The Second Beast
The Conquering Lamb • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A couple of weeks ago, we began to study Revelation 13 and we spent our time looking at the first Beast.
Revelation has seven cycles and this is the fourth of the seven cycles.
In it, we are seeing the centerpiece of the book of Revelation—a drama involving the main characters.
You have Satan the Dragon.
He has rebelled against God and is His enemy.
You have the Woman, representing the people of God.
In chapter 12, the woman is giving birth a male child.
This is Christ coming from the line of the OT church
Satan the Dragon is eagerly waiting to eat that male child as soon as He is born, but he can’t
The child ascends to heaven
So the Dragon hunts the woman and she flees to the wilderness, where she is nourished by God.
This is the NT church being hunted by Satan in this world
As she is under siege from him, she finds her refuge in the Lord
Chapter 12 ended with the Dragon standing on the shore. As we started chapter 13 last week, we saw what he is doing there—he is summoning the first beast from the sea.
The first beast is a mutant hybrid of the politically powerful beasts in Daniel 7. It represented Rome, the first century oppressor of the early church
But it is so much more than that—The first Beast of Revelation 13 represents any state-sponsored, political opposition to Christ and His Church.
The beast is made in the image of the Dragon.
He counterfeits the Lord Jesus
It is Satan’s attempt to deceive the world with a counterfeit Messiah
He wants people to trust the beast—not Jesus
He wants people to worship the beast—not Jesus
Government should be a servant of God for justice and good.
Of the one who is in authority, Paul said:
for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
But governments are run by individuals. Individuals who are depraved and sinful.
And often, those individuals enact laws and regulations in nations that are harmful for the church.
And when that happens, it is because Satan is behind it.
Satan is using the Beast to spew his lies, oppress the church and steal glory from Jesus.
And we saw John saying, “If you get locked up, you get locked up. If you die, you die.”
Endure to the end.
But how will Satan convince the world that the Beast is worthy of worship?
Enter the Second the Beast.
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 performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that 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 of the beast 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 the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has 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.
COUNTERFEIT TRINITY (v. 11-13, 18)
COUNTERFEIT TRINITY (v. 11-13, 18)
Our teaching points tonight will come in the form of four “The Beast is...” statements.
We start with this:
Teaching Point #1: The 2nd Beast is the third member of Satan’s counterfeit trinity (v. 11-13, 18).
Teaching Point #1: The 2nd Beast is the third member of Satan’s counterfeit trinity (v. 11-13, 18).
Last week, we saw all of the ways that the Dragon means for the first Beast to be a counterfeit Christ.
The Bible calls Jesus the “image of God invisible” in Colossians 1:15...
The Dragon’s Beast reflects the character and physical description of the Dragon and is brought forth in the Dragon’s image
And the parallels carry on from there. The first Beast seeks to mimic the Messiah in a host of other ways:
Both are slain and seem to resurrect
Both have horns
Both have authority over every tribe, tongue and nation
Both are worshipped
There is no doubt that the Dragon means to steal glory from Christ bu putting forth the Beast as a false messiah
Well if the first Beast is meant to counterfeit the Messiah, Satan’s second Beast is meant to counterfeit the Holy Spirit, and thus, Satan is setting up a whole counterfeit trinity.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Dragon, Beast and Second Beast/False Prophet
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.
Let’s look at some ways that the 2nd Beast is attempting to counterfeit the Spirit:
Dominion
First of all, the Beast rises out of the earth.
The first Beast came from the Sea.
Together, they are seeking dominion over the whole creation, in the same way that God the Son and God the Spirit have dominion over all of creation.
Deception
Secondly, in the same way that the Spirit comes and brings truth to the people of God, the second beast has a message.
It’s message is like that of a dragon.
Meaning, it looks like a woolly lamb, but it talks like a lying dragon.
This is why Revelation 16:13 refers to the Second Beast as the False Prophet.
John 14:17 calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth.
He teaches us all things and brings to remembrance all that the Lord Jesus has said to us (John 14:26)
He guides the church into all truth:
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The Spirit does not deceive. He tells us the truth by giving us the words of Christ.
But the Second Beast deceives. He looks like a lamb. He looks like Jesus.
But he is a liar. He speaks like a dragon.
He mimics the Spirit in spreading a message, but it’s counterfeit. He is just singing Satan’s song.
