Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith. The end-time world religion will be marked by unrestrained idolatry, false spirituality, and immorality. Everything God isn't. The cultural move in this direction is already underway today. Evidence of widespread perversion that sets the stage for the Antichrist.
From the Moody Church in Chicago. This is Running to Win with Dr. Irwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Erwin Lutzer is in a series on seven signs of Christ's return. Today, we'll turn again to Revelation chapter 17 to study sign number four: the rise of one-world religion.
Pastor, why does God let mankind sink to total perversion before His Son returns? You know, Dave, that's actually a very difficult question to answer. But as we look at history, we are aware that there has been a continuous battle between good and evil, and it is indeed amazing that God allows humanity to stray far from Him. He allows humanity to show all of its evil without restraint, but in the midst of that, He also shows His glory. And His mercy, and so we need to always hold those two things together.
And to all who are listening today, you may be caught up in various sins. Jesus is there for you. Come to Him, in repentance and faith, and He will save you. As an example of His love and His grace in the midst of a world that has lost its way, well, we're making available for you a book entitled "When Jesus Returns." This book will be an encouragement to you. Yes, it is a book that speaks about the evil that is still to come, but it also talks about the grace of God and the glorious return of Jesus Christ and our blessed hope.
Here's what you can do: go to rtwoffer. dot com. That's rtwoffer. dot com, or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven.
Now let us go to the pulpit of Moody Church, and because I believe that this book is going to be such a blessing to you, I'll be giving you that contact info one more time. As a staff, we hear reports of young people getting involved in pornography and and eliciting and twisting desires that they never even knew they had.
So now suddenly they are beginning to feel, well, well, I've been watching homosexual pornography, therefore they begin to have homosexual feelings or lesbian feelings or child pornography, leading to a desire for children. Everything that is imaginable is now available. And curious people are being hooked. What an expression! The abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.
Now I need to simply tell you today that if you are find yourself involved in that deadness and that pain and that emptiness and that secrecy. Please go to somebody for help, would you?
Somebody who can pray with you, someone to whom you can become accountable, so that you can be pulled out from that awful, awful pit because it is too strong for you to get out of alone.
Now, I want you to notice that the first thing that will happen is it'll always be perverted, and secondly, it will always be abusive. It will be abusive. Recently, I read a report that just makes your heart just weep. You say, "Oh God, how can you look upon this planet of young girls, maybe as young as thirteen, fourteen, becoming sex slaves?" Not just in other countries, but in America. And then being taunted with fear that that they have to live this life, and and they feel dirty, and they feel demoralized, and they feel as if there is no hope, and they think to themselves, most assuredly, there is no way out of this, and and they're told that their families and friends do not care about them, and and this Gemeinschaft, this community, is going to take care of them.
Oh, my dear friend, listening to me today, there may be some of you who fit into that category. Would you go for help? Would you make sure that there's someone to whom you can confide, so that you can get out from under the terrible, terrible grip of sexual emptiness and oblivion? What is going to be characteristic of end time religion? Because we don't have time to go into this in detail, but actually, our sexuality is so much a part of our spirituality.
Sexuality and spirituality are really intertwined the way God designed us. It will always lead to rampant immorality. But there's another characteristic, and that is rampant brutality. Rampant brutality. You'll notice it says there in verse six: I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
We know, of course, that throughout history, throughout history, there has been the blood of the saints. I think, for example, even of Rome. First of all, the Christians were killed by the Roman Empire. They were taken and thrown to the lions because of the paganism of Rome. And then, after the Christians were in power, the true church continued to be persecuted until groups like the Donatists were literally wiped off the face of the earth.
Because of persecution, but that's nothing in comparison to what's going to happen in the future, because the Bible tells us that there's going to be a time. You say, "Well, how do you know that this all relates to Antichrist?" If you were with us last time, you remember chapter thirteen, verses eight and nine of Revelation, where it says regarding the beast, "All that dwell upon the face of the earth shall worship him, except those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life from before the foundation of the world." Same thing says it right here. It says in verse eight, the beast which you saw once was and now is not and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast because he once was now is not and yet will come. The point is that once again we have all of these people being.
