The Path to 666: 5 Signs of the Mark of the Beast

Consider these recent headlines:

“What in the World is Wrong with This Country?”
“Putin Threatens to use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine.”
“Biden Says Putin’s Nuclear Threat Brings Risk of Armageddon.”

“Americans Rapidly Losing Hope as We Head Toward 2023.”
“Will Nuclear War Be the End of Our Civilization?”
“This Winter, Europe Plunges Into ‘The New Dark Ages’.”
“World War 3 is Coming.”

“We Are Headed for Big Tech Tyranny.”
“Biometric Blockade: Political Critics could have Bank Accounts Frozen as Governments Tend Toward Total Control.”
“Actor Russell Brand Links Amazon’s Palm-Payment System to Mark of the Beast.”
“Israel Moves Closer to Cashless Society Following Latest Legislation.”

And then there was this from Rod Dreher;

“Cheer up! The World is Ending.”

None of those headlines are made up. They all describe real-time events or movements happening in our day.

“Cheer up! The World is Ending.”

None of this is fictional.
None of this comes from a Sci-Fi thriller.

All of it is real.

Lately I have heard numerous people say “something big” is about to happen. Someone told me this “something big,” whatever it is, will happen before the Mid-Term elections in November.

Of course, we don’t know whether that is true or not.
But this much is certain.
We live in dangerous, unstable times.

Bill Joy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, wrote these chilling words:

I think it is no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of the further perfection of extreme evil, an evil whose possibility spreads well beyond that which weapons of mass destruction bequeathed to the nation-states, on to a surprising and terrible empowerment of extreme individuals.

That comes from an article called Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us in the April 2000 issue of Wired Magazine. Nothing in the article references the Antichrist, but his use of the word “evil” is telling. The technology that makes modern life so pleasant is also paving the way for “the further perfection of extreme evil” in the days to come.

Perilous Times

The Bible speaks of these days.

According to 2 Timothy 3:1, “In the last days perilous times will come.”  Jesus spoke of a time so frightening men would faint for fear of what was about to happen:

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in
     anguish and perplexity
     at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 

Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of
     what is coming on the world“ (Luke 21:25-26).

 But Jesus went on to explain would happen next:

“At that time they will see the Son of Man
     coming in a cloud with
     power and great glory” (v.27).

Just before Jesus returns, the world will be in unprecedented turmoil. Take the uncertainty over the Middle East, multiply it by a factor of 10, and you have the situation Jesus is talking about.

Where are we on God’s calendar?

Where are we on God’s calendar? A sober reading of the New Testament suggests that these are the next three events ahead of us:

The Rapture of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
The Worldwide Apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a)
The Rise of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4)

In this message I intend to focus on that last item: the rise, reign, and ruin of the man called the Antichrist.

The Name Game

So let’s begin this way. What do these names have in common?

Nero
The Pope
Sam Donaldson
Adolph Hitler
Bill Gates

All of them have been suggested as possible candidates for the Antichrist.

And there are many more: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Obama, Trump, Biden

Every recent president is on the list, including Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

We’ve been guessing for 2000 years, and so far, every guess has been wrong. Or at least, they haven’t been right yet.

I can’t and won’t attempt to identify the Antichrist.

In God’s time, he will be revealed.
You are free to make your own guesses.

As I survey the contemporary scene, I can say that there is no shortage of good candidates!

Known and Unknown

When we come to the Antichrist, there are some things we know, and some things we don’t know.

We know there will be an Antichrist.
We don’t know his identity.

We know he rises from the Revived Roman Empire.
We don’t know which part he comes from.

We know he will work closely with the False Prophet.
We don’t know the False Prophet’s identity.

We know he will apparently die and come back to life.
We don’t know how that will happen.

No shortage of good candidates!

We know he will control the world economy.
We don’t know how he obtains that power.

We know he requires his followers to wear his mark.
We don’t know the precise nature of the mark.

We know the number of his name is 666.
We don’t know exactly what that means.

The Antichrist is given various titles in Scripture:

The Little Horn of Daniel 7.
The Prince Who is to Come of Daniel 9.
The Man of Lawlessness of 2 Thessalonians 2.
The Antichrist of 1 John 2.
The Beast from the Sea of Revelation 13.

