Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/87195/unmasking-the-ultimate-deceiver-the-final-dictator/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] The final dictator. The Antichrist. What does the Bible tell us about the ultimate dictator that's about to take the world stage? [0:13] ! Can you imagine a world where there is a global leader with largely unfettered powers?! The Bible tells us about this shadowy figure called the Antichrist. [0:26] He is the enemy of Christ. And of all who follow him. That's you and me, isn't it? That's us. And it's fundamental in any fight, if you're in a war situation, that you identify the enemy. [0:43] That you know your enemy. I know as a youngster I had an interest in planes and I saw some World War II silhouettes of different planes. [0:54] And they trained the population. This was back in that time. They trained the population to recognise Messerschmitt 109 and a Spitfire. You had to be able to tell them from their silhouette what they were. [1:07] Whether they were a friendly aircraft or an enemy aircraft. Likewise too, we would do well to identify God helping us. We can't identify. [1:18] I can't tell you who it is. As much as some people might talk about particular politicians as being, oh, they're the Antichrist. I'm not going to tell you that this morning. [1:28] We can all come to our own kind of impressions about such things. But really, what are the characteristics of this one? The enemy of Christ. And know him. [1:41] Know our enemy. So what does the Bible actually teach us about the Antichrist? I think that's an important topic to touch on as much as we're only going to scratch the surface. Who is he? [1:52] And what can we expect as we approach his revelation, as it were? Antichrist, it means against Christ. Instead of Christ, you could understand it too. [2:04] And so this one, he will be against Christ. He will be against the Messiah. And he will, in a sense too, be like a counterfeit of the Christ. [2:16] And at the heart of who he is, the Antichrist is a deceiver. He's a liar, the master of deception. And one of his lies is that the Antichrist denies that Jesus is the Christ. [2:30] We see that in 1 John 2, verse 22. It says, who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. [2:44] Or we could reflect how some cults are just doing that too. They're doing exactly that, as we know. And really the devil loves religion. He loves it. [2:54] Any and all religion that denies the biblical Christ. And he's for that. He's this arch deceiver. As he always has been. Right from the garden. [3:05] And through all his manifestations. And all the philosophies and beliefs of men that deny the Christ. The biblical Christ. And so this arch deceiver, he's called the man of sin. [3:17] He's lawless. He's also the son of perdition, which speaks of destruction. And he's also known as the beast. He is yet to appear. Whether he's living now, we don't know necessarily. [3:29] He could be. But he is yet to appear. And you have to wonder, with the way the world's going, how close are we? How close are we? And 1 John 2 reads on, verse 18. [3:42] Little children, it is the last time, as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. [3:54] So there's a sense where there's this single figure, the Antichrist, but there's also Antichrists. Plural. And we're living in, I put to you, this last time, this last era, this last period of Earth's history. [4:06] I don't know how long that period's going to go for, but there's a sense where there should be a readiness. It's interesting, as I say, that there are actually multiple Antichrists. [4:19] There's lots of people who claim to be Christ, or Christ-like, in the sense of having some special aura or personality. Multiple Antichrists, false Christs. [4:34] And Matthew 24 reads of such that the time will come when they shall arise. False Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders. [4:45] In so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Surely he will deceive many. And the Bible tells us how the last days will come, and this figure, this one, the Antichrist, he shall speak lies. [5:03] And he'll lure people into false teachings through his charisma and his persuasive abilities. It's like there's a puppet master over him, because we know the Antichrist, really, he's empowered by the devil himself. [5:19] And it seems like there's this deception going on. Often it's a strategy used by politicians. They promise all these things, and then when they get in power, they take the mask off and they show their true selves, don't they? [5:33] And they call these claims, and people think, oh, he's better than the other guy, when actually, when he gets in power, he's worse than the other guy. That's what, you know, blows your mind, doesn't it? [5:44] People think, well, we're glad we got rid of that one, but then, actually, we got worse. We got worse now. Friends, he will deceive many people. And this strategy of deception, it seems to me like it can happen in some of the machinations of government, and some reckon how it's kind of like a theatre, this two-party illusion, when really they're