Who Is the Antichrist?: The Enemy's Despotic Rule

Hey everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you, so just send an email to me at gregg.harvest.org. Again, it's gregg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. The Antichrist will exercise unprecedented control over the population. Pastor Greg Laurie says even religion will be dictated. The Antichrist religion will be a mixture of many beliefs intertwined with occultism. Whatever form of spirituality you want to believe in, it's cool, as long as it's not Christianity. So when we see any kind of a movement toward a one-world religion, that is a foreshock of Antichrist.

We even see some semblance of it today. We're free to believe anything we want, as long as it's the right thing. But Pastor Greg Laurie says that despotic control will be out of control during the reign of the Antichrist. More on that today on The New Beginning. And don't forget about the good news coming this Sunday when Pastor Greg shares the Gospel at SoCal Harvest in Southern California and elsewhere online at harvest.org.

Be sure your friend or loved one hears the message. Who is the Antichrist? Type the word Antichrist into your search engine on Google and you will find 13 million options. Who is the Antichrist?

He's a real person. He is effectively the son of Satan himself. He's called the beast, the son of perdition, the wicked one, the lawless one. And he is spoken of many times in the Bible. And we all know I think even people that are not familiar with the Bible, they know what his number is.

Right? 666. But listen. When he comes on the scene he will not be dressed in all black with steam rising in the background with the Darth Vader theme playing in the background.

No, no. The Antichrist will be charismatic. He'll be articulate. He'll be intelligent. He'll be what we would describe as a great world leader.

A statesman. He'll be magnetic. He'll have everything that you would hope to have in a leader. And not only that but he will do what no other leader has ever been able to do.

He'll be able to solve the Middle East peace issues and get everybody to sign a peace treaty that they will actually abide by for three and a half years. You see when Antichrist comes on the scene he doesn't come off as this evil person that he actually is. He comes on the scene as a peacemaker.

But in reality he's a troublemaker. And it's just a ruse to get people to follow him and then he will ultimately show his true colors. There was a poll done by US News and World Report that revealed that 49 percent of Americans say they expect to see an Antichrist sometime in the future. In a Newsweek poll that was done 19 percent of Americans believe that Antichrist is on earth now. And in the same poll half of those who accept Bible prophecy believe Antichrist is alive right now as well.

Things are certainly ripe for the emergence of this leader. So let's turn in our Bibles now to Revelation chapter 13. I'm going to read quite a few verses so read along with me. Revelation 13 starting in verse 1. John remember he's on the island of Patmos. He's been given this revelation which means the unveiling of the future.

So this is what John is seeing. And he writes, Then I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns. And on his horns were ten crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power his throne and great authority.

Verse 3. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded in his deadly wound which was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast.

And they worshiped the beast saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and was given authority to continue for 42 months.

That's three and a half years. He opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those that dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

His authority was given to him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. How is he able to do this? He is energized by the devil. He is called the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2-3. He is called the wicked one in 2 Thessalonians 2-8. And by the way Antichrist does not act alone. He has a partner in crime.

A sidekick if you will. Identified as the false prophet. Revelation 13 11 says, Another beast that looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon. So this is another evil man different from the Antichrist.

So you have heard of the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. This is the demonic duo of Antichrist and his religious leader the false prophet. Now you add Satan to the mix and you have an unholy trinity. Just as there is a holy trinity of father, son, and holy spirit. There's an unholy trinity as Satan in the place of God, Antichrist in the place of Jesus Christ, and this false prophet in the place of the Holy Spirit. The Antichrist religion will be a mixture of many beliefs intertwined with occultism.

So when we see any kind of a movement toward a one world religion that is a foreshock of Antichrist. You know the popular thing today is people say well I'm spiritual. I'm not a religious person. I'm not into organized religion. I'm just spiritual. And to me it's like what does that even mean? I'm not into organized religion.