Martyred because of the religion of the beast, unrestrained brutality.
Now you know the New Age movement today prides itself in its tolerance. As I already mentioned, you can believe anything you like about anything you want, and that's perfectly fine, just as long as you don't think that you have the truth. Let me read what one of the writers says. The plagues of Revelation are a special package of karma visited upon the obstinate, that they might awaken to their wrong attitudes. Animals that don't adapt become extinct.
Remember, survival today means understanding and responding to change within the context of the internal revolution. Erwin Chargaff. That's an interesting name, Erwin. Erwin Chargaff, the father of bioengineering, said, "I see the beginning of a new barbarianism, which tomorrow will be called the new culture. Nazism was a primitive and brutal and absurd expression of it." Nazism was the first draft of the so-called scientific or pre-scientific morality that is being prepared in our radiant future.
Unrestrained brutality. Don't be taken in. The fact that the New Age movement and other movements that will take place before the Lord comes, in light of the fact that they are so so open and so inclusive and so tolerant. That's not going to be true for those who belong to the Lamb. I can assure you.
Fifth, unrestrained audacity. I needed a word there, so I chose the word audacity. They take on the Lamb. They are going to fight.
Now we don't have time to go into the details of what this is all about. There's evidence in the text that the woman, by the way, is actually Rome. You'll notice that it talks about the seven hills, verse nine. This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
However, they are also seven kings, and so interpreters have some confusion about that. But you'll notice the last verse of the chapter: the woman you saw. The great city that rules over the kings of the earth. We've talked about the revival of the Roman Empire, but the fact is this: that Jesus comes. And he wins the audacity to take on the Son of God.
I'm going to pick it up at verse 14. Verse 12, you know the horns. We quoted that when we talked about the message on the revival of Rome. You see how this all fits together. The ten horns, I should say, they actually correspond with the ten toes that we spoke about, and so forth.
But verse 14: They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And with him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers.
Now. Before we get to that and wrap that up, there's something else that needs to be said in context, and that is verse 15 and following, because this is now a backflash. He's receiving actually an interpretation of the vision, and we must ask ourselves what happens in the end. You know what happens in the end? That the beast, Antichrist, actually destroys this woman, and there's a very important reason for it.
Let's pick it up at verse 15. Then the angels said to me, "The waters you saw were the prostitute." Sits our people, multitudes, nations, and languages. She's going to have a tremendous amount of power. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin, leave her naked.
They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Why that? I thought Antichrist and false religion were in cahoots. The woman was riding the beast, and now Antichrist rises to destroy her. Ah, listen—the purposes of God.
This is breathtaking. The other thing I find about the scripture, you know, no man could have put all this stuff together. And the reason is because this jives exactly with the Apostle Paul. What he says it jives exactly, almost word for word, for what Daniel predicted. Listen, it says that the purpose of God is this: God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule until God's words are fulfilled.
What's going on in the text? Here it is. As Antichrist uses false religion, this eclectic religion where you can believe whatever you want, just as long as you don't think you have the truth, as he begins to use it toward his own ends, as it nears the middle of the tribulation period, when he goes into the temple and declares himself to be God, as the apostle Paul says, he's going to say, "I'm going to put down all the other religions." Because Paul said and Daniel said that he will oppose all other religions and oppose all those who would be gods. Why? Because he wants all the worship to be concentrated and focused on himself alone.
Even New Age religion will be banished. There is only one God, and that is Antichrist. Why? Satan's desire has always been to mimic Christ. He knows that Jesus is the Lord, and before Jesus, every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father, and there will be no other gods tolerated.
