Revelation 13:11-18 (The Unholy Anti-Trinity, Part 2, Jeff Kliewer)

Well, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for inviting us into your living room.

We're going to get started with just a few songs together. The first one is taken from Psalm 34.

And delivered me from every fear.

Those who look on Him are radiant.

They'll never be ashamed. They'll never be ashamed.

This poor man cried. And the Lord heard me.

And saved me from my end of days.

The Son of God surrounds His saints.

He'll deliver them. He'll deliver them.

Magnify the Lord with me.

Come exalt His name together.

Glorify the Lord with me.

Come exalt His name forever. Oh, taste and see that the

Lord is good. Oh, blessed is he who hides in Him.

Oh, fear the Lord. Oh, all you saints.

He'll give you everything. He'll give you everything.

Magnify the Lord with me.

Come exalt His name together. Glorify the

Lord with me. Come exalt

His name forever. Let us bless the

Lord every day and night. Ever -ending praise, may our voices rise.

Let us bless the Lord every day and night.

Ever -ending praise, may our voices rise.

Let us bless the Lord every day and night.

Ever -ending praise, may our voices rise.

Magnify the Lord with me.

Come exalt His name together.

Glorify the Lord with me.

Come exalt His name forever. Magnify the

Lord with me. Come exalt

His name together. Glorify the

Lord with me. Come exalt

His name forever. Good morning.

Welcome again to Cornerstone Church. As we gather together in front of the throne of God to worship

Him and to praise His name. What an awesome opportunity we have. We are sinners.

We are sinners who have abandoned our God but yet we have a God who is loving, a

God who is sovereign and a God who has provided for our salvation. And so this morning we come together as children of God, as brothers and sisters in the

Lord, we come together in worship and in praise and in adoration of our Lord God.

Amen. I want to take us this morning to Psalm 25. Psalm 25 is another of David's Psalms.

In this one he specifically expresses his reliance on the sovereignty of God.

What a great concept that is. Especially in days like this, the reliance on the sovereignty of God.

I want to read verses 4 and 5. Make me know Thy ways,

O Lord. Teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and teach me.

For Thou art the God of my salvation. For Thee I wait all the day.

Did you note in verse 5, David proclaims that Thou art the God of my salvation.

In his time and in our time, there are pushes, there are emphasis for us to worship the gods, and I'll say small g, the gods of gratification.

But that doesn't help, that doesn't satisfy. What David is praying and what we should be praying is

God in the big g, Yahweh, the God of salvation.

You know when we confess God, we proclaim several desires for our lives.

First of all, we proclaim a desire to have fellowship with God. We proclaim a desire for true joy and true peace.

Not the offerings of this world, but true joy, true peace that comes through God and from knowing

God. We desire a life that is filled with meaning, and that meaning is defined in our identity in Christ.

We have a desire to be salt and light in a lost world. What an opportunity we have because we have the

Holy Spirit within us to allow that light and that salt to be projected into a world that needs

Him. And we desire the hope that only comes from knowing Him. We have a hope of future.

Pastor Jeff has been taking us through the book of Revelation, the terrible time that is going to be there.

At the end, spoiler alert, at the end God wins, and at the end

He brings us with Him. So our desire for you this morning is that your heart cries out to God, that you seek after Him, and then

He will show you His way. He will lead you in the way of truth, and He will lift up your heart to Him.

Amen to that. A few announcements. Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of the month.

At this point in time we're not certain. Will we be out in the parking lot? Will we be in here? We are not certain.

But in either event, it's the first Sunday of the month, Communion Sunday. Now, if you're joining us virtually, or if you're joining us in the parking lot, come prepared with the elements.

If you're here with us at the church, we will have a limited quantity of single serves. But if you're able, come prepared with the elements, and we will be celebrating again next

Sunday, celebrating Communion. The church leadership continues in our planning on how we are going to return into direct fellowship here in the sanctuary.