all scheming the same way. [6:10] They're all crooks. This kind of deception is what the Antichrist will be the master of. He'll perfect this art to the absolute. So the Antichrist, I'll put to you, the Bible tells us that he is like this false prophet, as much as he has a false prophet, too. [6:26] But the Antichrist will use all these powers of persuasion and influence to deceive people and lead them astray from the true faith. And, friends, the Bible pictures him as some kind of like charismatic, a likeable figure that he will have the masses following him, deceiving them through false teachings, through performing false signs and wonders. [6:50] And the Antichrist will declare himself as the Messiah. He will perform miracles and distort the Word of God. And the Word tells us, as Paul says, of the day of Christ. [7:04] And Paul warns here, he foretells the day of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3, Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day, the day of Christ, shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. [7:21] So we will see a falling away first, and then the Antichrist will appear. It seems to me like there's a falling away already going on. False teachings abounding. [7:33] It seems like we're in free fall. Many are falling for all kinds of apostasy. You see, the cults, they're just so active. I was talking with others lately, how they're on the street corners, down at the shopping centres with their display boards. [7:48] And they knocked on my door, as I mentioned last week. Out in the sticks, they're going knocking on doors, taking their false gospel, and putting all this falsehood out there. [7:58] We're in free fall today. There's apostasy. There's a falling away. There's an apostasia of all kinds. And many are falling for it. And the Antichrist will be a powerful leader. [8:10] So we know the Bible tells how he's going to rise to power as some very influential, charismatic, political, religious diplomat. Or some such thing. [8:21] And so Revelation tells how he's going to rule the world, government, for 42 months. And in these last three and a half years of the tribulation, the world will endure a time of great trouble. [8:34] The book of Daniel describes the Antichrist as a king who will arise from the ancient Roman Empire, and he was going to speak boastfully. That's Daniel 7, verse 20. So the Antichrist is going to be this very persuasive, selfish, self-centred egomaniac. [8:51] He's going to proudly exalt himself against and above God. The Antichrist is going to oppose and deny the teachings of our Lord and seek to replace them with his own. [9:03] So this is something we've been witnessing a lot. I've been noticing it, this mockery of God. The mockery of God. It's almost that's the norm now, isn't it? [9:13] Whenever you might make a stand or a statement, you're mocked as a believer, as one who professes to believe in the Lord. And Christian truth and faith is mocked routinely, derided. [9:28] Biblical truth is trashed. It's the same spirit of Antichrist at work already, I'll put to you. Because we're not saying the Antichrist, but the Antichrist, sir, plural. [9:40] They're all around us, aren't they? Don't you think? That sense, that Antichrist kind of spirit. It's already at work, I believe. That same spirit. Not saying the Antichrist, the person himself, the one Antichrist, but that general persuasion, that general atmosphere is already pervading a world. [10:01] And through the media, we're seeing it, I'll put to you. The Word of God tells how he will be quite brazen, the Antichrist. When he comes to power, he's going to virtually try to dethrone God and deify himself. [10:15] This mockery of God is going to be intrinsic in him. And we see that, for example, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, of the Antichrist, it reads, for he opposeth and exalteth himself, it says, above all that is God, all that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [10:38] So he's going to oppose any and every deity, or so-called deity, any religion, whether the true God or the false gods. It seems to me a bit like the same spirit that possessed Nero, and the emperors of Rome. [10:54] They would regard themselves as gods, wouldn't they? And people were expected to worship them. We see that in the... Who's the character in North Korea at the moment? Yeah, that guy. They bow down to him. [11:07] They literally bow down to him. The statues of him. And the citizenry has to virtually worship him or face prison or worse, death. [11:17] This is the reality in North Korea. And it's like, that's the kind of spirit that's going to be at work. This Antichrist is going to exalt himself above all that is called God with such fullness of pride. [11:30] And he's going to seek to exalt himself above all deities that are worshipped here on earth. It reads here that we just read, it reads here that he will take his seat in the temple of God. [11:42] He will take the place of God. And the Antichrist will proclaim himself to be divine. He'll not only take God's rightful place in the temple, he will announce to all that he is indeed God