September 23, 2020 1:00 am
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It's interesting if you study history to note that the ancient Roman Empire began as a republic with a democratically elected Senate and then regressed to rule by one man. History, according to what I read here, is going to repeat itself.
The restored Roman Empire, which may be in the works today, has a democratically elected parliament, but it will one day, if this is it, regress to rule by one man, the last Caesar in line to call himself Lord. You've no doubt heard of the Antichrist. Although he's a somewhat mysterious man, there are many things we can learn about him and what he'll do during the tribulation. But the Bible also describes something called the spirit of the Antichrist that's at work now. That refers to the world's system that blasphemes the name of God, opposes the work of Christ, and attempts to hide the truth of God's word. We're looking at the Antichrist and the spirit of the Antichrist in today's lesson. This is Wisdom for the Heart with our Bible teacher, Stephen Davey. Stephen's in a series called Antichrist and the Many Faces of Evil. He's entitled this lesson, The Last Caesar. The title Antichrist immediately provokes a response from the average guy on the street, doesn't it? Even the most biblically illiterate person has an opinion. He knows that the Antichrist stands for something evil.
They know that it's a title that has bound up in it, mystery and intrigue and murder and demonic power. He's known as the prince who is to come in Daniel nine. He's called the fierce king in Daniel eight. He's referred to as a despicable man in Daniel 11. He's called a worthless shepherd by Zachariah. He's called the destroyer by Paul in second Thessalonians two.
He's referred to as the master of intrigue in Daniel chapter eight. And he's called the evil man in second Thessalonians two, verse nine. But when John introduces him to us in his revelation, he is always referred to as simply the beast. That word beast is from Therion.
It can be literally translated monster. It's a word that refers to a monstrous person in whom the political power of the world will be consolidated and concentrated in the life of this man of sin. Paul calls him in second Thessalonians two, verse three. Now, when you combine revelation 13 with Daniel chapter seven, and you ought to write in the margin, your Bible somewhere, just Daniel chapter seven, when you compare these two texts, we're actually given enough information to know where he comes from, how he rises to power, what he hopes to accomplish and how he is empowered. Now look with me at just the first opening phrase of Revelation 13, that first phrase of verse one.
And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. This is a reference to Satan, the antecedent to this opening phrase. In fact, the first phrase of chapter 13 would be better serving as the closing phrase of chapter 12. I think perhaps a better division of what we know did not be inspired divisions in Scripture. We've been given just the text later on verses and chapter divisions were were offered to help us. You could go back to the last verse of chapter 12 and sort of get a running start on the scene. So the dragon was enraged with the woman Israel and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. In Revelation chapter 20 were given a little explanation that the sand of the seashore is used to speak of the nations of the world. So here you have Satan.
You have this this brutal beast standing as it were in the midst of the nations of the world. He's ready to begin his agenda as the tribulation begins. But he's missing something. He's literally missing someone. He needs a physical body. He needs a man to do his bidding. And he longs for one who will live and serve as the ultimate anti Christ.
Here he comes. Verse one again. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having 10 horns and seven heads and on his horns were 10 diadems and on his heads were blasphemous names.
Now let's just slow down and unpack this as carefully as we as we can. This is very similar to John's description of Satan earlier in Chapter 12. The difference if you compare the two is that the diadems or the royal crowns are on now on top of the 10 horns. So in other words there will be 10 kings who will be serving at the same time under the direction of the anti Christ. Now this title beast you will find as you study this along with me will refer times to not only this man but this man's kingdom. It'll be used interchangeably.
It will stand for a representation not only of the man but that kingdom which he leads. We do the same thing. We've done the same thing with history. We've spoken of of things this way with Hitler's name. Hitler stands for Nazi Germany and Nazi Germany is sort of was summarized in the name Hitler. We say Hitler bombed London.
Hitler never flew a plane but we understand it was his kingdom that bombed London. So the same thing is happening here with this term beast interchangeably used to speak of the evil kingdom of Satan and the evil prince. John informs us here as we just read that there are 10 horns. You may remember that horns are symbolic for kings and kingly power. In other words when the anti Christ rises to power there will be 10 kings ruling together forming a coalition of what Daniel reveals to be a revival of the Roman Empire. John also refers to seven heads which is a reference as we've already learned to the culmination of the seven empires that have ruled the known world.
It might help you to mark into the margin of your Bibles above verse 1 maybe circle the word horns and draw a line out to the edge and write kings and then circle the word heads and draw a line out to the margin and write empires. Now Daniel Chapter 7 we're told that the anti Christ comes up among these 10 horns these 10 kings and he arises as a little horn or a little king. He's the 11th as he grows in in power. In other words he will begin among them as an insignificant leader. He begins among the 10 kings forming the coalition of the revived Roman Empire.
Listen he does not start out as the president of the world's greatest superpower and then move to Europe. Now he begins in an insignificant role and he grows in power and an influence. In fact Daniel informs us that he will eventually pull out three horns or three kings by the roots. The language indicates that that there will be violence.
