The Man of Sin Revealed

We live in very difficult times, brethren. You just have to watch the news and see terrible things on the news. You know, if you look at what's happening in Syria and in Libya, North Africa and Syria and the Middle East, and you see all these disasters and things just being blown up, I mean, I don't know how people can live in those conditions.

It's just so terribly sad. And then we see thousands, hundreds of thousands of immigrants going to Europe, people fleeing. And I think we can all have mixed emotions with that. But if you and I were living in situations like that, I think we'd also be fleeing. So it's just very sad. Regrettably, there are some people with not-so-good intentions mixed amongst those that are fleeing. And they're fleeing into Europe, and probably it's going to cause big, big social and political changes in Europe. I really feel pretty strongly that that would cause some serious things to happen in Europe.

And we'll see things changing in Europe to a point that what is depicted in the book of Revelation as far as the beast power, we'll see that develop out there. That is what, for instance, is the first beast of Revelation 13, where it talks about a beast rising out of the sea. So, in fact, if you just want to turn with me to Revelation 13 briefly, and you may want to keep a marker in Revelation 13, that we're going to go in and out of that section a few times.

So I've got a marker here in my Bible. I'm putting it in there so we can get back to it easily. But in Revelation 13, it talks about a beast that comes out, it says he is rising up out of the sea. So, and between verse 1 through verse 10, it talks about this beast, which is basically a government which we believe it will be situated in Europe.

And the leader of that government, the leader of that government, and we normally refer to that as the beast. And quite often people can get different ideas of what it is or what it isn't. And a good point to start in all these things is in Daniel chapter 2. It's always a good point to start is Daniel chapter 2. Now, in Daniel chapter 2, if you turn there, Daniel chapter 2, you see a large statue. It's a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.

And that is a good, let's call it, overview of the events of the future. Because in Daniel 2, it talks about the statue, and you've read it, you know. And if we just focus, for instance, if we zoom in on verses 31 through 34, you can see it's got basically four parts that are highlighted. One is the head, which is of gold. You can see that in verse 32. And then it's chest and arms of silver. That's the second part.

Then it's bellies and thighs of bronze. And then the fourth part is these legs of iron, which then extend themselves to the actual toes, which is iron and partly clay. So it's got these basic four parts. And then right at the end, there on verse 34, we can see that there is going to be a stone, which was cut without a hand, which represents Jesus Christ coming to earth, establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. So basically, we have these four parts, the head, the chest and the arms, the belly and the thigh, and the legs and the feet.

And the important thing is that it's actually one image, it's one statue. Now, quite often, people come out with ideas of who the beast is, etc., but it's got to fit within this statue, within this body that runs from one to the other. It's got to be of this continuity. And that explanation is then expounded a little bit further in Daniel 7, verses 4-8. And that is basically expounded in Daniel 7 by being referred to four great beasts.

Now, I've given you a little handout, a little sheet, which is a one-pager chart that compares Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 13 and Revelation 17. That helps you to give you a quick glimpse of that.

But basically, in Daniel 7, and if you look at verses 4-8, it talks about the first, which is a lion, and that lion equates to the head of the statue. So, in Daniel 2, you have the head, which is Babylon.

In Daniel 7, you have a lion, which is also Babylon. So, you can see that in that chart I've given you. It equates to that. And then, in verse 5 of Daniel 7, then it says there's another beast, which is a bear, and that basically equates to the chest and the arms, which basically is the Persian Empire. And you've got that in the chart with an explanation on the right-hand side, with dates and things like that, from 558 BC to about 330 BC. And that's historically, you can look at it in various areas. And that was overthrown or overrun by the third part, which in Daniel 2 was the belly and the thighs.

But in Daniel 7, as you can see in verse 6, Daniel 7 verse 6, it says, and another one was a leopard. You know, the speed of Alexander the Great, how he took over, that tisine. And that came out with four divisions, as you know. It came out of four divisions. And that's why it says it has four heads. You know, Alexander the Great died young, and then four of his generals took over, and that was the north, the south, the east, and the west. And basically the east and the west eclipsed, and then it became two, which was the north and the south.

And then that's where it comes the north and the king of the south, from that part. But then the north basically took over the south, and then from there it led to the fourth beast in Daniel 7, which is in verse 7, which is dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong. And that became what is called known in history as the Roman Empire, from about 31 before Christ, till about 476 after Christ. So that became the Roman Empire, which in the Daniel 2 statue is the legs and the legs component, the legs component of that image.

So that was the Roman Empire, which then had a mortal wound, which was basically destroyed, but it became resurrected as the Holy Roman Empire, as you know through history. It became resurrected. So, and that again is described very nicely in that little chart, because it gives you a nice little summary picture of that. And so the fourth beast of Daniel 7, which is this dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong, the Roman Empire, is the fourth part of Daniel 2, verse 33, which is the legs of iron. And then that, in Daniel 7, had 10 horns. Three of the first three were plucked out by the roots, and then there were seven remaining.