himself. [11:56] So very brazen, isn't it? The Antichrist will crave to be worshipped. He's not content with being a mere human being, but he will want to be worshipped as God. [12:08] Now we're seeing some things in our day of emerging technologies. The word speaks of the image of the beast. [12:19] What is that, you wonder? You wonder, I'm just surmising a little here, but the prospect with modern technologies, AI technologies, holograms, robots and such things, how the mass media could project an image. [12:37] There's been some discussion of projecting images into the skies and such, holograms and such. You can imagine modern technology being harnessed to affect such a thing, mass media being used for awesome displays of the Antichrist as being a way of garnering support and worship from the masses. [12:59] There's some big statue-type structures that are kind of animated or hologram-type structures that are actually around the world. already, that have the potential to be used in such a way. [13:12] And so, I'm not saying that's the image of the beast. I'm just saying these are the kind of things that are happening and it's especially evident, more so in our time. And we see the mass media is very powerful. [13:23] It can exert a very powerful influence to muster support and promote a cause or a celebrity. It's very good at crafting a story to elevate someone and push particular causes. [13:36] And at the same time, it censors and demonizes other views. I reflect back, for example, with Barack Obama's election campaign. [13:47] He was really praised, wasn't he, by the media? And he was very persuasive. Yes, we can. And there's a lot of media behind him in his election campaign. [13:58] You can imagine such an influence being exerted for the Antichrist. No doubt, the Antichrist will use any and all such means of his own self-promotion. The Bible shows the Antichrist as speaking great things. [14:11] So he's going to be some powerful orator. Again, I think of Barack Obama, very persuasive, smooth-talking kind of character. And I'm not saying Barack Obama's the Antichrist, of course, but someone of that same persuasion, someone of that same powerful presence. [14:30] Revelation 13, verse 5 through 6, it says, of the Antichrist, there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months, so three and a half years. [14:44] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name in his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. So here we have the Antichrist, we're just touching on a few isolated verses, there's much more we could say, there's much more we can unpack and there's various views of this or that. [15:01] I'm trying not to get into such debate. But he will be an intelligent, charismatic style, such a kind of speaker. And the Antichrist speaks against God. [15:12] He is a blasphemer. Nowadays, you think, as I talk about this kind of thought that I have of the spirit of Antichrist, how common is blasphemy these days? [15:23] How common is it? I know I was down the shop lately and someone uttered the name of our precious Lord just as some throwaway line or some cuss word, some gutter word. [15:34] And people routinely utter blasphemies today, don't they? They think nothing of uttering the precious name of our Saviour or God. People think nothing of that as some throwaway line or common cuss word. [15:47] This is the norm now. For me, I feel like it's the spirit of Antichrist already at work. This kind of thought that we can blaspheme God, there's no consequence to that, people would think. [16:00] The Antichrist will gain political power and spiritual authority over every nation on earth. He's going to be a blasphemer. And really, another thing too is it will be the ultimate one world government. [16:12] We've got the United Nations now as a kind of, maybe a foreshadow of that. But this is going to be a one world government. This is going to be global. This is going to go ballistically global. [16:23] And it seems like there's increasing moves towards uniting nations together, isn't there? In some powerful globalist union, we see how they're allying themselves against Ukraine for good or bad and there's debates about whether that's a good thing or not. [16:38] But the sense where they're unifying together, they're pooling all their resources, they're sending billions of resources, of arms, of assistance to this nation. [16:49] They're all getting together behind the one cause, this common cause. And so there's this uniting already going on. And we see that in the end times, it tells us of such that powerful players are going to be engineering such a unity and increasing global alliances. [17:06] For example, we read in Revelation 13 verse 7, John writes, and it was given unto him, the Antichrist, to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power has given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. [17:20] So the Bible tells you people here that there will be an Antichrist and he will come to power and he will make war with the saints. As a political or military leader, the Antichrist will use his power to persecute those believers that are present and he