The Last Caesar

Study history to know that the ancient Roman Empire began as a Republic with a democratically elected Senate and then regressed to rule by one man history according to what I read here is going to repeat itself.

The restored Roman Empire, which may be in the works today as a democratically elected parliament, but it will one day of this is it regressed to rule by one man. The last Caesar in I call himself more. But the Bible also describes something called the spirit of the antichrist.

That's at work now that refers to the world's system that blasphemes the name of God opposes the work of Christ and attempts to hide the truth of God's word were looking at the antichrist and the spirit of the antichrist. In today's lesson. This is wisdom for the hard with our Bible teacher, Stephen Devi Stevens in a series called antichrist and the many faces of evil is entitled. This lesson the last Caesar title antichrist immediately provokes a response from the average guy on the street.

Even the most biblically illiterate person has an opinion knows that the antichrist stand for something evil.

They know that it's a title that has bound up in a mystery, and an intriguing murder and demonic power.

He's known as the Prince who is to come in Daniel nine is called the fierce King in Daniel eight is referred to as a despicable man in Daniel 11 is called the worthless Shepherd by Zachariah is called the destroyer by Paul in second Thessalonians 2 is referred to as the master of intrigue in Daniel chapter 8, and is called the evil man in second Thessalonians 2 verse nine but when John introduces him to us in his revelation he is always referred to as simply the beast that word beast is from theory that can be literally translated monster. It's a word that refers to a monstrous person in whom the political power of the world will be consolidated and concentrated in the life of this man of sin.

Paul calls of the second Thessalonians 2 verse three when you combine Revelation 13 with Daniel chapter 7 in the water right in the margin or Bible sword in Daniel chapter 7. When you compare these two texts were actually given enough information to know where he comes from how he rises to power what he hopes to accomplish and how he is empowered the look with me just the first opening phrase of Revelation 13. The first phrase in verse one and the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. This is a reference to Satan, the antecedent to this opening phrase. In fact, the first phrase of chapter 13 would be better serving as the closing phrase of chapter 12.

I think perhaps a better division of what we know to not be inspired divisions in Scripture would give just the text later on versus and chapter divisions were were offered to help us how you could go back to the last verse of chapter 12 insert to get a running start on the scene so the dragon was enraged with the woman Israel and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus and the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. In Revelation chapter 20 oh were given a little explanation that the sand of the seashore. It is used to speak of the nations of the world. So here you have Satan you have this this submarine old beast standing as it were in the midst of the nations of the world is ready to begin his agenda is the tabulation begins abutting he's missing something.

He's literally missing someone he needs a physical body, he needs a man to do his bidding. He longs for one who will live serve as the ultimate anti-Christ. Thomas verse wanting then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having 10 horns and seven heads, and on his horns were 10 dietitians and on his heads were blasphemous name was to slow down and unpack this as carefully as we as we can is very similar to John's description of Satan earlier in chapter 12 the difference if you compare the two is that the diadem of the Royal crowns are on now. On top of the 10. So in other words, there will be 10 kings who will be serving at the same time under the direction of the antichrist.

Now this title beast you will find as you study this along with me will referred times than not only this man.

But this man's kingdom will be used interchangeably.

It will stand for representation not only the man but that kingdom which he delete we do the same thing we've done the same thing with history. We we've spoken of of things this way with Hitler's name Hitler stands for Nazi Germany and Nazi Germany is sort of summarized in the name Hitler we say Hitler bombed London. Hitler never flew a plane, but we understand it was his kingdom.

The bombed London so the same thing is happening here with this term beast interchangeably used to speak of evil kingdom of Satan in the evil Prince John informs us here as we just read that there are 10 horns you may remember that horns are symbolic for King and kingly power. In other words, when the Antichrist rises to power there will be 10 kings ruling together forming a coalition of what Daniel reveals to be a revival of the Roman empire. John also refers to seven heads, which is a reference as we've already learned the culmination of the seven empires that have ruled the known world might help you to market to the margin of your Bibles above verse one may be circling horns and draw a line out to the edge and right King and then circle the word heads and draw a line out to the margin right empires. Now Daniel chapter 7 were told that the Antichrist comes up on these 10 horns. These 10K any arises as a little horn, or a little King is the 11th as he grows in power.

In other words, he will begin among them as an insignificant leader. He begins among the 10 kings forming the coalition of the revived Roman empire.

The city does not start out as the president of the world's greatest superpower and then moved to Europe know he begins in an insignificant role in the grows in power and an intelligent guy. Daniel informs us that he will eventually pull out three horns or three kings by the roots language in the case that there will be violence. He will conquer three of the kings and subjugate the other kingdoms creating a united European empire that will follow his dictatorial rule.

