The Ruler of the Nations

We have to invest into your word that Lord we might truly grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ So Lord, what a what a blessing it is to know that your scripture speaks to us specifically About the future and how we are to be prepared for what it is You're going to do that We might tell others about the coming of our great King Jesus Christ our Lord We pray in your name Amen There is a verse tucked away in the gospel or the epistle of John 1st John chapter 2 verse number 18 That does something that no other verse in the Bible does It tells us about the Antichrist

In other words, it calls him the Antichrist There are a hundred different passages of scripture that teach us about the coming Antichrist But there's only one that calls him Antichrist and that's 1st John 2 verse number 18 Says these words children It is the last hour and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming even now many Antichrists have risen From this we know that it is the last hour John says you have heard that Antichrist is coming The question is Where did they hear it? They heard it because It had been Recorded in the Old Testament Particularly the book of Daniel which we will see extensively this evening But not only had it been recorded in the book of Daniel But it truly had been reiterated by the Savior himself And it had been recited by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ In other words, they knew that Antichrist was coming Specifically because it was a common teaching of the day Today if you went to most churches and talked to people about Antichrist, they would have no idea what you were talking about Because it's not a common teaching in most churches

Why? Because it's prophetic It's about prophecy Most churches today don't spend time talking about prophetic themes Why? Because people don't live in the future They live in the present and they're concerned about what's happening now Not realizing that if they understood the future it would help them in the present

They don't get that The New Testament writers got it The early church believers they understood it and so it was a common teaching about Antichrist his coming in What he was going to be like simply because the Bible speaks About the coming of this world ruler this ruler of the nations That will take the world Captive deceive the whole world and tonight we want to talk about this ruler of the nations We want you to begin to see this individual who who rises to power and how? He is able to captivate the world We're going to begin with an introduction to talk to you about This ruler in Satan's attempt to thwart the plan of God He's always had that plan That's always been Satan's desire to thwart the plan of God to to stop the person of God from arriving To stop the people of God from thriving To stop the plan of God from surviving He's always has a plan So we're gonna look at Satan's attempt to thwart God's plan and then Satan's appointee the Antichrist To thwart God's plan

That's our introduction Because Satan knows God has a plan So if you were to go back all the way to Genesis chapter 3 verse number 15 We know what God said to Satan We know that in Isaiah We we know that Satan had this this I will I will I will problem

It was always about him And so he was cast out of heaven him and a third of his followers And in Genesis chapter 3 when sin entered the human race We we know that God said that he would send a seed the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent's head Well Satan knows that So he has had his attempts to thwart the plan of God from the very beginning in Genesis chapter 6 there were the sons of God who cohabitated with the daughters of men and Satan tried to produce some kind of demon hybrid race that would be an Unredeemable race by God and so God would destroy the world with a flood We know that in the book of Exodus Satan tried to destroy the the Jewish nation by having Pharaoh kill all the baby boys but God Was able to override that as well because he is God And raised up a man by the name of Moses Who would continue to lead the people of God to to the promised land that God had given to them? in a unique story way back in the book of 2nd Chronicles Is a story about the Jewish nation and how it came down to one little baby boy by the name of Joash Who was hidden in a synagogue in the temple? I'm not sitting at the temple

Excuse me for six years Okay In order to preserve the royal line of God you can read about 2nd Chronicles 21 22 and 23 But the line of the Messiah came down to one little baby boy That was preserved for six years Until he was able to take the throne and rule and the messianic line the royal line continue on Satan's attempt to thwart the plan of God was foiled once again and you the story of Esther how Haman tried to rid the Jewish nation from this earth and God did a great work in the life of the king and and Satan's attempt to kill the new the Jewish people was thwarted Once again, and then of course, you know what took place in the book of Matthew When the Messiah was born How King Herod tried to kill and attempted to kill all the babies two years and younger and of course Joseph and Mary were were warned in a dream when they would flee to Egypt and God again would preserve his son and preserve the line of the Messiah in a unique and precious way and Satan's attempt to thwart the plan of God Failed once again, but he tried again on the Mount of Temptation They took Christ to that pinnacle there on the temple and Tempted him to throw himself off Promising that the angels of God would spare him But of course Christ did not succumb to temptation and Satan's plan was foiled again But he didn't stop because he had the people of his own hometown After he preached a sermon one day try to throw him off a cliff but he escaped to that crowd and Satan's plan was foiled again and then of course They nailed him to a tree The Messiah that is and Satan thought it was over but no Christ went down to Hades to preach a message of a proclamation a message of victory and to lead captivity captive and Took them home to be with him in paradise and God raised his son from the dead And Satan's plan was was foiled again but all throughout the history of The universe Satan has tried to thwart the plan of God But he's failed And he's going to give one last effort One last huge effort

