 Well today we're in Revelation 13 if you'd like to open your Bibles to Revelation 13 we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 18 as we continue our series in the book of Revelation we've arrived at a chapter that has introduced us to the Antichrist and this morning we'll be looking at his false prophet and So I'll read those verses to you verses 11 through 18 and Then get into our study study is related to the Antichrist's false prophet John writes Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and He had two horns like a lamb and spoke Like a dragon and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and Causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed He performs great signs So that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs, which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast Telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast That the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed He causes all both small and great rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on the right hand or on their foreheads and That no one may buy or sell Except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name Here is wisdom Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast For it is the number of a man his number is six six six So as I normally do I like to lay a foundation and give you some things to think about and prepare you and Then we'll look in the verses Each one individually until we conclude at verse 18 So as we as we begin Something that I want to begin by sharing with you and laying that foundation is taking into consideration our understanding of truth You see in early times people decided what they believed to be true in a variety of ways One way they decided what was true was simply by experience if they experienced it Then then that must be true Another way people would determine what was true was by their emotion if they felt something deeply Then of course it must be true The basic way though that they came to believe something was receiving it from someone that they trusted They believe the person instructing them could be trusted and therefore what they would say to them would be true And this is still basically how people come to believe something to be true if they trust someone if it's a parent or Whether it's an entertainer a scientist a pastor What that person says is to be believed and the greater influence that person has the deeper the trust People will put into them You see at one time the most trusted truth teller in the community was what we would call a holy man And the reason that they were trusted is because these men had a direct contact with God They declared to them what was right and what was wrong and because they were believed to speak for God There was no really there was no arguing with them So if a person doubted even if they doubted they still would trust that person that was saying it because that person saying it declared It to be true Well in our day experiencing emotion have become more important in determining truth If I experienced something if I moved by something it becomes what people today are referring to it as my truth And it may even be considered a deeper truth if it comes to a religious person Well, that's something that that Satan is well aware of and that's something that Satan makes use of he entices people to believe That something is true Experientially and emotionally he also wraps up his deception in the appearance of authority and very often uses religious authority So one of the things that we need to remember is that one of Satan's chief weapons is deception And that's because at its core at his core Satan is a liar And he's a deceiver Jesus said it in John 844 when he said you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father You want to do he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it Well since Satan is a deceiver it makes sense that those who follow him are also Deceivers and he has agents and his agents misrepresent themselves in order to appear as ministers of truth as ministers of light and Second Corinthians Paul spoke of this in chapter 11 verses 13 through 15 He spoke of them and said such are false apostles deceitful workers Transforming themselves into apostles of Christ and no wonder for Satan himself Transforms himself into an angel of light Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also Transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works So these deceivers are used by Satan and what they do is they spread his lies They have an appearance of being truth tellers, but in reality they are false teachers or false prophets Now in light of this These false teachers are spoken of often in scripture warnings against false teachers are found in numerous books of the Bible False prophets have attempted to undermine God's truth from the very beginning They question they oppose God's word. They substitute their own words in its place But we see this all the way back in the book of Genesis Now that Satan himself called God's word God's commands in the question if you remember Genesis chapter 3 Verses 1 through 4 it reads the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field Which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman as God indeed said You shall not eat of every tree of the garden the woman said to the serpent We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat it Nor shall you touch it lest you die then the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die He called into question God's word and obedience to his commands in the woman Unfortunately added to God's word when she said not to touch it And then she also changed it when she said lest you die No, God had said you shall surely die and the enemy has constantly called into question The veracity the truthfulness of God's word Ultimately Satan has inspired his false ministers to undermine the work of God And they came into being very early and they've opposed God's word and attempted to destroy God's people from the beginning Because of this God gave specific commands to the nation of Israel and Deuteronomy in chapter 13 verses 1 through 3 he said If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams And he gives you a sign or wonder and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you Say and