Anchors of Truth

Beasts And Dragons

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: James Rafferty

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000087


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Decoding Apocalyptic Prophecy with James Rafferty.
00:23 Hello friends and welcome to another Anchors Of Truth series
00:26 here at the 3ABN Worship Center in snowy icy southern Illinois.
00:32 Thank you for taking the time to tune in.
00:34 We hope you have on your snow shoes as you're sitting
00:36 in your comfortable homes there in Florida.
00:39 We're kind of a little jealous tonight because it's
00:42 freezing here, but we're going to pray that the Lord
00:44 will warm our hearts through His Holy Spirit
00:48 and through the preaching of the Word.
00:49 Can we all say amen to that?
00:51 And so for the next hour, we'd like to encourage you to
00:54 sit down and listen as James Rafferty,
00:58 co-director and speaker of Light Bearers Ministry,
01:01 continues where he left off last night;
01:03 the book of Revelation.
01:04 But the most central theme of the book of Revelation
01:07 is Jesus Christ, the Lamb.
01:09 Without the Lamb, all the beasts in symbols will just
01:12 awaken our hearts fear.
01:14 But where we find the Lord, there will be perfect love.
01:18 And perfect love casts out all fear.
01:21 So stay tuned tonight, whether by radio or by
01:23 television, or whatever media.
01:25 We thank you for tuning in.
01:26 Before we go any further though, tonight's music.
01:29 I'll have a chance to share again the song,
01:31 There Is a Savior.
01:33 But before we do anything, let's open our hearts through prayer.
01:36 Let's bow our heads together.
01:38 Our gracious Father, we thank You for tonight for this
01:40 wonderful opportunity.
01:42 The Word goes forth, the seed always gets sown.
01:47 But Father, we pray that the hearts that receive it
01:50 will be good soil tonight.
01:52 Not stony grounds, not thorny grounds,
01:54 not shallow grounds.
01:56 And so we send Your Holy Spirit forth by the power of the Word
02:00 to reach those hearts that need to know about the Savior
02:03 in this world that's gone awry.
02:06 We need to know that the Lamb still lives
02:08 and He still makes intercession for us.
02:11 So Lord, tonight, bless not only the message,
02:14 but also bless Your messenger.
02:16 And may hearts be transformed and changed.
02:18 We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
02:33 There is a Savior,
02:41 what joys express.
02:48 His eyes are mercy,
02:54 His word is rest.
03:00 For each tomorrow,
03:08 for yesterday,
03:14 there is a Savior
03:22 who lights our way.
03:30 Are there burdens in your heart?
03:34 Is your past a memory that binds you?
03:43 Is there a pain that you've carried far too long?
03:55 Well strengthen your heart with this good news.
04:06 There is a Savior
04:12 and He's forgiven you.
04:20 There is a Savior,
04:28 what joys express.
04:34 His eyes are mercy,
04:40 His word is rest.
04:46 For each tomorrow,
04:54 for yesterday,
05:00 there is a Savior
05:07 who lights our way.
05:14 There is a Savior,
05:21 what joys express.
05:28 In His eyes there's mercy,
05:34 in His word you'll find rest.
05:40 For each tomorrow,
05:48 and for yesterday,
05:55 there is a Savior
06:02 who lights our way.
06:09 There is a Savior
06:17 who lights our way.
06:41 Amen, thank you John.
06:44 I love those words. Don't you?
06:47 There is a Savior who lights our way.
06:51 That is very appropriate for our focus in the book of Revelation.
06:56 Because we need, according to a lot of people,
07:01 this very dark book, we need a Savior who will light our way.
07:06 So last night, we talked about a mystery number.
07:11 145, 715, 2122
07:17 And I know you figured it out.
07:19 Caleb figured it out.
07:21 I know others figured it out.
07:23 What is the mystery number all about?
07:28 That mystery number has to do with
07:32 reading the book of Revelation.
07:35 If you read Revelation chapter 1, chapters 4 and 5,
07:40 chapter 7, chapter 15, and chapter 21 and chapter 22,
07:45 you read those chapters and you're going to get the picture
07:49 of Christ and the plan of salvation that is powerful.
07:53 You're going to see that all the way through the book of
07:56 Revelation there is this theme of the Lamb, there is this theme
08:01 of salvation, this theme of the the everlasting gospel.
08:03 So that was the mystery number.
08:06 It wasn't a telephone number.
08:08 It wasn't a number to dial and call.
08:10 You were going to get an answer that was going to say,
08:12 "You have dialed this number that cannot be connected.
08:14 And if you have misdialed, please dial again."
08:18 And as you keep dialing that number, well 145, 715, 2122
08:23 is not going to get you anywhere as far as dialing a number.
08:25 But it's going to get you a lot of places
08:27 if you're looking for Jesus in the book of Revelation.
08:31 Now tonight we're suppose to be talking about
08:33 beasts and dragons, but guess what.
08:35 We're not going to do that quite yet.
08:38 I have spent many hours developing a list
08:42 of Bible verses in the book of Revelation that focus on Jesus.
08:46 I just was curious, I'm a curious person.
08:48 I think curiosity is good.
08:49 I think God wrote the book of Revelation
08:52 so that He could reach curious people.
08:55 Not just Christians.
08:56 Many Christians don't even read it.
08:58 But people in the world.
08:59 Before I was ever a Christian, there was one book that
09:02 I had an interest in as I would sit around with my friends.
09:05 It was the book of Revelation.
09:08 Ooh, it was spooky, it was strange;
09:10 the symbols and that number 666.
09:13 I really wanted to figure it out.
09:15 And even today, I have asked...
09:17 I've taught several classes with young people, Bible classes
09:20 on the book of Revelation.
09:22 And I'll ask young people, academy and high school kids,
09:24 I'll say, "Now, when you look at the book of Revelation,
09:27 what kind of book is it?"
09:28 Think about media today.
09:30 Think about the way the media isolates different types of
09:35 movies, for example.
09:37 What kind of movie would Revelation be?
09:39 Would it be a romance?
09:41 Well yes, there's romance in the book of Revelation.