Are you into are you into disorganized chaos? Here's the bottom line. If you're really a spiritual person as you claim you will find your way to Jesus Christ. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate the Roman governor who ultimately ordered his execution everyone who is of the truth will hear my voice. You say you're a seeker. You say you're a spiritual person. If you really are you will come to believe in Jesus Christ. And if you don't I don't think you really are a seeker because God says those that seek me will find me. See we're moving toward what I would describe as an ABC culture.

ABC culture. Anything but Christ. Whatever form of spirituality you want to believe in it's cool as long as it's not Christianity.

As long as they don't believe in the Bible. The Bible also tells us one of the signs of the last days will be a great apostasy or falling away. Matthew 24 12 Jesus says because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. 2 Thessalonians 2 3 says that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God.

And this word rebellion comes from the root word apostasia where we get our English word apostasy from. A defection from the truth. I think what this is describing is professed believers falling away.

Professed. Just because a person says they're a Christian doesn't mean they are. The proof is in the pudding. By the way I've never understood that statement what proof is in pudding.

But the proof is in the lifestyle isn't it. And if you're really a Christian people will see results in your life. They'll see the spiritual fruit that comes from your life.

So just because a person says they're a Christian even a spiritual leader it doesn't mean they necessarily are. As I've said before I think there'll be three surprises when we get to heaven. Surprise number one some of the people we thought will be there won't be there. Number two some of the people we never thought will be there will be there. And surprise number three you'll be there. I'll be there. But just because someone professes faith in Christ doesn't mean they're necessarily a believer.

1 Timothy 4 says, the Bible clearly speaks that in the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits taught by demons and their hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. Seared with a hot iron. You know I don't know about you and this is a weird thing for a guy to admit but I like to iron clothes. I think it's seen something that's all wrinkled and I've got this super powerful steam iron that came from Europe.

It's much better than our wimpy American irons. And so when you really need to get a wrinkle out you pull the little button on it and big bunch of steam comes out it's great. So the other day I was ironing some shirt and I put the shirt on and there was one wrinkle. One wrinkle.

Oh I can't believe it. I don't want to take this shirt off. So I had the bright idea of just giving it a shot of steam while I was wearing it. So I pulled the shirt out like this and I took the iron and I gave it a burst of steam. I screamed.

It hurt so bad. Later that night my wife saw me. I had my shirt off.

Don't try to envision that please. I had my shirt off. There's this big red spot. My wife says what is that?

I said don't even ask. But seared is with a hot iron. It's scary that people can be in the church and yet have their hearts hardened against God. People are going to fall away in the end times. 2 Timothy 4 says the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine and they'll suit their own desires. Teachings that they want to hear. A great number of teachers they'll listen to that give them what their itching ears want to hear.

That's how it is for a lot of people. Sadly even Christians sometimes they want to hear something new. What's the new message? What's the new revelation? Listen to this. If it's new it's not true. And if it's true it's not new.

The Bible gives you everything you need to know about God. Stop looking for some new revelation because you might get yourself into trouble. And we see this today. We see people allowing other things to take the place of what matters in their lives. You have a problem when you're more passionate about politics than you are about your faith. You have a problem when your conspiracy theories are more important than your theology. I've seen Jesus loving Bible believing believers get sidetracked. And their social media used to be filled with Scriptures and things that honored the Lord.

And now it's all politics and conspiracy theories. And to all of these people I would say this. A quote directly from Jesus.

Return to your first love. Don't let these other things get in the way of your life. This false prophet that emerges on the scene will actually be able to do miracles. I'll put that word in quotes. Miracles. Signs and wonders. Romans 13. 13 says of the false prophet. He performs great signs. He makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast. I mean that's pretty dramatic. Calling fire down from heaven.

But listen to this. Antichrist is going to have a mock death and resurrection. A mock death and resurrection.

Look at verse 3. John says, 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. So it appears from this text that there will be an assassination attempt on Antichrist and it will even appear that it is successful. But then somehow the Antichrist survives it. Imagine if when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas if he survived that horrible shot that hit his head. Or if John Lennon had somehow survived the shooting that happened in the Dakota apartments in New York City.

Wow. It would be like a dead person had come back to life. That's exactly what's happening. And what story does that remind us of? It reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus. And what is the result of this so-called resurrection of Antichrist? Revelation 13. So they worshiped the dragon. He gave authority to the beast and worshiped the beast saying who is like the beast.

