how bad will the antichrist be have you ever thought about that just how evil is this biblical figure that we're warned about throughout the bible to begin with we have to focus on revelation chapter 13. now i want to read a few verses and then we can dive into the meaning of these from the niv revelation 13 verse 1 begins by saying the dragon stood on the shore of the sea and i saw a beast coming out of the sea it had ten horns and seven heads with ten crowns on its horns and on each
head a blasphemous name the dragon is the devil it's satan himself and we know this because in revelation 20 verse 2 the bible clearly says he seized the dragon that ancient serpent who is the devil or satan and bound him for a thousand years so back to revelation 13 the dragon stood on the shore of the sea and then a beast came out of the sea this beast is widely believed by many biblical scholars to be the antichrist and here's [Music] as i read chapter 13 i want you to listen to the power and ability
given to this beast i won't focus so much on the symbolism described in the chapter but i want us to focus on what the bible says this beast will do in the world verse 4 to 8 reads people worship the dragon because he had given authority to the beast and they also worshiped the beast and asked who is like the beast who can wage war against it the beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for 42 months it opened its mouth to blaspheme god and to slander
his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven it was given power to wage war against god's holy people and to conquer them and it was given authority over every tribe people language and nation all inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast all whose names have not been written in the lamb's book of life a lamb who was slain from the creation of the world so here's what we can establish from this passage there will be people in this world who will worship and idolize the antichrist because he will suffer what
the bible calls a fatal wound many speculate and think that it will be an assassination attempt but whatever it is it will be something that looks to be fatal but the antichrist will somehow be healed and this will lead many to be filled with wonder and follow him moving on the antichrist will openly blaspheme against god he will openly speak against jesus christ and seek to insult the name of the lord think about that the antichrist will be the devil himself but as a human he may initially be a politician a scholar a wealthy businessman
whatever his background is his agenda will be clear and his stance will be clear he will stand against the gospel of jesus christ and seek to be worshipped himself now he will be given power and authority on the earth for 42 months which is three and a half years and within that time he will have power over every tribe and people and language and nation think about that for a moment if you have power over every tribe and people and language and nation you must be in a position of global authority you must be in
a position of influence and complete domination if you're able to have power over every tribe and people and language and nation [Music] now we're not told how this power is manifested whether it's through sheer military force or some form of dictatorship regime or simply through the forces of darkness whatever the case may be the beast the antichrist will have a huge evil influence over this world so with this being said how are we as children of god meant to take this passage of scripture in revelation 13. let me tell you this the devil is a
threat but jesus christ is almighty and has already defeated satan the antichrist may have some power on this earth but jesus christ is all-powerful he holds all power on heaven and on earth evil may appear to be everywhere but the holy spirit will empower you wherever you are greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world if you and i can only keep our eyes focused on jesus christ if we can only keep our hearts saturated with the gospel of jesus christ and our minds fixed on the word of god
if we can only do this it doesn't matter what the enemy does or how much power he has in this world because in the lord you can overcome every arrow sent by the enemy with god on your side you and i have nothing to fear while the world may choose to follow the beast of the world or be led by the spirit of antichrist those who remain in jesus christ being led by the spirit of truth those are the people who will be saved let me tell you what i believe to be one of the
biggest problems we have as believers the biggest stumbling block we face in our lives can be found in hosea chapter 4 and verse 6 which says my people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge now that's a deep statement a lack of knowledge leads to destruction but a lack of knowledge about what i believe that the bible here is talking about a lack of knowledge about who god truly is a lack of knowledge about the word of god and the things of god not having in knowledge in these things in these areas and this circumstance
means that you cannot discern god from a deceptive devil now the bible tells us in revelation 12 that the devil was hurled to earth and his angels went with him revelation 12 verse 7 speaks of a war that broke out in heaven michael and his angels fought against the dragon the devil and it says and the dragon and his angels fought back but he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven now we forget that part the devil rebelled with his angels here again is where we need knowledge if a third of
the angels were cast down from heaven what do you think they do and let's remember that these angels would have had a role to play whilst in heaven for example look at michael the angel of war look at gabriel the messenger and lucifer when he was in heaven he was the chief musician but if the devil was cast down from heaven with other angels other angels who had roles other angels who had responsibilities and functions in heaven then the word of god is absolute in its accuracy when it says we wrestle not against flesh and
blood we wrestle against principalities against powers against rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places these fallen angels have ranks these are demonic hierarchies territorial spirits that's why you shouldn't play with spiritual warfare as a child of god that's why we need to apply the knowledge that's in the word of god the word that tells you put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil [Music] [Music] you