Will the Antichrist Come from Technology?

As to his identity, if you survey the names suggested across the centuries, you discover that the candidates tend to be political leaders.

The ones we don’t like, we call the Antichrist!

But things have changed.

Today we see companies that transcend all borders. I’m thinking about companies like Amazon, Facebook (or Meta), Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

These companies are fantastically wealthy and global in their reach. They depend heavily on the internet. Taken together, they control a huge part of the world economy and global communications.

Perhaps we should consider the possibility the Antichrist may arise from the technology sector.

Back to the Bible

What does the New Testament say about this coming world dictator? To answer that question, we need to follow two strands of teaching.

The first one comes from 1 John 2:18:

“It is the last hour and as you have heard
     the Antichrist is coming,
     even now many Antichrists have come.”

In every generation you can find people with an “Antichrist spirit.” One day the final Antichrist will rise to the center of the world stage.

That leads us to the second strand of biblical teaching. We see it clearly in 2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4:

“The man of lawlessness (will be) revealed,
     the man doomed destruction,

He will oppose and will exalt himself
     over everything that is called
          God or is worshiped,

   So that he sets himself up
          in God’s temple,
Proclaiming himself to be God.”

Think about that for a moment. The Antichrist will enter the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, stop the sacrifices, and proclaim himself to be God. He will then demand that the whole world worship him.

So there you have the bottom line on the Antichrist:

His spirit is with us in every age.
He rises to power in the last days.

The Rise and Fall of the Antichrist

Who is he?

Before we go any further, let’s briefly describe what we mean by the term “the Antichrist.” He will appear on the world scene in the Last Days just before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will be the very incarnation of evil, cleverly disguised as a dynamic, charismatic, visionary leader. He will astound the world with his solutions to human problems.

The Antich

His empire will span every continent, and his rule will be the most demonic the world has ever experienced. He will rise to world domination by declaring himself a Man of Peace but will later plunge the world into global war. Eventually, his true character will be revealed. He will oppose Jesus Christ and will offer himself to the world as the savior of humanity. He will control the global economy and force his followers to receive a mark on their hands or their foreheads. Most of the world will willingly follow him.

How close are we to the Antichrist?
Closer than we think.

Those who do not receive the mark will be hunted down, and many will be killed. For a short time, he will become the most powerful man on earth. At the apex of his power, he will launch an all-out attack on Jesus Christ at a place called Megiddo in the valley of Jezreel in the central region of Israel. We call that battle Armageddon. His reign of terror comes to a sudden end when the Lord Jesus Christ destroys him as he returns to the earth to set up his kingdom.

How close are we to the Antichrist?
Closer than we think.

America Has Gone Insane

Meanwhile, storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. America is in trouble morally and spiritually. No matter how much we argue about politics, our deepest problems are spiritual.

America is in trouble!

Each year we abort over one million babies. Sometimes those aborted babies are sold for body parts. We legalized gay marriage, and now we have hospitals performing gender reassignment surgeries on minors—a form of legalized child abuse. We no longer know the difference between male and female. In a world with fifty genders, what does gender even mean?

Let me recommend two books by Erwin Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church in Chicago:

Will Not Be Silenced (2020)
No Reason to Hide (2022)

Pastor Lutzer documents the moral confusion in our society and points people to the only source of hope: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I know a gifted pediatrician who surveyed the current scene and remarked, “America has gone insane.”

My friend is right.
America has gone insane.

As a result of that insanity, some conservative, Bible-believing pastors have been intimidated into silence.

Wanted: Bold Pastors!

That’s a shame because we need bold, Bible-centered pastors more than ever. When Francis Schaeffer wrote How Should We Then Live?, he asked why the Romans killed the early Christians. His answer was simple:

1. Because they were rebels
2. Because they believed Jesus was the only true God.

He drove the point home this way:

No totalitarian authority or authoritarian state can tolerate those who have an absolute by which to judge the state and its actions.”

The Christians had that absolute in God’s revelation.

Because the Christians had an absolute, universal standard by which to judge not only personal morals but the state, they were counted as enemies of totalitarian Rome and were thrown to the beasts.