I'll tell you, in eternity, there's only going to be one God, and none other will be tolerated. And and so what he says is what Antichrist says is, and Satan, of course, whose puppet Antichrist is, he says for one moment. Maybe he calls it a shining moment, but it's a very dark moment. For one moment, he wants one man to rule. He wants one man to receive the worship of the world.
And just like Christ is going to receive the worship of the world, for one moment he wants his man to receive all the worship of the world, and all other religions must be destroyed and abolished.
Well, how does it end? Oh, I've got such good news that this was worth coming to church for. Maybe it's not been worth it till now, but it sure is now. We didn't take time to read it, but in Second Thessalonians it says regarding Antichrist, the Lord will destroy him with the breath of His mouth. It's gone.
Lake of fire, forever and ever. By the way, did I read it too quickly for you? Did you notice that the text says that we are going to be with Christ when He comes to destroy Antichrist?
Now, I need to I need to make a couple of other comments before I show you that in the Bible. Three words come to mind that I want to leave with you today, and this comes just from your pastor's heart to you. We're one on one. We're sitting in my study, and I'm talking with you. First word is discernment.
Discernment, my dear friends. When Jesus was asked what is going to be the sign of your coming in the book of Matthew chapter twenty-four, he referred to earthquakes and wars and everything. But he talked about false religion two or three times. He said, "Many shall come in my name, saying, 'I am Christ,' and they will do miracles and signs and wonders, and deceive many." If possible, to deceive the very elect, Jesus said that someday people are going to come before me, and they're going to say, "Have we not done miracles in thy name? And in thy name, we've cast out demons.
In thy name, you say, well, Pastor Luther, surely any miracle that's done in the name of Jesus is the right one. Listen, in thy name, we have cast out demons, and Jesus will say, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.'" Wow, how close is Satan willing to come to deceive the elect? Those who have apparitions who say Jesus came to me—it could indeed be Satan himself—and they think that they are serving Jesus, but they are so deceived that what they do is iniquity. Oh, the deception out there! I know someone who attended a faith healing service to get healed, and he came home healed.
Isn't that why you go to faith healing services? Isn't that the whole purpose, so that your sore leg, which he happened to have, is healed? But he noticed something. Along with the healing comes this sense of spiritual oppression. Says, "Huh, this is interesting." So he rebukes the oppression and rebukes the devil, and his sore leg comes back.
I think of my good friend Reverend McCloud. You know that he's been with us. He's going to be with us again. One of the most godly men. I mean, I don't know even know how he got into the meeting.
Next time he comes, we're going to have to ask him. But here he is. He's part of a lecture group. Given to doctors to the medical community, somebody comes overseas and and shows films on how they can cut somebody open, take out all the organs, rearrange them correctly, put them all back, sew up the skin, and then take a sponge and just go over the skin, and lo and behold, he's healed. Can't even tell where the surgery, where the incision was.
So McCloud raises his hand during the during the discussion time. I'd like to have had this videotaped, and he says, "Jesus Christ said that except a man be born again, he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." What do those words mean to you? And the man's voice changed, and a spirit, obviously speaking through the man, said, "This is the third time I've visited the earth, and I'm not going to answer your question." End of discussion. End of lecture. End of party.
My dear friends, we live in a day and age when, if possible, they could deceive the very elect. And oh, you know, you've heard me say it so many times, and the fact that I know I've said it many times shows that I'm still okay. You know, if I say it many times and I don't remember I've said it many times, then your pastors really got some problems. But I'm not there yet. I'm just on my way.
My dear friends, not everything that is miraculous is from God. Not everything that is miraculous is from God. Jeremiah was almost deceived by a prophet who came to him and made a prediction regarding Babylon. It's in Isaiah, excuse me, Jeremiah twenty-eight, and Jeremiah was almost carried along with this false prophet until the prophet was revealed to be a shyster and was actually put to death after a matter of months. There's so much deception out there.
Don't believe everything that's miraculous. Don't believe every angel. Don't believe every miracle. Discernment. Secondly, suffering.