So be watching as word comes out, as Pastor Jeff's emails come out. We'll be giving you bullet points of information on what to expect.

We are expecting and anticipating God to deliver us back into direct fellowship.

And so this week you should have received already an email directly from Pastor Jeff in his midweek email, asking for your inputs on what is your preference for which service.

We're anticipating coming in two services, an 830 and a 1030 service.

But we would like to know for planning purposes, so please respond to Jeff's request on what would be your preference, first service or second service.

And so now let's go to prayer. Lord, we turn to you. We confess that you are the

God. You are God. You are the God of all sovereignty. You are the God of all power.

You are the creator. And we confess you as our Lord. Father, we pray for the courage.

We pray for the opportunities to proclaim the truth that you are God to our neighbors, to our families, to those around you.

We rejoice, Lord, as we've seen individuals coming into our worship service in the parking lot seeking and that the word is being proclaimed.

And so we rejoice for that. So now, Lord, we pray for your guidance for us as a local church as we seek to be returning to direct fellowship.

Give us your wisdom. We also pray, Lord, for your guidance for our country, for our country's leaders as decisions are being made.

We pray, Lord, that you would guide them and that their decisions would be honoring to you.

We continue to pray for those who are ill. We continue to pray for those who are working in the hospitals and developing vaccines.

Give them your strength, we pray, dear Lord. Now, Lord, as Pastor Jeff comes and opens up scripture to Revelation 13, starting with verse 11, as we consider the mark of the beast, we consider the attempt by the

Antichrist to become the ruler and the authority. We realize the dangers that are out there, but,

Lord, as with David, we confess you are the God of our salvation.

Give us your hope, give us your strength. Lord, as we are opening up your word, give us hearts to hear.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. I cast my mind where Jesus bled and died for me.

I see His wounds, His hands, His feet.

My Savior on that cursed tree.

His body bound, entrenched in tears.

They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb.

The entrance sealed by heavy stone.

Messiah still and all alone.

Oh, praise the name of the Lord our

God. Oh, praise His name forevermore.

For endless days we will sing your praise.

Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God. And on that third, at break of dawn, the

Son of Heaven rose again.

Oh, trampled death, where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the

King. Oh, praise the name of the

Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore.

For endless days we will sing your praise.

Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God.

He shall return in robes of white.

The blazing sun shall pierce the night.

And I will rise among the saints.

My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face.

Oh, praise the name of the Lord our

God. Oh, praise His name forevermore.

For endless days we will sing your praise.

Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God. Oh, Lord, oh,

Lord our God. Oh, Lord, oh,

Lord our God. We praise you,

Lord, this morning. Your name is far above all gods.

You are worthy to sit on the throne and open the scroll. As morning dawns and evening fades, you inspire songs of praise that rise from earth to touch your heart and glorify your name.

Your name is strong in my tower.

Your name is a shelter like no other.

Your name let the nation sing it louder.

Because nothing has the power to save but your name.

Jesus, in your name we pray, come and fill our hearts today.

Lord, give us strength to live for you and glorify your name.

Your name, your name is strong in my tower.

Your name is a shelter like no other.

Your name let the nation sing it louder.

Because nothing has the power to save but your name.

There is strength within the sorrow. There is beauty in our tears.

And you meet us in the morning with the love that casts out fear.

You are working in our waiting. You're sanctifying us.

Standing, you're teaching us to trust.

Your plans are still to prosper us in the fire and the flood.

You're faithful forever, perfect in love.

You are sovereign over us.

You are wisdom unimagined. Understand your ways.

Reigning high above the heavens. Reaching down in endless grace.

You're the lifter of the lowly.

You surround and you uphold me.

And your promises are my delight. Your plans are still to prosper us in the fire, perfect in love.

With us in the fire and the perfect in love.

You are sovereign over us.

You are sovereign over us.

Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, this morning we come to you because we know we depend on you for life and godliness.

