He will appeal. to the world. world that means people without Jesus not interested in Jesus They will adore him. And that will be covered in this chapter. false prophet that comes out of the earth.
will be doing everything he can. To get everybody, he will be the propaganda machine, unlike ever before. and and he will be doing all sorts of signs and wonders to get the people. to just Fawn. over this Madman.
Hmm. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation chapter 13 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Beginning in verse 1, then moving over to verses 7 and 8, and you will see the genius of it. When I do it. Verse 1, Then I stood on the sand, and of the C and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns. and on his horns ten crowns.
And on his heads a blasphemous name Now verse 7. It was granted to him to make war with the saints, and and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him. whose names have not been written In the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. I told you it was going to be genius.
Yeah. The Beast from the Sea. That's the title.
Now, the next paragraph, hopefully, next week. If we're still here. will be the beast from the earth. And uh The very dominant word in this chapter is Beast. Sixteen times.
far more than any other word in this chapter And The Greek Therion is means a wild beast.
So, if the Greeks wanted to use, say, they wanted to call something a monster, they would use sterion, as opposed to other words for wild animals. And uh when Paul was On the island of Malta, and the serpent, the viper, fastened to his hand, the Translators, or Luke writing the story, says it was a beast, a theon. a monster. And so it's very appropriate. This, of course, is the Antichrist.
He doesn't see himself as a beast. But that is what he is from heaven's perspective. He turns into this monster. is beyond merely an evil person. He is demonic.
And he's not the first person to be demonic, but he is the first person to have this much power on earth. This p thirteent chapter is Perhaps the spookiest chapter. In all the Bible, it starts out with this. Seven-headed, ten-horned monster. And so, how can it not be a little spooky?
But I won't be here for this. And neither will anyone else who has named Jesus as Lord But there will be converts, and and those converts will become converts. going into their faith knowing They're going to be killed. That the beast will overcome them. And they're still going to make their profession of faith because that's what truth does when it locks onto a heart.
who seeks the Lord.
So this chapter tells the tale of that unholy Trinity, What makes them so unholy as they hate purity. They hate goodness. It is a satanic counterfeit of the divine trinity that we know in Scripture. And this beast out of the pit Is Satan, we're told that very clearly, even back in chapter eleven. It the dragon is Satan.
And the beast out of the sea is the Antichrist who. is going to be Satan's world leader. And the beast out of the Earth, that's going to be the false prophet That supports the Antichrist. And he has a major role. He's not a marginal figure at all.
So, in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead. We're told that straight out in. Colossians two, verse ten But in Antichrist dwells the fulness of Satan. He is the falsely anointed one. He is anointed, if you could use that word.
He is Satan's boy. He and the Antichrist sidekick. The false prophet.
Well, let's dig into verse 1, and we'll spend most of our time in verse 1, and then we'll breeze through the rest of the verses. That's the plan. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads ten. A blasphemous name.
Well, he stands at the seashore because that gives you an extensive look, and he's painting this picture for us, John is as he's writing it, because in his vision this is what how it's it's going, how it's happening. And uh we We know many of the symbols in Scripture, what they stand for. And we know what the C stands for in the Scripture in this context. We compare it with other verses and the usages of other words. For instance, later on, we'll have the waters, not in this chapter, but in chapter 2.
17, I believe. Where he speaks of the waters.
Well, there's a different Greek word there, not the sea. And We'll come to that. C The sea. Symbolizes Chaos. That is created by evil.
I mean, you can have chaos created by incompetence. and other ways to create chaos. But evil, this is deliberate. And it's coming to all the nations. The world's going to be globalized.
It's the very thing Napoleon wanted that, Alexander the Great wanted that, others have wanted it, Antichrist is going to get it. And so are the people with him. They're going to get it, too.
Well Uh there Evil is because of their rejection. It's not random. It's not, oh, look what happened. The world's a mess now spiritually because, you know, God didn't do his job. Quite the contrary.
God did everything He could to reach lost man. The church is no longer effective, it's no longer allowed globally. We're removed, and then we have the apostate church left behind, and there's true converts who have the mettle to stand up. To this wickedness.
So, this global submission to the beast. who comes out of the sea And the C comes as that chaos. That he's going to find. He rides on the sea on the scene on a white horse, and Ezekiel 38 shows him going to war. uh to get uh out of the way those who would oppose him.
And the world spiritually will be in total chaos and darkness He will get to rule the nations for 1,260 days. And this is emphasized over and over and over in scripture, so nobody has a doubt. How will we know? But when you're living through it, you'll know when those last three and a half years are coming. to be up and Christ will return.
He is an actual man, he is a human being. That, of course, is energized by Satan. And we've seen smaller ones. like Hitler, for example. He is going to be Satan's masterpiece.