And the last seven horns of Daniel 7, the last seven horns, from there onwards, after the first three had been plucked out, that's where Revelation 13 comes in. And you can see that in the chart. Revelation 13 comes from that area, because all the others that already happened prophetically, that's when the meaning of Daniel 13 comes in as that beast, which is that comes out of the sea.

And so in Revelation 13, 1 to 10 represents that beast that comes out of the sea, and you can look at that chart and use your idea. The important thing to remember is that the feet are the same image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, of that same statue, the same legs that come out of those legs. In other words, it's an extension of the Roman Empire to happen, future.

But in Daniel 7 brings out something very interesting. In Daniel 7, verse 8, it says, I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up amongst them, before whom the three first horns were plucked out. So you can see that in the chart, the first three were plucked out.

So this little horn now takes power as these three horns are being plucked out. And there, in this horn, were eyes of a man and a mouth, speaking pompous words. And we can see that immediately after that, we get on to verse 9, which talks about the ancient of days, which is the Father, giving instructions to Christ to come, and an instruction that Jesus Christ then established the kingdom of God on earth.

So it's towards the end that this little horn will be in existence at the time of Christ. Now, who's this little horn, which has eyes of a man and a mouth, speaking pompous words? Because that's what I want to concentrate today, brethren. I want to talk about the man of sin.

In other words, the false prophet. So I don't want to talk about the beast, which is Revelation 13, 1-10. That I just wanted you to put it into a picture of a big picture. But I want to talk about this little horn. That's what I want to talk to you about. So to talk a little bit more about that, let's look at 2nd Thessalonians. So I did ask you to put a marker in Revelation, so keep that in Revelation.

But what I would like you to put a second marker, if you have extra fingers or pieces of paper or markers, is in 2nd Thessalonians. Because we're going to go there, and we'll come back to it at another time. So we'll be in and out of 2nd Thessalonians. Now, in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 1, Now this is Paul writing to the Thessalonians here, and he says, Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning His Second Coming, and our gathering together with Him, it was when we will be resurrected and we'll get together with Him, it says in verse 2, And it was done by the thieves, by somebody forging a letter, saying, that it was from me, or by certain vibes that may come out, or people, or hearsay, or whatever it is, that, yeah, it's already happened, whatever it is.

And indeed, today there are some people saying, well, Christ already came, whatever, years ago. There are some churches that say that. Anyway, it says, So that day will not come until the man of sin is revealed. But also says, unless a falling away comes first. So there will be a falling away, and there will be a man of sin that will be revealed.

So Christ will not come until this is clearly known in the world. Now, the situation that was happening here is, at that time, the church was just starting. So this was, Second Thessalonians, was written round about, run about the years 50, run about the years 50, probably 52.

So about, what, 20 years after Christ had died. So the church was still young, and there was going to be a lot of pressures on the brethren. There's going to be the Roman Empire, and Nero was going to be putting, and going to be attacking Christians. And there's going to be a lot of pressure. And he was saying, don't be shaken. Because there's going to be an apostasy, and there's going to be a man of sin.

Now, people have different ideas of what the apostasy could have been. Some people say, maybe it was the apostasy in the first century. Why? Because the first century, towards the end of the first century, people came into the church, as Paul said, some will come in from amongst yourselves, and there was influences of losticism, and things like that, deviating the church from the truth.

Others say, well, maybe it was the fourth century. Things like the Council of Messia in 325, and the Council of Constantinople in 381, and which created this big religious political war, quote-unquote, against Christians, generally Christians, in the church or not only in the church, but Christians in general. And I think if you look at those two, for instance, you see two types of falling away. You see one which is kind of more internal in the church, losticism inside the church, and another one which was more external, even though it affected the church, but it was happening outside of the church, God's church, I mean, even though it was happening in the Christian church, but not in God's church, it was happening in the general Christian church of the world, and was affecting, creating rules and creating a military war and persecution on God's people. So there was like apostasy at two different levels.

And that might be something interesting to consider, because now at the end time, if you have been in God's church for a number of years, there was an internal apostasy in God's church in 1995, in which, if you look back, about 80%, maybe more, maybe less, well, let's just take a number of 80% of God's people keeping God's holy days and the Sabbath in God's church, left the truth through an apostasy in about 1995. So that was kind of like an internal.

Could there be now an external apostasy, like a parallel that happened in the first century and then on the fourth century, in which maybe there will be a religious ecumenism of joining different churches, like we saw in the news recently, the Pope meeting with another group, forget now the exact name, but you saw in the news like yesterday, meeting with another group, and maybe saying, well, we kind of need to work together, and there is this push towards the churches becoming one, and maybe more of what we call religious syncretism, which means adopting paganism into Christianity and more of that. There's a lot of things we do not know.