We know that apart from you we can do nothing. So we ask now, Lord God, that you would help us.

Help us to be more discerning, able to distinguish right from wrong. Train the powers of our discernment,

Lord God, through your word this morning. Help us, God, because we need you. We acknowledge that we need the

Holy Spirit filling us afresh right now and this morning. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. There's a company in Wisconsin that recently asked of their employees that they would take a grain of rice size microchip into their hand in order to buy and sell snacks.

Well, to buy snacks. So this company produces these vending machines.

And it's a technology company. And so this company, it's called Three Square Market, has asked their 85 employees to take this chip.

And a couple years ago, believe it or not, 50 of the 85 employees said yes.

And today they have the microchip. Now that enables them to go up to a snack machine and scan their hand and receive their

Cheetos. Now, I don't know about you, but if this CEO came to me and I'm working for this company in Wisconsin and they said,

Hey, Jeff, you know, we have this new snack machine. And you know how tedious it is to take that credit card out of your pocket and just how unnecessarily burdensome it is to have to tap it and put it back in your pocket?

Well, we've eliminated that difficulty. And now we want to put a chip in your hand so that you can swipe and just get it without having to use a credit card.

What would you say? I know I would say you are out of your mind. You want to chip me like a dog in order for me to get a

Snickers, maybe a Milky Way. No, no, just no.

There is no way I'm taking this chip in my hand permanently in my flesh.

And yet 50 of the 85 employees in Wisconsin said yes.

The company CEO, Todd Westby, predicted the technology would get popular.

Eventually, this technology will become standardized, allowing you to use this as your passport.

Public transit, all purchasing opportunities. A year after receiving these chips, so just maybe about a year, a year ago, he said this.

Our products will proactively provide medical statistics to the medical world that will allow treatment and prevent medical issues versus the current state of reacting to a problem.

Fascinating that he said that before COVID -19 swept the world. Now I'm sure the argument will be that these chips would surely aid in contact tracing.

These chips would surely help us assess medical conditions and fevers and a number of things before a problem.

And so everybody should take it. One day it will become mandatory and it will become standard.

Fortunately, we're not there yet and we won't be there until the world won't be there until we

Christians have been raptured out before this happens. I'll show you why that's the case a little later today.

But in Sweden, thousands of people have already voluntarily taken this. I saw this one girl go in.

She's probably 15 years old with her father and both of them get the chip in their hands. And after she gets it, she's got a big smile on her face and she says, happy cyborg birthday.

Now she's a cyborg, half human, half machine in her mind.

And that's as far as she thinks that it goes, I'm sure. And yet the passage that we've come to today in Revelation 13 tells us that such a technology would one day exist.

That you can't buy or sell anything without this mark on the hand or the forehead.

The mark of the beast. I think what's happening with the mark of the beast is that the devil, through this false prophet who's offering this mark, is attempting to mimic and imitate what

God has genuinely done in marking his chosen ones.

Ephesians 1, 13 and 14 says we are marked in him, in Christ, with a seal.

The promised Holy Spirit. And this seal lives inside of us. And it's like a stamp of ownership upon us that we are identified with the name.

The name of Christ. And the 144 ,000 Jews who are believing Jews in the last seven years of the world during the tribulation, these will be marked with a seal from God.

And so, the devil sees God doing that and wanting to supplant God and overthrow

God, the devil mimics this mark. And he has his own, which is the mark of the beast.

So, scary stuff. But Christians, we have no fear. First of all, we'll be raptured.

And those who remain during those seven years will be able to spot this deception by the

Word of God and by the Holy Spirit. Discernment comes from the Word. Discernment comes from the genuine spirit of the living

God. And those who have this discernment from God will not take the mark.

And yes, they will be martyred during those seven years for refusing. But they will glorify

God in that death. So, this is kind of where we come to as part two of last week's message. Last week, we talked about the unholy anti -Trinity.

