Prophecy Special - 9/11 - The Final Solution of God, No. 7

PS07

Revelation 13 is our focus again in this session. This is the chapter that records for us the progress in the seven-year tribulation of both the antichrist on the political scene and the false prophet on the religious scene. Revelation 13:1-10 describe the antichrist as ruler of a confederacy of ten nations in Western Europe. The antichrist will be empowered by Satan, and he will blaspheme God in heaven. The antichrist, as head of the now restored Roman Empire, will personally suffer what should be a mortal wound. Yet, by Satan's power, he will survive, thus imitating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The whole world is amazed by the antichrist's survival from this wound, and by his power, and it then flocks to follow him and readily to worship him.

During the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation, which the Bible calls the great tribulation, the antichrist will rule over all nations in a United Nations world government. He will boldly blaspheme God while murdering true believers who reject him and his mark of loyalty to him. Only born again believers who are recorded in the Lamb's Book of life will refuse to worship the antichrist. Everyone else will knuckle under. Scripture warns that those who read the revelation about the antichrist, which God the Holy Spirit recorded here in Revelation 13, should be aware that they need to believe it, and they need to act accordingly by faith and God's Word as always.

The False Prophet

So beginning at Revelation 13:11, we read where the apostle John is saying, "And I saw another beast." In the Greek language, as always, we have information given to us that is extremely illuminating. This word "another" is one of two main words. This one is "allos." This word for "another" means another of the same kind. That is, this beast, the false prophet, is going to be just like the first beast, the antichrist. That is, he'll just be a human being who is empowered by satanic demonic power, and who will be a deceiver with an old sin nature controlling him.

In the Greek Bible, there is another word for "another," and that is "heteros." "Heteros" means different, but of a different kind, and it is important that you be able to know which word is in each place. For example, this second word "heteros," different of a different kind, is used in Galatians 1:6-7 by the apostle Paul. The background of what he is saying there is that the people in Galatia had been drifting back to legalism. They had been drifting away from salvation by grace, and living by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life. Furthermore, they were slipping into a salvation by human doing. This was the ridiculousness of trying to fulfill the one thing you had to have to be saved. You must die spiritually for your sins. You must pay the price of spiritual death. You can't do that because you're already spiritually dead. That's why Christ came to do it in our behalf.

But these people in Galatia were slipping back into a legalism of the Old Testament and of ritual salvation. So in Galatians 1:6, Paul says, "I'm amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him (Jesus Christ) who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel." You're deserting Jesus Christ (grace salvation) for a different gospel. He uses the word "heteros," meaning a totally different kind of gospel than the gospel of the grace of God, which is a gift from God.

Verse 7 says, "Which is really not another gospel." And here it uses the word "allos," meaning it is not the same gospel as the gospel of the grace of God. "Only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ." So there's a gospel, which is the gospel of the grace of God. That is the way God always saves. There is also the gospel different from that, because it's dependent upon what man does, not on what God does. The whole Roman Catholic system of salvation is based upon the concept of what man does to be saved, not entirely and alone on what Christ has done. The whole system of Islam has no point where you are accepting salvation from God as a gift from Him through the Savior Jesus Christ. Under Islam, Jesus Christ was just a man. He was not God. He never died on the cross. A look-alike substitute was put up there in His place, and He never rose from the dead. This is very important to them, because Jesus has to be as dead as a doornail as Muhammad is. Otherwise, how can Muhammad be a superior prophet?

So Paul says, "You people are deserting the gospel of the grace of God (salvation by a free gift from God, apart from your old sin nature contamination human doing)." He says, "That's not really another gospel of the same kind. It is a different gospel, so it's not a gospel. Please remember that the word "gospel" means "good news." So it's not good news to have a way of salvation that's not going to get you into heaven. What the Catholics put out is not good news. What the Mormons put out, which is also proving yourself worthy by your morality, is not a gospel of the same kind as a gift from God; nor what Islam provides; nor, what the religions of the East provide. They all focus on what man can do for himself.