let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them You shall not listen to the words of the prophet or that dreamer of dreams For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you you love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul So throughout Israel's long history Israel didn't always obey the Lord Many times false prophets arose and many times God would bring warnings and he did so from his prophets One of those prophets is Jeremiah and in the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament chapter 23 verse 16 We read thus say at the Lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you They are leading you into futility. They speak a vision of their own Imagination not from the mouth of the Lord And so the Old Testament is filled with warnings as is the new The New Testament contains warnings about false teachers and prophets throughout its writings All of the Gospels all four of them have warnings the book of Acts as warnings Romans as warning first and second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians First and second Thessalonians first and second Timothy Titus Hebrews first and second Peter first John Second John Jude in Revelation all speak of false teachers The New Testament writers wrote to warn believers to test what was being said to them about God They would test the teachers by what they were saying and compare what was being said by what scripture actually says The church wasn't to believe things because they felt good or lined up with their experience you see that for example in the book of Galatians because False teachers had been entering into the churches of Galatians Galatians because of that Paul had given a warning in Galatians 1 verse 9 I want you to see how serious it is in Galatians 1 9 Paul said as we have already said So now I say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted Let him be eternally condemned. So it wasn't a matter of while at least they believe in God Paul said if they're preaching a false message, may they be anathema may they be eternally condemned in Second Peter chapter 2 verse 1 we see something similar Peter said there were also false prophets among the people even even as there will be false teachers among you Who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord to bot them and Bring on themselves with destruction In the last days false teachers and false prophets will be working overtime undermining people's faith in Jesus Christ And satan will work even harder to deceive the world because his doom approaches in chapter 12 We saw this in verse 12 Where it says here in revelation 12 verse 12 therefore rejoice oh heavens And you who dwell in them woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea For the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time So the enemy will be working overtime in the last days and because of this Jesus prepared the church to be on guard In Matthew 7 verse 15 he said beware false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing But inwardly they are ravenous wolves in Matthew 24 verse 11 Jesus said many false prophets will arise and will deceive many Now the chief doctrine That they teach is Jesus is not necessary For someone to be saved They say he's only one of many teachers and that he's not more important than any other But that's contrary to what Jesus himself taught when he said in john 14 6 I am the the way the truth in the life no man comes to the father But by me and when peter was preaching in acts chapter 4 verse 12 The apostle said nor is there salvation in any other For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved There's only one name And paul made it clear he said every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess that jesus christ is lord To the glory of god the father So the christian faith rests on certain basic essentials certain truths These are called the building blocks of christianity The christian faith is built on the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture for all scripture is given by inspiration of god It is built on the deity of jesus christ because in the beginning was a word the word was with god the word was god It's built on the virgin birth of jesus christ because he is immanuel god with us It's built on the substitutionary atonian work of jesus christ on the cross because jesus died on the cross to save sinners paul said of whom i am chief It is built on the physical resurrection and the personal bodily return of jesus christ to the earth These are called the essentials of the christian faith These are the primary doctrines that satan works overtime to undermine and how does he do that? While he does his work through false prophets. He does it through false teachers Now in our last study we looked at the the antichrist who is yet to come He is a final world ruler. He's going to have political. He's going to have religious power over people He'll be a world ruler. Therefore. He has the political power He's going to command and he's going to lead as the willful king And as we already have seen the the whole unsaved world will marvel at him and follow after him But there'll also be a religious element The scripture says they will worship the dragon and they will worship him And people will worship him through the influence of one called the false prophet In second thessalonians 2 verses 9 and 10 it says the coming of the lawless one Which is another way of speaking of antichrist will be in accordance with the work of satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles Signs and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved Antichrists but antichrists will have a false prophet And the false prophets responsibility will be to encourage people to worship antichrists And what we'll have the scripture prophesies There's going to be a partnership between political and religious powers There'll be no thing called separation of church and state Antichrist establishes a false religion and he himself is the center and he's going to demand worship and to help this become acceptable There will be a false prophet One commentator by the name of john phillips wrote The dynamic appeal of the false prophet will lie in his skill In combining political expediency with religious passion He will control the media of the world and will skillfully organize mass