Satan is like the father in his scheme where he seeks to overthrow God. And so, he raises up a human being that would be an anti -Christ.

This beast from the sea, this Gentile ruler who leads an empire that rules the whole world.

Picture Psalm 2 or Psalm 8, that Christ is a human Davidic king ruling the whole world.

Now, the anti -Christ seeks to establish his own. The devil empowering the anti -Christ.

And today, we come to, and even notice also, last week, Revelation 13, the anti -Christ faked a death and resurrection, mimicking and imitating the true

Christ. This week, we see there is another beast. Just like God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the devil, like the

Father, the anti -Christ, like Christ, they have an anti -Holy

Spirit, another beast. Let's read about him. Revelation 13, verses 11 and 12, this anti -Holy

Spirit, this unholy beast. Then I saw another beast.

And when I saw that word another, I just circled it because it reminded me of John 14, 16.

Jesus said, I will send another helper. So, the devil has another beast.

Rising out of the earth, it had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon.

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

So, the first thing here, you see another beast, a third member of the unholy anti -Trinity, arising.

It comes out of the earth, which means here that picture is Israel. This is probably a Jewish false prophet who's the sidekick now of the

Gentile anti -Christ who rules the earth in a revived Roman Empire. It had two horns like a lamb, like a lamb.

This anti -Holy Spirit wants to look good, wants to play the part.

Surely, would have no problem with being called a Christian. He's like the lamb.

And today, it is even the case that many people who are false prophets are claiming to be

Christian. He's looking outwardly like a man, but it spoke like a dragon.

Here's a big point this morning. Discernment comes from taking the

Word over wonders, the Word of God over appearances.

It's, I believe, Hebrews 5 .14 that tells us to train the powers of our discernment by constant practice to be able to distinguish good from evil.

Here in this text, good and evil are hard to distinguish for the people of earth because they're unable to look to the

Word of God to see that what's obviously contrary to the Word of God must be coming from Satan.

Instead, they see the wonder. They see the outward appearance, the looking like a lamb.

And the outward appearance deceives them. Their eyes play tricks on them, and they're unable to discern the voice of the true

God. Word over wonders. Verse 12, it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed.

Fascinating. This anti -Holy Spirit is shining the spotlight on the beast, the one who appeared to have died and had risen from the dead.

John 16 .14. Go back and let's see what the role of the genuine

Holy Spirit is. John 16 .14.

He, the Holy Spirit, will glorify me, Christ.

The genuine Holy Spirit shines the spotlight on Christ, lifts up the

Christ to the world in order that people would worship Him and that He would be glorified in that worship.

Because the rest of the verse 16 .14, John 16 .14 says, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The role of the Holy Spirit in the world is to take what is Christ's and make it known to us.

Ezekiel 36. The Holy Spirit is the one who takes the heart of stone that's natural to us in our fallen human condition, replaces that with a heart of flesh that feels and loves and desires

Christ. We want to know Him, becomes the heartbeat of our lives, just to know

Him and to make Him known. It's the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer, regenerating us, making us alive, the gift of faith, that we would then worship

God in spirit and in truth. This is the genuine work of the

Spirit. And so we have the counterfeit in Revelation 13. Verse 12. The unholy spirit, this beast who's only a human, just a person.

Again, the fake can never rise to the level of the genuine.

Satan can't have a Holy Spirit that lives in you. So he raises up this man who's like his third member of his anti -trinity.

And even as the Muslims say that Muhammad is the one promised in John 14 -16,

Muhammad is just a man. The promise of John 14 -16 is one who would not only be with you but would be in you.

The Holy Spirit is in us as Christians. So the mockery, the substitute can never attain to the level of the genuine.

But here, Satan is doing the best he can. And this snarky little just pandering man is groveling and pointing all glory to the

Antichrist. It's pitiful, it's pathetic, it's ugly. This is what he's doing now. And the emphasis is on how he was healed from a mortal wound.

