The False Prophet (The Second Beast) | Revelation 13:11-14 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

Well, I can tell you this, after being reminded about who William

Tyndale was and what he accomplished made me more

excited to open God's Word with you this afternoon.

Let's turn in our Bibles now to Revelation chapter 13.

Revelation 13 · chapter mention

When the Lord Jesus taught about some of the marks of the last

days, he explained that of the most prevalent signs would be

the emergence of false Christs and false prophets who would

even perform signs and wonders so as to deceive many.

And though there will be multiple of deceivers who will

arise, especially when the world is in its most chaotic phase,

searching for answers, longing for somebody to bring a solution

to all the mayhem around them, the Word of God also teaches

that there will be a single false prophet who'll be the most

influential and impactful of them all.

That's right, the Scriptures teach that there is coming an

ultimate final false prophet who'll be the most fraudulent

and conniving of them all. Now, students of the End Times

rarely give attention to this individual because the

Antichrist seems to get most of the press.

But we have to remember that as we've been studying Revelation

13, John's vision of this beast who represents the Antichrist is

not yet complete. We haven't gotten the whole

picture yet. As we're about to read John, the

same John who saw this terrifying creature is going to

describe another one. There will be another beast who

will arise, and he will play a very significant role in the

final years of human history. And so he will be the focus of

our study today as we now turn to Revelation 13, beginning in

verse 11. And we're going to consider some

of the characteristics of this second beast as he's introduced

us in this prophecy. Revelation 13, verse 11 reads.

Revelation 13:11

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth.

It had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon.

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its

presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the

first beast whose mortal wound was healed.

It performs great signs, even making fire come down from

heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it

is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it

deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an

image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet

lived. Let's pray one more time,

Father. We believe that what we just

read is your voice, and we believe that it is a treasure

for our souls. But we also know that our flesh,

our carnality, can meddle with what you intend to say.

So we ask for your help. We ask for clarity, We ask for

conviction. We even ask for comfort as we

open up these words more carefully.

And we pray that our hearts would be drawn to the person of

Jesus Christ in a more intimate and loving manner.

We give you glory and thanks, Lord, Take authority over every

thought, every emotion. Lord, may we receive the pure

milk of the Word as your church. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Well, the verses that we just

read can seem quite daunting, like many portions of the Book

of Revelation, but I think we can simplify what we just read

by breaking these thoughts up into three main sections, if you

will. So we're looking at the second

beast. We studied the past couple of

weeks about the first beast, but now we have this new figure

before us, and I want us to look at three things concerning him.

Number one, I want us to consider the identity of the

second beast. Who is he or what is he?

Can we know that? Well, we'll find out in a few

moments. So the identity of the beast.

But from there we have to look at the mission of the second

beast. What's his purpose and how does

it correlate with the operations of the first beast?

Is there a partnership going on here?

Evidently, as we just read, there is.

And finally, I don't want us to consider the authority of the

second beast because the miracles that he will be able to

perform you cannot ignore. And they mean something.

And so let's begin by looking at the identity of the second

beast. It's plainly laid out here in

verse 11, is it not? But look again in your Bibles.

John begins by saying, then I saw another beast rising out of

the earth. So like the first beast, there

are a lot of opinions about who or what this new beast

represents. But the fact that John says he

saw another beast helps us know that this character is distinct

from the first one, but he is also sharing something in

common. That's what the original word

for another actually means. Separate, yet of the same kind.

Why is that important to know What we determine when studying

the first beast? That this is primarily speaking

about a person who will be a ruler of an empire.

He's a political, military figure.

He's an individual once again. So for now, John, to say that he

saw another beast teaches us that we're also looking at

another person. And this will become more clear

as we go on. But what we want to spend more

time here is where this beast comes from.

Did you notice that it's different from the first?

This beast, we're told, comes out of the earth.

Where did the first beast come out of the sea?

Very good. Now here's where it gets a

little bit tricky. We also determined that when the

first beast came out of the sea, the sea, according to Revelation

and a lot of parts of the Bible, represents the nations.

