{"id":18989,"date":"2019-05-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-040-the-coming-world-ruler-part-3\/"},"modified":"2019-05-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-26T05:00:00","slug":"revelation-040-the-coming-world-ruler-part-3","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-040-the-coming-world-ruler-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 040 – The Coming World Ruler (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18989","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 040 - The Coming World Ruler (Part 3)","sermon_date":"20190526","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6749,"sermon_slides":6750,"sermon_mp3":6752,"sermon_id":"526191444233908","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"13:6-10","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming World Ruler (Part 3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a05-26-19\n\nRevelation 13:6-10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 40\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 13, Lord willing I\u2019m trying to make it through verses 6-10 today.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is The Coming World Ruler (Part 3).\u00a0\u00a0 And of course tomorrow is Memorial Day, this is Memorial Day weekend and we all recognize that it\u2019s more than just a holiday and barbeque.\u00a0 There was actual blood that was shed so that we could have the freedom to do sort of what we\u2019re doing right now, to meet in open expressing our First Amendment rights.\u00a0 So we always are very grateful for the blood that was shed to give us freedom.\n\nOn another note a tragedy happened earlier this week, one of my students, David Harrison, some of you may remember David, he was actually attending this church for a stint, I have to say he probably one of the most eager students I\u2019ve ever had at the College of Biblical Studies, and he had taken a local church here in town, in the Houston area and was doing great things and God was using him and tragically he had a (from what I\u2019ve been able to piece together) a heart attack or a cardiac arrest or something which ended his very, very young life.\n\nAnd it\u2019s one of those type of things where you see it on social media and you think\u00a0 you\u2019re seeing things, this couldn\u2019t have happened.\u00a0 I had just received a text from him that I hadn\u2019t responded to yet and so it sort of reminds you of the Book of James, chapter 4 and verse 14 which tells us that we\u2019re like mist that appears for a little while and then it\u2019s gone.\u00a0 [James 4:14, \u201cYet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.\u201d]\u00a0 You don\u2019t really understand why God would allow that to happen, it\u2019s one of those kinds of things you just sort of plead\u00a0 mystery, but I would encourage you to lift up his family and particularly his church and his wife, Melissa, during this obviously very difficult time.\n\nWe continue to move through the Book of Revelation where the various trumpet judgments have been unleashed.\u00a0 The seventh trumpet is sort of announcing a transfer, legally, of this world from Satan\u2019s hands into God\u2019s hands.\u00a0 And we come to a section of the Book of Revelation which is sort of a pause in the chronology where \u201cThe kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; [and He will reign forever and ever.\u201d] Revelation 11:15.\n\nAnd we see Satan making a counter move.\u00a0 What better way to stop the transfer of\u00a0 authority from Satan\u2019s hands to God\u2019s hands than to destroy the instrument thought which the kingdom will come, Israel.\u00a0 Revelation 12.\u00a0 It\u2019s an explanation there of why the world hates Israel.\u00a0 There you see Satan\u2019s complete frontal attack against Israel in the second half of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And that logically follows in Revelation 13 where you have a description of the two beasts that Satan will use.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0One of them is the antichrist, verses 1-10; the second one is the false prophet, verses 11-18.\u00a0 And this is the section of the Book of Revelation probably where you get the greatest discussion or treatment on this coming antichrist, a world leader that will come on the scene one day.\n\nWe\u2019ve looked at many things related to this antichrist; we\u2019ve looked at his sudden appearance in John\u2019s vision, his gentile ethnicity, the fact that he is the fulfillment or embodiment of many of the prophecies spoken of by Daniel, the fact that he is directly empowered by the devil himself, his resurrection, and we looked at some of the complexities of that.\u00a0 The fact that the world will worship him on account of his power.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at his oratory; we\u2019ve looked at the time in which he will extend his authority, the second three and a half\u00a0 years of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And as we continue to move through this information verse by verse we now come to his blasphemies.\n\nNotice, if you will,\u00a0 Revelation 13:6, it says, \u201cHe,\u201d that\u2019s the beast, \u201copens his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice there\u2019s a reference here to his mouth, he opened \u201chis mouth\u201d and spoke.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had a reference to his mouth back in verse 5 and what comes out of his mouth are blasphemies, in fact, you see the word \u201cblaspheming\u201d or \u201cblasphemies,\u201d that word is used at least two times there in verse 6.\u00a0 We saw it a little bit back in verse 5.\u00a0 It also mentions his arrogant words and blasphemies.\u00a0 What exactly is a blasphemy?\u00a0 It\u2019s to speak against someone in such a way so as to injure their reputation in the eyes of others.\n\nWe might put it in modern day vernacular it would be like slander in the legal system today where you aggressively manipulate, lie, about someone to such an extent that you\u2019re intent is to destroy their business, their credibility, their reputation in the eyes of others, it\u2019s actually what we call in the legal system a torte.\u00a0 You can actually be sued for that and if you put it in print it\u2019s called liable.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice that this is what is naturally coming out of Satan\u2019s mouth in the second half of the tribulation period and he is specifically blaspheming four things.\u00a0 What four things exactly is he (the beast) blaspheming?\u00a0 It says there in verse 6, number on, he\u2019s blaspheming God.\u00a0 God is featured very prominently in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 He is the one who sits on the heavenly throne, Revelation 4:9.\u00a0 [Revelation 4:9, \u201cAnd when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 The lamb there, Revelation 5:6-7, is standing in heaven.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:6-7, \u201cAnd I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.\u00a0 [7] And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.\u201d]\n\nAnd Satan through the beast at this particular point in the tribulation period begins to blaspheme what is in heaven or God Himself.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting, and by the way,\u00a0 isn\u2019t it interesting that when we get upset about something you cut off on the freeway, it\u2019s so easy to take the Lord\u2019s name in vain, it\u2019s so easy to blaspheme Jesus Christ the second member of the Godhead.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve noticed that, even while I was unsaved, before I got saved, when I would get upset at something, blasphemies against Jesus so easily rolled off my tongue.\u00a0 I never blasphemed Mohammed, that was unnatural.\u00a0 People don\u2019t blaspheme Buddha.\u00a0 But isn\u2019t it interesting how when they\u2019re upset about something the first name they take in vain is Jesus, the second member of the Godhead.\u00a0 That, to me, in and of itself must prove that the Bible is true because there is some sort of pent up hatred in the human heart already for Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s just something interesting to think about.