The Strategy For Satan’s Finest Hour-4

The STRATEGY For SATAN’s FINEST HOUR--part A,-#IV

—Revelation 13:1-18

Satan’s end-time strategy preys upon & depends upon the surrender of your free-will to the weakness of your flesh...

The strategy you may concoct on your own to fix your situation may not be very effective, so that it ‘comes back to bite you’ as it were...destined to fail.

And, If your strategy is well thought out it MAY indeed be effective...though spiritually unsuccessful...

*However, if it is well thought-out by God’s design in Christ, then it WILL ABSOLUTELY Be SUCCESSFUL!

Satan’s strategy is well thought out & is effective at keeping people from living by truth. However since pride is the driver of that strategy, it is ‘ultimately’ doomed to failure. Praise God that Satan’s end-time strategy is limited in time.

By examining ‘Satan’s Finest Hour’, then we are better able to plan around his trickery/wiles/schemes/cunning. We will then be able to see our own spiritual shortcomings & needs, & see that our needs commend themselves to God’s ability rather than Satan’s, our own, or someone else’s.

By our recognizing & avoiding Satan’s deceptions, we will lead fulfilled spiritual lives & lead others to experience that same fulfillment.

Eph. 6:11-13—“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.”

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--Satan’s Counterfeit CHRIST(:1-10)

&

B--Satan’s Counterfeit PROPHET(:11-18)

Today we are going to continue looking at Part-A

A--SATAN’s COUNTERFEIT CHRIST(:1-10)

We will examine some Satanic strategies that are wielded thru the counterfeit Christ.

Previously we’ve discovered that

Satan’s strategy for his finest hour Turns...

1. POLITICS/Rule His Way(:1-2a)

2. EMPOWERMENT His Way(:2b)

3. ATTENTION His Way(:3a)

4. COMMITMENT His Way(:3b-4, 8)

5A(:5)—Satan’s strategy for his finest hour Turns...

POLARIZATION His Way(:5-6)

Explanation:(:5-6) Denouncing

:5—“And he was given a mouth speaking great things & blasphemies, & he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”

To Polarize something is to cause it to go one way or the other with no middle ground. To decisively choose sides.

“And he was given a mouth speaking great things & blasphemies,...”

It is stated & implied that the dragon(AKA-Satan/the devil) “gave” the beast(AKA—Antichrist) his “mouth” which continually speaks “great things”(implied arrogance)[:2, 4; cf.-Dan. 7:8] along with “blasphemies” against God[Dan. 7:25a].

Dan. 7:8, 11, 20, 25—““I was considering the horns, & there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. & there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, & a mouth speaking pompous words.”.....“I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, & its body destroyed & given to the burning flame.”.....“& the ten horns that were on its head, & the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes & a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.”.....“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, & shall intend to change times & law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time[1 yr.] & times[2 yrs.] & half a time[1/2 a yr.].”

“Speaking great things”—

Great, Large, Many, Much....& in this case, 'Arrogant things’—i.e., impressed with & calling attention to his own abilities!

The Antichrist will be no slouch or dimwit. His great intellect—unsubmitted to the Lord—will cause him to fall victim to the sin of ‘unchecked’ pride. He will truly believe in his heart of hearts that he is ‘all that & a bag of chips.’ So for the Antichrist, God is secondary & is also his greatest rival & thus his nemesis!

Dan. 7:8—“...In this horn was...a mouth speaking pompous[brbr] words.”[NKJV]--OR--“...This horn possessed...a mouth uttering great boasts.”[NASB]

•“Pompous/Great”—brbr rab-rab’(Aramaic)—Adj.—1) Great—1a) Great, 1b) Great(fig. of power). Noun—2) Captain, chief. Strong—Huge(in size); Domineering(in character). Used 8X.?From—br rab[duplicated]—Abundant(in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality). Contracted from bbr[to cast together, i.e. increase, especially in number; also to multiply by the myriad].

“Great”(See :2, 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).