The STRATEGY For SATAN’s FINEST HOUR--A-II—Revelation 13:1-18
Attention:
Those Poor Alligators!
At the zoo one day when a woman began frantically running around the alligator habitat. She was holding her head in both hands desperate as to what to do.
Screaming hysterically, she ran up to a man who was wearing a T-shirt with a Christian message on it. She yelled out, “Help me, help me sir, my mother-in-law fell into the alligator habitat!”
Knowing there was little he could do to help, he immediately began looking for zoo employees, or policemen, or firemen, or EMTs, or anyone associated with public safety to help the poor woman.
The woman looked at him funny & said “No, No sir, help is already on the way. I want you to pray for those poor alligators!”
The daughter-in-law was concerned for the alligators that they would be protected from her mother-in-law!
Likewise our concern should be for those who are unaware of the danger they are in without Christ.
God furnished, to the apostle John, a picture of Satan’s finest hour.
Those who trust Scripture are furnished a clear picture of Satan’s end time strategy.
What strategies will mark Satan’s last days?
2 major strategies for Satan’s finest hour are...
A--To produce a Counterfeit CHRIST(:1-10)
&
B--To produce a Counterfeit PROPHET(:11-18)
By examining ‘Satan’s Finest Hour’, then we are better able to see our own shortcomings, & God’s commendations, so that we may avoid Satan’s deceptions, & lead others on a straight path.
A--SATAN’s COUNTERFEIT CHRIST(:1-10)
8 Satanic strategies wielded thru the counterfeit Christ.
Previously we discovered that
Satan’s strategy for his finest hour Turns...
POLITICS/Rule His Way(:1-2a)
2—Satan’s strategy for his finest hour Turns...
EMPOWERMENT His Way(:2b)
Explanation:(:2b) Authority
:2—“...The dragon gave him his power, his throne, & great authority.”
“His power”—
Inherent strength, or ability.
The dragon(Satan) will supply this “beast”/Antichrist “his power.”(12:9, 12c)
*?But exactly what power does & will Satan have to give?
For one thing, Satan offers the spirit of present worldly ‘systems’ because he is ‘the Prince of the power of the air’...
Eph. 2:1-2—“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses & sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,”
There is also a pervasive sense that ‘this God stuff’ is inconsequential, impersonal, & irrelevant.
Satan wields power over “rulers”, “Powers”, “world forces”, “spiritual forces of wickedness”—“principalities”, “powers”, “the rulers of the darkness of this world”, “spiritual wickedness.” In the Tribulation period, Satan’s power will be invested in a man—the Antichrist.
Eph. 6:12-13—“For we do not wrestle against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, & having done all, to stand.”
His power will be manifested in an all-consuming pride made worse by strict limitations upon his time & space(12:9, 12c), forced upon him by God’s timetable regarding the end day. “Dragon”(See :4)—drakwn—Noun Masc.—1) A dragon, a great serpent, a name for Satan. Strong—probably from an alternate form of derkomai(to look); A fabulous kind of serpent(perhaps as supposed to fascinate). Used 13X.
“Gave”(See :4, 5, 7, 15)—didwmi—Verb—1) To give; 2) To give something to someone—2a) Of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage—2a1) To bestow a gift, 2b) To grant, give to one asking, let have, 2c) To supply, furnish, necessary things, 2d) To give over, deliver; 3) To give—3a) To cause, profuse, give forth from one's self—3b) To appoint to an office, 3c) To cause to come forth, 3c) To give one to someone as his own; 4) To grant or permit one. Didwmi denotes “to give” in general, opposite to lambanw--“to take”; dwreomai specific--“to bestow, present”; didwmi might be used even of evils, but dwreomai could be used of such things only ironically. Strong—a prolonged form of a primary verb(which is used as an alternative in most of the tenses); To give(used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figuratively; greatly modified by the connection).
“His”2X(See :4, 6)—autov—Pronoun—1) Himself, herself, themselves, itself; 2) He, she, it; 3) The same. Strong—from the particle au[perhaps akin to the base of ahr[air] through the idea of a baffling wind]--Backward; the reflexive pronoun--Self, used(alone or in the comparative eautou) of the third person , & (with the proper personal pronoun)of the other persons.
“Power”—dunamiv—Noun Fem.—1) Strength power, ability—1a) Inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts & puts forth, 1b) Power for performing miracles, 1c) Moral power & excellence of soul, 1d) The power & influence which belong to riches & wealth, 1e) Power & resources arising from numbers, 1f) Power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts. Dunamiv denotes power, natural ability, general & inherent Strong—from dunamai[To be able or possible]; Force(literally or figuratively); specially--Miraculous power(usually by implication--A miracle itself).
“His throne”—
—Official decisions/judgments/determinations are carried out regarding the kingdom via the “throne.” Thus Satan’s(the dragon’s) determinations are carried out thru the Antichrist’s throne.
The dragon will supply this “beast”/counterfeit Christ/Antichrist “his throne.”
But over what does Satan reign?...
Generally the dragon reigns over anything untouched/unmoved thru salvation by grace thru faith in Jesus Christ!
