The Rise of the Antichrist

Satan's chief strategy is deception. Dr. Tony Evans says the devil's power lies in schemes, not strength.

So if you and I are losing to the devil, it's not because he's overpowered you. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. The book of Revelation has been referred to as God's roadmap to the end of time. Today, Dr. Evans examines the dramatic events surrounding the rise of the Antichrist, whose rebellion against God sets the stage for the final confrontation between good and evil.

Let's listen in as he unpacks chapter 12 for us. Here in the book of Revelations, we find out that the angels are wrestling with the red dragon and his cohorts, the demons, who, verse 9, deceives the whole world. Satan's chief strategy is deception.

This is a very important principle. He cannot win by authority because of his defeat on the cross. So he has to now win by deception. So if you and I are losing to the devil, it's not because he's overpowered you.

You only do what the mind tells you to do. So he has to affect your thinking or override your thought in order to get you to function in his way. So he brings influences that deceive you. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, verse 10. Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. God has allowed Satan access to him. And in that access, he accuses us.

Why? Because he knows something about God. He knows God's perfections. His righteousness is holiness, and therefore he knows that that will break fellowship between God and us. And they overcame him because of the word of their testimony. In other words, you will not defeat the devil in your life if you are a secret agent Christian.

You will have no authority. And then it says at the end of verse 11, And they did not love their life even when faced with death. God wants you to love him more than you love you. For this reason, rebuke, O heavens, verse 12, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth, the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time. Now the devil can read, too.

Okay? He can read, too. He has seen history work out. He has seen the promises of God work out. He's seen the prophecies come true. He thinks he's gotten Jesus beat. He kills him, but Jesus gets up out of the grave.

So he sees this. So he probably has memorized the book of Revelation. And according to the time limit of three and a half years, whatever he's gonna do, he's got to do it in these three and a half years, because you'll see in chapter 20, he's getting ready to be locked up for a thousand years. So he knows that I only have a brief window to try to thwart the program of God. I can't kill God, but I can try to destroy Israel, which in fact would kill God, because it would render God's Word not true. So he's gonna go full hog in the last 42 months, in the last three and a half years, to bring destruction to Israel and the world in order to nullify God so that God's Word will not demonstrate itself to have been authentic. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to earth, he persecuted the woman, Israel, who gave birth to the male child. Now, that is the Jesus came through Israel. Now, you're gonna discover a little bit about how he does this, because we're gonna look at the Second Coming, and when we look at the Second Coming, what introduces the Second Coming is the War of Armageddon.

So the War—the Battle of Armageddon is what stages the Second Coming, and it's a— it's like an epic kind of scenario there, but he's got to go for broke now because his time is limited. With two wings, verse 14, of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time. Time, times, and half a time. That's three and a half years, okay? One time, two times, half a time.

Three and a half years, okay? So that's the same time segment that the devil has to work with that God is now protecting Israel during this time. Verse 15, the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.

So some supernatural activity will come from him to bring about the destruction of Israel. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river, which the dragon poured out of his mouth. So Satan will unleash something that's called a flood, so an overwhelming something in order to bring about the destruction of Israel, and God says he opens up the earth and absorbs whatever Satan has. Now this is big in the tribulation period, but there are probably some people here who've seen God swallow up something that Satan was trying to overwhelm you with. And one of the ways that you discover the reality of God is in the context of being overwhelmed.

Flood is to be overwhelmed. When you are being overwhelmed with something like a flood and watch God open up and suck it up so that the destruction meant for you, okay? Or as the Scripture says, when the enemy comes in like a flood, he will raise up a standard against him.

And that is one of the ways that God validates himself and will therefore validate himself here. So the dragon was enraged with the woman, verse 17, Israel, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So we're introduced to the Antichrist, who's beast number one.

So let me say a few things about him. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having ten horns. This comes out of the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7, Daniel chapter 4. These ten horns are the European Confederacy that comes together in Europe. The European Confederacy, or the old Roman Empire—the old Roman Empire split up.

It became Europe. It says there will be a ten-nation confederacy, politically, economically, militarily. A ten-nation confederacy that will—called the ten horns—that will be the centerpiece for the Antichrist action. Now we're in the second half of the tribulation. In the first half, he looks like the friend of Israel and the friend of everybody. It's in the second half, when all hell breaks loose, and we're in the Great Tribulation. So he comes, and on his heads are blasphemous names.

Okay, so he's going to blaspheme the names of God. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard. He was like a bear. He was like a lion.

He was like a dragon. All that's to say he's a monster, as mad as a monster. There have been monsters in history. Hitler was a monster. Stalin, Lenin, they were monsters. Mao Zedong were monsters.