We face a similar situation in America today.

Let’s Go to Revelation 13

Where are we in relation to the Antichrist? To answer that question, we turn to Revelation 13, the most detailed explanation in the Bible about the Antichrist. It tells of two coming world rulers who will be masters of evil.

They work together to do the devil’s bidding.

John presents them to us as two wild beasts, one rising from the sea of the nations and the other rising from the land (probably a reference to Israel).

We commonly call the first beast the Antichrist and the second beast the False Prophet.

Let’s focus on the “signs” that lead to the Mark of the Beast.

There are five such signs in Revelation 13.

Sign #1: Satanic Leadership

When John describes the first beast, this is what he says:

“The beast I saw resembled a leopard,
     but had feet like those of a bear
     and a mouth like that of a lion.
The dragon gave the beast his power
     and his throne and great authority” (Revelation 13:2).

We know Daniel 7 is on John’s mind because in that chapter, Daniel sees four strange creatures coming out of the sea:

A lion (Babylon)
A bear (Medo-Persia)
A leopard (Greece)
An unnamed fierce beast (Rome)

When John sees the beast from the sea, he immediately connects it with Daniel 7. The fierce beast contains elements of all four pagan empires. But its ultimate power comes from Satan. The Antichrist ascends to world domination through the one Jesus called “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30).

If you took Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao, Atilla the Hun, Alexander the Great, Saddam Hussein, and rolled them all into one, that’s the Antichrist.

Because the world rejected the Lamb,
The world will now receive the Beast.

Satan intends to create a global concentration camp under the leadership of the Antichrist. This leads to an important distinction.

Jesus gives his followers a new name.
Satan gives his followers a number.

Because the world rejected the Lamb,
The world will now receive the Beast.

This “beast from the sea” will be clever, ruthless, amiable, friendly, and brutal. He will be the ultimate manipulator.

In the beginning, no one suspects him. Because he seems like a Man of Peace, millions follow him, and they will take his mark gladly.

Only later will his true character be revealed.

A modern-day Caesar

The world flocks to this modern-day Caesar. Because he dominates life on earth, all men must worship him.

What does this mean for us?

Expect an outbreak of evil like we have never seen in the days to come. When men turn away from God, there is no place to go but down into the pit. It reminds me of what Jesus said to the chief priests who came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane: “This is your hour—when darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53).

There is coming an hour when darkness will reign supreme on the earth. Out of that darkness the Antichrist will rise to power.

Sign #2: Open Blasphemy

Notice what happens next. Once the Antichrist comes to power, he begins to blaspheme God.

“The beast was given a mouth to
     utter proud words
     and blasphemies and to exercise
     its authority for forty-two months. 

It opened its mouth to blaspheme God,
     and to slander his name
     and his dwelling place
     and those who live in heaven” (Revelation 13:5-6).

Blasphemy doesn’t mean using foul language. That’s cursing. Blasphemy happens when we claim for ourselves that which belongs to God alone. We blaspheme when we worship anyone or anything other than God. In this case, the antichrist commits blasphemy by demanding that others worship him.

God controls all things, yet Satan controls the Beast, who in turn blasphemes God and attacks his people.

Men voluntarily follow the Beast, who leads them to kill God’s people, who display their faith in the face of death through patient endurance and faithfulness.

Following Christ is not always easy or popular.|
In those days it will be difficult indeed.

He reigns for 3 1/2 years

Note that the Lord puts a limit on the reign of the Antichrist. He rules the earth for 42 months—3 ½ years. That’s the last half of the coming tribulation.

As bad as things are today, the presence of the church on the earth restrains evil. Once the church is removed at the Rapture, the earth will become Satan’s playground.

What should we expect in the future? Christians will be mocked, ridiculed, canceled, cursed, and eventually arrested and put to death.

Today we see believers forced into silence. Soon that will not be enough.

Sign # 3: One-World Religion

Revelation 13:11-12 introduces us to a mysterious character we call the False Prophet:

“Then I saw a second beast,
     coming out of the earth.
It had two horns like a lamb,
     but it spoke like a dragon. 

