Okay, now let's go to Revelation
13. And I'm taking a title for the
message from what is said in verse 8. The Book of Life of the Lamb
slain, the Lamb slain, the Book of Life. For whom did the Lord
Jesus Christ die for? He died for those written in
the Book of Life. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Jesus Christ crucified is no
afterthought of God. It always was the determined
counsel and foreordination of God that He would save sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ to His bloody sacrifice. Before Adam
ever sinned, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety of the everlasting
covenant. He is the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, but He is the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. We sing unto Him who loved us
and washed us from our sin. and His own blood, the blood
of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. John said, Behold the Lamb
of God. He takes away our sin, and He
does it so proficiently, so successfully. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb who was without blemish
or without spot, who was truly foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities. Before Adam ever sinned, before
Adam ever fell in the garden, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as
our surety, as our Savior. He is the Savior of His covenant
people. He is the Shepherd of the everlasting
covenant of grace through His blood. Because of Christ being
crucified for our sin, according to the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, He made complete atonement for the sin
of His people. And because we have righteousness
established in Him, we have nothing to fear from Satan, or his two
beasts, or the false prophet, or the Antichrist, and this religious
lost world. Believers have nothing to fear.
God rules over all. Daniel, when he was in captivity
in Babylon, and they were in captivity for 70 years, God gave
him these words in Daniel 9.24, talking about the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Seventy weeks are determined
upon the people, upon the holy city, to finish transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity.
And this is a description of what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done for us. To bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal up the vision, and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the anointed of God, prophet, priest,
and king. He's our Savior. He's on our
side. We're on His side. Now, two facts
we're assured of while reading this chapter in the Revelation,
chapter 13, and the whole book of Revelation. Satan and his
warfare against the church, will never end as long as time shall
stand. He makes a war against the church. Satan's wrath against God's elect,
God's church, will never be successful. Remember what the Lord told Peter? Upon this rock I'll build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail. The Lord Jesus Christ prevails
over all enemies. Satan and his allies are losers. They are all defeated. Christ and His church, they're
victorious. That's why Paul writes, thanks
be to God, who has given us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now in this chapter, we see the relentless attack and the warfare
that Satan and his ministers wage against the church, against
Christ, and against the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse 17 of chapter 12, The dragon that was wroth with the woman,
the church, went to make war with the remnant of her seed. And that's what he's all about. Look at verse 7, chapter 13,
verse 7. It was given unto him to make
war, not peace, war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over
all kindred, tongues, and nations, Now we meet in this chapter,
chapter 13, two of Satan's agents of doom. The beast out of the
sea, verse 1, and the beast out of the earth, verse 11. The first
beast is a symbol of those agents of Satan that war against the
elect of God through civil authority. through secular governments of
this wicked world. In John's day, no doubt, he was
writing about the Roman Empire, who had a death grip on believers,
who persecuted and publicly executed believers. Secular government
had a stranglehold on God's church and persecuted them unto death.
All those Colosseum Games that went on when they fed believers
to the lion. This is all part of what he's
writing about here. Verse 11, the second beast out
of the earth is a symbol of the agents of Satan that conduct
their warfare against Jelexus' religious authority. The beast
out of the earth had two horns like a lamb, but he had the message
of the devil. Spake like a devil. And this
second beast out of the earth represents religious authority
that wage war against God's elect, man-centered, organized, false
religion of wicked men. organized false religion of wicked
men. Paul called them who carry on
Satan's deceiving work, transforming themselves into angels of light
and ministers of righteousness, making themselves the apostles
of Christ. They look like the messengers
of the Lamb, but they are wolves in sheep's clothing. They promote
the lie of the devil, and his lie has not changed. all the
way back in Genesis chapter 3, when the serpent whispered to
Eve, you'll not surely die, you'll be like God. And Satan is yet
today spreading the same lie. You remember our Lord said in
John chapter 8, we read it several times, but let me just remind
you of it. John 8, verse 44. Our Lord said
to those most religious Pharisees in His day, These were the very
self-righteous, the best of the best that religion had. And our
Lord said to them, you are of your father, the devil. And the
lust of your father, you will do it. He was a murderer from
the beginning. He abode not in the truth, because
there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar, and he's the father of lies.