So if the sea represents the nations, then what does it mean

for the second beast to come out of the earth?

Well, we'll see in a moment. Here's 1 popular interpretation.

Since the sea, again in Revelation strongly symbolizes

peoples and nations and multitudes and languages, this

strongly means that the first beast must be a Gentile.

And when you factor in all these other prophecies about the

Antichrist, you make a very strong case that he is indeed

someone who is a Gentile. By way of contrast however,

because the second beast comes from the earth, some claim that

he originates from a more specific location, namely

Israel. And the reason for that is

because they'll make a case that the land often in the Bible

speaks about Israel, the land, even if it's not specifically

telling you what land it is. That generic term the land can

mean Israel, making this individual the second beast of

Jewish descent. Now I'm aware of those who are

proponents of this. You will also show and provide

additional sub points that this interpretation is most likely

because of things like for example, do you remember when we

studied about the 144,000, we have all these tribes and 12,000

coming from each of them. Well one main tribe that's not

mentioned was which tribe Dan, the tribe of Dan.

And then when you consider the prophecy about Dan early in

Genesis, that's very ominous. And so some make this

connection. Well, Dan is omitted from the

144 who will be redeemed and will represent Christ.

Dan also doesn't get the best kind of descriptions even in the

Old Testament. So could it be that the second

beast who comes from the earth actually comes out of this

particular tribe and is therefore of Jewish descent?

Which would make sense to some degree, because how else are you

going to pursue Jews to put their trust in somebody like the

Antichrist? It's a very compelling case,

however, it's difficult to state it dogmatically due to the lack

of clear scriptural evidence. Therefore, this is a good place

to remind ourselves of something that when a text lacks

scriptural support, we must refrain from making absolute

claims. Now we can talk about it, and we

can have different opinions. I mean, for you to identify who

the second beast is, it's very difficult to become a heretic

with your opinion, though it's possible.

Anything is possible, I guess. We have to be charitable, we

have to be humble, and we have to develop the discipline of

seeking to get the answers with the data that is before us.

So if we are simply working with this text, if we're looking at

just what's revealed in the immediate context, what is more

likely being communicated here is that this beast who is going

to function as a spiritual and religious figure is not heaven

sent. In other words, the imagery

demonstrates that this powerful persuasive voice that's going to

inspire the world to worship is worldly.

He's from below. It reminds me actually what

Jesus said when he distinguished himself from the religious

leaders of his time when he confronted them in John chapter

John 8 · chapter mention

8. Do you remember what he said in

John 8 verse 23? He said to them, you are from

John 8:23

below, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not of this

world. So for John to receive this

description of the second beast from the outset could very well

mean that he represents a person who comes from the earth

anchoring us, especially as we go on to see what he's going to

perform. He's going to do miracles.

I mean, impressive miracles, not cheap ones.

And it's as though we are being told right away, yes, this man

whom you are witnessing is very powerful.

He is very persuasive, but remember, he is from the earth.

That's not all there is to the identity of the beast.

The second part of verse 11, look at it again with me in your

Bibles. It had two horns like a lamb and

it spoke like a dragon. A very different description

from the first piece, right? The first beast that John saw,

Terrifying. It was one single creature

made-up of all these different animal details.

It had multiple heads, multiple horns.

It just grotesque. And then you come to the second

beast and we're reading something like a lamb, with very

little additional details, much less intimidating, perhaps by

way of comparison. Or is it?

Why is the second beast described as lamb like?

Well, because whoever this individual is, he is going to

appear to be innocent, gentle, harmless.

He does possess authority, as symbolized by the horns.

Horns of the Bible speak of authority, but not in the same

way as the first beast, who had a lot of horns, and he came as a

crushing, conquering political dictator.

No, the second beast instead has horns, but doesn't have crowns

on them. The first piece had crowns,

remember, and that speaks of, again, kingdoms and governments.