will promote his own agenda. [17:38] So if we're present at that time, I'm not sure what time we're present and what time we're not present, but if we are present, we can be assured that he will make war with you if you are present and he will persecute Christians, he will promote his own agenda. [17:54] And you think, brothers and sisters today, what's going on in the world, this spirit of Antichrist? I'll put to you it's already happening in a way. It's already the port's end of what will happen in the Antichrist's reign. [18:05] We see Christians are under persecution. Like I talked about last week, I won't labour the point, but we see Christians that are routinely mocked and silenced in the media, they're shut down, they're derided. [18:19] Again, it's the Antichrist spirit, isn't it? Stand up for Christ and you'll be attacked. You'll be attacked relentlessly. I've been attacked for 20 years by one dear person. God bless her soul. [18:30] Really, he is the ultimate tyrant, the devil, isn't it? In human form, in effect, through the Antichrist himself. He's the ultimate tyrant, the ultimate tyrant. He's a tormentor, a persecutor and friends, we can expect that so we should toughen up a little bit. [18:47] Amen? Let's think of our brothers and sisters in other countries where they're routinely killed for Christ. We haven't seen nothing yet and friends, it tells us how all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, the beast, the Antichrist, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [19:09] So if your name's written in the book, you can be assured that you're going to heaven, that you know Christ as your Lord and Saviour. There's peace, there's assurance, there's blessing for you but we see that he shall make war with the saints. [19:25] Notice it says that he will be given virtually universal worship. So this spirit of Antichrist is at work. We see false religion on the rise. People seem happy to confess that they are spiritual. [19:38] They are spiritual. We often get that when we might be witnessing in different ways and people say, oh, I'm spiritual. I've got spirituality. You know, I believe in the plants and the trees and the... [19:51] I believe in the cosmos, in the universe will look after me. You know, I'm spiritual. Off with the fairies. They'll often say, I've got my own religion. [20:04] It's the devil's religion though, isn't it? It's my own religion. It's the devil's religion. It's the religion of self. It's the religion of your own self-deception. You need the pure religion of the word of God. [20:17] You need the truth of the soul-saving grace of God. The faith that Christ saves you from ever, from all sin and for eternity. You're saved by his grace. [20:29] You need that faith. But these ones, they reject the truth. They don't want the word of God, which can test all the beliefs and philosophies. They abandon the word of God or they discount it. [20:44] They try to interpret it in a destructive way and they reject the word of God. This is the way that we tell what's true, the word of truth. [20:55] But really, these ones, they are believers of damnable heresies. And really, effectively, they're worshipping an antichrist of sorts. But it tells us of the remnant, these ones, whose names are written in the book, in the Lamb's Book of Life. [21:10] These ones are wise enough not to worship the beast, not to worship the antichrist. An argument some people use when they confront it with having to make a decision of conscience is, everyone's doing it. [21:24] So that makes it right, doesn't it? We have to resolve not to bow down to the majority and follow after falsehoods. We have to be strong enough to stand for our Lord. [21:36] And that might mean, whether it's the antichrist or one of the the antichrists, plural, we're going to have to stand for Christ. Amen? Stand for Christ. [21:47] And again, I'm not relating necessarily that we're going to be present for this or that of the antichrist regime, but we can tell there's many antichrists. And so we're going to face one or more antichrists. [21:59] And the antichrist himself is going to use his power to gain mastery over the economy of the world. We read about that. Of course, the big thing that really demonstrates this is the one is this global control over the economy. [22:14] And we read about that in Revelation 13, verse 15 through 18, and it tells how he, the antichrist, had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. [22:33] And he causes all both small and great rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast. [22:50] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man and his number is 600, three score, and six. So, six, six, six. [23:03] Now, some are saying that plans are well advanced, they're underway, that could mean that one day, not too far away, your money will be cancelled. Cancelled. I had a bit of an uncomfortable experience just this week where I went to the ATM and it swallowed my card. [23:20] You ever had that experience? You think, whoa, now what am I going to do? You know, who knows whether the time will come they'll swallow your card or transaction declined, insufficient