How to Escape the
Mark of the Beast [He] is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. —Jude 1:24, emphasis added As the end of the world
approaches, so does earth’s darkest hour. Hell
will soon open, and the pit will vomit out its demon hordes to run wildly
throughout humanity. Other beasts from the abyss will globally wreak death and
destruction. Satan himself will invade the earth and seemingly conquer it at
last. At the helm, the visible leader of the world will be the long promised
man of sin, the lawless one, the beast, the coming world leader—commonly known as the Antichrist. But
behind him, the real power will be the god of this world, the dragon, old
Lucifer, the lying serpent of Eden. Imagine what it would be like if that
perfect leader were to step forward tomorrow—a man who appears to
seemingly come out of nowhere—almost a person from
the past who rolls into one all the great leaders of the world. Imagine one man
with the strength of a Caesar, the military genius of an Alexander, the
mesmerizing oratory of a Hitler, the warmth of a Ronald Reagan, the ruthless
determination of a Ghenghis Khan, and the apparent compassion and tenderness of
Jesus Christ! John Phillips writes: “In 1 Timothy 4:1–3, the Bible clearly
teaches that we can expect this invasion from the pit in the last days. During
the final days, most people will be led astray by evil spirits and occult
teachings. The shadows of these times are already darkening the world. Nothing
but the restraining
presence of God the Holy Spirit is holding back
the floodgates of this time of evil. . . . Advanced demonism was the mark of
Noah’s day; [and] it is becoming an
increasingly evident characteristic of the age in which we live.”Revelation 13 explains (as do other scriptures) what I
consider to be one of the saddest doctrines in the Bible—the teaching about the Antichrist, which
tells us that the FALSE Christ will be universally embraced by the world after
the TRUE Christ has been rejected!
“Therefore when you
see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let
him understand) (Matthew 24:15). “For false christs
[pseudo-christs] and false prophets [pseudo-prophets] will rise and show great
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). “I was watching; and
the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, .
. . He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the
saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the
saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time” (Daniel 7:21, 25). The coming of the lawless one is according
to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Far more lethal than rampant viruses, far
more poisonous than radioactivity or toxins, a counterfeit Christianity is
seeping into our world. Jesus warned of a coming day of deception that was so
intoxicating that without His intervention even God’s children would succumb. Revelation 13
shows the second flood, which will destroy our world. The first flood in
Genesis was with water from God to judge sinful humanity. This second flood is
with deception from Satan to seal the doom of humans unwilling to follow the
Lord. Perhaps the Antichrist will step into the world from a battlefield or
maybe from the United Nations. Very possibly, a glowing metallic UFO will
slowly descend in a globally watched spot and, before the wandering eyes of all
the inhabitants of the earth, out will step the ultimate Superman—the first beast! In concise word
pictures, John describes the culmination of the lies of Satan. Mankind needs to
beware of Satan’s counterfeit
authority (Revelation 12:17–13:2), counterfeit resurrection (Revelation 13:3– 5), counterfeit citizenship (Revelation 13:6–10), counterfeit worship (Revelation 13:11– 15), and counterfeit security—the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16–18). How can you escape these counterfeits of
Satan? The only place of safety is to have the security that the real Christ
gives. May the wonders of this chapter cause you to seek God’s mark—and not the mark of
the beast! My Prayer for You This Week: Oh Lord, as we read the words in
Revelation 13, we are grieved to think of someone who will blaspheme Your name,
Your dwelling place—the very God of
heaven! We are grieved that he will be allowed to parade and march up and down
on this planet for forty-two months, imitating Your three and one-half years of
ministry—even imitating Your resurrection from the
dead, Lord Jesus—and imitating Your
power from heaven. We love You, so our hearts are grieved to think that mankind
and humanity would stoop to the depths to be led by this monster from the pit!
We want to magnify Your name, for the world is coming to a day when it will
seek to obliterate the name of the true and living God—the Creator, the Redeemer, and the
righteous Judge from the very consciousness of this planet. We pray that You
might be praised through us, and that we might be among those who turn many to
righteousness that we might all shine like the stars forever. May
we have Your compassion, Lord Jesus, to tell
everyone about You, and earnestly plead, like Paul, with them so that they
might be reconciled to God and avoid the terror of the Lord. Give us an
insatiable desire to win souls to You, Lord Jesus. Help us to faithfully tell
people that before them is a choice, a destiny, and a destination that is
either blessed or horrible, and that they must choose life and look at the
Savior. Enable us to see You clearly! We pray all these things in Your precious
name. Amen. [ copy: ] Living Hope for the End of Days, John S Barnett https://www.google.com/books/edition/Living_Hope_for_the_End_of_Days/Xs3Dt8GyNxYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