So incredible. He is such an imitator. He will deceive people that don't know better. Let me close with this. I titled this Who is the Antichrist? Now I'm going to give you the answer.

Ready? Who is the Antichrist? I don't know.

By the way nobody knows. So don't waste your time looking for Antichrist. Again Jesus said when you see these things begin to happen look up for your redemption draws near. You know if an earthquake is coming you will have four shocks. And I think we're seeing four shocks of Antichrist. Four shocks of Armageddon. Four shocks of end times events right now as they get closer and closer together.

Not unlike labor pains a woman experiences when she's ready to give birth. So as we see these events get closer together things I've talked about in this message it says Antichrist is coming but it also says Jesus Christ is even coming sooner because again Jesus will come for His people before Antichrist is revealed. Now let me close with this.

Kind of a provocative question. Are you an Antichrist? You say no Greg I'm confused. I thought you said that's a coming world leader. Yes but that phrase Antichrist is used elsewhere in the Bible. First John 2 22 says who's the great liar? The one who says Jesus is not the Christ.

Such people are Antichrists and they've denied the Father and the Son. You know it comes down to this. I have a choice. I'm going to either follow Jesus Christ or I'm going to follow in effect Antichrist.

It's really up to me. It's Emmanuel or Jezebel. It's Antichrist or Jesus Christ. It's really God or Satan.

You want to make the right decision because you are following the living God or you're following a false God. And by the way everybody has a God. No matter who you are you have some altar you bow before might be the altar of you. You worship yourself effectively. Or it might be the altar of materialism. Or it might be the altar of pleasure.

Or some other thing that you bow before. But you want to make sure you bow before the Lord because if you do your name will be written in the book of life. Look at Revelation 13 8. 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. Let me ask you in closing is your name written in the book of life? You say what is that? It's a book in heaven.

A scroll. And if you believe in Jesus Christ your name is there. And if you don't believe in Jesus Christ your name is not there.

And there's coming a final judgment spoken of in Revelation when people will stand before God. Great people. Unknown people.

Famous people. Every person who doesn't know God. And the Bible says if their name is not found written in the book of life they're cast into the lake of fire. God doesn't want anyone to face judgment. That's why he poured his judgment on his son Jesus Christ who died in our place. As I said before God treated Jesus as if he had lived your life so he could treat you as though you had lived his life. Christ died in your place.

And I love this phrase that is used here in Revelation. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Back in the councils of eternity. Before there was a Garden of Eden. Before there was a planet called earth. Before there was anything God decided that one day his son would come to this earth and be born in a manger in Bethlehem and then die on a cross and rise again from the dead.

He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Consider this. If you're a parent you'll know what I'm talking about. Even a grandparent.

If anything happens to one of your kids or your grandkids if they're sick or they fall you can almost feel the pain can't you? It was harder for the father to send the son than it would have been for the father himself to have come to this cross. He had to watch his beloved son suffer and die. But what did Jesus tell us? For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son.

What a gift. Whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Do you believe in Jesus?

Is your name written in the book of life? You say well what does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means more than just acknowledging a man named Jesus walked this planet 2,000 years ago.

It means that you recognize that Jesus is the son of God and you ask him to forgive you of your sin and you ask him to come and take residence in your heart. Jesus says behold I stand at the door and I knock and if you'll hear my voice and open the door I will come in. Would you like to ask Jesus to come into your life right now? Would you like to know that you'll go to heaven when you die? Would you like your name written in the book of life?

Would you like to miss this whole tribulation period we've been talking about? It can all happen if you will call out to Jesus. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. In a moment I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask you that would like Jesus to come into your life.

You that would like your sin forgiven. You that would like to begin a relationship with God to pray with me. In fact I'll even lead you in a simple prayer.

You can pray this prayer out loud if you like or you can pray it quietly in your heart but do pray because this is where you are calling out to the Lord to forgive you and change you. Let's all pray together. Father I pray for every person watching wherever they are. You know them Lord.

