Well, we certainly appreciate having you here today. And we'll go right to the scripture before us in the Revelation. Chapter thirteen is the portion we have before us. I would like especially to read the first part of the chapter. Your lesson sheet will be page number twenty-two. And you'll find the lesson sheet covering this thirteen chapter. But for brevity's sake, shall we just read part of the chapter? that is beginning at verse one and reading down through verse ten John by the Spirit and let's recognize what God is bringing before us through his servant regarding the coming future events relative to the earth and especially related to the tribulation John writes and says I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, indicating his authority, and strength, and he gave him his seat. Now the word seat should properly be the word throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wandered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast. saying who is like unto the beast, who is able to make war with him. And there was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. May God bless the reading of his word. Will you go with me to your lesson sheet? We'd like particularly to read the introduction, which brings before us in outline what we're about to proceed into relative to what you have at the title, at the head of your lesson sheet, the satanic trinity. of the last days. Now may I give a little word of explanation? We have in the chapter before us the description of that satanic Trinity. First of all, the one who's spoken of as the dragon, none other than Satan, then the one of whom we have read called the beast, and one we shall see later in the latter part of the chapter called the false prophet. But please note the introduction and the remarks. The principal actors of evil in the Great Tribulation are now revealed. Can I pause again? I'd like specially to pinpoint the time when these three will be manifesting their power. If during that period of the Great Tribulation, you that were with us last week recalled that in chapter twelve, relative to the people of Israel, in the closing days of the Gentile age, there was the last half of Daniel, seventy week of years, seven years, and that last half, three and a half years, and we saw in Revelation twelve, to a spoken of as twelve hundred and sixty days, and also a time and times and time and a half a time. And it's relative to that closing period that we have before us, the power, the authority, and the revelation concerning this satanic trinity at the close of the age. Now we notice we read on. As we saw in chapter twelve, Satan being cast down to the earth with his evil host of spirits, angelic hosts, he is restricted to the earth as his sphere of operation. God fearing Jews and Gentiles will be the special objects of this murderous hatred. And may I pause, please. And this is a principle we need to realize even more in our Christian testimony. And in any time of history, whatever has been God's testimony on the earth for him, from the beginning of time and down to the end, Satan hates. And the hatred of Satan will be manifested particularly against Those who will be in that coming day, believing Jews, believing Gentiles. Now, will you please know, God's hearing Jews and Gentiles, we do not use the expression that it is the church. The church will not be on the earth. We have recognized and studied from the Word of God that between the rapture of the church and the coming to the earth of the Lord Jesus in power and glory, That period is a period while the church is in heaven that the earth below is being subjected to the judgments that the book of the Revelation reveal. Seal judgments, trumpet judgments, and ultimately the vile judgments. But those who fear God, whether Jew or Gentile in that period, there will be the object of the murderous attack of Satan. But let me read on and note this. Though Satan is a spirit being, he nevertheless is an actual person on the earth during the last prophetic half-week of Daniel, of which we have mentioned three and a half years. Now may I again repeat what we noticed last week and spoke of. Satan is not a physical being, such as you and I are by nature as a human person. But he is a spirit being. All the angels are spirit beings. You remember the psalmist said, and even in the book of Hebrews chapter one, the quotation is come. Come. Are they not all, even of the holy angels, are they not all ministering spirits? You can't see a spirit, can you? I know I haven't yet. Someday we will be able to look upon them in their spiritual, their spirit form. when we come into the glory of heaven, we'll see the holy angels. But today, to the human eyes, they're not visible. And then may I again repeat what we mentioned last week. Don't forget the possibility of them dwelling upon the earth, though they may be myriads in number, when we made reference to the demoniac man, that the demon-possessed man of Mark chapter five, When Jesus asked the evil spirit in that man, what is thy name? The answer was given to the Son of God. My name is Legion, for we are many. And it is not possible for you and for me to grasp how many evil spirit, demons, angelic beings in spirit form took possession of that man and used them for their purposes. until the Lord Jesus delivered him. Now let me give you another illustration. Remember Mary Magdalene, of whom Luke writes, out