So this was a significant statement here in Revelation 13: "I saw another beast," and this is another of the same kind--another just as of the first beast. We also have this word "another of the same kind" used in John 14:16. There, Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father." Jesus says, "I'm going back to heaven." He says, "And I'm going to ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that he may be with you forever." It uses the word "allos," another of the same kind. This tells us that God the Holy Spirit is also God. He is deity because that's what Jesus Christ is, and the Helper which is going to come, is going to be another of the same kind.

The Mark of the Beast

The Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as the prophet. He is the prophet that Moses said was coming who would truly speak for God. The false prophet says that he is the prophet, but he is not a true prophet of God. He is a false prophet, and when he gets tossed into the lake of fire, it makes it very clear that he was one of the lying prophets of Satan.

We don't know the racial background of the false prophet. We do know that the racial background of the antichrist is gentile. The false prophet might even be Jewish, possibly. Revelation 13:11: "I saw another of the same kind of beast." This word for "beast" is the word "therion." This stresses the animal nature of the humanity of this false prophet. He has no divine viewpoint motivating him. All he has is the sensual old sin nature. This beast is a destructive creature, just like the antichrist. That's why they're both called beasts. He sees this one coming up out of the earth. This refers to the religious powers of the earth. He is some ecclesiastical leader who is in the ecumenical movement, the joining of religious groups together in religious activity before the rapture of the church. They join in ecumenical religious services. They join together with unbelievers.

I'll be getting through the mail shortly notices from the Irving Ministerial Association, where all the churches with true gospel and false gospel will be holding a Thanksgiving Day service. And they will invite, as they had in Washington, the service of prayer and remembrance. There stood Billy Graham, a man of God, of the true Scriptures. There stood a Roman Catholic prelate, a man not of God and of a false doctrine of salvation. There stood the Imam of Islam speaking from the same pulpit, and he too is a false prophet who does not speak for God. Here you have this conglomerate, mongrel, beast-like setting of everybody included, even though one of them is destined for heaven, and the other two who spoke, by the nature of the plan of salvation that they teach, are destined for the lake of fire. Is that the way to get together to approach God?

Well, this is what the antichrist has to have. He not only has to have political loyalty of all people. He also has to provide for that vacuum within the soul of the spiritual desire. He's going to do it by joining these disparate groups together in an ecumenical religious setting.

So when he says, "I saw another beast of the same kind coming up out of the earth," he's referring to human society with its organized religion. The earth may even be referring to Israel as a source of this false doctrine. "But I saw another of the same kind coming out of the mass of humanity." This beast had one difference from the first beast in the fact that he had two horns on his head like a lamb. Now, who do you think he's trying to imitate there? These two horns indicate the religious character of the beast. In the Old Testament, the lamb had religious significance. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world because the lamb was the sacrificial animal symbolically to pay for sin, to pay the penalty of death.

The horns of the lamb may suggest that this is a gentle person. This false prophet may be a harmless person. That's like the Pope. The Pope leads people by the millions into the lake of fire. He is so gentle. He is so lamb-like. But unfortunately, he too wears two horns, not to be seen, but they are the horns of Satan.

This is further confirmed that this is a false lamb, and he is not an innocent and gentle creature, but a devastating creature. When he speaks, he speaks as a dragon. The dragon is referring to Satan. Revelation 20:2 says, "And he, the angel with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand (at the beginning of the millennium), he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old (out of the Garden of Eden), who is the devil, the deceiver and Satan (the false God). And he bound him for 1,000 years. And he threw him into the abyss (a pit in a center of the earth--and chained), shut it and sealed it over, so that he could no longer deceive the leaders of the nations of the world. Today, Satan constantly goes around deceiving the nations of the world, deceiving the leaders of the world. They all want to be religious. They all want to recognize that this world could not have made itself. It didn't evolve. Life could not have just come out of the mud on its own. It was the creation of a power that's super above the creation itself. So there's some kind of a God out there. There's some kind of a divine power. Satan is one of the deceivers who confuses and leads people astray from God.

So during the 1,000 years of the millennium, Revelation 20:3 points out he's going to be chained in the middle of the earth, the pit of the abyss, and this angel of God has the key. However, near the end of the 1,000 years, he will be released for a short time to gather one more final rebellion against God made up of all the children who were born during the period of 1,000 years.

