Revelation 13
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here uh grab a Bible and head to Revelation chapter 13 it'll be on page 599 if you grab one of the blue Bibles in the seat in front of you we are working our way through the Book of Revelation and if you've recently joined us and started being around on Sundays uh in the past couple weeks past couple months as we've been going through this book and if you're unfamiliar with the Bible as a whole you may be thinking to yourself is this what the whole Bible is like no it's not.
But the Book of Revelation is an apocalyptic book it Is God revealing to the Apostle John what's really going on behind some of the things that we can normally see and an apocalyptic book you get a lot of signs and pictures of things that point to something else and and it's very Vivid and striking and this is one of the things that we talked about when we first started working through this book we we went through this sentence here this is an apocalyptic book and it's a letter written to A persecuted people it's written.
When the Church was in distress it's written to these churches in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire where they're facing persecution where they're not fitting in financially they don't get to operate and do business the way they used to they're being arrested they're being persecuted there's difficulty and distress in the Church and one of the things that God does when there's difficulty in distress and we see in the Book of Daniel and we see it here is that he begins to speak in this nature he begins to give Vivid and striking images to try to help us.
See and the reason being in the middle of pain and chaos and difficulty and fear and doubt sometimes the nor noral means of just speaking and writing letters some of that just gets a little lost it's harder to hear every parent who's ever gone hey in the middle of a bunch of kids doing something they freeze and look at you that's not your normal way of talking to your children hopefully hopefully they don't get home from school and you go hey like no you aggressively you get loud there's a moment where you're trying to cut through the noise this is why in the middle of battle and conflict the signals that sent or a banner.
Or a horn or we're going to set fire to this thing and that'll be your time to go there's never been a general who was like all right and then I give you one of these it'll be time to move it's like that's not that's not how it works in the middle of difficulty and conflict we need something clear and so there's Vivid and striking images in the Book of Revelation because God's trying to break through the noise and help them feel feel something.
See something before they're able to hear something before they're able to to understand what's going on and so we're in the middle of a big sign that John is seeing and John is writing what he sees and we said last week that we're in the part of the Book of Revelation where we find out what the point is that there's some clarity given in chapter 12 13 and 14 we've reached this moment in the Book of Revelation where it's helping us understand the whole point of the book and there are some wild things that we're going to.
See this morning and we're going to spend some time on them but we don't want to miss the point because there's a moment in this text where John pauses all of that and looks directly at us and clarifies what's really going on here and what we're really supposed to take away and so we're going to spend some time on that as we go through this now where we left off last week we said this is one of the main things that's happening in this book is that we're told how the Church conquers that Christ through the blood of the Lamb has conquered the dragon that.
Jesus has defeated Satan through the cross and through his sacrifice that the dragon has been conquered and he's been cast down there was this time when he had some Mobility some freedom to go present himself before God and accuse humanity and he's no longer able to do that it says he's cast down and he's cast down in great wrath at the cross where Jesus conquers him and now he's going to begin to wage war against the Saints and this is what we.
See uh 12:1 17 where we left off last week then the dragon that's Satan became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her Offspring on those who keep the Commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus and he stood on the sand of the sea so the dragon has gone to make war on Christians and we're going to see how he goes about that in Chapter 13 so let's pray and then we'll begin to work through this text.
Father we ask that you'd give us the ears to hear and to believe and to respond as John intends us to we thank you for this message and this picture this clarification this revealing we ask you'd help us to respond in faith in Jesus name amen so the dragon standing on the sand of the sea and it says and I saw a beast rising out of the sea with 10 horns and seven heads with 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads and the Beast that I saw was like a leopard its feet were like a bear's its mouth was like a lion's mouth and to it the dragon gave his power.
And his throne and great Authority so John sees this terrifying Beast come out of the water and there's a couple things that we should notice when this happens one is the the Beast mirrors in some ways the dragon the dragon has seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems and the Beast has seven heads and 10 horns and 10 diadems that there's this almost a um incarnation of the Dragon in the Beast that in some ways this Beast is called forth in a way that's going to represent the dragon and we're going to.