of whom was cast seven demons. Now may I just pause and reflect with you what a terrible condition the earth will be when Satan and all of his evil spirits are concentrated upon this earthly scene. But now let's read on. In the second paragraph, there are two principal actors revealed in our chapter, two men. Satan, of course, is the dragon. He'll be the mastermind. Acting in and through these men who are two apostate characters. One is called the beast, as we have read, and the other the false prophet. The first, now may I have was not, there may be some that won't agree with this teaching, but it's my conviction. The first one is a Gentile, and characterized by brute force. As we shall see, that second is the Jew, characterized by deception and subtle influence. And of that we'll study in detail. Now, these are the two chief senators of Satan upon the earth, by whom he seeks the destruction of Israel and the remnant of her seed. As we saw at the close of our study last week in chapter twelve. And we shall later see that he urges his blind duke to stand in battle away against Christ himself and his heavenly army to their destruction when we shall come to chapter nineteen at the end of it now may I still reflect with you very carefully solemnly seriously how terrible will be the character of the person one the dragon the devil himself that the two human leaders who will be under his control the beast and the false prophet. Now, let's read the last paragraph if you... No, we've read that paragraph, but let's go to the consideration of the chapter. This one, as we look at chapter thirteen and the first beast, and here we have what you have on your lesson sheet denoting the historical revival of the Roman Empire and its dictator. Now let me just say a word. I'm sure if you some of you may remember and let me refer to it briefly we have some references to it we may not touch upon them but in the book of Daniel recall in chapter two Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream and to Nebuchadnezzar God gave a dream that he forgot and he demanded his wise men to bring it back to his memory as well as to interpret it and they could not And it was Daniel whom God used, as you may well know, to whom God revealed the dream and gave the interpretation. Now what he dreamed was that great image with a head of gold. Now it'll be borne out as we go into our chat. We'll see how we can apply some of this truth. The head was made of gold and the chest and the breast and the arms were of silver. The belly and the thigh were of copper, bright burning copper or brass, and the legs were of iron, with the feet with a mixture of iron and clay. Now in the interpretation, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the head represented his kingdom of Babylon, the head of gold with all its brilliancy and glory of Gentile power over the world that has never been equal since. Because God, the God of heaven, and Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, the God of heaven has given you a kingdom. That kingdom over all the earth. And the glory of it. Then it was succeeded later by the Medo-Persian kingdom, which was represented by the breast and the arms of silver. Inferior, as the metal is inferior in quality, so this was inferior in glory, not as great. Then followed the Grecian kingdom, as we well know, when Alexander the Great conquered the Medes and the Persian kingdom. And the world was conquered and ruled over by the Greeks. And then came along the Roman Empire, overpowering the Grecian Empire. And you know the existence of the Roman Empire some years before Christ and even two or three centuries after Christ and his power, it existed. Now one of the great historians by the name of Gibbon wrote a book called The Rise and the Fall of the Roman Empire. But he never could write a book upon the revival of it. But the Word of God, and may I point out this significant fact, when the Lord Jesus was born, he was born under the Roman Empire. When he comes back again, he's coming. to judge the Roman Empire. So it was under the Roman Empire that he was crucified. And we have what in our chapter before, as John writes there, and in the opening words, the revival of that empire. Now please note, John says, I stood upon the sand of the sea. Now when you look at the typical and symbolic language on the sand of the sea, is certainly representative of the nations of the world. And I saw a beast rise up from among those nations. And he had seven heads. He had ten horns. And on his horns ten crowns. And upon his hands the name of blasphemy. Now will you note your lesson, see for just a moment. And we just have a reference very quickly to read. The origin of this. Let me give this thought first. What we are studying is the rising up not only of a person, but of an empire. Recognize two facts, a person who is the head of it, as well as the empire in itself over which he rules. And so the origin, he comes up out of the sea, the nations in the last days. And we mention here's another scripture, Daniel chapter nine, verse twenty-six. there in Daniel nine chapter twenty six Daniel refers to him go with me to that scripture for I want to verify the statement that we made precedingly before relative to him being a Gentile for for may I say there are many that teach the first beast of Revelation chapter thirteen is the Antichrist the Jew well look with me in Daniel nine and