Economically. The Antichrist, in a seemingly miraculous way, will bring the world tremendous prosperity. That is what will captivate the whole world. You find that in Daniel verse 8:25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. The “craft” in this passage refers to global prosperity. By some special arrangement for “peace” he’s going to stop people from fighting, 12 and this will cause many people and nations to prosper.
Politically. Revelation 13:1-10 says this: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy (verse 1). The sea represents multitudes of people. The ten horns and crowns stand for the ten nations that will be recreated in the last days from the Roman Empire. The European Common Market has already created a situation that could clear the road for the arrival of this person called the Antichrist. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority (verse 2). This imagery goes back to the strength of the ancient empires (Daniel 7). In the political arena the Antichrist will possess 13 the powers of the world’s past greatest nations. The dragon, of course, is the devil. This means that the Antichrist will be guided and supplied by the world’s ultimate source for evil. And I saw one of the heads as if it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and the entire world wondered after him (verse 3). This will be something very remarkable. Perhaps he will be assassinated, then rise up from that assassination and show the world that he is immortal. He is the one who should rule the world because you can’t kill him. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him (verse 4)? The people in the world at this time will actually worship the devil and the Antichrist. That shows you how far from God they have gotten. And there was given unto him a mouth 14 speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (verse 5). The great strength and power of the Antichrist will last for seven years. For the first three-and-one-half years he will develop his kingdom. Then in the final three-anda-half years he will display all of his evil nature and plans. This seven-year period is called “the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven (verse 6). The Antichrist, like many of the cultures in the world today, will have nothing good to say about God or the church or heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given to him over all kindred’s, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the 15 foundation of the world (verses 7-8). Isn’t that amazing? Everyone will worship him. We’re living in that dreadful moment when the fullness of all corruption beginning with Cain and coming down to the Antichrist is going to be manifest. We’re living in that time immediately prior to Divine judgment! If any man have an ear, let him hear (verse 9). You should put a circle around that little verse. It’s short, but it means everything. Most Americans will not hear––they will not hear, they will not hear, they will not hear! There’s no use trying to persuade them that they are in sin. They will not listen. America is drunk on pleasure. All they want is entertainment and more entertainment. They watch game after game on television. But when a baseball game is over, what do you have on the inside? Nothing. When a football game is over, what do you have inside? Nothing. You would be better working in the basement and making something than watching 16 television. That way, the next day you have something. I hate to do anything that doesn’t have something left over the next day. If I sit down and write for an hour, I can sit down and look at it the rest of my life. If I sit down and watch something, when it’s over, it’s finished and I don’t have anything. I don’t like anything that doesn’t have a lasting relationship with it. Are you listening?! He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword shall be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints (verse 10). When everything is finished, people are going to reap whatever they sow. If they sow evil, they will reap evil.
Morally. The Antichrist will be morally bankrupt. In Daniel 11:37 it says he will have no desire for women. That means he will be homosexual. He will be what the world is. Do you want to know something? Jesus said, as it was in the days of Lot, so will it be in the day 17 when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:28). That’s one of the biggest fulfillments of prophecy. In Sodom, it was popular to be a homosexual. And that’s exactly the way it will be in the last days as well. When I was a boy, if a man would have been a homosexual, the rest of the men in the community would have taken a strap and beaten the daylights out of him. Then they would say, “Don’t ever let us see that kind of misconduct from you again or we’ll just kill you next time.” They wouldn’t call the police. They would take care of it themselves. I’m telling you times have changed, and you don’t even realize it. We condone everything today. We’ll tolerate anything. We’ve fed on immorality so long that we don’t even know how to think straight. Listen, if you don’t stand up against evil, then evil will clobber you. Don’t say, “I can’t do anything about it.” You could if you tried. God wants you to change your way of thinking and your way of acting. 18 You say, “Brother Sumrall,you can’t get a lot of people to come to church if you talk like that.” Well, I’ll say what God wants me to say as long as I live. Those who like it can enjoy it, and those that don’t can just stay away from it. But someday I’ll stand before God with clean hands regarding sin in the last days. Religiously. Daniel 11:37 specifically says that the Antichrist will not regard the God of his fathers. Then in Revelation 13:6-8 it says that his mouth is full of blasphemies. His lifestyle will be the opposite of Jesus’ lifestyle. And the people of the world will praise him for being brazen in his sins and for being uninhibited. The psychiatry of the day will pronounce him perfectly adapted for the conditions of his time. The Antichrist will have a partner whom the Bible calls the false prophet. He may have a fancy name given to him by the world, but when God looks at him, all He sees is a liar. He is so twisted in his thinking that he will actually attempt to 19 persuade the world to worship the Antichrist. But his lies will not last long. After three-and-a-half years he will be cast into the lake of fire, along
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