funds because they're taking it all. [23:34] I'm being somewhat facetious here but the prospect that our money could be cancelled is pretty shocking, isn't it? And as people telling us this, and I know I've touched on it, I don't want to labour some of this stuff because it's a bit it's a bit daunting really but it's necessarily important, I put to you, that we're aware of this, the prospect of this because the Bible tells us of a new money system that's going to come. [24:00] It's being proposed already and there's there's definite talk from and these are documented sources that are telling us as I've talked recent times of a form of digital money. [24:14] Digital money. Completely different, not even just money in your bank statements which we know is kind of electronic money too but this digital money will be completely under the control of the state. [24:26] This is a prospect and it's happening, it's being rolled out, there's some countries already actively pursuing it, rolling it out. You see what's going on in China, communist China, it's mind-blowing, it's full on there. [24:39] So we're going to take a detour just from Revelation for a minute to go to the book of Daniel for the next three scriptures and it's clear that the Antichrist will be this controlling figure. [24:50] So controlling money, controlling economy, controlling lives, that your whole life is going to be under this tracking system and how you spend, how you buy, how you receive money is all going to be managed, controlled, monitored. [25:07] The Antichrist will be such a controlling figure. We see that in Daniel chapter 7 verse 25. It says, And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hand until the time and times and the dividing of time. [25:27] He's going to speak these words, these great words, he's going to wear out the saints, he's going to have this control. Here's a big factor at play, this increasing exercising of global control. [25:41] And again, there's secular sources that are telling us these things, there's secular people that are waking up to this and there's definite evidence that there is some kind of control grid that is being constructed right now, right now, where every man, woman and child will be tracked and traced, a mass surveillance system. [26:04] I'm not making this stuff up, honestly I'm not and don't think I've just gone a bit left field here but this is documented stuff and I can share more for those that want more info. [26:15] They're making no secret of this, they're actually not. They're actually coming out and telling us this. Of course we know the Antichrist in the Bible, it says that such a figure will have control in the sense of control over the economy. [26:29] You can't buy or sell. The control of food, food, how are you going to buy or sell food if he's controlling your money? Control of travel, potential of passports, potential of lockdown, lockdown to sections of cities. [26:46] Not just lockdown, we've had lockdowns with the you know what, with the you know what that happened and where we were locked down within state borders weren't we? [26:59] It's happened already, it's happened already. It's almost like they've had a dry run where there's control, there's control of travel. You can't get a passport, you can't travel overseas without the you know what and so there's this massive surveillance going on and friends, I put to you that they're making no secret of this. [27:19] There's cameras, there's this or that, there's mounting surveillance. I was watching some amazing things lately about the future of shopping and how the stuff I could share with you, it's really, it's mind-blowing and this is by the people who are actually promoting it and saying it's a good thing when you go shopping. [27:38] Just drive your trolley in and every little thing that goes in you can't, it knows what you've put in. The cameras are watching you, you can't get away with stealing anything. The cameras know who you are, face recognition, they know whether you've got a doubtful looking face or you might be a shoplifter. [27:54] It's amazing stuff. This is unreal and all of this, I'm putting to you, all of this stuff, it seems to add weight to the idea that this fits well with the coming agenda of the Antichrist where you're not going to be able to escape this surveillance system. [28:13] Most people will blindly go along with it and the Antichrist will make significant changes. He will be the ultimate change agent. He says he's going to change he's going to change and shape laws and culture and mindsets. [28:25] He's going to be this ultimate change agent. And even for us we see the media shaped and controlled where only one narrative is allowed is this censorship happening. [28:38] Now again, what is this all about? You look back in days of old, during the Reformation, during the Inquisition, what did they do? [28:49] They didn't like this book. They didn't like this book or books about this book or preaching books about this book, sermons about this book. They were burnt. [28:59] They were heaped in piles and they burnt them. Mass book burnings. It's the same today. They don't