\n\nAnd so this is who Satan is blaspheming.\u00a0 He blasphemes God.\u00a0 Now this is interesting here, it says in verse 6 he also blasphemes His name.\u00a0 Why is he blaspheming His name?\u00a0 Because he knows what\u2019s coming forty-two months later\u2026 the kingdom!\u00a0 And once the kingdom is established on planet earth the name of the Lord will be exalted.\u00a0 Prophecy predicts that.\n\nIsaiah 29:23 of the kingdom age, God says, \u201cThey will sanctify My name.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 29:23, \u201cBut when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.\u201d]\n\nEzekiel 36:23 says, God says through Ezekiel, \u201cI will vindicate the holiness of My Great Name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. [Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,\u2019 declares the Lord GOD, \"when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.\u201d]\u00a0 You see the opportunity to blaspheme the name of God is very limited.\u00a0 That opportunity is not going to exist during the thousand year kingdom because His name, according to Bible prophecy, is going to be exalted.\u00a0\u00a0 And this may be one of the reasons Satan is blaspheming His name.\u00a0 He\u2019s only got forty-two months left to do it.\n\nAnd isn\u2019t it interesting that all of the profanity, all of the filth, all of the anti-God statements that pour forth all of the time, from all forms of media, all kinds of news outlets, all kinds of public school systems, isn\u2019t it interesting that the opportunity to do that is limited so you\u2019d better enjoy it now if you\u2019re into that kind of thing because the day will come in the millennial kingdom when the name of the Lord will be exalted to its rightful place.\n\nHe blasphemes God, he blasphemes God\u2019s name, there\u2019s a third thing he blasphemes there, according to verse 6 he blasphemes God\u2019s tabernacle.\u00a0 Now we know, Revelation 15:5 that the tabernacle is in heaven.\u00a0 [Revelation 15:5, \u201cAfter these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened.\u201d]\u00a0 We know, Hebrews 8:5 that it was the image of the heavenly tabernacle that Moses was given to create the earthly tabernacle.\u00a0 [Hebrews 8:5, \u201cwho serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, \u2018SEE\u2019 He says, \u2018THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.\u00a0 \u201d\u00a0 We know there\u2019s a heavenly tabernacle.\n\nAnd we know that the ark, Revelation 11:19, is there in heaven in that very temple or tabernacle.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:19, \u201cAnd the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.\u201d]\u00a0 I say that because while Harrison Ford is out looking for the raiders of the lost ark I actually know where it is, it\u2019s in heaven.\u00a0 And so Satan is blaspheming all of these things.\u00a0 Anything that is of value to God, whether it be God, God\u2019s name, God\u2019s heavenly tabernacle, he blasphemes.\u00a0 And a lot of people miss what he does, verse 6, Satan through the beast, at the end of verse 6 he blasphemes \u201cthose who dwell in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 13:6, \u201cAnd he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.\u201d]\n\nNow who would that be?\u00a0 Well, according to Revelation 5:11, Revelation 7:11, there are at least two things, perhaps three in heaven.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:11, \u201cThen I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 7:11, \u201cAnd all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,\u201d]\n\nNumber one, myriads of angels, an uncountable number of angels, ten thousand times ten thousand.\u00a0 So that would be one group of heavenly dwellers that Satan is verbally attacking.\u00a0 And then you have this special category of creatures in heaven that we\u2019ve all studied in the Book of Revelation, they\u2019re called \u201cthe four living creatures.\u201d\u00a0 Satan attacks them verbally through the beast as well.\u00a0 And yet there\u2019s another group that we have studied in heaven, they don\u2019t show up in any other heavenly scene.\u00a0 Isaiah had many prophecies about the heavenly scene, Isaiah 6, as did Ezekiel, and you never find this group ever mentioned until you get to the Book of Revelation, after Revelation 3 as you move into Revelation 4 there\u2019s another group in heaven called \u201cthe twenty-four elders.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd all the angels,\u201d Revelation 7:11, \u201cwere standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God.\u201d\n\nRevelation 7:11, the twenty-four elders are there as well.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAnd all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 5:11, the twenty-four elders are there as well.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:11, \u201cThen I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.\u201d]\n\nNow who could those twenty-four elders possibly be?\u00a0 We\u2019ve taught on this, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 We said the way these twenty-four elders are described sounds an awful lot like the way the church and the churches are described in Revelation 2 and 3.\u00a0 When you go through Revelation 2 and 3 systematically and we\u2019ve done that, you start to get a description of the church and you read about what the twenty-four elders and the twenty-four elders have the same characteristics as the church.\u00a0 And t I think is happening here is Satan is attacking verbally everything in heaven, including the church itself, and is the church really in heaven?\u00a0 Well, Revelation 1:20 tells us that the seven lampstands are the seven churches.\u00a0 And Revelation 4:5 says the seven lamps or lampstands are before the throne.\u00a0 Where is \u00a0\u00a0the throne?\u00a0 It\u2019s in heaven.\u00a0 I think Satan is launching a blistering attack on the church in heaven and you ask yourself, well how did the church get up there?\u00a0 The answer is the rapture of the church.\n\nOnce you start to see are built-in proofs, and I\u2019ll show\u00a0 you more of them today as we progress, that\u00a0 the church is not on the earth when these events happen and that\u2019s why Satan hates the church, they \u00a0got outside of His wrath.\u00a0 There\u2019s a group of people he wanted to eradicate completely but couldn\u2019t because they were translated, harpazo<\/em>, removed into heaven before the tribulation period even started, escaping the day of Satan\u2019s storm. \u00a0He is attacking verbally those who ae in heaven which would include angels, the four living creatures and the very church itself.\n\nIt\u2019s very interesting to me that the church is hated by the world system while it\u2019s here and it continues to be hated by the world system after it\u2019s gone.\u00a0 Now a lot of people say well, you know, I don\u2019t about all this rapture stuff.\u00a0 I usually like to tell people that tell me that, \u201cwell, don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll explain it \u00a0to\u00a0 you on the way up.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 But a lot of people say well how can all of these people just disappear from the planet.\u00a0 How could the world system explain this massive disappearance of people in the rapture.\u00a0 Beloved, the intellectual framework is already in place for that explanation.\u00a0 You just have to know where to read to find it.\n\nThis is a book by Alice A. Bailiey called The Coming Synthesis<\/em> and the book is very interesting to me because she is receiving information from an entity called Dijwhal Khul, (if I\u2019m pronouncing that right) it\u2019s called The Seventh Ray: Revealer of the New Age<\/em>.\u00a0 You can find this and read it but I wouldn\u2019t read it unless God is calling you to do that.\u00a0 And this entity that she\u2019s talking to is what she calls in the New Age movement, her ascended master, a higher being sent to kind of help the human race evolve correctly.\u00a0 Now the Bible knows no such doctrine as higher beings and so Alice Bailiey who exactly is she talking to?