I would like to read verse twenty six especially where we have the prophet being told after three score years and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. And that is relative in the prophecy to the death of the Lord Jesus being cut off from his people. But then note, and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city, the sanctuary. Now would you please note something? following the death of Christ, cut off by his own people, as well as by the world, it's the people, not the prince, the people of the prince that shall come. Now, what people destroyed Jerusalem? What people destroyed the temple after the death of Christ? Josephus writes it. The works and the writings of Josephus are tremendous in relating to the truth around the life of Christ, before it, around it, and even following it. And the great siege of Jerusalem, as he writes about, that took place in AD-Sevene under the Roman general Titus, who became the Roman emperor later. The city was destroyed. But please know what Daniel writes. The people of the prince that shall come. And who's the prince that shall come? You're reading about it in chapter thirteen. Here he is. He comes up at the end of the age and is the revival. And as you well know, in that dream of Nebuchadnezzar, let me go further, remember that the Roman Empire was represented by their legs of iron. In pure metal, yes, in quality. But stronger. More crushing. And the Romans were noted for their crushing of the nations when they devoured them and conquered them. And we can also read when you go to Daniel chapter seven. Daniel's given the same similar dream in south, relative to the Gentile age. And what immorals that? is the power of the Roman Empire at the end of the age. And when Daniel sees, he sees them as beasts in chapter seven, not in the image of a man as the Nebuchadnezzar, a beast. He saw the lion representing the Babylonian Empire. He saw the bear representing the Middle Persian. He saw the leopard representing the Grecian Empire. And he saw them as God saw them. Yes, there may have been men and powers, but they were beasts in his sight as they conquered. But Daniel saw his vision of the Roman Empire conquering. He says he doesn't describe it. He was indescribable, undescribable, so ferocious, so terrible, and it devoured. And he asks, why is it so? Why is it so? and is informed at the end of the age this will be the character of the empire when the son of man comes and you may remember he writes of the son of man coming as the agent of days and thrones are set up and judgment comes beloved can I say lovingly and earnestly how terrible is going to be the condition the world will face in that coming closing day but now back to our chapter Now let me go on to mention from your lesson sheet. No, under number letter B, his position. He's the personal head over ten specific kings and their kingdoms. We'll see later on in chapter seventy more about it. Seven heads. Now, when you think of seven heads, we spoke last week of the fact it was in chapter twelve mentioned. There will be the complete authority over the nations. And then there was ten horns. that were crowned representing he will have a ten-formed kingdom in that coming day. Now look at verse two, if you please. And we have in our lesson sheet reference to his political strength. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard. Now let me remind you again, we won't go back to Daniel's chapter. This was the type that Daniel saw representing the Grecian Empire. conquering with swift rapidity, a leopard. And then you find next, his feet were as the feet of a bear. The bear was Daniel's representation of the Medo-Persian power, with the bear clutching in its mouth, that which it devoured. And then you go further, his mouth was as the mouth of a lion. And there you have the Babylonian. Now, let me give you this thought. Please, I believe the scripture bears out this interpretation. The power of his person, the power of his kingdom, the greatness and the ferociousness of that which he will be, and the kingdom that he has, will combine the Grecian, the Medo-Persian, and the Babylonian in his strength. Now, beloved, they were terrible in themselves. Oh, may I say this, and this is something that's so difficult to grasp. that as conditions go on, and let me just say lovingly, one gets very weary listening to some of the news that's broadcast today, conditions, the world conditions, the nuclear problems. Oh, beloved, one can recognize, if you're a believer, the futility of men correcting the conditions of the earth. It's impossible. For the prophetic scriptures tell us, as we are looking here, that the conditions will be worse. And there will rise a power, an empire, revived Roman empire, and with a head, with a person that will be the head of it, given satanic authority, over all the earth. And its strength will be the combination of all the Gentile powers from the days of Nebuchadnezzar down to the end. May I remind you, Nebuchadnezzar, or even the Medo-Persian king, nor even Alexander the Great, and even the Roman emperors of old, they never had the whole world that they could rule over as it is available today. They just had the old world. The western hemisphere was unknown to them. But it usually was around the Mediterranean lake. east of it, north of it, south of it, that the prophetic world existed. But when you think of the prospect of the one