like this book. They don't like what we're saying. [29:11] It's just the same today. It's just the media has changed. It's like books have been superseded with the internet. So they don't burn books anymore. They don't burn piles of books, Christian books or books about truth, books that might conflict with the narrative of the government. [29:28] Now it's the search engines. It's the search engines. They are effectively the books, aren't they? And they're not displaying the content now effectively from some sources. [29:40] If there's material on sites that doesn't follow the messaging that the masters of the media want to be heard, they will ban those things. It's like a book burning. It's like, as I say, last week one of our videos got banned. [29:53] It got banned. It got blocked. It got taken off. It got cancelled. It got wiped out, erased off of our YouTube channel. And they're going to give us three strikes. We've had strike one. [30:03] So that's why I've got to use words when I talk about the you-know-what, that we don't say those words because the masters of the media are watching us. The AI is watching us. [30:14] The AI is capturing the words that I speak and is forming that into text and the AI is tracking the text of what we say so certain things we can't talk about because they're not allowed. [30:27] The alternative view has to be quashed. The alternative voices have to be silenced. Effectively, it's a book burning, isn't it? Only the voice of propaganda can be heard. [30:39] Really, it's classic dictator's tactics, isn't it? The classic dictator tactics where just watch the box, just watch what they're programming, watch what they're feeding you, watch the mainstream media, all their stuff, and then you'll be a happy camper because you won't be in any kind of trouble. [30:59] But the ultimate object I put to you is the Antichrist system of control. I'm trying to be biblical here. I'm just trying to draw analogies. I know some might think, oh, he's really lost the plot now. But there's this Antichrist ultimate agenda. [31:11] It all fits together. It fits together. Hand in glove. He's going to cause this chaos, this destruction on a global scale because the Antichrist, we know, the Bible tells us he's driven by evil motives. [31:22] He wants to spread chaos and destruction. He wants global control. And he'll control the media for sure, for sure, when the time comes. Daniel 7, 23, it says, It's a picture of destruction that will come with the Antichrist reign. [31:50] Another big feature of the Antichrist and of the Antichrist spirit I put to you is will be pride, pride. And Daniel 11 reads on, verse 36, And the king shall do according to his will, this is the king, the beast, the Antichrist, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak marvellous things against the god of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished. [32:15] For that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the god of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. [32:27] So it's telling us here this Antichrist is going to be this charming, crafty politician, kind of character. He's going to muster others to join his cause. He's going to be full of pride. [32:38] Notice that, he'll exalt himself, magnify himself. He's going to have this pridefulness, pride. He will be full of pride. Notice it says in verse 37, He shall not have the desire of women. [32:52] In other words, it sounds like he is a sodomite. This is another feature of the Antichrist spirit. Don't we see that now? This Antichrist spirit. Boy, you don't say anything about the LG blah, blah, blah alphabet. [33:07] You can't say anything about that. Another feature of the Antichrist spirit. This pride. Sinful pride. Evil pride. God help us. [33:18] That's the reality, people. And verse 38, it reads on, But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces, and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honour, with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. [33:32] So the Antichrist is going to be this prideful, materialist, this greedy, grasping, materialist. He's going to have great power and influence. Let's go back to the apocalypse, the revelation of Jesus Christ to John, and we're going to go to Revelation 17. [33:48] So we see this great power, this great influence, economic power, financial power. Revelation 17, verse 12, it reads, And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but received power as kings, one hour with the beast. [34:05] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. So it's talking about this union of these ten kings, these kingdoms. They're going to come together, this unifying, this alliance, and it says the Antichrist will gain the allegiance of other kings, and form this global alliance. [34:23] It tells us that they're going to combine forces, and it says they're going to have one mind. Notice that, one mind. These have one mind. There are deliberate methodologies that people are using to manipulate whole populations, to fall into line with agendas, groupthink. [34:39] I know one of my relatives is right into the IT stuff, and AI, and current