\u00a0 She\u2019s talking to a demon masquerading as an angel of light.\n\nAnd when you read Alice Bailiey\u2019s book you start to get an understanding of the future that Satan has for planet earth and how it fits exactly into what God said would happen in the last days.\u00a0 This ascended master allegedly told Alice Bailiey \u201cThe coming of the Aquarian age\u201d that\u2019s the New Age definition of their millennial kingdom, \u201calso stimulates in man a spirit of universality and a tendency towards fusion. This can be seen working out in the present trend towards synthesis in business, in religion and in politics<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 Everything has got to come together in terms of a synthesis.\u00a0 \u201cIt produces an urge towards union, and among other unions, towards religious understanding and tolerance....\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that tolerance is really the last virtue today people will respect.\u00a0 You know, the foundation of western civilizations used to be another \u201cT\u201d word, Truth, the highest virtue.\u00a0 That\u2019s no longer in abundance today, is it?\u00a0 People by and large don\u2019t even value truth.\u00a0 What they value is tolerance; tolerance has replaced truth as the last virtue of the dying civilization.\n\n\u201cFalse and true standards will emerge in man\u2019s consciousness, and those choices will be made which will lay the foundation of the new order, which will inaugurate the new race, with its new laws\u201d<\/u> my goodness, \u201cand novel approaches shall usher in the new religion of love and brother\u00adhood, and that period wherein the group and the group-good will be the dominant<\/u> note.\u201d Group consensus is going to rule the day, not the individual.\u00a0 Well what happens to all the trouble makers?\u00a0 I mean, what happens to the people that don\u2019t want to \u201cget along and go along\u201d with this?\u00a0 The demons told Alice Bailiey \u201cThen separateness and hatreds will fade out<\/u>\u201d how in the world are we going to fade out?\u00a0 I would say we\u2019re going to fade out through the rapture.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and men will be merged in a true unity.\u201d\u00a0 [Alice A. Bailiey and Dijwhal Khul, The Seventh Ray: Revealer of the New Age <\/em>(NY: Lucius Press, 1995), 198-99]\n\nThere\u2019s coming some sort of cyclical cleansing of this earth whereby fundamentalism and belief in an absolute Word of God and people that think that way and believe that way, they\u2019re just going to fade out.\u00a0 You say well, Pastor, are you telling me that the demons themselves under\u00adstand the rapture of the church?\u00a0 You bet your bottom dollar they understand it.\u00a0 In fact, Satan believe in the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture of the church far more than most theologians today, far more than most preachers.\u00a0 And the explanation is already in place to explain to the world where did everybody go?\u00a0 Now that\u2019s just part one.\n\nHere\u2019s another book, this one was written by Barbara Marx Hubbard, it\u2019s entitled The Revelation:<\/em> and\u00a0 you look at the title and you think well it\u2019s going to be about the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 No it\u2019s not, it\u2019s a documented record of what her spirit guide, i.e. a demon, was telling her, I think if I read social media correctly Barbara Marx Hubbard died recently.\u00a0 She was a key leader in what\u2019s called The New Age.\u00a0 She was actually into nomination for the Vice Presidency in 1984, and this is what her demon told her.\n\n\u201cYour unfinished species is ready to evolve. The time has come on Earth for this quantum change to occur in many of you.\u201d Her \u201cChrist\" further informed her \u201cI cannot 'return' until enough of you are attracted and linked.\" Hubbard's \"Christ\" explained, \"I did not intend for you to deify me, but to deify yourselves as being at the same stage of evolution as I am.\u201d \u201cSuffice it to say, that if you do not choose to evolve into a wholesome, co-creative human, then you shall not.\u201d \u00a0\u201c...the fundamental regression is self-centeredness, or the illusion that you are separate from God. \u00a0I 'make war' on self-centeredness.\u201d the demon says, \u201cFurthermore, \u201cAt the co-creative stage of evolution, one self-centered soul is like a lethal cancer cell in a body; deadly to itself and to the whole.\" Thus, \"The surgeon dare leave no cancer in the body when he closes up the wound after a delicate operation<\/u>. We dare leave no self-centered person on Earth after the selection process.\u00a0 [Explanation of the missing, Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation: A Message of Hope for the New Millennium<\/em>, 2nd ed. (Novato, CA: Nataraj, 1995), 65, 66, 195, 233, 240, 255]\n\nYou understand what\u2019s happening here?\u00a0 Do you understand how the Biblicist or the fundamentalist or someone that wants to walk with Jesus Christ on the authority of God\u2019s Word is viewed by the world system, they\u2019re like a lethal cancer cell that at some point is going to be removed from the body or humanity.\u00a0 Now how in the world is that going to happen?\u00a0 That\u2019s the rapture.\u00a0 And what\u00a0 you\u2019re reading here is the satanic explanations that will be offered to the world the moment the rapture occurs.\u00a0 The troublemakers have been removed and now we can all approach this sort of brotherhood of humanity, of tolerance and love.\u00a0 And gone are the days when people are going to stand in pulpits and say \u201cThus saith the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Gone are going to be the days where people are going to say \u201cBroad is the road that leads to destruction and many there are that go that way; narrow is the road that leads to life, few are those who find it.\u201d\u00a0 That day is over, those people have been taken away.\n\nAnd it\u2019s very interesting to me to read about the intellectual framework or preparation that\u2019s already in place to explain away the rapture of the church to a godless unsaved world.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of some interesting reading, don\u2019t you think.\n\nWe move away from his blasphemies to the beast\u2019s persecution.\u00a0 Look at verse 7.\u00a0 \u201cIt was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.\u201d\u00a0 Well, what about the people that are left?\u00a0 What happens to them.\u00a0 Those are what we call the saints.\u00a0 Now I\u2019ll explain who the saints are in just a minute, but you\u2019ll notice this word \u201cwar\u201d?\u00a0 The Greek word there for war is polemos,<\/em> where we get the word polemical.\u00a0 It\u2019s the opposite of irene<\/em>, irenic, peaceful.\u00a0 And the devil himself is going to go to work with the saints.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice here, through the beast\u2026 you\u2019ll notice here it says \u201cit was given to him\u201d the beast, \u201cto make war with the saints.\u201d\u00a0 Why does it keep saying \u201cit was given to him\u201d?\u00a0 Because the beast, as we have studied, verse 2, verse 4, is being directly empowered by Satan himself.\n\nSo notice what this passage says and what it doesn\u2019t say.\u00a0 \u201cIt was also given to him to make war with the\u201d church.\u00a0 Does your Bible say that?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that, does it.\u00a0 It says \u201cIt was also given to him the authority and the power to make war with the saints.\u201d\u00a0 You say well who are the saints?\u00a0 The saints are those that have been converted after the church has gone through the evangelistic activity of 144,000 Jewish evangelists.\u00a0 I mean, we already had a description of that, didn\u2019t we, in Revelation 7?\u00a0 God all of a sudden calls and saves and calls these 144,000 Jews, they have to be Jews if words mean anything because they come from the twelve tribes.\u00a0 And they become empowered by God to be God\u2019s special witnesses during this terrible time.\u00a0 And they, in the second half of Revelation seven reap a tremendous evangelistic harvest.