He will conquer three of the kings and then subjugate the other kingdoms creating a united European empire that will follow his dictatorial rule. John described this revived Roman Empire as one and I quote him which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. Now I want you to notice one other thing in verse one is that last descriptive phrase.
This is a new phrase we haven't yet looked at. It says on his heads were blasphemous names. But you don't have to have much of an imagination to understand why the church in the 1930s and 1940s got distracted and believing that the Antichrist was who? Adolf Hitler. And we think about it with the clues that we do know he grew up in Europe was an insignificant leader eventually gaining influence over time specifically through the writing that grew popular in those days of turmoil.
Finally Germany lay at his feet. He claimed to be a champion of a new race a superior race. It wasn't long before he was gobbling up European nations in his quest for world domination and you add to the fact that fact that he hated the Jews and he hated Jesus Christ and probably we along with many others would have said he's the one Hitler even boasted that just as Jesus Christ's birth had changed the calendar so his victories would would be the beginning of a new age.
He actually said and I quote what Christ began I will complete at one of his Nuremberg rallies a giant photograph was displayed during the rally and it carried the caption in the beginning was the word. Well I will tell you obviously he wasn't the Antichrist but that ultimate final Antichrist will be crowned with similar blasphemy he and his puppet kings in this coalition will fancy themselves as more powerful than the Christians God who seems to have lost control who is so passé whereas my daughter would say so yesterday. Notice how John describes this coming kingdom of Antichrist in verse two of Revelation 13 and the beast which I saw was like a leopard his feet were like those of a bear his mouth like the mouth of a lion and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority he is empowered by Satan himself. Now this verse again is best understood with Daniel 7 as a commentary where Daniel sees the coming of world kingdoms culminating in the final kingdom of the Antichrist. The first kingdom and he was dead on the money even though he's speaking prophetically was Babylon seen as a lion with ravenous appetites and a terrifying presence. He then prophesied that the kingdom that would crush Babylon was the bear representing the Medo Persian kingdom with its claws crushing claws and massive string. He then prophesied that the leopard which was Greece would follow next moving with incredibly swift speed to conquer the world.
And in just exactly that way Alexander the Great the Grecian ruler so conquered the world in such a quick rapid fashion that even still as a young man he wept that there were no more worlds to conquer. And then you have the final kingdom which is yet to be established. The kingdom of the Antichrist described by Daniel and I quote him as dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong. It has large iron teeth it devours crushes tramples down the remainder with its feet.
It's different from all the beasts that were before it and it has 10 horns. Imagine such clarity and perfect unity those separated by 600 years. Daniel and John both see a coalition of 10 kings formed in the revived Roman Empire of Western Europe ruled by the Antichrist. Peace which the Antichrist brings to Israel may very well be and I believe it will be an imposed forced peace just read the newspapers and watch the news.
It's one ongoing battle for the land and everybody's weary of it and the weariness is growing. Even now the United Nations are unable as they typically are to keep peace certainly to keep peace in the Middle East. Name the leader that's come across the stage in my own lifetime and yours if you're as old as I am. You saw Jimmy Carter attempt it thought he could bring peace to the Middle East and he couldn't. Ronald Reagan tried it. Bill Clinton gave it his best effort.
The Bush administration tried it and that administration ended with missiles flying through the air. Go back even further. You have Henry Kissinger. You remember him. Everybody thought he would do it.
Achieve it. He didn't. Nixon tried it.
So did Ford. You name the president. You name the diplomat. You name the administration. You name the other country's leaders who've tried it.
No one on the planet has succeeded in giving the Middle East a peaceful solution much less a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. But in recent years in our lifetime growing on the horizon of public awareness is the reviving of Western European nations in the forming of a coalition which may or may not be what he's talking about here but it would certainly not take much in that imagination to see it providing the groundwork for it. It's interesting if you study history to note that the ancient Roman Empire began as a republic with a democratically elected Senate and then regressed to rule by one man Caesar Augustus the first Caesar in line and the first Caesar to call himself Lord history according to what I read here is going to repeat itself. The restored Roman Empire which may be in the works today has a democratically elected parliament a democratically elected president but it will one day if this is it regressed to rule by one man the last Caesar the last Caesar in line to call himself Lord. Ladies and gentlemen the next chapter can be written at any time. Peace in the Middle East will be the signature of the Antichrist whereby he will amaze the world that will serve as a capstone to his meteoric rise to power and is the world ever willing and ready for another Caesar. Listen to what one historian wrote a British historian who wrote this several decades ago in fact and I quote Arnold Toynbee by forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapons and at the same time making the world more and more interdependent economically we are ripe for the deification of a new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace. Now I want us to be careful especially when you start a series on the Antichrist.
Okay I've been I've surfed enough to know we need to be certainly careful and I'm sure you know too. We're not going to spend our waking hours or our time discussing if the Antichrist is alive today or not. He may be. We're not going to try to decide if he's in London or Greece or Spain or Rome. It won't do us any good. In fact it will only keep us from praying for whomever we pinpoint as the Antichrist which we've been told to do in this dispensation. We have already discovered that the Antichrist will not be revealed until after the rapture. Revelation 6 clearly informs us that his emergence with this peace plan for the Middle East will take place after the church is taken to the throne of God's glorious heaven.
