<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Sacramento Central SDA Church

Chris Buttery

All the World Wondered- Part 1

For millennia, people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds have found direction and encouragement in the inspired pages of the Bible.

In his day, Jesus directed listeners to search the prophecies of Scripture to find Him the only way of salvation.

2, 000 years later, as we stand on the break of eternity, We no less need the purpose and hope God's Word provides.

Sacramento Central Church brings you Receiving the Word, timely Bible messages presented by pastors Chris Buttery and Mike Thompson.

Amazing Revelations await you in God's holy word, the Bible.

It's 2 parts and it's entitled, All the World Wondered.

We're going to encourage you to have your Bibles open as we discover some very important truths.

You know, someone said, it's better to be hurt by the truth than to be comforted with a lie.

And so we're gonna look at some hard-hitting facts today, but we're gonna be uplifting Jesus, and I trust you'll be drawn closer to Him as you listen to this presentation today.

And I'd like for you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 13 and we're going to read together these words, verses 1 through 4.

The devil is seeking to lure the world into a false sense of security and prepare the way for his final and deadly attack.

And so we're looking here at Revelation chapter 13, and we'll be reading verses 1 through 4.

And Before we talk about some of the things that we're witnessing in the world today, we're just going to back up a little bit and identify some very important figures here.

Revelation chapter 13, verses 1 through 4, says, that I stood, and this is John speaking, I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name, or the name of blasphemies.

Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard.

His feet were like the feet of a bear, his mouth the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his seat, and great authority.

And I saw 1 of his heads, as it were, had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast." Verse 4, so they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast and they worshipped the beast saying, who is like the beast?

This morning, Revelation unlocks the mystery on the subject regarding this particular beast power.

We're going to look at several identifying points that clearly point out who this great beast in Bible prophecy is.

We'll discover the identity of the Christian Trojan horse, which the Bible says looks good on the outside, but will eventually bring spiritual ruin to a unsuspecting world, and away from Jesus, and away from the Bible.

And when you think about, and you think about the word antichrist, it usually, anti usually means against, and certainly this entity is against Christ.

But anti also means in place of, so when you're thinking about the Antichrist, because most Bible scholars and preachers will agree that the Antichrist, the beast power, Revelation 13, and the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and the little horn of Daniel 7, all speak of the 1 in the same power, the Antichrist power.

So when you're thinking about the Antichrist power, down here in the close of time, you're thinking of someone or something that is seeking to take the place of Christ.

And that's how the devil works and how he's operated.

He's a deceiver and the devil is also a counterfeiter.

And he finally wants to take the place of Jesus.

I go over with me to Isaiah chapter 14, in the middle of your Bibles, Isaiah chapter 14, and we read here about the fall of Lucifer, that once covering cherub in heaven who wanted something badly and he was dismissed.

Isaiah chapter 14 and we look at verses 12 and on.

The Bible says, How you are fallen from Lucifer, from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning.

How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farther sides of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most high.

That's what the devil has wanted all along, from the get-go.

He wants to take the prerogatives in place of the creator God.

Second Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 14, it says, for no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

In order to receive the worship, in order to receive the adoration, in order to gain the worship that belongs to God and God alone, the devil works through craft and through tricks, and he's a great counterfeiter and a deceiver.

In order to appeal to, and ultimately deceive, Christians all around the world, he's going to have to make his deceptions appealing and attractive.

The devil is going to essentially sugarcoat this thing.

His plan is to take the place and the authority of Jesus Christ.

He is the great Antichrist power you see.

Now before we proceed, something needs to be said, and I may say it more than once throughout this presentation.

In this presentation, no 1 is intending to hurt anyone's feelings.

No 1 is intending to embarrass any particular person.

We're not trying to be sensational, We're not trying to be thoughtless or uncaring.

When we come to the Bible, we see what God says on a particular subject, and we wanna come and we wanna consider it, and when we look at the word of God, we want the word of God to lead us in the way to go.

The truth is the truth, and the truth is always better than an untruth.

The truth is always better for us than a lie.

As someone said, it is better to get hurt by the truth than to be comforted by a lie.

And someone also said, naked truth is certainly better than the best dressed lie.

So we want to find out what the Bible says on this particular subject and look at some things that we're seeing in today's society.

This is definitely an important message because those who worship the beast cannot be saved.

Turn back with me to Revelation chapter 14 and we'll put these verses on the screen for us here this morning.

It says, then a third angel followed them, saying, now this third angel is 1 of 3.

And the 3 messages fall under the umbrella of the everlasting gospel that's gotta go to the entire world before Jesus comes.

So this is a part of the everlasting gospel message.

Jesus wants, God wants the world to know that yes, Jesus lived, suffered, and that he died, and he wants us to receive him by faith, you see.

But the gospel encourages, the everlasting gospel encourages us to go further and to look at some of these issues.

And so under the auspices, the umbrella of the everlasting gospel, we have these 3 angels And the third 1 followed saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the what?

The beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink the wine of the wrath of God.

And so those who worship and follow after the beast cannot be saved, they in fact will be lost.

And so this is very important for us to know.

It says they will receive the wrath of God.

In Revelation 15, the wrath of God is poured out in the 7 last plagues.

And I know I've met people, and you've met people as well, who think they're not going to be here during this time because they somehow think they're gonna be raptured out of here before all of this takes place.

But look over at Revelation chapter 13 in verse 9, notice what it says.

Notice what John says, if anyone has what?

So in other words, you need to hear, You need and I need to understand this, you see.

We've all got on our ears this morning, so this message is for each 1 of us, amen?

So, as we study this subject, we need to remember that the Bible is its best interpreter.

I'm not a theologian, not a set of commentaries, but the Bible is its own best commentator or interpreter.

We understand the book of Revelation best when we understand the stories and experiences of the Old Testament and God's people of the Old Testament.

As a matter of fact, out of the 404 verses in the book of Revelation, 276 of them are direct quotes, allusions to the Old Testament.

So if we're gonna understand Revelation, we've gotta understand which part of the Bible.

We're gonna understand the Old Testament as well, you see.

And so to understand the book of Revelation, in particular, we go to the book of Daniel.

I want to invite you to go there with me, the book of Daniel, and we're going to look at chapter 7, Daniel chapter 7.

It's interesting that Daniel saw similar beasts, the same beasts, descriptive beasts that John describes in Revelation 13.

Revelation 13 is kind of like a conglomerate, a composite beast.

In Daniel chapter 7, Daniel sees these beasts coming up 1 after the other out of water.

And so Daniel is the book that's going to help us best understand this prophecy in Revelation chapter 13.

The book of Daniel and Revelation work together like hand in glove.

They're compatible and they help us understand these very important topics.

All the World Wondered- Part 1

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Revelation 6

1h

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Revelation 17

54m

His Way is in the Sanctuary

25. In Antichrist’s Temple (Part 1)

57m

The Whole Truth

Between Two Truths

36m

Which Way, America?

04 Rise of the Antichrist

58m

Prophecies of Hope

6. The AntiChrist Coverup!

50m

Plenaries with Norman McNulty

Revelation’s Sanctuary Theme

50m

Personal Preparation

Personal Preparation- Part 3

1h 9m

Prophecy Encounter

A Woman Rides a Beast, Pt. 2

28m

Who & What Are the Seventh-day Adventists?- Part 1

28m

The Fate of the Lost

The Fate of the Lost, Part 1

28m

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Revelation 3

1h 6m

Sound Doctrine