Yes He infiltrates the church today

The tears are being sown among the wheat We know that in Revelation chapter 12 Satan is actually finally cast out of heaven member revelation 1210 He stands presently today in heaven accusing the brethren day and night But he has but there's a war between Satan and Michael in heaven and Michael Casts Satan out of heaven forever He comes down to this earth and that is the latter part of the the tribulation where the great and tribulate great and terrible day of the Lord transpires on this earth and Satan goes after the Jewish people to kill them read about in Revelation 12 But he cannot kill them

He knows that if he can rid the world of the Jewish people Then the Messiah has no reason to return because he would be a liar But he can't do that and God spares the Jewish people And then it says in Revelation 12 that Satan goes after the Gentile Christians those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to kill them and How does he do that? Well revelation chapter 13 says this and he who's he that Satan? Stood on the sand of the seashore and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea Having ten horns and seven heads and on his horns were ten diadems and on his heads were blasphemous names He's going to raise up a man He's gonna raise up a man This man is called the beast in Revelation 13 and we'll come back to this chapter at the end of our time together this evening but in all the attempts that Satan has To thwart the plan of God This last one that he has Is his best effort it will fail We read the end

We know that how it's all gonna turn out But this is his attempt

He really believes he is such a master deceiver He has even deceived himself into thinking that he can stop the plan of God from unfolding But he can't In this beast that arises this Antichrist that comes Daniel speaks a lot of him If you have your Bible turn with me to the book of Daniel We'll show you some things about this appointee This appointee by Satan to thwart God's plan He said all kinds of attempts, but now he's gonna appoint a man and the Bible says in Daniel 7 verse number 8 these words says While I was contemplating the horns behold another horn a little horn came up among them and three of the first horns were pulled out By the roots before it and behold this horn Possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and then it says in verse number 20 That horn which had eyes Well that horn is a man That horn that little horn has the eyes of a man now notice that the eyes in Scripture in prophetic terms speak of intelligence speak of wisdom We know that because way back in Genesis chapter 3 Satan said to Adam the Eve if you eat of this tree your eyes will be open you will become as intelligent and as knowledgeable as God and so when it speaks of the little horn it speaks of this one as an Intelligent genius and that's what the Antichrist will be It says over in Daniel chapter 7 verse number 8 same verse not only will his eyes Not only are his eyes like the eyes of a man, but his mouth utters great boasts over in verse 20 again a Daniel chapter 7 a Mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its Associates in other words this man had a commanding personality this man was an outstanding orator Never a man will speak like this man speaks except of course for the Messiah in the mind of the world this man's Oratory skills go far beyond anyone else because of his intelligence because of his Genius because of the eyes that he has to understand that what the world does not understand It also says in Daniel chapter 11 in verse number 21

He will be a master politician Daniel 11 verse number 21 says these words and In his place a despicable person will arise on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred but he will come in time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue or by flatteries That's the characteristic of a politician They flatter people's lives and they come with with intrigue and this individual comes in peace

He comes with Tranquility which reminds us of Romans I mean Revelation chapter 6 verse number 2 where the rider of the white horse has an air has a bow But has no arrows because he comes to conquer and he conquers peaceably This man is a master politician an outstanding orator and intelligent genius He is a commercial wizard according to Daniel 8 verse number 25 Which says these words and through his shrewdness he will cause the seat to succeed by his Influence in other words, he will have a materialistic empire that goes way beyond anything We can ever imagine and that's all recorded in Revelation chapter 18 And by the way, Revelation 8 chapter 18 is the great economic earthquake It happens in Revelation 18 didn't happen last year during our recession happens in Revelation chapter 18 That's the great economic earthquake But the power and the influence of this one called the Antichrist is far-reaching Daniel 7 23 says he shall devour the whole earth and shall tread it down and break it into pieces