Authority
In verse 12, you see the Second Beast mimicking the Spirit by exercising the authority of the first beast
Who else speaks not on his own authority, but on the authority of what He hears? The Spirit.
John 16:13 (ESV)
...he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Worship
Similarly, he is not after his own worship. The Second Beast wants others to worship the First Beast.
“…and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed” (v. 12).
This is much like the Spirit who glorifies the Son:
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Signs and Wonders
We also see the Second Beast counterfeiting the Spirit with signs and wonders in v. 14.
John mentioned how the Second Beast performs great signs and makes fire come down from heaven
This is a reference to Elijah calling fire from heaven to consume the altar in 1 Kings.
In the Old Testament, The Spirit rested on prophets like Elijah
Here the Second Beast is attempting produce the same sort of events that would convince people to follow the First Beast
On Sunday mornings we have been talking about the signs and wonders that came with the apostolic age. They were prophesied by Joel:
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
The Second Beast is attempting to produce the same sorts of signs and wonders
It is reminiscent of Pharaoh’s magicians trying to counterfeit the work of God in Moses.
666
And then finally, the number of the second Beast is 666.
A lot of ink has been spilled about the meaning of this number and I believe most of it would have been better spent on something else.
You see it in verse 18:
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.
Notice that John says “this calls for wisdom.” It is not a riddle. The number is meant to bring us wisdom.
Many people have attempted to interpret the number of the beast, and their theories range from the pope’s phone number, to a special number on a computer, to the name of a particular man reduced to number by a code.
Joel Beeke
The number of the beast is not a secret code but a symbol for Satan’s counterfeit attempts.
God’s perfect number is 7. We have seen that throughout Revelation.
It is a number used to describe His perfect Spirit
It is a number used to describe all of the churches throughout history who would read the book
It is a number used in the seals and trumpets and bowls to show us His perfect judgment
On the other hand, 6 is the number of fallen man.
It falls just short of God.
And it is tripled here to emphasize the completeness of incompleteness.
It is showing just how fake and plastic this satanic trinity is.
It is totally and utterly counterfeit down to the core
And anyone who would take that mark is casting their lot with the ungodly.
IMPERIAL CULT (v. 14-17)
IMPERIAL CULT (v. 14-17)
Let’s keep going and move along to our second “The Beast is...” statement.
Teaching Point #2: The 2nd Beast is the Roman Imperial Cult (v. 14-17).
Teaching Point #2: The 2nd Beast is the Roman Imperial Cult (v. 14-17).
Now, you might say, “Well all that is great, but who is the Second Beast?”
Last week we said that the people would hear about the First Beast and know that it is Rome.
Well if that is true, then who would they identify as the Second Beast?
And the answer is the Roman imperial cult.
The imperial cult was the religious arm of the emperor.
The Roman emperors wanted a unified submission in the empire through religion.
They didn’t mind if you kept peacefully worshipping your gods in whatever religion you prescribed to, but only if you bowed the knee to the emperor as recognized him as divine.
“Do whatever you want underneath that umbrella—but you must bow the knee and ascribe ultimate authority to Caesar.”
This was one of the ways that they planned to keep unity and loyalty strong throughout the empire.
Pergamum was the headquarters for emperor worship, but Ephesus was also a city in which it flourished. Listen to how Craig Keener talks about the building projects for the cause:
Augustus had allowed Ephesus to build two temples in his honor, and Domitian had named Ephesus “guardian” of the imperial cult, making it the foremost center of the imperial cult in Roman Asia.
Craig Keener
When verse 14 says that the Second Beast told those who dwell on the earth to make an image for the beast, it is probably a reference to the building of temples and shrines to the emperors.
Dennis Johnson says that whenever a city would build a temple to an emperor, they went up a level in terms of prestige in the eyes of the Caesars.
Many cities would be eager to be counted as loyal as Ephesus
Anyone who would not devote themselves to the emperor as a god would be guilty of blasphemous treason.
Obviously this was a problem for Christians.
The government is a servant in the hands of God, but it is no god. No leader or system or political power can claim that sort of authority.
It belongs to God alone.
No Christian can give an emperor the sort of devotion that can only belong to the resurrected Christ.