We need to keep our eyes open as possibilities. But imagine if, for instance, if there is even an acceptance of moderate-type Islam into the Catholic belief. I mean, they have accepted a lot of things. Why not something else? Why not? So if we see apostasy, we're not too sure to nail exactly which one it is it, but we can see it's coming. Maybe part of it has happened.

Maybe more of it is thought to happen. Exactly how we don't know. But as I said, I want to focus on this second component, which is, you see, as the falling away comes first, that's the apostasy, and the man of sin is revealed. Before, if you want to give a title to the sermon, I'm calling it the man of sin revealed. So I want to look at this little horn that we saw in Daniel 7, the man of sin revealed, and I want to look at seven points about this man.

Seven points. And so let's go back. So keep your marker there in Thessalonians, but let's go back to Daniel 7. Daniel 7. And let's go to verse 8. And I said, I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little horn, coming up amongst them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there in the horn were the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. And I watched till thrones were put in place, and the ancient of days were seated. His garment was white as snow, and the head of his head was like pure wool.

His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels of a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand, thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousands stood before him. You know, it was the angelic realm where thousands of angels were before him, and the court was sealed, and the books were opened. And then continue verses 11 and 12. And I watched then, because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking. So we have this little horn that is now still present, but now as a different being, but part of an existing empire or system, but it is now coming into play right at this time of the end.

And he says, and I watched till the beast was slain. So he's talking about the beast was slain, so this government, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As for the rest of the beasts, they had a dominion taking it away. So these nations' power as rulers ceased to exist, right? Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. But these nations, because they were nations, these physical nations still continue to exist.

And then let's continue in verses 13 and 14. And he says, and I was watching in the night visions in Behold, one like the Son of Man, and it was Jesus Christ. Coming with the clouds of heaven, he, Christ, came to the ancient of the Aphes, that's the Father, and they brought him Christ near before him, near before the Father. And so this is an interesting one that says, there's only two beings, there's no third being. So forget about Trinity. Now this is a real good proof that there's no Trinity, there's no third one there.

And then, to him was given dominion and power and the kingdom. You know, Christ was given dominion by the Father, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is everlasting to him.

Dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. So the kingdom of God will then come to earth and will rule, as we know, and so it's this time frame that we see right at the end. And I, Daniel, verse 15, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my hair troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this. So he said, what is that? I don't understand what's going on. So he told me, and made known to me the interpretation of these things.

He said, those great beasts which are four are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Now, that was a simple answer. In two verses, he explained him everything. And I think that's sometimes the thing I have to learn. Sometimes when people ask me a question, sometimes I give a long answer, and maybe I should just give a simple straight answer, because they're only asking something simple, and that's what was explained to Daniel.

But Daniel, in verse 19, he says, no, no, no, I want to know more. I want to know about this fourth beast. You see, I want to know about this fourth beast. Verse 19, which was different from all the others. As you know, as I reviewed at the moment, that was the Roman Empire and its resurrections that follow, exceeding with wrathful with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devour broken pieces and trample the residue of its feet. And the ten horns, which are on its head, and the other little horn, which came up, the other horn, which came up before which three fell, namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearances were greater than his fellows.

In other words, I want to know a little bit more. And this little horn appears was greater than his fellows. Why? Because he was more robust, as he says in other translations, because he lasted long as the others were kings that came and died and seized. But this little horn continued to exist. Its system continued to live through these ages. Others came and went, but this one was more robust, as some other translations put it. And in verse 21, I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them until the ancient of days came, and the judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High.

So we can see this little horn is in existence right at the end time when the Father sends Christ to earth to actually make a judgment. And the saints then, it was God's people, will then receive God's kingdom. So it's right at the end time. And so we see this little horn, which came to existence well in the middle of runabout 500, 600. You've got the chart with you. You can see where it started. And 1700 years later, which is where we are now today, is still robust, is still in existence, and will be in existence at the time of Christ's return.

Now, there's one interesting point here in verse 21, as it says, I was watching, and the same horn was making a war against the saints and prevailing against them, and prevailing against them, which means He's willing. He's going to win. Or not going to win ultimately, but He's going to be on a winning streak, let's put it that way. He's going to be prevailing. Daniel 12 talks a little bit about that as well. Let's look at that very briefly. Daniel 12. In Daniel 12, let's just look at the context here very briefly. Michael now is the time that he stands up to fight for God's people. And then in verse 4, he talks about, Daniel, you don't understand these things, seal the book, because at the time of the end, when many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase, that's when things will start to be understood a little bit better.

So it's saying it towards the time of the end. But look at verse 7. Then it talks about two men there, clothed in linen, and then it says, Then I heard a man clothed in linen who was before the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it will be for the time, times, and oftentimes, and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. So we saw a little earlier that he's prevailing against the saints. To the point that it says, the power of the holy people has been completely shattered.