09:43 There's a marriage that takes place.
09:45 Would it be horror?
09:46 Well actually, there is some horror
09:48 in the book of Revelation.
09:50 What about Sci-Fi?
09:51 Well yeah, there's Sci-Fi in the book of Revelation.
09:52 I mean, you've got a beast with seven heads and ten horns.
09:57 What about drama?
10:00 Or action?
10:02 How about family?
10:04 It's all there.
10:05 Everything is in the book of Revelation.
10:07 This book is written by a God who knew the future,
10:12 knew what we were going to be facing,
10:14 understood the environment that we would be living in today
10:18 as well as down through the years, and He put this
10:20 book together calculated to reach out, even to me
10:24 when I was out there in darkness, to reach out
10:26 to a lost world with one major theme or focus.
10:31 And that is the everlasting gospel, Jesus Christ.
10:35 Revelation chapter 1.
10:37 Do you have your Bibles?
10:38 And you viewers at home tonight, I want to encourage you;
10:42 get your Bibles out, put them down in front of you,
10:47 and get ready to start turning pages.
10:49 You're going to want to mark these verses
10:50 or you're going to want to have a piece of
10:54 paper and write them down.
10:55 We're going to be looking at...
10:57 I'm not going to tell you how many verses.
10:59 Maybe you can count them and when we get done
11:01 you can tell me how many verses we've looked at.
11:03 But we're going to be looking at a lot of verses.
11:05 We're going to back up just a little bit.
11:08 We left off last night in Revelation 6.
11:10 We're going to go back to Revelation chapter 1.
11:12 And I'm going to just give you some one-liners.
11:14 I want you to think about these, because these one-liners
11:16 are going to speak to you specifically and individually.
11:20 Some of us are going to be very touched by the
11:23 truths that we're going to be looking at tonight.
11:26 Some of us are going to say, "Oh, that is so significant
11:28 for me specifically."
11:30 So look at these verses, these one-liners,
11:33 in the book of Revelation.
11:34 Count them if you can.
11:36 And when we get done, we're going to look at some
11:38 comparisons with other books in the Bible.
11:41 Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, the book of Revelation
11:45 is the revelation of Jesus.
11:50 Revelation 1 verse 5, the one who loved us and
11:53 washed us from our sins is Jesus.
11:57 Revelation 1 verse 7, the one who was pierced
12:01 for our sins is Jesus.
12:05 Revelation 1:10, the Lord whose day John was in the Spirit
12:11 is Jesus.
12:13 Revelation 1:11, the Alpha and Omega,
12:17 the first and the last, is Jesus.
12:20 Revelation 1:13, the Son of man among the lamp stands is Jesus.
12:27 Revelation 1:14, He whose head and hair is white
12:31 like wool is Jesus.
12:33 Revelation 1:15, He whose feet were like fine brass is Jesus.
12:41 Revelation 1:16, He whose countenance was like
12:44 the sun is Jesus.
12:47 Revelation 1:17, He who touches John and says,
12:51 "Do not be afraid," is Jesus.
12:56 Revelation 1:18, He who has the keys of Hades
13:01 and death is Jesus.
13:05 Revelation 1:19, He who tells John to write
13:08 past, present, and future is Jesus.
13:13 Revelation 1:20, He who unlocks the mystery
13:17 of the symbols is Jesus.
13:20 Revelation 2:1, He who holds the seven stars is Jesus.
13:26 Revelation 2:8, the one who was dead and came to life is Jesus.
13:33 Revelation 2:12, He who has a sharp two-edged sword is Jesus.
13:39 Revelation 2:18, the Son of God is Jesus.
13:43 Revelation 3:1, He who has the seven Spirits of God is Jesus.
13:49 Revelation 3:7, He who is holy, He who is true, is Jesus.
13:57 Revelation 3:14, the Amen, the faithful and
14:00 true Witness is Jesus.
14:03 Revelation 4:1, the voice like a trumpet
14:05 speaking with John is Jesus.
14:09 Revelation 5:5, the Lion of Judah is Jesus.
14:14 Revelation 5:6, the Lamb as though it had
14:17 been slain is Jesus.
14:20 Revelation 6:1, 3, 5, 7,
14:28 9, 12, and 8:1,
14:34 the Lamb opening the seals is Jesus.
14:42 So that's where we left off last night.
14:44 That is the first page.
14:47 We have three left.
14:53 Is Jesus in the book of Revelation, or what?
14:57 Now there's something really powerful about this.
14:59 As I was going through, I was just
15:01 reading through the book of Revelation.
15:03 I knew some of these, but some of them I did not know.
15:04 I was just looking, so I just started going
15:06 through the book of Revelation.
15:07 I spent several hours today adding to the list.
15:10 And I started going through.
15:11 I started getting a picture that I'd never seen before
15:15 that makes it very clear that what Jesus says
15:18 in the beginning of the book and what He says
15:19 in the end of the book is true.
15:21 Jesus says in the beginning, "I am the first and the last,
15:24 the Alpha and the Omega."
15:25 "I'm the first and the last.
15:27 I am A to Z."
15:28 You know, you've heard of A To Z Rentals, right?
15:30 A To Z Rentals, you can just get anything at A To Z Rentals.
15:33 Well, Jesus is saying, "I'm the first and the last.
15:36 I'm the beginning and the end.
15:37 I am A to Z.
15:39 I'm everything and anything that you need Me to be.
15:43 I'm here for you."
15:45 I love that.
15:46 I love this picture of Christ.
15:47 Revelation 7:9 and 10, the Lamb giving salvation to a
15:51 countless number is Jesus.
15:54 That's Revelation 7:9 and 10.
15:57 Revelation 7:17, the Lamb leading to living
16:00 fountain of waters is Jesus.
16:03 Anyone know how many we have so far?
16:05 Anyone been counting?
16:10 I'm not going to count them right now.
16:11 I know the total.
16:13 When we get done, I'll tell you the total.
16:14 The total is fantastic.
16:16 Revelation 8:3 and 4, the angel and the incense
16:22 in Revelation 8:3 and 4 are symbols of the mediation
16:25 and sacrifice of Jesus.