So whatever authority this lamb has, it's not of political

nature. And said he presents himself as

meek, as winsome. I mean, he you feel safe around

this lamb in a sense, you're you're secure.

There's a soothing voice to some degree that will bring comfort

and assurance to much of the world, especially as it is

falling apart. However, all of this will be a

sham. This is all a facade.

On the surface the second beast may seem lamb like, but when it

opens its mouth you hear the voice of a dragon.

Isn't what we read Now what could that possibly mean?

Can you imagine the sound and the sight looks like a lamb, but

when it opens its mouth of the roar of a dragon, it's very

simple. We know the Dragons represent

Satan, and so here what Here's what this means.

Although this beast comes with a demeanor that seems reliable and

trusting and wholesome, his words are from the devil.

His message is satanic. He is ultimately energized and

possessed by the Evil 1 and I argue he's more terrifying this

second beast than the first because of just the Absolute lie

that this man will be to the world.

And he fulfills exactly what the Lord Jesus warned about in

Matthew 715. What did he say?

He warned. Beware of false prophets.

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

And this man will be more than a wolf.

He will be a dragon. Again.

He's going to be the ultimate false prophet, the last false

prophet, the false prophet of the false prophets, and to the

world he will seem like a lamb. And this is a good place to

pause and reflect on how Satan works in our world.

So far in this vision, we've seen two beasts.

They are different in their characteristics and their

functions, yet they are both empowered by Satan.

And that tells me how Satan operates even today, like the

first beasts who openly blasphemes God, who with a

lethal hatred hunts down Christians to kill them, even

who even declares himself to be God.

Satan today, and we're seeing this more and more in our day,

are we not, is becoming less and less subtle.

There are times where he manifests himself clearly,

directly. I mean, you're watching award

shows now where Satan is being demonstrated and praised.

It's open mockery, but like the second beast, Satan also works

in not so obvious ways, and one of the most deceiving ways that

he masks himself as gentle and inviting and harmless and even

righteous is in the realm of religion and faith.

Have you ever considered in the New Testament how much

Christians, Christians, not the world Christians, are warned

about false teachers? There is a warning in virtually

every New Testament book. Did you know that?

You know what that tells me? That tells me that leaders in

the local church should regularly warn the people of God

of people like that, of false teachers.

And that's what I want to do in this brief time, just in the

section here, I want to be able to offer some warning.

I want to be able to offer us some level of discernment to be

able to distinguish somebody who is true and somebody who is a

fraud. There are a lot of voices these

days, and the difficulty of false prophets now is that in

the in the New Testament, false prophets would have to lurk into

an actual meeting like this and build relationships and then

invite people to their homes or be invited to their homes and

sit with them and spew their lives.

Nowadays, they're in your pocket and they have podcasts and they

fill arenas and they seem like they perform miracles.

And when you hear them, man, they touch your heart.

They're the way they are with words, and they even quote

Scripture. It's terrifying to some degree,

but we shouldn't be paranoid. The Bible has been granted us to

be deceived. Proof.

And here's one of the things that you and I have to develop

as a discipline. When anybody teaches in the name

of God, whether on a platform or in a living room or on a screen,

do not make your judgement based on how they look.

You know, false teachers also wear suits and ties.

Do not make your judgement on how they sound or how persuasive

their words are or how powerful their deeds may be.

Instead, listen to what they are saying and evaluate it with

God's Word. Remember, the second beast had

the appearance of a lamb, but when it opens its mouth, it has

the words of Satan. What was the giveaway when the

lamb opened its mouth? From the external, from distant

observation, harmless, innocent, cute moment, it began to speak.

It revealed where it actually came from, which tells you and I

that what we have to do in order to be able to identify those who

are true from those who are false is listen to the content,

listen to the substance of the message, and by God's grace, we

have something to compare it to. You know, there are people who

are willing to believe anyone, even their twisted teaching

about the Lord Jesus and the Christian faith, even though it

clearly contradicts God's word, because they seem sincere.