who will be the first beast in Revelation thirteen, his strength and authority will be worldwide. Let's read on further because we come to it. First of all, we look in verse two again, his invisible power at the end of it. The dragon gave him his power and his throne and his great authority. I'd like to link this with the temptation of the Lord Jesus. Perhaps you may have wondered, when the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan, do you recall, Satan took him, the devil took the Lord Jesus to an exceeding high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Talk about a moving picture. Good, I get nothing on him, but he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. and said, All these will I give thee, if thou will fall down and worship me. The Lord Jesus never refuted his claims. May I remind you, as the word of God makes it clear, he's the prince of this world. Jesus three times mentions him as such. John called him the God of this age, or Paul called him the God of this age. John says, the whole world is in the hands of the wicked one. And Paul wrote regarding him, the prince of the power of the air, as we saw last week in our study. So when we recognize the devil has the power to give such a one, and he will find the man who will yield himself completely to the devil's authority to do his bidding at the end of the age. So I might give you this thought. Many years ago, I was in Grand Rapids with a couple of my Christian brethren, and we were having lunch together with Dr. Walden Wilson. And he had just come up, he and I were speaking at a conference together in the town, and he'd come up from Kansas City. And as we had lunch together, he mentioned a dear old Christian in Kansas City by the name of McKenzie. And the dear brother had no legs, he had no arms, he could not see. But the Lord had saved him, marvelously saved him, through the crisis that he had come through physically. But do you know he could read a Bible with his tongue? He had a Bible that he had to read with his tongue. And Brother Wilson said, I went in to see him just recently. I said, Mac, what's the Lord been giving you out of the book? He said, Brother Wilson, listen here. I've just been reading that when the devil took Jesus to the high mountain and showed him the kingdoms of the world, it only took him a moment to do it. But he said, when Jesus comes, it's going to take all eternity to know what he's got. That's a big sermon for a man like that. I tell you one thing. If you and I had to read our Bible with our tongue, we'd get a lot more out of it. One dear old woman. She worked for a family. She was a dear Christian. She loved the Lord. She loved his word. The family she worked for, man and wife. They read the Bible. But one day, he, the man of the house said to the dear sister, how is it that you seem to know more of the Bible than we do? He says, I just don't know unless, and she said, you folks can read a lot better, and I've got to read so slow. More truth and poetry in there. So you can recognize when we go slow, we can get more and meditate. But here we have the man that is coming, who will be strengthened by the devil himself. Now look at verse three. His death and resurrection are an amazement to the world. I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death. And one, in other words, I think now literally, very frankly and basically. don't think of it as a person merely some do some will try to well in fact I know one great prophetic teacher I think he's gone on now he used to say Mussolini was the one who's coming back to be the head of Roman Empire I doubt it but nevertheless look I think it's more true that it's the Empire itself that will be revived regardless of who the man is for the world will wander let me point out to you what was the seat of the Roman Empire Rome and when we come into chapter seventeen we'll see the description that he will be reigning there and there's a great link there with the Roman church that calls itself the eternal white city and it will be astonishing to the world let me finish reading the verse I saw one of its heads as they were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wandered after the beast. Now may I point this out, at the present day, the world is wandering about two great nations, one Russia, the other United States. It's going to shift someday. It's going to shift. The interest. He's going to shift to the old Roman Empire. And the world will wander. And as we come further on down the chapter, I can recognize, in my own humble opinion, how that communism will never conquer the world. There's going to be another person who's going to do it. And here he is. Let's look at verse four now. As we go to verse four... We find his universal popularity and military power. They worship the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worship the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with it? Do you notice something? Regardless of the fact, you notice something? Regardless of the fact, they deny Christianity. They deny Judaism. But they've got to have some form of religion. Worship. Man is the religious nature. And they're going to worship the beast. He's going to be the object of worship. The one, and first of all, let me go back further in verse four. The first thing it says, they worship the dragon, which gave power to the beast. and they worship the beast, saying, Who is