Now, Satan masquerades as an angel of light, but his message
is one of salvation depends on you. Free will works religion
is all demonic. That's Satan's message. He's
the father of lies. This war of Satan against the
gospel church will go on as long as the gospel is preached for
those 42 months. the same period of the faithful two witnesses
who preached 1,260 days to three and a half years. But in the
end, when all is done, when all is said, the elect of God shall
never be deceived, and those in Christ are forever redeemed,
Secured in Christ, they have the victory over Satan, over
his allies and his friends, through the blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Revelation 12 verse
11. Look at verse 11. They overcame Him by the blood
of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not
their lives unto death. We only overcome by the blood
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go back to verse 1,
Revelation 13. Verse 1 and 2. And I, that is John, as he gets
this revelation, stood upon the sand of the sea, And saw a beast
rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. Do
you remember how the dragon was described in chapter 11, I believe
it is? The same thing. Seven heads,
ten horns. In Revelation 17, if you read
ahead, that describes the seven heads and ten horns as kingdoms
of this world. And upon his horn ten crowns,
and upon his head the names of blasphemy. And the beast which
I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet as a bear, his mouth
as a lion, and the dragon gave him power, and his seat, his
throne, and great authority. Now, John stands on the beach
and behold this monster that Satan has designed and created
to war against believers, very similar to the great red dragon
that we read about in chapter 12, verse 3. And again, this
beast out of the sea represents the nations of this world that
try to dominate and control all things. He mentions there are
seven heads, which means their universal influence and authority. Ten horns crowned with corruption
and cruelty. The names and titles of blasphemy,
which is evil. Remember in verse 6, he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. The beast out of the
sea is like a leopard, swift, stalking its prey to kill it.
Feet like a bear. You seen them big grizzly bears?
You ever seen how big their footprint is? Powerful, powerful, powerful
claws that can gnash the flesh, open the flesh to devour it and
consume it, to eat it. This beast is a monster, isn't
he? Mouth like a lion, killing, strangling its prey, ripping
it apart. anxious to destroy it. This is
what government's all about. Wicked, wicked governments. The dragon gave this beast its
power, his seat, his authority. Satan inspired this beast to
kill, to deceive, and to destroy. His mission is not one to save.
His mission is one to seek, deceive, and destroy. How sad. How real. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He said, I came to seek and to save the lost. Thank God we have
a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now never think that the devil
is a rival to God. The devil is God's devil. He
can only do what God gives him authority and wills to do. The devil is not A rival to God. He's not in competition with
God. The devil serves God's purpose. Now, I can't explain that, but
I just know it's so. I want us to always remember,
all the powers that be are ordained of God. There are no powers but
those that are ordained of God. Remember Proverbs 21, the king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turns it whether so ever
he will. We might wonder in our mind, I know I do, why does God
permit evil to exist? And we see evil everywhere, don't
we? I mean, it's displayed everywhere, even in our own heart. Why do we wonder? We might wonder why God does
permit evil to exist, or why did He allow sin to enter into
paradise? Why did He cause Adam and Eve
to sin? And He was the first cause behind
it. or why God permitted Satan to rebel and draw away after
him one-third of the heavenly host. The only right answer is
found in this, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your
sight. He works all things after the
counsel of God's own will. Now remember what the Lord said
repeatedly through Isaiah and other places. He said, I am the
Lord, beside me there is no other. I'm the only just God and Savior.
And then he says this, I formed the light. I know that about
that. And I create darkness. How does
He create darkness? He withholds the light. I make
peace. Thank God He did. Peace with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ through His blood. But He also
says, I create evil. How does He create evil? By withholding
goodness. I the Lord do all these things.
Evil only exists that magnify His grace and His mercy. That's why sin entered into the
picture, to magnify God's mercy. The diamond of God's grace shines
most brilliantly on the black background of our sin. Did you
ever go to a jewel store, and when the jeweler holds out that
diamond, He doesn't put it on a white cloth, does He? He puts
it on a black cloth, that the facets of that diamond might
shine more brilliantly. That's exactly what God purposed
to do in causing sin to come into the picture, that He might
magnify His grace and His mercy. I was looking at a Scripture
that I looked up in Amos 3, verse 6, and it says this, Shall there
be evil in the city? Yep. We've seen it here locally,
haven't we? Evil displayed itself when those
three officers of the law were murdered. We've seen evil over
and over and over. How many times have we seen evil?