It exercised all the authority
     of the first beast on its behalf,
     and made the earth and its inhabitants
     worship the first beast,
     whose fatal wound had been healed.”

Notice these two phrases:

He is “like a lamb” in appearance.
But he speaks “like a dragon.”

Furthermore, this second beast exists only to promote the first beast. He is the PR agent for the Antichrist whose primary function is religious propaganda. He is the Joseph Goebbels of the last days.

At first glance, he seems to like Jesus. He speaks in smooth, glowing tones of the need for all humanity to unite in this time of worldwide crisis (the seven-year tribulation). He comes to power as God pours out his wrath on the earth (the seals, trumpets, and bowl judgments of Revelation). This clever religious leader will bring together under one big tent all the Christian denominations, along with the Muslims, the Jews, the Buddhists, and the Hindus. “We’re all in this together,” he will say. “Let’s unite around the worship of our true leader, the Antichrist.”

 

He leads the apostate church of the last day. He may be Bishop so-and-so, but he is no Christian. He will pray, but not to Jesus.

He may be Bishop so-and-so, but he is no Christian.

His crowning glory will be a fake resurrection of the Antichrist. Though apparently assassinated, when he comes back to life, the whole world will worship him.

What you have here is a truly diabolical scheme. A counterfeit messiah suffers a counterfeit death and comes back to life through a counterfeit resurrection.

It’s easy to see why this works. Who needs Jesus when you’ve got the Antichrist?

If you pull the camera back for a wider view, what we have in Revelation 12-13 is Satan’s counterfeit trinity:

Satan is the anti-God.
The Antichrist is the anti-Christ.
The False Prophet is the anti-Holy Spirit.

Sign # 4: Altered Reality

When John saw the vision of the two beasts in Revelation 13, he evidently saw something he couldn’t fully explain. One of the “heads” of the Beast from the Sea apparently died and then came back to life. I say “apparently” because John’s words leave us with some uncertainty. Either the Antichrist dies, or he appears to die, and then comes back to life. Either way, the whole world sees it and is amazed.

Who needs Jesus when you’ve got the Antichrist?

That leads us to these verses (Revelation 13:14-15):

“Because of the signs it was given power
     to perform on behalf of the first beast,
it deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

It ordered them to set up an image
     in honor of the beast
     who was wounded by the sword
     and yet lived. 

The second beast was given power
     to give breath to the image of the first beast,
     so that the image could speak and cause all
     who refused to worship the image to be killed.”

This “False Prophet” performs miracles mimicking what Elijah did on Mount Carmel. He even calls down fire from heaven, deceiving the people of the world. Then he sets up an image of the Beast, gives life to it, and the image speaks. Whoever would not worship the image is put to death.

For a long time, no one could imagine what this meant. But today we live in the world of virtual reality, augmented reality, and the burgeoning field of AI: Artificial Intelligence.

Computers can be programmed so that they act, speak, and even appear to think like humans do. Recently I saw an eerie video of a young man who had been murdered. Someone produced a video purporting to be the young man speaking after his death.

Where is the line between real and fake?

Where is the line between real and fake?
It’s hard to tell anymore.

Check out this story from the New York Post: “Fake ‘Joe Rogan’ Interviews the Ghost of Steve Jobs in an AI-Engineered Podcast.” This isn’t a “Deep Fake” because the makers of this “interview” were up front about it. They used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce a fictional “interview” with Steve Jobs who died in 2011. It sounds amazingly real.

During a recent trip, I had an hour to spend in the Detroit airport. While walking through the shopping area, I saw a sign reading “Parallel Reality.” It was an exhibit of sorts sponsored by Delta Airlines. When I went to the counter to ask about it, the attendant told me to take my boarding pass and scan it in a machine. Then she had me stand at a certain spot in the concourse and look at an electronic sign that appeared to be blank.

I stood there for a second, and then looked at the large sign. It had my name, a greeting, and information about where to go for my next flight. There were other people standing nearby. “Can they see my information?” I asked.

The answer was no.

Each of them saw their information on the big sign. I was the only one who saw mine. But if you stepped to the left or right, all you could see was a blank electronic screen.

If you had 15 people standing there, they would see 15 different things on the sign.

