Introduction

​

Let me begin with a story of a class of police cadets who were sitting their final exam.  And one of the questions went like this.  ‘Imagine you’re on a routine patrol when you hear an enormous explosion just one street over.  You arrive to see a crowd of people running about … flailing their hands in the air.  Upon investigation you find that an out-of-control van has veered up onto the footpath … running over a fire hydrant that is now sprouting water into the air … then hitting a gas main … that caused the enormous explosion.  The driver is alive … but in bad shape.  You hear screaming in one direction … coming from a bystander who was blown by the explosion into the adjacent canal … and he’s yelling that he can’t swim.  You then hear a lady screaming in the opposite direction … as a man runs out of the building … yelling for help because the explosion has caused his heavily pregnant wife to go into labour.  Describe in a few words what you would do?’  One cadet simply writes; ‘carefully remove uniform and mingle with crowd’.

Friends … our passage today is the second half of a section in the book of Revelation … that is looking at spiritual warfare.  So if you were here last week … you will recall Revelation 12 and 13 form a THIRD interlude in the book.  Our series began by looking at the 7 seals … which includes an interlude between the 6th and 7th seals.  We THEN looked at the 7 trumpets … with an interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpets.  And today’s passage … along with Revelation 12 from last week … forms a 3rd interlude … this time between the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls.  And THIS interlude pulls back the curtain of history … to show what’s actually going on behind the scenes.

And what’s going on behind the scenes in history is a spiritual war.  As we saw last week … our great adversary Satan … described as a huge red 7 headed dragon … is waging a war against ‘the woman and her offspring’.  And we learnt last week that this woman and her offspring is the church … you and me.  Whether we realise it or not … and whether we LIKE it or not … Satan is waging war on us.  Our passage today continues this account … by explaining Satan’s strategy.  And the question this passage asks is … are we going to stay in the battle … or are we going to carefully remove our uniform … and become one of the crowd?  This passage is decision time!  Are we going to serve the lamb … or are we going to carefully remove our uniform … and JOIN the dragon?

Now as any self-respecting Christian will declare … we do NOT want to simply lay down arms and join the dragon.  What this passage shows … is that the dragon’s strategy is to exert enormous pressure on people to follow him.  So what we’re interested in today … is to learn how we can resist this enormous pressure.  Now Star Trek fans may recognise my sermon title for today.  It comes from the Star Trek villains called the Borg … who are an army of cyborgs … cybernetic organisms … bent on assimilating the universe into their collective.  And their catchphrase is … ‘resistance is futile’.  What Revelation 13 tells us … is that unless WE want to be assimilated into the Dragon’s collective … resistance is vital (repeat).

And I’ve got 3 points today to help EQUIP us for this vital resistance.  But before we get to see HOW we resist Satan’s enormous pressure … we need to unpack the vivid imagery of this chapter.  And as we’ve seen throughout this series … if we can get our heads around this complex imagery … there is a very simple and very important message waiting for us.  So our first point is going to look at (i) What is this beast from the sea … v. 1-7 … while our second point will cover (ii) What is this beast from the earth … v. 11-18.  Then once we’ve SEEN the pressure these beasts exert on people … can we unpack our application … which is (iii) How to resist the Dragon and his beasts … v. 8-10.  So let’s dive in … and look at ‘resistance is vital’.

​

What is the best from the sea (v. 1-7)

​

And while our passage today kicks off a new chapter … it follows directly on from Revelation 12 … where the dragon … Satan … goes off to wage war on the church.  And we find him in chapter 13 … standing on the edge of the sea … the sea being the place of chaos and evil in the Bible.  And out of the sea comes this enormous beast.  Now before our imaginations turn to giant squid … or the Kraken … we’re told what this beast looks like.

So firstly … he has 10 horns and 7 heads … v. 1.  Now if that sounds familiar … it’s because the DRAGON has 10 horns and 7 heads.  So this beast takes on the image of the Dragon.