See that play out but there's this mirroring but there's also something that happens here that connects to the Book of Daniel so the Book of Daniel is the primary apocalyptic book from the Old Testament Ezekiel has some apocalypsis in it but uh Daniel has more and there's a section in Daniel chapter 7 where four beasts come out of the Sea and the first one is like a lion the second one is like a bear the third one is like a leopard with four heads and the fourth one is unlike the other ones.
But it has 10 horns and so what just came out of the sea here is all of those smoosh together because it's like a lion like a leopard like a bear and it has seven heads which that would be all the amount of heads from The Book of Daniel and it has 10 horns like from The Book of Daniel and in the Book of Daniel we're told very clearly that each one of those beasts represents Kings and kingdoms so it's a king.
But it's also a kingdom and we're told in Revelation 17 that this Beast also the seven heads are Kings the 10 horns are Kings and that this Beast is also Kings and kingdoms that wouldn't have been lost on the original readers and so Satan the dragon wants to wage war on the Saints and he calls forth Kings and kingdoms he raises evil political power out of the sea and we're told in verse 5 that there's going to be given Authority for 42 months which in our understanding of that and we've talked about that a bunch 42 months 1260 days time times and half a time is from the moment that.
Jesus resurrects and the temple is destroyed all the way through Church history and so there's going to be this political power that takes place over the course of history where Jesus says that the time of the Gentiles will have to be fulfilled before he returns and we still have a destroyed temple with Gentiles on it and chapter 11 says that they're it's given over to the Gentiles for 42 months so we just understand that 42 months to be this dragged out period.
Now it's possible that there will be a final climactic version of some of this and that it'll play out over time in iterations and then there'll be a big climactic version and that some of the text in here makes it seem like that may be the case but the dragon is working through political power throughout history and exercising Authority through political power throughout history and John's pulling the curtain back on that we're going to see he says this and he gave the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority to it one of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound.
But its mortal wound was healed and the whole earth marveled as they followed the Beast so there's a lot of speculation as to some of the particular of things like that statement one of the Mortal one of the heads had a mortal wound and it was seemed to be healed one of the things we're going to see as we zoom out a little bit as we look at this Beast is that in some ways the dragon the Beast and then we're going to.
See a second beast create their own Unholy Trinity and that this Beast does some things to mimic Christ that it seems like it dies but it comes back and there are some who will say that that's kingdoms over and over again seeming like they fail but this continual power continues to happen where one Empire Falls but another one Falls and this Beast just lives forever and people continue to worship it and there are others who will say there will be a specific version of that that happens later and that may be the case we cannot in this text Chase every one of these little things.
Because we'll miss the point and thankfully John pauses the action to tell us the point as we go through it but this Beast seems like it's going to fail and doesn't and the whole earth marveled as they followed the Beast and they worshiped the Dragon for he had given his authority to the Beast and they worshiped the Beast saying who is like the Beast and who can fight against it I want you to see how that plays out they're worshiping the dragon he just said the whole world Marvels as they follow the Beast they're worshiping the dragon and the reason they're worshiping the dragon the re reason they're giving their worship to Satan is.
Because he's given his it says for he has given his authority to the Beast and they worship the Beast so what John is saying is that the enemy Works through Kings and kingdoms and political power and that we are drawn in worship to that and then John goes okay what you see is a castle what you see is a territory line what you see is a parliament and then he pulls it back and goes there's actually a beast and that worship of the Beast rolls up in worship of the Dragon to give our love and allegiance to give our life and our energy and our hope and our faith to a kingdom rolls up.
Worship to the dragon now John says not John Paul says that all authority Heavenly uh all uh governing authorities Earthly authorities have God's permission says that in Romans 12 that we're to live under Authority and that Authority is good because it's ordained by God he tells us to pray for kings and everybody in high place so that we might live a peaceful and orderly life and then it's like well well hold on John but Paul says governing authorities are okay and they have the sword and that they're allowed to exercise Authority and we should submit to that.
And then John's telling us nuh-uh it's a secret Beast who's right and the answer is yeah they're both right what Paul is saying is as Christians we should live in society we're not to be Anarchist trying to burn everything down we should hope for a peaceful we we should hope for the kind of situation we're in where we get to to travel and share the Gospel and nobody's hunting us but what John is saying is yeah we should hope for that.
