1. "Opposition and persecution in the Christian life come in all shapes and sizes. There is internal strife in our flesh. There is external strife from circumstances. There are states of persecution."

2. "My guess is he strikes out at least half of it, saying like, well, actually half of this was on your own tab. You know, I mean, you were just being not very kind. Should have learned something from your non-Christian neighbors, maybe to be a little kinder on some of these things."

3. "You poor people who are teens and twenties, you've been taught some super weird really religious stuff in your schools. It's all false about how you define reality by your thoughts. God has determined reality."

4. "Popular things can be lies. They can be wrong. I'm not saying the crowd is always wrong. If that were the case, you wouldn't need any discernment. But I'm telling you the crowd is not always right. And the crowd will tell you it's always right."

5. "You can have all the courage in the world enough to whistle on the way to your own martyrdom, and that won't give you the wisdom you need in order to not be deceived. You realize that some people say courage is what's needed. Courage is sometimes needed, there's no doubt about that. But I just do want to point out you can have all the courage in the world and you can be foolish."

6. "One of the most common mistakes people make in our culture is to think somehow that money will protect them."

7. "If we're foolish, if we just listen to the boast and just immediately believe the boast, here come the words. I'm believing them. Why don't you just stand up and ask about the truth of the words? I know they're very loud, they're very compelling. Just ask if they're true."

8. "Good news, you won't be deceived. Bad news, you will be slain. But hey, if you care more about knowing the Lord than your earthly life, it's a good deal. You won't be deceived."

9. "Martin Luther said that the church is not afraid of all the persecuting princes of the world because she stands in awe of the words of God."

10. "Friend, it's not that things aren't bad. Yeah, things can be bad. But simply that when they appear to be at their very worst, they are not. Because God is good and God is sovereign."

Observation Questions

1. In Revelation 13:1-2, what specific features describe the beast from the sea? What authority was given to it?

2. According to Revelation 13:5-7, what two things was the beast "allowed" to do, and for how long was this authority granted?

3. In Revelation 13:8, what distinguishes those who worship the beast from those who don't?

4. Looking at Revelation 13:11, how is the second beast described in terms of appearance versus speech?

5. From Revelation 13:16-17, what specific restrictions were placed on those who refused to receive the mark of the beast?

6. In Revelation 13:18, what specific instruction is given regarding understanding the number of the beast?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think John uses imagery from Daniel 7 (leopard, bear, lion) to describe the first beast? What might this suggest about the nature of opposition to God's people?

2. How does the contrast between the second beast's lamb-like appearance and dragon-like speech help us understand the nature of spiritual deception?

3. What is the significance of the repeated use of the word "allowed" throughout the chapter regarding the beasts' actions?

4. How does the marking of people by the beast parallel or parody God's marking of His people elsewhere in Scripture?

5. Why might God choose to reveal that those who won't be deceived are written in the Lamb's book of life "before the foundation of the world"?

Application Questions

1. When was the last time you felt pressure to compromise your faith to maintain social or professional standing? How did you respond?

2. Think about a time when something popular in our culture seemed right but contradicted Scripture. How did you navigate that situation?

3. What specific lies about success, happiness, or fulfillment do you find most tempting to believe in your current season of life?

4. How has your understanding of God's sovereignty practically helped you face opposition or persecution in your life?

5. What current situation in your life requires the kind of spiritual discernment discussed in this passage?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Daniel 7:1-14 - This passage provides the original vision of the beasts that John references, showing God's sovereignty over earthly powers throughout history.

2. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 - Paul's teaching about the "man of lawlessness" and deception parallels the warnings about deception in Revelation 13.

3. 1 Peter 4:12-19 - Peter's guidance for believers facing persecution helps us understand how to respond to opposition with faith and hope.

4. Matthew 10:16-25 - Jesus's instructions to his disciples about facing persecution provides practical wisdom for enduring opposition while maintaining faithful witness.

Sermon Main Topics

The Urgent Question of Enduring Persecution

Being Realistic About the Opposition (Revelation 13:1-10; 1 John 2:18, 5:19)

Being Discerning About Deception (Revelation 13:11-18)

Finding Hope in God’s Sovereignty (Revelation 13:8-10, 19:19-20, 20:10)

Prayer for Realism, Discernment, and Hope

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Detailed Sermon Outline

When persecution comes, how can we endure?

When persecution comes, how can we endure?

Interest in that question binds together Christians from the West Coast to Washington, from China to France, from the first century to the 21st. Opposition and persecution in the Christian life come in all shapes and sizes. There is internal strife in our flesh. There is external strife from circumstances. There are states of persecution.