\u00a0 In fact their harvest is so big you can\u2019t even count the number of people that\u2019ll be saved during this very difficult time.\n\nAnd you say well why isn\u2019t God using the church here?\u00a0 I mean, God used the church 2,000 years, why is He using 144,000 Jews?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple, the church isn\u2019t on the earth, the church is in heaven.\u00a0 The twenty-four elders as we\u2019ve studied are in heaven.\u00a0 The seven lamp stands are in heaven.\u00a0 You remember the structure of the Book of Revelation, the outline?\u00a0 John is told \u201cwrite the things which you have seen, (part one), the things which are (part two), and the things that will take place after these things (part three).\u00a0 Part one is chapter 1, the vision of the glorified Christ.\u00a0 Part 2 is chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches.\u00a0 Part 3 is chapters 4 through 22, the futuristic section of the book.\u00a0 You say well, why does all this matter?\u00a0 Do you think it\u2019s a little odd that John in part one and part two uses the word church nineteen times, the Greek word ecclesia<\/em>?\u00a0 Over and over again when he\u2019s speaking to the church he says \u201cthe church\u201d \u201cthe church\u201d \u201cthe church\u201d all of a sudden you get to the third part of the book and he doesn\u2019t talk about \u201cthe church\u201d any more.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact the word ecclesia<\/em> doesn\u2019t even show up in the book until just a salutation or a conclusion where John signs off at the end and says preach these things in the churches.\n\nWhere is the church?\u00a0 The church is in heaven.\u00a0 You say well wait a minute, aren\u2019t we called saints?\u00a0 I mean, doesn\u2019t saint always mean church?\u00a0 And doesn\u2019t church always mean saints?\u00a0 That\u2019s where you\u2019re wrong.\u00a0 The word \u201csaints\u201d is not a term that is used to exclusively describe the church.\u00a0 In fact, those in Old Testament times were called saints.\u00a0 Psalm 50:5, written a thousand years before the time of Christ, long before the church came into existence, they\u2019re called saints.\u00a0 [Psalm 50:5, \u201cGather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.\u201d King James Version.]\u00a0 Psalm 149:1, a thousand years before the time of Christ Old Testament saints are called saints.\u00a0 [Psalm 149:1, \u201cPraise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and<\/em> his praise in the congregation of saints.\u201d\u00a0 KJV]\u00a0 Just because it says \u201csaints\u201d doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s the church because \u201csaints\u201d is not a technical word; it\u2019s a broader word.\u00a0 And so the fact that John is no longer using the word \u201cchurch\u201d but uses the word \u201csaints\u201d to my mind is further proof that the church can\u2019t be on the earth during this particular time.\n\nNow the Book of Daniel, chapter 7 and verse 21, a parallel passage, says this: \u00a0\u201cI kept looking, and that horn\u201d that\u2019s the beast we\u2019re talking about here, \u201cwas waging war with the\u201d church\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that, does it?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026with the saints and overpowering them.\u201d\u00a0 You see the exact same thing here in verse 7, \u201cIt was given to him to make war with\u201d not the church, but \u201cwith the saints and to overcome them.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s describing the antichrist overpowering, overcoming the saints of God in this particular terrible time period.\n\nDidn\u2019t Jesus talk about that relative to the church?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t He say in Matthew 16:18, up north there in Caesarea Philippi one day as he was talking to Peter and the disciples?\u00a0 \"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;\u201d the first reference to the coming church in the Scripture, \u201cand the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, the project of the church is going to be something that Satan himself will never be able to overpower.\u00a0 How could this be a description of the church when we\u2019re specifically told that the beast, Daniel 7:21, Revelation 13:7, is overcoming the saints, overpowering the saints,.\u00a0 [Daniel 7:21, \u201cI kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation\u00a0 13:7, \u201cIt was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.\u201d]\n\nI mean if this is the church then Christ is not keeping His promise here is He?\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting when you start to go through the Book of Revelation and the Holy Spirit just starts giving you all these clues as to why this is not dealing with the church at all.\u00a0 You know, John has been very good at saying \u201cchurch.\u201d\u00a0 He says that nineteen times in the first\u00a0 three chapters; now all of a sudden he\u2019s not saying \u201cchurch,\u201d he\u2019s saying \u201csaints,\u201d which is not a technical word and sometimes even refers to those prior to the church age in Old Testament times.\n\nSo we see this war that the antichrist is running against those that are the converts of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists during this time.\u00a0 And look at the authority of the antichrist and look at how broad it \u00a0spreads, second half of verse 7, \u201c\u2026and authority\u2026 was given to him, authority over\u201d what does it say?\u00a0 \u201cevery tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.\u201d\u00a0 Now when you start tracking down these four nouns, people, tongue, nation, tribe, and you study every time those four nouns are used together in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 It refers to something that covers the whole earth.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see the same combination of nouns in Revelation 5:9 concerning those for whom Christ died, which is everybody.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:9, \u201cAnd they sang a new song, saying, \u201cWorthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.\u201d]\n\nYou\u2019ll see the same combination of nouns in Revelation 7:9, those who become converts of the 144,000.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see the same combination in Revelation 17:15 related to the influence of the harlot, which we haven\u2019t spoken of yet, that will be global in nature.\u00a0 [Revelation 7:9, \u201cAfter these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 17:15, And he said to me, \u201cThe waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.\u201d]\n\nAnd when those same four nouns are used here in the Book of Revelation the Holy Spirit is telling us that the empire of the antichrist will cover the whole earth.\u00a0 In fact, Daniel 7:23, of the antichrist\u2019s empire, says, \u201c'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.\u201d\u00a0 What is in store for the human race following the rapture of the church is the great experiment in one world government.\u00a0 What Nimrod was trying to build at the tower of Babel before God interrupted the project.\u00a0 That project will reach achievement; that project will reach success.\u00a0 And if I\u2019m under\u00adstanding my Bible right then I\u2019m not shocked by how many people in this world are crying out for a world government.\n\nIn fact, here\u2019s a quote from Jean Monet who is the founder of what today is called the European Union, the European Common Market, the Super State in Europe, where nations have sort of lost their currencies and they\u2019re now being governed by some remote city, Luxemburg, Brussels, you know, that\u2019s what the whole Brexit issue was about, the Brits got tired of somebody that they never voted for in Brussels and Luxembourg telling them hot loud their lawnmowers can be.\u00a0 And they had sort of a mini revolt.\u00a0 But this is the whole issue, the trend into globalism.\u00a0 This is the architect of the whole thing.\u00a0 Jean Monet and he died, 1979 and you\u2019ll notice he wrote something in his memoirs 1978, that would be one year before his death, just prior to his death this is what he said.