Listen to this: the further America moves away from the gospel, from the Bible, and accepts the cult of self-absorption. The further that happens, the more tolerant it will be to every imaginable deviancy, either in conduct or in doctrine. But the less tolerant it will always be to the true followers of Jesus, of necessity. And Jesus said, "You know that's okay." He said, "They hated me; they'll also hate you." I guess I am asking those of you who work. In offices and factories and hospitals and all the rest, be willing to witness for Christ and to take a little bit of flak because you belong to Jesus.
Accept it. You say, "Well, does that mean then that what we should do is just oh pity ourselves? You know, us poor Christians? Oh, you know, the press is against us. They always distort everything that we say, and and the laws against us, and they want to cut this out." And the poor people, no.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. My dear friend, as the noose begins to get tighter and our options become less evident. We rejoice, we rejoice, we rejoice. Let's take a little flack for Jesus.
Number three, anticipation. It's a third word. C.S. Lewis says that if you are planning to get married, you have to understand that Jesus may come before the wedding. And he may, in terms of the rapture, you know.
Today we're talking about the return of Christ in terms of the glorious appearing and all this antichrist. But he may come, and he says, therefore, it is much more important for you to be ready to welcome Christ and his return than it is for your marriage plans.
Well, that's interesting. Isn't that the way it should be? Paul says there is a crown of righteousness that is given to me, and not to me only, but also to all those who love His appearing. You do love His appearing, don't you? You say, "Oh no, you know I'm so young.
I still want to prove my ability to be in business. I want to make sure that I finish college. I want to get married and all that." No, no, no, no, no, no. You love His appearing, and then if He lets you do the other things, that's fine. But you want His appearing first.
Revelation seventeen fourteen. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And with Him will be His called and chosen and faithful followers. That is us, folks, in glorified bodies by then, with Jesus taking part in the battle and enjoying the victory. Wow, what a prospect!
There is a story that's a true story about a man and his dog. This dog's master died and was put into a coffin, and the coffin was shipped away on the train. And according to friends, until the day that dog died, he met the train at the station every single day. Maybe today. My master's coming back, huh?
Maybe today he's coming back. All that we may be ready. Let's pray, Father. We're reminded of the words of Scripture. In light of the fact that these things shall all be destroyed.
In light of your coming, what manner of people are we to be? In all godliness and holiness of the truth, and we pray today, Father, for those whose lives are so so misdirected, either because they've never received Christ as Savior, or believers who've wandered into every false path and sin imaginable. Bring your people back today, Father.
Some are too weak to come back.
Some don't understand the value of the blood of Christ, so they don't think they can come back because they've sinned so much. Bring them, Lord. Show them the beauty of Jesus, and may they come. Oh, Father, the work that you've begun, don't let us go until it's finished. Jesus' name, Amen.
Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer, and you've just heard the real purpose of running to win. It's to get the gospel of hope to as many people as we possibly can, and I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry. Those of you who pray for us, we are deeply, deeply grateful. And what we would like to do is to make available for you a book entitled "When Jesus Returns." As a matter of fact, I believe that this book is going to give you hope in the midst of a chaotic world.
So I want to give you the contact info at the same time. Though I can't help but once again thank you so much for your support of our Running to Win ministry. And of course, even as we think of the return of Jesus, it is amazing to recognize the fact that he could return at any moment. Three chapters in this book are devoted to the blessed hope, the rapture of the saints. Here's what you can do: go to rtwoffer dot com, or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight.
Ninety-three thirty-seven. In a world that has lost its way in the midst of chaos and unpredictable news, let us keep in mind that for those who have believed in Jesus, coming under the protection of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear but an eternity to enjoy. Remember the title of the book: When Jesus Returns. The subtitle: Living in Expectation of the End Times. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614.
That was Irwin Lutzer concluding the rise of one world religion, the fourth sign in his series Seven Signs of Christ's Return.
Next time, we turn to sign number five: a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Irwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
