The Arrival of The Antichrist (The 1st Seal) | Revelation 6:1-2 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

As we prepare to begin a new chapter in the book of Revelation, I think it will be very helpful to remind ourselves of the structure of this book. In Revelation one nineteen, Jesus Christ provides us the outline. And it's in three main sections. He tells John the apostle in that very verse to write down the things that he has seen, which he accomplishes in Revelation chapter one. Moving forward, he was then told to write down those that are, which was fulfilled in chapters two and three.

And finally, the Lord Jesus tells John to write down the things that are to take place after this, which he begins to unfold in chapter four and continues through to the end of the book. Now, it's important to note that the visions that John shares beyond chapter four are generally not yet fulfilled. I'm aware that there are those who teach otherwise, but I trust that as we unpack these chapters, you and I will come to see that the events recorded cannot be reconciled with any past historical period. Unless you dramatically allegorize these prophecies. But unlike those who overly spiritualize these predictive text, what we are about to behold, what we are about to witness are the detailed catastrophes and episodes that will unfold on a global scale during a time that is called the tribulation and the great tribulation.

Now how can we say that with certainty? Let's turn to Revelation chapter six. This is the chapter that we'll be beginning today. The first thing to note before we read anything is that the sequence of events in this chapter, especially beginning in chapter six, closely parallels the progress and the sequence of events that Jesus taught in his Olivet discourse, when he was asked about the sign of the end of the age. In fact, this final section of the book of Revelation expounds on what Christ taught about broadly in that teaching.

And in Christ's discourse on the end times, he employs certain language about a pivotal time during the final lapse of human history that I think is worth noting. So you're there in Revelation chapter six, but let me read to you and remind you about what Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 21. For then there will be great tribulation such as not been from the beginning of the world until now, no and never will be. Notice the phrase, great tribulation. And this leads us into the second reason why we believe what we are about to unpack in Revelation speaks about the unprecedented turbulences that Christ foretold would be unleashed upon the earth.

Revelation itself tells us, and the strongest example of this is what we find in Revelation chapter seven when John was asked by one of the 24 elders after seeing a sea of people who are worshiping before the throne and before the lamb, who are these people? And John answers this in Revelation seven verse 14. I said to him, sir, you know, and he said to me, these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. There's that phrase again.

The great tribulation, which speaks of a certain point in the larger tribulation period. Now, why do I bring this up? Because I want us to be reminded of how harmonious the Bible is, how consistent the scriptures are. So this is what we are about to embark on as a church. We just finished Revelation chapter four and five, which set the stage for Christ carrying out his closing acts of judgment upon the earth before he returns to the earth.

And this series of judgments begins in Revelation chapter six with the breaking of the seals on that scroll that we saw in previous weeks, Christ received from the hand of the father. And each of those seals will trigger a specific judgment against the wicked in a particular generation to come. But the seven seals that we're about to see in Revelation six are not the only final acts of God's wrath. They will be followed by another series of judgments. The one will that we'll see coming next will be the series of judgments with the seven trumpets.

And then after the seven trumpets, we will see the seven bowls of God's wrath being poured out. And what you'll notice with those sets of judgments, sets of seven, is that they will increase, they will intensify, they will escalate God's fury against the inhabitants of the earth who have defied him, who have rejected the gospel. And once we cover those judgments, we will refreshingly find Jesus Christ returning at the culminating moment in Revelation 19 when he returns to establish his earthly kingdom. So I hope that that broad overview wasn't too overwhelming. Let me repeat it.

What we're about to discover in Revelation six are the beginnings of God's final acts of judgment upon the earth in a period known as the tribulation. Now, as much as I would love to read about the seven seals all at once, we won't be able to because they cover and they span over two chapters. Instead, we're going to read about the first four seals, and we're going to spend this Sunday service looking and exploring the first one. Why are we reading the first four and not more or fewer? Because as you will see, the Holy Spirit clearly combines these four in close succession.

They are grouped together. They are supposed to see, be seen as a set if you will. So let's do this. Here we are Revelation six. Let's begin at verse one and we will look down until verse eight and we'll focus on the first two verses.

Now I watch when the lamb opened one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, come. And I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold a black horse, and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, come. And I looked and behold, a pale horse.

And its rider's name was Death and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beast of the earth. Father, we ask that you would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. We need your help as we enter into a different dimension of the book of Revelation. The predictive elements of it.

Protect us Lord from any confusion, false conclusions. Guide us Lord to interpret scripture with scripture And may Christ be adored even through these teachings of the events of the final moments of human history. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. What John witnessed with the breaking of the first four seals is what is commonly and culturally recognized as the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

And though the culture has a general grasp of this concept, we are called as Christians to understand what these figures truly represent, and how they are relevant to our faith. What do we make of these four horsemen? How are they to be understood? Well firstly, we have to make this known, this is symbolism. And the symbolism is quite obvious.