But listen to this Scripture. Shall there be evil in a city
and the Lord hath not done it? Hath the Lord not done it? Now
certainly, someone will say, well, you make God the author
of sin. No, he's not the author of sin, but he is certainly the
governor of it. He's certainly the Lord of it.
He certainly is a ruler of it. He said, I the Lord, I kill,
I make alive, I wound, I heal. I am the Lord. Nothing happens
in this life without God's express decree and command. Write it
down. We see these two beasts. When we see the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified at Calvary, we see these two beasts come together.
The beast of the sea in the Roman authority, Herod and Pontius
Pilate, were gathered together against the beast from the earth. The Jews, the religious, the
Pharisees, they were all gathered together in unison and in harmony. And they hated each other, didn't
they? But they all came together to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ,
because the Lord said they did what God determined before to
be done. We need to keep these things
in mind. I do. Now look at verse 3 and verse
4. And I saw one of the heads, as
it were, wounded to death. the seven-headed monster. And
one of the heads wounded to death, and a deadly wound was healed,
and all the world wondered after the beast." Through histories,
these empires have come and gone. The Roman Empire fell, and it
was resurrected again in Roman Catholicism, and that may have
a reference to that. And all the world wondered after
the beast, and they worshipped the dragon. which gave power
unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like
the beast? Oh, there's none like this beast.
Who is able to withstand him, his power, his authority? Who can make war with him? Because
the beast appears in a special manner, having received a mortal
wound, yet healed, the world of unbelievers is seethed by
the beast's wonder after the beast, and worship Satan and
his inspired beast, who appear invincible, unbeatable. And they
say, oh, who is like that beast? Boy, don't the governments of
this world brag how powerful they are, China, Russia, and
the United States, they brag about how much wealth they have,
how much power they have. They have nothing compared to
what Almighty God has. There have been and is now empires
and governments, dictators that seem unbeatable, invincible,
don't they? The study of human history is
a study of brutal, brutal wars. You know, people in our day,
even in this country, people have become totally dependent
upon this beast. They look to the government for
all their solutions and all their remedies and all their problems.
The government's the answer. I like what Ronald Reagan said.
Do you remember what he said in 1980? Government's not the solution,
it's the problem. And that's what we see going
on in our day. And it's a repeated thing. It's
a repeated thing over and over and over and over again. And
it's not going to get any better. Can't you see how things are
getting worse? I mean, just in our life, how things are getting
worse and worse and worse. I talked to a man the other day
I ran into down here at the road, and he was about my age. I asked
him what year he was born. He said 1953. I said, the years
that we grew up as kids, I said, this world is totally different.
It's just a totally different world. Different moral, different
standards, different thoughts. These who demand the following,
who is able to, who is likened to the beast, who is able to
make war with him, they demand and receive a great following,
but the Lord will have His way with them. They are accountable
to Almighty God. I'll give you a good example
in Scripture. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, thought he was mighty
in somebody, didn't he? Remember what happened to him?
God drowned him in the Red Sea. Romans 9 talks about it. The
scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, have
I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee, that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. God raised Pharaoh
up to dump his behind in the Red Sea to make him a trophy
of God's justice. I was going to use that other
word, but it might not be proper. But God won the victory, didn't
He? Pharaoh thought He was somebody. Remember what He said, who is
the Lord that I should let His people go? Well, He found out,
didn't He? There's a day of reckoning coming. There's a day of reckoning
coming. Look at verse 5 and 6, "...and
there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, blasphemies,
and powers given unto him to continue this forty-two months."
The time is symbolic of God's coming in Christ, His first coming
to His second coming, and He opened His mouth. But he opened
his mouth, not with truth. Remember, when he speaketh, he
speaketh of his own, he speaketh a lie. He can't speak truth. He speaks blasphemy against God. Against a God who is God. To
blaspheme his name, to speak evil of his name, his authority,
his power. And His tabernacle, the Lord
Jesus Christ's tabernacle among us, and them that dwell on the
earth. This tyrannical reign of Satan,
And his inspired monarchs, kings, emperors, dictators who speak
evil against God, against God's Christ, and against God's saints
will go on and on until the Lord is pleased to come back. And
He's coming back. Behold, He cometh. Remember?