Now this is a frightening prophecy, brethren, because who's the holy people? And it says, the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. Now you could look at it, and it's always good to look at it physically and spiritually. If you look at spiritually, you say, the holy people are God's saints, are God's church, whatever they are, throughout the world, not talking about organizations, talking about God's people. Spiritual people. Those that have God's only spirit. That's spiritually speaking. So, spiritually speaking means that whatever work is being done, it will be stopped. Now, as we already talked about, there will be a drought of hearing the word of the Lord. It says, the power of the holy people has been completely, it doesn't say partially, it's completely shattered. So, brethren, we have an opportunity now to do God's work. There's going to be a day that we will not be able to do it. But that's looking at spiritually. Now, if we look at, physically speaking, who are God's holy people? It's Israel. Now, who is Israel? Now, a lot of people think today, oh well, it's the nation of Israel in Palestine. But that's only, let's call it three tribes, and a part of those three tribes. Israel is twelve tribes. Well, thirteen, maybe, if you count the divides as well into that, so it depends on your count. So, Israel is more, and we need to understand who are the other people. We in the Church, we believe that part of we, the English-speaking nations, by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other nations, and not only the English-speaking nations, but other nations are part of Israel. And so it says, the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. So if you look at it physically, it means the power of our nation will be completely shattered. That is also frightening, brethren. That is also frightening.

So, we're looking at a time, and we saw in Daniel 7, that you'll make war against the saints, and it was prevailing. It was prevailing up to a point that it says, yeah, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. Then Christ's going to intervene. So, it is frightening. So now, let's go back to 2 Thessalonians. So if you put a marker there, 2 Thessalonians, in Chapter 2, we read, the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So here is the first point indicator. There is a man that will sit as God sits in the temple of God. Now, a lot of people think, well, maybe that is a proof that a temple's got to be built. But again, it depends where you put the comma. It depends where you put the comma.

Now, if you read it this way, let me get back to it. It says, So then he sits as God in the temple of God. So then he sits as God in the temple of God. It depends where you put the pause. So if you put the pause that he sits as God in the temple of God, which means God sits in the temple of God, so he sits like God does. If you read it that way, it does not mean that a temple has to be built, because he sits as God does in the temple of God, showing himself that he's God. So it could be, if you read it that way, and again, I am not saying this is for sure, I'm just saying, you have to open up your mind that this could be a possibility. If that is the case, it could be sitting in a pagan temple, claiming that it is the temple of God, and that he's sitting there as God sits. Now, there's a lot of write-up and speculation about where the temple is. One of the best books about it, very conclusive evidence, is this one, The Quest, which has got a lot of historical research and pictures and archaeological studies. It shows, very conclusive, by working with excavations, where the different walls and doors, etc. are, that area, the perimeter. Therefore, it comes to the conclusion that it's that area, and it narrows it down, that where the temple was exactly is where the dome of the rock is. I know some people have other speculation, other things, but this is a very factual, thoroughly researched exposition. And so, it says here that he sits in the temple of God. If we look at it from a perspective of the New Testament, right? Let's look at it from a perspective of the New Testament. Who is, or who are, the temple of God today?

Who is, or who are, the true temple of God today? Look at me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And look in verse 16 and 17. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16 verse 17. Do you not know that you, as Christians, are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? So, in today's era, in the New Testament, where is the temple of God? In us. And God's Spirit dwells in us. And do you not know, verse 17, and if anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. So, you and I have to make sure that we don't defile this temple. And we had a very good sermon there talking about the ladders and making sure that those steps of virtue, and we've got to make sure that we look after ourselves, what's inside us, our thoughts, how we control, how we grow, how we grow in love and concern for one another. He says, and we must make sure we don't destroy, we don't dirty, we don't corrupt the temple of God, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are! So how would this false prophet get inside each one of us? In the New Testament, you and I are the temple of God. So, therefore, sit as God in the temple of God, could therefore be an existing pagan temple, in the location where the temple of God was.

And so, he does not need to build any temple, it's there already. He just has to go there, and through syncretism or whatever he is, through this ecumenism or whatever he is, bring in this moderate groups, and put it all into one, because it says it received the whole world!