16:28 Revelation 8:5, the angel throwing fire from the altar
16:32 into the earth is Jesus.
16:34 Revelation 10:1, the mighty angel clothed with a cloud
16:37 is a symbol of Jesus.
16:41 Revelation 10 verse 2, the one who opens the
16:44 little book is Jesus.
16:48 Revelation 10 verse 3, the one who cries like a
16:51 lion roars is Jesus.
16:56 Revelation 10 verse 5, the one raised up
16:58 His hand to heaven is Jesus.
17:01 Revelation 10:6, the one who swore that there should be
17:04 time no longer is Jesus.
17:08 Revelation 10:7, the one who said the mystery of God
17:11 would be finished is Jesus.
17:16 Revelation 10 verse 9, the one who told John to
17:18 take the little book is Jesus.
17:22 Revelation 10:11, the one who told John he must
17:28 prophecy again is Jesus.
17:32 Revelation 11:1, the altar is a symbol of the
17:35 sacrifice of Jesus.
17:38 Revelation 11:8, the Lord who was crucified is Jesus.
17:44 Revelation 11:15, the kingdoms of the world are given to Jesus.
17:49 Revelation 12:1, the sun that clothes the woman is a symbol
17:54 of the righteousness of Jesus.
17:57 Revelation 12:2, the child of the woman is Jesus.
18:02 Revelation 12:4, the one who the dragon seeks to devour is Jesus.
18:08 Revelation 12:5, the child born and caught up to God is Jesus.
18:14 Revelation 12:13, the male child of the woman is Jesus.
18:19 Revelation 12:7-9, Michael who casts Satan
18:22 from heaven is Jesus.
18:26 Revelation 12:10, the accuser is cast down by Jesus.
18:33 Revelation 12:11, the blood of the Lamb by which
18:36 we overcome is the sacrifice of Jesus.
18:40 Revelation 12:17, the woman's offspring have the
18:44 testimony of Jesus.
18:47 Revelation 13:8, the Lamb slain from the foundation
18:50 of the world is Jesus.
18:54 Revelation 13:11, the two horns like a lamb represent the
18:59 religious and civil liberty of Jesus.
19:04 Revelation 14:1, the Lamb on Mount Zion is Jesus.
19:10 Revelation 14:4, the Lamb the redeemed follow
19:16 wherever He goes is Jesus.
19:20 Are you keeping up with me?
19:22 Am I going too fast?
19:23 I don't want to go too fast.
19:25 I don't want to lose anyone here.
19:26 Because I believe that every single one of these verses,
19:29 every single one of these thoughts is foundational.
19:33 Before we meet the dragons and the beasts,
19:35 we have to have Jesus.
19:38 Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go.
19:41 And so as we see Jesus moving through the book of Revelation,
19:44 He's everywhere.
19:46 He's in every chapter, every major prophecy.
19:50 Every major vision, there He is, we can safely venture
19:54 into that section of prophecy and understand it in the context
19:58 of what Jesus is doing, what He's accomplishing
20:01 in that prophecy for His people and for the plan of salvation.
20:07 Alright, we're almost done.
20:08 We're more than half way through.
20:10 Revelation 14:10, the Lamb, in His presence the lost
20:15 feel tormented, is Jesus.
20:18 Revelation 14:12, the faith of the saints is the
20:20 faith of Jesus.
20:23 Revelation 14:14, the Son of man on a cloud with a
20:27 crown and a sickle is Jesus.
20:31 Revelation 15:3, the Lamb whose song the redeemed sing is Jesus.
20:39 Revelation 16:15, the one who comes as a thief is Jesus.
20:46 Revelation 17:6, the one for whom many people
20:50 die as martyrs is Jesus.
20:54 Revelation 17:14, the Lamb who is warred against
20:58 but overcomes is Jesus.
21:02 Revelation 18:1, the glory that illuminates the world
21:07 is the glory of Jesus.
21:11 Revelation 18:4, the people who are called out of Babylon
21:14 are the people of Jesus.
21:18 Revelation 19:7, the marriage of the Lamb is the
21:20 marriage of Jesus.
21:23 Revelation 19:9, the marriage supper of the Lamb is
21:26 the marriage supper of Jesus.
21:30 I mean, what's a wedding without food, right?
21:34 Revelation 19:10, the spirit of prophecy is the
21:37 testimony of Jesus.
21:39 Revelation 19:11, the faithful and true
21:42 white horse rider is Jesus.
21:47 Revelation 19:12, the one with many crowns is Jesus.
21:52 Revelation 19:13, the one who is the Word of God is Jesus.
21:58 Revelation 19:14, the one who leads the armies
22:01 in heaven is Jesus.
22:04 Revelation 19:15, the one who has a sharp sword is Jesus.
22:09 Revelation 19:16, the one who is King of kings and
22:12 Lord of lords...
22:16 You guessed it.
22:17 It's Jesus.
22:19 Revelation 19:15... I did it already.
22:22 Revelation 19:19, the one who the armies of earth
22:27 war against is Jesus.
22:30 Revelation 19:21, the one who defeats the armies
22:33 of earth is Jesus.
22:36 Revelation 21:9, the groom of the Lamb's wife is Jesus.
22:42 Revelation 21:22, the Lamb or the temple of the
22:46 New Jerusalem is Jesus.
22:49 Revelation 21:23, the Lamb or light of the
22:52 New Jerusalem is Jesus.
22:56 Revelation 21:27, the Lamb's Book of Life is the
22:59 book of Jesus.
23:02 Revelation 22:1, the throne of the Lamb is the throne of Jesus.
23:07 Revelation 22:3, there is no more curse because
23:10 we serve Jesus.
23:13 Revelation 22:4, we shall see the face and bear the
23:17 name of Jesus.
23:21 Revelation 22:7, the one who is coming quickly is Jesus.
23:27 Revelation 22:12, the one who rewards according to
23:32 our works is Jesus.
23:36 Revelation 22:16, the one who sent His angel to John is Jesus.