Second … v. 2 says he has the body of a leopard … the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion.  That’s some pretty terrifying imagery.

Then in v. 3 we’re told one of his heads has what looks like a fatal wound that has been healed.  Now what does THIS mean?  It means he’s been hit square in the head with a sword so forcefully … it killed him.  BUT … he’s come back from the dead.

Now who does this sound like?  Someone (i) who takes on the image of someone above them, (ii) who wields the same power and authority as the person they resemble … v. 2, AND (iii) who died … but is now alive again?  That’s right … this beast from the sea is setting himself up as a type of fake Christ.  The Greek word for ‘fatal wound’ there … is the exact same word used in Revelation 5 to refer to the lamb that was ‘slain’.  The dragon and the beast are setting themselves up as an alternative to God the Father and God the Son … even demanding worship in v. 4.

Now … we’re not told the beast from the sea is THE … capital ‘a’ … Antichrist.  But that would be a pretty good guess.  1 John chapter 2 tells us there will be many anti-Christs in our world.  But there will be ONE figure who will top them all … the capital ‘a’ Antichrist … also called ‘the man of lawlessness’ in 2 Thessalonians 2.  Now while we can’t be CERTAIN … this beast seems to fit the bill.  Let me explain.

• Firstly … the beast here is a person.  In Rev 19:20 he is thrown into the lake of burning sulphur.

• Second … he blasphemes God … slanders God… defames God … like the antichrist.

• And third … he wages war on the people of God.

So while commentators can’t make a definitive call on this … the beast from the sea is likely THE Antichrist.

HOWEVER … this beast is NOT just a person.  It’s also a kingdom.  The descriptions in v. 2 referring to a leopard, a bear and a lion … all come from Daniel’s dream in Daniel chapter 7.  Daniel sees 4 beasts … one resembling a lion … one resembling a bear … one resembling a leopard … and one so terrifying it isn’t given a description.  And all 4 of these beasts represent 4 kingdoms; the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.  In OUR passage … these kingdoms have been amalgamated into ONE terrifying beast … representing ALL kingdoms that stand against God.

So according to this passage … the Antichrist is not going to be some world-famous influencer … who will get a billion followers on Tick-Tock.  He’s going to be the leader of an enormous kingdom … perhaps a world-wide kingdom … just like Rome … that won’t just demand allegiance to the state; it will demand emperor worship … just like the Roman Caesars.  And this beast will attack and kill Christians for not giving their allegiance to the state and their worship to its leader.  So THAT’S the beast from the sea.

​

What is the beast from the earth (v. 11-18)

​

Then in v. 11 … John sees ANOTHER beast … this time coming out of the earth.  Now this beast only has 2 horns … meaning he’s not as powerful as the first beast or the Dragon.  They had 10 horns.  However … we’re told:

• He exercises all the authority of the first beast … v. 12 … AND

• He makes ‘the earth and it’s inhabitants’ … now that Revelation’s description for non-Christians … he makes non-Christians WORSHIP the first beast … also v. 12.

So … who does THIS sound like?  Someone (i) who speaks with all the authority of the one who was slain … but is alive again, and (ii) who tells the world to worship that one.  Sounds like the Holy Spirit … does it not?  The Spirit’s MAIN role is to point people to Jesus … and get people to worship Jesus.  The beast out of the earth’s MAIN role is to point people to the FIRST beast … and get people to worship the first beast.

So what the dragon is doing here … is he’s setting up a type of Unholy Trinity … or Dark Trinity … as some commentators call it.  The dragon takes on the persona of a fake ‘God the Father’ … with all the authority.  The beast out of the sea takes on the persona of a fake ‘God the Son’ … with his death and resurrection.  And the beast out of the earth takes on the persona of a fake ‘God the Holy Spirit’ … who points everyone to the Antichrist … and tells them to worship the Antichrist.  The dragon is setting himself up as an alternative to God.  And the decision we’re presented with in this passage is … will we worship the Triune God … or will we worship the dragon’s unholy trinity?  Will we worship the lamb … or will we worship the beast from the sea … the Antichrist?