He's a military genius Daniel a Revelation 13 for says who is like the beast who was able to make war with him in other words This man is a military genius No one can compare with his military prowess He's also a Religious leader We'll talk more about this next week but in Revelation chapter 17 You know that the that the Antichrist and the false prophet coexist together for a time until the Antichrist swallows up the harlot Swallows up the false prophet because he sets himself up as the God to be worshipped He becomes the religious leader of his day

This is the appointee that Satan will have come the one that he rises up out of the sea that he might be able to use this one to thwart the plan of God That's just introductory material Let me talk to you about this ruler and let me introduce him to you and let me instruct you about him So you have a little bit more knowledge Concerning who he is and what he does like those people that John wrote to so when someone says have you heard about the Antichrist? Oh, yeah, we've read about him

We know about him We know where it's recorded in the scripture about the coming of Antichrist We can be like those that John wrote to in 1st John 2 verse number 18 We're talking about the nations We talked last week about the times of the nations We're talking tonight about the ruler of the nations next week We're going to talk to you about the religion of the nations

What will be the one world religion that will encompass the world? We'll talk about that next week Then we're going to talk about the war of the nations and then we're going to talk about the judgment of the nations and then we're Going to talk about the earthly kingdom of Christ Because that's what's going to happen when he comes there'll be a great war There'll be a tremendous judgment and the kingdom of Christ will be established And so we want to be able to introduce this beast to you and help you understand this Antichrist by helping you realize the times of the nations and we told you last week the times of the nations began around 600 BC We told you last week that the Bible in the book of Ezekiel says the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel When the glory of the Lord departed Nebuchadnezzar came in took Israel into captivity For a seven-year period and that began the times of the nations Jesus called it the times of the Gentiles another term times of the nations Okay, and he said in Luke 21 that Jerusalem would be trodden under by the Gentiles Until the Messiah comes and so we know that the times of the nations has been running for over 2,600 years at least Okay, and so we begin to to put everything together as we begin to realize what's going on and the times the Gentiles There was there was a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had So let me just review with you very quickly to lead you into the first characteristic or the first title of this Antichrist called the little horn you need to understand this because there was a discrepancy in some people's mind Around the little horn in Daniel 7 and the small horn in Daniel chapter 8 But we're gonna clear all that up for you

And so I want you to stay with me if you can't take notes It's okay and make sure you get the CD I'll try to make it as simple as I possibly can but you need to get this because you need to understand the times of the nations Because all this is gonna lead us into understanding is is the Antichrist a Jew or is the Antichrist a Gentile? So follow with me and you'll begin to see and understand what the Bible says We can speculate whether or not the Antichrist will be a Gentile

We can speculate about whether or not he'll be a Jew But what does the Bible say? Because the Bible is very clear as to the identity of the Antichrist And so we'll see that as we study scripture together, but remember and Nebuchadnezzar had a dream So Daniel was chosen by God to interpret the dream We told you last week that that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and God caused him to forget the dream so Daniel could come on the scene and help the people of Israel understand that there is an End-to-this time where Jerusalem will be drawn down by the nation's though

It'll come to an end But they need to know that time And so Nebuchadnezzar had this vision this dream and Daniel would interpret it So if you have your Bible Daniel chapter 2 It says in verse number 31 you O King were looking and behold there was a single great statue That statue which was large and of extraordinary splendor was standing in front of you and its appearance was awesome The head of that statue was made of fine gold its breast and its arms of silver its belly and its thighs of bronze its legs Of iron its feet partly of iron and partly of clay you continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands That means it was a supernatural stone no human agency and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and Crushed them and then he says then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time And became like chaff from the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them away So that not a trace of them was found But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth in other words There was a vision there was a dream and this was the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had No one could tell Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was because Nebuchadnezzar forgot the dream But he wanted somebody to tell him what the dream was that he had forgotten so God told Daniel the dream so Daniel comes and reiterates that dream to Nebuchadnezzar and Then he comes and interprets that dream to Nebuchadnezzar and says this in verse number 36 This was the dream now We shall tell its interpretation before the king You O King are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom the power the strength and the glory And wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all You are the head of gold now We know that because of that phrase we can interpret the dream as Daniel did you are the head of gold? So Babylon is the first world empire And so what we have here is that a panoramic view of the world empires remember Satan wants to thwart the plan of God The Bible says listen carefully

There will only be four world powers that reign during the times of the Gentiles only for Because the fifth world power is the kingdom of God The fifth world power is inaugurated by the little stone that comes and Crushes the the feet so the whole thing comes tumbling down There can't be a fifth world power But you know there was a time where one man tried to become that fifth world power