23:44 And finally, Revelation 22:20, the one who testifies
23:51 to these things is Jesus.
23:58 How many verses all together?
24:01 Approximately, I'm not going to nail this down,
24:05 ninety-three.
24:07 93 verses in the book of Revelation with direct
24:10 reference to Jesus.
24:11 Now that does not include references to God
24:13 or to the Spirit or to angels or to God's people.
24:17 That's just references to Jesus either literally
24:20 or symbolically.
24:21 93 references.
24:23 So what I decided to do is I decided to look up
24:25 the direct references to Jesus in the gospels.
24:28 Because I thought, "Hey, the book of Revelation,
24:31 scary book, people don't want to read it.
24:32 What about the gospels? People love reading the gospels.
24:35 And I found that in the gospel of Mark...
24:37 Okay, it's the smallest gospel. True enough.
24:39 In the gospel of Mark, 16 chapters, there are exactly...
24:43 Guess how many.
24:44 93 references to Jesus Christ.
24:47 Exactly.
24:49 Now there are other references like "the Son of man,"
24:52 which appears about 13 times in the gospel of Mark.
24:55 There are 93 references to Jesus Christ
24:58 in the gospel of Mark.
25:00 There are 93 references to Jesus Christ
25:02 in the book of Revelation.
25:04 Now we've got to recognize that in the book of Revelation,
25:07 some of these references are veiled in symbols,
25:10 like for example, the lamb, an angel, a lion
25:15 or the word of God.
25:17 And these symbols identify a certain attribute or focus
25:23 that Jesus has in that particular prophecy.
25:27 Nevertheless, Mark has 93 references to Jesus,
25:31 and it's a gospel.
25:33 Revelation has 93 references to Jesus, and it is...
25:37 ...a scary book.
25:39 I don't think so.
25:41 It is time, friends, it is time for us and for the world
25:45 to recognize that the book of Revelation
25:49 is talking about Jesus.
25:52 We can no longer continue to promote the idea
25:55 that the book of Revelation is about beasts and dragons
25:58 and plagues, when in reality Revelation has as much to
26:01 say about Jesus as does the gospel of Mark.
26:05 In some ways, it has more to say about Jesus
26:10 than the gospel of Mark.
26:13 In fact, when I think about this, I think about other books
26:16 like the book of Romans.
26:18 I just decided to do a little quick word check.
26:19 Because a lot of people believe that Romans is
26:21 the clearest gospel.
26:22 How many references to Jesus are in the book of Romans?
26:26 Thirty-eight.
26:28 Thirty-eight.
26:30 Now if Romans is the clearest gospel and there's
26:31 38 references there...
26:34 Revelation, oh...
26:39 You know what I call Revelation?
26:40 This is my own thing that I have decided.
26:43 I call Revelation, the fifth gospel of the Bible.
26:47 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
26:51 It's a prophetic gospel.
26:54 It's a prophetic gospel.
26:55 Every gospel is unique in its emphasis.
26:58 And the book of Revelation is a prophetic gospel of Jesus.
27:03 It's talking about Jesus in relation to prophecy.
27:07 And it's powerful when you think about it,
27:09 because once we realize that Jesus is the theme
27:13 of the book of Revelation, then we can kind of,
27:17 well in a sense we can relax a little bit.
27:20 Now we need to be careful there because the book of
27:25 Revelation also gives us a warning.
27:30 A warning about a power...
27:32 And I say a power because this power works through
27:34 many different means, but it has one core center.
27:39 And that is, the dragon.
27:41 ...who is seeking to undermine what has been accomplished
27:45 for us by Jesus Christ.
27:48 Let me give you an example.
27:50 And we're searching now for beasts and dragons, in a sense.
27:53 That's our topic tonight, though I didn't want to
27:55 venture there until we actually nailed down
27:58 this whole foundation of Jesus Christ.
28:01 But look in Revelation chapter 12.
28:06 When we look in Revelation chapter 12, many times
28:09 we find that the very context of Revelation;
28:13 a chapter or the verses somewhere else in the book,
28:17 will give us an identification of a
28:20 symbol that we're looking at.
28:22 For example, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7
28:26 tells us about a war that is taking place in heaven.
28:29 And the dragon has already been introduced in
28:33 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 3.
28:36 But when this war is described, Revelation 12 and verse 7,
28:40 it pits Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon
28:45 and his angels.
28:47 Now we know, according to Revelation 19,
28:49 that Jesus is the leader of the armies of heaven.
28:52 We know that, so we know Michael is another name for Jesus.
28:57 Jesus, the one who is like God.
28:59 And some people struggle with that because they think,
29:01 "Well Michael is a created being.
29:03 Michael is the arch angel."
29:04 Well the arch angel, that word, that term means
29:07 He's the chief of the angels.
29:09 He is Commander-in-Chief of the angels.
29:11 It doesn't mean He's a created being.
29:14 Calling Jesus "Michael" and then assuming that He's a
29:18 created being is like saying, "Well Jesus became a man.
29:20 Therefore, He must be created."
29:21 And there are some people who believe that,
29:23 some churches who teach that.
29:25 But we know the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God.
29:29 He is God the Son.
29:31 And He can take the form of a man and still be God.
29:34 He can take the form of an angel and still be God.
29:37 God the Spirit can take the form of a dove and still be God.
29:40 God the Father can take the form of a burning bush
29:42 and still be God.
29:45 And so Jesus here is represented in these different forms
29:49 because He is in fact the Commander-in-Chief
29:53 of the angels of heaven.
29:55 And He's the one that fought.
29:56 He's the leader of the armies, Revelation 19,
29:58 that fought against the dragon and his angels.
30:01 And He prevailed, verse 8.
30:03 And no place was found any more in heaven for them.
30:06 Now verse 9 is the key verse here.
30:08 It says, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
30:12 called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world.
30:19 He was cast out into the earth, and his angels
30:22 were cast out with him."
30:24 Now this tells us very clearly and succinctly
30:27 who the dragon is.
30:29 As soon as we identify a symbol in literal terms,
30:35 we can drop the symbolism.
30:38 The dragon is Satan.