Again, a mimicry. Is that a word? Mimicry? An imitation of what the true

Christ has done. Now, verses 13 -14. It performs great signs.

Mega simeons. These are a big deal. They're signs. They point to something.

You just saw something so supernatural that you'll believe what comes next out of the mouth of the liar.

False signs, not genuine signs. Even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people.

And by the signs that it is allowed to work, God sovereignly is allowing these supernatural signs.

It's not that evil is just overwhelming the world and God can't stop it anymore. No, it's

God in his sovereignty is allowing this supernatural outburst of demonic power to work in the presence of the beast.

It deceives those who dwell on the earth. The devil is the deceiver. His primary function and work, his primary weapon is the lie.

He is a deceiver. He deceived Adam and Eve in the garden. He deceives people into believing that what he's offering in the form of a temptation will actually make them happy.

That temptation that looks so good. He's put a veneer on it that makes it look attractive.

And people lurch for the temptation because they're deceived by the look of it.

But in the end, it's a death trap. He deceives those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

Again, big point, word over wonders. Here, the devil creates false wonders, exactly as was foretold by Paul in 2

Thessalonians 2, 9. The coming of the lawless one will be with all kinds of demonic, satanic activity.

And he says in Matthew 24, 24, Jesus says that the activity of Satan in this period of time will be so deceptive that it would deceive even the elect, if possible.

And last week we talked about how it's not possible. The saving work of God, his election, the sealing of the

Holy Spirit, the eternal security of the believer, the name written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.

These who belong to Christ, these sheep who hear his voice, he keeps, no one is able to snatch them out of his hand.

No weapon formed against them shall prosper. The love of Christ that is on us who believe the elect, neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of Christ.

So it's not possible, but if it were possible, these deceptions are so supernatural, so convincing that it would deceive even the elect, if possible.

So here you have these false signs, fire coming down from heaven like Elijah did, like the two witnesses did earlier in the book of Revelation.

And now verse 15, this amazing sign here and fascinating. It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

He makes a statue that is able to animate and speak.

And it's not robotic. It is a metallic statue that suddenly speaks.

Sadly, there are phenomena like that in the world today, either faked and supposed, because it usually comes from like some little girls ran off into the countryside and they saw something and they come back and report and then people believe what they had to say.

That tends to be how the Marian apparitions come in to be. But throughout history, the

Roman Catholic Church builds idols. They put them in their churches. And most of them, many of them are images of Mary.

And the Catholic Church has formally recognized, or in some cases like the one in Japan, they haven't spoken either for or against, that these statues have cried.

Tears, animated tears. And the one in Japan supposedly spoke to this woman who was deaf also.

These kinds of things are affirmed by the RCC. And anybody who reads the book of Revelation should say, wait a minute, 1

John 5, 21, flee from idolatry. The Ten Commandments make no image in the first place.

Those images, I remember going to New York one time and there was this giant Catholic Church. It's famous.

It's somewhere near Times Square. You walk in there and some people experience holiness in their mind.

It feels and appears so glorious with all the imagery and statues. It made me want to barf.

It was disturbing to my conscience to see the idolatry all over the building.

And the RCC even believes in the animation of some of these idols. It's sickening.

Run, flee from idolatry. 1 John 5, 21. It's one of the

Ten Commandments. So be careful with that. It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast.

This is interesting because whenever people made images and idols, God, first of all, outlawed it, but would in places mock that behavior.

The trial of false gods, Isaiah 40 through 48. Time and again he mocks how these idols that you make, they have to be carried on carts with animals under them in order to move.

They can't speak or reason or know anything. There's one place where it's very funny in Isaiah 44 where he paints the whole picture of the creation of an idol.

He says the craftsman, first of all, grows a tree in the forest. Then he cuts down that tree and he uses some of that wood from that tree to burn and make fires to keep himself warm.