The first century believers would have taken their cue from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
They were commanded to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold
And they responded by saying:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
So the churches in Asia Minor would have heard about this Second Beast that exercised the authority of the first Beast and makes its inhabitants worship the first Beast and they would have said, “That is the Roman cult.”
We actually see Jesus address the suffering of the church at Pergamum at the hands of the cult. As I mentioned Pergamum was the headquarters:
“ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
In fact, it was right around the time that Jesus’ earthly ministry began that the Pergamum was chosen as the headquarters for emperor worship.
You can see from Jesus’ words that brothers and sisters were losing their heads over this.
That is exactly what John is referring to in verse 15 when he says that those who will not worship the image of the beast will be slain.
You see a touch more of the counterfeit business in verse 15 when the image of the beast is given breath and the ability to speak.
Who gives life like this? The Holy Spirit.
More fakery. More mimicking.
And the counterfeit produces a counterfeit.
Listen to what Psalm 115 says about idols.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
The Second Beast is trying to deceive those who dwell on the earth to believe that God’s Word is lying about this.
The Roman Imperial Cult and their temples and shrines were the essence of disgusting idolatry.
For the Cult to try and convince the people on the earth that the emperor is actually divine and that there is life and wisdom in their message, was a direct opposition to the words of the Psalmist.
“Don’t listen to God. The idols can speak. The Beast will take care of you. The Beast is nice...”
Unless you don’t bow down to him—then he will cut your head off.
For the church to stand against this cult was to endanger themselves. We see this being spoken of in verses 16-17, which talk about the mark of the Beast.
Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
Many have read this and thought, “This is some sort of bar code or brand marking that people will need to have in the end times in order to participate in the economy.”
They take the symbol literally.
But I think that is in interpretative misstep because this mark is clearly a counterfeit to the seal given to the saints.
saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
This mark is another attempt by the Dragon to counterfeit the work of God.
It is a sign of ownership.
In the days of the Roman Empire, servants were marked with the seal of their owner.
It showed who they served.
The seal on the redeemed show that they serve the Lamb.
The mark on the people who dwell on the earth shows that they serve the Beast.
In Deuteronomy 6:8, we read what the people of God are to do with the good commands of God:
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Here, the people on the earth are marked on the forehead and the right hand.
It shows that they have bound the philosophies of the world to their minds and adopted its point of view.
It shows that they have acted on it with their right hand—the main body part of action in the ancient world.
Those who do not give into the dragon-like lies of the Beast and who doesn’t bow down to Caesar as Lord, will find it very hard to buy and sell and just participate in the world.
After all, much of the money used in the marketplaces bore the phrase, “Caesar is Lord!”
Now—with all that stated, is that all that the Second Beast is?
Well no.
SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST
SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST
In the same way that the First Beast is Rome, but it is also any state that Satan uses to persecute the church, the Second Beast is not just the Imperial Cult.
It is the imperial cult, but is more than that.
It is the antichrist spirit in any age that attempts to get people to worship and trust in the First Beast.
TEACHING POINT #3: The Second Beast is the spirit of the antichrist in any age.
TEACHING POINT #3: The Second Beast is the spirit of the antichrist in any age.
Here is what the Apostle John said about antichrists:
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
This is an important passage because it establishes two things.
One—that there is some form of Antichrist coming. We will deal with that in a moment.
Two—there are many antichrists who have already come.
John talks about how in his day, there were people who left the church—which proved they were never actually a part of it to begin with.
And their reason for leaving seems to be connected to an adoption of a false belief that Jesus is not the Christ.
They deny the Son, therefore, they do not have the Father.
John was battling a particular antichrist heresy called docetism. They said that Jesus seemed to have human form, but He wasn’t really human.
And in adopting this, John says they oppose Christ. They are antichrists.
Every age of the church has an antichrist spirit to deal with. And so often that antichrist spirit desires to obtain the worship of the first beast.
It is just more subtle. More deceptive.
The Beast is a monster. It comes up out of the sea like a Leviathan and is in the image of the dragon
People marvel at the first Beast, but it is more on the surface
But the Second Beast looks like a little pet lamb you would keep in the backyard. Seems harmless.
You have to listen closely to the words to realize that he is just as beastly.
Surely those docetists sounded Christian, unless you really listened.
