Six Six Six - Part A

So long before John wrote Revelation chapter 13, the early churches were already being taught to look for or to consider that in the future would come a figure called Antichrist. Question. Another question. What's the source material for them in the New Testament teaching this?

What would you guess? What would be their source material? Old Testament. Old Testament.

Very good. The only book they have is the Old Testament. The only book they have is the Old Testament.

The only Bible they have. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Pastor Skip shares a message about the very real figure known as the Antichrist, whose number is 666. We're glad you've tuned in today. Connect with Skip is all about helping listeners like you strengthen your walk with Christ. And we invite you to partner with us by giving a gift to help connect others like you to the life changing power of the Gospel. Your generosity helps keep these teachings you love on the air to reach many others as we expand into more major US cities and all across the world. Just call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thank you. Now we're in Revelation 13 as Skip begins his message today.

Well, I'm going to put four words up on the screen. I want you to look at them because they're unusual together. Stolen Baby Jesus Syndrome. That's a thing. Stolen Baby Jesus Syndrome. What this is, is around Christmas time when there are public nativity sets, there are people who go into the nativity sets and steal Baby Jesus for whatever reason. Maybe they're protesting Christmas, maybe they do it as a joke, but they steal Baby Jesus. In one season, five Baby Jesus in one season were stolen from nativity sets in Washington State. This is such a thing that there is a Wikipedia page named Baby Jesus Theft.

It has its own Wikipedia page. In Wellington, Florida, they had their Baby Jesus stolen from the public nativity set two years in a row. Florida is a wealthy community. The Baby Jesus statue, just the Baby Jesus statue, was worth $1,800. It was stolen two times in a row. Finally, they put a GPS unit in the third Baby Jesus. When it was stolen, they followed it to the house of the thief, an 18-year-old woman who stole Baby Jesus from the nativity set. In many of these cases, in the Stolen Baby Jesus Syndrome, Jesus is replaced with a stuffed animal or a doll, a little baby doll that looks like a baby, but it's a substitute. The Bible predicts there is coming a substitute Christ. We call him Antichrist. We typically see that as somebody who's against Jesus. But as we told you before, the word anti, the prefix anti, can just as easily mean instead of Christ. It seems from all that we read in Scripture that this Antichrist will try to pose as a replacement to Jesus Christ, a substitute Christ.

It's quite possible that he is alive at this moment. The book Signs of the Coming Christ writes, and I quote, Somewhere at this moment, there may be a young man growing to maturity. He is, in all likelihood, a brooding, thoughtful man. Inside his heart, however, there is hellish rage.

It boils like a cauldron of molten lead. He hates God. He despises Jesus Christ. He detests the church. In his mind, there is taking shape the form of a dream of conquest. He will disingenuously present himself as a friend of Christ and the church, yet he will, once empowered, pour out hell itself onto this world.

Can the world produce such a prodigy? Hitler was once a little boy. Stalin was a lad. Nero was a child. The tenderness of childhood will be shaped by the devil into the terror of the Antichrist. Last week, we looked at the beginning part of Revelation chapter 13, and we noticed what John noticed in his vision.

He said, I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. And we saw that that means the nations of the world. He comes up from the nations of the world, and he rules with the nations of the world.

There is national, even international authority. And because his number, Revelation 13 verse 18 is 666, we gave you last week, if you remember, six characteristics of the Antichrist, including wickedness, world domination, wonder, worship, words, and war. Today, as we continue in Revelation 13, I want to give you three additional details that make Antichrist rule so dangerous, including the mark that he's going to force everybody to take.

Now, anyone who's ever heard of Antichrist, whether you've read the Bible or not, whether you've heard a sermon on this or not, everyone has heard of 666. It is now common parlance in our culture. One of the reasons it's so common is because there was a movie in 1976 called The Omen. Anybody remember that? It was starring Gregory Peck. That's how far back it goes.

Gregory Peck starred in this movie. It's called The Omen. It was all about an Antichrist figure, a child, a boy that was born named Damian. They're original.

They just sort of remake old stuff. So they came out with a remake of The Omen in 2006, and they decided to release it on June the 6th of 2006. 666. Now, we are still talking primarily here about Antichrist, though we have more information given about his agenda. So let me give you three additional details that make Antichrist rule so dangerous.

The first is his mention. Now, I'm about to take you on a Bible study. That is, it's going to require you to look something up and read something along with me in your Bible.