For example, for example, when Christianity is illegal. There are sharp trials that suddenly spring up.

Whatever kind of persecution you may think of in a fallen world, a good skill to gain is to understand accurately those who oppose us, why they oppose us, and how we can face such opposition.

C.H. Spurgeon once gave this council to those Christians, especially preachers, who faced one kind of opposition. I give it to you as an example, the opposition of false accusations. It's one common kind of opposition to Christians.

Quote, In the case of false reports against yourself, for the most part, use the deaf ear. Unfortunately, liars are not yet extinct. And like Richard Baxter and John Bunyan, you may be accused of crimes which your soul abhors. Be not staggered thereby, for this trial has befallen the very best of men, and even your Lord did not escape the envenomed tongue of falsehood. In almost all cases, it is the wisest course to let such things die a natural death.

A great lie, if unnoticed, is like a big fish out of water. It dashes and plunges and breaks itself. To death in a short time. To answer it is to supply it with its element and help it to a longer life. Falsehoods usually carry their own refutation somewhere about them and sting themselves to death.

Some lies especially have a peculiar smell which betrays their rottenness to every honest nose. If you are disturbed by them, the object of their invention is partly answered. But your silent endurance disappoints malice. And gives you a partial victory, which God in His care of you will soon turn into a complete deliverance. Your blameless life will be your best defense and those who have seen it will not allow you to be condemned so readily as your slanderers expect.

Only abstain from fighting your own battles and in nine cases out of ten your accusers will gain nothing by their malevolence but chagrin for themselves and contempt from others. To prosecute the slanderer is very seldom wise. Friends, where can we get more wisdom to face trials and oppositions of various kinds as Christians? Well, in many ways, that's what we look to the book of Revelation for. You realize the book of Revelation is written to Christians who are at the sharp point of facing persecution.

It's a vision, really a series of visions that God gave to an old Christian man who was facing persecution and forced relocation and imprisonment. Jesus Christ wrote to his churches through John and by means of this book helped them to better understand the opposition they were facing and showed them how they could stand up to it and faithfully endure it. I wonder what opposition for following Christ you're facing today. I pray that you will hear in the words of this chapter how you can endure those threats that you face today and in the future and how you can be found faithful on the last day. Let's turn to Revelation chapter 13 as we continue our study through this last book in the Bible.

Revelation chapter 13. If you're using the Bibles provided, It's found on page 1035. And if you don't have a Bible that you can read as your very own, feel free and take this copy from the church as a gift from us to you. Take it home with you and keep reading. Revelation chapter 13.

We're going to pick it up with the very last sentence of the last chapter we looked at. And he, that's the dragon, and he stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear's and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.

And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon for he had given his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast saying, 'Who is like the beast and who can fight against it?' and the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words.

And it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name and His dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.

And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all who dwell on earth will worship it. Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to be taken captive to captivity, he goes.

If anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword. Must he be slain? Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worshiped the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by signs 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.

And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image to be slain.

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he had the mark that is the name of the beast. Or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And his number is 666.

Friends, when persecution comes, how can we endure? I think this chapter teaches Christians then and now three important lessons that I pray we can each learn. And let me go on and tell you what they are so that the note takers can breathe a sigh of relief and so that you can kind of follow my hand as I guide us through the chapter. First, I think we need to be realistic about the opposition. It'll do no good denying it or minimizing it.

We need to be realistic about the opposition. Secondly, we need to be discerning. Opposition is not always straightforward.

Sometimes we can be fooled.

So we need to be realistic, we need to be discerning, but then third, we need hope.

We need hope that we can successfully see our way through it.

I don't think those are simply three points to a sermon. I think those are what this vision is about. I think this is what the Lord Jesus wanted Christians in that first century and now in the 21st century to understand from reading this.

So first, we need to be realistic. How can you persevere against persecution and spiritual opposition? Well, we need to know what the Bible is teaching us here, that Satan uses human followers to enslave the world and persecute the church. Now, when we start talking about persecution, to a lot of people that sounds paranoid.

But John wrote elsewhere in his first letter, in 1 John 2:18, Children, it is the last hour, as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. Or a few chapters later, in 1 John 5:19, he wrote, We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Does that sound too sweeping to a congregation full of federal employees who do nothing with your weak but try to rearrange this world?

Can you believe that it lies in the power of the evil one? That's what 1 John 5:19 says. The best man ever to live was killed by the government.