developments, and he sent me something. It was a documented report of a study that was done, where they were able to read someone's mind, and translate through technology, and translate through technology, the pictures that were in their mind, into pictures that they could draw from. [35:05] There's a definite reality they can already read our mind. This is stunning stuff. I can share it with anyone who wants to do this report. It's a documented, a defined research study. [35:19] There's just no surmising. This is definite stuff. it's a reality that your mind can actually be read through some means. And I know this talk that humans can be hackable, this talk where potentially we can be influenced by external means. [35:38] And so it's all the more reason to be mindful, to be waking up to the prospect of such things. This is not something new. Of course, we know that mind control has been at work through various means. [35:50] We see through the rise of various dictators through history, the groupthink, the mind control, getting people to be swayed as a group. The scripture also tells us that the Antichrist will make war. [36:03] The Antichrist will make war. It says, Revelation 17, 14, these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. [36:18] So there's going to be this end time war. Specifically, the Antichrist will make war with the Lamb. It's going to be a war against the people of God, those that are the people of God that are present. [36:29] And we see that he will be militaristic. The Bible tells how he's a military kind of dictator, and he'll amass forces and armies under his domain. [36:42] The Antichrist will captivate many kingdoms to unite under his will. Interesting, there's a lot of warmongering going on at the moment, isn't there? A lot of warmongering. [36:53] Of course, there's been wars and rumours of wars, and continues to be, and will continue to be. I'm not saying this or that necessarily, but certainly that trend has been escalating, wouldn't you say, with what's going on in Eastern Europe right now, that there's this warmongering. [37:12] And we're at war, effectively, aren't we? We're sending munitions over. Friends, this is serious stuff. There will be a war, and we know the ultimate war will be the war against the saints. [37:22] It will be the war that the Antichrist will wage, and there's going to be a great global alliance, uniting with one mind. So these have one mind, and this is not something new. [37:36] Specifically, the Antichrist will make war with the Lamb. And Revelation 17, 17, tells how God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. [37:51] So God knows what's going on. He's in charge. Revelation 19, 19, it says, I saw the beast, the Antichrist, the kings of this earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him, that sat on the horse and against his army. [38:06] So the Antichrist will ultimately marshal and mobilise his forces to come against the Most High. The beast and these kings, their armies, they're going to gather together to make war against him, our Lord, and against his army. [38:20] So the good news is that the Antichrist will ultimately be defeated. Amen? That's the good news. I can leave you with that thought, at least. That good thought, that the Antichrist has got no hope. [38:33] The Antichrist will ultimately be defeated. He's got no show. The book of Revelation describes how our Lord Jesus will come and he will defeat the Antichrist and his followers. [38:44] We read Revelation 19, verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, says John. And behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. [38:56] And in righteousness he did judge and make war. And his eyes were as a flame of fire. And on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. [39:08] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. amen and his name is called the word of god and the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean i don't know if i've got a horse that i'll be riding that day but it says the armies which are in heaven followed him amen you maybe you're going to be on a white horse too one day amen you're going to be clothed in fine linen white and clean amen and it says and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and lord of lords hallelujah we can look forward in faith to that day can't we one day he's coming our lord is coming his promise that he will come in glory revelation 19 verse 19 it reads on and i saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone so the antichrist will be thrown into this lake of fire will be punished for eternity and revelation 20 verse 10 it reads and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever i believe that the spirit of antichrist is emerging i'm not saying the antichrist is here or the antichrist is a particular individual we could all have our own impressions about such things but what does it all mean for us as christians today it means we must be on guard against deception and false teachings they're evident how do we guard ourselves it's the word it's the word of god we must stay true to the word of god and be vigilant in