And the dragon’s STRATEGY in this battle is to make it almost impossible NOT to worship him.  So if the FIRST beast represents a sort of world-wide state … with a charismatic leader … the SECOND beast represents false religion.  The PURPOSE of the beast out of the earth is to get people to worship.  Have a look at v. 12 again:

Revelation 13:12 (NIV) It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast

The dragon is using the church … the beast from the earth … and the state … the beast from the sea … to exert enormous pressure on people to worship Him.  Have a look:

• First … the second beast performs great signs … v. 13 … like calling fire from heaven … just like Elijah did.  Now again … this is probably not LITERAL fire.  It’s symbolic of false religion somehow making people go ‘WOW … we should listen to this beast!’

• Second … the beast from the earth orders the inhabitants of the earth … remember … non-Christians … to set up a statue of the first beast … contra Commandment number 2.  But he then causes this statue to miraculously SPEAK.  Again … probably symbolism here; to make it easy to KILL any who do not worship the beast’s image … v. 15.  Enormous pressure.

• But if THAT’S not enough … people are placed under even MORE pressure … being told they can neither buy nor sell … which you need to do to survive … unless they receive the infamous ‘Mark of the beast’ … which is the name or ‘number of the beast’ … v. 17.

Now please remember … apocalyptic literature … biblical literature that reveals the future … is NOT to be read literally.  The ‘Mark of the beast’ … this way of pressuring people into worshiping the beast … is unlikely to be a physical mark.  People have spent a lot of time speculating about what the mark of the beast might be … and what the number of the beast might be:

Some people think the MARK of the beast is credit cards.  We’re moving towards a cashless society these days … what will the Greeks and Italians do.  But some people believe we won’t be able to buy and sell soon without a credit card.

Some people have tried to decipher the NUMBER of the beast; 666.  They use a principle called ‘Gematria’ … in which you assign a number to each letter of the alphabet.  And low and behold … when we do that to the name Ronald Reagan … or Emperor Nero … all those numbers add up to 666.  Well … in English anyway … which wasn’t even in existence when Revelation was written.  Friends … anyone who tries to figure out what the mark of the beast is … or what the number of the beast refers to … is ignoring John’s own warning in v. 18.  Fanciful conjecture is the opposite of wisdom.

All we need to know … is that the mark of the beast symbolises allegiance to the beast.  It will almost certainly NOT be a physical mark on the right hand and on the forehead.  It is some sort of VISIBLE indicator that one has GIVEN their allegiance to the beast.  It will NOT be a credit card.  Why?  Because according to this passage … you cannot accidentally give your allegiance to the Beast:

1. The mark of the beast is a symbol that you’ve given your allegiance to the beast.

2. And the number of the beast is a symbol that you’ve chosen poorly.  6 is simply 1 less than 7 … 1 less than perfection.

The point of all this … is that Satan’s STRATEGY is to use both the state AND false religion … the beast out of the sea AND the beast out of the earth … to place enormous pressure on people to worship him.

​

How to resist the Dragon and his beasts (v. 8-10)

​

The question we need to ask then is … how are we to RESIST this enormous pressure from the Dragon and his beasts?  Because let’s be honest … we’re already feeling it today. THE capital ‘a’ Antichrist … and his offsider the beast from the earth are yet to appear on earth.  No nation state or world religion resembles the descriptions given in this passage.  But there are ALWAYS kings and kingdoms that demand too much from their people.  And there are ALWAYS religions … that capitulate to the state:

• For example … China and North Korea demand absolute allegiance to the state.

• Christians are killed for their faith in places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan.