You up for that? This is church. We can actually do a Bible study. John gave us front and center a beast rising out of the sea identified as the Antichrist.

We're not going to read those 10 verses again, but we're just noting that we have read them last week. Now, John is the author of the book of Revelation. He wrote the book of Revelation in 96 AD.

That's about the best date we can come up with. John the Apostle on an island called Patmos writes the book of Revelation. But if you go back, you're in Revelation 13.

Just go back a couple of books. Go back to 1 John 2, verse 18. So John wrote Revelation. He also wrote 1 John. And when he wrote 1 John, he wrote it to a very wide circle of believers. We call these Catholic epistles universal epistles.

They had a very broad circulation. And he wrote 1 John before he wrote Revelation. Here's what I want you to notice in 1 John, chapter 2, verse 18. Now, he's writing that before he writes the book of Revelation. And when he writes that, he makes note of the fact that they knew that Antichrist was coming. How did they know that?

Where did they hear that from? And I ask the question because there's only four times in the New Testament the word Antichrist shows up. And all four of them are written by John. Three of them are found in 1 John.

One is found in 2 John. So he writes and says, you know this. You've heard this.

You know the Antichrist is coming. So where did they hear that from? Here's the answer. It was very common teaching in the New Testament churches. Very common teaching. John himself taught it, obviously.

Paul the Apostle taught it. So you're in 1 John. Go back to 2 Thessalonians. Turn backwards to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2.

We're just starting. You're going to be turning to a lot more places, so I want to get you used to your Bible. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be received whom the Lord will consume with the brightness of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. With the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. With all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie.

So long before John wrote Revelation chapter 13, the early churches were already being taught to look for or to consider that in the future would come a figure called Antichrist. Question. Another question. What's the source material for them in the New Testament teaching this?

What would you guess? What would be their source material? Old Testament. Old Testament.

Very good. The only book they have is the Old Testament. It's the only Bible they have. So there are over 100 passages in Scripture that describe Antichrist, though he has different names. Besides Antichrist, that's the one that stuck, but he has many different names. So now I want you to go back to Daniel chapter 7. I told you it's Bible study time, Daniel chapter 7.

I'm not going to go through it all again. I'm believing that you have been in these studies on eschatology with me before. You're at least somewhat familiar in Daniel chapter 7. He sees a vision of four beasts. The last beast that he sees has 10 horns, and in verse 8 of chapter 7, I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one coming up among them before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots, and there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words.

So here's an individual that starts out small but grows in power and in influence. Go down to verse 21 of the same chapter. I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints and prevailing against them until the Ancient of Days, that is God, came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. Remember last week, Revelation 13, John says, I saw a beast rising out of the sea with seven heads and 10 horns, and I hope you don't think that that's going to be actually what this person is going to look like, some freaky figure. No, that was a vision, an apocalyptic vision that was emblematic of something else.

Now, we're in chapter 7. Look at verse 23. Then he said, the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth which shall be different from all other kingdoms.

They shall devour the whole earth, trample it, and break it in pieces. The 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall arise after them. He will be different from the first ones and shall subdue three kings.

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. And the saints shall be given into his hand for time, times, and half a time. Time is one, times is two, half a time is half of that. So, three and a half years if we put it all together.

Time, times, and half a times. He obviously wants to change his own morality. He wants to change history, and he wants to start a new religion.

Now, turn the page, just one page. Look at Daniel chapter 8, verse 23. And in the latter times of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. He shall destroy fearfully and shall prosper and thrive. He shall destroy the mighty and also the holy people. He's going to be a deceiver.

He's going to be a destroyer. Remember what Jesus said? There's coming a time, a tribulation, coming to the earth such as has not been from the beginning of time, nor ever shall be. Now, once again, turn the page to Daniel chapter 9. Look at Daniel 9, verse 26. And after the 62 weeks, Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it will be with a flood.

Until the end of the war, desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. That's seven years. But in the middle of the week, three and a half year mark, 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. So, one more. One more page.

Turn the page to chapter 11. Chapter 11, verse 36. Then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god and speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper until the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, but he will exalt himself above them all. Because of that, many have conjectured that he will be a homosexual, but we don't know for sure.

That is a guess. But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses and a god which his fathers did not know. He shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones, pleasant things, and he shall act against the strongest fortresses.