Here in our chapter, we see this first beast from the sea in verses 1 to 7, and then a beast from the earth in verses 11 to 18. They're parallel, many people say, to the Old Testament creatures Leviathan and Behemoth. That we see in Job chapter 40 and that our brother Joseph Thigpen will help us think a little bit more about tonight, Lord willing. But here in this first beast coming from the sea, we see the horns and the heads and the diadem there in verse 1 are meant to emphasize his power. The animals that he's compared with in verse 2 that we heard about when Diana read us from Daniel 7, I think he's using those same images of strong animals.

From the vision in Daniel 7, to show the strength of this beast. We read there that to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. Verse 3, the beast sustains loss and keeps on going in a surprising way. Look down to verse 4, and they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it? '

You realize it's kind of mimicking the praise that Yahweh got in Exodus, in Exodus 15, who is like youe, O Lord, among the gods? Let's keep going, verse 5. And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name and His dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. So his words are blasphemous, his utterances are blasphemous, he slanders There's God and all who are associated with Him.

And then in verses 7 and 8 are some real eye openers for any of us who are expecting to have an easy time following Christ. So particularly for those of you here who are young Christians or who are considering following Christ, these would be some reasons not to. These would be some serious small print on the contract for your soul. Look at verses 7 and 8.

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.

And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation and all who dwell on earth will worship it.

Did you realize there were words like that in the Bible?

If you were planning the Bible, would you cut out such discouraging talk? Would you try to present things more positively?

John had been shown this just a little bit earlier if you look Over in chapter 11, verse 7, and when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.

Friends, if nothing else, this chapter should help us to realize that we gain nothing by kind of ignorance, or by kind of positive thinking that would minimize the opposition that we as Christians face in a fallen world. If we are to endure the persecution, the opposition that is in a fallen world for those who would follow Christ, we need to be realistic about what we face. And that's what the Lord is providing here. Through this vision. Chapter 13 continues the story of the dragon's persecution of the people of God, but now through his human followers who enslave and persecute and deceive.

So the dragon of chapter 12's vision, remember two weeks ago we were in chapter 12, that dragon, furious at war with those who hold the testimony of Jesus, is then seen to be there at the end of chapter 12, standing at the seashore looking out. And then here in the first verses of chapter 13, we see this beast rising out of the sea. It represents the organized, militarized, mighty opposition to God and His people, like a government gone bad, even gone satanic. In this vision that God gave to John, God was drawing pictures that explained our experience. He's drawing pictures that explain our world.

They were explaining to John and other Christians what they were facing and what they would continue to face until Christ returns. So this first beast represents the persecuting government that John himself was facing. In that sense, Revelation 13 nicely balances the biblical picture of government that we see also in the Bible where we find in Romans 13 the biblical picture of good government, government as an instrument of God. Here we see governmental power fallen and gone horribly wrong. This vision is given to show us how powerful our adversaries are.

That's what the crowns there in verse 1 show. In verse 2 explicitly we read to it, the dragon gave his power and his throne and his great authority. Again, Christian friends, we should not underestimate the power of our accuser because when we do that, we leave ourselves unprepared. We're liable to be shocked and discouraged when we encounter evil in its malicious power.

Some people have asked me about the meaning of the fatal wound that this beast recovered from there in verse 3. Prentice, you have all the information about it I have. That's it. No other special occult knowledge is there about it. There it is.

It seems pretty transparently to be some kind of poor imitation of the resurrection. And it shows the endemic continuing nature of evil in this time. You're not going to get rid of evil easily. By verse 4 they got to the point where they worshiped the dragon.

Friend, don't be deceived about this. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. And here we're being warned. Do you remember what Jesus taught?

Matthew 5 in the Beatitudes, verse 10, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Persecution, whether of us individually or corporately through legal means or simply social pressure, should call us together to study, to pray. What we need first in order to endure is the realism of what it is that we're being called to endure.

When persecution comes, it's not some new, unplanned, paradigm-shattering thing that's happened. It's what we've been told from Jesus and from the very beginning on the pages of the New Testament. Persecution is promised.

Last week when we were with Welton looking at those opening verses of the prayer of Jesus in John 17 before His arrest and trial and crucifixion where He would give Himself for us, We were taken to that last night of Jesus' earthly ministry. Just before that, that same evening, John 15, John records that Jesus told His disciples, Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.' Jesus had said that at the beginning of His ministry in the Sermon on the Mount. And he said that at the end, as if to underscore right before he is persecuted finally, mortally, if this is happening to me, you should not be surprised if this happens to you for following me. And then as in so many ways, Paul mirrors the ministry of Jesus.

And when you look in Paul's last words, 2 Timothy, what we find in 2 Timothy 3 verse 12, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Friends, notice the close connection there is between persecution and deception, like we'll see in these two beasts in chapter 13. More on the deception in a moment. I do just want to say as a pastor these days, I fear the way many people become Christians today is simply through answering a question, Would you like purpose in this life? Or, Would you like this free gift of eternal life?

