Sermons

Summary: The greatest deception

So far in Revelation 13, we have seen in the imagery seen by Apostle John:

Satan calling up Antichrist out of the sea of humanity, specifically the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea;

That the rise of Antichrist will be mercurial in speed, brutally strong and vicious in conquest, and will demand the attention of the world

That Antichrist will have the qualities that are an amalgam of different kingdoms of antiquity, and will lead a ten nation confederation of countries that will rule the world

He will be, most likely, of Roman, Grecian and Jewish descent

Antichrist will suffer a fatal blow by sword to the head, specifically to the right side of his head, putting out his right eye, withering an arm

Satan will have a demon possess the dead but healed body of Antichrist, while Antichrist's spirit will go to Hades upon death

This demon possession of Antichrist's body will be passed off as a miraculous resurrection meant to overshadow and replace the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in importance

The great mass of humanity will fall for the great lie, the great delusion of a fake resurrection, and will marvel and wonder at Antichrist and follow Him

Antichrist--and, Satan by default--will receive the worship and adoration of the world. The world, for the most part, has rejected the testimony of the Word of God, but will be duped by the message of Antichrist.

The Bizzaro Savior,

Who Is Not A Savior

The movie "Man of Steel" debuted this last week. I am looking forward to seeing it with the family. I understand that there are many allusions to God and to Jesus Christ, and the movie looks great in the previews and the music by Hans Zimmer is masterful.

In the comic series by DC Comics, there are many other characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and more. However, there is an interesting character by the name of Bizzaro. Bizzaro is the mirror image of Superman; in other words, he is the exact opposite of Superman. For instance, green Kryptonite weakens and can kill Superman, but makes Bizzaro stronger. Superman has heat vision, Bizzaro has freeze vision, and on and on.

Antichrist will be a Jesus wannabe, but he will have reverse qualities to Jesus. Hate instead of love. War instead of peace. Pride instead of humility.

This week, we will wrap up this section of Scripture and as we see the monstrous plans of Antichrist, and how the world will follow in lockstep with him. It will truly be the worst period ever experienced on earth: the Great Tribulation, the second half of the Tribulation period.

The Great Orator

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:5-6 (NKJV)

Throughout history, there have been many men and women that have earned the title "Great Orator". Pericles. Lincoln. Churchill. Reagan. Kennedy. Ghandi. Mandela. Walensa. However, great orators have also included those of infamy: Hitler. Stalin. Marx. Alexander. Mussollini. Pol Pot. If you were to wrap up the charming talents of the first group, and the evil, malicious intent of the second group into one person, that would be Antichrist.

The third commandment concerns blasphemy: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7, NKJV) We often think that "taking the name of the Lord...in vain" means to say God's name as a swear word (that includes the name of Jesus); it does, but it goes beyond that. A popular blasphemy that people say today is OMG, or "Oh my God"; other versions are "oh my Lord", "Sweet Jesus" and also stating "I swear to God". It is one matter to put your hand on the Bible in court and swear to tell the truth, but another to use God's name as an exclamation point or a means of promise to another over trivial matters.

Antichrist will be a malevolent charmer who will seek to deflect worship from God and onto himself. One method will be to openly blaspheme God, to cut God down, to use profanity that is not fit to print when speaking of the Almighty. However, he will use great oratory--great public speaking--when he does such thing, and people will go right along with it. Think about it for a moment; our culture has been desensitized to all sorts of blasphemy over the past forty years or so because of the blasphemous speech in media. Movies use God's name in vain more than the "f" word. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is testing the waters regarding showing nudity and profanity on TV, but God's name is already taken in vain on TV. A great deal of rap music and other music genres have the "Explicit Lyrics" label. The way is being paved, but Antichrist will not just push the limits will remove limits on profanity and blasphemy. He will have a "bragging mouth" that will blaspheme God (including Jesus), blaspheme heaven itself (God will "tabernacle" or "tent" with His people in heaven) and against even you and me and all of the other saints in heaven.

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