But others he makes a block of wood and then he bows down to his block of wood, not realizing that the same wood that he used here, he used there for the burning because that's all it's fit for is to be burned.

God mocks the making of idols. But he says, here's how you'll know the truth in Isaiah 48 and also earlier in,

I think, Isaiah 41. God is the only one who can foretell the future. His word, he speaks, and then it comes to pass.

And again, here's the large lesson for today. Discernment comes from the word, not from wonders.

It comes not from the experience, whether you're in a big stadium and the emotions of the people are high and you see something that looks to you like a miracle.

That does not validate what comes next. That does not validate the teacher, the slick pastor who just knows how to dress right and knows how to carry a crowd along in his emotional pleadings.

All of that outward appearance could be deception. What matters is what's said.

The word of God is the standard. And what comports to the word of God is trustworthy.

And what only looks exciting or appeals to the ascetic, to the senses, to the emotions, could often be deceiving.

Here, the deception is very strong. That's what's happening. And then finally, verses 16 to 18, the mark of the beast.

It also causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark.

That is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Notice that word name.

That represents the identification of the beast. To take the mark of the beast is a willful identification with the

Antichrist. You don't need to be afraid that maybe some vaccine that you've taken could actually turn out to be some secretly inserted mark of the beast.

Not going to happen. This is not accidental. This is clearly a willful identification with the

Antichrist. We don't need to be afraid of vaccines in that way. However, if the government ever tries to make mandatory a certain vaccine, we have natural rights that come from God, made in the image of God, that we say no to a mandatory thing of such nature.

That's not the issue here. The issue here is there's some kind of mark that's being required.

It's being mandated that people take it, and if they don't, they don't eat. Can't buy or sell without it.

And we saw if they won't also bow down and worship in this place, they're also slain, verse 15.

This calls for wisdom. Wisdom. Christians in our day and age, sadly, are very much lacking in wisdom.

So many teachers, and I guess it's the Internet era, where everybody can watch tons of different teachers, and it's very easy to fall into the teaching of a heretic without even knowing it.

This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Wisdom is not the same thing as genius or intelligence. I've already mentioned earlier a sermon that Isaac Newton was a genius, and yet he spent so much time looking for codes in the

Bible, trying to calculate the number of the beast. He missed the plain meaning of the language of the text.

He didn't have wisdom. That's why he denied the Trinity. Now I think this 666 is a falling short of the perfection of God.

The number of God throughout the book of Revelation, you'll see the number 7 repeats over and over again. It represents

God's completion, His perfection. 6 falls short of that, and as an imitation of 7,

God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The anti -Trinity, which is the context of Revelation 13, the anti -Trinity, the false father,

Satan, the false Christ, the anti -Christ, the false Holy Spirit, the false prophet, 666, falling short of God's perfection.

But nobody can calculate what that number refers to today, and here's why.

Because this is given for those who live at the time of the anti -Christ.

This calls for wisdom. A couple of important points here.

First of all, I just want to say, how do we get wisdom? Number one, it comes from the

Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom. Isaiah 11, 2, the

Spirit of the Lord, who is upon Jesus perfectly. Jesus was the embodiment of all things wise.

He was wisdom personified, as Proverbs also talks about. It's picturing Jesus as wisdom personified.

But in Isaiah 11, 2, the Spirit is upon Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord. He is called the

Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the

Lord. You come to wisdom by the Holy Spirit.

You must first of all be indwelt by the Spirit, be made wise unto salvation. In the language of Paul to Timothy, you must be made wise by receiving the

Holy Spirit and then being filled with the Spirit so that you're not led astray. When we're not filled with the

Spirit, we're susceptible to lies. Very important. Secondly, we must learn to rightly divide the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2, 15. Discernment comes by taking the full counsel of God in context and as it correlates and fits together and understanding what a given teaching is within the context of the

Bible. Rightly dividing the word of truth. And so I say it's very important that we understand the flow of the scriptures and the events to come when it comes to eschatology.