He will appeal. to the world. world that means people without Jesus, not interested in Jesus. They will adore him. And that will be covered in this chapter.
False prophet that comes out of the earth. will be doing everything he can. To get everybody, he will be the propaganda machine, unlike ever before. and and he will be doing all sorts of signs and wonders to get the people to just Fawn over this Madman, mad because of Of what Satan has done.
Now, the dragon and the beast. Are both sea monsters. They are presented to us that way.
So the scripture is making it very clear. These two are inseparable. They're in rhythm with each other. and two peas in a pod, you might say. Although one is the spiritual devil, and the other one is a spiritually corrupted human being.
Wilfully so. Both of them Show up with Ten. Horns on seven heads. There's some subtle differences as to what's on the head, but it's the same. It turns out to be the same.
Here the beast has seven heads. and blasphemy, a blasphemous name on their head. And the ten horns that he has, symbolizes with the crowns on top of the horns, symbolizes his military power. And this is global. Having use that power to take the world and put it under submission, to the Antichrist.
Now there are some speculations as to Will the Antichrist be Gentile? Or will he be Jewish? And you're just speculations. You go nuts with this. And you don't have to, but it's a little fun to just consider, for example.
Someone might say, Well, he comes from the sea, not the waters, so he must be Jewish. And the false, or they'll flip it around. It's just he must be a Gentile. See how it gets convoluted? As for the Prophet, his false prophet who comes from the earth, well, the earth, you know, man was taken out of the earth, that must be Gentile.
So you just go nuts. And I only tell you that in case you come across it in your readings. I I would counsel you. It doesn't matter. He's going to be as evil as ever, regardless.
of his background. Who knows? He could be a hybrid or What you know, a mixed person. Anyway, he has seven heads. Which really makes it hard to wear a collared shirt.
Now, this is the revived Roman Empire and I want to identify that. I'm probably going to go against what you've he read. And that's okay. You still love those commentators that are wrong. Daniel chapter seven gives us the information about the Roman Empire.
That comes in the ancient world and then comes again in the last days. And whenever Daniel writes these things, He makes distinctions in his prophecies between what's happening in early history. versus what's going to happen in the end. He just puts this little sentence in something like, and the end times or the last days, or ripe, or he makes, gives it some sort of. marking that lets us know, okay, This thing is happening at the end.
For example, Nebuchadnezzar sees has this dream. He sees this giant statue, and it has a head of gold, and then the chest and the arms are silver, and you see it's depreciating in its precious metals from gold to silver. Then it has bronze in the midsection, and finally the legs of iron.
Well, that speaks of, and it's not hard to track that down historically. The Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire that came after, and then after them came the Greeks, and then the iron is the Roman Empire. But what about the feet?
Well, it's iron mixed with clay. That's the end times. It's not going to stand. This human statue of governance is going to collapse. When is that going to happen?
Globally. Finally, well, of course, in the days of Christ.
So. this revived Roman empire that Daniel, was the one that gave it to us. We'll start at it and well, let me tell you who it is first. It's Western civilization. That's what I believe very strongly.
I do not believe that somehow Italy is going to produce, they'll be part of it. I don't believe it will be the the Vatican City alone. They'll be part of it. It is Western civilization that is distinct from all the other civilizations of the world. And here's the Biblical point, Revelation seventeen, verse nine.
The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
Well, you could almost scratch your head at that one, or you could say, well, wait a minute, we do know cities. with nicknames. They have nicknames, we all know them. For example, New York City, the Big Apple, Paris, the city of lights. And if you're a reader in history or anything like if you read stuff, you'll find this.
Well, what's Rome? What city is known as a city that sits on seven hills? Because there are many cities on earth with seven hills. Rome. Rome is the city that sits on seven hills.
What is Western civilization? The two dominant features that make up Western civilization. Roman the Roman Empire And The Holy Roman Empire using Judeo Christian Influences without being Christian. the Roman Catholic Church and her popes, These two really form for us uh the foundation of Western civilization. And so I do believe Antichrist will have this North Atlantic alliance that puts down, of course, the rebellion from r the Russia Russo Islamic Alliance.
He puts that all down. And he ends up controlling the world. but he will control it. From a Western civilization standpoint.
So, Revelation 17:9, that's where the city of Seven Hills is. What we know is that to be we know that to be Rome. unprecedented global rule and uh this Incidentally, is where the woman sits who rides on the beast. Revelation 17, 3. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast.
That's this one here. Full of blood? He continues, on a scarlet beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Well, the ten horns Are the heads of state with the power to enforce its will And they're going to turn on this Woman, that is a religious entity. Revelation seventeen. 16. and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, Make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. You see the brutal language that belongs in the Scripture?
God said, I'm not going to edit that out. That's what's happening. That's what's going to happen. It's going to be violent. And you won't forget it once you read it.