So this false prophet is motivated by Satan the dragon. What this false prophet teaches are the doctrines of demons, not the things of God. It is so important that we recognize that Satan is a liar from the beginning and that he is a religious deceiver, so that any Christian who understands these principles can understand that the president wants to reach out to God and recognize our dependence and need upon him. Yet that conglomerate, mongrel, religious setting, where those who reject the grace of God are thrown in with those who accept it is not God's way, and that it is a religious expression of deception right up Satan's alley.

Please listen to 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: "For such men, those who are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as the apostles of Christ." Early on in Christianity, even at a time while the apostles were still alive, these false preachers, claiming special revelation from God, were already on the scene. Verse 14 says, "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds" (which will be the lake of fire). It's not surprising that human beings like the false prophet; like the antichrist; and, like all the religious leaders in our day today, of all the cults and all the false religions, all disguise themselves as good guys--the servants of righteousness--those who speak for God. "It's no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

One of the interesting things here is that the Greek word for "disguises" there is a word that means "disguises externally." The Christian has a metamorphosis, which is a different Greek word internally, where he who is dead is made spiritually alive. He is brought into a capacity to have a spiritual walk with God, and therefore he is an imitator of Christ. Our objective is to become Christ-like. But that is an internal change. But here again, the Greek language very specifically says that when Satan comes around and makes himself look like he's one of the servants of God, it's all external (put-on): the clothes he wears; the way he speaks; the modulation of his voice; the sweetness and light message he gives; and, the way he uses his hands and makes the sign of the cross. All of these are externals. If you do not know better, you'll go for it.

In the charismatic Assembly of God Pentecostal movement, it's emotion. That's the guideline. People's minds are out of gear. It is emotion that is played. Therefore, in those services, emotion is what people get. Their emotions are constantly played by that clever, professional, capable preacher in the pulpit. No wonder. That's an external thing. It's all outside. It is not something inside.

Why can't we simply invite people to become believers? Why can't we explain the gospel to a group of people and invite them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to accept Him as their personal Savior right there in the congregation while they sit there? Why do we have to say, "Come down the aisle if you want to be saved?" That's emotional. That's external.

In my early days in the denomination that we were a part of here in the Berean Church when I came, the pastors all met on Monday morning. They would actually say to one another, "How many did you get to move down the aisle yesterday?" I used to cringe on the inside when I'd hear that. What were they saying? "How successful was your pitch yesterday to get people to come forward to be saved and join the church?" This is what this beast, the false prophet, is going to do with the people that he deceives. He is going to speak to them as a representative of God, when in point of fact, he will be a representative of the God of this world, Satan.

So Revelation 13:12 says, "And he (the false prophet) exercises all the authority of the first beast." The antichrist receives his power from Satan, and the false prophet receives his power and authority from the antichrist. The two are closely related to one another, and the false prophet gets his authority from the first beast, and he serves with this religious authority in the presence of the antichrist. He (the false prophet) makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, the antichrist, whose fatal wound was healed. Just as God the Holy Spirit directs worship toward the Lord Jesus Christ, so the false prophet in this ecumenical church of the first three-and-a-half years of the tribulation is going to be directing worship toward the antichrist.

At the middle of the tribulation, this ecumenical church called the harlot church, which is brought together when the antichrist takes over Western Europe, is going to be destroyed. Revelation 17:18: "And the woman whom you saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." This woman is the harlot church, and she will be dominating the nations of the world with their religious life, just indeed as the Roman Catholic Church over the centuries has also dominated the religious world.

Revelation 17:16 says, "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast (this ten-nation confederacy, and the antichrist that rules it) will hate the harlot (the ecumenical church), and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her up with fire." They get rid of her.

What is going to be put in its place in the middle of the tribulation? The antichrist will have his own religion with himself as God. That's what replaces it. Up to this time, they still do with the old forms and the old categories. Now it's going to be a universal religion that everybody must subscribe to.

In Saudi Arabia today, you can only be a Muslim. You cannot be a citizen of Saudi Arabia or get any of the benefits of the rich oil income of that country if you are not a Muslim. If you are a Christian, or become a Christian (you convert from Islam), you will be executed. That's what the antichrist is doing. You follow his religion or you come under persecution and death. The whole world follows this leading of the false prophet.