These are depictions of the major occurrences that will take place at the beginning. They will mark the beginning of the tribulation period. Now we're not gonna spend any time today discussing the duration or the timing of the tribulation. We'll do that at another time. We'll just face here the information at hand, especially what we find in the first two verses.

Look at it again with me in Revelation six one to two. Now I watch when the lamb opened one of seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a loud voice or with a voice rather, like thunder, come. And I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out conquering and to conquer. This is easily the most mysterious figure to interpret out of the four. The rider on the white horse.

Not much information is given about him, but again, this is symbolic. This is not to be taken too literally here, but some have quickly identified the rider on the white horse as the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because we find Jesus Christ returning to the earth in triumph on what? A white horse in Revelation 19.

But I'm afraid that this is an overly simplistic connection. And it fails to account for key differences that we need to see with our own eyes. So let's turn now to Revelation 19 and let's look at verse 11. This is a glorious record of the victory of Christ upon his return to the earth. Then I saw heaven open and behold a white horse.

Then one sitting on it called is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the word of God. And the armies of heaven are arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with what whichwitz to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords. So again, it's it's an overly simplistic interpretation to associate the rider on the white horse in chapter six with Christ here in Revelation 19. Now we won't look at everything, but key differences worth highlighting.

First, the difference in weaponry. Did you see what the rider on the white horse was carrying? It was a bow. Whereas Jesus has what? A sharp sword.

Mark that. Secondly, what we find here is that the rider on the white horse in chapter six is wearing a single crown. Comparatively, we read here that Jesus was wearing what? Many crowns. And when you consider the Greek, you'll find very easily that even the quality of the crowns are different.

The crowns that Jesus wore are diadems. They signify royalty and they signify sovereignty. The one that we find here in Revelation six is an inferior type of crown. Finally, perhaps the most obvious, the rider on the white horse in Revelation six appears at the beginning of God's judgments. Whereas, Jesus comes at the culmination of the judgments.

Now, there there are many other things that we can underscore, but perhaps this is one that people often forget. In Revelation six, we know it can't be Jesus riding on that white horse for one plain reason. He's opening the seals. He's the lamb opening the seals. So this is a distinct individual here being represented.

And although we can look at more, I think those observations are enough to convince us that Revelation six is not portraying Christ. It's not Christ in our main text. However, the similarities must be acknowledged. They must be considered because they are intentional and they are significant. So again, in Revelation six and nineteen, both of these riders are riding upon a white horse.

Both are wearing crowns and both are depicted as moving forward in advancement in order to conquer. They are riding with a mission. And so this is the impression that we are to have here as we read these first two verses in chapter six. It's clear that there are differences that conclude that this is not Jesus, but he is similar to Jesus. In other words, whoever this writer is, he seeks to imitate the Christ.

I have a question for you. As we are breaking open and exploring the first seal, do we remember what Jesus said would be the first sign, the major mark of the end of the age? Here we have the first seal. I'm calling to your remembrance the first thing Jesus said that we should look out for relating to the events of the last days. Matthew 24.

Look at verse three down to verse five. If you notice here, I'm going from scripture to scripture because I want the Bible to interpret itself. I don't wanna inject my conclusions, my ideas, what anybody else says. I want the Bible to speak for itself. And so we come here to Matthew twenty four three and five to five, and we read, as he sat on the Mount Of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ. And they will lead many astray. Jesus's warning here perfectly parallels the initial events that will unfold with the breaking of the seals. And if we take Christ commentary and apply them to what we find here in Revelation six, What we are witnessing then with this rider on the white horse is not Christ, but a false Christ. Let me add to this.

Not just a false Christ, but the Antichrist. Now the reason why we should understand the rider in chapter six on the white horse to be specific individual and not as a general spirit of deception found in many false teachings or representations of Jesus, is because the scriptures from the old to the new anticipates an antichrist. A singular individual, an ultimate Antichrist. A capital a Antichrist, if you will. In fact, this is what moved me.

One of the things that moved me when preparing for this, I was reminded that even in the early church, while the apostles were still alive, the believers were being taught about the Antichrist. How many people today in the church, the average believer can explain who the Antichrist is? And yet, the apostles found it very necessary to educate Christians about this figure. And I wanna prove that to you. Let's go to first John.

The same John who was used to record the book of Revelation tells us in his first epistle in first John chapter two verse 18. Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrist have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

Mark the difference here. There is an antichrist who is to come. And notice that he says, you know this. As you have heard that antichrist is coming. So there is an Antichrist and he is followed and preceded by rather, many other Antichrist.

Just note that. Now go to chapter four and look at verse three of first John. John says, in every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming. Well, pause.

I thought you already said that there were many antichrists who have come back in chapter two verse 18. Now you're telling me that there is the spirit of the antichrist who is coming. Well, which one is it? It's both. Which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

So there's this element of here and later, of partial fulfillment if you will. Something that is realized in the present, something that we should look forward to and anticipate. Now, what we have to learn from these passages is that the spirit of the Antichrist and even influential individuals who oppose the work of Christ are already in the world and they are already working. They have been from the beginning time. They have been more importantly since the first coming of Jesus Christ.