30:39 Whenever we see that word in the book of Revelation;
30:42 dragon, dragon, dragon, and actually in other places
30:46 in the Bible, we can understand that it's a symbol for Satan.
30:48 And we can do the same thing with the beast.
30:50 A beast in prophecy represents a kingdom or a power.
30:56 Now we see this in another prophetic book in
30:59 the Old Testament, and that is the book of Daniel.
31:01 If you look in Daniel chapter 7 at verses 17 and 23,
31:09 you're going to find here that Daniel was told by an angel,
31:14 Daniel 7:17 and 23, what a beast symbolizes or represents.
31:20 Daniel had a dream in chapter 7 and he saw in this dream
31:24 different beasts rising up out of the sea
31:27 different from one another.
31:28 The first was like a lion.
31:30 And then there was a bear.
31:32 And then there was a leopard.
31:34 And then there was a strange beast.
31:39 And he wanted to understand what these beasts represented.
31:42 And so someone came and stood near him,
31:45 in verse 16 of Daniel 7.
31:48 And he made him know the interpretation of these things.
31:52 And he said in verse 17, "These great beasts which are four,
31:55 are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth."
31:59 So once we identify a symbol, we can drop the symbolism.
32:05 Why is this important?
32:07 Well because people can be easily offended
32:09 if you identify them as a beast.
32:16 Try it sometime and see.
32:21 It's not nice to be called a beast.
32:25 That's one reason why it's important for us to drop the
32:29 symbols once we identify the literalism of this truth.
32:34 Another reason is because...
32:35 Well God is communicating to us in the language even of our day.
32:39 In other words, beasts have all along through history
32:43 always represented or symbolized powers or nations.
32:46 For example today, when we think about an eagle,
32:49 what nation do we think of?
32:51 United States of America.
32:52 What about a dragon? China.
32:55 What about a lion?
32:59 Great Britain.
33:00 You're good, you're good.
33:01 What about, one more, a bear?
33:04 Russia.
33:05 So we don't go, notice this, we don't go to the symbols
33:09 of today and try to place them into the Bible.
33:12 In other words, because a bear today represents Russia,
33:15 I don't go back now to Daniel 7 and say,
33:17 "Oh, one of these beasts was a bear.
33:18 That must be Russia."
33:20 That would be using current events to interpret
33:23 Bible prophecy.
33:24 A lot of people make that mistake.
33:26 We don't want to do that.
33:27 We allow the Bible to interpret itself,
33:30 and then we look for that fulfillment in history.
33:34 And we've seen the fulfillment of these beasts
33:36 in Daniel chapter 7 in history past; Babylon, Medo-Persia,
33:40 Greece and Rome.
33:42 Then we have the ten kingdoms under which
33:45 we're living right now.
33:46 But here's the key.
33:48 In the book of Revelation, we have these two beasts;
33:51 one that arises out of the sea, Revelation chapter 13
33:56 and verse 1, and the other one that arises out of the earth.
34:00 These two beasts come together to enforce what is called,
34:04 the mark of the beast...
34:05 We'll be talking about that later.
34:07 ...on all of the earth.
34:10 These two beasts are supported by the dragon, Satan.
34:15 These two beasts represent kingdoms, powers, or nations.
34:20 There's two of them.
34:21 Two kingdoms, earthly powers or nations, that come together
34:24 to enforce a mark upon all of the world.
34:28 So we can drop the symbolism of the beasts
34:31 and we can identify these two powers as kingdoms or nations.
34:35 We're not calling a certain nation or kingdom a beast.
34:39 They are a nation, they are a kingdom.
34:41 And they are identified as such in the symbols
34:44 of the book of Revelation.
34:47 Now here's something else we want to look at
34:48 that I think is really important for us when we study
34:52 dragons and beasts.
34:55 Have you ever felt like you were a little dragon-like
35:00 on certain days?
35:03 Or a little beast-like in the way that you related to
35:06 your wife or another certain person?
35:10 Maybe you stayed up a little late, maybe you were a little
35:13 stressed out, a little nervous.
35:16 Today, I ventured out in the car.
35:21 I had some dry cleaning to pick up just down the road in Benton.
35:24 And it was 4:30, they close at 5:00 and I just thought
35:27 I've waited as long as I can wait for the ice and
35:30 the snow to melt.
35:32 It's not melting, it's getting worse.
35:34 I need to go.
35:35 If I'm going to go, I need to go.
35:36 Now I spent 30 years of my life driving in ice and snow,
35:39 so I have a little bit of experience.
35:41 But it's been several years since I moved to
35:44 Eugene, Oregon where it rarely snows.
35:47 And so I was nervous.
35:48 I got out of Angel Lane, which was really bad,
35:53 to the main highway, which was somewhat clear.
35:56 I was driving down the highway trying to stay right in the
35:59 tracks of the tires where the wheels of other tires have gone.
36:02 Because that's where it was wet, but it was clear.
36:05 No ice, no slush.
36:08 I made my way to the dry cleaners in Benton,
36:10 picked up my dry cleaning, got back in the car,
36:13 pulled into the parking lot, cleaned off my windshield
36:15 wipers again, and began venturing out onto the highway.
36:20 As I did so, another car just a little ways down from me
36:24 was sitting there.
36:25 And as I pulled out, he pulled out also.
36:27 He was in a hurry.
36:29 And he pulled out in such a way that I thought...
36:32 And I'd just been talking to the dry cleaning lady about this.
36:34 She told me, she said, "My husband drives in this
36:36 kind of weather all the time.
36:38 And he tells me, 'It's not me that I worry about.
36:40 It's the other drivers who are in a hurry.'"
36:42 She had just told me this.
36:44 And as he pulled out, I thought, "Oooh, why did he do that?"
36:51 On any given day, on any other day, it wouldn't have
36:53 bothered me one bit.
36:55 Because, you know, just slow down a little bit.
36:58 But it bothered me this time, or at least it tried to,
37:01 because I thought, you know, this could be dangerous.
37:05 This isn't the weather to pull out in front of people.