Because our Hope's in Christ we shouldn't put our hope in the Kingdom we we shouldn't put our faith in the Kingdom we shouldn't put our love in the Kingdom we shouldn't be overwhelmed with Devotion to the to the kingdom because ultimately all of that no Kingdom on Earth is working no uh government on Earth is actively working so that you might love and follow Jesus and the enemy is at work in governments on Earth to distract and to woo and to conquer in a way that pulls us away from Christ.
And so we are to be as Peter tells us Exiles who have a citizenship in heaven and it says they say who is like the Beast and who can fight against it they give singular praise to the kings in the kingdoms that sentence should only be said about God we sang it a minute ago who who is like our God that that's for him that's not for political powers and so we have a tension as Christians to live as good citizens in the land that we're in.
But also if our land is telling us we're not allowed to tell people about Jesus well that's a part where we're going to be bad citizens and we'll talk more about how this plays out with us I don't think it means you can't be in the military but you've got to wonder where your heart is and pay attention to where your Allegiance is and where your hope is and what actually really trusting in and at the end of the day what you believe we're going into an election season no I'm not going into it we're in it sorry we're about to have an election that's what I meant and it's really easy.
For us to Care a whole lot more for you to have a whole lot more concern and worry and emotional energy for who's going to be in the white house for 4 years than you've had about whether or not you're neighbors will spend eternity with or without the Lord in a long time and that we care more about that than we care about some of these other things and we're missing what's really supposed to be going on here and John's pulling the curtain back and going y'all all these kingdoms are going to fall and ultimately they're trying to divert our worship to the dragon the American flag will not fly over the New Jerusalem that.
Belongs to Christ verse 5 and the Beast was given a mouth uttering hay and blasphemous words and it was allowed to exercise Authority for 42 months it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God blaspheming his name and his dwelling that is those who dwell in Heaven All right so this Beast is exercising Authority and it has Blasphemous names on its heads we're already told that but it also begins to just blaspheme God and it blasphemes it speaks against him it raises itself up over and against him and we've seen this throughout history in leaders and rulers who were given Divine status who accepted worship who were held up as gods and we've seen this.
In kingdoms that maybe they didn't say this ruler was God but they held up their their Kingdom as worth full devotion and Allegiance and would live forever that this this King and kingdoms raise themselves up against God but there's something that's very interesting that happens here so the dragon is an accuser and a deceiver and he's cast down he used to spend time accusing the Church to God he's not allowed to do that anymore we're told in chapter 12 that there is no accuser that stands before.
God anymore but he's still accusing and deceiving just here and now he's accusing God to us he no long gets to stand and accuse us to God but he's at work to accuse God to us to blaspheme against God and there's something else that he's doing that's very interesting and very encouraging not that he's doing it it's not encouraging but way it's worded is encouraging it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God blaspheming his name which we all should be tracking we understand how you could do that and his dwelling that phrasing is where he Tabernacles that is.
So it's about tell us what his dwelling is that is those who dwell in heaven now if we were writing that we might would have said that is heaven but it doesn't say that is heaven it says that is those who dwell in heaven and throughout the Book of Revelation it's going to talk about those who dwell on Earth but every time it talks about those who dwell on Earth it's specifically referring to those who don't believe so what it just said is he begins to blaspheme Christians which some of that makes sense yeah he's accusing Christians he accuses.
God but he accuses Christians we see that where Christians are mocked and made fun of and attacked globally this is a thing but that word blaspheme needs to hit your ear and you need to register it because some of the accusations made at you by the enemy one of our problems sometimes is that if he accuses Jesus we might would argue with him Jesus doesn't love you and you say that's not how Jesus is but then he might hit you with no one loves you or you're unlovable and we accept that.
Because it feels humble but if Christ dwells in you that's blasphemy against him if he's tabernacled in you if he makes his dwelling among you as 1 Corinthians 3 says do you not know that the spirit of God dwells in you that you are his Temple that this is blasphemy it's not just an accusation but it actually rolls up just like praise for the Beast rolls up in worship to the Dragon accusation against the Church can roll up in blasphemy against.