Friends, I can imagine unregenerate people answering that question sincerely, yes.

And while there is no doubt that following Christ will give you that purpose, that eternal life if you truly follow Him and so much more, part of what following Christ gives you in this life is unavoidable and sometimes even fatal.

Opposition, persecution.

Members of this church, if I can just speak to you amidst all of our visitors today, we have perhaps scores of friends who've been members of this church who now live in various places around the world where when they share the gospel with someone, if they decide they believe in Christ, They then are given the decision, Do I tell them to be baptized? Because if I do, their family will disown them. They'll lose their job. They'll have no place to be buried. They may even be killed.

All just for being baptized?

CHBC members, we have friends around the world.

Who face that question every day.

This persecution is real. It's part of what we need to consider at the front end of following Christ.

This is why Jesus said in Luke 14 verse 28, For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost? So friend, if you're here today, and you're not a Christian but you'd like to become a Christian, I would encourage you to do that. You must renounce everything you have. Everything. All of your relationships, all of your hopes, ultimately your health, your bank account, your life.

I don't know what God will do with each one of those things necessarily in each one of our lives. But I do know that he requires them all, and that's still part of the good news. The news that we're given in Christ is so good that we hear realistically about this kind of opposition, and if we hear it rightly and soberly, we conclude that's a good bargain. I pay this, the big ticket's already paid, this is just me stepping into it, and then I get all this. More about that in a moment.

But first, non-Christian friends, I just want you to notice that if you want to follow Christ and be forgiven of your sins, you want to renounce all that you have. And you want to understand what that means in your own life. We would love to help you do that here. Talk to the friend you came with, talk to any of the pastors at the doors on the way out. But we find that we need more than simply realism.

If we're going to endure the persecution that comes to us as Christians, we also need a second thing, discernment, and that's where this second beast comes in. Let's look again at this chapter. And look at this second beast.

He seems to be a satanic false prophet. This is a beast from the earth. If the first one is a sea beast, this is the earth beast. And he destroys people more subtly than the sea beast. He specializes at deception.

He probably has offices here on Capitol Hill and on K Street.

That's why he's identified as the salesman of the dragon and the beast, the false prophet, the behemoth of the spin room. Look again, verses 11 to 18.

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth.

It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed. It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and by the signs 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. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image to be slain.

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he had the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

With the introduction of this beast in verse 11, you really have completed a trio of evil that some of you have noticed. You've sent me emails or made comments about it. You have the dragon, you have the sea beast, and you have the land beast. And this is like a parody of the Trinity. This is like a demonic, mocking, a bizarro world version of the true triune God.

The second beast we see in verse 11 looks like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. He's the false prophet. He's clearly called that in chapter 16. I think most clearly from our passage these two beasts are representing Imperial Rome and false religious leaders. They deceive.

That is their demonic work. They work to veil the truth that God has revealed. Look at verse 12. We find that he makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. So this religion man peddles a religion that is subservient to the status quo, the power of the state.

So we see in verse 14 the second beast deceives those who dwell on the earth. Satan is a deceiver. And again, my friend, if you're here and you're not a Christian, whether you're very religious or a none, not religious at all, this text is presenting you as the deceived.

Consider that. If you are not a Christian, the Bible understands that you are deceived. And part of what happens when you become a Christian and sort of the process of becoming one, and sometimes it happens very suddenly, sometimes it takes a little while, your vision begins to clear. You begin to see things differently. Some of you who've been attending here for a few weeks or a few months may have begun experiencing that.

Again, talk to the people you're coming with. Speak to me or one of the other pastors at the door. We would love to help you understand more of what's going on. But friends, don't think that this second beast, because he's subtle, is not also brutal. Oh no, he's as brutal as the first.

We read in verse 15 that he does all this deception so that he might cause those who would not worship the image to be slain. Behold the cause of the effects rather of the fall echoing down through human history from Cain killing faithful Abel down to this very day and some of the ongoing persecutions we Christians experience or know about.

One of the most powerful parts of Christianity is its ability to be truthful about the evil in the world. Claudia, do you remember that morning when we were meeting and you told me about the word wrong and how wrong was not a concept you'd been brought up with and Jesus in the Gospel of Mark talking about sin was such a powerful idea for you in describing the story you were working on at the time? Yeah, that's the case with so many people. That in this world where we're told not to think of anything as wrong They're left trying to put together a puzzle without all the pieces. Friends, we have a very powerful explanatory tool in God's holiness, His goodness, His rightness, the way He's made us to be, and how when we're not like that, we are wrong.