All it takes is somebody to seem sincere for people to let their

guard down. I mean, when that person talks,

they have tears streaming down their face as they talk about

their version of Christ. Certainly there's some

legitimacy here. Certainly they seem genuine.

Tears are not the mark of truth. Passion and intensity are not

the evidences of somebody being sincere.

It's what they're saying, not how they're saying it.

Actually, I want to invite you to a book of the Bible that

shows us this even more in Romans.

Look at Romans 16 for a second. Romans 16, verse 18.

Romans 16:18

Paul warns. This is just one example of how

the apostles, almost in all of their writings admonish

Christians to not be duped. In Romans 16, verse 18, he says,

Romans 16:18

for such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own

appetites. Pause for a moment.

There are people who present themselves as teachers, as

missionaries, as miracle workers, and they claim to come

in the name of the truth, but they are really serving their

own appetites. You have to understand that just

because somebody takes the time to travel somewhere, get up on a

platform, speak through a microphone, doesn't mean that

they come from a humble and truthful place.

There's some people who are manipulating and taking

advantage of Christians for their own selfish gain, but

their own appetites. And by look at this smooth talk

and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Who are the victims of such false teachers?

The naive. What is a naive person?

Somebody who lacks wisdom and judgement?

Somebody who's gullible. Somebody who just listens and

they, there's no discernment, there's no pushback, there's no

questions being asked, there's no evaluation being made.

You know, it's amazing. In Acts chapter 17, when Paul

Acts 17 · chapter mention

and Silas went to Berea, we're told that the believers in Berea

were more noble than the Thessalonians for two reasons.

Because they eagerly received the scriptures.

So there was a hunger. And more than that, they daily

examined the Scriptures to see if what this missionary team was

saying was according to the Word of God.

So we have a choice as Christians.

We're either going to be noble according to the Holy Spirit

standards or naive. And a naive, they don't go to

the Word of God. This is not the ultimate

authority to determine what's true and what's false.

Experience is the ultimate authority.

Somebody's personality, their charisma, they're supposed

stories of how they have backing to their ministry because look

what God did supposedly through me.

No, no, no, that's all great, but I got to find out what the

Scriptures say and the Holy Spirit crowns the brains with

nobility. Because now here's the thing.

I knew some people when I first got saved, that if you went to

the Bible to examine what somebody was saying or what a

ministry was all about, you're being religious, you're being

legalistic, you're not being open minded.

You can say what you want. I want to be noble according to

God's standards. What does God's word have to

say? And so we can either be naive or

we can be noble. Now this is what's so

interesting. They, they speak with smooth

words. There's flattery going on here,

but what makes them false? Go back to verse 17, the verse

right before this, Paul writes, I appeal to you, brothers, to

watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles

contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.

Avoid them over and over in different ways.

It's it's the same mark of difference.

What makes somebody false ultimately is that what they're

saying is contrary to the doctrine that you've known

that's been provided to us. So move through all the smooth

talk, all the powerful oratory skills, and listen to what is

being communicated. Doesn't honor doesn't line up

with the Bible. And if it doesn't, especially

with the black and white of doctrine, they're dangerous.

They're either willfully ignorant or they're untrained,

and they shouldn't be teaching in the first place.

And I know there is more to learn about how to identify

false teachers, but for now, we have to ask the Lord for the

discipline to investigate the material of what's being said,

not the method to look for the substance of what's being said,

Not for sight, and not for even signs.

God help us. There are some people who are so

caught up in signs and wonders. I believe that God can do

miracles, but miracles alone do not determine if something is

true. This second beast is going to

perform miracles. And I'm afraid for professing

Christians who make their whole Christianity about

manifestations are setting themselves up for great danger

today and tomorrow. This lamb, like man, appears

true, and he will even perform miracles, and it will dam people

to hell for eternity. Which brings us to our second

thought. We looked at the identity of the

beast. But let's look at the mission of

the beast. Come back to Revelation 13 for a

moment and look again at verse 12.