publicity to promote his ends. We already see That the media can be used for good or for ill. It just depends on whose side they're on And this brother here john phillips made it very clear that the media will be presenting The antichrists and the false prophet as the answer to our problems You see the only Religion tolerated by antichrists will be his own According to daniel. This is going to occur in the middle of the tribulation Antichrists will set up what is called the abomination of desolation in the temple that will be rebuilt In daniel 9 27 it says he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice an offering and on the wing of abomination Shall be one who makes desolate. And so we're going to be looking today at the false prophet And so beginning at verse 11 john says Then I saw another beast Coming up out of the earth And he had two horns like a lamb and spoke Like a dragon. We've already seen the first beast. That's antichrist Notice how he speaks of another beast Now the antichrist is a human being And the false prophet is a human being The word another there there are a couple words that greek usually uses to translate into the english another And the word that is used here speaks of another of the same kind So another beast is another of the same kind And so we know that the first beast antichrist is a human being and they're demonically possessed You see it speaks here when it says coming out of the earth The earth speaks of of a picture of what is called unredeemed human nature carnal human nature unsaved people So the earth speaks of unsaved people unredeemed human nature first quinthians 15 47 and 48 says the first man Was of the dust of the earth a second man from heaven As was the earthly man. So are those who are of the earth and as is the man from heaven So also are those who are of heaven. So this speaks of unredeemed human nature And what's going to happen is the false prophet is going to be appealing to the unsaved His words and his works are going to be accepted by those who are susceptible to delusion Those who are susceptible to delusion are those who have rejected christ and his word And so because they they reject jesus christ they reject the preaching that's taking place and all they're just open They're going to have an openness spiritually To the deception that's coming today. We have people who refer to themselves not as christian or or or one A religious designation. They simply say they're spiritual. I'm a spiritual person. It's common to hear today I'm spiritual Well, it's to those people that this is going to be acceptable And it's going to be something that they want to hear because they're susceptible to the delusion In first timothy 4 verses 1 through 3 paul prophesied it this way He said the spirit expressly says and in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed To deceiving spirits doctrines of demons Speaking lies in hypocrisy Having their own conscience seared with a hot iron Forbidding to marry Commanding to abstain from foods which god created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth And so they're going to be open to demonic Lies they're susceptible to the false prophet The second beast is the false prophet Remember jesus had one named john the baptist Well, antichrist has his false prophet Notice in verse 11. He had two horns like a lamb He spoke like a dragon that confirms his religious character. He appears to be a lamb Now false prophets sometimes take on the appearance of genuine prophets prophets would wear certain clothing And the clothing that they were they would wear identified them as prophets in matthew 7 I read verse 15 before but i'll read verses 15 and 16 Again watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing But inwardly they are ferocious wolves by their fruit You will recognize them. They appear as the true they have that appearance in jesus's day Prophets often wore this uh woolen clothing They they wore that sheep's clothing and all and they appeared to be the true thing And so the prophet would dress in a certain way very often And the people would see the way he was dressed and recognize him as a prophet Well, he's saying that they're going to be looking like the truth Prophet but their fruit is going to demonstrate that they're not In verse 11 says he had two horns like a lamb when it speaks of horns That would give to us the understanding that there's power. He has power Because two horns are symbolic of religious and political power Notice he appears as a lamb to the people. What does that mean? Well, he appears to be Very gentle very harmless I mean if you were walking at night you're going through a uh, we'll say through an alley You're making your way through an alley and you hear some rattling it's dark You don't see there's no light there and it's late It's like one in the morning and you're just hurrying home and you're some rattling by a trash can And what do you think? Oh my goodness. What is it? You're afraid? I mean, maybe it's maybe it's a Mean dog. I don't know and so you kind of freeze and then you look and in a little lamb comes from around the trash can You're not scared of that Then you're going to scare you at all He appears harmless He appears to be gentle That's how he's going to get people He's going to appear To be a harmless caring compassionate loving person He's going to talk about love. He's going to talk about unity. He's going to talk about Compassion for others is going to talk about all the things that people want We want to see unity. We want people with love. We want to see compassion He's going to speak that way And he's going to have a real power about him very charismatic Very winsome the kind of person that you want to listen to that you enjoy listening to So he'll appear to be gentle He'll appear to be true. He'll appear to be harmless And what that does is it makes people open to his deception They're going to say, you know, have you heard him? He is so kind. He is so loving He says that the way it should be said he's so caring about everybody But notice in verse 11, he spoke like a dragon He appeared as a lamb, but he spoke as a dragon When it says he spoke as a dragon his message is inspired and empowered by satan In revelation 12 nine, we saw the great dragon Identified he's that he's that old serpent the devil satan. He's the