God to tell you that you're no you'll never be forgiven for that well that's only true if Jesus doesn't do what he says he does no one loves you that's only true if Jesus isn't good and so some of the things that we walk around repeating and hearing I heard a pastors say that the enemy works by accusation and agreement he accuses us of something and we agree but some of the things that we let roll around in our head and that we feel like I'm just the I'm the worst I'm it's like no no people say.
Well I'm chief of Sinners Like Paul yeah Paul was talking about that in the context of his forgiveness to the praise and the glory of Christ and so that sometimes we accept these things but they blasphemies against a holy God who has rescued and redeemed us in Christ and you need to quit listening to it because it's not about you it's about Jesus if you belong to Christ those kind of accusations don't get to stick because they would UL timately have to make something untrue about.
Jesus that is true and we get the good things from Christ because of Christ not because of us and so we get to walk in freedom but he's accusing and blaspheming also verse 7 it was allowed to make war on the Saints and to conquer them and Authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and Nation here again we see the Beast mimicking some of what Jesus Does by having every tribe and language and people and Nation it's possible there's a future version of this that is some sort of global power.
But y'all every people in language and tribe and nation is under some form of king or leadership or government that they can put their trust in and when Satan is tempting Jesus in the desert it says he shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and says if you'll worship me I'll give this all to you he's called the the God of this world that he has some authority over this and he's working out governing authorities in a way that divert us from Christ that place Our Hope in them and ultimately claim our worship.
But I want you to see something else in verse 7 it says and it was allowed well who allows it God so when John's pulling this curtain back he's saying you see a parliament you see a capital building you see a castle there's really a beast and there's really a dragon but looming up above them seemingly even unseen by the dragon is the God who allows some of this to play out for a time but then ultimately draws it to a close that all of this plays out under God's Great Authority he's not actively at work in doing these things he's allowing some of this to play out as he works Redemption out in history.
And one day the enemy will be destroyed but the conclusion isn't up for grabs it it's not like the enemy might win he only works at the allowance of God who one day says time's up but it says he was allowed to make war on the Saints and to conquer them and Authority was given it over every tribe and people in language and nation and all who dwell on Earth will worship it everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who was slain.
If anyone has an ear let him hear if anyone is to be taken captive to Capt ity he goes if anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain here is a call for the endurance and Faith of the Saints so this Beast is going to conquer and kill and capture and work against the Church then I saw another Beast rising out of the earth it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
So this isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing this is the dragon in sheep's clothing and in some ways it's trying to mirror the lamb but it's just part of the dragon as well 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 so this second beast shows up and points back to the first Beast so when you worship the first Beast your worship rolls up and praise to the dragon just as.
Jesus says no one comes to the father except by me the worship for the Beast rolls up in praise to the dragon and the second beast shows up and points to the first beast and we have an evil Unholy Trinity at work to lead praise and worship to the dragon but this Beast is at work now again this is a sign this is a picture so it represents something else and so here's what it says 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 it is possible that some of these signs and things will take place in a very real fashion in the future but this Beast is at work in soft power if you have the first beast at work through political power and through conquering this one shows up and it works like a prophet from the Old Testament to call people to worship of the first Beast it's working through signs and wonders it's taking on the role of a prophet to point people to the.
First beast and so this is and we're going to see it's both religious and financial it's working like a prophet and it's going to work through financial systems to try to bring about worship for the first beast and so that may be specifically referencing something that's going to happen but it also is playing out over time as there have been civil religions and world religions that call for adherence to the authorities and the governing authorities have always liked the religions that help the governing authorities have power they get rid of the ones that cause problems they keep the ones that say do what's right and in every place where the government has grown in authority.
And power you will see that they'll keep the religions that help their Authority and power and they'll get rid of the ones that don't they'll make it more difficult for them to exist and that's what this second beast is doing 15 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 so your options are worship or die 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 so again this may have some future really crystallized version of this but one of the other things that happens here is that this is tied into economic existence which we see that the letters written to the first seven churches had that involved that they were poor that they were having a difficult time operating and functioning and working in a society that they had to Worship in order to exist in and they were not doing that and one of the things that the Jewish people were told in the Old Testament.