like under the beast and is able to make war with him? I think many of you may be acquainted with the fact there's been a great increase in what is called Satan worship and devil worship. And one can recognize the rapid progress of iniquity as we come near the end of the age. And Satan was... Very frankly, there are churches, so-called Satan churches, that are exempt from taxation under the laws of the United States. Some of them can be challenged, and some of them are once in a while, but even this particular one. And there are Satan's worshippers. And beloved, may I ask? What is it that Satan wants the most? Look. Remember when he said to the Lord Jesus, All these kingdoms will I give thee, if thou wilt what? Fall down and worship me. Satan wants worship. And in the formal manner in which these Satan churches worship, they have an altar. And it's most unfortunate. It's just They're carrying out a sexual act that accompanies their worship unto faith. The God of this world. And one may realize the terrible power of Satan. He gets his worship. And then the beast himself. He too is worshiped. We'll see more about that when we come to the next division of the chapter. But let me go further, please. There's not only religious power. There's military power. Now may I give the suggestion, what the world appreciates out of Christ, the world appreciates a religion with military power. My. I did not notice, I have. I noticed it so deeply more than ever. But even among the Arab nations, they associate their religion with their military power. And in that coming day, how this character will indeed manifest both religious power over the nation as well as military. And I say, as you're looking at the end of verse four, who is able to make war against them? It raises the question, there's not a nation, there's not a country in the world, can rise up against him as he comes to power. And I must say lovingly, and faithfully, he'll not be in the United States. I read a book one time, somewhat. Someone wrote a Christian man wrote. He puts a fellow in the United States. And I can't see it because the United States doesn't have any physical place in the old world prophecy and the events that must come to pass today. But there's no question, as you go on, we find him in the old world. But no, we'll be next. His ungodly character. Anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Heaven and anti-Saints. Verse five. There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And authority was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And that we can recognize the length of his reign. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God. To blaspheme his name. His tabernacle. And them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints. And to overcome them. Now please note again the reference that we have given. And we want to see it. Very carefully. That in his authority and ungodly character. He's against God. He's against Christ. His anti-Christ. Without doubt. And his name. And his tabernacle. And them that. Well you know something. dwell in heaven strange expressions even them that dwell in heaven and one can and there's a strange anomaly to realize that there's the recognition by this person and even by many others well will you go back to chapter twelve please chapter eleven I beg your pardon chapter eleven you remember the two witnesses in chapter eleven Let me note these words. Verse twelve and thirteen. When these two witnesses were slain, and God raises them from the dead, they stand on their feet in the sight of all. In verse twelve, they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. They ascended up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies beheld them. The same hour was there a great earthquake. The tenth part of the city fell. The earthquake was slain of man seven thousand, and the remnant were frightened. And note the next words. They gave glory to what? The God of hell. Now, may I give you this thought, please? The literal carrying out of that act that will take place makes them all realize there is a God in heaven, but they're not going to acknowledge him. But they'll blaspheme against him. And the leader of the nations in that day will open his mouth in great blasphemy. Against God, Christ, the saints, but even against all the hosts of heaven. See, in other words, it's defiance. It's defiance against the God of heaven. And what it is, defying God that he has no claims upon the earth. You remember the psalmist wrote, the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. But as many today don't believe it's the Lord who thinks mine. It's ours. And did you ever notice something? I noticed it sometimes in the news. There are people today. They're concerned about whether they're going to lose their piece of ground that they've got. Right. Due to the conditions, economic conditions that prevail. They believe it's their own. And that truth, or rather that thought, will pervade the whole earth. It's ours. It's ours. We don't recognize that the earth belongs to God. One of the angels, which you shall see, preaches the everlasting gospel. What's the everlasting gospel? The everlasting gospel is from the beginning of time. God is the creator and the owner of the earth. He belongs to him. that he blasphemes against the God of heaven and all the hosts of heaven. And we have in verse seven, please note, as we read it, he makes war against the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him. Now note, over and emphasize the word all, all kindred and tongues and nations. Now we can recognize the universal influence of his power. Now let me read verse eight. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. Now please let me qualify that statement. We've mentioned it before. You find the expression dwell upon the earth, dwellers on the earth again and again in the book of the Revelation. And it does not refer to the godly Jew or the pious Gentile who refuses to worship the beast. It refers to all the world who in that coming day are settled down here. Heaven has no claim upon them, and they will not acknowledge heaven's claim, and not even acknowledge the God of glory. And they dwell there settled down upon the earth. And all outside of the remnant of Jews or Gentiles who believe in that day, through the witnessing of God's people, they are dwellers upon the earth. And you note the expression, as the apostle writes, All that dwell upon the earth whose names shall worship him And note, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And now we can recognize genuinely what the Apostle is referring to. They don't belong to God. They're not written in the Book of Life. Let me remind you in chapter twenty, the judgment of the great white throne. Whosoever's name was not found written in the Book of Life. at the end of the chapter, twenty of chapter verse fifteen, was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And those who have rejected, and reject even in that day, the testimony of God through his servants in that period of time of trouble, they are not written in the book of life. And it's a grand thing they know that you and I can say our names are written in that book. Remember the old hymns? Oh, my. I miss some of the old hymns. My. I wish some of the old hymns would come back. I think of a dear old hymn we did enjoy in my early days as a Christian. Lord, I can offer riches neither silver nor gold. I would make sure of heaven I would enter the fold. In the book of thy kingdom, with its pages so fair, tell me, Jesus, my Savior, is my name written there. Though my sins they are many, Like the sands of the sea, Yet thy blood, O my Savior, is sufficient for me. And the joy of noon, one can say as the chorus that renders it, Yes, my name's written there, in the book White and Fair, in the book of thy kingdom, my name's written there. Please let me say, you can have your name written everywhere down the earth, and it won't get you into heaven. It won't get you into heaven. I read a bit of a man in Chicago, a businessman, He landed in Chicago and he'd been under conviction of sin for so many years. And he came to his hotel and registered on this business trip, went to his room, and he was so miserable when he got to his room. He couldn't stand and he went down on the street. And the Vietnam was really in earnest, trying to get right with God. He joined every organization that he could. Anything that may have been of a religious character. whether it was a fraternal organization and different churches. And in all the time he was seeking to get right with God in his soul and became more miserable. Nothing gave him the satisfaction he longed for. And as he went down on the street, he walked down the street of the Luke district in Chicago. And as he was walking down, he heard a blind man reading a Braille Bible. And the fellow was inside of a little entrance of a store. And he was sitting there reading the Braille Bible and quoting the scripture. And expecting to get gifts and money. And as he was reading, he was in Acts chapter four. And he came to verse twelve evidently, began to read. For there is none of the name under heaven given among men. And somebody nudged his elbow and he lost his place. He didn't have a memory of him in knowing it. And he couldn't find it. And he kept repeating the last phrase that he could remember. There's none other name. There's none other name. There's none other name. There's none other name. And then he found his connection and read on, On the heaven, given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. And the Spirit of God used it for the fellow's conversion. Well, he said, I tried every name. I tried every church. I tried every fraternal organization I thought would help. I never tried Jesus. He went back to his room, had the hotel got on his knees, and came to the Lord. He got his name in the right book, didn't he? At last. Found it was written there. And what a joy. But when you think of those days, my beloved, let me... Can I put the question in this phone? Think of the many around us today. How many of them have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life? They may have their name on their business establishment. They may have their name in many places publicly. Or they may have it written many places, other places. Is it in the book of life or about? And what a joy to know when your name's written there. You say, well, you know, of all the registers of the earth, they're going up in smoke someday, aren't they? They're going up in smoke. And they will, they'll disappear. But what a joy they know. One sure thing, nobody can erase your name out of the book of life. Remember the Lord Jesus said to them at Sardis, I will not blot thy name out of the book of life as he wrote to the genuine believers in that church