In John 5:43, Jesus says, "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive Me. If another shall come in his name, you will receive him." They wouldn't receive the Lord Jesus Christ. But another is going to come in his own name (the false prophet). They will receive that man as the authority of God.

So how do we know the difference? Well, we know the difference because we have the Bible which is inerrant and has proven its trustworthiness. We have expository preaching instruction that is based upon the literal meaning of the words. We do not spiritualize what God has said. Therefore, anybody can read the Scripture, and the words mean what they say.

Revelation 13:8 says, "The whole world will worship the antichrist, those whose names are not written in the lamb's Book of Life." True Believers--they will not. But they are going to go under great martyrdom and suffering because of it.

Then verse 13: "And he (the false prophet) performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men." Here he is imitating one of the miracles again that was performed by the true prophets of God. In the charismatic movement, are miracles being performed? Yes. One miracle they can't perform is to raise anybody from the dead. But they do perform these signs, and Satan does it for them. He even heals people. Satan makes people ill. Then when he gets the credit, he makes them well again. He has enormous power capacity to do this.

So the false prophet performs these miraculous signs such as making fire come down from heaven just as the prophets of God in the Old Testament did. This indicates a series of wonders that will be performed in the presence of men by the false prophet to prove that he really represents God. Satan has ample power to perform wonders of a miraculous nature which easily deceive people into thinking that God is at work.

How do you protect yourself? It's the Word of God. The Word of God does not confirm that. It's interesting that in 1 Corinthians 13, it says that miracles will cease. Did you know that? It says that prophecy is going to cease. It uses the Greek word meaning "cut off." Speaking in tongues is going to cease. Why? Because it was only temporary until the New Testament was written. Once all that revelation was recorded, then these miracle capacities of communicating the new truth of the church age were at an end. This is so definite in 1 Corinthians 13. These things are going to come to an end. Why? It tells us why. It says, "When that which is perfect arrives," these other things will stop. It's neuter tense, so it's not a perfect person like Christ. It's a perfect thing. What could that perfect thing be? The Bible--the New Testament Scriptures.

So here's this man performing these miracles under Satan's power, bringing fire from above, imitating Elijah (2 Kings 1:10-12), and imitating Pentecost (Acts 2:3). Here's the supposed proof that he represents God because they are fake miracles. Remember that when Moses came to Pharaoh, he also brought miracles. The first three miracles that Moses performed, the priests of Egypt were able to duplicate by Satan's power. After they got past the first three, they couldn't produce the miracles that Moses was performing and the plagues that he was bringing. But for a while, they ran neck and neck with Moses. The devil has power to deceive so that it appears to be God himself that they are dealing with.

This is a pattern of deception, which our Lord predicted would come. Please notice Matthew 24: Jesus says, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead if possible even the elect." That should put a chill in your soul. Jesus said, "These people are going to come in these end times. They're going to perform things that are so miraculous. They are miracles. They're above the supernatural. They are so real that even genuine believers will say, 'Is it possible this is God acting?'" Only the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the principles of doctrine will protect those people from being suckered by this presentation.

Revelation 13:14 says, "And he (the false prophet) deceives those who dwell on the earth." In the book of the Revelation, "those who dwell on the earth" is a technical term for unbelievers. So he's talking about unsaved people. The tribulation unbelievers are deceived by the false prophet's miracles which are being performed in the presence of the antichrist, and as a tribute to the power which he has delegated to the false prophet. "The false prophet deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence, or by the authority, of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth (the unbelievers) to make an image of the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life."

So he says, "Make an image of the antichrist. Put his image in the temple, and make little ones that you can take home, and set up a shrine in your house so that you may bow down and worship the image of the antichrist who is our God. The false prophet, on this wave of excitement and all which he creates with his miraculous producing powers, urges the placing of these images of the antichrist, who has demonstrated that he is the Christ, because virtually he has been resurrected from the dead. He sets it up in the Jews temple, and it becomes now the center of world worship. This is now the mid-tribulation. Half of the earth's population has been killed in the first three-and-a-half years by the various plagues of God. That is over 3 billion people.

