Darkness To Light
Ep 21 - The Anti-Christ
(soft music) - Hi there, welcome to this week's message from Darkness to Light. We hope that you enjoy the message and will join us each week for an inspiring devotional. And now here's Troy Holden with this week's message. - Here is what many people don't know about the harsh truth of the tribulation period. The antichrist will be a satanically driven human. He is the beast and he will be blasphemous and he will have opposition to God in the practice of Christianity. But the unfortunate reality is that many people, more people than you can imagine, will end up following the antichrist. And here's why. Fear. You see, one school of thought among biblical scholars and academics that think that the world is heading into a direction where there'll be a global leader who'll introduce a one-world currency, health organization and even a military system, all of the ingredients to suggest a unified world government. Well, the Bible does not use the terms one-world currency or one-world government. However, let's take a look at what the Bible does say. Revelation 13, verse 15 to 18. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so that the image could speak and cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people great and small, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or their forehead so they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. Verse 15 tells us that all who refuse to worship the image of the beast would be killed. Let's think about some hypothetical scenarios to answer the question. How will it be known that someone has refused to worship the image of the beast? Now, this isn't in the Bible, but this is how I imagine the Antichrist will opt to govern. I believe that he will have people in communities, villages, towns and cities. And these people will monitor and report anyone who refuses to conform to the leadership of the Antichrist. The Bible simply says the beast will cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed. Now, it could be known that someone refuses to worship because the Antichrist will require some type of public demonstration of allegiance to him. And refusal to do this would be the death penalty. And you have to remember that at this point in time, the devil thinks he's taken center stage. He wants the attention. He wants the praise. He wants to be worshiped, so anyone who dares to refuse will be punished severely. Now, to enforce something like this, this would probably mean that there's a law or some type of physical, perhaps military level enforcement. Whatever the case may be, the Bible tells us that there will be a heavy price to pay for those who refuse to worship the beast. Furthermore, the Antichrist will force all people to receive a mark on their right hands or forehead if they want to buy or sell. Think about what we're being told here. Whatever the mark is, whether it's a small electronic chip or something else, it now replaces physical money and we're now in the realm of a one-world monetary system, a full-fledged, cashless society. Now, a lot of people underestimate how severe this regime is. If you're left behind and if you take the mark of the beast, you've literally pledged your allegiance to the devil. And people may think, well, I'll refuse. I'll find somewhere to hide for the rest of my days, but this won't be possible because you'll literally be unable to pay your bills, fill up the gas in your car or do anything that requires a transaction. You won't be able to do any of that without the mark of the beast. And if you refuse it, then you will have to pay with your life. Now, the second reason why many people will fall for the beast system is because of deception. And here's why. Revelation, chapter 13, verse 13 and 14 says, "It performs great signs, "even making fire come down from heaven to earth "in front of people. "And by the signs that it is allowed to work "in the presence of the beast, "it deceives those who dwell on earth, "telling them to make an image for the beast "that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. "The antichrist will be able to perform "sattanic signs and wonders, "and I firmly believe that God will allow the devil "to perform extraordinary signs and wonder "as a way of testing people." Imagine how many people will be amazed at the sight of someone making fire come down from heaven to earth. How many people would be in awe of this antichrist because of signs and wonders? You see, the Bible tells us to test the spirits because not every miraculous sign or wonder is for the glory of God. The devil knows that people love to see amazing signs and wonders. And so what better way to get the adoration of the masses than to show them a few flashy tricks? This is why we as believers should never run and celebrate every single miraculous sign we see, but instead we should be discerning. The devil can imitate to deceive, and the Bible clearly tells us that the antichrist will have the ability to perform amazing signs and wonders. Now the devil has a track record of performing deceptive signs and wonders. If you'll remember in the book of Exodus, Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials and it became a serpent. Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents. But then Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. These are signs and wonders. So ask yourself, are you easily swayed by the miraculous? Will you clap your hands and rejoice at the sight of miracles or will you stop and pray for discernment? Will you stop and study to see who's actually getting glory from the sign or wonder? Is it to the glory of God or to the glory of the performer? Test the spirits. In Acts, chapter eight, we're told a story. There was a man named Simon who'd previously practiced magic in the city, and he amazed the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great. This man became the talk of the town and everyone paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying this man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time, he had amazed them with his magic. The Bible is clear that he practiced magic. He was an unbeliever. But when they heard a real man of God preach, everything changed. As Philip preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, people in that city were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. In this story, it's clear that before people had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and repented, people saw the magic tricks. People saw the signs and wonders from this man called Simon, and they were mystified and dazzled with his magic. But for all of his tricks, for all of his magic, there was no Jesus being preached. There was no Jesus being given glory and honor, yet people still thought he was a man of God. Do you see why there's such a need for discernment? Do you see why we should never simply associate God with signs and wonders? The devil can perform signs and wonders too. Because 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 9, the Bible tells us, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. In the last days, the Antichrist will perform lying wonders. False prophets will perform lying wonders. I'd like to say, although the Antichrist is yet to be revealed, the devil's already at work. He's at work trying to lead us away from God. But if we are to succeed against the devil, we have to know the word of God. We have to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. If we are to overcome him, we are to pray without ceasing. If we are to succeed in our lives as believers, we must resist the devil and his temptations. The book of James puts it this way. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." If we are to abide under the shadow of the Almighty God, then the devil will have no place in our lives, and he's defeated. The enemy has no power, no hold over us as blood-washed children of God. This has been your weekly message from Darkness to Light. Thanks again for joining us today. [BLANK_AUDIO]