Was to put a fanry on their wrist on their hand or their forehead which was a small Torah scroll that helped them remember who they were and what they were about so one of the things that may be happening here is that the second beast gets you to worship the first Beast because of your love for money that he makes you about buying and selling that what your hand is trying to do and what your mind is thinking about is buying and selling that there's this economic aspect of participation in a worshipful way with the.
First piece so it may have a future fulfillment but it also can be a sign pointing to playing out over time the call that if your local first Beast is doing really well usually your economics are doing really well also 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 if you don't know much about the Book of Revelation or Christianity you probably still know something about this there are one million guesses as to what this is getting at the further you go the crazier the math gets and you can make the math do.
Whatever you want to do there are a few that make a little more sense but there is no consensus so I'm going to give you some of the options and then we're going to make sure we don't miss the point of this passage while this is very intriguing it's not the point of this passage so here are a couple of your options one is one of the commentaries point out that he calls for wisdom and then he says calls for understanding and to calculate the commentary was just pointing out that most of the people just get into the calculate part they're just doing math problems and he says.
But usually when the Bible calls us for wisdom it's beyond just he said anybody can do math it's calling us for some sort of understanding that is spiritually discerned and so he was just trying to say that may not be the best way to go about it and I thought that was a good argument but there is a thing called gatria matria which is taking words and adding them up to get a number it doesn't work in English because we have letters and numbers.
But in Hebrew and Greek and Latin their letters were their numbers so you could write a name out and you could do a math problem there was a guy who like graffitied a thing that said I love her whose number is 545 or something like that and it wasn't like an old school phone that only needed three digits it was he had added her name up and someone could do the math and try to figure out he's in love with Tina or whatever.
So there are people who have taken and tried to figure out what does this name add up to because it says it's the number of a man and his number is 666 if you take this was written in Greek but if you transliterate it into Hebrew and spell it a little differently than it normally is spelled you can get Nero Caesar so a lot of people think that this maybe was Nero Caesar and that he he was doing it in Hebrew and people would have to figure that out you can get the Beast.
If you transliterate it to Hebrew you can also get Nero Caesar if you do it in Latin and spell it a little bit differently uh irenaeus who was a disciple of polycarp who was a disciple of John so he's like this John's spiritual grandson he didn't know he wrote a commentary on this and he was like gave some options and then he just ended with it'll probably be clear when it's really important so he just said seems like a future thing they'll figure it out out and I think that's a good argument maybe that's how that'll play out the phrasing it's the number of a man is used later.
When it talks about a cubit it says it's the measurement of a man and it doesn't mean One Singular man is 18 in tall it means Humanity uses this number it's humans number and so there are some who say that's actually what this is saying that seven God cre the world in six days and he rested on the seventh and seventh is a complete cycle and it it brings to the end of something and so they would have festivals that lasted seven days or lasted 14 days they had a uh things that would happen every seventh year they had a Year of Jubilee that happened every seven s years it's 49 years.
And so they're just saying that really what this is getting at is the full culmination of the power of humanity is going to equal a trinity of incompleteness 666 maybe it is written out as 666 rather than just a six a six and a six I I don't think that it is extremely clear it does take understanding and calculation and I'm I lean a little bit with irenaeus which is maybe it'll be clear when we really need it to be clear the original readers would have most likely seen in the Beast the Roman Empire and they wouldn't have been wrong.
And then later people saw other Empires and other kingdoms and other powers and I don't think they were wrong either because I think this is how this works you look out in the world and you see the Beast and John saying yeah that's how Satan's at work that the Roman Empire was the beast but the Roman Empire Falls and then something else Rises and there have been powers in China and Russia and yeah and the United States is also a very powerful political power.
And if we don't see the enemy at work in that we're missing something now we're not in a season where we're being conquered there are Christians being conquered in Iran and Algeria and North Korea that they're having to deal with the he's conquering them but we're not in that season that way but we are in the one where there's a a whisper and a call to political power and influence and financial gain and to just love the Beast and participate in its ways and have your hope set here.
But there's a moment in this text where John stops I I I uh I don't know if you watch plays I really like plays they're excellent if they're done well they're amazing and if they're done poorly they're amazing so plays are amazing you go to a middle school play and they crush it that was awesome if they fail the whole time it's still awesome you can't laugh real loud cuz their parents are there but it's awesome so my wife and I can't sit with each other.