\u00a0 And you go to his death.\u00a0 And you go to his memoirs and you go to the second to last page, and this is what he writes.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe sovereign nations of the past can no longer solve the problems of the present; they cannot ensure their own progress or control their own future\u2026\u201d\u00a0 In other words, he\u2019s got global problems and we need a global solution to fix global problems.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they\u2019re always talking about climate change.\u00a0 People ask me, do you believe in climate change, and I say well, yeah, I believe in the weather if that\u2019s what you\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 But what they\u2019re talking about is what is called anthropogenic climate change, that we blame changes in the weather\u2026 by the way, we used to call it global warming, and that\u2019s maybe provable, maybe not, now they just call it climate change which would be a larger umbrella category which would affect everything. Right?\u00a0 Tsunami\u2019s, floods, too much heat, too cool, we\u2019ve got a global problem here, we\u2019ve got a global crisis here.\u00a0 By the way, if\u00a0 you have your kids in public school or your grandkids, or they watch TV they\u2019re being hit with this all the time because the world is being conditioned to accept the global solution, which is always the same, one world government.\u00a0 I asked Curtis Bowers who has come here and taught, I said what\u2019s the end game of this whole thing?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple he said, it\u2019s a one-world Marxism.\u00a0 It\u2019s a one-world planned economy where your life is micromanaged from cradle to grave.\u00a0 And I said to him, you\u2019re absolutely right because that\u2019s what the Bible predicts.\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in verses 16-18 of Revelation 13 which we haven\u2019t gotten to yet.\n\nAnd what did Monnet say at the end of his life, \u201cAnd the European itself is only a stage on the way to the organized world of tomorrow.\u201d The EU is step one, eventually we\u2019re going to reproduce this all over the world, and once we get the world regionalized we\u2019ll get it globalized.\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you folks, that\u2019s exactly what your Bible says will happen, when it talks about a little horn or the beast coming into existence over a ten nation or ten king confederacy that governs the entire earth.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s too bad I didn\u2019t bring in my slide on this, we\u2019re doing some pastor\u2019s points of view on this subject and I have a slide where the Club of Rome has got the whole world divided up into ten, ten regions.\u00a0 Why not nine?\u00a0 Why not eleven?\u00a0 Why exactly ten?\u00a0 Because this idea of a world government is already etched into the thinking of fallen men.\u00a0 But fortunately there\u2019s one part of this world that the antichrist will not get control over.\u00a0 Do you know what that part is, we\u2019ve studied it already.\u00a0 It\u2019s Petra, where the Jews will flee to and receive security.\n\nDaniel 11:41 says, \u201cHe,\u201d that\u2019s the beast, \u201cwill also enter the beautiful land\u201d that\u2019s Israel, \u201cand many countries will fall but these will be rescued from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost sons of Ammon.\u201d\u00a0 Where are those places today?\u00a0 That\u2019s modern day Jordan.\u00a0 And I just share that with you that even at the highest of antichrist\u2019s global jurisdiction God still has control of things.\u00a0 And there\u2019s one people group you\u2019re not going to be able to totally eradicate and that\u2019s these fleeing Jews into this wilderness place that we have already studied in Revelation 12; I\u2019ve already given you some reasons why I think this is the place that they were fleeing to, these Jews, is Petra.\n\nSo we move away from his global jurisdiction and we move into his unregenerate audience, probably a better name for that is His church.\u00a0 The antichrist has a church with preachers and a choir.\u00a0 I mean, the whole thing is so religious. If you look at verse 8 notice what it says there in Revelation 13:8, \u201cAll\u201d all means all, right, \u201cAll who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.\u201d\u00a0 Global worshippers and we know that these global worshipers are unsaved people because their names are not found written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life.\n\nIn fact, when you go to Revelation 20:15 it will read as follows.\u00a0 \u201cAnd if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d\u00a0 So if we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture when we read about a group of people here whose names are not found written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life, these are\u00a0 unbelievers during this terrible time period.\u00a0 And what do they do?\u00a0 Do you see the word \u201cworship\u201d there?\u00a0 That\u2019s a really important word because it shows me that the devil is religious.\u00a0 \u201cAll who dwell on the earth will worship Him.\u201d\u00a0 Track that word down in Geek, I believe it\u2019s proskyn\u0113o<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0[Revelation 13:8, \u201cAll who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.\u201d] It\u2019s always used of people worshipping Christ or God the Father.\u00a0 And here that worship is not being directed towards the true God, it\u2019s being directed towards a false god by unsaved people, unsaved people are having church!\n\nNow this really, to me, becomes somewhat troubling because the church growth experts of the world are telling us that we need to have church for the unchurched.\u00a0 Church for the unsaved.\u00a0 Church for the unregenerate, after all, that\u2019s how to get your church to grow, because there\u2019s more unsaved people than saved people and all you\u2019ve got to do is come up with a marketing mix that appeals to the unsaved, they call them unchurched Harry and Mary, and your church will flood with growth.\u00a0 And guess what folks\u2026 it works!\u00a0 I mean, you can attract massive amounts of people, you can even fill stadiums and former athletic coliseums using this approach. This is a big budget issue; this is big money, it\u2019s the church for the unchurched.\u00a0 It\u2019s the church for the unsaved.\n\nYou see what\u2019s happening here?\u00a0 The world itself is being prepared to have a worshipful experience and\u00a0 you never have to trust in Christ for personal salvation, you never have to be born again, you never have to be regenerated, but you can be as religious as you want to be. \u00a0In fact, I believe that every time Oprah Winfrey comes on TV or any kind of media she\u2019s having church.\u00a0 I believe this, and people kind of laugh at me when I say it and they think I\u2019m talking tongue in cheek but I believe this is literally true.\u00a0 I believe Oprah Winfrey is probably the most foremost known spiritual leader in the United States today, if not the world.\u00a0 Because when she is having her show and doing her thing there\u2019s a lot more coming across from her than cooking tips and weight loss tips.\u00a0 In fact, if this person, Oprah Winfrey, this woman touches a book like Rhonda Bernie\u2019s Book, The Secret<\/em>,\u201d a new age book, completely obscure, unknown, Oprah promotes it, it becomes a runaway best seller.\n\nOprah Winfrey says this: \u00a0\u201cOne of the mistakes that human beings make is believing there\u2019s only\u00a0\u00a0 one way.\u201d\u00a0 What do you mean Oprah?\u00a0 You\u2019re getting involved in religion now?\u00a0 That\u2019s a religious statement she just made.\u00a0 She\u2019s making a Christological statement.\u00a0 We don\u2019t accept that there are many diversities ways of being in the world, that there are millions of ways to be a human being.\u00a0 There are many, many paths to what you call God that her path might be something else\u00a0 and when she gets there she might call it The Light, that her loving and her kindness and her generosity brings her to the same point that it brings you to.