was your passport as well as your drivers’ license? Or what if
your national ID card was your ATM card, and your credit card, and your HMO card and your
work ID and the passkey to your maximum-security apartment, all at once?”
Imagine the possibilities. Already, you can be traced
across the country when you use your credit card, and they can know everything you
purchase from Boston to Los Angeles. What if your national ID card was also your phone
card, insurance card, library card. [Frank Pellegrini. “The National ID
Card That Isn’t, Yet.” Time Magazine. Tuesday, Jan 08, 2002.]
Revelation 13:18 has puzzled scholar for centuries, “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.”
I confess to you I do not know what that
means. Over the centuries men have attempted to use the number 666 to identify who the
Anti-Christ will be. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Throughout history men has
advanced the names of people they thought at the time to be the Anti-Christ; they have
included Nero, Constantine, the Pope (in fact several Popes down through history),
Napoleon, Aleister Crowley (an male witch from
England 1875-1947), Hitler,
Stalin, JFK, Henry Kissinger, Saddam Hussein, and even George W. Bush.
But since God does not explain the meaning of
666 the wiser position would to understand that apparently it not intended for us to know.
Third, The Abomination of Desolation
The third major event that we want to examine
comes about because of the desire of the Anti-Christ to obtain the worship of men. This he
does by instituting a one-world religion. In (2 Thess. 2:4) we read, that the son of
perdition “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God.”
In Daniel 11:36-37 we read, “…he shall
exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of
gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined
shall be done. (37) He shall regard neither the God of his fathers
nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them
all.”
The work of getting the world to worship the
Anti-Christ will fall to the False Prophet
(Rev 13:11-13) whom we will investigate later. “Then I
saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke
like a dragon. (12) 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. (13) He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”
Verse thirteen tells us how he will convince the people
to worship this political world ruler, through the performing of great signs and miracles. The whole world is amazed and
deceived into following him, because of his miracles.
Then in (Rev 16:14-15) we read, that the False
Prophet will have a great image of the Anti-Christ set up to be worship. “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. (15) 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.”
The prophecy of Daniel 9:27 said that,
“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But
in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing
of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is
determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
For a period of three and one half years (the middle of the one week of years of
Daniel’s prophecy) the Anti-Christ will break his treaty with Israel by setting up a
image of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem and having sacrifices made to himself. In Matt 24:15-16 this is act is referred to
as the “abomination of desolation,” "Therefore when
you see the "abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), (16)
“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Fourth, The Mortal Head Wound
Some where at the mid point of the
Tribulation (some 3 ½ years)
the Anti-Christ will receive a mortal head wound and die. (Rev. 13: 3,12,14) “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded,
and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
(12) ….and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast,
whose deadly wound was healed. … (14) 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.”
The Anti-Christ will give the appearance of
being resurrected and return to life, but with the exception that now he is completely
indwelt by Satan. He will have the power to perform all sorts “signs
and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9-12) these he will use to deceive and
mislead people into believing that he should be worshipped.
After this point the Anti-Christ will be come
a completely different person.
Fifth, Fall of the Anti-Christ (Rev. 19)
The beginning of the end as far as the
domination of the Anti-Christ is concerned is the gathering of the armies of the world
together to do battle. This gathering is in the plain of Megiddo which is either the
staging area for the invasion of Jerusalem or the location of the final battle. The war
itself spreads over an area 200 miles from north to south (Rev 14:20).The details of this
battle are found in Ezekiel 38 & 39, Joel 2, Daniel 11, and Isaiah 24. We are told
that the king of the north comes down into the land with his army of 200,000,000 men and
is met by the king of the south coming against the nation of Israel. The conflict is
settled only by the sudden destruction which comes from the appearance of the Lord Jesus
Himself.
When the Lord appears there is no battle,
there is not even a contest. In Revelation 19, John reveals the conclusion of the
battle of Armageddon, the scene of the great carnage where the armies of the world stage a
blood bath unlike any other in the history of the world. It says that the Lord Jesus
Christ will come with from heaven to this earth as a rider on a white horse, he is
revealed as the Lord of Lord’s and the King of Kings. The end of the Anti-Christ and
the False Prophet is told in Rev 19:20, “Then
the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his
image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Conclusion
Although the Anti-Christ has the power of Satan himself behind him, and he endeavors to rule through fear and intimidation, his doom is sure! Our confidence is built on the solid rock that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The fate of the Anti-Christ is spelled out in scripture when it says in 2 Thess. 2:8, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor (brightness) of his coming.”