Because we cause problems but I love plays but there's a thing that happens in plays every once in a while where everybody freezes and the lighting changes and the main character steps out and just looks at the audience it's just something between you and them this happens in in Hamilton he gets right to the end but the point is freezes and then he turns and goes he's going to talk to you he's holding a gun that's why I'm doing that because they don't want you to miss the point and there's a moment in this text where everything freezes and John turns.
So look at verse eight all who dwell on the earth will worship it that's a fearful statement everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who was slain everyone worships the Beast everyone loves the Beast everyone bows to the Beast unless before the foundation of the world your name was written in the book of the life of the Lamb who was slain if you belong to Jesus you don't worship the Beast you don't love the Beast you can't and you make it out Everyone Falls prey to the Beast except those who've been rescued and Redeemed by.
Jesus everyone places their hope in the Beast everyone bows to the Beast everyone wants what the Beast promises except for those who belong to Jesus and so I'll hear Christians every once in a while go I just what if I take the mark what if I what if this happens what if that happens and it's like it won't if you belong to Jesus because he will keep you and the Beast Rises and falls and on the bookend of that the whole life of the work of the Beast and the dragon on the book end of that.
If you belong to Jesus your name was pinned in the book and you live for eternity that in the promised existence of those who know Christ in his rescue plan and hope there's a moment where where the Beast gets to throw everything he has and the Church doesn't fall and those in Christ don't fall and so John says that and then everything freezes and he looks at us and he says if anyone has an ear let him hear if anyone is to be taken captive to captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain here is a call for the endurance and Faith of the Saints why is the Book of Revelation written in the middle of distress and pain and confusion and doubt God speaks and he says there's a beast and he has Authority and you may be conquered you may be taken captive you may be killed endure and Trust because I wrote your name down before I spoke the world into existence and I sent my son as the Pinnacle of History to pay with his blood.
For your life so that you might belong to us forever and ever and ever and ever and no Beast I don't care how many heads or horns it has can take you away from me now you may have to endure here for for a time but you will live enduringly forever because of the rescue of Christ and right now we aren't actively being rounded up hunted conquered we're not being taken into captivity or slain with a sword it's possible that'll happen it's possible you're sent somewhere that that happens it's possible that things change drastically in our country and that happens.
But right now we do have a beast that is luring us and whispering to us and trying to woo us into a love that we cannot get into and we cannot worship the Beast and we cannot follow the Beast and we can't place Our Hope in political parties or in financial systems and our participation and all of that has to happen on a level of Exiles who have a citizenship somewhere else and a hope somewhere else and a king somewhere else and I don't know where your faith fits in and how you think about it in your life.
And if it's just a part of something do and it's one of those things that's kind of a part of life for you and it's a little bit of a thing that you take place in and it fits in when it fits in or if it's something that's maybe a little bit more of your time in life but you have to understand that if you really really really belong to Jesus then your faith is something that exists outside of time and has existed before the foundation of the world will keep you and will stand in the face of the Beast and all his power and all his strength that the dragon the.
First Beast and the second beast cannot conquer those who belong in Jesus in any sort of meaningful way because as soon as he kills us we rise and I don't know what kind of fears and doubts you have and I don't know what right now is Whispering to you in our culture walk away from Jesus everything would be easier if you just came this way but you can not you must endure and hold fast to your faith in Christ because that's where our hope and our eternity is set and sealed.
And if you want to this morning place your faith in Jesus and say I need something that can stand in the face of the Beast and I need a hope that is held secure can I tell you if you'll do that all it means is that before the foundation of the world he wrote your name down and he will keep you and he will save you and you will hold on to the end Christians will endure and we're called to endure you're going to make it to the end.
So make it to the end you're going to keep your faith so keep your faith faith here's a call for the endurance and the faith of the Saints let's pray Lord Jesus by the power of your spirit may we endure as we're tempted into sin as we're tempted as we're fearful as we stare out into the world and we see so much chaos and destruction may we see with Clear Eyes what's really going on where our hope really is and may we endure and trust you in.
Jesus name amen