37:11 Have you ever had an experience driving down the road
37:15 where the beast and the dragon grab a hold
37:19 of your thoughts and feelings?
37:22 See, sometimes... And this is the danger.
37:25 Sometimes we want to identify this dragon
37:28 and we want to identify this beast as some other
37:31 institution, power, nation, or denomination.
37:34 That puts us in a safe zone.
37:37 "Oh, that's them. That's him.
37:39 That's not us."
37:41 I'm reminded of when Jesus said to Peter,
37:44 "Get thee behind Me, Satan."
37:47 And I recognize the danger that all of us face
37:51 if we're not connected with Jesus.
37:53 And that's why I believe Jesus is...
37:55 Well, in 93 verses in the book of Revelation.
37:58 There are about 470 verses in Revelation, so that means
38:02 He's in at least 25% of them.
38:04 Direct reference.
38:05 Why? Because we need Him all the time in life.
38:08 We need Him all the time through history and through prophecy;
38:11 eschatological prophecy, last day events.
38:14 We need Jesus.
38:17 We have in Revelation chapter 12, well I would
38:21 say about 8 or 9 reasons.
38:22 I'm going to give them to you tonight in relation
38:25 to the beast and the dragon.
38:27 And I want you to write these down if you can.
38:30 Our viewers, I want you to write these down.
38:32 Because before we ever identify the beast or the dragon
38:36 as some kind of power or entity out there,
38:38 we need to recognize that this entity or power is a
38:41 composite of us.
38:44 That any one of us at any given time can become part of this
38:48 dragon beast power, even as we are professing to
38:51 follow Christ, as Peter did.
38:54 And therefore, if we can identify the characteristics
38:58 of the dragon and the beast, we can recognize when we are
39:03 developing the character attributes of that power
39:06 and preparing to stand with that power,
39:09 unconsciously to ourselves.
39:11 Peter was not aware of the fact that he was developing
39:14 these attributes that would cause him to deny his Lord.
39:18 We may not be aware of it either.
39:20 Revelation chapter 12
39:27 verses 12 and 17.
39:31 Attribute number one, Revelation chapter 12 verses 12 and 17.
39:38 "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
39:40 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea,
39:42 for the devil is come down unto you having great wrath," anger,
39:48 "because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
39:50 Verse 17, "And the dragon," that is the devil, Satan.
39:53 "And the dragon was angry with the woman,
39:55 and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
39:57 who keep the commandments of God, and have
40:00 the testimony of Jesus."
40:01 Anger.
40:03 Anger is one of the chief attributes of Satan.
40:05 Now I did a series of meetings not long ago,
40:09 and you can find these on our website,
40:14 about what to do with anger.
40:17 Because all of us to one degree or another
40:19 have to deal with anger.
40:20 And I really like that verse, though I've never understood it
40:23 until recently, in the New Testament that says,
40:26 1 Timothy, "Be angry, and sin not.
40:33 Don't let the sun go down on your wrath."
40:36 Now I didn't understand, "Be angry and don't sin?
40:38 How can you be angry and don't sin?"
40:40 You know that the wrath is bad because you're
40:41 not suppose to let the sun do down on it.
40:44 So how do you... What is that?
40:46 My wife has helped me with this because she always wants
40:49 to talk about it, talk it out, get it off.
40:51 I just want to bury it, bury it, bury it.
40:53 Go to sleep, I'll be good in the morning.
40:55 But it always pops up in some future time.
40:58 "Be angry, and sin not."
40:59 In other words, go ahead and communicate that anger out.
41:02 This is what we find David doing often in the Psalms.
41:06 Have you ever struggled at times with reading some of the psalms
41:11 and some of the anger that you encounter in David?
41:14 For example, look here in Psalm 59.
41:19 This is a powerful Psalm, Psalm 59.
41:23 David, here, is asking for deliverance.
41:27 And in the context of this psalm, he says this.
41:31 Verse 13, "Consume them in wrath, consume them,
41:35 that they may not be: and let them know that
41:37 God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth."
41:40 "Just take them out, Lord.
41:41 Just consume them, just destroy them."
41:43 Every feel like that?
41:44 Aargh.
41:50 I like this because this psalm is how David
41:54 deals with his anger.
41:56 Let me explain.
41:59 The context of this psalm finds David being hunted
42:03 by Saul unfairly.
42:05 David is in his house with Michal,
42:09 Saul's daughter, his wife.
42:11 Saul has sent spies to watch the house so that when David leaves
42:16 they would kill him.
42:17 That's the context of the psalm.
42:19 So David is being watched.
42:21 And Michal puts a dummy in the bed with some hair on it,
42:25 and David slips out the back window and takes off.
42:29 He gets out far enough away, enough time away,
42:32 with this dummy coverage to where he gets to safety.
42:37 In this context, David is praying.
42:39 Now you can imagine how David feels.
42:41 This is unfair, it's wrong, it's unjust.
42:44 And he's upset about it.
42:46 He's done nothing negative to Saul.
42:48 He's loved him, he's nurtured him,
42:49 he sung for him, he's fought for him.
42:51 He's given everything for Saul.
42:54 So he says this, number one.
42:57 "Deliver me from mine enemies, oh God."
43:00 I think the first way to deal with anger
43:02 is to ask God to help you.
43:04 This is what David does, step number one;
43:07 "Deliver me from the workers of iniquity."
43:10 Then step two.
43:12 Write these down if you'd like.
43:14 He explains his situation.
43:17 Verse 3, "For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul.
43:20 The mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression,
43:23 nor for my sin."
43:25 Verse 4, "They run and prepare themselves without my fault."
43:30 So he asks God for help, number one.
43:32 And then he explains his situation.
43:34 "Here's why I'm angry."
43:35 "This is why I'm angry."
43:36 "This is why I'm upset with my wife.
43:38 I'm upset with my wife because she just doesn't understand."
43:43 Is that okay?
43:45 Or do we need to pretend that we don't ever get angry
43:48 with our wives or husbands.
43:51 Can we be real with God?
43:54 I may not be able to tell my wife that.
43:56 The problem is, many times I will tell my wife that,
43:58 but I won't tell it to God.