His name was Adolf Hitler And if you ever want to do some extracurricular reading There is a book entitled the mourning of the magicians It's written by Lewis Powlis and Jacques Berger They are not believers not Christians But the whole book is about this one man Adolf Hitler Whose supreme desire was to rule the world? and In this book they document the fact that this man Adolf Hitler was influenced by outside sources not of this world These are unbelievers non-believers and they document How Adolf Hitler was a demon-possessed man who had one objective to rid the Jewish nation of? Their existence and to rule the world that was Satan's attempt to establish listen carefully a fifth world power to thwart the plan of God it never came to be because Satan can't change scripture

He can't change the the predetermined plan of God That's not gonna happen So we go back to this little little vision that Nebuchadnezzar had and we realized that the head of gold was Babylon It was the first great world Empire and this is the verse number 39 and after you there will arise Another kingdom inferior to you Well, we know that's Medo-Persia because that's the silver Empire and remember it had two arms There were two legs to two aspects to the Medo-Persian Empire We talked about that last week and then it says then another kingdom of bronze Which will rule over the whole earth

That was the third world kingdom That was Greece under Alexander the Great and then it says then there will be a fourth kingdom as Strong as iron in as much as iron crushes and shatters all things So like iron that breaks in pieces it will crush and break all these in pieces and in that you saw the feet and toes Partly of potter's clay and partly of iron It will be a divided kingdom But it will have in it the toughness of iron in as much as you saw the iron mixed with common clay That's the Roman Empire

It was a divided kingdom between the East and the West Now listen carefully First 42 and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery So some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle and in that you saw the iron mixed with common Clay, they will combine with one another in the seat of men But they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combine with pottery and in the days of those kings What Kings? the ten toe Kings Ten toes represent ten horns which represent ten Kings which we will show you in a minute in the days of those Kings, okay The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that kingdom will not be left for another people It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms But it will itself Endure forever in as much as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and then it crushed the iron The bronze the clay and the silver and the gold the great God has made known to the King What will take place in the future? So the dream is true and its interpretation is Trustworthy so he tells them here it is

This is what's going to happen This is the view the history of the times of the Gentiles it began in 600 BC under the Babylonian captivity of Nebuchadnezzar the head of gold that moved into the Medo-Persian Empire into the Greece Empire to the Roman Empire But there will become a revived Roman Empire a ten nation Confederacy represented by the ten toes that will be revived again And it will be that revived in power Empire that will be crushed and destroyed By the stone cut out without hands and the kingdom of God will endure forever The kingdom of God is the fifth world kingdom in the history of the times of the nations And that is what the Bible teaches us Now listen carefully what the Bible says It says this in Daniel 7 Remember Daniel 7 Daniel had another vision He had a vision of four beasts There there was a winged lion a winged Leopard or a bear that was raised up on one side and and a winged leopard remember that and it represented those four world empires and Then it says and after this I kept looking verse number 7 of Daniel 7 in the night visions and behold a fourth beast dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong and it had large iron teeth it devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and It was different from all the beasts that were before it And it had ten horns While I was contemplating the the horns behold another horn a little one came up among them and Three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it and behold this horn possessed the eyes the eyes of a man Like the eyes of a man in a mouth uttering great boasts So out of those ten Kings which are parallel to the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's vision There arises one little horn And this little horn is raised up by Satan himself This little horn is the Antichrist This is the one that subdues three kings and the other ones Automatically subject to him or subject themselves to him because of his military genius because of his military prowess But there's one little horn that rises up and these ten horns are ten Kings How do we know that verse 24 as for the ten horns out of this kingdom ten Kings will arise? And another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones and he will subdue three Kings So Daniel receives division

He understands the interpretation of the vision It also says in Revelation 17 verse number 12 and the ten horns which you saw are ten Kings Who have received no kingdom as yet, but received power as kings one hour with the beast So in other words There is a little horn that rises up out of this ten toed kingdom this ten horned Kingdom this ten nation Confederacy that comes again to comes together, which is what the Bible calls a revived Roman Empire Because it's based in Rome