John described this revived Roman Empire as one that I quoted which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, and tried it down and crush it now want to know is one of the thing in verse one is that last descriptive phrase. This is a new phrase, we haven't yet looked at it says on his heads were blasphemous name but you don't have to have much of an imagination to understand why the church in the 1930s and 1940s got distracted and believing that the antichrist was to that of Hitler we think about it with the clues that we do know he grew up in Europe was an insignificant leader eventually gaining influence over time. Pacifically through the writing group popular in those days of turmoil.

Finally Germany lay at his feet. He claimed to be a champion of a new race superior race was along before he was gobbling up European nations in his quest for world domination and the you add to the fact that fact that he hated the Jews hated Jesus Christ and probably we, along with many others, would have said he's the one Hitler even boasted just as Jesus Christ birthing change the calendar so his victories would would be the beginning of a new way. He actually said and I quote what Christ began.

I will complete one of his Nuremberg rallies and giant photograph was displayed during the rally and it carried the caption in the beginning was the word I will tell you. Obviously he wasn't the antichrist but that ultimate final Antichrist will be crowned with similar blasphemy.

He and his puppet kings in this coalition will fain see themselves as more powerful than the Christians. God seems to of lost control who is so passive, where's my daughter would say so.

Yesterday, notice how John describes this coming kingdom of antichrist.

In verse two, Revelation 13 and the beast which I saw was like a leopard's feet were like those of the bear's mouth like the mouth of a lion and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority is empowered by Satan himself.

In this verse, again, is best understood with Daniel seven is a commentary were Daniel sees the coming of world kingdoms, culminating in the final kingdom of the antichrist first kingdom and he was dead on the money even though he speaking prophetically was Babylon scene is aligned with ravenous appetite.

The terrifying present. He then prophesied that the that the kingdom that would crush Babylon was the bear representing the Medo Persian kingdom with its claws crushing clause, a massive string then prophesied that the leopard which was Greece would follow next moving with incredibly swift speed to conquer the world and in just exactly that way. Alexander the great Grecian ruler so conquered the world in such a quick rapid fashion that even still is a young man he wept that there were no more worlds to conquer and then you have the final kingdom which is yet to be established.

The kingdom of the antichrist described by Daniel and I quoted was dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong. It has a large iron teeth, devour crushes travels down the remainder with its feet different from all the beasts that were before it, and it has 10 horn, imagine such clarity and perfect unity though separated by 600 years Daniel and John both see a coalition of 10 kings formed in the revived Roman Empire of Western Europe ruled by the antichrist piece which the antichrist brings to Israel may very well be and I believe it will be an imposed forced peace. Just read the newspapers and watch the news as one ongoing battle for the land and everybody's wary of it and the weariness is growing.

Even now the United Nations are unable as they typically are to keep peace certainly to keep peace in the Middle East. Name the leader that's come across the stage in my own lifetime and yours here as old as I am you saw Jimmy Carter attempted thought he could bring peace to the Middle East and he couldn't Ronald Reagan Trident Bill Clinton gave it his best effort.

The Bush administration Trident in that administration ended with missiles flying through the air go back even further.

Yet Henry Kissinger remember him.

Everybody thought he would do it achieve it. You didn't Nixon tried it. So did for you name the president you name the diplomat unit in the administration. You name the other countries leaders and tried it. No one on the planet has succeeded in giving the Middle East a peaceful solution, much less a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount, but in recent years in our lifetime. Growing on the horizon of public awareness is the reviving of Western European nations and the forming of a coalition which may or may not be what he's talking about here, but it would certainly not take much in the imagination to see it providing the groundwork for its interesting if you study history to know that the ancient Roman empire began as a Republic with a democratically elected Senate and then regress to rule by one man, Caesar Augustus, the first Caesar and in line and the first Caesar call himself Lord history, according to what I read here is going to repeat itself. The restored Roman Empire may be in the works today has a democratically elected parliament democratically elected president but it will one day of this is in regress to rule by one man.

The last Caesar. The last Caesar in mind the call himself Lord, ladies and gentlemen, the next chapter can be written at any time peace in the Middle East will be the signature of the antichrist whereby he will raise the world that will serve as a capstone to his meteoric rise to power and is the world ever willing and ready for another.

Caesar listen to what one historian wrote a British historian, wrote this several decades ago. In fact, I quote Arnold Toynbee by forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapon and at the same time making the world more and more interdependent economically. We are right for the deification of a new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world, unity and peace. Now I want us to be careful especially to start a series on the antichrist cabinet I observed enough to know we we need to be certainly careful and I'm sure you know to spend our waking hours are our time discussing if the antichrist is alive today were not.