So who’s seeing the “real” screen?
Everyone and no one.

That’s parallel reality.
And that’s child’s play in today’s world.

The Antichrist and the False Prophet will use some form of altered reality to convince millions of people to follow them.

Sign # 5: Global Control

To understand the final sign, read Revelation 13:16-17:

“He also forced everyone, small and great,
     rich and poor, free and slave, to receive
     a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
so that no one could buy or sell
     unless he had the mark,
     which is the name of the beast
     or the number of his name.”

There are many mysteries here, but the general thrust is clear. The last days will produce a globally linked economy in which one world dictator controls the means of commerce.

We aren’t far from that situation today. Already there is talk of a cashless society and a digital currency. Already there are supercomputers with detailed files on everyone living in the United States. Every time you use your credit card, numbers are fed into a central computer. The computer then checks your credit record and either approves or disapproves your transaction.

Someone is always listening!

It all happens in seconds and the only human hands involved are those that take your credit card at the point of sale.

Everything else is electronic.

Look at the back of one of your credit cards. Do you see that little brown strip? Do you see the chip? Those contain your name, your address, your phone number, your account number, your line of credit, and a detailed record of your purchases, along with other personal data.

If someone tampers with the information, or if the central computer refuses to recognize it, your credit card is worthless.

We already have Alexa and Siri who silently listen to all your conversations. When I gave this message online, I mentioned Alexa and Siri in passing. The next day I got an email from a friend watching in Nevada. He said when I mentioned Alexa, it answered from the other room. My words traveled via the internet from my home in Kansas to the world. Alexa answered me from my friend’s house in Nevada, which proves my point.

Someone is always listening!

It is only a short step to a system whereby you are admitted or denied access to the internet depending upon your approval by the folks who control the supercomputers.

We aren’t far from a “digital currency.” When that happens, all our financial transactions will happen online. Imagine a scenario where you wake up and your computer can’t connect to the internet, your cell phone won’t work, and your credit cards are refused.

What if your cards are refused, and you can’t get on the internet?

What would you do then?

None of these things are directly prophesied by Scripture.

But all of them fit with the general picture of a global economy linked by a global communications system under the control of a global dictator.

The first two are virtually in place.
Only the last one remains unrevealed.

The current movement toward global communications, global banking, paperless banking, and computerized commerce paves the way for the Antichrist to take over in the last days.

What started with Social Security numbers has led to universal bar codes, debit cards, cashless banking, QC codes, and voice-recognition technology, all of it powered by the internet. In the last several years we’ve heard serious talk about vaccine passports.

Lest I be perceived as a Luddite, let me say that I partake in modern technology myself. I can’t imagine life without the internet. Like most people, I spend many hours on social media.

When Marlene and I travel, we take a little cash with us, but not much. Nowadays, a major credit card will pay for anything you want anywhere in the world.

We live in an online world.

We get paid online, and we pay our bills online. It’s all easy and convenient and invisible to us. I like it that way, but what happens when you are denied access to the internet?

Do you remember the case of the Canadian truckers who protested the draconian lockdown regulations? The Prime Minister of Canada froze over 200 bank accounts for several days in response to the protests. We will see more of in the future as governments use “emergency powers” to penalize their political opponents.

Widespread crime and fraud will make the demand for universal identification persuasive.

Whoever controls the internet controls the world

 Whoever controls the internet controls the world. The final days of the Tribulation will bring us one-world government, one-world religion, and a one-world economic system.

Those who resist will be summarily executed.

How close are we? Consider this. In March 2020, something happened for the first time in world history. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the whole world shut down in one week.

Think about that.
Mongolia shut down.
Finland shut down.
Bangladesh shut down.
Paraguay shut down.
Uganda shut down.
New Zealand shut down.

Read the list of 195 nations. Without exception, all of them shut down in just one week. Such a thing had never happened before in the history of the world.

But it happened!

Looking back, it was almost as if it were a dry run, a way of testing a system that could be used when Antichrist finally makes his move.

Satan’s Ultimate Joke

One final question.
Why Will People Follow Antichrist?

He is not an escapee from a mental institution. To the contrary, he will appear to be the very leader the world has been looking for.