We know that because of Revelation 17 It's it sits on the city with seven hills, which we know is Rome itself So we know there's going to be a revived Roman Empire and there'll be a ten nation Confederacy we talked a little bit about that about that last week And we know that people talk about the the European Common Market or the European Union We know there are 27 aspects or 27 nations involved in that European Union They're represented by one in the global 20 summit back in April of 2009 But we know that they want to reduce that number to ten That does not mean that that's the ten nation Confederacy we don't know that Okay But we do know that this little horn will rise up to do three Kings that others will subject themselves to this little horn Now listen carefully what I'm going to tell you The little horn of Daniel 7 is going to be different than the small horn of Daniel chapter 8 Listen to what Daniel 8 says it says These words verse number 9 and Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn Which grew exceedingly great toward the south toward the east and toward the beautiful land Now listen carefully, okay Remember in Daniel chapter 8 there was a vision there was a vision of a Goat with two horns a ram with two horns and a male goat with one horn that would come and subdue The ram with two horns remember that and the Bible tells us what it is in Daniel 8 remember We tell you if you read the Bible long enough and always tells you the interpretation of what it is You have trouble with and it tells us in Daniel chapter 8 these words It says the ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of media and Persia So we know that the ram represents media and Persia and the shaggy goat or the male goat Represents the kingdom of Greece and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king That's Alexander the Great and the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place Represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation Although not with his power now, we know that when Alexander died at the age of 32 Okay, there were four kings that arose in his place Okay The little horn or the small horn of Daniel 8 comes from those four generals The little horn in Daniel 7 rises out of a ten nation Confederacy

They cannot be the same But there are theologians who try to make them the same they are not But The little horn that rises Rises out of the Seleucan dynasty the Seleucus dynasty and The eighth king in the Seleucus dynasty was a man by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes He gave himself that name Epiphanes means the illustrious Majesty He coined that term because he was a revelation of God to the people He would align himself with Jupiter as the God of the people and He as the Bible says listen carefully

He rules for 2,300 days Okay, that's over six years the Antichrist only rules for three and a half years So you want to make sure that you don't mess up The small horn of Daniel 8 and the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 but listen carefully the small horn of Daniel chapter 8 and Antiochus Epiphanes is a type of Antichrist Remember the Old Testament we have types of Christ Joseph was a type of Christ Isaac is a type of Christ Antiochus Epiphanes is The type of Antichrist And it's important to know the similarity between the Antichrist and Antiochus Epiphanes the type of Antichrist Let me give them to you both begin modestly, but increase in power and in influence Both blaspheme God with mouths that speak great things Both persecute the Jewish people both claim to be gods and put images in the temple both impose their own religion on the people Both are opposed by a believing remnant that knows God both are energized by the devil and are great deceivers both appear to succeed marvelously and seem to be invincible So there are a lot of characteristics between the small horn in Daniel 8 Which is Antiochus Epiphanes in the history of this world the eighth king in the Seleucus dynasty and The little horn that rises out of a ten nation Confederacy in the future who is the Antichrist? Now if you didn't get that well, I did the best I could so hopefully I explained it good enough But I want you to notice something this ten horn rises To power and it says in Daniel chapter 7 verse number 9. I kept looking until the thrones were set up Those are tribunal thrones the thrones of judgment and the ancient days took his seat His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool now remember Daniel is seeing this in a vision He begins to see these four beasts and one that rises out as a fierce beast And he sees it has ten horns And he's overwhelmed by by the vision that he sees and then he sees the ancient of days coming And then it says in verse 11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking That's the Antichrist and I kept looking until the beast was slain And its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire That's Revelation 20 where that little horn that beast is cast into the lake of fire

Listen verse 12 As for the rest of the beasts Babylon Medo-Persia Greece as represented by the lion the bear and the leopard in his vision and The rest of the beast their dominion was taken away But an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time Do you know that every nation Babylon Medo-Persia in Greece when they were defeated continued to live on even though they were defeated But this fourth kingdom this revival of the Roman Empire Doesn't last after it's defeated because it's destroyed by the Son of God who sets up his kingdom the prophecy and the accuracy of Scripture is absolutely marvelous and The Lord wants us to know that oh, they continue on for a little while He even tells us that although continue on for a little while and they did But this fourth kingdom this for this ten nation Confederacy when it's destroyed BAM, it's over no more It does not linger on and we know from Revelation 19 and 20

It does not linger on In verse 13. I kept looking in the night visions and behold the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming The Messiah is coming because the Son of Man the Messiah is the stone that's been cut out without hands that crushes the ten nation Confederacy and destroys it It says they came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion glory in his kingdom And a kingdom excuse me that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away