our faith pray pray for those who are lost and deceived that they may come to know the truth and be saved someone wrote to me lately following some information that we shared earlier in the week monday night just gone talked about some of these emerging technologies that threaten privacy and liberties that we enjoy and she wrote this quote i find it all frightening and i keep wanting to wake up from this nightmare i struggle daily with accepting the reality that is friends i want to tell that that lady and anyone who feels frightened that we can take comfort amen we can take comfort the word of god is for our comfort it's for our encouragement we can take comfort in the scriptures we can take comfort in his promises we can take comfort in his hope take comfort in his salvation that ultimately christ will come and he will vanquish and defeat satan and the antichrist and his followers we can look forward to that day in faith in glad hope in the blessed hope that we have so let's be alert to this coming deceiver that we've heard some little bit about there's much more we could say but the scriptures we've touched on today that warn us of him even him who's coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders so again switch on the discernment switch and think signs and wonders are they of god we've got to be really really careful there's a [43:09] whole lot of signs and wonders out there that are not of god they're lying they're lies and verse 10 it reads and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved what matters most is that you're saved that you're saved that you know christ is your savior you know his saving grace you know yes jesus is my savior and i trust him that he died for my sin and i know him i know him and he knows me and you can know that beyond a shadow of a doubt what what we need is a love of the truth that will help us keep us safe it will help us to keep us on the straight and narrow it will help us to keep assured and not frightened the same truth will protect us from the deceptions of the other lesser antichrist as i say this kind of this atmosphere of these various deceptions and such things we can be safe and secure we can have an assurance the bible tells us of the ultimate overthrow of the antichrist it tells us we can have hope today we've got resurrection hope we've got a living savior he's alive he's risen he's alive in our hearts by faith we've got the resurrection hope what's more we've got the blessed hope because he's coming again he's coming again the blessed hope which means really a joyful expectation the joyful glad hope the glad assurance that we have the glad certain hope that we have that christ is coming and he tells us there then shall that wicked be revealed whom the lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming it's like when christ comes he's just going to blow the this antichrist away he's just going to go and he's going to consume with the spirit of his mouth he's going to destroy him with the brightness of his coming friends the lord jesus is coming jesus is coming that's our glad hope and do you know him do you know him today friends i urge you in that vein we can get all frightened and and worried and panic and and fearful and have all kinds of theories and machinations of scary thoughts about what's going to lie ahead for us we know his promise that he will watch over us we know that the word of god says that will be taken up to meet him in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the lord and i think that's going to happen before the worst of all this friends we know that the antichrist is coming but we can be assured that our lord is going to be our strength our sustainer and our help no matter what faces us whether increasing persecution whether even some of us might be killed whether it could come before the ultimate tribulation and then we know that christ will come he'll take us unto himself and he will vanquish he will destroy the antichrist and so we can have that assurance but what matters most this morning are you in christ do you know him do you know his saving do you know jesus today that matters the most i urge you to not leave this place to not put it off to till you settle it for time and eternity that you know christ as your lord and savior and then there's no need to be frightened there's no need for alarm there's no need for any fear because christ is in you and he is that hope of glory he is that one that we can trust in today let us pray lord we thank you that you give us an assurance for time and for eternity that we that trust you can be assured as we see these mounting signs we see as even the world sees some of this and yet they still would not trust your word i pray that people might turn to the truth of the word of god that the love of the truth will help us to discern right from wrong truth from error lord give us that guidance by your spirit through your precious word and encourage each heart lord those that might be frightened lord that we can have an assurance that keeps us assured under your control under your care and in your keeping we pray in jesus [47:13] precious name amen