Just like a Mormon sounds Christian, unless you really listen and start finding out there are countless gods and Jesus is the twice-sired half-brother of Satan.
So where is the Second Beast today? Where can we look around in Western culture and find a pervasive worldview that is opposed to Christianity, that has an end goal of getting people to trust in the state and not Christ?
A worldview that seems loving and helpful, but in truth is opposed to the very fabric of God’s design for this world?
I am almost hesitant to do what I am about to do, but I am going to do it.
In my younger years here, I think I really fumbled when I would try to do any cultural commentary in the pulpit, so in my late 30’s I have tended to shy away.
I am not a skilled enough preacher to talk about some of those things in a well-rounded way from the pulpit.
I have picked and chosen my times to wade in. Mainly, I try to just wait for the Scripture to require me to.
But church—let’s not be silly.
The fruit hangs so low that if I don’t pick it, you might question if I have hands.
The secular humanism of our day is the antichrist spirit that the Dragon is using to deceive people into worshipping the Beast out of the sea.
And I am not saying that because I have an axe to grind against liberals.
I am saying that because I have an axe to grind against godless philosophies that ruthlessly come for the throats of little children.
You might believe it if you are liberal or conservative—I don’t know. Those labels are fleeting.
But no matter who subscribes to it, there is no doubt that secular humanism is the poison in the water of the Western worldview.
Many Americans are blown away by what they are seeing on their television sets. Every commerical is LGBTQ+ affirming—and not just in June anymore.
Juneteenth, a day that should be celebrated each year as we commemorate the end of the slavery in the United States, barely gets a mention in comparison with the plethora of rainbow branding that floods the marketplace.
But we have to understand that what we are seeing is the fruit of something, not the root of something.
It is the fruit of the antichrist spirit that says, “There is nothing more important than the individual and its desires.”
Others are not more important.
Society is not more important.
Nature is not more important.
God is not more important.
None of those things should get in the way of “You being the authentic, individual you.”
That is the only way you will be happy.
This is straight out of the Enlightenment.
And this philosophy of the all-powerful SELF is sermon that the Second Beast preaches in this day and time.
So the sexual revolution, which has happened faster than anyone could have imagined, is the result.
If you feel that you want to exchange the natural desires God has given us for unnatural desires, well then, who is the church or society or God to tell someone differently?
If you feel that you are a man trapped in a woman’s body, well then let’s bend reality to be compatible with the almighty SELF and have a surgery.
If you feel that you should be able to have sex with minors, well—since your SELF wants that, we will stop calling it pedophilia and give it a new name that normalizes it— “minor-attracted.”
All of this is in the name of SELF.
In most of the states in this country, parents are able to give their children puberty blockers in an effort to align their outward, physical traits with their inner SELF.
Children are taught now to believe there are two sexes, but many genders.
They are taught that gender is a social construct.
States have laws that enable school systems to report parents as abusive if they will affirm their child’s desires regarding gender.
And all of this is called progressive.
No. It is not. This is not progress.
This is transgressive.
It is not progress, but the transgression of God’s good and perfect design and Law.
And this nation and its leaders will answer for this. As will other nations who are codifying the Second Beast’s lies.
We will answer for it practically in society because we are weaving webs with exit strategy in place.
And we will answer to God for it.
And yet, if you asked me, “How did we get here? How did it happen so fast? Fifteen years ago, Barack Obama said he wasn’t even for same-sex marriage. How are you now considering crazy if you think a child shouldn’t be making major elective health decisions before they are old enough to do math with exponents?”
I would say that the answer is ultimately God.
And that might shock you.
But He causes or allows all. It is within His governance.
And I believe He has given this nation, started by Puritans seeking a new start away from the beastly state church, over to a reprobate mind.
It is all there in Romans 1...
It starts with exchanging the glory of God for a created thing
We traded God for the Almighty SELF
Paul says you do this so you can suppress the truth and continue in unrighteousness
Well the SELF will always be about my own pleasure, so if I push down the truth about God and I exalt ME, then I will always get my way.
Once they exchange God for the creation, God gives them up to lusts and unnatural desires like lesbianism and homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27)
And then, God gives them over to a debased and reprobate mind. He unhooks the leash and lets people run headlong into the destruction they have chosen
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Though they know it is wrong—they don’t just do it, but they give approval to others who practice these things.
Welcome to America.