43:59 David is reversing that situation.
44:01 He's saying, talk to God about it.
44:03 Tell God how you feel, and why you feel that way.
44:06 And then number three, let God have it.
44:10 In other words, let go of your anger.
44:16 "Oh God, just consume them. Just take them out."
44:19 Vent everything that you feel.
44:21 Just vent all that emotion.
44:22 Just talk about it, just get it out.
44:24 Just tell God exactly how you feel.
44:26 That's what David is doing here.
44:27 He's just venting.
44:30 You know, sometimes we vent to the person
44:32 rather than venting to God.
44:34 We tell people, or even other people who aren't the
44:36 people we should be communicating to,
44:38 but other third party people about our situation.
44:42 And then we get reconciled with the person that
44:44 we're struggling with, but we've got this damage
44:46 that we've done over here to these third party people.
44:50 God says, "Don't talk to these other people about
44:52 what you're struggling with.
44:54 Talk to Me. Let Me have it.
44:57 Be angry, and sin not.
45:00 Be angry toward Me and sin not toward them.
45:03 I understand what you're going through.
45:04 I can relate to your struggle, your situation."
45:08 And then he says, and this is verse 16,
45:11 "But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing
45:13 aloud of thy mercy..."
45:15 Praise God.
45:16 Let the anger go out, and then let the praise of God come in.
45:22 Let the anger out, you're emptying your heart of anger,
45:25 and then let the praise of God come in.
45:28 And this works. This is powerful.
45:29 You go to God and ask for help.
45:31 You tell Him your situation, you vent all your anger
45:34 and frustration, and then He will put praise in your heart.
45:37 And you can praise Him and you can sing aloud.
45:39 You can rejoice, you will have perfect peace with God.
45:44 And you will be surprised.
45:46 Now number five. And this is an extra one.
45:48 It's not in the context of Psalm 59, but it's an extra one.
45:50 You will be surprised at the way God is going to work.
45:53 Now here's the surprise that David had.
45:56 Some time later, as David is hiding in a cave,
45:59 Saul ventures in.
46:03 David's men say to him, "This is it.
46:08 This is the very thing that God has purposed,
46:12 that your enemy would come in here.
46:14 Just say the word, I'll put my sword through that guy.
46:16 I'll put my spear through that guy.
46:18 And I'll only have to do it one time."
46:23 And what does David say?
46:25 "Don't do it."
46:26 Why does he say that?
46:28 Because his heart is at perfect peace.
46:30 He's vented all his frustrations and anger.
46:32 He's given it all to God. God has put praise inside.
46:34 And David treats Saul like he would treat anyone
46:37 with unconditional love.
46:38 That's the gospel, by the way.
46:40 And when Saul goes out of there, David tells him exactly
46:42 what it was that he could have done but didn't do,
46:45 by the grace of God.
46:46 And Saul repents.
46:47 He falls down on his face and he says,
46:49 "You're more righteous than I am."
46:50 This is going to be the experience of God's people
46:52 in the book of Revelation.
46:54 Read it with me, Revelation chapter 13.
46:56 This is the key for us to not receive the mark of the beast.
47:01 That we would be able to deal with our anger
47:03 and not allow it to develop a character trait in our
47:06 own hearts; the character trait of the dragon,
47:08 the character trait of the beast.
47:10 Revelation chapter 13.
47:13 It says here in the context of the final crisis,
47:15 "He that leads into captivity," verse 10,
47:19 "shall go into captivity.
47:20 He that kills with the sword..."
47:22 And our words, our mouths, can be like a sword.
47:25 "...must be killed with the sword.
47:27 Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."
47:34 Okay, characteristic number two.
47:37 Revelation 12 verse 10. Characteristic number two.
47:42 Revelation 12 verse 10.
47:46 "And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
47:48 'Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
47:53 of our God, and the power of his Christ.
47:57 For the accuser of our brethren..."
48:01 Who is that? Satan.
48:03 "...is cast down, which accused them before God day and night."
48:07 The accuser of our brethren.
48:09 The accuser of our brethren.
48:12 Have you ever been...
48:16 ...tempted to be an accuser?
48:19 I know you don't accuse, because you're Christians.
48:21 We're all Christians here, so we don't accuse.
48:23 But have you ever been tempted to accuse?
48:27 I mean, there are good reasons, right?
48:29 There are times when it's just sitting there.
48:30 I mean obvious, it's so obvious.
48:32 There it is.
48:34 Someone's got to point it out. Might as well be me.
48:37 Right?
48:40 "The gal just isn't dressing the way she should."
48:41 "The guy is just not eating what he should be eating."
48:43 "He's just not acting the way he should be acting."
48:45 "Did you hear the latest?"
48:48 Now Satan is not accusing people of things they didn't do.
48:50 He's accusing people of things they did do.
48:54 And he knows, because he led them to do it.
48:57 Right?
48:59 This is an attribute that Satan wants us to develop.
49:06 And it's one that God wants to get rid of
49:10 so that we would not be part of the beast.
49:15 And we can consider ourselves out of that specific
49:19 belief system, whatever it is.
49:22 It's identified as Babylon in other places in the
49:24 book of Revelation, because it's so confusing.
49:26 It confuses God and His character and His love.
49:30 But as soon as we decide to sit on the throne of judgment,
49:33 as soon as we decide to judge somebody else,
49:36 we put our self in the very seat of antichrist.
49:40 Christ is Judge. He's the only Judge.
49:42 He is the one that we're going to stand before;
49:44 the judgment seat of Christ.
49:46 And as soon as we put someone before our judgment seat,
49:50 we take the place of Christ.
49:51 We become antichrist.
49:54 So the good news about this particular character trait is
49:59 that, well, we're free now.
50:00 Romans chapter 14 tells us that we don't have to
50:04 judge one another anymore.
50:05 Romans 14 says that we're off the hook.
50:07 That God has a judgment, He has a day of judgment,
50:10 and He's going to have an account for every single person.
50:15 Number three, hypocrisy.
50:20 We talked a little bit about this last night.
50:22 God still loves those who are lukewarm.