We are in sin.

Jesus came specifically to die for sinners, to pay the penalty that we have accrued with God, and he will forgive us entirely and give us a new life if we'll repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ for our forgiveness. Christian friends, make sure when your friends at work are mocking you or your workmate are rejecting you, that they're mocking you and rejecting you for the right things. It is possible for us as Christians to think we're being mocked for being Christians when we're just being mocked for being jerks. We need to understand that. So let's say all of the suffering we endured this last year socially, we total it all up and present the receipt to the Lord.

Look at all this I suffered for you. My guess is he strikes out at least half of it saying like, well, actually, half of this was on your own tab. You know, I mean, you were just being not very kind. You should have learned something from your non-Christian neighbors, maybe to be a little kinder on some of these things. But yeah, some things that we are rejected for, it's because of our following the Lord.

We need to be discerning. We need to understand what's going on. Sometimes we're confused by how we're persecuted, other times we're confused by who is persecuting us, still other times we're confused by why they would treat us like that. I think one of the most important parts of deception is to cause us to be unsuspecting of it.

So one of the things I notice about secular people generally that I talk to is their utter confidence in their own perception of themselves.

It's really interesting. So I turned 65 this year, if I live long enough through the year. And what that means is I have some disadvantages when compared with some of you, but I also have an advantage in that I think the world I was brought up in was less under the illusion that I define my own reality. You poor people who are teens and twenties, You've been taught some super weird, really religious stuff in your schools. It's all false about how you define reality by your thoughts.

It gets into some churches positive confession. This stuff is all against the Bible. It's so not true. God has determined reality. We are really alive.

We are moral actors. We can do things that are wrong. He's given us that power, that ability. But what we need in order to make good decisions is the truth, and especially the truth about ourselves. Oh, my friend, how will you find the truth about yourself?

Well, the first step is to realize that even that is a quest. Even that is not self-evident. Even that is not always obvious to you. You are not the world expert on you.

Now me telling you that would make a good high school public teacher on the hill warn you about be careful with that guy. He's getting his fingers into your psyche and he's beginning to do something that will manipulate you. And I would just say, really? Is that what I'm doing or is that what they're doing?

Let's look at the track record of self exaltation and self knowledge assuming everybody is perfect in their own self knowledge. And see what life that leads to. And then let's look at an examined life, a considered life, a life where you think there's wisdom to be had outside of yourselves. I think we want to unmask the terrible goals that our opponent has. The vision here includes the second beast in order to wake us up, to make us aware of the disorienting fumes of lies that we may have been inhaling for so long that's made us drowsy and inattentive to what's really going on.

So kids, for you, if you understand yourself to be a kid, listen up. Do not follow things because they're popular. Popular things can be lies. They can be wrong. I'm not saying the crowd is always wrong.

If that were the case, you wouldn't need any discernment. But I'm telling you, the crowd is not always right. And the crowd will tell you it's always right. And particularly when you're being kind of socially formed, when you're 12 or 14, it is so normal to want to be accepted by your peers. It's not wrong of you to want that.

But you're made to find that with your parents and with other Christians, with people at a church like this, or even with non-Christian family and friends that would have the same values. But friend, you've got to be very careful, young people, you must be especially careful to be watching out for ways you could be being deceived. So here is a good lunchtime conversation with your friends or with mom and dad today. Mom and dad, as I'm thinking about what Pastor Mark was saying, I've got a couple of things I can think of that I've been taught at school this year that I think may have been kind of that deception. And I just wanna know what you think.

I wanna like figure out how to talk about it, put it in words, and I wanna know what you think. Why don't you try that for lunch today? See how that would go. I think the false prophet here is allowed to do real signs in order to deceive the people. You see in verses 13 and 14, fire coming down from heaven.

It's kind of like the opposite of where Elijah in 1 Kings 18 confronts the prophet of Baal at Mount Carmel. There it's giving testimony to the truth, but here it's allowed to to happen so that people won't be confirmed simply by the spectacle, but they'll ask, what is the spectacle commending?

And is what it commends true? In verse 16, all it says are marked by the number of the beast, of the man. We know no more about this than what we read right here. But back in that day, enslaved persons could be marked with their owners seal just as we might brand cattle. This is some sign of ownership, the one whose seal it is.