\u00a0 I want to, when I hear this pull out my sermon note pad there in the bulletin, well, maybe we don\u2019t have sermon note pads in the bulletin, but let\u2019s pretend one is there.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 I want to start taking notes when I come to church because this is religiosity that is being pedaled.\u00a0 And this is what the world will do at the time of the beast.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to worship him, all the unsaved people.\n\nWell, what about the nonconformist, because earlier we saw there\u2019s saints, right, converted through the ministry of the 144,000. What\u2019s going to happen to them?\u00a0 We have now on the list, number 13, verses 9-10, the oppressive influence of the beast.\u00a0 This is the rest, this is what happens to the people that will not conform to the new world order of the antichrist.\n\nThere\u2019s an exhortation given in Revelation 13:9.\u00a0 \u201cIf anyone has an ear let him hear.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 10, \u201c\u2026If anyone is destined for captivity to captivity he goes.\u00a0 If anyone is killed with the sword by the sword he must be killed,\u201d the second part of verse 10, \u201cHere is the perseverance and the faith of the\u201d what,\u00a0 \u201cthe saints.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say church, it says \u201cthe saints.\u201d\u00a0 Do you see something sort of familiar there in verse 9?\u00a0 \u201cIf anyone has an ear let him hear.\u201d\u00a0 I remember that somewhere, didn\u2019t you tell us a few minutes ago that the Book of Revelation is divided into three, chapter 1, \u201cwrite down the things that you have seen,\u201d the vision of the glorified Christ.\u00a0 Chapter 2, the seven letters to the seven churches.\u00a0 Chapter 3, the things that will take place after these things, after the church age is over.\u00a0 Do you remember Revelation 2 and 3?\u00a0 Do you remember how Jesus concluded every letter?\u00a0 He said this no less hand seven times, \u201cIf anyone has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d\n\nI mean, the sentence here, the statement here, this clause here tells exactly the same as the sevenfold repetition that I just mentioned; it just cut out the word churches.\u00a0 Why would he leave\u00a0 out the word churches when it says seven times earlier, \u201cTo him who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d\u00a0 I have an answer\u2026 the church is not on the church is in heaven.\u00a0 I mean, if the church were on the earth surely it would take the same sevenfold statement and would repeat it verbatim but you\u2019ll notice here that it does not.\n\nLet me show you something else very interesting.\u00a0 Back in Matthew 13:9 Jesus said this: \u201cHe who has an ear let him hear\u201d and He too cut off from this verse the expression, \u201cwhat the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d\u00a0 This is the statement made by Christ before the church existed.\u00a0 What we have here is a statement made by John through the Holy Spirit after the church is gone.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it says, \u201cTo him who has an ear let him hear\u201d and leaves out the clause because that statement was made prior to Acts 2, prior to the birthday of the church.\u00a0 John here is seeing what is going to happen to people after the church age is over.\n\nWhy is he telling all this?\u00a0 Because this world and the evangelical church as a whole has never seemed more confused over doctrines that prior generations accepted and took for granted.\u00a0 I have never seen the level of confusion that\u2019s being introduced to people, largely because of the advent of the internet, with confused ideas in their minds about all of these things related to prophecy,\u00a0 thinking that the church is somehow here because it says \u201csaints.\u201d\u00a0 And unless you have someone authorita\u00adtively standing up and saying \u201cThus saith the Lord,\u201d those doctrines are wrong.\u00a0 The doctrine that we\u2019re preaching here at Sugar Land Bible Church is right, unless someone authoritatively stands up and tells you the truth what\u2019s going to happen?\u00a0 You\u2019re just going to drift into confusion.\n\nPeople say we just shouldn\u2019t get into Bible prophecy because all the weirdos and nut jobs are into Bible prophecy. To that statement I would concur.\u00a0 There are some people (to me) that look borderline psychologically in balanced talking today about Bible prophecy.\u00a0 But that should be more of an incentive to teach it right because if someone is not up here teaching it to you right you\u2019re going to be sucked into what is wrong.\u00a0 And the function of a pastor-teacher is to direct you back to the Word of God, not just on prophecy but on every single thing the Bible speaks on and reveals.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice verse 10 again, \u201cIf anyone is destined for captivity to captivity he goes.\u00a0 If anyone is killed with the sword by the sword he must be killed,\u201d\u00a0 Here is perseverance and the faith of the saints.\u00a0 Here we have an exhortation to the non-cooperative people that get saved in the tribulation period and won\u2019t cooperate with the universal religion of the antichrist.\u00a0 What are they supposed to do:\u00a0 They\u2019re given an exhortation by God, listen up, verse 9.\u00a0 He\u2019s not talking to the church for reasons I\u2019ve already articulated.\n\nAnd then he says you know what?\u00a0 During this time some of you are going to go into captivity, some of you are going to be killed with the sword.\u00a0 Now this is a problem with spending too much time on the internet.\u00a0 Just this week I saw a news story of something taking place in a foreign government where people are sent to the homes of suspect people under the guise of a home visitation from the state.\u00a0 And this particular article went on and discovered that one of the questions that was being asked is \u201cwhat do you think of the current President of the United States?\u201d\u00a0 Think about that for a minute.\u00a0 How is that the state\u2019s business on any political issue?\u00a0 And yet in foreign countries that kind of thing is becoming the norm.\u00a0 The framework is already in place for the widespread persecution of the church.\u00a0 Maybe that persecution starts before the church is removed.\u00a0 You know our brothers and sisters around the world, many of them are being killed right now. But when it reaches its zenith the church will not be here and these home visitations from the state, things of this nature are simply putting a legal pretense in place.\n\nYou say well pastor,\u00a0 you sound like a conspiracy theorist.\u00a0 I mean, today you\u2019re kind of sounding like Alex Jones info [can't understand word].\u00a0 By the way, I don\u2019t endorse the teaching of Alex Jones because Alex Jones attaches the rapture all of the time.\u00a0 Do you know why he attacks the rapture all of the time?\u00a0 He sells survivalist gear.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll also notice Jim Baker, on his TV shows criticizing the rapture and then he puts up all of the sales at the end for survival gear, he wants people to arm up and get ready to eyeball it with the antichrist.\u00a0 By the way, having a firearm and having a little bit of extra food around the house is not necessarily a bad thing to do.\u00a0 I do those kinds of things, it just has nothing to do with my eschatological position; it has nothing to do with the fact that I think I\u2019m going to eyeball it with the antichrist the way Alex Jones teaches it and the way Jim Baker teaches it.\n\nIt\u2019s going to be difficult for people living on the earth at this time, they\u2019re going to need perseverance. What does that mean?\u00a0 Bearing up under a difficult road.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to need faith it says, verse 10.\u00a0 What is faith?\u00a0 Confidence in the promises and purposes of God; that\u2019s the exhortation for the rest, the non-cooperative ones during this very difficult time.