So, we need to keep that as an open possibility. The point is, it will be a man that will sit as God sits, and he calls that the temple of God. And so, we've got to keep our minds open to events developing in the world, and we'll see how it develops. But we've got to keep the minds open towards that. If we go back to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, right at the end it says, Showing himself that he is God. So, this man will claim that he is God. Like, he claims today he is the Vicar of Christ. And Christ is God. And you know, many Antichrists will come. And, yeah, there are many people that are denying Jesus through their actions, through whatever it is, but it talks about the Antichrist is coming. That is in 1 John chapter 2, just to give you a reference, and to look at it very briefly. 1 John chapter 2, verse 18. 1 John chapter 2, verse 18. Little brethren, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, that the antichrist is coming. The Antichrist. So, there's going to be this individual that will be there at the time when Christ comes back, claiming that he is God. Even now, many Antichrists have come. And even now, many people that deny the true Christ, through their actions, through whatever they do, already exist, by which we know that this is the last hour. So, we know that we are in the end days. And look at it also in verse 22. Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? There are many people that deny Christ. Some, out blatantly, outrightly deny Him. Others, deny Him by their actions. Give Christ a bad name, for instance. They call themselves Christians, but they don't behave like Christ would behave. And therefore, they deny Him the true Christ. So, there is an ambit of possibilities there about being Antichrist. But in verse 19 it says, THE Antichrist. That's a specific individual that is coming. Now, let's now continue reading about this Man of Sin in Revelation 13. In Revelation 13, as I mentioned from verse 1 through verse 10, talks about the first beast. And you've got in the chart there that I gave you that first beast, which has got various heads. And this beast, in verse 1, says, rising out of the sea. So, this leader, even though it's a beast right at the time of the end, it rises out of the sea. What does that mean? The sea of Gentile nations. The sea of turmoil. There is a revolution. There is social disorder. And through the social disorder, some leader comes up and says, I have this bright idea. Follow me and I will sort all these problems. He's not talking about a dictatorship. He's talking about a people are not talking about a democracy, but it's talking about a dictatorship. A dictator will come up out of this turmoil, like the waves of the sea in turmoil and causing. So, a leader will emerge out of the sea. And Satan will give this leader, you can read at the end of verse 2 of chapter 13 of Revelation, the dragon gave him this leader, his power, his throne, and great authority. So, this leader, which is the beast, the beast power, which will be a leader, and let's call it a government, will have from Satan power, political position, that's a from, political position, and authority. It was a military governing power will have authority to do this. And then it goes on. This will appear in the whole scene. And then at the end of that section of this beast, in verse 10, it says, right at the end of verse 10, it says, Yah is the patience and the faith of the saints. In other words, in the initial days of this beast coming to power. So, it implies, yeah, that this beast will appear first, and then the second beast that comes in 11 will appear afterwards.

Obviously, it really exists, but it will appear and will become more prominent and more visible as the man of sin. And so, during those initial days of the first beast between verse 1 to 10, the saints need to have patience and faith, and need to hold on. Then, in verse 11, then the second beast comes on. It says, then I saw another beast coming out of the earth. Coming out of the earth.

That is very significant as well, because why out of the earth? Because it already exists. The system has been in existence. This religious system has been in existence. It's already on earth. But now a leader emerges in this system.

And then he continues, then he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.

So, it appears quite innocent, like a lamb, in fact, like a false Christ, a Christian. But it spoke like a dragon. What comes out of his mouth is from Satan. It's demonic. It's not godly.

And so, we have seen two points so far. A man who sits in the temple of God and he cleanses God, but he's from Satan.

And look at it then, in verse 12. And he says, and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who are dwelling there to worship the first beast. So, he exercises all the dictatorial power of this beast that is already existing, which has already came onto the world scene. Now this new false prophet has emerged and he exercises the power in his presence. So, the two work together.

For what purpose? For what purpose? He says, yeah, to worship the first beast. In other words, listen to what this government power says. Follow this government power. Why? Why is it doing that? To persecute God's people. To completely and utterly destroy them. That's what it is. And then let's continue in verse 13. Then he says, oh, sorry, we were reading 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, whose deadly wound was healed. So, it was this beast that is now resurrected. That is a resurrected Roman Empire. In other words, around Europe. And verse 13, he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of a man. So, he's a miracle worker. I mean, he makes miracles. He makes fire. He makes wonders. And people say, wow, what is this?

And verse 14, and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he is granted to do in the sight of the beast.

So, he does these miracles, for what reason? To deceive mankind. Now, you have this very powerful military power around the world. You have then this false religious system, which has already been in existence, but now has a leader which is revitalized and emerges as everybody paying attention to him and doing miracles. So, when he does miracles, everybody says, wow! Imagine some of these statues that exist out there, start talking and whatever, and tears coming out of their eyes. Imagine what people will do. So, people will just follow it.

How many people will he deceive? Now, turn with me briefly just a few pages, a page back, or maybe on the same page a little bit back, on Revelation 12, verse 9. And he says, so the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil, who deceives the whole world.

Now, he says he deceives the whole world. Now, let me ask you a question. What percentage of the world is the whole world? Do you think it's 5%? Do you think it's 10%? Is that the whole world? Do you think it's 50%? Do you think it's 90%? Or do you think it's 100%? The whole world is probably a lot nearer to 100% than to 10%. Now, there will be some that will not be deceived. But, you know, it's easy for us to say, oh well, all these religions cannot be wrong. We'll be asking something. Can they all be right?