But it's just that kind of coercion and error in order to protect their lives in this world that would lead even those within churches to give up all their hopes in the next. See, what the second beast is doing, he's trying to cause worldwide worship of the first beast, and I assume of the dragon, and to that end he sets out to deceive all the inhabitants of the earth. And that's what he's being allowed to do by these misleading signs. Like Satan himself whom he represents, he is a deceiver. Even signs, which by their nature are meant to point toward the truth, these signs are being misused to mislead here.

Look at verses 16 and 17.

Notice the pairs meant to include all.

What John's being shown here is that neither slavery nor freedom will protect you from this kind of deception. Neither your greatness, your station in life, or your comparative unimportance. That's amazing for a congregation on the hill to hear, isn't it? Because we assume that there is great benefit in having high rank and there's great disadvantage in having low rank. And actually spiritually what we find here is that doesn't seem to be true.

It seems like all kinds of people of whatever rank are to be deceived. Neither your poverty nor your wealth can make you by itself wise. I think one of the most common mistakes people make in our culture is to think somehow that money will protect them. But it doesn't, does it?

In the medieval miracle play, every man, the main character, is called Everyman. And he's given notice that he's about to give an account to God. He's about to die. He's nervous, so he goes around trying to help find people to help him, to go with him, to give account to God for his life.

Nobody will go with him. His closest family members turn him down. No, you've got to make that journey by yourself. I'm not going to go. So finally he gets in his head, I know.

I will turn to what I have loved throughout my life, my goods, the stuff that I own. So Goods, and in the medieval towns this was played by some smaller person who would be hiding in a chest over in the corner of the stage. Goods replies negatively. He's not going to go with him. Every man is crushed.

Alas, I've loved thee and had great pleasure in all my life days on good and treasure. Goods responds from the corner of the stage. That is to thy damnation without leasing, for my love is contrary to the love everlasting. If thou love me moderately during as to give to the poor part of me, then shouldst thou not be in this duller but in this great sorrow and care.

Every man responds, Lo now, was I deceived ere I was ware, in all my spending of time. Goods. What, thinkest thou that I am thine? Every man, I thought so. Goods, nay, every man.

I'd say nay, as for a while I was lent thee. A season thou hadst me in prosperity. My condition? A man's soul is to kill. If I save one, a thousand I do spill.

Thoughtest thou that I would follow thee? Nay, not from this world verily. Every man. I had thought otherwise. Goods.

Therefore to thee, to thy soul, goods is a thief, for which thou art dead. This is my when thou art dead, This is my guise, another to deceive in the same wise as I have done thee and all to thy soul's grief.

Friends, part of our need for discernment is shown even in the last verse of the chapter. Did you know this is the only verse in the New Testament that makes reference to this number 666 that has become an ominous part of our culture? Rather than thinking the verb calculate here is telling us to reduce the number value of a name, letter by letter to get a certain identity that could be totaled up to 666. I think a simpler answer is simply that these sixes are better understood as saying that the second beast is not divine. That is, that would be represented by 377, 777.

But this beast, for all its pretensions of divinity, is merely a creature. Who will himself be subject to limitation. The beast's number, his identity, is that of a man, a creature, who will himself be subject to limitation and the judgment of God. And that really brings me to the last point that I want to make. If we're going to endure persecution, we need to be realistic, we need discernment, but also we need hope.

And friends, a lot more hope is coming next week in chapter 14.

But because I'm following somebody who hundreds of years ago divided the Bible up into these chapters, not inspired by the Spirit of God, the Bible is, the chapters are not, but they're pretty good divisions. So we're just doing chapter 13 today. Lord willing, next week we'll pick up all that great hope in chapter 14. But I want you to see that we are not without hope. In chapter 13.

That even here there is some needed hope and you can spot it especially in verses 8 to 10. Look with me in verses 8 to 10.

And all who dwell on earth will worship everyone whose name has ooh. And here's where all the great hope rushes in. Not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to be taken captive to captivity, he goes.

If anyone is to be slain with a sword, with a sword he must be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

How can you get hope? In order to face this dedicated and tricky opposition of the world, the flesh, and the devil in your own pilgrimage home.

It's very interesting how John begins this book. Look back in chapter 1. Look at verse 3.

This is true of the whole book.

It's the first blessing He mentions. He mentions a number of blessings in the book. This is the first one He mentions. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. Friends, we need to hear God's Word.

We have that exhortation here in chapter 13 in verse 9. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

We need the understanding that God's Word brings. We're told down in verse 18 that this deception we face will require wisdom. How do we get wisdom? How do we get this kind of discernment except through hearing and understanding and believing God's Word? My Christian friend, you can have all the courage in the world, enough to whistle on the way to your own martyrdom, and that won't give you the wisdom you need in order to not be deceived.