deceiver of the whole world He spoke like a dragon He is satanically inspired and empowered And people in the last days will be more open to deception Than ever before there have been so many things going on up to this point And you need to have peace you need to have wholeness you need things to be settled And he's going to come and the antichrist is going to give to people the appearance that That he can solve all the problems and false prophet is going to encourage people to follow him And the conditions will be perfect for mass deception In first timothy 4 verse 1 again, it says the spirit expressly says That in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits doctrines of demons In second timothy chapter 3 verse 13 evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived You see we are living in the times called the last days In our day many reject the possibility of anything that is absolutely true Well in the time of the tribulation an atmosphere of acceptance will exist And the false prophet will take advantage of it Jesus said this in John 5 43 when he said I've come in my father's name And you do not receive me if another comes in his own name Him you will receive that was actually including a prophecy of the false one who will come They reject the true in order to receive the false So Paul revealed that God will give man over to the inclinations of his sinful nature After the rapture Satan will have great power and will deceive people Now notice how it says in verse 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence And causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast Who's deadly wound was healed He's going to promote total acceptance of the beast and his government He does nothing without antichrist's approval And what he does is he causes people to worship the antichrist He's going to encourage a Unified world government a global village Communalism is what he's going to establish And one of the ways that he's going to do it Is he's going to perform miracles verse 13 says he performs great signs So that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men He performs lying signs and wonders Now he may be counterfeiting the signs that the two witnesses we've already looked at had performed Notice how it says that he makes fire come down from heaven Jesus warned us about this Matthew 24 24 False Christ and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles To deceive even the elect if that were possible So he's going to be deceiving in verse 14 He deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs Which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast telling them Who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived He deceives those who dwell on the earth. So this reveals his chief purpose. He is here to deceive It's interesting if you were to look up the word deceive in scripture and look up the original with in the new testament the word deceive You might find this interesting There are our passages that use the word deception or deceive That have a particular greek word that is translated deceived or deception That word too can be used to speak of seduction The word that is translated Deceived can also be translated seduce So what he does is he seduces he is deceiving He causes people to be drawn to that which they ought not to be drawn to there's seduction normally occurs When there's something inside of me That finds something else that's promising me satisfaction And I find that appealing so something that I think is appealing draws something in me And I go after that which I think is appealing and you can do that you can do it as a man You can see a woman the woman that you see is is gorgeous And you want you want to be with her in a way that you shouldn't be And so you you study her men can do this all the time not that women don't but men do this all the time And you listen to them you see the things that they like, you know in the first date the guy's getting all the information He needs for the rest of his life He doesn't have to talk to her again. He knows as much as he wants to know And you you know, where did you go to school? What is your family like? Tell me what your your your desire in life is you start asking questions Then you start finding weaknesses if you're seducing you start finding things in her that you know that if you appeal to them And you do it slowly you used to be slowly maybe it's quickly now But you would work slower and what you would do is you would say the things that she wants to hear She may say Yeah, I've been gaining a little weight You put it right here Later on the next time you see her you say have you dropped some weight? Oh, did you notice? That's just a way to not take her out for dinner But you know that I know that we all know that I mean seduction occurs because somebody is hearing what they want They're hearing something that want to hear and if it is if it's presented in the proper way Then you can draw them by making promises and and saying things That they are inclined to desire. That's how seduction works And that's how it works spiritually The enemy will package his garbage his lies In a way that is so appealing That people will listen And be drawn to it now when you combine that with miracles With things that are occurring that human beings can't normally do That's what draws people Because they'll say if there is a god then this god has to be able to say things that appeal to my heart And do things that cause me to wonder And that's what's going to take place lying signs and wonders Things that are being said things that are being done that people are drawn by And as they're drawn into that they believe the message because they they took the bait And that's how the antichrist is going to work. He's going to bring deception So the combination of the false prophets message and the miracles will capture people Notice in verse 14 how it says that he deceives by the signs he was granted to do In other words, this is something god allows It'll be something that people are completely open to In 2nd Thessalonians 2 verses 9 through 12 Paul prophesied and said The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan With all power signs and lying wonders with all unrighteous deception among those who perish Because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved And for this reason god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie That they all may be condemned who do not believe the truth But had pleasure in the righteousness god is going to allow them to pursue what is in their heart And what's going to happen? Well, it says he's telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast Who was wounded by the sword and lived They'll build an image of the beast The interesting thing about this in this very secular age that we live in Is that the world will join in openly and willingly honoring and worshiping anti christ They're convinced that he conquered death And that causes them to be drawn to worship him And so it says he was granted power to give breath To the image of the beast It becomes animated It has the appearance of life It is not alive because when it speaks concerning giving life to the beast and all of that Give breath verse 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast the word breath there Is a greek word numah You know that word pneumatics It speaks of animation If it was life actual life the normal word that would be used would have been the word zoe Zoey in the greek speaks of life can be used as divine life What this is speaking about is animation. It's not speaking of it becoming actually alive It's speaking of it being animated and appearing to be alive And there's so many people have questions concerning this. What could this be? It has the appearance of life And and all and so different people have said well it it may be the product of genetic engineering It may be a living computer animated and artificially intelligent. It could be an android It could be Various things whatever it is It does have the appearance of being alive and one of the things we need to remember in that is the devil cannot create life And so it has the appearance of life And so it may be set up in the in the rebuilt temple grounds And that would mean that this this this image Could be connected to what is called the abomination that causes desolation You see in paul paul wrote in 2nd, Thessalonians 2 3 and 4 He had said let no one deceive you by any means For that day will not come unless the fall in away comes first And the man of sin is revealed the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called god Or that is worshiped so that he sits as god in the temple of god showing himself that he is god So it may be connected to that But when this happens persecution erupts at a greater scale because people are going to refuse to worship the image And because they have refused they will be killed In revelation 20 verse 4 we see later I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded Because of their testimony for jesus and because of the word of god They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands Verse 16 he causes all both small and great rich and poor free and slave To receive a mark on the right hand or on their foreheads And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name Well, this is interesting We know that famine is already in existence We've already seen up to this point that there are accounts of what's taken place up to 50 percent Of the earth has been devastated and the population has been 50 percent of the population has been devastated And so it says he's going to cause them to receive a mark that word mark is an interesting word It's a word that is used for tattoo So if you've got a tattoo you're marked But not necessarily for the beast But it's a word that was used as uh, they'd say the guy's marked I mean even to this day when they talk they'll say I like your marks. You know, that's just a word that is used It's in reference to a tattoo, but it also is a reference to a brand And a brand very often is what demonstrates ownership Now they branded the cattle and all of that it'll be a brand it is demonstration of ownership And what this mark is going to do we know it's going to be used to identify followers of antichrist You see antichrist needs a system to distribute food Because famine is hit A system has to be created So he creates a universal system associated with him based on a rationing of the goods now This was written a couple thousand years ago People in recent times have been saying how is that possible? Because when it was written, you know, the earth's population was smaller and And people didn't know all about the other populations throughout the whole wide world How would they know about a universal marking system? But we know in our day that this is entirely possible We already know it's true that these things already are in existence in one form or another because most of us have social security cards Some of us have debit cards. I guess most everybody Most everybody has a charge account We're familiar with the scanners because we go through them all the time I didn't know I was hired by home depot until I went to the south checkout and I had to learn how to use a scanner I don't even know how to use it. Marie does it. She's better at that. She does it more often implants Microchips those are things that we are familiar with and we hear about and the technology for that is growing leaps and bounds I was reading about a technology company called three square market And this is written a year or two ago But at that time they had over 50 employees with implanted microchips That they used to purchase things from vending machines. They use them to log into computers Even to enter into the office In sweden right now Microchips are used to enter secure buildings. They're used to book train tickets They're used to store basic medical information. These things already exist They will put a chip in in the neck of your animal so that if it runs away Then you'll know where it's at that doesn't mean we'd look for it, but at least we'd know where it ran to Especially if it was a cat The system's with us already We are already prepared to follow the orders already prepared we've already Been brought to a place of thinking it's a wise thing to do to follow orders and the american spirit, which has always been to question authority and that old saying don't tread on me has basically Been quelled in many ways Through the fear of things occurring to us that we don't want to have happened So we really are mentally being prepared right now not to say that You know that we're there yet