Abundant Life, Lee's Summit
The Rise of the Unholy Trinity, Part 1 (Revelation 13)
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Locations & Times
Abundant Life Lee's Summit
304 SW Persels Rd, Lee's Summit, MO 64081, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
Sunday 9:35 AM
Sunday 11:10 AM
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Throughout the message today you can write your own notes by clicking the "Add your own notes" link at the bottom of each box. At the end of the message, you can easily e-mail them to yourself.
Satan is a master illusionist who counterfeits all that God is and all that God does. In Revelation 13, Satan counterfeits even the triune nature of God as John reveals to us the unholy “trinity” of the dragon, the Antichrist, and the false prophet.
As a master illusionist, Satan, through the Antichrist, will counterfeit even the miracles of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:9, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.”
In the tribulation, like all illusionists, Satan will get people to see and believe a false reality! There are three parts to an illusion that all illusionists use to deceive people into seeing a false reality: Act I – The Pledge, Act II – The Turn, and Act III – The Prestige. An object is first presented normally, then it does something unexpectedly, and finally it appears to do something “supernaturally.”
Act I in Satan’s tribulation illusion is The Pledge.
Satan will introduce the world to a political leader who will appear to solve the world’s problems. He will rise to power and prominence peacefully by brokering a seven-year peace treaty between Israel and her enemies (Daniel 9:27).
From where will the “beast” or Antichrist come from? (Compare Revelation 13:1 to Revelation 17:9-15)
The seven heads on the beast are “seven mountains” – a reference to the City of Rome. Rome was known in John’s day as “the city of seven hills” or “seven mountains”. The implication is to a “revived” Roman Empire with the Antichrist being in essence the last Roman Caesar!
The ten horns and ten crowns on the beast are ten rulers of ten nations who will align themselves behind the Antichrist. This political ruler’s powerbase politically and militarily will be a ten-nation confederation.
The “sea” from which the beast emerges represents the Gentile nations – he will probably be an Arab European. Daniel 8 closely associates him with Greece, whereas Isaiah 10:24 and Micah 5:6 calls him the “Assyrian.”
His kingdom will be a composite of the four Gentile world powers that came before his – Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. (Compare Revelation 13:2 with Daniel 7.) The lion represents Babylon, the bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire, and the leopard represents Greece.
Act II in Satan’s tribulation illusion is The Turn
Midway through the tribulation, the Antichrist will unexpectedly be assassinated! Throughout his reign, there will be those who rebel against his rule, and halfway through the Tribulation, he is successfully assassinated.
Act III in Satan’s tribulation illusion is The Prestige.
The Antichrist will appear to be resurrected from the dead and subsequently worshiped as God! He receives a deadly head wound that is “healed,” and the world will “marvel” and worship this man as deity!
He will go into the rebuilt temple of God, proclaim himself to be God, sit on the throne of God and be worshiped as God! 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says he “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
The world will worship his “image,” and those who won’t will be executed as enemies of the state. (See Revelation 13:11-15) Satan cannot give life, only take life. This will not be a true resurrection. The word “image” is translated from the Greek “eikon” which is more than a mere copy – it’s a clone!
The ultimate abomination of the Tribulation will be the worship of Satan through man’s deification. Revelation 13:4, “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
Revelation is written as a “wooing” and a “warning”:
God is “wooing” you to Himself to find eternal life in Him! Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God is also “warning” you – when you reject God’s grace, all that’s left is eternal death. You choose – life or death.
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