Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Announcer: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Could conditions get so bad that the world would cry out for a dictator to set things right? You bet. His name: the Antichrist. This coming world ruler will utter words of peace, but do deeds of war. Only the glorious physical return of Christ will stop his reign of terror.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Erwin Lutzer is in a series on Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Today we turn to Daniel chapter 7 for sign number three: the rise of a world dictator and the description of the fourth empire out of which he will come.

Erwin Lutzer: He will emerge from the 10-nation confederacy, which I believe is going to be the revived Roman Empire, and he will emerge speaking words of peace. He'll be a peace candidate. We know this because in the next chapter Daniel predicts Antiochus Epiphanes coming, and Antiochus actually prefigures Antichrist as well, and it says through peace he shall destroy many. Or another translation says while people are at ease, he will destroy them.

He's going to be a peace candidate. I believe that Antichrist is going to sign a covenant with Israel that will be a peace covenant. Israel is weary with war. It is tired of the battles and its hassles. And so you could imagine a tremendous power developing in Europe and a man arising who is beginning to have authority over all of the other kingdoms and the countries of Europe, and he is the one who can guarantee the security of Israel. He can guarantee the fact that if there is war, this European Union will stick up with Israel and finally impose some kind of a peace on the Middle East, which has been so racked by war and terrorism throughout these many, many decades.

So he's going to begin with peace. I can't imagine that he's going to begin talking about war. And so the doves of peace will fly, and the whole idea will be that now that there is going to be a union, we can finally come together and we can solve our problems. That's step number one. He emerges from the 10-nation confederacy speaking words of peace.

Second step in his career: he will become an enemy of the Jews, an enemy of the Jews. Take your Bibles now and turn to Daniel chapter 9, and you understand once again that we cannot go into the context and discuss every single verse. But in Daniel chapter 9, it talks about the covenant that he makes and breaks in verse 27. He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. Some Bibles say for a week, because in Hebrew the word week is seven. It really means for seven years.

In the middle of the seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. I take it that by that time, you will have a temple in Jerusalem and sacrifices will be offered and he will be there and he will come and proclaim himself to be God, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

What is that abomination that causes desolation? I believe it is the image that he puts up there, expecting all of the Jews now to bow down and to worship this image, to break the first commandment with himself being declared to be God. And so he's going to turn against the Jews. In the book of Revelation, it talks about the fact that unless God were to hide Israel in the desert, symbolically speaking, all of the Jews would be destroyed because the same hatred that Hitler had, the same desire to exterminate the Jewish people as has existed from time to time throughout the last seasons of history, would finally be culminated in a man who hates the Jews and desires their destruction. He will become an enemy of the Jews.

Thirdly, he will begin worldwide worship, worldwide worship. For this, take your Bible now and turn to Revelation chapter 13, Revelation chapter 13. I believe that God gave to John a vision that again recapitulates some of the same information that Daniel received, but here we have an interesting story, an interesting vision as to how the Antichrist is going to do his work.

It says that John saw a beast coming out of the sea. And essentially this beast has similarities to Daniel's beast. In fact, the animals are even the same, even though they are in a different order because Daniel is looking at them as future and it's as if John is looking at them in the past. But you'll notice that it says, "But he had the feet of a bear, the mouth of a lion." I'm reading now in verse 2: "The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

I need to pause here and say a few things. It has always been the devil's intention to duplicate the work of Jesus, to mimic God. Of course, you know that when Lucifer fell, he fell because he said, "I will be like the Most High." Well, in what sense can he be like the Most High? Not in the sense that he is omnipotent and omnipresent. He knows that he cannot be like God in that regard, but he said, "I want to be like God in this: that I will be independent and make my own rules." But of course, the universe cannot handle two Gods.