This kingdom is one which will not be destroyed as for me Daniel My spirit was distressed within me and the visions in my mind kept alarming me I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things in that good So Daniel says I need to know what's going on here He sees his four beasts

He doesn't understand what they're all about He sees the ancient of days coming He sees this this this ten horn speaking boastful things or this little horn of the ten nation Confederacy speaking all these boastful things He sees it destroyed He sees the cast of the lake of fire

He sees the Messiah coming He said boy, what is all this about? So the Bible tells you Says these great beasts which are four in number are four kings who will arise from the earth and they are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all the ages to come There's going to be four world empires and the fifth one is the kingdom of God's World Empire and it rules forever

Its dominion is everlasting And then it says then I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast which was different from all the others exceedingly dreadful with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze and Which devoured crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and the meaning of the ten horns That were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell namely that horn Which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boast and which was larger in appearance than its associates I kept looking and that horn was waging war with the Saints and overpowering them until the ancient of days came and Judgment was passed in favor of the Saints of the highest one and time arrived when the Saints took possession of the kingdom So Daniel saying this is what I'm saying. I'm seeing four beasts. I'm seeing four kings. I'm seeing four kingdoms I'm seeing this fourth Kingdom with a little horn and I'm seeing all that's doing then I see it destroyed and I see him overcoming the Saints and and Then I see I see the kingdom given to the Saints

What am I seeing? He says Verse 23 thus he said the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth Which will be different from all the other kingdoms and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it That's exactly what Rome did but it's different than all the other kingdoms because that will be revived again As for the ten horns out of this kingdom ten kings will arise And another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the Saints of the highest one and He will intend to make alterations and times in the law And they will be given into his hand for a time times and half a time or three and a half years But the court will sit for judgment and his dominion will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever Then the sovereignty the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven Will be given to the people of the Saints of the highest one His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve and obey him At this point the revelation ended and as for me Daniel My thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to my self It's overwhelming That's the panoramic view of the times of the Gentiles The history of the times of the Gentiles of the four world empires that have ruled the world, you know Since Rome there has not been a world power There has been one and there won't be one until there was a revival of that Roman Empire In a ten toed ten horned ten King Confederacy and out of that will arise a little horn who will destroy three of those Kings and The others will subject themselves to him And his rule be strong and fierce But it will come to an end because he will be killed By the Messiah himself

He'll be cast into the lake of fire and burned forever And so there's this little horn that rises to power but In Daniel 8, he's called the king of fierce countenance He's also called the king of fierce countenance In Daniel chapter 8 it says this And in the latter period of their rule when the transgressors have run their course the king will arise Insolent skilled in intrigue In other words a king will arise with an angry face the king of fierce countenance His power will be mighty but not by his own power

Where will he receive his power from Satan himself? And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will He will destroy mighty men and holy people and through his shrewdness He will cause a seat to succeed by his influence and he will magnify himself in his heart and he will destroy many while they are At ease, he will even oppose the prince of princesses, which is Jesus Christ, but he will be broken without Human agency

In other words, he will be broken in a supernatural kind of way because our God will destroy him This one this appointee this this Antichrist is called the little horn He's called the king of fierce countenance

He's called the prince That shall come Daniel 9 Daniel 9 verse number 26 and after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing and the people of the Prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary We've already looked at great length to that to that portion of Scripture this is where the Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel and he will break that covenant in the middle of that seven-year span and Desecrate the temple and set himself up as God to be worshiped But he's called the prince that shall come Now that's a very important statement Let me get back to that

He's called the willful King Daniel 11 verse number 16 Says this Daniel 11 verse number 16 says But he who comes against him will do as he pleases He will do as he will she's the willful King and no one will be able to withstand him He will also stay for a time in the beautiful land with destruction in his hand Listen to this verse 36 Then the king will do as he pleases and he will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will speak Monstrous things against the God of gods and he will prosper until the indignation is finished for that Which is decreed will be done and he will show no regard for the gods of his father's or for the desire of women Nor will he show regard for any other God for he will magnify himself above them all but instead he will honor a God of fortresses a God of power He is the willful King