• Even people in the west are under ENORMOUS pressure nowadays.  It’s not enough to just ALLOW same-sex marriage or transgender ideology.  We have to publicly AGREE with it today … or risk being cancelled.  Israel Fallou STILL cannot get a football contract in this country … because he spoke out against homosexuality.

• What’s worse is that certain WESTERN governments are making it illegal to HURT someone’s feelings by disagreeing with their ideology.

• And then there’s false religion.  Last month was the Lambeth conference.  The Lambeth conference happens every 10 years … where all the Anglican bishops from around the globe meet in London.  This year … 170 Anglican bishops signed a public statement to affirm and support people in same-sex relationships.  Now you’ll be relieved to know that none of the Anglican bishops from Sydney even ATTENDED Lambeth this year … let alone signed that document.  And there was an opposing document signed by 110 bishops.  But that’s an example of false religion … none of those people should be bishops … false religion telling people to give their allegiance to secular ideology.

So HOW are Christians to resist such enormous pressure?  Well there are 2 things we can do by way of application as we close:

The FRIST is … we don’t actually have to know WHO the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth are.  We believe these will be REAL people … and REAL institutions that will appear right before the end of days.  But we shouldn’t sit around speculating whether China is the beast out of the sea … or our very own Anglican Church is the beast out of the earth.  We don’t actually NEED to.  We’ve got enough pressure of our OWN to deal with today.  These things are happening TODAY.

All we need to know TODAY … is whether we will worship the Lamb … or will we worship some beast-like contender TO the lamb?  The FIRST thing we can do to resist the pressure from the dragon and his beasts … is to know that pressure is going to come … so it doesn’t catch us off guard.

The SECOND thing we can do is in v. 10:

Revelation 13:10 (NIV) … This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

This is the programmatic verse of the entire book of Revelation.  The reason Jesus gave this revelation to John … was to call God’s people to patient endurance and faithfulness.  We don’t JUST want to avoid being caught off guard.  We want to be prepared to face it.  And the first half of v. 10 tells us what we MIGHT have to face:

Revelation 13:10 (NIV) “If anyone is to go into captivity [… prison …], into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” b

That’s what we may have to face: prison or even martyrdom.  The way we endure such torture … is to remember that Jesus is worth it.  Jesus is better than the beast.  Jesus is better than staying out of jail.  Jesus is even better than life.  John Piper says of this passage that our great calling as Christians is not to stay alive; it’s to stay in love.

But how do we do that?  How do we stay in love with Jesus?  I was at our regional conference this week.  And our bishop … Michael Stead … mentioned this in his evening fire-side chat.  He was talking about when Jesus asked Peter ‘do you love me’ 3 times.  And Michael asked us … how is it we can ensure our answer to that question is ‘yes Lord, you know that I love you’?  How is it that we can stay in love with Jesus?  And Michael’s answer … I’m thrilled to say … is the same answer we get here every week.  The way we love Jesus … is by looking to Jesus … and seeing how much he loves us.

And the WAY we see Jesus’ love will differ … depending on what passage we’re looking at.  Sometimes we’ll see Jesus’ love through is forgiveness … or mercy … or kindness … or generosity.  So what do we see in THIS passage?

Revelation 13:8 (NIV) All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

What this verse shows … is that before God even created the world … he KNEW Jesus would one day be slain for the sins of his people.  The plan to save sinners was in place before there were even any sinners to save.  THAT’S how much God loves you.  He created you … KNOWING full well that he would have to go through infinite suffering - remember the cross is the Father AND the Son going through infinite suffering – knowing full well that he would have to go through infinite suffering … to get you to heaven with him.  And friends … THAT’S how we resist the dragon and his beasts.  We realise he has nothing to offer us compared to eternal life with our loving God.

​

Conclusion

​

So friends … we WILL be pressured into submitting to the dragon’s agenda.  We already are … are we not?  The way we resist that pressure is not to stay alive … it’s to stay in love.  And that’s super easy … when we see the love Jesus has had for us … since before the creation of the world.