You realize that? Some people say, Courage is what's needed. Courage is sometimes needed, there's no doubt about that. But I just do want to point out, you can have all the courage in the world. And you can be foolish.

You can be unwise in how you direct that scarce resource.

You can be deceived even when you're not scared.

So how are you preparing yourself for the discernment you need to have? Well, if we're to take God's Word to heart, that means we must obey it. And that's what typifies Christians. Back in chapter 12, verse 17, they're described as those who keep the commandments of God. Or in the next chapter, chapter 14, verse 12, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

So faith and works are what Christians persevere in and are characterized by. Martin Luther said that the church is not afraid of all the persecuting princes of the world because she stands in awe of the words of God. You see how such reverence for God's Word prepares you to overcome in times of persecution. Let me show you some evidence for that, even in this chapter 13. Even in this dark passage, we find it studded with points of hopeful light.

I wonder if you've noticed them. They're there if you read carefully. Let me just mention a few. First of all, look there in verse 2. Did you notice the dragon gave the beast of the sea his power and his throne and his great authority?

And that's a lot, isn't it? His power and His throne and His great authority. Sounds a little bit like the temptation when he tempted Jesus to worship him and give all the nations. But do you remember how different that is? Notice from what Jesus said in Matthew 28 when he said to his disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and then he promised to be with us always to the very end of the age.

Great authority is great authority. All authority is all authority. And then another thing there in verse 4, They make this big brag, who is like the beast and who can fight and make war against it?

Yeah, they're kind of mocking Exodus 15:11, the Lord. But if you just look back in chapter 12, Michael and the archangels just beat the beast boss, the dragon, and threw him out of heaven. This guy who's bragging, this beast, has just lost. How can he brag like that? Because he's self-deceived.

It is the nature of sin not to think well. So there he is bragging when he's just lost. But if we're foolish, if we just listen to the boast and just immediately believe the boast, here come the words, I'm believing them, why don't you just stand up and ask about the truth of the words? I know they're very loud, they're very compelling. Just ask if they're true.

Another thing, verse 5. You see that word allowed? If you're looking at your own Bible, just underscore that word allowed every time you find it in this chapter. It's there in verse 5, it's there again in verse 7.

And then again in verse 14 and then again in verse 15, there are all these things where you see the beast did as much as it was allowed to do. Well, allowed by who? Allowed by the first beast? I don't think so. The dragon?

Maybe, but that's not the most compelling case. I think that word assumes allowed by God. Just like in Job 1, he would let the evil one go so far and no further, just like God was sovereign over the Assyrians in Isaiah, or the Babylonians in Jeremiah and Ezekiel's day, or Cyrus in Ezra's day, or Herod and Pontius Pilate in Christ's own earthly ministry. So He is sovereign still today over all the other greatest powers, even those that persecute us. He will allow a certain amount.

You want more hope? Look at verse 8.

All who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain. Do you notice all of those who will not be deceived? Friends, there is a whole host of people who will not be deceived. No one will be deceived whose name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's why there are still people down in verse 15 who will not worship the image and therefore would have to be slain.

Good news, you won't be deceived. Bad news, you will be slain.

But hey, if you care more about knowing the Lord than your earthly life, it's a good deal. You won't be deceived, good news. Bad news, you will be slain.

Friends, that's the bargain that's not just words, but that many of our brothers and sisters around the world today have to think through in following Christ.

The last one I'll point out to you, the last bit of hope is the numbers there in the chapter, I think, that have brought the most number of questions from you, dear congregation, this week. I think they're meant simply to show incompletion and temporariness. So if you look in verse 5, the 42 months, I'm not persuaded those are 42 periods of 30 or 31 days. I think it's just three and a half years, which is half of seven. Seven is permanent, three and a half is temporary.

All John is seeing in this vision is that this malignant power is not complete. It will not always rule. This one's time too is passing. This one too is a mere creature who like all others will be subject to the sovereignty of the God who truly does rule creation, who truly is alone everlasting and eternal. That's what we're to see in verse 18 when we're told that we need wisdom to understand.

The same wisdom that we need to know that the beast's number is not 777 reflecting God, truly divine self. But rather it's 666, the number merely of a man, because this beast is also just a creature who will certainly be one day judged.

Will certainly be one day judged. Friends, I spent 20 or 30 minutes of this sermon trying to help us understand something of the fearsomeness of this opposition that we'll face. But because this series goes on for so many weeks, I just want to cheat and look ahead to verse 19 to give you a little extra hope. Look at verse 19, chapter 19.

You may even want to write these verse references down to the end of chapter 13 in case you read it again sometime and get all discouraged. Look at chapter 19.