This image is mentioned several times more in the New Testament. We have it in Revelation 14:9-11; Revelation 15:2; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20; and, Revelation 20:4. This image is described in Matthew 24. All of these things were laid out by God, and the pattern was set in motion so that we know that these are not accidents. Matthew 24:15-16: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation." Now you know what that is from Daniel. It's an image of God being placed in the Jews' temple. "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place and the holy of holies of the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, let the reader understand. And those who are in Judea flee to the mountains," and so on. It says that this is the time to get out.

All of this claiming that this man, the antichrist, is deity is a fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:11 where we are told about these people who rejected the truth of Scripture for being saved by an act of divine grace: "For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they believe what is false." By this context, what is false is that they are potential gods. What is false is that the antichrist is God, and that they are all moving toward godhood themselves.

So in verse 11, God says, "Fine, if you want to reject the fact that Jesus Christ is deity and that the antichrist is a false substitute," then He deludes them so they'll believe this falsehood, "in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." If you reject what Scripture teaches, then God will open you up to believe what it does not teach. If you reject the truth of the Word of God, then you will be exposed to the falsehoods that Satan is constantly teaching in the religious world. So it's a little dangerous to sit in church where expository truth is really explained and rejected because what God does is hold you responsible for what you know, and then he allows you to believe what is false.

Revelation 13:14 says, "And he deceives those who dwell on the earth." There is that phrase again: "those who dwell on the earth." These are unbelievers. "Because of the signs which were given to him to perform." This is the power that the antichrist gave the false prophet to perform--these supernatural signs. "In the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and came to life. So the false prophet has had his power delegated, and people believe that the antichrist is really God.

Then verses 15-17: "And there was given to him to give breath to the image." This word "breath" is "spirit" or "breath." This image is placed in the temple in Jerusalem. It is going to appear to have life. "There was given to him to give the appearance of life to the image of the beast." This is the image of the antichrist. The word for "life" in the Greek is "zoe." We get the word "zoology" from this--animal life study. This word is not used here. "Zoe" is human life. This is something that is an imitation of some kind. Only God has power to give life. What we have here is that, by some means--again, the power of Satan or the cleverness of technology--he "gives breath to this image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed." The image of the beast speaks. And when somebody will not worship, the command is given that they be executed.

If you've ever been to Disney World or Disney Land out in California, they have a roomful of robots (human images) representing the gathering of all the presidents of the United States. You come into this room, and there, from Washington on down to the last president, they are all up there. They get up one by one and speak. And while one is speaking, these images (these mannequins) are looking at one another and nodding and looking about, just like people. You have to remind yourself, "This is an image. This is not real what I'm seeing." I remember Lincoln, particularly, when it was his time to speak, he gets up, tall and lanky, and he walks a bit and gets himself stabilized, and then he begins speaking. I mean, it is so real, that it is creepy. You have to remind yourself, "No, it's a sound box that's speaking. The inside of those clothes is filled with gears and levers and electronic devices that are making him move in a certain programmed way." When Lincoln finishes speaking, he goes back and he sits down in his chair, and he looks at the next president who then gets up. Johnson follows him, and he gets up to speak.

Now, something of that nature with technology is going to be a lot more sophisticated a few years down the line--what they're going to have. And the result is that this image of the antichrist is given a spirit to speak; to move; and, to even command certain people to be killed if they reject the Lord Jesus Christ.

This, of course, is no problem for the spirit world today. When people hold séances, do they hear somebody speaking? Yes. The medium passes out, like Edgar Cayce did. A voice speaks through him. It is the voice of a demonic spirit. Edgar Cayce used to give people instructions on how to get well. A lady from California had asked Cayce for instructions on what she should do to take care of her physical ailment. The spirit, speaking through Cayce, began speaking. They had a recorder sitting there writing all this down. They would tell people, "Here's what was revealed to us." Sure enough, they would follow the advice, and they'd get well.

On this occasion, the spirit was explaining what this lady's problem was and what she should do. Then, all of a sudden, the spirit goes silent. Then the recorder looks up at Cayce, who is still under his self-hypnosis, and he never says any more about it. He goes on to the next question. Later on, because they were curious of why the information from the spirit world on this woman getting well was interrupted, they contacted the family. Lo and behold, they found that the very moment when Cayce was receiving this instruction, the lady died. Satan's world knew it. When the lady died, the instruction for her to get well ceased because the devil cannot give life.