\n\nNow there\u2019s a parallel passage in Matthew 24:13.\u00a0 It says, \u201cBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.\u201d\u00a0 What is that talking about?\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about how life is going to get tough in the tribulation period.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re fortunate enough to make it through to the end, that\u2019s what \u201cthe end\u201d means there, you will be physically protected by Jesus Christ who returns to the earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s what \u201csaved\u201d means here.\u00a0 It means physical protection from the antichrist if you make it to the end and you\u2019re physically protected as a result.\n\nThis verse, and these verses in verses 9 and 10 have nothing, NOTHING to do with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.\u00a0 You say well what is that?\u00a0 The perseverance of the saints is this idea that if you don\u2019t persevere in good works until the end of your life Arminians say you lost your salvation, Calvinists say you never had it to begin with\u2026 perseverance of the saints.\u00a0 Here at Sugar Land Bible Church we do not teach perseverance of the saints.\u00a0 What we teach is the preservation of the saints.\u00a0 In other words, if a person has trusted in Christ God is the one who keeps them in terms of their eternal security and their eternal destiny.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not what Calvinists believe by it and that\u2019s not what Arminians believe by it.\u00a0 They think you\u2019d better make it to the end in good works because if you don\u2019t have good works you don\u2019t have evidence you were saved, Calvin, or maybe you lost your salvation, Arminians.\n\nAnd those that teach the perseverance of the saints go to passages like this, verse 10 and verse 13 to prove their doctrine.\u00a0 Why do they do that?\u00a0 Why do they take verses out of context?\u00a0 Because they don\u2019t have another verse that teaches what they want it to say.\u00a0 So you\u2019re forced to these weird passages that are eschatological in nature, dealing with a specific group of people, living at a specific point in time and you build a doctrine around it\u2014perseverance of the saints!\u00a0\u00a0 Do people really teach this?\u00a0 John Murray, \u201cA crucial test of true faith is endurance to the end, abiding in Christ and continuance in the Word.\u00a0 He cannot abandon himself to sin, he cannot come under the domination of sin, he cannot be guilty of certain kinds of unfaithfulness\u2026. Let us appreciate the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and recognize that we may entertain the faith of our security in Christ only as we persevere in faith and holiness to the end.\u201d\u00a0 [John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, pp. 152, 154-55.]\n\nHe\u2019s not frontloading the gospel, he\u2019s back loading it.\u00a0\u00a0 Frontloading it is saying do this work and this work and this work to be justified, back loading it is saying do this work and this work and this work to prove\u00a0 you\u2019re justified.\u00a0 Perseverance of the saints.\u00a0 By the way, how could you ever know if you\u2019re persevering enough?\u00a0 I mean, maybe this last week I had one wicked thought that came into my mind.\u00a0 The next week I might have three, I probably have a few more than that.\u00a0 Maybe last week I helped one old lady across the street, this week I helped out three.\u00a0 I mean, am I somehow more saved this week than I was last week, or vice versa?\u00a0 And this is what happens when Christians buy into the perseverance of the saints, they start to doubt whether they were ever saved. If they\u2019re under Calvinism maybe I never was saved.\u00a0 If they\u2019re under Arminianism maybe I lost my salvation.\n\nArthur Pink, a very strong Calvinist. Readers (Christians) if there is a reserve in your obedience you\u2019re on your way to hell.\u00a0 Oh my goodness, you mean Arthur you actually unleashed that statement on the body of Christ?\u00a0 Any reserve in your obedience?\u00a0 Any struggle at all in your life?\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019re not saved.\u00a0 John Piper, \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer, hence there is an ongoing need to be dedicated to the Lord and to deny ourselves so that we might make it.\u201d\u00a0 You know, I think a statement like that sounds more like Islam than it does Christianity, where the Muslim gets to the end of their life and if the good deeds outweigh the bad deeds maybe they made it in\u2014perseverance of the saints!\n\nJohn MacArthur, \u201cIf a person fails to love and obey the Lord through the trials of life, then there is no evidence that he possesses saving faith.\u00a0 How many people do you know who came to church for a while, had a little trouble in their lives, and left?\u201d\u00a0 I have.\u00a0 There have been times in my Christian life where I\u2019ve been so disappointed with God that I\u2019ve shut myself down to Christianity.\u00a0 Now does that mean that somehow I was never saved to begin with?\u00a0 That is NOT what it means because my salvation never depended upon me to begin with.\u00a0 See that.\u00a0 Although they made a profession of faith in Christ they cannot be identified as those who love Him because their lives are not character\u00adized by enduring obedience.\u00a0 But Pastor, you\u2019re trashing good works that Christians do?\u00a0 No I\u2019m not!\u00a0 I think we ought to be people of good works.\u00a0 I think we ought to be people for prayer.\u00a0 I think we ought to be people of holiness.\u00a0 And I will preach that until my dying day in terms of our growth in Christ.\n\nBut here\u2019s the reason, folks.\u00a0 I don\u2019t do those things because I think I\u2019m keeping myself saved.\u00a0 I\u2019m going those things because I cannot believe what the Lord has given to me.\u00a0 I look at grace and I\u2019m just stunned by it.\u00a0 So my reasonable activity, Romans 12, is to offer my body as a living sacrifice.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s reasonable.\u00a0 I don\u2019t do it because I\u2019m always living in fear that some- how God is going to rip the carpet out from under me which is where many Christians are today because they\u2019re mistaught.\u00a0 And they\u2019re given over and over again verses, like what we\u2019re studying here, out of context to support some doctrine in the Bible that the Bible never teaches.\n\nBob Wilken writes, concerning R. C. Sproul,\u00a0 \u201cDuring the first message presented at Ligonier\u2019s Conference in Orlando last June, Dr. R. C. Sproul indicated that Dr. James Boyce, a scheduled speaker at the conference, was dying in faith that very night.\u00a0\u00a0Then at the end of the message he \u00a0asked all 5,000 of us present to pray that Jim dies in faith.\u00a0\u00a0This struck me as sad.\u00a0\u00a0Here was a great pastor, theologian, teacher, and author.\u00a0\u00a0Yet Sproul was not sure that he was regenerate.\u00a0\u00a0(In Reformed thought, if a person fails to die in faith, he proved he was never saved in the first place.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was reminded of R.T. Kendall\u2019s remark that nearly to a man the Puritan divines died doubting whether they were saved and fearing they were going to hell.\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Boyce died that very night, June 15th.\u201d\n\nDuring the first message presented at Ligonier\u2019s Conference in Orlando last June, Dr. R. C. Sproul indicated that Dr. James Boyce, a scheduled speaker at the conference, was dying in faith that very night.\u201d\u00a0 I happen to have James Boyce\u2019s commentaries, \u00a0There\u2019s no doubt in my mind that he was saved.\u00a0 \u201cThen at the end of the message he\u201d that\u2019s Sproul, \u201casked all 5,000 of us present to pray that Jim dies in faith.\u00a0\u00a0This struck me as sad,\u201d Bob Wilkin writes.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHere was a great pastor, a theologian, \u00a0\u00a0a teacher, and an author yet Sproul was not sure that he was regenerate.