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its

presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the

first beast whose mortal wound was healed.

So you've been hearing me say from the beginning of this

message that whoever the second beast is, he's going to be a

false prophet. But is there anything in

Scripture that explicitly states that?

And I'm here to tell you, yes, there is.

But before we look at these Scriptures, be mindful of us.

Remember this. That's so far in this amazing,

captivating vision. We've been learning about

different figures. Number one, the dragon who is

Satan. Then we've seen the first beast

who is the Antichrist, and now we come to the second beast,

who's the final figure in this vision.

And I want to show you how he is not only labeled as a false

prophet, but the false prophet. So are you there in Revelation?

Travel with me to chapter 16 and look at verse 13, Revelation 16,

Revelation 16:13

verse 13. And I saw coming out of the

mouth of the dragon. We looked at him before, right?

And out of the mouth of the beast.

We saw him already, didn't we? Who do you expect to be

announced next? The second beast, right?

But notice what it says. And out of the mouth of the

false prophet 3 unclean spirits like frogs.

Go to chapter 19, verse 20. This is in a text that describes

what will take place when Christ actually returns, physically

returns to the world. And it says here in Revelation

1920. And the beast was captured, and

with it the false prophet, who in its presence had done the

signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the

beast and those who worshipped its image.

These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with

sulfur. So again, now we are

reintroduced to the beast, and not just the second beast, but

the false prophet, the function of the second beast.

And notice that they were thrown alive in the lake of fire.

So these two figures are more than institutions.

They are not just movements, they are individuals.

I hope that's clear. Let's look at one more thing.

Go to chapter 20, verse 10. And the devil who had deceived

them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfa where the beast

and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day

and night, forever and ever. These are texts, in my opinion,

that make it very difficult to see how these truths have been

fulfilled in the past, among many things that we've already

seen in Revelation. It's only going to get more

complicated for those who hold to a different view other than

the futurist interpretation. But here's what we want to

establish. This beast is the false prophet.

Right now, what makes a false prophet false is that they

propagate a false message. So we have to now examine and

try to understand what is the agenda that he's going to be

pushing? What is the campaign that he's

going to be promoting? And it's very simple.

Verse 12 tells us back in chapter 13 that he makes the

earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast.

So he's going to step on the scene in order to convince the

world to not just serve the first beast, not just honor the

first beast, but to actually worship him.

You think that's crazy? Worship a man.

We'll do a little bit of research in history and and

you'll discover that there are empires and there are forms of

government, especially those that are authoritarian and

dictator like where it doesn't take very long for the ruler of

that movement to be deified. So this is nothing new.

This isn't so far fetched, but here's what's so amazing to me.

This second beast who is known as the false prophet now as he

comes into this vision, completes a picture reminding us

of how Satan seeks to imitate the true God to the extent that

he even wants to mimic the triune nature of our God.

We serve a God who is 1 but is also Father, Son and Holy

Spirit. And now with this second beast

before us, we can determine that Satan is so desperate, so vile,

so creepy that he even wants to imitate the Tri unity of the

true God. Think about it.

You have the dragon who empowers the Antichrist.

Now that dragon is like an anti father, the Antichrist, I'm sure

it's clear he is going to be essentially the devil Incarnate.

He is obviously an anti Christ anti son of God.

And now we read about this second beast who were told is

the false prophet and his job is to do what point people and

promote the worship of the Antichrist, A counterfeit Holy

Spirit. So what we have here in this

vision is the satanic Trinity, a false father, a false son, a

false Holy Spirit. Do you remember what Jesus said

when He described the main role of the Holy Spirit in John 16

John 16:14

verse 14? He said He will glorify me, for

He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

That's what He said about the Holy Spirit.

By the way, pause. Do you want to know if the Holy

Spirit is in a church? See how much that church

elevates and exalts Jesus Christ?

That's what he does. He he wants to glorify Christ.

He wants to help people love him and adore Him and serve him.