You love them. The very hairs of their head are numbered and you're calling many to yourself right now and I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin and convince them of their need for Jesus and help them to come to you now and believe. Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying why don't you just pray this prayer out loud after me or in your heart if you like. I pray these words Lord Jesus.

I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I repent of my sin and I choose to follow you Lord from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer with us making a decision for the Lord today and if you've just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant those words sincerely we want to welcome you into the family of God and we'd like to help you get started living the life of faith. Let us send you something called our New Believers Growth Packet. It'll answer many of the questions you might have and help you build a strong foundation for your faith. So ask for the New Believers Growth Packet as you write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside, California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime around the clock. That's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click the words know God and then we'd like to help you take your study of Revelation even deeper. Pastor Greg has just released his brand new book called Revelation a Book of Promises. Now Pastor Greg nearly everyone can think of a question they'd like to ask about the book of Revelation maybe something about the 144,000 or about the mark of the beast or if believers will be here when the Antichrist is revealed. Will they find answers in your new book?

100% they will. Let me just give quick answer to every one of those questions. Who are the 144,000? There are 144,000 Jewish people who believe in Jesus as the Messiah. There's sort of like 144,000 kosher Billy Grahams combing the planet sharing the gospel and they're under divine protection. And then you mentioned will believers be here to see the Antichrist?

I think the simple answer is no because the Bible says he who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way and then will that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming. The restraining force in the world today is the work of the Holy Spirit through the church. It is my opinion that Antichrist cannot be revealed until the church is removed. So we should not waste time looking for Antichrist but instead be looking for Jesus Christ. The mark of the beast that will come with the Antichrist in the tribulation period. So no the COVID-19 vaccines are not the mark of the beast. No there is no thing right now that is happening that is the mark of the beast. That will come later. So the main thing we want to focus on is being ready to meet the Lord.

So I answer those questions and a lot more in this brand new book that I've just written simply called Revelation a Book of Promises. It's hardcover. This is a pretty thick book folks and we're going to send it to you for your gift of any size because I believe this is going to be a resource that you can go to time and time again as you study this book. It's understandable. It's down to earth.

It's practical. I don't use a lot of theological language. I speak in a way that you can grasp it and I want to send you this book again for your gift of any size. Whatever you can send we'll use to reach more people with the gospel and the teaching of the word of God. Yeah and we so much appreciate that investment. It's really an investment in touching and changing lives as we'll be doing shortly at SoCal Harvest October 3rd. So get in touch today with that donation and we'll thank you with a copy of Pastor Greg's brand new book Revelation a Book of Promises. And by the way we'll include a bookmark designed by our team to show the timeline of end times events very clearly.

What comes before what, what comes after what. So write us today at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call us anytime around the clock at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. And then as we've been mentioning this weekend something important is coming. It's a huge one night evangelistic event SoCal Harvest this Sunday. And Pastor Greg whether our listeners are in Southern California or elsewhere this is their opportunity to invite someone who needs to hear the gospel.

Well Dave you actually could call it America's Harvest because this isn't just for Southern California though the event is based there. It's going to be national. Frankly it'll be international because we're going to use every media platform available. It'll be on all of our Facebook pages. We'll have partners and friends that we'll work with and they'll cross a post the event live. It'll be on YouTube.

It'll be at harvest.org and we're working with some partner radio stations and and so it's going to be in a lot of places. So here's the thing you need to understand. This is an event that from the moment it starts to the time it ends is designed to present the gospel and confront a person. And I mean that in a good way not a bad way. It's direct.

It's straightforward. When I give a message at a SoCal Harvest I'm preaching for a decision. I'm going to tell him who Christ is, what Jesus said, how to come into a relationship with him and then I'm going to give them the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ. And so we weren't even going to do it this year because of the COVID lockdowns and so forth but we just decided to go for it. But instead of three nights we're doing one night. We have amazing music from our friends for King and Country and Phil Wickham and a few surprises and then a message for everybody. And let me just add one other thing for those of you that have the opportunity to attend this in person or watch it this is going to be different than any SoCal Harvest you've ever been to before.