They all right! They all will only be one! Right? They all can't all be right. So, he deceives the whole world. How? Through miracles. Now, just because somebody does miracles, or somebody prophesies and it comes to happen, does that mean he's from God?

Turn with me to Deuteronomy 13. Deuteronomy 13. Keep your finger there, or a marker on Revelation 13. But Deuteronomy 13. If there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, he says, this is going to happen, and it happens! Of which he spoke to you, saying... So, he says, well, this is going to happen. Therefore, follow me! Let us go after the gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them. Verse 3, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Basically, what it's saying is, think about it, demons can perform miracles.

That's right. If God allows them, they can perform supernatural things beyond the physical. But that is a test, says Yah. A testing you to know whether you love God or not. So, we get down to the point is, do you really love God? Do you have the love for the truth or not? So, going back to 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 9, says, Yah, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. So, he's going to come with power and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception. Why? To deceive. He is going to deceive the whole world. The whole world is already deceived. And he's going to deceive it even more. With all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth. That is such a powerful question. You and I, brethren, need to love God's truth and apply it and practice it in our lives. It even says in Matthew and in others that many Christians will be deceived. Many true Christians will be deceived. There will be many false prophets and will deceive many.

So, this man of sin will perform miracles to deceive. That's the fourth point. The fifth point is now let's go back to Revelation 13. In verse 14 it says, and he seems by the signs, etc. And then he says at the latter part of verse 14, telling those who dwell on earth to make an image of the beast.

To make an image of the beast who is wounded by the sword and lift. And verse 15, and 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. What is the image of the beast? So, what is the beast? The beast is this government. It's this power. It's this, sure it's a leader, but it's this authority power, this government.

So, what is an image? It's like a photocopy. It's a replica. So, what is a replica of that government? So, this religious system is going to have a government in it. Let's call it like the papacy, the Pope and that whole government papacy. It's got, it's an image, it's a photocopy of that government, Roman government. And it says, if you don't follow that, if you don't follow that leadership, that government, you'll be killed.

And it will give breath to it. It says, yeah, and grandpa, to give breath. In other words, it will give authority to it. It will have authority, it will have power to do it. And if people don't worship that religious authority, that powerful religious church authority, which will be replicated throughout the world, because you'll make images in different countries of the beast. It will replicate that government to be worshipped or else. And so, that is the fifth point of that man of sin. The sixth point, let's read the art in Revelation 13, 16 through 17. And it says, and it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. A mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.

For one, a mark is forced. It's not voluntary. So it will be forced. And it says, a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. And that no man may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the mark.

So, we'll go on to the others, the name and the number in a moment. But the mark, it will be on the right hand or on the forehead.

Look at the ethronomy 11. Look at the ethronomy 11.

And look at the etheronomy 11.

Read verse 13, just a few verses here. Verse 13. And it shall be that if you earnestly obey my commandments, which I command you today to love the Lord your God and serving with all your heart and soul. So, let's talk about obedience to God's laws. And then look at it a little lighter, a little down towards verse 16. Take it yourselves lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods. And look at verse 18.

And you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand. And they shall be as frontless between your eyes. So God's laws, God's commandments are to be a sign in our hand and in our minds. Because it affects our hands, how we work, and our minds, how we think.

And it's a sign. A sign is voluntary. A mark is forced.

So God's laws, in other words, we are to follow God's instructions, are a sign on our hand and between our eyes. And then if you look at Exodus 31, Exodus 31, and brethren, there are others, but I'm just showing you two examples here. But Exodus 31, Exodus 31, verse 13 through 15. Exodus 31, verse 15 through 15. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, surely my Sabbath, that's plural. It's not just the weekly Sabbath, but it's the Sabbath. It says, my Sabbath, you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you, throughout the generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies us. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore for it is holy for you. Everyone that profines it shall surely be put to death. And whoever does work on it, on that person, shall be cut off from our people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, shall surely be put to death. So, yeah, we have a sign. We've seen God's commandments as a sign. We've seen the sign is in the hand and in the mind. And the Sabbath is that sign because it's the day you work or not work. So, you've got to work for six days on the Sabbath of rest. So, that's a sign. And that affects how you work. And that affects your mind and you think, I'm going to keep the Sabbath. I'm going to prepare for the Sabbath. I've got a preparation for the Sabbath. And all these things affect your mind and your thinking and your work.

A mark is forced. So, if... and you can read in history. Sunday observance has been forced in the past. And many people have died because they kept the Sabbath.

And what it says here is that this mark of the beast will be reinforced again. Now, you and I know that some people have difficulties in getting jobs because of the Sabbath. And we live in a country where there is religious freedom. Imagine, when the power is completely shattered, that democratic power is removed.

That means that, quote-unquote, constitution will be gone.

And it says, thou shall work on Saturday and rest on Sunday.

Or else... It happened before. It can happen again. So, the mark of the beast also affects work. In other words, the mark of the beast is observing Sunday.

Some people think it's a chip.