Prior to the time of the Tribulation our adversary the devil is already considered ‘the prince of the power of the air’(Eph. 2:2). Satan is the one with whom we daily wrestle against thru his principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, & against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies(Eph. 6:12). Currently the devil has limited access to heaven so that he constantly accuses God’s people of failure(Rev. 12:10).
In earth’s future history, the dragon/Satan/the devil will have been permanently “thrown down to the earth” with no more access to heaven(12:10, 12-13) & with an exacerbated anger towards true Christians on earth.
Prior to the dragon’s/Devil’s/Satan’s being cast permanently out o heaven, at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Satan offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world.”(See ”Great Authority” below)
Lk. 4:5-6—“And he[the devil] led Him[Jesus] up & showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain & its glory; for it has been handed over to me, & I give it to whomever I wish.”
Right now all the world’s ‘worldliness’ is offered to people by the devil, even though currently he does not have a particular Antichrist & world encompassing kingdom in which to lodge his prideful vitriol.
Dan. 7:25—“‘He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times & law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time & times & half a time.”
“Throne”—yronov—Noun Masc.—1) A throne seat—1a) A chair of state having a footstool, 1b) Assigned in the NT to kings, hence, kingly power or royalty—1b1) metaph.--To God, the governor of the world, 1b2) To the Messiah, Christ, the partner & assistant in the divine administration—1b2a) hence--Divine power belonging to Christ, 1b3) To judges i.e. tribunal or bench, 1b4) To elders. Strong—from yraw(to sit); A stately seat("throne"); by implication--Power or concretely--A potentate.
“Great authority”—Liberty of choice regarding the directed lives of others.
3)The dragon supplied this “beast”/Antichrist “Great authority”—
“Authority”—Right & liberty of choice.
Jn. 15:26--16:3—“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.”
(See ”Throne” above)Mat. 4:8-10—“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, & showed Him all the kingdoms of the world & their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down & worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, & Him only you shall serve.’”
But God’s people must remember Jesus’ statement of Mat. 28:18, 19-20...
Mat. 28:18-20—“And Jesus came & spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven & on earth. Go therefore & make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; & lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
“Great”(See :5, 13)—megav/megalh/megaloi—Adj.—1) Great—1a) Of the external form or sensible appearance of things(or of persons); 2) Predicated of rank, as belonging to—2a) Persons, eminent for ability, virtue, authority, power, 2b) Things esteemed highly for their importance: of great moment, of great weight, importance, 2c) A thing to be highly esteemed for its excellence: excellent; 3) Splendid, prepared on a grand scale, stately; 4) Great things—4a) Of God's preeminent blessings, 4b) Of things which overstep the province of a created being, proud(presumptuous) things, full of arrogance, derogatory to the majesty of God. Strong—Big(literally or figuratively, in a very wide application).
“Authority”(See :4, 5, 7)—exousia—Noun Fem.—1) Power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases—1a) Leave or permission; 2) Physical & mental power—2a) The ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises; 3) The power of authority(influence) & of right(privilege); 4) The power of rule or government(the power of him whose will & commands must be submitted to by others & obeyed). Exousia is primarily liberty of action; then authority -- either as delegated power, or as unrestrained, arbitrary power. Strong—Privilege, i.e. subjectively--Force, capacity, competency, freedom, or objectively--Mastery(concretely--Magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence.
Satan is not so much ‘mimicking’ Jesus as ‘counterfeiting’ Jesus’ “power”, “throne” & “authority”, with the inherent flaws that make a counterfeit worthless.
Jn. 3:35; 5:22; Rev. 3:21; Mat. 28:18—“The Father loves the Son, & has given all things into His hand.”....“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,”....“‘To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame & sat down with My Father on His throne.”....“And Jesus came & spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven & on earth.”
Just as God has sent from heaven the One divine Christ Jesus who is faithful to Him, Satan himself will raise up a “beast” of a man from the bottomless pit who will be ultimately faithful to him.
Argumentation:
Jn. 13:21-27—Judas at last Supper/Devil entered & he left to lead military dispatch to Jesus/EMPOWERMENT—“When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, & testified & said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.””
1Cor. 1:17-29—“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, & Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block & to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews & Greeks, Christ the power of God & the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, & the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, & God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; & the base things of the world & the things which are despised God has chosen, & the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
2Cor. 12:2-10—“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- how he was caught up into Paradise & heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
•Paul did not ‘like’ his infirmities, but he did ‘appreciate’ them because his infirmity weakened him physically, so that he would be spiritually stronger by Christ!
2Cor. 4:3-12—“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, & ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God & not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.”
Illustration:
A nuclear powered submarine with nuclear weapons/Far superior to other fueled submarines of the past/The submarine’s power, throne, & authority comes from the government that builds & sends it!/EMPOWERMENT
Application:
?Can your faith survive EMPOWERMENT Turned Satan’s Way?
?Can your faith survive Satan’s Finest Hour?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
“No, No sir, help is already on the way. I want you to pray for those poor alligators!”
Action:
Satan’s strategy for his finest hour Turns...
2. EMPOWERMENT His Way(:2b)
1. POLITICS/Rule His Way(:1-2a)
Pt#2 only! Presented 02/10/2019pm to:
1stBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave.(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pt#s 2-8 Presented 05/11/2003am to;
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