Why? Because they sought to exterminate people en masse. What made them monsters is they sought to exterminate people en masse.

What is he trying to do? Exterminate a whole nation of people en masse. So he is a monster. And so with that in mind, they worship the dragon because—they worship the dragon, Satan, because he gave authority to the beast. So this will be a satanically inspired leader. And they worship the beast, saying who is like the beast, or the Antichrist, and who is able to wage war with him. So this beast, Antichrist, is going to establish himself out of Europe as this world leader. He will be empowered by Satan, and there will be a religious aspect to him because he will be worshiped. And he's gonna direct worship to the devil. Now I know you and I today, we're Christians.

We live in America. Why would anyone worship the devil? Well, to get to worshiping the devil, you have to dismiss God. You and I are watching the dismissal of God. In Europe, God has already been dismissed. Well, when you see what the beast does and what his helper does, you can't help but worship the dragon.

I'll show you why in a moment. But there's gonna be this worship. There is given to him a mouth, verse 5, speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for 42 months was given to him.

Three and a half years, okay? And he opened his mouth and blasphemous against God. In blasphemy, his name and his tabernacle, that is those who dwell in heaven. So he's blaspheming God and God's throne in heaven. It was also given him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.

So he is now a world ruler. We'll get back to today's lesson on the rise of the Antichrist right after this. Pain, uncertainty, and division seem to be everywhere you turn these days, until you look to Jesus. And now more than ever, the world needs to hear the hopeful story of the kingdom of God transforming hearts.

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That's tonyevans.org. Before we return to today's message, I want to tell you about a valuable resource from Dr. Evans titled, Trusting God in Turbulent Times. This is a 30-day devotional guide that will help you find comfort and strength in God's faithfulness, clearly displayed in God's Word, in church history, and in the personal experiences of millions of believers around the world. Each entry in this book contains a relevant scriptural passage and encouraging devotion designed to help you grow through life's difficult seasons and emerge stronger than you were before. We'll send this new devotional guide to you along with our thanks when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And for a limited time, we're also including all 10 messages from Tony's Revelation series on either CD or digital download. Get in touch with us right away to request this special resource bundle at tonyevans.org or reach out to our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat our contact information for you after part two of today's lesson.

Here's Dr. Evans. You know what Hitler said? He said, today Europe, tomorrow the world.

His goal was to rule the whole world out of Germany, then to incorporate Europe. God did a couple of things. When the Germans were on their way to to take over Russia and cross the Rhine, they ran into something they didn't expect, and that was a snowstorm. And the snowstorm kept coming and kept coming and kept coming and kept coming, which made the Germans pull back and not be able to continue with Russia.

On the other hand, they were coming to England. And God intervened then, because America changed its mind. America was not gonna be involved in the war. America's changed its mind, joined Winston Churchill in England, and was able to push back the Germans there. And those of you who know World War II know all the stuff that went along with that.

But the point is, there was intervention. That is because he was an Antichrist. He wasn't the Antichrist. The Antichrist is gonna have world domination. I'm just bringing that up to say that it's not—we shouldn't be surprised that people want to rule the whole world.

In all these movies we'd like to go see where people trying to take over the world and all that, well that's really real, and it will be made real in this scenario. All who dwell on the earth will worship Him. Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Everybody's born in sin. The death of Christ addressed the problem of original sin. That's why babies go to heaven. Because they're covered by what Jesus did before the foundation of the world relative to original sin. But my point is everybody whose name is not in the book are going to worship the devil.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined to captivity, verse 10, if anyone kills with the sword and with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and faith of the saints. So this is gonna be a tough time in the tribulation because you're living under a death penalty. Now everybody won't die, but you're under a death penalty in the tribulation.

That's why it's much harder to get saved in that period of time. But here it is. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. The first beast comes out of the sea. That's the Gentiles. The word earth means land, coming out of the land. And the land usually refers to Israel. So this is a Jewish person. So he comes out of the land and he has two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.

Oh wait a minute now. He's got the look of a lamb and the tongue of a dragon. He's got this soft side and he got this devil side.

Some of you live with people like that. They got this soft side and they got this devil side, okay? Because the dragon is Satan. So he exercises all authority of the first beast and he makes the earth and all those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. The first beast causes the whole world to worship the dragon and then the dragon causes the whole world to worship the first beast.

The second beast causes everybody to worship the dragon. The father calls everybody to worship the son. The son gives glory to the father and the Holy Spirit gives glory to Christ. You see what Satan is doing? He's trying to replicate God. It's the unholy trinity.