Now, a chip could be the method or a way to enforce that. But, I don't see they doing whatever, seven billion people putting them a chip in their hands, and they're seven billion people doing that. But it could be a method that will be enforced. A lot of method is, wow, all you need is something that you need to go to the bank and it's already got a chip. And if you're not working, you're not putting any money in there, and you can't buy anything. So, they can't control them anyway, say, well, you can only buy things at the supermarket if you have a credit card, or whatever it is, a debit card, or whatever it is. It's not a chip. But is the chip itself the mark of the beast? No. If that... if it's going to be a chip, that will be used to implement the market. It's not going to be a chip, it's going to be a chip. And if you try not to have a chip, but it's still a chip Sunday, you think that you don't have the mark of the beast, you're deceived, but you still have the mark of the beast. And there's another deception. So think about that. So let's go back to Revelation 13, and then it says, in verse 16, it says, He calls us all, both small and great, rich and poor. So it will be everybody, whether you rich or poor, everybody, free or slave, to receive a mark. So everyone will affect everybody that they'll have this mark, in other words, keeping Sunday on their right hand and on their foreheads. 17, that no one may buy or sell, except one who has the mark of the beast. The mark, why? Because if you don't have a job, you don't have money, if you don't have money, you can't buy or sell. That's simple.

Or the name of the beast. What is the name? It's the name of that religion that you say, I am, I belong to this religion. I've got this name, and therefore you believe in this religion and you support it. This Roman church. Or it has a number. And many people have come out with things about the number, so I don't want to waste time on that. The number 666, there's many explanations. In our booklet, The Book of Revelation, unveiled at last, that it's a good study guide about the Book of Revelation. There on page 51 uses one example of 666, but there could be others and you could have others. But they all point to the same thing to the Roman Empire. And so it points to this Roman group or entity. So what we see is a newly reconstituted Europe. That is part of that statue. That's the beast. And then there is a false prophet or another beast, a religious leader, a man of sin, that will support or back up that. And that has happened before in history, so it's just a revival of that old system to happen.

Now, there's a little bit more explanation about this beast in Revelation 17. And that means the seventh point that I want to share with you, Revelation 17. And that is that it's a woman that rides the beast.

You see, Revelation 17 continues with additional information about this false religion.

And in verse 1 and 2 shows that it's committed fornication. And as you know, fornication, it's religious idolatry. That's what it is. It's a religious idolatry. And so, this woman has historically had idolatry, has idols. Wherever you go into this woman's organization, into their buildings, there's idols everywhere. They there. So, and this is interesting.

Because idol does not just mean idolatry, does not just mean idols. Idolatry or religious idolatry means think about in a marriage. Think about in a marriage. When you are faithful to one's spouse, you're not committing adultery, right? But when you are unfaithful to your spouse, you're committing adultery or fornication, which the word is porneia, which is all expanding, all type of religious, immoral behavior. So, it's not just people that are not married. It means the original Greek word is porneia, which means all form of immorality of a sexual nature. So, when you're breaking that commandment of adultery, it means that you do not have that one-on-one relationship with your spouse, but you have with others. So, religious idolatry or religious fornication is not just having with God, but with other gods. And what is that? That's what they call syncretism. That's what they call mixing God with pagan gods. Do we have that today? We have it everywhere. We have it everywhere. If you believe in God, then you'll get Christmas. You're mixing true God with paganism, full stop, and Lent, and many other things. So, it's there today. It says, committed fornication there. It says, committed fornication there. It says in verse 2. And look in verse 3, Revelation 17.

So, yeah, we have a new doctoral chart. It does a comparison. It helps you to compare that. So, I'm not going into that. But this woman, a woman in the Bible represents a church having this religious idolatry or fornication, and full of names or blasphemy. It was speaking that he is just God. You know, he's speaking, having all this. So, that's this woman. And who's this woman? It's a church. Look at it in verse 4. The woman was a raven purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. So, it's a very wealthy church. Very wealthy church. So, that gives you a clue to look for a very wealthy church, which is of Roman background, which has an image of that Roman government. That's not a clue. And there's another clue. If you just look, keep there on verse 17, and you go to Revelation 18 verse 16. Revelation 18 verse 16. It says, in saying, "'Alas, alas, that great city, there was clothing, fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones.'" So, yeah, it's talking about the same dress code. Think about it. The same dress code, which is scarlet, and linen, fine purple, and gold, and precious stones, and pearls. But it's talking about a city. So, this government was establishing a city. Rome. Rome. And this religion comes from this city. Rome. So, if that's not a clue, I don't know what other clues we need. Who is this woman that rides the beast? Let's continue, Danny, in verse 5. It says, "'And on her forehead was a name, Mystery Babylon the Great.'" It's not Babylon, but it's Mystery Babylon. It was the mystery of the Babylon the Great. In other words, the Babylonian Mystery Religion, which has been syncretized into Christianity. The Babylonian Mystery Religion that has been syncretized or mixed into Christianity. So, we have Christianity with this pagan Babylonian Mystery Religion mixed into a big hodgepodge. Deceiving the whole world, as we saw. The whole world. It's not 10%, 20%. The whole world. And then it says, "'Mother of Holids.'" In other words, many other churches have spawned out of her. And you know, Protestant Reformation, many churches spawned out of her.