And so what the devil would like to do is to duplicate the religion that is found in the Scriptures and in so duplicating it, so that he can dupe people to believe that he is the true God. He is the one who is supposed to be worshipped. That's the agenda. Now think this through. If that's what the devil wants to do, it only makes sense that he would have a Trinity just like there is the Trinity that God has: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

What you find in Revelation 13 now is a Trinity as well. Let's look at the text. Let's find the three personalities that try to take over at the end of time. I already read it there a moment ago in verse 2, the last part of the verse: "The dragon gave the beast his power." There's two of them. The dragon is the devil. He is the one who is also worshipped here as we shall see in a moment. And he gives power to the beast. The beast is Antichrist.

And you'll notice it says, verse 3, "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed." I don't think it's supposition to suggest that what's really happening here is Antichrist would like to duplicate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so it appears as if he's been killed. In fact, later on it talks about the wound that was made with the sword. It looks as if he's dead and lo and behold, the whole world wanders after this and is concerned about it and is astonished because this person who appeared to be dead is raised again.

You'll notice it says, "The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast and they also worshipped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast and who can make war against him?'" And they worship both the father, as it were, the dragon which is Satan, and they worship the Antichrist who stands in the place of Jesus. They worship both of them, just like we worship God the Father and we worship God the Son. In the very same way, people worship this unholy Trinity.

Now notice in verse 5: "The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies to exercise his authority for 42 months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. Wow. And all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, all those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."

Awesome. The worship during that period of time is so important that that's why the next message that I preach is going to be simply on end-time religion and the kind of religion that will operate during that period of time. It's too important to simply deal with in passing. But I want you to notice that the authority of the beast is absolutely overwhelming and all worship him.

Now I believe that there will be saints during the tribulation period because they will be converted sovereignly by God and the everlasting gospel will be preached and so forth. And that's why you have saints that appear here, even though many of us think that we ourselves are going to be snatched away and already in heaven. But I want you to notice the authority that he has, men and women throughout the whole world worshipping him. Finally at last, the religions of the world will be unified, except that there are some, God's people, who do not worship the beast. And as a result of that, as we shall see in a moment, they are in terrible, terrible difficulty.

Now we've talked about the dragon, who corresponds to God the Father. We've spoken about the beast, the Antichrist, who corresponds to Christ. Who then is the one who corresponds to the Holy Spirit? Well, he's mentioned here in verse 11. He is the one who later on is called the false prophet. You'll notice it says in verse 11: "Then I saw another beast coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast."

Let's pause here for a moment and remind ourselves that the responsibility of the Holy Spirit is to point to Christ. Jesus said regarding the Holy Spirit, "He will not speak of himself, but he shall speak of me." Notice how this beast now does not want to attract any personal attention, but he causes other people to worship the first beast and he does miracles to prove it.

You'll notice it says that he is able, verse 12: "He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed." And you'll notice he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

That's maybe the abomination of desolation when there is an image actually set up there next to the temple as Daniel said. And Jewish people are supposed to bow down and worship that image. They are to worship the beast. Notice it says: "He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image of the first beast to be killed."

Now does that mean that Satan has the ability to give life? I don't think so. It could be that this is some kind of fakery, trickery, where he takes an image and actually appears to give the image life and that is proof that everyone should worship the image and to worship the beast that the image represents. And if not, they are put to death.

Well, thank you for hanging in. We've been quoting a lot of Scripture, or I should say reading a lot of Scripture. Antichrist is going to set up a worldwide religion and most will follow it.

Announcer: Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Terrifying times are predicted in the scripture, but yet for those of us who know Jesus Christ as savior, our future is going to be blessed. Meanwhile, we oftentimes struggle, don't we? I'm holding in my hands a book that has a question, how much can God forgive? The title of the book, Failure: The Back Door to Success.

Erwin Lutzer has brought part 2 of The Rise of a World Dictator, the third sign in a series on Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Next time, why the Antichrist does what he does despite knowing his doom is certain. It was Corrie ten Boom who said, there is no pit that is so deep that God is not deeper still. Failure is like a pit, and Pastor Lutzer has written a book he calls Failure: The Back Door to Success. This life-changing book will be sent as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Ask about Failure: The Back Door to Success. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.