Verse 19, and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet. That's your second beast, your land beast, who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast. And those who had worshiped its image. These two, so we know exactly what he's talking about, were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

That's their end. But wait, there's more. Also, you need to write down chapter 20. Look over at verse 10.

The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Friend, if you're not a Christian, I hope you realize what you're doing by listening to the Bible being read and taught has long proved a more spiritually engaging experience than you may have first thought. More than one persecutor has turned preacher simply by hearing God's Word read and preached. Some of you will have heard of George Whitefield who preached up and down the colonies in the 1700s. He was mocked by many people. The most famous mocker one day was standing just out to the side of Whitefield, literally mocking his motions.

Mocking what he was saying as he had done many times before, when he became convicted of his sins and he broke down and was converted there that day on the spot.

Friends, don't take any solace in your unbelief like you're in a permanent state you will always be in. If you were in such a permanent state of unbelief, I doubt even your politeness would have led you to sit through all of this this morning. Something may be going on in your heart. You might want to look carefully at it. If you want to look more carefully at the Bible, we are happy to help you do that.

Pray that God would give you more and more of an understanding of Him and His Word and of you and of what you should do in obedience to His Word in every area of your life. Read the Bible, take the one we're offering you here today. Give time to meditating on it. If you're having trouble understanding a part of it, just ask people here for help. You make time to read any Christian books.

Do you think that would help you? We Christians often meet together to talk, to think better, to become more discerning. If you want somebody to help you do that, Caleb, stand up for a second. Mark Feather, where are you? Mark Feather, maybe he's faithfully downstairs today.

Yeah, just find one of the staff members. They would love to help you think through what you could be reading and studying. Listen carefully to the hymns. Oh, they've been amazing this morning. They fit perfectly with what we're talking about.

The prayers as we prayed with Alex and with Troy, with Christian. But especially come and listen to the sermons. We plan big, careful sermons like this one at the center of our times together because we understand that exposing So, exposing God's Word to God's people is the way we can best serve this congregation in our desire to love God more. We want to understand what He has revealed about Himself in His Word. So, to prepare us to overcome whatever hard times we're facing, whatever we're called to endure in this fallen world, whatever persecution we may face, we want to gain hope, to give ourselves to hearing and taking God's Word to heart.

That's what we're doing here every Sunday morning. And do you know what you're gonna learn through reading your Bible? Among many other things, you will learn that when things look like they are at their very worst, they are not.

When things look like they're at their very worst, they're not. When our first parents were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, they were thrown into the way of grace. When Joseph was thrown into the pit and left by his own brothers, God was preparing a way for their own deliverance. When the children of Israel were trapped for centuries in slavery, God raised up Moses to deliver His people in a way which glorified Himself and His name over all the gods of the most powerful nation on earth. When Naomi was grumbling about all the hard providences of her life in Ruth chapter 1, how does that chapter end?

As she's walking all the way back to Bethlehem, the last sentence, They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. And through that harvest, all of her life would be changed. Her not seeing it at the time didn't make it not so. God was in His good plans as He always is. In Isaiah's time, the 180,000 Assyrian troops surrounding Jerusalem did not endanger that city one whit more because it simply gave the event for God to show He could take care of them all at a stroke of His hand.

In Ezekiel's day when the Israelites were in exile in Babylon and they thought that because they had lost their land, they had lost their God, and they were clean forgotten among the number of those that He remembers no more, Then God appeared to Ezekiel in a dream, and He showed them with a vision of a heavenly city that would be with them, and the name of the city would be the Lord is there.

When Christ is rejected by His own and He is dying on the cross for His people, then we were being redeemed.

When the sisters came to find the dead body, what they found was the living Lord. Friend, it's not that things aren't bad. Yeah, things can be bad. But simply that when they appear to be at their very worst, they are not. Because God is good and God is sovereign.

This whole book ends up with God on the throne. Every day of our lives, the camera's just pulled back a little bit, we're getting a little more detailed of the path that ends up with God on the throne forever.

Big picture of chapter 13, how can we endure the persecutions that we face and we will face? One, by being realistic. Don't be surprised by them. If you need more help on that, read 1 Peter. Second, by becoming discerning and understanding our own times, putting the right value on things.

And third, by finding the hope, the real hope there is for you in God's Word. Let's pray together.

Lord God, better than we ourselves, you know what we face in this coming week, in this coming month.

We pray that you would be arranging our thoughts, that you would be reforming our loves, that you would be filling us with your own Spirit, causing us to renew our minds by your Word. So get glory to yourself, we pray, through our lives and thoughts and loves for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we ask in His name. Amen.