With a foreign god he shall acknowledge, which he shall acknowledge and advance its glory, and he will cause them to rule over many and divide the land for gain. He's going to buy force. He's going to pour all of his wealth into a military machine for control. He is, according to Daniel chapter 9, going to make a covenant with Israel for a week. He'll slaughter the Jews at the three and a half year mark.

He'll try to wipe them out, as we saw last week, so that God cannot fulfill his promises to the Jews, so that they cannot receive the kingdom that he promised to them. So, when John writes and says, You have heard that the antichrist is coming. Indeed, they had. Paul taught it. John taught it. They referenced Daniel, no doubt. And Jesus himself referred to Daniel when he said, When you see the abomination of desolation as spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, you who are in Judea flee to the mountains. So, by the time John writes Revelation chapter 13, 1 John, 2 Thessalonians, and other letters had been written and widely circulated, so the church was aware that antichrist is coming. They knew it. Though they didn't probably call him the antichrist, they probably referred to him as the son of perdition or the man of sin, two other titles that he has given.

They certainly knew of the abomination of desolation because Paul taught it and Jesus taught it. Revelation 13 then just brings it all together for us and gives us further details on his plan and his agenda. So, that's his mention. The second detail I want you to look at, and this really gets into the text, believe we haven't even gotten into the text yet, is his mediator. His mediator, somebody who's going to come to be a helper to antichrist, to help facilitate his agenda.

He'll be a sidekick, an assistant, a promoter. Look at Revelation 13 verse 11. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Now, here he is called another beast, another beast coming out of the earth. Later on, this same person will be referred to in Revelation 16 and Revelation 19 and Revelation 20 as the false prophet, the false prophet. Here called another beast, there called the false prophet.

Who is he? Well, he has two agenda items. First, he's a religious promoter back to verse 11. I saw another beast coming out of the earth. 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. It's interesting that John, the author, combines two animals with opposite natures, lamb and a beast, the meekness and gentleness of a lamb, the predatory evil of a dragon. In other words, when you look at him and listen to him, what you see is not what you get.

Have you ever met a person who is striking and inspiring when you meet him or her and you listen to them and they seem so wonderful and so nice and then you get to know them? And you realize, oh, not so much. I know you're thinking, you just described my husband or my wife, but there's coming someone who will help sway the world.

He's got a look like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. Now, I know the world is becoming more and more secular. Certainly our society is becoming secular. But this guy is going to combine church or religion and politics, and he's going to do it with religious fervor and passion. That's Skip Heitzig with a message from the series The End is Near.

Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now we want to tell you about a resource that will help you gain a better understanding of end times prophecy. How have conflicts and wars in the Middle East set the stage for a future apocalypse? That's the question Ron Rhodes takes head on in his new book.

Listen to this. What do you see coming in the next five or six years that might do injury to the church? And without hesitation, I said I really feel like we're going to see an explosion of subjectivism, experientialism, and mysticism, along with occultism and some paganism. How conflicts and wars in the Middle East have set the stage for the end times. This new book by Ron Rhodes addresses issues such as understanding Islam, rebuilding the temple, and the annihilation campaign from the Antichrist.

Here's Ron Rhodes commenting on Middle East events. Did you know that in Revelation 2 and 3, we read about the church 19 times? And then in the discussion on the tribulation in chapters 4 through 18, you don't see the church a single time.

It is gone. In 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10, we are told that the church is to be delivered from the wrath to come. That word delivered literally means snatched, snatched away from.

We are to be snatched away from the wrath to come, which is a reference to the tribulation period. With your gift of $50 or more to connect with Skip Heitzig, you'll receive a copy of this new book from Ron Rhodes. Your gift will support the production and expansion of the Connect with Skip broadcast. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com with your donation, and we'll thank you with a copy of Ron Rhodes' new book How Conflicts and Wars in the Middle East Have Set the Stage for the End Times.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Tomorrow on Connect with Skip, Pastor Skip concludes his message, 666, and looks at why the Antichrist will be able to lead so many astray. Something to remember, you know, it says here he's causing the people of the world to worship the first beast. During the tribulation period, people are going to be so vulnerable. Have you ever considered that? People are dying all over the earth. There's plague after plague, destruction after destruction.

They're going to be looking for answers in any way, shape, or form because of the multitude of disasters that are coming upon the earth. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.