In order to have an imitation of something, there must be a real thing that brought about the imitation, okay? Everybody's worshiping. He's called, verse 9-16, he causes all, the small and the great and the rich and the poor and the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand and on their forehead. And he provides that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man and his number is 666. It's the number of man repeated three times, six for the dragon, six for the first beast, six for the second beast. They're wearing the name of the unholy trinity.

In other words, they have given public recognition and identification. Everybody on earth, unless you reject the beast and place yourself under a sentence of death, will submit themselves to be ruled, and you cannot live without this on your hand or on your head. Everybody, everybody, in order to operate, to buy, to sell, to eat, to do business, to operate, to work, you will not be able to function apart from the grace of God because the beast will bring everybody under his control. Then I looked and behold the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000 having his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads. The 144,000 are Jewish evangelists, 144,000 Billy Grahams, whose job it is to carry the gospel worldwide during this time. The Bible says Jesus is the first fruits of our resurrection, meaning he went ahead of us, and because he rose, we will rise. So first fruit means that which goes ahead. These have been purchased from among men as the first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and no lie was found in their mouths.

They were blameless. So he describes these evangelists as spiritual people who will be sent forth as the beginning of the mass of people who are gonna get saved during the tribulation. A lot of people are gonna get saved during the tribulation, but a lot of people are not gonna get saved during the tribulation because they're gonna take the mark of the beast. We've all been to a play and where the curtain is closed. The curtain is closed, so you don't you don't see the play. You're just waiting for the play. You're waiting for the play. So you're just sitting there and waiting and waiting and waiting for the curtain to open.

You can kind of know that you're close to its opening when you hear movement behind the stage, or you may hear some instruments because they're doing a little practicing on the instruments. In other words, there's rumbling, indicating you're close to showtime, okay, as opposed to when there's dead silence, okay. If you listen carefully, if you listen carefully, you hear the rumblings. You hear the rumblings. That's why you can't get excited when you see things look like they're going in the opposite direction, because they can turn on a dime. God guaranteed that the Middle East would be the center of the world, because that's where Israel is located, and the way he guaranteed it was a three-letter word called oil.

Oil is the guarantor that the Middle East stays as the center of the world, because the Middle East can shut the world down because of oil. If you listen carefully, there are rumblings. So I would suggest—now, I'm not a date setter. I don't know when Christ is gonna come, and maybe this is just a pause in the process.

I don't know, but this I know. If you've ever been waiting to get serious, if you've ever been waiting to be a real Christian, this would be a good time to start, because like Satan, I don't think there's a lot of time left. And when you meet the Lord, you want to be able to say, I fought a good fight. I kept the faith.

I finished my course. You may say, but what if I've fallen down? Get up.

Get up. Dr. Tony Evans, uncovering the rise of the Antichrist in today's lesson from the pages of Revelation, and he's here with a follow-up invitation for us right now. Some may be thinking or feeling that you've gone too far, you've sinned too greatly, you've been gone too long for God to ever save you. Do you know you are the perfect candidate for salvation?

Because he died for sinners. And he is so great in his perfection, he can go beneath your deepest sin. He can lift you out of your greatest regret. It's called being born again.

You get to start life all over again spiritually. So no matter how badly you've sinned, how long you've sinned, how deeply you've sinned, how many people you've sinned against, God offers you forgiveness, and he offers it to you for free. So right now, why don't you pray after me? If you're on the road, you can pray as you drive. If you're sitting at home, you can pray as you sit.

Whatever you're doing, you can pray this prayer as long as you attach faith to it. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Lord Jesus, I know I need a Savior. I recognize I've sinned too greatly and I can't save myself, but I receive the offer you make to me to become my Savior. I place my eternal trust in Jesus Christ, in you alone, for you to forgive me and for you to grant me a brand new eternal life. I embrace it and receive it now. I place my faith in Jesus Christ alone for my personal salvation.

Thank you for saving me. If you prayed that prayer with Dr. Evans today, we invite you to visit his website, tonyevans.org, and follow the link at the very top of the page that says Jesus. You'll find plenty of information and resources there to help you get your life in Christ headed in the right direction. And while you're there, don't miss out on your opportunity to take advantage of that special two-part resource package I mentioned earlier. All 10 messages from Tony's current sermon series on Revelation, along with his brand new 30-day devotional guide, Trusting God in Turbulent Times. They're both yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are standing by to assist you. That's 1-800-800-3222, or online at tonyevans.org. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. That powerful truth from Psalm 30, verse 5, unfolds in the book of Revelation, where the intensity of God's judgment is building. Tomorrow Dr. Evans takes a look at Armageddon and Babylon the Great. Be sure to join us for that.