He may be what I can to try to decide if he is in London or Greece or Spain or Rome will do us any good. In fact, it will only keep us from praying for whomever we pinpoint is the antichrist which we been told to do in this dispensation we have already discovered that the antichrist will not be revealed until after the rapture. Revelation 6 clearly informs us that his emergence with this peace plan for the Middle East will take place after the church is taken to the throne of God's glory and seven, so we will now will know after were rapture when he is revealed, so let's not spend a whole lot of time speculating on the latest inclination toward what we believe may be of the antichrist before the rapture of the antichrist will be an insignificant small player in the European unification system probably won't get anybody's attention there will be several months.

Most Bible scholars believe between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation and so there can be some things that will happen quickly is formal introduction into the world scene is a major player will follow his his ingenious Middle Eastern planet will be ingenious to have the Arabs and the Jews were to be on the same. I personally believe that the enemy of the church with all of us to pinpoint someone as you know, the next world.

What we believe to be the antichrist and at the same time. Then cause us to fail to focus on that which seems to catch the church off guard in every generation. Certainly in our generation is what the, the author of Scripture John the apostle calls the spirit of antichrist. He wrote that the spirit of antichrist is already at work in the first century and certainly it is been working now into the 21st century. First John 218 spirit of antichrist is alive and in every such century and generation the spirit of antichrist is what it would be that which is categorized and culminated in this fossil leader would be that satanically engineered system of our world blasphemes God that he hates Jesus Christ that opposes the work of Christ that opposes the church and that attempts to drown out the truth of God's word that can happen inside the church that exists now. John says listen, the Christ is coming, but now the spirit of antichrist is at work. First John 218. This is the spirit of twisting the truth and taking a lie making it acceptable in your culture, maybe even in the church taking that which is nothing less than greed or lost in making it fashionable and acceptable.

Taking a lie and spinning it into the truth that is the spirit of antichrist. I fear the church in every generation risks. The distraction of going after the person of the antichrist being blinded spirit of the antichrist.

I've mentioned before, I think to you and our kids were younger we would were watching television. We would tell him to spot the lie great exercise for those of you are parenting younger children to tell him spot alive, especially during the commercials commercials over again attending with a lie was all we got it daddy we we know they said if you buy that your your happy or if you have that your cool or whatever.

That's right, it's a lie. Can you spot the lies in our culture that may have even crept into the church. I just kind of prop my feet up on my desk and jotted down a few of them that had struck my attention. Try these on for size. There there being spun in the latest fashion public consumption is one what you do in private is nobody else's business. Here's another divorce doesn't really hurt children about this one. Marriage is the union of two loving partners regardless of sexual orientation.

Here's the more popular ones belief in moral absolutes is proud and unfair if it's legal.

It's acceptable. Telling someone they are sinners in need of forgiveness is hateful speak sexual relations before marriage proves you love them. Truth is a relative term defined only by you. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible. It's up to you to save the planet instruction pride in one's own self and one's own accomplishments are part of a healthy self-image. You are part of the universe a piece of the divine PG-13 means a movie is suitable for a 13-year-old by sexual experimentation is part of discovering the real you the wisdom you need is already within you. Living together is a good warm up to marriage, abortion is the removal of fetal tissue. What you do in Vegas will never follow you home at 21 is legally and socially acceptable to get drunk, so long as someone else drive you home are you will alert to the spin doctoring in our own culture and maybe in the church today a lie that is parroted by enough people or some significant person in your life that makes you believe that the lie is actually the truth. Listen beloved as we spent several sessions uncovering the clues about the coming Antichrist, the devastation he's gonna bring with his lies and blasphemy. Let's make sure that we are right now alert to the spirit of antichrist that we might be inviting into our lives, our own self justification our own greed, our own thinking our own lust.*Own planning. I personally believe that the rider of the white horses about the amount mean any day but you know what, that doesn't pose any danger for me doesn't pose any danger for you were gone.

When he rides forward. But the challenge in the danger in the morning and John the apostle. Make sure you don't allow his allies to gallop into your heart and your mind while you wait for the rapture while you listen for the upward call of Jesus Christ, true. It's true that Satan has some and it's true that there will be an antichrist who arises in the end times.

But the God we love and serve is sovereign over all. That's great news from God's word for us today. Thanks for joining us this is wisdom for the heart. The Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey, I invite you to learn more about Stephen and our ministry by visiting our website. You'll find us online@wisdomonline.org.

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