So we will know we'll know after we're raptured when he is revealed. So let's not spend a whole lot of time speculating on the latest inclination toward what we believe may be the Antichrist. Before the rapture the Antichrist will be an insignificant small player in the European unification system. He probably won't get anybody's attention. There will be several months most Bible scholars believe between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation and so there can be some things that will happen quickly.
His formal introduction into the world scene as a major player will follow his his ingenious Middle Eastern plan and it will be ingenious to have the Arabs and the Jews worshipping on the same mount. I personally believe that the enemy of the church would love us to pinpoint someone as you know the next or what we believe to be the Antichrist and at the same time then cause us to fail to focus on that which seems to catch the church off guard in every generation certainly in our generation. It is what the author of scripture John the apostle calls the spirit of Antichrist. He wrote that the spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the first century and certainly it has been working now into the 21st century 1st John 2 18 the spirit of Antichrist is alive in every such century and generation the spirit of Antichrist is what it would be that which is categorized and culminated in this false leader.
It would be that satanically engineered system of our world that blasphemes God that hates Jesus Christ that opposes the work of Christ that opposes the church and that attempts to drown out the truth of God's word that can happen inside the church that exists now. John says listen the Antichrist is coming but even now the spirit of Antichrist is at work first John 2 18. This is the spirit of twisting the truth and taking the lie and making it acceptable in your culture maybe even in the church taking that which is nothing less than greed or lust and making it fashionable and acceptable taking a lie and spinning it into the truth.
That is the spirit of Antichrist and I fear the church in every generation risks the distraction of going after the person of the Antichrist and being blinded to the spirit of the Antichrist. I've mentioned before I think to you and our kids were younger we would when we were watching television we would tell them to spot the lie. It's great exercise for those of you are parenting younger children just tell them to spot the lie especially during the commercials. Commercials over okay now tell me what the lie was. Oh we got it daddy we we know they said if you buy that you're happy or if you have that you're cool or whatever.
That's right. It's a lie. Can you spot the lies in our culture that may have even crept into the church. I just kind of prop my feet up on my desk and jotted down a few of them that have struck my attention.
Try these on for size. They're being spun into the latest fashion of public consumption. Here's one. What you do in private is nobody else's business. Here's another divorce doesn't really hurt children. How about this one. Marriage is the union of two loving partners regardless of sexual orientation.
Here's some more popular ones. Belief in moral absolutes is proud and unfair. If it's legal it's acceptable. Telling someone they are sinners in need of forgiveness is hateful speech.
Sexual relations before marriage proves you love them. Truth is a relative term defined only by you. If you believe in yourself anything is possible. It's up to you to save the planet from destruction. Pride in one's own self and one's own accomplishments are part of a healthy self-image. You are part of the universe a piece of the divine.
PG 13 means a movie is suitable for 13 year olds. Bisexual experimentation is part of discovering the real you. All the wisdom you need is already within you. Living together is a good warm up to marriage. Abortion is the removal of fetal tissue. What you do in Vegas will never follow you home.
At 21 it is legally and socially acceptable to get drunk so long as someone else drives you home. Are you alert to the spin doctoring in our own culture and maybe in the church today? A lie that is parroted by enough people or some significant person in your life that makes you believe that the lie is actually the truth. Listen beloved as we spend several sessions uncovering the clues about the coming antichrist and the devastation he's going to bring with his lies and blasphemy. Let's make sure that we are right now alert to the spirit of antichrist that we might be inviting into our lives our own self justification our own greed our own thinking our own lust our own planning. I personally believe that the rider of the white horse is about to mount up I mean any day but you know what that doesn't pose any danger for me.
It doesn't pose any danger for you. We're gone when he rides forward but the challenge and the danger and the warning of John the apostle make sure you don't allow his lies to gallop into your heart and your mind while you wait for the rapture while you listen for the upward call of Jesus Christ who was the true Messiah. It's true that Satan has some power and it's true that there will be an antichrist who arises in the end times but the God we love and serve is sovereign over all. That's great news from God's Word for us today. Thanks for joining us. This is Wisdom for the Heart the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. I invite you to learn more about Stephen and our ministry by visiting our website. You'll find us online at wisdomonline.org. That site contains the complete archive of Stephen's 30 plus years of Bible teaching. You can listen to each of his lessons or you can read his printed manuscripts.
Those resources are available to you free of charge from that site. They're also available on the Wisdom International smartphone app. Install our app to your iPhone or Android device and you can take our Bible teaching ministry wherever you go. One of our favorite times of day is when we get the mail and read the cards or notes that have come in from listeners. We'd love to hear from you and you can write to us at Wisdom for the Heart PO Box 37297 Raleigh, North Carolina 27627. You can also call us if you dial 866-48-Bible or 866-482-4253. Be sure and ask how you can get a complimentary trial subscription to our monthly magazine entitled Heart to Heart. It's a resource we send to our Wisdom partners, but we'd be happy to send you the next three issues just for asking.
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