And so, of course, who the apostate church will be left behind, they will function. As an apostate church until that moment, until Antichrist says, you know what, now they're an irritant. They're getting in the way, and they will be dealt with. No one else. That it's a harlot speaks of its unfaithfulness and its paganism, its its its uh its leavened spirit.
It's not a wife. It's never been a wife. These are important little. Absences and inclusions of words that speak volumes to us. Any anyway?
That no one else fits the bill. She's bedecked with all sorts of jewels as speaks of her wealth. There's no religious organization on earth that's got the wealth. Of the Roman Catholic Church. In her vaults, her hidden tapestries and statues and gold and things that we don't get to see, and no one gets to know about.
Even the oil. companies That that's all going to be lost to Antichrist when he deals with them.
So the woman that rides the beast is what I I believe that points to when we get to chapter 17, we'll lay it out even more. Anyway, and I'm certainly not the only one. If you think that's hard preaching against Roman Catholicism, then you should go listen to the Reformers, because they are brutal. They thought the popes were the antichrist.
Well, John picks up uh the this numerical imagery from again Daniel with the ten toes and the statue of clay. And the ten toes, of course, doesn't take um genius to connect that. to these ten heads, uh ten horns, that is, that are on the seven heads. The apostles seize this monster as the final world government. But let's come back to the ten horns here.
the power unto Antichrist. 10 is a number of governing Unity of different parts, different parts coming together. It shows up that way often in Scripture: that governing unity made of parts. Here, well, if you have seven heads with ten horns you could have three heads with two horns, and all the rest with one.
Well, you could have four heads with one horn. Uh or you can have one head with four horns and the rest only get one horn. I'm just going to show you that because if you start getting too deep into prophecy, you can lose your mind on certain points because there's just not enough information, but it doesn't have to have more information. You can understand from that mathematical equation. That some of those heads have more power than the others.
but they're all in it together. And that is is the world. as we know it.
So Antichrist. He is the beast over these other heads. He's one of those heads. Daniel 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 a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words, which gets repeated by John and defined between Daniel and John, totally in rhythm together and on his horns ten crowns.
Well, these are they're they're rulers of the world, and that means they have armies and nations and resources in back of them. and they'll be able to quite easily persecute converts.
Now, when the church was born, Rome did not know what to do with the church. They thought the Christians were a sect of Roman, of Judaism. And so they they sort of left the Christians alone. They didn't persecute the Jews directly. They conquered them.
They gave them a pass on many things. And so they gave the Christians a pass too. But once they realized, hey, wait a minute, the Christians aren't part of Judaism, they began to persecute the Christians.
Well, that's going to be repeated. And these seven years the Christians will be persecuted the whole time. But The Jews wouldn't will get a pass for three and a half years. And then that pass. Will be taken with, you know, pulled away, and they will be persecuted for the last three and a half years, and that's when they'll begin to wake up.
and realize that this is just like the prophets said. Uh and this man speaking the pompous words is indeed the Antichrist that the Christians have been preaching about. And on his horns, ten crowns. I've covered that already. Daniel 7:24.
The ten horns are ten kings who shall rise from this kingdom.
Now he's connecting the Roman Empire to the future kingdom of Antichrist when he talks this, and another shall rise after them, and he shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue three kings. And part of this is because no one has ruled the entire world. But these characters that Daniel presents will. We just read over verse 7, every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Well, it's not happened before. Alexander tried it. Napoleon tried it. Others have tried it. But then couldn't pull it off.
They get large sections, but not the entire world. And globalization. With modern technology and And industry will allow this. And all the things that go with that, the commerce, the ability to interact with each other is unprecedented. You don't have to send a messenger or a horse anymore.
Well, you can. But it's quicker to just text 'em. Anyway, and on his head's a blasphemous name. These are the Christ haters. You cannot blaspheme a man.
You blaspheme deity. Only God can be blasphemed. And of course, there's more coming. Verse 2.
Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like a bear, and his mouth was like a bear. Like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, and His throne. And great authority.
So there's Satan pouring everything into. His uh His little protege. This is Daniel's fourth beast. And Daniel's prophecy and These animals are all predators. They will do violence.
And this exceeds the power and ferocity of the Roman Empire. in the last days.
Now, well, well, let me put it this way. What we have here Is this Joining. Of those powers that Daniel talked about: the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks. Uh and then the Roman Empire They're all merged together in Antichrist. He's going to have all that power.
and more than what those kingdoms had.
So John He sees this eclectic beast. This global hodgepodge of world powers. in its final form. in its revived form. with Western civilization leading it.
Globalization will achieve this. And we we Christians, we see the evil of globalization. We see that, you know, well, let's strip them of their culture and let's just get everybody on the same page. And to do that, you've got to get Christ out of the way. This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston.
This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello. I didn't run up to the bottom of the city.