In Acts 16:16-17, a demon is cast out by Paul and Silas: "It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl having a spirit of divination (fortune telling) met us who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out saying, 'These men are bond servants of the most high God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.'" This demon spirit was recognizing that Paul and Silas were really representatives of God. It is very strange that they should do that, but the apostle Paul would not take that kind of testimony, and he commanded the spirit to come out of her, and he did. The result was that they got thrown in jail for spoiling her owner's business of fortune telling.

Tribulation humanity is going to go wild in this worship of the concrete evidence of this false trinity: Satan; the antichrist; and, the false prophet. The authority of the false prophet from the antichrist is absolute. So he can execute believers who refuse to worship the image of the antichrist which it represents.

Then Revelation 13:16 says, "And he (the false prophet) causes all the small and the great; the rich and the poor; and, the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand and on their forehead." I don't know what the mark is. The ladies probably would prefer taking a mark on their hand rather than having it right there on their forehead. But those who accept the antichrist as God will be stamped with this mark. Once the mark is on, you can never go back. Those people, once you take the mark of the beast, are forever doomed to the lake of fire. This is going to happen. This will be a public identification of those who worship Satan. This is because when you worship the antichrist, you're worshiping Satan. They must all bear this brand of allegiance on their forehead or on their hand. And it includes all classes of society: people who are notorious; those who are not known; people who are rich; people who are poor; people who are free; and, people who are enslaved. It applies no matter what your social condition is. It is an imitation of something else, isn't it?

Every believer at the moment of salvation receives a seal upon him, the seal of God the Holy Spirit. That seal ensures that without any question, you are forever destined for eternal life in heaven. That seal of the Holy Spirit happens at the point of salvation.

Then verse 17: "And he provides that no one should be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast, or the number of his name." If you do not have the mark of the beast upon you, you cannot do business. You cannot buy anything, and you cannot sell. Consequently, you are going to be up against it. There will be a lot of other believers who are going to help out with food and care. That's why, when this separation of the sheep and goats comes along after the Second Coming of Christ, he says, "You marked yourself as a sheep of God because you helped those, my people Israel, when they were under suffering by the antichrist, you helped provide for them their material needs. So here you cannot conduct business and you cannot buy the necessities of life without the mark of the antichrist. Satan's creed about man in Job 2:4 is true. A man will do anything in order to have something to eat. But that's not the believer's divine viewpoint. This mark, of course, means eternal damnation. All who have it will be irrevocably destined for the lake of fire.

Revelation 14:9-11: "Another angel, a third one, followed them saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives the mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment (this is in the lake of fire) goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day and night--those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." There is no turning back. The punishment is forever. Economic survival is going to be at stake. These people, because they are blind, will do anything to survive with the material needs that they have.

666

And, in verse 16, it says, "Calculate the number of the antichrist, and the time will come when all this will be understood." In Revelation 19:20, again, "The beast (the antichrist) and the false prophet are thrown along with all those who received this mark of the beast into the lake of fire, burning with fire and brimstone forever." The Lord Jesus Christ returns and sets up a world government of peace. In the Word of God, here are two "whosoevers." Revelation 20:15 says, "If anyone whosoever's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Christ shall not perish but have eternal life." Which whosoever determines where your destiny goes. It's only believing, an act of faith, and the result will be that a lot of believers will pay with their lives during the tribulation era.

However, there is good news. You and I will not be there. The church is taken out before the tribulation begins. That is explicitly clear from several passages of Scripture. All that are left upon the earth once the church is gone are unbelievers. But a lot of them finally are saved. Do you know one of the ways they're going to get saved? They're going to find these messages and these audio recordings of ours scattered everywhere. They'll find those little booklets on evangelism that you put out. We've just had a call from our German missionaries for another pack of 500, and maybe 1,000. They're distributing them all over sections of Germany now. They're getting other pastors to take them and put them around. Those things are going to be out there, and people are going to pick them up and read them, and they're going to get the gospel when all of us are gone. For every person saved from what we have done at Berean church, all of you will be rewarded.

Dr. John E. Danish, 2002

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