It's not the most important thing to know how each eschatological system fits biblically, but to come to the right thing does matter.

Eschatology matters. Doesn't matter as much as salvation. So if John Piper believes that the rapture will happen simultaneous to the second coming of Christ and John MacArthur believes that the rapture happens prior to the tribulation, both

John MacArthur and John Piper are saved and they believe the Bible completely, but they're interpreting differently at this particular point.

There are different levels of importance when it comes to doctrine. Some primary doctrine affects salvation and so therefore it is the highest order.

And there is some room for disagreement within that second order of doctrine, the secondary things.

But the difference between MacArthur and Piper on this particular point does matter.

To understand how everything flows together makes a difference. Lest you become like Isaac Newton calculating the number of the beast or today you look out at the signs of the times and you conclude that we're in the fifth seal, the breaking of the fifth seal.

Such thinking matters. So why would we say that the rapture happens prior to the tribulation, that the church is caught up to Christ?

Well, there's a number of reasons why MacArthur is right at this point. Answer. Because the book of Thessalonians, 1

Thessalonians, teaches, chapter 1, verse 10, that the church is not appointed to endure wrath.

We're not appointed for wrath. And then in the context of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, we are spared wrath.

So that concept is taught. And then as you get into the seven years of the tribulation, it is called in Revelation 6, the wrath of the

Father and of the Son. I think it's 617. So the period of tribulation is wrath poured out, which the church is not called to endure.

Yes, we're called to endure suffering, but not the wrath of God. Another reason.

I was looking at Mark, chapter 13, verse 27. Go back with me for just a minute.

We're not going to spend long on this point, but I do think it's an important one to come back to from time to time. Mark 13, verse 27.

As you're reading about the signs of the times, we come to the 27th verse, and it says,

And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

And people say, well, if the rapture is happening after the

Antichrist in the tribulation of verses 24 to 26, how can you say that the tribulation follows the rapture?

Well, pay a little bit more close attention to Mark 13, 27.

When he says he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, he does not say that this is the rapture.

In fact, this is simultaneous with the second coming of Christ. This is the second coming of Christ when the

Son of Man appears with power and great glory in the clouds, displaying himself. And notice that the gathering of the elect here is from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

That means that those who dwell with God in heaven, those who have died before his coming, including those who were raptured at the rapture of the church, these would be included.

The rapture itself is not the gathering of those who dwell in heaven, but the calling up of those who remain until his coming.

And notice then that from the fig tree, we are to learn a lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

So also when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near at the very gates.

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Again, his word is the standard. But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the

Son, but only the Father. The teaching here goes on to be on guard and to stay awake.

And the concept that's taught again and again, probably a dozen places in the New Testament, is that the rapture of the church is imminent.

People will be marrying and giving in marriage, just carrying on, doing life as if everything is normal, and then the day of the

Lord. And here's the important teaching, the discernment that is required to understand how this fits together.

The day of the Lord is presented throughout the Old Testament, not as a single day, but as a period of wrath.

Zephaniah presents it this way. It is a period of wrath. So there's coming a day of the

Lord, the day of his vengeance and his wrath on earth. We are in an age of grace, which

I think began even back to Genesis 3 .15, when Adam and Eve were given grace in the

Garden of Eden. They were not physically killed, although they spiritually died. They were covered with an animal skin.

And throughout history, God has been calling people to salvation, restraining evil, and God's grace has offered salvation.

And he still offers salvation in the end, but there's coming a seven -year period that's called the day of the

Lord. No one knows when it's coming, that day or hour. It will be imminent. Now, go back to the book of Revelation, where we are in chapter 13.

There is no possible way to say that imminency can apply to this, because we are located exactly at the 42 -month mark till the end of the world, until Christ sets his foot on the mountain.

We're told it's 42 months, and we're given exact things that will happen.

Chapter 13, verse 5. This beast, the Antichrist, will have authority for precisely 42 months.