I’m sure he will be well educated, urbane, witty, warm, and charismatic. He will claim to have your best interests at heart.

The world will flock to the Antichrist

That’s why the world will welcome him.

He will be an appealing person, and his abilities will be extraordinary.

He will be the ultimate “angel of light” who leads his followers into eternal darkness.

This helps us understand how he comes to power.

Driven mad with fear, lawmakers around the world unanimously vote to give this man absolute power over their lives.

They vow to kill anyone who opposes him.

Many will follow him.

One by one they will stand in line to receive the mark.  Those who do will be fed and clothed and find some tiny bit of comfort in a world that seems to have gone mad.

But not everyone will follow him. Certain brave people—the followers of Christ during the tribulation—those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life—they will remain strong and true to their faith.

They will say No to the Beast.

In other times perhaps no one would care. But in those desperate days, anyone who refuses the mark will be called a traitor.

They will be hunted down and put to death.

They will starve, hiding in backrooms, closets, attics, and in caves in the forest.

Antichrist will live up to his name. He will stand in place of Christ and will counterfeit his life, his miracles, his death, and even his resurrection.

The final act is about to begin.

No wonder the world will follow this man.

He will be so close to the real thing that people will think they have found the truth. Yet in the end, those who follow him will discover that he was the exact opposite of everything the real Jesus Christ stood for.

He is Satan’s Ultimate Joke on planet earth—a false Christ who deceives the world and leads millions to eternal hell.

Those who take the Mark of the Beast will be eternally disappointed. Those who refuse face suffering and death.

They are the true “children of God.”

The stage is now set.
All the actors are in place.

The nations have come together just as the Bible predicted.

We have a worldwide, interconnected economy. The “Great Reset” is underway. Whether we like it or not, we live in a digital world where the internet instantly connects us to everyone else.

People around the world seek a man, a leader, someone who can make their dreams come true. We want someone to rise up and lead us to peace and safety.

“Let not your heart be troubled.”

Where is that man?

Perhaps he is waiting in the wings for the curtain to go up.
Let the audience be silent.
The final act is about to begin.

Easy Days, Great Days

Let’s take a moment to think about what all this means. These “signs” are simply trends that will accelerate in the last days. Here are the five signs leading to the Mark of the Beast:

Satanic Leadership
Open Blasphemy
One-World Religion
Altered Reality
Global Control

Do we see these things happening around us? The answer is yes, and if we believe the Bible, we shouldn’t be surprised. We need not be frightened or run for cover. These things are happening because God said they would happen.

What should we expect in the days to come? Look for evil to become more brazen. Evildoers will go from bad to worse. We will face enormous pressure to keep silent about Jesus. People will tell us to “go along to get along.” A spirit of deception will fill the earth in the last days as Satan pulls out all the stops. Look for further development of a global ecumenical movement that blurs religious distinctions.

On the night before he was crucified, Jesus gave this command to his disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). He said those words knowing that in a few hours he would hang on a Roman cross. For the disciples, their dreams and hopes would seem to die with him.

Easy days are over.
Great days are ahead.

That was Friday.
Then Sunday came.

If we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then we should have no trouble believing that he will return in power and great glory.

Let me repeat what I have said elsewhere:

Easy days are over.
Great days are ahead.

What Should We Do?

As I travel to various places to speak, I sense worry and uncertainty everywhere I go. During a question-and-answer session at Cannon Beach Conference Center in Oregon, I talked about trends that may be leading to the events of the Last Days. At one point a person in the audience raised her hand and said, “If all of this is going to happen, what can we do about it?” Excellent question.

If what I am saying in this message is true, how should we live? I have five suggestions to make.

#1: Be Prepared

If we take Revelation 13 literally (as we should), then the worst is yet to come. Yes, the Bible ends in a blaze of glory as Jesus returns in great triumph to the earth, but we aren’t there yet.

As we look into the future, there are some things we can do to be prepared. We need to stock up. Everywhere I go Christians are making plans for an uncertain future. Now is the time to stock up on food and water and other necessities of life. We ought to be at least as smart as the squirrels who know enough to store acorns before the winter hits.