Look at verse 7. And it was given unto him to
make war with the saints and to overcome them. and power was
given unto him over all kindred, tongues, and nations." These
are dreadful days in which John lived, dreadful days in which
we live, and it's not going to get better. One day, just before
the Lord returns in great glory and power to pull down all opposition
to the gospel and His Christ, it will appear that the whole
world, all kingdoms, all tongues, all people, all nations, are
allies and confederates with Satan and his many ministers
and his agents. We may see in our day when this
thing they've been working on at the UN called One World Government,
Antichrist government. They seek to rule with dominance,
controlling all things, what we can preach, where we can worship,
where we can go and not go. And they oppose everything according
to the Gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, didn't
we see a sample of that back in 2020 and 2021? Didn't we see a sample of that?
The stranglehold of the government. You must do this or you're going
to lose your job. You have to shut your doors to
the ministry because this virus may spread. The COVID was everywhere. And the government used that
as an excuse to do what? To control everything about us. That's what he's talking about.
And in John's day, it was so prevalent in the Roman government Everyone knows how government
just keeps growing and growing and growing and growing. It has
an appetite that has no end. They gain more power, more control
over your lives. You know, we like liberty, don't
we? We like freedom, don't we? Government doesn't like that.
They want bondage and constraint upon you. I pray the Lord, we know there's
a brighter day coming. Look at verse 8. All that dwell upon the earth
Now, this all here, now this is one example in Scripture where
all doesn't mean all without exception. They use that word
everyone and all to make it a universal thing. But this all here is not
all without exception. Because all without exception,
you're not going to worship the beast. The elect of God cannot
be deceived. You see what it says there? All
that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him. The earth dwellers
will worship Him. whose names are not written in
the Book of Life. God wrote our name in the Book
of Life from all eternity, and guaranteed our salvation through
the blood sacrifice of the Lamb, and He did so before God ever
created the first man. God, purpose, salvation from
all eternity. All will worship the Antichrist,
beast out of the sea, except the elect of God will not and
cannot be deceived, because their names are written down in the
book of life. You remember Matthew 24, 24?
For there shall arise false christs, false prophets, and show great
signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they would
deceive the very elect, But they cannot be deceived. In the midst of this vision of
terrible woe, there are two or three heartwarming, comforting,
soul-cheering thoughts that we see here in the last part of
verse 8. Somebody's name is written down by Almighty God in this
Lamb Book of Life. in the book of life, of the Lamb
slain, the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. There is a remnant
according to the election of grace. God's election of grace
stands sure, doesn't it? We read in 2 Timothy 2 verse
19, The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. The Lord knows his people, and
his people know him. They say, With Paul I know whom
I have believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. There is a remnant
that will be saved, it's a remnant, of God's electing grace, divine
election is altogether work of God's eternal grace and purpose,
given us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose
His covenant people from all eternity, and they are justified
forever in the Lord Jesus Christ. God hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessing according as He chose us in Him, Where
is that? Ephesians chapter 1, He chose
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, in whom we are
accepted in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace.
None of God's elect will be deceived, or will worship the beast and
follow His ministers. They've been given the spirit
of discernment, We know the truth when we hear it and will not
follow someone who denies the truth. They know the difference
between free grace and free will. They know the difference between
sovereign grace and supposed grace. Now, you know most religious
organizations use the word grace, don't they? Even the Mormons,
where I grew up in Mormonism, and they preach just as clear
and plain as can be, salvation by the works of man, but yet
they use the word grace, mercy, redemption. They don't mean grace,
do they? They mean works. You see, there's just two religions
in this world. The way of Abel and the way of
Cain. The way of grace and the way
of work. It doesn't matter how you flavor
it or color it, whether it's a Muslim or the Buddhist or the
false Christianity. It doesn't matter how you color
it, how you paint it, what you call it. They're just, it boils
down to two. came the way of the blood sacrifice,
typical of Christ. And Cain, who had the mark of
the beast on his forehead, because he brought the work of his hand,
didn't he? And said, here God. What did God say? He didn't have
respect to that offering, did he? He had respect to that offering
Abel brought, because it was the blood. It was the blood sacrifice. You see, believers know the difference.