That's his duty. That's his job, and he gladly

does it. Do you want to know the Holy

Spirit is working in your life? You will love Christ more and

more and more. That's the way I know when the

Holy Spirit is really in a person or through a ministry or

through the preacher. How much do you make of Christ?

Because Jesus himself said he will glorify me.

And in a sick, evil way, this false prophet will attempt to

copy the work of the Holy Spirit by trying trying to draw the

allegiance and the affections of the inhabitants of the world

toward the Antichrist. And his ambition to do so will

will receive great momentum because of the miracle that we

looked at. Remember last week where this

Antichrist will apparently be assassinated, but he will also

seem to have raised from the dead a resurrection esque type

of miracle. And that miracle, remember when

we opened this message and read the verses that we're focusing

on brings up, it comes to our attention more than once in

order to show us that this false prophet is going to utilize that

event to convince the masses, hey, this Antichrist is more

than he's more than human. He's divine.

He was able to conquer death. Have you seen our world in

recent history, all the people that are succumbed to disease

and devastation and the sword? Well, here you have a man here

who was able to evade death, conquer death.

Is he not worthy of our worship? This is how he's going to talk.

He's going to be so compelling. He's going to be so, so, so

convincing. He's going to be such a joy to

listen to, and more and more people are going to believe his

message, not just enjoy what he has to say.

So what we have here is in fact a remarkable demonstration of

the devil seeking to be like God in every way possible.

And before long, all of this will culminate in A1 world

religion. So alongside the one world

government that the Antichrist will establish, there will also

be this effort in the final years of human history to gather

people for a global unity of spirituality.

And the Antichrist will be the focal point of man's worship.

And these detailed predictions are fascinating, are they not?

We're going to learn more about this One world religion.

And by the way, we're seeing it entertained now.

There are leaders of sex and different religion who are

trying to convince and promote this idea of just let's just

all, we all serve the same God, you know, are you of the

Abrahamic faith? Yes.

It just all goes back to the same root.

And there's going to be this push, this ecumenical idea of

let's all gather, let's, this is going to be the source of our

unity and peace in the world. And it's been unsuccessful so

far. But at this point, it's actually

going to reach a point where it's going to happen.

The world's going to agree to this.

So you have a one world government and without a one

world religion. As we go to Chapter 17 in the

coming weeks, we'll look more into that.

But for now, you know what gripped me as I was studying

this the other night? That even with everything

happening in the tribulation period, disasters and all these

different things, man will still be preoccupied with worship.

That moved me, That moved me. You know why?

Because it says something about human nature that there is

something innate in each of us that desires to worship someone

or something. There's this yearning for to,

to, to, to touch the transcendent.

I'll never forget this when I was in college, they gave the

Christian group in that campus such a difficult time to start a

campus ministry and to be very public about it.

I remember it so clearly because I wanted to be a part of it.

And as Christians on that campus, we're getting together

to try to talk and discuss and, you know, sit with a program

coordinators and whoever was in charge behind the scenes.

I remember this in the cafeteria speaking to one of the young

adults at the time, my young adult pastor actually.

And when we had left talking about the plans for the campus,

I looked behind me in the cafeteria were these lineups of

students. And it caught my attention.

So I went to go look into it. My young adult's pastor at the

time left at that point. And what I realized is that the,

the, the school had invited fortune tellers and they had

four or five tables of fortune tellers with tarot cards and

they had kids lined up to have their future interpreted and

read. I was curious, so I went up to

the the table there. I says, how do I sign up?

I didn't do it. I just said, I want to know.

They said, sorry, Sir, we have a wait list and we have people

giving their number so we can text them once they're ready to

come up. What is that?

I'll tell you what it is. People are hungry for the

supernatural people. People have this instinct,

knowledge that there's something beyond the material world, and

there's this longing for people to even worship.

And here's the fundamental problem that worship is often

misdirected, and the Bible calls that idolatry.

Only the true God deserves our ultimate, our devotion, our

obedience. And if we don't offer it to him,

we will inevitably give it to someone or something else, even

ourselves. So my question for us this

afternoon is, do you worship? But what do you worship?