If you doubt me, look earlier. It's 1 ,260 days, or a time, times, and half a time.

We know exactly from when the abomination of desolation happens until Christ comes back, we know it to be 42 months.

So how do you reconcile that with Mark 13, that no one knows the day or the hour?

How could it be when the time comes for people to recognize the mark of the beast?

Think about this. They're asking you, and they're not asking, they're telling you, you must take this on your right hand or your forehead.

If not, you die. You'll buy or sell nothing unless you take the mark of the beast. And the number of his identification at that time you see is 666.

Well, here's what you know. You know the day and the hour of the Lord's return. It's 42 months away.

Either you'll die by martyrdom or starvation, or you'll survive till his coming and the gathering of the elect from the four winds and from heaven at the coming of Christ.

Or else you take the mark, which Christians will not do. This calls for wisdom.

And so I say, big picture here, circling it back around, wisdom is being able to correlate all of Scripture into a systematic theology so that all things agree in a system that fits.

And this doctrine of imminency that is repeated over and over throughout the

New Testament, that Christ will come when no one expects it, when everybody's going on as usual, and then the days, like in the days of Noah, the flood strikes them unexpectedly.

That doctrine of imminency only fits if the day of the Lord is the seven -year period and the church is raptured out at the front of that.

And so it completely fits with the full teaching of Scripture, including that we escape wrath.

All that to say, the mark of the beast is coming. There's already technological ability for it to happen right now.

And there's plenty of ways to speculate how that would be brought into fruition.

The Lord's coming is near. He's coming soon. So, believe in Christ.

Trust in Him. Ask Him to give you His precious Holy Spirit. If you've never been born again, come to Christ in faith, believing that Jesus is the

Christ. He's the one who died and rose from the dead. He alone can save you. Now, Christian, you're a believer in Christ.

Grow in your discernment. Make note of Hebrews 5 .14. You have to train the powers of your discernment.

You don't just get that as a spiritual gift, although it is a spiritual gift, 1 Corinthians 12. Some will have a stronger discerning spirit than others, but all

Christians need to train the gift of your discernment. Word over wonders.

Take the Word of God and dive deeply, correlating all passages together over a given topic.

That way you understand and you have wisdom and you will not be deceived. So, let's pray for discernment.

These coming times, which fortunately the church will escape, we will still have to face many deceptive spirits before that day of the

Lord comes. Father, we come to you now and we do ask that you would train, you would help us to train the powers of our discernment.

That we would not be led astray by wonders or by emotions, by appearances, but rather we would be led forth by your

Spirit and by your Word. That we would be worshipers who worship in Spirit and in truth.

So, God, right now we ask that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, help us to love

Christ. Shine that spotlight on Jesus Christ that we would worship

Him and adore Him. Spirit, come and fill us anew and help us and lead us forth.

Lead us in the Scripture that we would know Christ more. And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. There is no more for heaven now to give

He is my joy my righteousness and freedom my steadfast love my deep and boundless peace

To this I hold my hope is only Jesus For my life is wholly bound to His Oh, how strange and divine

I can see All is mine, yet not I but through Christ in me

The night is dark but I am not forsaken

For by my side the Saviour He will stay

I labor on in weakness and rejoicing

For in my need His power is displayed

To this I hold my shepherd will defend me

Through the deepest valley He will lead me

Oh, the night means that I tread the future shore

The price it has been paid For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon

And He was raised to overthrow the grave

To this I hold my sin has been defeated

Jesus now and ever is my plea

Chains are reducing I am free, yet not

I but through Christ in me With every breath

I long to follow Jesus For He has said that He will bring me home

And day by day I know He will

Until I stand with joy before the throne

Only Jesus Shall repeat, yet not

I These words be evermore

When the race is complete Still my lips Shall repeat, yet not

I The race is complete

Still my lips Shall repeat, yet not I But through Christ in me

Yet not I But through Christ in me