This is still a wonderful nation in relative terms. A fallen jewel among lesser jewels, in my American opinion.
But is there any doubt that the Lord God has let the dog off the leash?
You might say all this sped up because of technology
It all sped up because of the pandemic
It all sped up because of Hollywood
But those are just little tools of dust in the hands of the great Governor
Our nation has bit down on the spirit of the antichrist
The sermon of the lying, woolly lamb is receiving Amens from the people of the earth who are all around us
We must keep Christ as our anchor.
We must build our lives on His Word.
We cannot get swept away.
It is hard because the world looks at us and saying we are unloving.
For standing for life.
For standing against the mutilation of His design.
For saying Jesus is the only way
And they look at the woolly antichrist and say, “But isn’t the nice and cuddly? How could you not affirm transgender people? How could you not say LOVE IS LOVE?”
Because the Lord has taught us to see through it.
The counterfeit lamb speaks like a Dragon. We know better.
He says to reject Christ and bow down to SELF.
Now, real quick, I don’t want to lose track of what John tells us in 13:15-- that the Second Beast wants the First Beast to be worshipped.
The antichrist spirit and those who proclaim it will always point you back to the First Beast in some way or another.
For example, if you are a trans person in the state of Florida, and you are upset about laws that say elementary school kids shouldn’t be taught Critical Gender Theory, who do you appeal to? The Beast. The great democratic process will overthrow DeSantis and if only a liberal were on the throne of Florida, everything will be okay.
Or in 2015, when gay marriage became officially legal by the ruling of the Supreme Court, and the First Beast covered the white house in the shades of a rainbow flag, the message was clear:
The spirit of the age has won, and you ALL know who to thank—The First Beast. The ruling power.
THE FALSE PROPHET
THE FALSE PROPHET
Now, some of you might feel confused right now because you thought the Antichrist was one man who would come at the end of times.
Well, I believe that. Going back to 1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
I believe the first “antichrist” John is referring to is the Man of Lawlessness that Paul talks about in 2 Thessalonians 2...
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
For me, this sounds worse than the many antichrists that John is talking about in the latter half of 1 John 2:18...
I believe Paul is talking about One Final Antichrist that is worse than all the others before it
So that means the Second Beast is all of these things:
It is a part of the counterfeit Trinity
It is the Roman Imperial Cult
It is the antichrist spirit of any age
And then it will culminate in one final Antichrist
TEACHING POINT #4: The Second Beast is the Man of Lawlessness
TEACHING POINT #4: The Second Beast is the Man of Lawlessness
You don’t actually see the word antichrist in Revelation. You don’t see it in Paul’s writing either.
It is only in John’s pastoral letters.
Some believe this Antichrist won’t be a person, but an institution.
Maybe. I am not sure.
I don’t think we have a ton of information.
I definitely don’t think his name is Nicolae Carpathia.
I simply believe that Paul’s writing in 2 Thessalonians 2 gives us plenty of reason to believe that a Final Antichrist will some that will supersede all that came before.
And when you think of some of the evil we have seen, that is scary.
You might say, “Well, with all you don’t know, what makes you think that the Man of Lawlessness has anything to do with the Second Beast?”
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
Very much like the Second Beast who performs “great signs” and uses those signs to procure worship for the First Beast.
But we do not need to be afraid of the prospect. I am not sure we should even been looking to pinpoint who it is, as so many have spent time doing.
Paul says:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
The breath of His mouth.
The pneuma of His mouth.
The Second Beast is ultimately slain by the Spirit of Christ—the very One he attempted to counterfeit.
How does the Dragon like those apples?
And then, as we close—one more reason for you not to fear the Dragon and his beasts—keep reading your Bible:
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
There are God’s people. Feet firm on Mount Zion, standing victoriously with the true Lamb, sealed by the Father and the Son.
Yeah—I don’t think you are supposed to read this and be scared.
I think you are supposed to read this and take up arms.
But remember—we aren’t talking about guns and knives, here.
This is a spiritual war for a spiritual Kingdom.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Truth as your belt
Righteousness as your chestpiece
the Gospel on your feet
Faith for a shield
Salvation for a helmet
The Bible for a Sword
Prayers on your lips
Alert
Proclaiming
Bold—for in the face of such monsters, this is how we ought to speak.