So, what do we have? We have a religion that has roots in Babylon itself. Now, think about, who was Babylon? Go back to the statue of Daniel 2. Who was Babylon? Who was the head?

Was that lion of Daniel 7? So, it was the religion of the Chaldean Empire. That religion has been then brought back from old ages, mixed with Christianity, and started a new religion which now exists, and has existed for many years.

And has spawned many other religions. And look at Kantinia in verse 6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. And brethren, you just have to look at historical records to identify which great church, through the Middle Ages, has caused many thousands of people to be killed. For the name of Christ.

So, this church has martyred many followers of Jesus Christ. This church is governed by the man of sin. And history will repeat itself.

Look at verse 7. Then the angel said to me, Why'd you marvel? I'll tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten arms. So, this woman reigns over the beast. You know what she writes? She reigns. She's got a religious control over the beast. This church rules and has ruled in the past this Roman Empire for many generations, since 554 AD. And the beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottom of the speck. You know what? It will be resurrected again.

And go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel. The wolf will just go after it and will follow it like. It's a beautiful piece of cake or whatever. It will just go for it. You just follow it. Will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Verse 9, And he has the mind, which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. So, I've given you the chart. You can go through that. These are seven kings. Five have fallen. So, five were the Holy Roman Empire that had fallen. One is, the word is, is the time when the Church of God understood this prophecy. At that time, during the period of the Second World War, the Church of God at that time understood the meaning of this prophecy. And there it was clear. He says, Ha! One is now, during the time of Hitler and Mussolini. And the other has not yet come. So, there is the other final resurrection which is still to come. And when it comes, you must continue for a short time, or it will be a very short period of time. Verse 11, And the beast that was and is not, he is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh, and is going to perdition. He is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh. What do you mean?

Which kingdom was governed by the Babylonian religion? Before Rome. Because the seventh was this Rome. Which kingdom was governed by the Babylonian religion?

Yes, governed by this religion before the Holy Roman Empire.

The Babylonian religion was Babylon, was a Chaldean Empire. And it's the same statue. It's that head of the head that's the lion of Daniel 7, or the head of Daniel 2.

You see, that religious system which was Babylon, was dressed up with Christianity, and was restored in 554 by Justinian's Imperial Restoration. And governed the five heads of the Holy Roman Empire, governed the sixth head of the Mussolini Gaitler rule, and will govern the seventh head, which will be the final beast still to come. So it's also the eighth, this beast, but it's of the seventh. So it arrives, the seven heads of the beast, but it also rode Babylon itself, the Chaldean Empire. So it's the eighth government, the eighth government, that this false religious system has commandeered. Continue Daniel, verse 12. The ten horns which you saw are the ten kings which you receive, which we have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. In other words, those are the ten toes of the statue. And again, on your chart there describes the ten toes of the statue of Daniel 2. And those will be there at the time of Christ, will be destroyed by that stone that will come. And then in verse 16 it says, and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the holleth and will make a desert and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Right at the end, just before Christ comes, right at the end, these kings will get tired of this woman and they'll say, Why are we doing the dirty work for you? And they'll hate it. And they will ransom its riches, because maybe they need the money for other things. And therefore, continuing in chapter 18, verse 1 and 2, it says, After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily, with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen. Is fallen. Is fallen. During the time of the Chaldean Empire, this Babylon religion, it fell down. This Babylon religion will then fall down again. He's fallen. He's fallen. It has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hatred. So this religious system will fall again. So we've seen seven identifying signs of who's this man of sin, a man who will sit as God, sits in the temple of God, claims that he's God, number two. Number three, he gets support from the beast. They work together. They appear together. They work together. Number four, he performs miracles to deceive. Number five, he has an image. He's an image of the beast. He has a parallel government, similar to the beast's governmental structure. Number six, he enforces the mark, the name, and the number of the beast. And number seven, it's a religious system that rides, that commandeers, this political system. And so to conclude, let's read 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 9. And it says, The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. So this man of sin is under the working of the Satan, with all powers, fines, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they do not receive the love of the truth. Brethren, do we receive the love of the truth? If we love the truth, we will not be deceived. We have to love the truth, because that's our anchor. Beloved true Christ, that's our anchor. And then reading verse 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast. Stand fast, and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. Hold on to the truth that God has given us through His word and through His ministry. Let's all hold on to it. And then in verse 16. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God the Father, who has loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, may He comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and working.

Thank you.