\u00a0\u00a0(In Reformed thought, if a person fails to die in the faith, he proved he was never saved in the first place.)\u201d\u00a0 Calvinism! \u201cI was reminded\u201d watch this, you don\u2019t think this is practical?\u00a0 \u201cI was reminded of \u00a0R.T. Kendall\u2019s remark that merely to a man the Puritans\u201d heavily Calvinistic, \u201cdied doubting whether they were saved and fearing they were going to hell.\u201d Wilkin writes \u201cDr. Boyce died that very night.\u201d [http\/\/\/www.gracebiblestudies, org\/Resources\/Web\/www Duluth Bible.org\/g f_\/EternalSecurity12.htm]\n\nAnd just when you think, I mean, are you one of these types of people that doesn\u2019t really know if they\u2019re saved and you have to persevere in good works so at the end of your life, which by the way what kind of standard is that?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t look very objective to me to prove I\u2019m a Christian to begin with.\u00a0 I mean, if that\u2019s what you believe you will never know you\u2019re saved.\u00a0 And you, as a Christian, will be living beneath your privileges because what saith the Word of God? \u00a0\u00a0By the say, before we get to the Word of God, which I\u2019ll do very quickly, where does this teaching come from?\u00a0 It\u2019s Roman Catholic.\u00a0 What is certain strands of Calvinism is nothing more than repackaged Roman Catholicism for Protestant consumption.\n\nOne leader of the Roman Catholic Church says, \u201cChurch teaching is that I don\u2019t know at any given moment what my eternal future will be.\u00a0 I can hope and pray and do my very best but I still don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 Pope John II doesn\u2019t know absolutely that he\u2019ll go to heaven.\u00a0 Nor does Mother Theresa of Calcutta unless either has had a special divine revelation.\u00a0 This is Roman Catholicism.\u00a0 This is what keeps people in a state of fear, not knowing whether they\u2019re Christians or not.\u00a0 Do you want to know what Jesus says?\u00a0 What John are you impressed by?\u00a0 John Piper, John MacArthur, or the Apostle John?\u00a0 Jesus records the words recorded by the Apostle John, \u00a0[John 5:24]\u00a0 \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes him who sent me has eternal life\u2026.\u201d as long as he makes it to the end and the good works\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that!\u00a0 \u201c\u2026has\u201d is present tense possession, \u201cand does not come into judgement but he has passed out of\u201d perfect tense, one time action in the past with ongoing results, \u201cdoes not come into judgment but has passed out of death unto life.\u201d\n\nYou can take that one to the bank!\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0\u00a0 Because it emanates from the lips of God who cannot lie.\u00a0 He has made you a promise that the moment you placed your trust in Him you have eternal life and you\u2019ve already passed out of death unto life.\u00a0\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to go through your life worried if you\u2019ve done enough to prove you\u2019re a Christian.\n\n1 John 5:13, John says, \u201cThese things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may\u201d 99% know\u2026. Kind of like the weather report, maybe it\u2019s going to rain, maybe it\u2019s not, picking petals off the rose, she loves me\u2014she loves me not.\u00a0 That\u2019s how a lot of people are in their relationship with God.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the way you think you\u2019re living beneath your privileges.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026so that you may know that you have eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 And so the saints here, not the church, are called to persevere to the end of the tribulation period with the hopes that they will be rescued by Jesus Christ from the antichrist.\n\nVerse 10 is not teaching the perseverance of the saints, nor is Matthew 24:13, nor is any biblical text that I\u2019m aware of.\u00a0 Theologians and different pastors and the commentators will constantly put you in a state of fear unless you\u2019ve got this one figured out.\u00a0 You\u2019d better get this one figured out.\u00a0 I\u2019m not just talking about eternal security, there\u2019s a lot of people that will preach eternal security, but then they\u2019ll t urn around and say maybe you have it, maybe you don\u2019t.\u00a0 You see beloved, at Sugar Land Bible Church we preach eternal security but we take it to the next step and we preach the assurance of salvation!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re arrogant and boastful?\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 Because we\u2019re reading promises from a God that can\u2019t lie.\u00a0 Your salvation has nothing to do with your good works to begin with, nor do good works somehow keep you safe.\n\nYou know the folks that think they can lose their salvation?\u00a0 I usually say oh, so you\u2019re your own savior then, huh?\u00a0 They say what do you mean by that?\u00a0 Well, folks that think you can lose your salvation say well, you can\u2019t commit that sin or that sin or that sin or that sin, if you do those sins you\u2019re not a Christian.\u00a0 Oh, I see, so your salvation is dependent upon your own ability to stay away from certain things.\u00a0 That\u2019s not front loading the gospel with works, that\u2019s back loading the gospel with works.\n\nAnd I bring that up because these are common verses that are used to teach doctrines that have absolutely nothing to do with what the context is saying.\u00a0 The context\u00a0 here is speaking of saints being physically preserved from martyrdom during the tribulation period with the hopes of being protected physically by Jesus Christ, the rider on the white horse who will shield them from the beast and so the world is going to get very tough for people.\u00a0 While the unsaved world is worshipping the antichrist the saved world in this time period has a mark on their hands, better said not a mark on their hands, a mark on their life, as Satan is trying to eliminate them and eradicate them!\n\nWhat about all this stuff about the mark on your hand and your forehead?\u00a0 Well, we\u2019ll learn about that next time.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t think of a better way or an [can't understand word] to preach the gospel, can you?\u00a0 I mean, how would\u00a0 you like to leave here today understanding the doctrine of eternal security and also understanding the doctrine of the assurance of salvation, not only that your soul is saved but you can know it with 100% ironclad accuracy.\u00a0 How do you get that?\u00a0 You get it from Jesus who made you a promise, John 5:24, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he why hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death unto life.\u201d\u00a0 You simply fulfill your condition which is to believe.\n\nYou say well what does that mean?\u00a0 It means to trust, it means to rely upon.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of joining a church, walking an aisle, giving money, filling out a card, it\u2019s when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your need to trust Christ for salvation, and you place your personal faith in Christ, then on the authority of God\u2019s Word what\u2019s happened to you is not you\u2019re going to get eternal life, you HAVE it!\u00a0 And something positionally has already happened to you where you have been transferred already out of death unto life. \u00a0That\u2019s your new position.\u00a0 Now how you live is really up to you, you can live your life believing this, I am.\u00a0 You can live your life under a state of unnecessary fear that maybe I don\u2019t have it because my works aren\u2019t enough.\u00a0 So our invitation to you at Sugar Land Bible Church is to believe the gospel.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for Revelation 13, we\u2019re grateful for the opportunity to put it into context, not only to show us which direction the world is moving in but also to steer us away from bad doctrine and bad theology unsupported by Your Word.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t