apoc:13:1-6

Whether it is the revival of the old Roman Empire and the man's ability to pull together the terrible discordant countries of Europe, which by the way seem to me to be fracturing more every day we live. We talk about a unified economy in Europe and a Euro-dollar, and they're all over there shooting each other. And it seems to be escalating. And if he can pull all of that together, that may constitute the amazement because of the reconstituted Roman Empire. Or it may well be that this individual deceives the world in some fake death. I actually have a hard time believing that this man will actually die and be raised from the dead because Satan can't do that. But I don't want to say it can't be done because if God chooses to do it, it can be done.

Now it does tell us in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 that the Antichrist will win the world over because of his power and his signs and then this, his lying wonders. His power, his signs and his lying wonders. Will there be some kind of an assassination of this world ruler who has reached the apex of power and then some kind of a resurrection? There's no evidence of that. There's no description of that.

Some people have said through the years that they think it's going to be a resurrected Judas. Well why do they say that? Because Judas is also called son of perdition in John 17:12 and that's the title of Antichrist in 1 Thessalonians 2:3. But frankly, folks, that could be a title given to any unbeliever.

Others say, "No, it's Judas because he's the only man called diabolos." John 6:70 Jesus said to him, "One of you is a devil," that's the only man he ever called a devil. And also Luke 22 says Satan entered into Judas. But that's all conjecture. Satan could enter into anybody. Satan entered into Ananias and Sapphira. And what would be the point of a resurrected Judas? Nobody would know it was a resurrected Judas because nobody knows what Judas looked like. That wouldn't be anything.

Furthermore, I believe that the resurrection, if it does occur, has to occur at the halfway point, not the beginning. So whoever this guy is he has already immensely gained power in the world so much so that he's useful to bringing peace at some level in the very first of the seals that's opened in Revelation 6. We see him conquering and bringing peace. And perhaps that's where he begins to show the tremendous ability that he has as he unifies the Roman Empire in Europe and it is that capability that causes the world to fall at his feet. And then indeed perhaps on top of that, there is some kind of a satanic ruse pulled off whereby he supposedly rises from the dead. We will, of necessity, speak more about this.

If you look at verse 14 maybe you'll get a little better insight into it, that the false prophet who comes alongside the beast deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given to him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. But notice that he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given to him to perform in the presence of the beast. Maybe one of the deceptions is that this individual is back to life, who knows whether it's real? It could be fabricated in many ways. Nobody else could do it. Stephen Spielberg could.

So, there's going to be amazement and it's going to bring him worldwide acclaim as he rises, as it were, from the dead and demonstrates his ability to bring back a whole empire. This has a potent effect. The whole earth was amazed, fascinated. And he will immediately become the idol of the world. Attractive, brilliant, charming, glib, strong, handsome, astounding powers, they are so traumatized and so enamored with him that they follow after him...they follow after him.

Paul describes something of that following. It says, "They follow after him...in 2 Thessalonians 2:10...because they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, and for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false." Maybe what is false is that resurrection. But they believe it because they reject the truth and he becomes the recognized leader of the world.

So his ancestry, his authority, his acclaim, would you believe there's another "a" in here? His adoration, verse 4, his adoration. Fascination turns to worship. It's one thing to follow a man, it's something else to assign him deity. Verse 4, "And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast, saying, `Who is like the beast? And who is able to wage war with him?'" Yes, fascination turns to worship.

In fact, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says that the Antichrist takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. He is not content with acclaim, he wants adoration. He is not content with respect, he wants reverence. He is not satisfied to be hailed and heralded, he wants to be worshiped. And so in verse 4 the witless people who will not love the truth of the gospel so as to be saved are deceived to the point where they literally worship this man as if he were God, and in so doing verse 4 says they worship the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast. Reversing that, they worship the beast and in worshiping the beast they would up worshiping the one who gave his authority to the beast, namely the dragon. They become a worldwide group of Satan worshipers.

Do they know it? Some may, some may, probably most don't. I don't think this is talking about in the end time there's going to come worldwide overt Satan worship. I think what it's saying is there will be worldwide worship of this man which in effect is Satan worship. Some of them may truly worship Satan, but I think it's along the line of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 where Paul condemns the Corinthians for their engagement in any of the idol feasts that were going on in their culture because he says the things the Gentiles sacrifice to their gods, they sacrifice to demons. They didn't realize it but they thought they were worshiping an idol, they were really worshiping a demon and so it is here. These people who think they're worshiping this man are really worshiping Satan because he's the one who gives all the authority to this man. And that worship, by the way, is really the enterprise of the false prophet who is the cohort of the beast. He'll be introduced to us down in verse 11.

Go down to verse 12 for a moment. This second beast who comes out of the earth rather than the pit, he exercises all the authority of the first beast and what does he do? He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. His job is to make the whole world worship this man. That's his task. Over in verse 15, "There was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast might even speak." Oh now we're getting a little deeper into this deception, right? Maybe what we have here is some kind of fake man that is only an image but somehow is given a voice so people think he's alive. But it is the task of the false prophet to make the beast believable as a resurrected God. And by the way, as many as do not worship the image of the beast are...what?...are killed.

So the worship is enforced by the second beast called the false prophet. He is further discussed in this book as we will see. And notice what they say, to show the complete and total devotion they have to the beast, they say this, "Who is like the beast? And who is able to wage war with him?"

What is the significance of such a statement? Just listen and you will know. Listen to this, Exodus 15:11, just listen, "Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?" Listen to Psalm 35 and verse 10, "Lord, who is like Thee?" Listen to Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 18, "To whom then will you liken God? Or to what likeness will you compare Him?" Verse 25, "To whom then will you liken Me? says the holy one." Isaiah chapter 46 verse 5, "To whom would you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me? says God." One more, Micah, you know this verse, "Who is a God like Thee?"

Well what I wanted to do was just to give you a feeling for something that I could have given you three times more verses to illustrate. All throughout the Old Testament it has been common to say in worship to God, "Who is like You? Who is able to wage war with You?" And so what you have here is mocking language. What you have here is evidence of the blasphemy that is indicated back in verse 1. Basically what they're saying is you are God, you take over for God. And they are blaspheming God.

I believe also there's another little interesting note. The name Michael, Michael means "who is like God." So there's a sense in which they are playing off of Michael's name in a blasphemous way.

So, we see this beast, his ancestry, his authority, his acclaim, and his adoration. There's more to come, but that's for next time.

Listen, would you carefully? After studying all of this stuff for two weeks, you know, you get pretty sick of it. And I think that's part of the motivation I had in wanting to speak on the love of Christ this morning. I wanted to get away from this Antichrist to the true Christ. And as I was thinking