But no, I'm saying and I think that this is true that we're moving in the direction of acceptance a lot easier than Than before even 50 years ago. We're already moving in that direction. We are moving in that direction right now And so because we have all of these number systems and things like that We already have a system that works in the united states. It will be a universal system everybody will have a number And there will be A chipping of some sort that takes place a mark that's whether it's a tattoo or a microchip Something is going to take place. It will happen and people are even now being prepared for it This is again something that you wouldn't even have thought about 50 years ago We wouldn't even have been aware of something as sophisticated as this 50 years ago or or 60 years ago We would not have been because the younger people of our generation have been been Fortunate enough to see the the great advances in technology The things that are normal for them Are things that still cause Those of us who have grown up to see the invention and the movement of it So the younger people Younger generations are being prepared to accept things that that we had to grow to accept You know I first time you used the the internet and it was a dial-up thing and you had to dial and then you hear I hung up the first time I thought the face of the antichrist is going to come on my screen and read my mind. I don't know It was it was weird And all of that, you know, I You know Things that we've grown very accustomed to that that you carry more information in your pocket That the first the first computers were almost the size of a wall And now we have them in our in our watches or in our pocket in our phone See those are things that our technological marvels that we've gotten really used to we just don't realize How amazing it is and I've said this before but my first tv set that marie and I bought We thought it was amazing because it was colored, you know, and and it was huge. What was about 19 inches 12 inches Yeah, it was just amazing. Look at that, you know And it's just so different now You carry you carry your phone. You don't need to stop it at phone booths You know, you don't hang up phones anymore. It's just a different thing. There's so much information and we're moving into that It's such a rapid pace that it's going to be normalized. That's what it is It's going to be something you accept It's it's something you're you're used to and we've got a famine. How are we going to deal with it? Well, you know what you need a chip or you need to mark if you have this This there's a bar on your your hand your forehead whatever it may be then Then you can buy and sell and if you don't then Then you can't so if you know, I have to eat I have to drink I have to purchase It'll just make sense and it's going to be very subtle. That's how it's going to happen. We're already prepared for that Now in verse 18, here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding Calculate the number of the beast For it is the number of a man His number is six six six Even in our secular society, people don't like to be assigned the number six six six You know if they're taking some kind of thing and they say, okay, six six five six six six. No that guy will move out of the line I want to be six six six because that that number speaks to me. It's really interesting about that, but it's true Now it says here is wisdom Let him who understands calculate Now that's something that will be more completely obvious during the time of antichrist But many have tried to figure it out But the different things that have been said Really fall under the the the realm of speculation People have taken the numbers and they've assigned values to them and they've come up with different names from genghis khan to hitler They'll say oh, this is the antichrist very often They are able to use those numbers to come up with the name of a president. They don't like say he's the Antichrist I can remember that I've seen that in my lifetime Where they take that number of assigned values and attempt to say this is the antichrist this person's the antichrist That's all speculation What we can say is something that's very basic when you when you read your bible And you begin to study things that relate to scripture and how scripture is interpreted and things like that that you find in common scripture You're going to find that there is a A particular discipline that's called bible numerics bible numerics bible numerics is is is the The study of numbers in scripture And so each number that you find up to a certain point as certain It means a certain thing 40 you read the number 40 40 has the assigned meaning will say of Of trials or temptation the children of israel were 40 days 40 years in the wilderness and jesus was tested by the enemy Over a 40 day period so 40 is the number in biblical numerics that has values assigned to the number And so what you have is 666 so what you have there is three sixes Three in biblical numerics has been called the number of completion The number of completion And three represents the trinity It represents god Six is the number that identifies man. Why man was created on the sixth day So what you have is you have three and six three sixes and so I think the safest way to interpret this without beginning to speculate Who is it and what is in this and that is to see it for its plain sense Three sixes man trying to be god And that is the picture that we have A false religion On a scale never seen before Is on its way It is being led by the false prophet It is going to be About the antichrist And we are supposed to be ready In matthew 24 verses 42 through 44 jesus said it like this Watch therefore For you do not know what hour your lord is coming But know this That if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come He would have watched And not allowed his house to be broken into Therefore you also be ready For the son of man is coming at an hour You do not expect Watch the word watch Every military veteran or active duty knows this You're on watch it simply means to be alert be ready Watch out He awake Because the enemy is coming you have to be alert Watch And jesus is saying to watch He's saying you don't know what hour that means you should be ready at any given time now. I learned this Principle when