He will do what he wants another something Now I'm gonna tell you whether the Jews whether the Antichrist is a Jew or Gentile The people who believe that the Antichrist will be a Jew use the verse I just read which says in Daniel 11 verse number 36 or 37 and he will show no regard for the gods of his father some translations say the God of his father's Charles Feinberg says That this is a phrase used of Abraham Isaac and Jacob And it's said today in the Jewish book of prayers It uses a phrase the God of Our fathers, okay This is the only verse in the Bible you can look to To prove that the Antichrist is a Jew Only verse Because there is no other verse so it can also be translated as the New American Standard does the OIV the only inspired version and He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers Because he's an atheist he has no regard for any God of any of his fathers Which Can be debatable, which is it the God singular of his father's or the gods of his father's it can be translated either way So, how do you determine which is which well think of it this way? There's only one example of Antichrist in the Bible And the one example is Antiochus Epiphanes and he wasn't a Jew

He was a Gentile That's the only example He's the only type of Antichrist in The Bible Antiochus Epiphanes and the parallels run so similar. I already read them to you earlier number two number two In Daniel 9 28 He is identified Right

He is identified with the people who destroyed Jerusalem The people of the Prince who was that Rome Making him a Gentile Not a Jew third in Revelation 13 1 this beast rises out of the sea and the sea in Scripture most of the time refers to the nation's So he comes from the nation's making him a Gentile not a Jew number four Daniel 7 verses 8 to 24 Tells us that he leads the 10 Nation Confederacy That's based in Rome Leading you to believe that he'd be a Gentile and not a Jew number five He makes a covenant with Israel for seven years He breaks that covenant But he doesn't have to be a Jew to make a covenant with them

Why? Because as Americans we have made promises to Israel for their protection The covenant he makes for them is to protect them That they might be able to come to their homeland and live in peace and live in safety

See so it tells us that Just because he makes a covenant with never does it say the Antichrist claims to be a Jewish Messiah Never says that in Scripture You can come to that conclusion But remember he sets himself up as God in the middle of the tribulation Demanding that everybody worship him and the Jews say we're not worshiping you and why do they say that because he's not a Jewish Messiah He's a Gentile Messiah, that's why he desecrates the temple Just because he makes a covenant with him doesn't mean that he says that I'm the Messiah Therefore you have a covenant No, because Gentile nations have made covenants with Israel and made peace treaties with Israel for years, right? And number six Daniel 9, I'm sorry Luke 21 24 says that his rule will be during the times of the Gentiles the times of the nations so the Antichrist rules and Jerusalem is trodden down by the times of the nations or the times of the Gentiles Making us to believe that he'd be a Gentile and not a Jew Now my dogmatic on that no but it seems to me that the overwhelming scriptural evidence because there's only one scripture verse that is There's a discrepancy as to how it's truly interpreted the God of his father's or the gods of his father's and it can go either way So if that's the case, then you've got to look at the other evidence to see okay, what is this and the most overwhelming one is the type of Antichrist and Tychus Epiphanes who was a Gentile who ruled and Desecrated the temple and set himself up as God to be worshipped as God That's just a side note Anyway, second that's the way ensues called the son of perdition or or the man of sin The son of perdition or the man of sin and in Revelation 13, he's called the beast So with me to Revelation 13, my time is fleeting So you guys got to have to keep me up in terms of how much time I got because I got a lot things to cover In 10 minutes Revelation chapter 13, here we go and he that is Satan

How do we know it's Satan? It says in verse number 17 and the dragon which is Satan was enraged with a woman who is Israel And went off to make war with the rest of her offspring Who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus? That's Revelation 12 verse number 17 verse number 13, and he stood on the sand of the seashore Who's he that's the dragon that Satan and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea a monster Coming up out of the sea by the way The word beast is used 46 times in the Bible 35 of them in the book of Revelation 35 In Revelation, I'm sorry 46 times in the New Testament 35 of them in the book of Revelation And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having ten horns now We go back to Daniel chapter 7 right ten horned beasts and seven heads and on his horns were ten diadems And on his heads were blasphemous names And so you read that you think okay, what does that mean? Well, if you read far enough in Revelation, you always have the interpretation of what you have a question about So when you go to Revelation 17, it says this Verse 9 here is the mind which has wisdom the seven heads are seven mountains Okay, the seven heads of the beast are seven mountains on which the woman sits Where are the seven mountains They're in Rome And it says and they are seven kings Five have fallen one is well the one that is is wrong That's where John is

He knows that Rome is ruling the one that is is Rome the five that have fallen Well, we know what they are