They know the difference when they hear it. And they cannot
stand to hear something that's contrary to the gospel. Believers
know the truth of God concerning Christ, and they're not ashamed
of the gospel of the grace of God. They are redeemed by the
blood of Christ. We are justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are redeemed with His precious blood. The atonement in Christ,
purposed from all eternity and accomplished in time, cannot
fail to make complete atonement for all our sin we overcome by
the blood of the Lamb. Christ's atonement for His people
is a particular atonement, a particular atonement, and I mean by that
the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for His sheep. Call
His name Jesus, He shall save His people from their sin. Christ's
blood atonement for His elect is effectual. There's nobody
in hell for whom Christ died. He died for His elect, and He
saves them everlastingly because His blood is effectual. It cleanses
from all sin. Christ's blood atonement for
His elect is eternal. He obtained for us, not with
the blood of bulls and goats, our great High Priest, He obtained
for us eternal redemption with His own blood. And the third
thing we know about God's elect, their names are written in the
Book of Life. That's electing love, electing
grace. And they are redeemed with the
precious blood of the Lamb, and it's from the foundation of the
world. They shall never perish. Remember our Lord said, my sheep,
they hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, I've given them
eternal life, and they'll never perish. No man can pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all. No man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my
Father, we are one. They shall never perish because
the purpose of God cannot be frustrated, because the blood
of Christ cannot be nullified, because the seal of God's elect
cannot be broken. Ephesians chapter 1, let me read
it to you. In whom you trusted after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom after that you believed, Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
under the praise of His glory. Some of you have been canning
some beans this week or last week. You canned some beans,
didn't you? And you put those beans in that quart jar and you
sealed that lid on there and you put it in a pressure cooker
of some kind. And you cooked it a certain amount
of time and when the time was up, you relieved the pressure
and you took that jar out and set it over here on the counter.
And you went about your work. And then all of a sudden, You
hear that pop. You hear that pop. What does
that mean? Sealed. Sealed. That means the fruit
in that jar is not going to spoil. Believers have been sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of redemption in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They shall never perish because
the purpose of God cannot be defeated. The blood of Christ
cannot be nullified. The seal of God cannot be broken. The grace of God cannot be defeated.
The gifts of God can never be taken away. The gifts and calling
of God are without change. Romans 11, 29. The exceeding
great and precious promises of God shall never fail. They can't
fail because God doesn't fail. Isn't that good news? This is
the testimony of every believer unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in His own blood. Our salvation is totally dependent,
determined, and dependent upon His choice for us. His atoning
sin for us. It's not what we have done for
God, it's what God has done for us in Christ. God who has begun
a good work in you, He'll finish it. He'll perfect it. That's
what predestination is all about. Being predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ. Now, look at verse 9 and 10 and
I'll let you go. Do you have ears to hear this? Do
you see what it says in verse 9? If any man have ears, let
him hear. Would you hear what God's truth
would be? Do you have ears tuned to the gospel? Gospel truth,
pay close attention, careful attention to the Word of God.
Our Lord said in Matthew 13, Blessed are your eyes for they
see, and your ears for they hear. Remember in all those seven letters
to the churches in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, it says,
He that hath ears, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. Do you have ears to hear? There's
a bulletin article on the back page by my friend, our friend
Maurice Montgomery, written probably 30-some years ago, how relevant
it is to our day. Behold, the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth. God reigneth. Now look at verse
10. I'll let you go. He that leadeth
into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with
the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience
and faith of the saints. Satan and his beasts only lead
men into captivity and bondage. Remember our Lord said, the blind
lead the blind, they'll all fall in a ditch. Satan and his beasts
only lead men into captivity, bondage, and eternal death. That's
where the devil and his friends are headed, eternal condemnation.
Those who take the sword of false religion shall perish with it.
We as believers take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God,
and live in it, and will enjoy it forever. Here is the patience
and here is the faith of a saint waiting upon the Lord who will
in due time defeat every foe. God gives us, as the old-timers
said, all grace now and glory forever. I'm going to quit with
this. In Luke chapter 10, when the
Lord sent out those 70 men, two by two, preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 10 verse 17, when those
70 men returned, Again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils
are subject unto us through thy name. Luke 10, 17. And he said
to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I have
given you power to tread on serpents, scorpions, over all power of
the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding,
look at verse 20. Mark, Luke 10, verse 20. Notwithstanding
in this, rejoice not. that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written
in heaven." Oh, rejoice. Your names are written in heaven. Who wrote those names?