Don’t flirt with the Antichrist!

And get prepared spiritually. This is no time for casual Christianity. In the last days, all will be revealed. No one can sit on the fence forever. Now is the time to get your spiritual house in order.

#2: Get Right with God!

There has never been a better day to become a Christian.

Eventually the whole world will have to make a choice—Christ or Antichrist.

Why not come to Christ now? If you believe Jesus is the Son of God, then run to the cross.

Lay your sins on Jesus.
Believe that he died for you and that he rose again on the third day.

Revelation 13:8 mentions the Lamb’s Book of Life. If your name is in that book, you will reign with Christ forever. If your name is not in that book, you will take the Mark of the Beast and be eternally condemned.

Make sure your name is in the book!

Don’t mess around.
Don’t delay.
Don’t flirt with the Antichrist.

The worst evil is yet to come.

Take your stand with Jesus.
Open your heart to him.
Trust Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Then no matter what the future holds, you will have nothing to fear.

#3: Brace Yourself!

The worst evil is yet to come.

No matter how good the world seems to be in terms of technology, the moral compass is pointing in the wrong direction.

The Unholy Trinity of Tolerance, Diversity, and Pluralism is paving the way for an outbreak of evil beyond anything we have yet seen.

#4: Stay Calm

Christians ought to be the calmest people on earth because we know the Lord, and he holds the future in his hands.

As we move forward from here, let this be our motto:

No fear.
No doubt.
No hesitation.

When Jesus warned his disciples about things to come, he mentioned spiritual deception, wars and rumors of wars, kingdom rising against kingdom, famines, earthquakes, and pestilence on the earth.

Those things are “birth pangs,” like labor pains before the baby is born.

Then he added, “See that you are not alarmed” (Matthew 24:6). But isn’t it “natural” to be afraid when you see the world collapsing around you? Yes, it is “natural,” but we are the children of a supernatural God.

This is no time for compromise.

When Jesus said, “Don’t be alarmed,” those are either the words of a madman, or they are the words of the Son of God.

Stay calm, friends.
Refuse to give in to fear.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

#5: Take a Stand!

There can be no middle ground.It’s either Christ or the Antichrist

This is no time for compromise.

In the days to come we will see persecution grow worse as those who know Christ are ridiculed for their faith.

Just this week I saw an article stating that if you are a Christian in China, there is no safe place anymore. You will be hunted down by the government. That means the underground church will have to go ever further into the shadows to survive.

 Even the Antichrist is an instrument in God’s hand.

Don’t be surprised when that happens in the US.

What does the Bible say about the Antichrist? Here is the answer in just two sentences:

1. There is an Antichrist.
2. He’s going down!

The Antichrist will rise and fall and then Christ will return to set up his kingdom on the earth.

 Even the Antichrist is an instrument in God’s hand.

He can do nothing without God’s permission. When his time on earth is up, he will be destroyed.

We are already on the Road to 666.

Fear not, friends.
These are amazing days to be alive.

Sleep well tonight because all is happening as God decreed thousands of years ago.

 I believe the coming of the Lord must be near.

The words of Martin Luther fit our text:

“The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”

I believe the coming of the Lord must be near. Many Christians before me have said the same thing. I’m taking my stand with them. I’d rather expect Jesus to come in my lifetime and be wrong than to be so in love with the world that I’m not ready to see him when he comes

Let’s believe all the Bible says about the Antichrist. Yes, he is coming and will one day rule the world for 3 ½ years. That day may be closer than we think.

The Antichrist will not have the last word.

But do not focus on him.
The Antichrist will not have the last word.
He will rise and fall and then be cast into the lake of fire.

No matter what happens around you, keep your eyes on the skies.

Look up. Your redemption is drawing near.
Hang on, friends.
Jesus is coming soon.

Heavenly Father,
     we thank you for the Word of Truth
     given to us many centuries ago.

We have seen it fulfilled before our eyes
     and we believe that what is not yet fulfilled
     will come to pass according to your good plan.

We thank you that the Antichrist will
     not have the last word.

 Strengthen our faith and make us
     bold for Jesus Christ.

May we never be ashamed to live for him
     for he was not ashamed to die for us.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.