And who do you worship? Where is your greatest affection

set? Where do you find your ultimate

meaning? What determines your purpose?

And ask yourself even this, what is the supreme authority that

determines my decisions? The answers to those questions

will identify for you the object of your worship.

And it's either the true God as revealed in the Bible or an

idol. And in this time you will have

people, the future we're looking at right in this book, who will

be preoccupied with worship because we are all created to

worship and we have the choice to either worship the truth or

something that is false to our own spiritual peril.

So the mission of the second beast is to inspire worship for

a false Christ who offer false promises, false salvation, false

miracles, and many will believe him.

Let's consider now the authority of the second beast.

In the last two verses of the text that we read, it says here

in verse 13 of Revelation 13, it performs great signs, even

making fire come down from heaven to the earth in front of

people. And by the signs that it is

allowed, you got to highlight that part that it is allowed to

work in the presence of the beast.

It deceives those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make

an image of the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet

lived. So this false prophet will not

only manipulate the masses with his his language and his words,

not only will he continually point to and make a case from

this incredible event, this resurrection type miracle that

the Antichrist will experience and showcase on top of it, he's

going to perform miracles. Astounding ones, impressive

ones. And I understand that some

people who come to a text like this have these dominant

questions. Is this, is this genuine?

Are these fake? Are these just a show?

This is just a sleight of hand kind of thing.

And if it is real, then how how do we explain God allowing these

type of demonic individuals perform levels of miracles on on

par with his supernatural ability?

And those are legitimate questions.

And the answer is deeper than, well, Satan is a supernatural

being. He's the really the the puppet

master behind all this. So he's energizing them to

perform these kind of things. I think it's much more profound.

And here's the answer. God, God is allowing as we just

read it, is allowing them to perform such mighty things as an

act of judgement on the world. That's the answer.

And that's exactly how the apostle Paul explains it.

So here's our final text today in Second Thessalonians in

chapter 2. I want you to see how he gives

commentary on what we're reading here in Revelation 13 in chapter

2 of Second Thessalonians verse 9.

Paul writes the coming of a lawless 1 is by the activity of

Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all

wicked deception for those who are perishing because they

refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

Verse 11 is the main one that we want to look at.

Therefore God, not Satan, not the false prophet, not the

Antichrist. Therefore God sends them a

strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order

that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but

had pleasure in unrighteousness. You have to be very careful with

a text like this. I've seen people use it to

accuse the character of God. It does not say that God sends a

strong delusion on just anybody. It isn't just arbitrarily

deceive or allow deception, rather to claim people, it says

that he sends a strong delusion. Delusion on those who refuse to

love the truth and so be saved. On those who do not believe the

truth but had taken pleasure in unrighteousness.

And the context of this passage is of the last days speaking

about what's to come. Which means that after all that

the Lord will do leading up to the culmination of the age we've

been looking at in Revelation, the miracles, the

manifestations, the obvious display of God's existence

unlike any other period, unlike any other era.

Despite all of that, God will be met with persistent rejection,

and it will reach a point where he will finally determine if you

want to be in darkness that badly.

If you want to deny me, I won't convict you anymore.

I won't manifest myself to you anymore.

Do you? You want to be in your sin.

You want to obey falsehood? Here you go.

I will let you believe a false Messiah and a false prophet to

your own destruction. He's not the author of this

section, but he is a sovereign one who allows it to come like a

flood upon a generation. More specifically, who have spat

in his face despite his incredible efforts to save them.

Now, I can imagine how some might use a passage like this to

accuse God of being cruel. And if you're somebody here

sitting and listening and thinking something like that, I

want to challenge your accusation.

