The power of Christ will be mimicked by a global leader in the future tribulation. Much like the euphoria around Hitler, he will amass worldwide adoration. While Pastor Lutzer describes the dark side of prophesy, he also offers hope. What could possibly overcome a leader empowered by Satan himself?
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Transcript: Welcome to “5 Minutes with Pastor Lutzer.” I’m so glad that you joined us again today as we study biblical prophecy. Now if you’ve been with us in previous episodes you know that we spoke about the Rapture of the Church; of course also the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ when we shall all give account to God; and the glorious experience of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
But today we come to the dark side of history, we’re going to be speaking about the Great Tribulation and especially the antichrist. Now, Hitler is often used as a prototype of the antichrist and there were experiences that he had that actually demonized him. One of his mentors was Dietrich Eckart who said, “He shall dance but I have written the tune. I have introduced him to the powers.” If you watch some of Hitler’s speeches you know that he was demonized. But here’s the reason why we use Hitler as an example of the antichrist and we don’t speak about Stalin or Mao Tse-Tong but Hitler. Why? Because he was adored by the German people. I’ve had Germans say to me you Americans do not understand the euphoria that Germany had under Hitler’s leadership. They went to the great rallies in Nuremberg and they went as skeptics and they came back praying and saying, “Our father, Adolph who dwells in Nuremberg, the Third Reich come.” That’s the way antichrist is going to be.
Now I don’t believe that antichrist is going to be Hitler, raised from the dead. But he gives us an example of the kind of adoration that antichrist is going to receive. And in this episode and next time we’re going to be turning to the 13th chapter of the Book of Revelation, where it is talked about and where the beast comes. And the Bible says, “The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.” It opens its mouth, it says, “to blaspheme God, blaspheming His name, His dwelling.” And then it says, “It was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all who dwell upon the face of the earth shall worship him. Except those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.” You talk about globalism. You speak about the unity of the world. You talk about politics. You talk about religion, all in one man, the beast—antichrist.
Now of course, he’s going to be doing signs and wonders and in the previous verses it says he had a wound that looked as if he was dead and maybe he actually was dead, though I think probably it only appeared that way, and he was raised to life. He even is mimicking the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have a friend who describes it this way. He says, just visualize it: This man is a world leader and somebody assassinates him. He’s there in a coffin in some great rotunda in the Middle East and thousands of people are lining up and all the television cameras are focused on his corpse and suddenly he wiggles and crawls out of the coffin and says, “I am your Messiah.” No wonder the Bible says, “And the world wondered after the beast whose wound—whose mortal wound was healed.”
Now you have to be with us next time because I’m going to show that in this passage there is actually an unholy trinity. But I want to emphasize this today. Always remember that all who dwell upon the face of the earth worship him except those whose names were in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. You probably thought that your name was written in the Book of Life when you believed. Actually, it was already in the Book of Life and you believed because of God’s grace in your life and I’m so thankful that I am confident that my name is in the Book of Life and I hope that that is true of you as well.
Well, that’s a very brief introduction to the antichrist and next time we’re going to continue on this passage. Be sure to listen, invite your friends. I hope that you subscribe and follow us because our desire is that we live better and more committed to Jesus Christ because we love Him and we love His appearing. And by the way, if you want something to take with you today, always remember that those who didn’t worship the beast, they did so because they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. You go with that today and remember, join us next time but as for today, as I frequently say, you just go with God.