of Sardis, in our precious. But oh, note this. Please note in verse fifteen and sixteen. Now here's a word. Let me give you the thought. I fully believe that in the day of the Great Tribulation, many of those pious people, whether believing Jews or Gentiles, will avail themselves of the Scriptures. Perhaps under difficulties. But they'll avail themselves of the Scriptures. And here's the Scripture for their comfort. As they pass through this particular period, If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. If there's any person that's going to lead anyone into captivity, the retribution God says will be they someday will be led into captivity. And second, he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Now note the phrase that follows. Here is the patience. and the fate of the saints. Let me give you the thought. Supposing we're living, this is just a supposition, we were to be living in the days of the tribulation period. And we know there's great destruction under the Antichrist and the beast and the power of Satan. Lives are taken. Death and destruction all around. And we who belong to God, what's our comfort? Here's some comfort. Here's the patient to help us. and do it and the faith God says whatever they do to us they'll get paid back the same way they'll get paid back the same way Jesus said he that uses the sword shall perish with the sword and may I say please may I say this don't worry about trying to get your own retribution let God do it for you oh may I say lovingly This poor world is certainly facing the day when they'll have great retribution from God. But the comfort and the patience and the encouragement to endure those days, for those who are the godly, they will know, whatever they do to me, if I perish, if I die, if they lead me into captivity, whatever it is, God will, well, he'll have revenge. They'll go the same way. The only difference is this, and it's a big difference. They'll go to hell. But there's one thing. I think of a dear man as he told me his testimony, as he was threatened to be shot by preaching the gospel up in the coal mine regions of Pennsylvania. One fellow said, with a gun in his hand, he said, you get out of this area or I'll shoot you. And my friend said, I'll let you shoot me on one condition. He said, what's that? You'll shoot straight and shoot me right in the heavens. Well, that scared the Father. He couldn't shoot. But that's a wonderful truth, though. They knew where he would go. Sometimes they can do you a big favor, can they? Especially when you know you're saved. One can recognize the joy when we're in his hands. And there will be comfort and patience for the saints in that day. Now let me read, if I may. The next part of our chapter, I'll read it quickly through, and we'll not be able to cover it in detail, but we can start it. Verse eleven, and let me read to the end of the chapter. Here we have the second beast. I beheld another beast coming up, and no, not out of the sea, but out of the earth. And one may realize that, how typically he would speak, certainly he does speak, of the... of the coming of the Antichrist out of Israel. Another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns, like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. Let me just briefly, we have but a few moments, minutes left. Let me just briefly go on. You probably have, if you have your lesson book, you can have it on the next page, under the second beast. But may I point out something in this verse? Another beast coming up out of the... Let me repeat again the significance of the expression beast. Beast. Let me go back to the book of Daniel in reference as we did before. When Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar, when Nebuchadnezzar got his dream and Daniel's interpretation from God that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuchadnezzar saw the image of a man. And as far as Nebuchadnezzar was concerned, all of it whether the Babylonian power, Medo-Persian, and the Grecian, and then the Roman. All of it represented man's reign over the earth. The Gentile reign, the rule of the Gentiles, from Nebuchadnezzar's day down to the coming again of the Lord Jesus. But when Daniel privately was given a similar dream regarding that period and the nations God called it, as we've said in chapter seven. He calls each one of them a beast, a beast, a beast, a beast. And may I say frankly, it designates the character of the rule, the character of the person, the character of the kingdom in the sight of God, beastly, beastly, beastly. So we can realize he comes another beast, and he comes up out of the... I mean, if you please note, he's got two horns, and please note, Like a lamp. Now, may I again, you may have read, we'll see it, we've already seen it in chapter twelve about the revived Roman Empire, as well as in our thirteen chapter. The horns, they represent kingdom power, power. You have the psalmist oftentimes speaking about the horn of David and other horns. And even, in fact, in the tabernacle and the temple. The altar had horns. On each corner. Whether it was the brazen altar. The golden altar inside the sanctuary. And the horns were symbol. And symbol of God's power. In relation to the sanctuary. And one can realize the symbolic language. Here's the man that comes. He's got power. And the horns symbolize two powers. With three notes. Like a lamp. He's not... You know, you've