50:25 God still loves those who profess, but aren't.
50:28 God loved Judas and God loves each one of us.
50:32 But hypocrisy has to go.
50:35 Eventually, hypocrisy will take us down the wrong road.
50:40 God longs for us not to be spewed out.
50:43 He wants us to receive His rebuke.
50:45 He longed for Judas to receive His rebuke.
50:48 And the strongest rebuke that Jesus gave to Judas
50:52 was the one where He washed Judas' feet.
50:56 It was what I call, the rebuke of humility.
50:58 He got down on His knees and He took those dirty betraying feet
51:02 into His hands, and He washed them.
51:05 And Judas was the first to be washed,
51:07 the first to have his feet washed.
51:11 Revelation chapter 13 and verse 11 says
51:14 that there's a beast that comes out of the earth and
51:16 he has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon.
51:20 He looks like a lamb.
51:21 A lamb is Christ-like, Christian.
51:23 These are principles of a Christian nation,
51:25 a Christian power, Christianity.
51:27 But speaking like a dragon.
51:29 You profess to be Christ-like, you profess to be Christian,
51:32 but the way that you talk, the way that you act,
51:34 the way that you are, is dragon-like.
51:38 It's hypocrisy.
51:40 God save us from hypocrisy.
51:45 Okay, that was number three.
51:49 I want to look at a couple here that are going to be
51:52 a little bit more difficult, perhaps, for some of us.
51:57 One of them is, control.
52:00 Revelation chapter 13 and verse 17.
52:04 "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,
52:08 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
52:11 When we think about control, as a man I think,
52:15 "Whoa, I need to have things in control."
52:17 I need to know what's happening. I need to know what's going on.
52:19 I need to have all my ducks in a row, so to speak.
52:23 We don't like things to be out of control, do we?
52:26 It's hard to deal with a situation or a world
52:29 that's out of control.
52:32 We get antsy, we get uptight, we get stressed.
52:36 That's how I got on my way over here.
52:38 Or at least was tempted to get.
52:39 It was really interesting, I was very tempted, when I
52:41 missed my connection and I felt like, you know,
52:44 United Airlines wasn't accommodating,
52:47 to get a little bit stressed.
52:50 And I prayed about it and I said, "You know,
52:53 the most important thing that I have right now is peace."
52:58 And God gave me that peace.
53:01 As we allow God's peace to replace this anxiety,
53:06 this desire to be in control of everything,
53:09 to have everything figured out so that, well, we do that
53:12 so that we can have some kind of man made peace,
53:15 as we trust God, we're going to be ready for the crisis
53:18 when we're not going to be in control of anything.
53:20 We're not going to have anything to be in control of.
53:23 But we can still trust Jesus.
53:25 God is preparing us for that time.
53:30 Another one that I think is important is found in
53:33 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 4.
53:37 It's a little bit trickier to understand, but it's
53:41 describing the dragon, Revelation 12 verse 4,
53:46 and how his tail drew a third part of the stars
53:48 out of heaven and cast them to the earth.
53:51 This tail is identified in Isaiah 9:15 as the prophet
53:57 who teaches lies.
53:58 He is the tail.
54:00 In other words, it was through lies that Satan drew angels
54:05 out of heaven.
54:06 It was through lies.
54:08 Now I think that I, as a Christian, am not a liar.
54:16 And yet, I find myself in situations at times where
54:19 I'm inclined not to tell the whole truth
54:24 and nothing but the truth.
54:27 "I'm not lying, really.
54:29 And it's not a significant thing.
54:30 It's just that if I tell the whole truth,
54:32 it makes me look kind of bad.
54:35 Or not as good as I could look."
54:37 You ever been in a situation like that?
54:39 I don't know. Trying to...
54:42 Well I don't want to give specifics, because
54:45 it'll make me look bad.
54:48 But the truth of the matter is, try for one day
54:53 just to be cognizant of everything you say
54:56 to everyone, everything you do, and see if it's the exact whole
55:01 complete unadulterated pure crystal clear truth.
55:06 Because Satan is coming in and he's trying to
55:09 develop in us just a little bit, just a little strand of lying.
55:15 He wants it to grow as a characteristic in our
55:17 lives and hearts.
55:19 And again, it's a form of not trusting God.
55:22 Another aspect I think that is important for us to recognize
55:26 in this context is force.
55:29 Revelation chapter 13:15-17 talks about how that
55:34 the beast power is going to force the world,
55:36 on pain of buying, selling and finally death,
55:40 to receive a mark in their forehead or in their hands.
55:42 Now as a father of a teenager still,
55:46 and one who just left the teenage years recently,
55:49 as in a few months ago...
55:51 My son is 20 and my daughter is 15.
55:54 ...I understand the temptation to use force.
56:02 And I can see that it's difficult, even now, to back up.
56:08 I wonder, I marvel, at the God that we serve,
56:12 who is the most powerful being in all the universe,
56:15 and who compels us and draws us only by His love.
56:22 It amazes me.
56:24 And I realize when I try to institute that, when I try to
56:29 apply that to my life, in relation to my wife
56:32 and my children, how challenging it really is.
56:36 Because I love them and I think I know what's best for them.
56:39 Especially my kids.
56:43 And I want them to not make the mistakes I made, please.
56:50 Can you imagine what it is for God to look down on us,
56:54 even now, and recognize the direction we're going in
56:59 and yet give us the freedom, that is love,
57:02 to go in those directions?
57:04 Even as we look at these characteristics,
57:06 friends, we need to recognize that God's love is the
57:09 only thing that can compel us and others.
57:13 And tonight, we need to pray for that love to be in our hearts.
57:17 Let's pray together.
57:19 Father in heaven, as we have considered the
57:21 characteristics of the beast, of the dragon, as we've
57:24 recognized Jesus Christ, the central theme of the Bible,
57:28 and as we've seen the conflict that is taking place between
57:31 these two powers, we are choosing tonight
57:35 to have the Lamb, to have Jesus to be the one who
57:40 surrounds us, directs us, the one that we follow...


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Revised 2014-12-17