I want to challenge your accusation by asking how can you

charge God of being wrong for simply giving people what they

want? You know, it's amazing you have

some that no matter what God does with humanity, he's to

blame for something, right? So if he convicts you of

unrighteousness, if he shines the light in your life while you

are in the dark, people who don't want to be convicted say,

well, you're unloving. Who are you to say that this is

true and this is false, this is right and this is wrong, this is

good and this is evil. And if he lets you live in the

deception that you want to die for, well, he's unjust and he's

unfair and he's mean. So no matter what way you look

at it, God always gets the blame.

This is how evil we are. There's a time coming, as I

said, that God will allow these people to have a freedom to

unveil evil unlike any other point.

And it will be, to some degree, a manifestation of God's

judgement upon a generation who have already determined we don't

want to be saved. We want our sin, We want our

falsehood. We hate you and we deny you

completely. OK, if that's what you

determined, here's another Messiah and here's another false

prophet, and here's another message of salvation that will

not save you, but condemn you. God will send a strong delusion,

and that's what we're reading about in Revelation 13.

It will be so strong that this false prophet will even convince

the world. All right, let's now make an

image of this beast like Nebuchadnezzar when he created

that statue of himself and demanded all his subjects to

worship it. History repeats itself.

This Antichrist will gladly welcome the creative idea from

the false prophet to have an image raised.

We're going to see what's going to happen with this image next

week. But for now, I want us to

meditate on something. As we come to this table.

We read how God will send a strong delusion, but that's not

his heart. Before God will send a strong

delusion, He has already sent something much more wonderful,

and it's his Son Jesus. That's his heart. 2000 years

ago. He sent mercy, He sent grace, He

sent love, He sent the payment for all of our deeds, all of our

wrongdoings, all of our rebellion.

God sent a rescue mission on our behalf in the person of Jesus

Christ. He took on flesh and He allowed

evil men to do what they wanted with him.

Not that he lost control. He laid down his life willingly

knowing that He would be able to absorb all the wrath that rests

on your head and mine as He was elevated to that tree.

He was not just a mere martyr. He was not a victim of the

religious corrupt system or the Roman Empire.

This was all preordained. This was all established from

from eternity past within the Tri unity of our God.

Coming up with the ultimate plan of salvation that would deem

would redeem any man who would simply humble themselves and

realize Jesus on that tree took my place and he paid the price

and He lived out my obedience and he, he laid down his life to

receive God's judgement. Why did he do all that as an

invitation for you and I to see his love and also to receive him

personally. Here's my final question.

I've asked a lot today. Do you know Jesus?

You know, although that passage in Second Thessalonians is a

prediction of what's to come, it also carries principle for

today. It is a very dangerous thing to

constantly be exposed to the truth and swatted away.

You're not doing your heart any good.

In fact, you were setting yourself up to become even more

and more and more hardened. And I don't want anybody to

think here that I'm manipulating anybody.

I want you to understand this is what the Scripture warns.

If you hear His voice today, today is a day of salvation.

If you sense throughout this message, especially this last

part, your heart being cut, there's something coming alive

in you where you realize there's something true about this.

I don't know all the details, but I know that there is a God.

I know that I'm sinful, and you're telling me that this God

loved me so much that he died for me.

If you sense that prompting, don't silence it, don't ignore

it. Respond to it.

Respond to it, investigate it, question it in a good way, look

into it, don't dismiss it. Because when people constantly

suppress that conviction, they make themselves more right for

deception. Believer, you and I are here

today to understand and remind ourselves with this table before

us that God so loved us. He took on flesh and He shed His

blood. And you were sitting here today,

if you put your faith in this message as totally forgiven

forever and ever, and all these warnings about deception and

false messiahs and people being tricked, that doesn't apply to

you. You've been delivered from that.

And you and I stand as the children of God for all of

eternity because of His grace. Let's celebrate that together.

Amen. Lord, we thank you for this

word. We thank you for these elements

as we now turn our attention upon this wonderful ordinance.

Awaken love in our hearts for the person of Christ, for the

person who doesn't know you. May they be introduced to you by

the power of your Holy Spirit, and may they bend the knee to

the true Messiah. This afternoon we ask these

things in Jesus name, Amen.