got... I think there's twenty-eight references in the book of Revelation to the Word, to the Lord Jesus as the Lamb. And this is the only reference that is contrary. It stands by itself. He's like a Lamb. He professes to be the Christ. He professes to be the Messiah. And may I say, very frankly, it's a very great difficulty for me to believe that the Jews will accept the Gentile as their Antichrist. And the nation of Israel. I think what we can see, the earth is so difficult of Israel as the nation. Some of you may remember the chart, Eternity to Eternity, which follows in outline the creation of days in Genesis chapter one, and the fourth day was the earth coming. And I believe that the author of that chart mentions As the earth appears, it's so symbolic of Israel coming up as a nation among the nations of the world. And there is no question of doubt. Of all the nations in the world, there's one nation above all that's got a divine sign upon it, with divine purpose. And that's Israel. And this person comes up out of Israel. But may I say very frankly... I believe very definitely that the Jewish situation in Israel today would be greatly encouraged if they could find a man like this and someday they will and he rises up professing to be the Messiah of Israel and the two halls you see what do they speak of well one thing is sure they speak of his kingly authority and they speak of his prophetic office there's one thing He certainly cannot be representative of the Lord Jesus as a priest or anyone as a priest. But he has kingly authority. May I put it? We don't have time. We may touch it in the next week if we have time. But when you go to the book of Daniel, chapter eleven, he's called a king. Daniel eleven, verse thirty-six and on. He's called a king. And he's called the willful king. And there in Israel he's raised up as the willful king. And you can read of it in that chapter. The power that he has as one of the troubles that he gets into. But he's the willful king of Daniel chapter eleven. And one can recognize he's not only a He's not only a king, but he's a prophet. And some of the things he does, as we shall see later on in the chapter, he does things like Elijah did. He calls fire down from heaven. He's Elijah like. And he will be welcomed. Not only is the king of Israel, be welcomed as the prophet in Israel. By the miraculous one. Go with me for just a moment, and we'll close. The second Thessalonians chapter two. We may get there again next week. But I just want you to notice we have the same person that Paul speaks of and writes about in Second Thessalonians chapter two. And let me read these words. That Paul writes by the Spirit in verse eight. And he writes about this wicked person being revealed. Verse eight. Then shall that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth. shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him. Now please note, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs? And may I also add, when you look at the word signs in your New Testament, you know what it means? Miracles. Miracles. And wonders. In the Gospel of John, John writes of seven distinct signs to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God. And the word means miracle. And you trace the miracle. Changing the water into wine in the wedding in Cana of Galilee all the way down in chapter eleven till he raises Lazarus from the dead. Another great sign for miracle. To prove who he was. Now here's this person. He's got power to do miracles. And may I say, please be very careful. There are many today that profess they can do miracles. It's unquestionably the advance of this coming Antichrist. And as Paul writes rather, it has all power, sign, and now know the next word, lying wonders. Oh yes, there are wonders, but they're deceitful. As you got in the next verse, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perished, because they received not the love of the truth. that they might be saved. And beloved, may I say carefully, surely the world is coming to see a person who will deceive them. And God's earthly people will be greatly for the majority deceived as well as the whole world. Well, you know, sometimes you may wonder, well, why did the Lord ever save me? And open my eyes to see the Lord Jesus as Savior, but how we can be grateful and thankful When we know him. But oh the joy of realizing. Here we have. That which God revealed. What will happen in the world. After we are taken now. Oh may God by the Holy Spirit remind us. Please. Let me just quote one verse. Not to forget. For God so loved the world. That he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish. but have everlasting life. And the consequence of the world at large, rejecting God in Christ, we're reading of in this chapter of the book of the Revelation. Shall we pray? Blessed Father, we can understand a little bit of the Lord's words when in his own prophetic version of these days in Matthew's Gospel, He said that men's hearts would be filled with fear for those things that are coming upon the world. Oh how we pray that even today the Holy Spirit will bring the fear of God into many hearts who need the Lord Jesus as their Savior. We ask for two things. Gratitude in our own hearts for the salvation we have in Christ and concern for those who know him not. that we may see many brought to him before it's too late. We ask it in our Savior's name giving thanks. Amen.