That's Egypt Assyria Babylon Medo-Persia and Greece they fallen Okay the other has not yet come it hasn't come yet and when he comes he must remain a little while and The beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven and he goes to destruction Okay, so he's one He's number seven, okay But he's also the eighth because he was not and now is Now some people think that that is The destruction of the of the Roman Empire and the revival of that Roman Empire and That that beast is the revived Roman Empire. I don't tend to think that I believe that he truly fakes his death And I do truly believe he fakes his resurrection Satan can't raise people from the dead

So it has to be a fake death and a fake resurrection to to to prove himself to be God and to Magnify himself as God to the people He will have to do something miraculous and He is the beast that was slain and he was and is not but this beast who is the seventh is also the eighth and then it says and The ten horns which you saw are ten Kings So the Bible does interpret this beast

So when John sees this beast come out of the sea He begins to understand exactly what the Bible says it says in verse number two and the beast which I saw was like a leopard and his feet were like those of a bear in his mouth like the mouth of A lion and the dragon which is Satan gave him his power and his throne and great authority Now the reason John sees this this beast as a lion a leopard and bear because it takes him back to Daniel Chapter 7 or Daniel? Yeah, Daniel chapter 7 to understand the visions that Daniel received I'm sorry Daniel chapter 8 and to receive the visions that Daniel received about those four kingdoms because this beast encompasses all the fierceness all the power all the authority of all the previous kingdoms that ever lived that ever Existed this beast encompassed them all see which accentuates his power his ferociousness is his his his speed his his Tenacity everything that a leopard and a bear and a lion encompass in those kingdoms this man this beast this individual encompasses all of those Because he's empowered by the dragon who gave him gave him authority and gave him a throne Verse 3 and I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain And his fatal wound was healed and the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast

What were they amazed for? Because he saw him as slain remember the lamb was slain remember John saw the lamb in Revelation 5 as one that was slain and The Antichrist to be effective must always mimic Christ to a tee

So he must be slain and and And and and and demonstrate to the world that that that he died and and rose again So the world will follow after him and and the world will worship him It says in in verse number four and they worship the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast and they worship the beast Saying who is like the beast and who was able to wage war with him? And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and authority to act for 42 months was given to him and then it says Down in verse number nine If anyone has an ear let him hear If anyone is destined for captivity to captivity goes if anyone kills the sword with the sword He must be killed

Here is the perseverance and the faith of the Saints

He was ears to hear let him hear It doesn't say he was ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches Why because the churches are gone, right? So he was ears to hear that is if you're living in a tribulation if you got ears listen carefully listen carefully If anyone is destined for captivity to captivity he goes If you've been arrested And you're going to captivity you go You go he says if anyone kills the sword with the sword, he will be killed In other words God is condoning capital punishment in that verse In other words, he says listen if you're in the tribulation Which none of you will be if you're believers because you'll be gone with me to heaven but if you're around and someone listens to this tape in the tribulation and if you if you're destined to captivity you go don't fight Don't go to war against the Antichrist

Why because if you live by the sword, you're gonna die by the sword If you live by the sword you're gonna die by the sword This is the perseverance and the faith of the Saints You will endure You continue steadfast believing in what you believe Because the Messiah is coming And the faith you have in the arrival of the Messiah will help you to persevere and continue on even through the most horrific Times in those days why because everything that happens with the beast happens because God has ordained it God has predetermined it all to happen It's gonna happen just as he said it was gonna happen

He will be defeated The Lord God will come and destroy him because that's the promise

That's what he's given to us We know what's gonna happen because the Bible says so so when John says little children You know that Antichrist It's going to come You've heard that You know, they heard it from from the book of Daniel In all that I said about the little horn the willful King the king of fierce countenance All it says about the son of perdition the man of sin They would know those things and they would understand that the Antichrist was coming and They would know the kind of ruler he would be The great thing is is that none of us who are here tonight? Who know Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior will ever be a part of his kingdom or a part of his rule? Because we believe in the Messiah Who is coming to take us home to be with him before that ever happens? And then one day we will come back with him

He will ride back with him on white horses And we will have a front-row seat To the destruction of the nations as we watch the king of kings and Lord of Lord Destroy all those who oppose him and come against him Let's pray together father We thank you for tonight a chance to look into your word and pray father that our hearts and minds would always be fixed upon Jesus Christ looking steadfastly to your arrival Believing that Jesus Christ is coming soon We pray in Jesus name Amen