I would describe it as more of an immersive experience. There'll be elements of our cinematic crusade that you remember that we call the Russia Pope woven in to the live event. It's just going to be cool. What can I say? If possible make plans to come to Southern California if you're outside of our state and if you're in this state definitely make plans to join us at Angel Stadium on October 3rd for the one night SoCal Harvest. What do our listeners need to do right now right this very minute to prepare for this weekend?

Three things you've probably heard me say this before but some folks are new to our broadcast so this might be something you've not heard. Pray, invite, bring. So start by praying. You know Jesus said the harvest is great but the laborers are few and he said pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into the harvest. So pray but don't just pray that other people would be sent, pray that you would be sent because God wants to use you. You know the Bible says how will they hear unless someone tell them? How will they tell them unless they are sent? God's looking for people to speak through.

So pray. Pray for a person that you know that is not yet a Christian and pray that God will soften their heart and open their spiritual eyes and then invite. Now you extend the personal invitation. Hopefully you've earned a little credit with them so to speak as a friend. You've been there for them in times of need and now you're saying listen this is the most important thing to me, my faith and I want you to come to this event or watch this event or however you choose to connect them to what is happening. I read recently that 85 percent of the people out there who are not believers would be willing to talk about faith issues with their friend if it was important to their friend.

So it's important if it's important to you it'll be important to your listener. So pray invite invite and then this is the key maybe bring them don't send them bring them. So if you're in California you say I'm going to come pick you up and I'm going to drive you to the event maybe we'll get dinner before or after or whatever but I'm going to bring you to this event and then while you're at the event you're praying for them or you send them that link and you're saying I'm going to be watching too let's talk about it afterwards or you're watching it together.

You know there's a harvest app for your tv for the apple platform for the roku platform. You can put it up there on your big screen and watch it in your front room or on a tablet together or however you choose but this is an event that will be available on every kind of platform out there and I hope that you'll utilize it because you know what people need to hear the gospel. And we hope our listeners will not only remember this event in prayer and of course remember it by bringing somebody who needs to hear this message but we also hope they'll remember it with their support isn't that right? Yeah that's right Dave you know these are very expensive events to undertake they cost a lot of money and think about it if you went and heard a great band like for king and country or phil wickham you would pay admission to go to the concert you do so happily because who doesn't want to go and hear great christian music but there's no charge to a person who comes to a harvest crusade this is sort of a tradition if you will that was established at our very outset we wanted to make the gospel without charge. The harvest crusade the so-called harvest is cut from the same cloth as the Billy Graham crusade and he his ministry was cut from the same cloth as the Billy Sunday crusades or campaigns or the D.L.

Moody campaigns it's the idea of going to large venues neutral venues by neutral I mean not a church sanctuary we're in a stadium in this case that a person can come to but I don't want money to be a barrier yeah we do receive an offering at the event but it doesn't come close to covering our expenses we need our friends to step into this with us and be a partner and invest in it because they want to lay it for themselves treasures in heaven and I'll tell you what I can't think of a better way to spend your money than on giving people an opportunity to hear the gospel so for you that are listening if you could help us financially especially at this moment it would mean a great deal. Well any other thoughts before we go on SoCal Harvest? Yes Dave I have a very important announcement to make and what I need is echo and then fanfare following and then some applause are you ready?

I'm ready. Okay here it is people listen I need volunteers for the SoCal Harvest and that means you that means I am asking you to come and be a part of what God is doing on October 3rd in the Angel Stadium. Hey have you ever been to one of these events there's nothing like it this is an experience you want to have to be used by God you might be an usher you might be a counselor you might work at our merch table you might do something else but whatever it is you matter and we need you and frankly I'm depending on you so Dave why don't you tell them where they need to go to sign up and actually be a part of the SoCal Harvest on October 3rd at Angel Stadium. Yeah it's real easy just go to harvest.org socal again harvest.org socal you'll get information on volunteering and also get more general information about SoCal Harvest coming up this Sunday. Well next time more from the hard-hitting 13th chapter of Revelation be sure to tune in. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.