I got saved I was 20 years old. I was going to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa And I heard a bible study it was on February 8th 1971 and somebody had taught About the last days And had gone into the signs of the times out of matthew 24 And had said these are the things that will be preceding the return of christ One of the things they spoke about was earthquakes And so I was living at my parents home at that time It was now february 9th early in the morning And the house began to shake Earthquake hit so hard And I lived in norwalk at that time that the house began to move And I was laying in my bed and I started moving around in it now I'm born and raised in california. I've gone through a lot of earthquakes But this one was a big one And I remember laying there. I still remember my heart starting to beat fast in my chest Because I thought oh my god an earthquake is going to destroy us Then I remembered the bible study. I heard the night before this is a sign jesus is coming I still remember i'm 20 years old raising my hands up saying come lord jesus come. It's just an earthquake Now why do I remember february 9th? 1971 because my wife mary's birthday is february 9th And my granddaughter elena's birthday is february 9th. It's easy to remember february 9th But I was taught from the beginning From the beginning watch The time is coming I've told you this story, but I I always like to share it because it reminds me of my early days in the lord my friend george adams George is a guy who took it upon himself to mentor me my first weeks as a christian Because he was my elder. He had been saved about six months So he really knew god And so he's the guy who says listen listen david you need to uh, you need to read the word of god You need to pray You need to have fellowship with other believers and you should tell people about jesus christ Those are the four things we were all taught at the beginning Read and pray and fellowship and share that was the jesus movement We didn't trust in other people. We didn't think oh, I I I need a billy gram to preach the gospel We were taught we're supposed to do the work of an evangelist See so we didn't rely on other people to do what we the church is supposed to do We didn't look out for somebody else to give the gospel We didn't go out and and lift one man up and say this is the man you need to hear this man can speak No, that's why I raised that's why I came to my mom and my dad and that's what provoked me to lead them to faith in christ It's because that was my job It wasn't billy grams. It wasn't any other it was my job. I was the believer living in the house I had the responsibility to tell mom and dad you need christ See I was raised in the lord that way and I've watched over time that we kind of like have given over some things to other people You do this on my behalf. I'll bring him so you can talk to him No, we talked to him and so we knew the word of God. I'm a brand new christian But I had a friend named george And george said you need to know how to do the work of an evangelist. You need to know And that's how it began with me and that's been in my life for 50 years. That's the way it was and that's the way it is So george was the mentor. He was the one who told me how to live for christ and all I trusted and loved him very deeply And we were pulling out of a driveway. I was driving He was the passenger and as I pull out of the driveway I stopped and I went to a stop sign Got to the stop sign george always had his bible in his hand He carried a pocket bible taught me to do the same He always had it in his hand And he had a pocket bible as well as the regular sized bible and he said, you know The bible is the word of god. It's called the sword He says so carry your sword And then he pulled out his pocket bible. If you don't have a sword Bring your switchblade. That was george So we get to the stop sign And I take a left and when I take the left turn the passenger door opens up george has his bible in his hand The passenger door opens up and he starts leaning out of the The door with his hands like he's superman. He's going to fly away And I hit the brakes and stopped. I said, what are you doing? I thought he was falling out of the car. What are you doing? He said, you know I thought the rapture happened And That jesus opened my door because he's a gentleman to let me out I'm thinking why was my door left closed? See so that's how I was raised in the faith That's how I was raised in the faith. That was that he can come at any moment He can come at any moment. So Let him who has wisdom Let him understand We're moving in that direction right now. We are being prepared as a society We are There's wars rumors of wars pestilence. It's all happening. We're seeing it in our lifetime We need to be ready Because if you don't receive jesus christ You will receive antichrist Those are your options If you don't receive jesus christ You will receive the antichrist And so we need to make sure where we stand with the lord And i've been trying to make sure where I stand with the lord for 50 years and you say in that a long time he hasn't come yet No, it's not a long time, but it's one day closer to when he will And i'm ready. I have this hope within me I will see him face to face He will call me one day come up here and it's all gone. It's all left Nothing to bother me again. No fear. No sorrow. No tears. No pain. No disease. No pestilence only jesus christ And that's what i'm prepared for And if someone says that's a foolish way to live I have peace. I have joy. I have hope And it all comes through the lord And if you're not ready for him Please get ready Because he's going to come even as he said in a time when you're not expecting It's going to be quick. It's going to be sudden It's going to be a voice of trump of the heart of the archangel and trumpet and the voice of the archangel Come up here and we'll be gone and we leave everything behind all the pain and sorrow and tears All the things that held us down. They're gone forever And we have the joy of listening to him and prayerfully hearing him say Well done my good my faithful servant and I look forward to hear him say enter into the joy of the lord Your lord who has prepared this from the foundation of the world That's christianity and we need to be ready because it's going to come soon