And here's what you and I need to understand in our day and age. The spirit of the Antichrist, his work, his efforts to oppose Christ and replace Christ and to cause people to deviate away from the true Christ is embedded absolutely everywhere. It's in our media. It's in our entertainment. It's interwoven with our politics.

It's in psychology. It's in prevailing philosophies. The spirit of the Antichrist has been working and is working and will continue to work until the return of Christ. That being said, we just read and saw a couple of examples how there is a full manifestation of the spirit of the Antichrist and his work to come. And more specifically, it will be embodied in a actual person, in a singular individual.

And throughout history, there have been forerunners whom some have mistaken to be the Antichrist. When in reality, they were operating under the same spirit of the Antichrist and they served as previews of the final antichrist who will appear just before the return of our precious Lord Jesus. So here's what we're gonna do. For the remainder of this message, we are going to do what the early church did, learn about the antichrist. Why?

Clearly, it's important to Jesus. Clearly, it's important to the Holy Spirit. Clearly, it's important to our God because he is found everywhere. And though this will not be an exhaustive study, it will be an introduction and the introduction will be framed with trying to unpack three simple aspects. Number one, the identity of the Antichrist.

Number two, the purpose of the Antichrist. And number three, the destiny of the antichrist. So let's consider the identity of the antichrist. If we just work with what we read in Revelation six, we can make a very important observation. The Antichrist is someone who will step onto the world stage.

He's not gonna be somebody who's just a regional leader. He's not just gonna be a national figure. His presence and influence will be global. It will be global just like the impact of the forces of the three horses that follow him. Fortunately, there's much more to learn about the identity of this individual.

It unfolds even more in Revelation chapter 13, but we're not gonna go there because I wanna leave that chapter for when we arrive there in our systematic study. Instead, we're going to be helped by the Apostle Paul, who gives us a very helpful summary of who the Antichrist is. John uses the term Antichrist. Paul prefers different labels. And I want you to see that in second Thessalonians chapter two.

Let's turn there together. Second Thessalonians chapter two, beginning in verse three. Let no one deceive you in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first. What day is Paul speaking about? The day of the return of the Lord.

The day when Christ comes in judgment. That day will not come unless number one, the rebellion comes first. He's talking about a mass apostasy. So there are those who teach that the world is gonna get better and better before Jesus returns. How do you reconcile that with the teachings of Paul, Jesus and virtually every part of the new testament?

The day of the return of the Lord will not come until the apostasy comes first, and notice this, the apostasy is related to and the man of lawlessness is revealed. The son of destruction. So like John, Paul anticipates a real actual singular individual who will appear shortly before the return of Jesus. He is the man of lawlessness. He is the son of destruction.

So he's actually flesh and blood. And more specifically, he's a man. He's not a woman. We're not looking for a woman antichrist. This is a man who embody evil.

Now, if we pull everything together we've seen so far, here's what we know. The antichrist will be a figure who will step onto the world stage with overwhelming influence marked by both profound evil, man of lawlessness, and devastating destruction. And how evil and destructive you may ask? He will again embody evil like no other person in all of history. He will be so vile, so evil, so corrupt.

He will know no bounds, no limitations to his iniquity because he will be fully possessed and empowered by a satanic spirit in a way that no human being has ever experienced. Another way of saying it is, the Antichrist will be like like Satan incarnate. Isn't that what we find here in verse nine of chapter two of second Thessalonians? The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan. With all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

By the activity of Satan, Satan will work in this individual with such incredible persuasion and power that it will dupe the world. Now there's a fascinating insight when we go back to verse three. Notice how Paul refers to this man here as the son of destruction. There is only one other person in all of scripture who is granted that title. Does anybody know who it is?

Judas Iscariot. Listen to these words from John 17 verse 12. Jesus, in his high priestly prayer says, while I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction. He's referring to Judas.

That the scripture might be fulfilled. So that title is reserved for two individuals in all of the bible. Why? Because you can argue that these two individuals have performed the most vile despicable acts against Christ and God. Son of destruction, both were also controlled by Satan.

Remember, that in the gospel of John, we read we read that Satan entered into Judas. So it's almost as though we're seeing another Judas to come. Not literally Judas, reincarnate, but one like him. Because they both represent the highest form of treachery against Christ. You have the first tier who denied Jesus, Judas.

But you have the Antichrist who will not just deny Christ, he will claim himself to be God. He will claim himself to be God. He will try to take the place of Messiah, of the savior. And I believe there's another important connection to make when we compare Judas and the Antichrist. Judas was an impostor.

Judas was a deceiver. When Jesus even said that there will be one of you here who will betray me, the disciples didn't figure it out. They didn't say, no. It's Judas. We knew it the whole time.

He was that good. He was that compelling with his testimony and his supposed allegiance to the Lord. The Antichrist is gonna be much more cunning. He's gonna be much more persuasive. You see, Judas, he fooled some Jews.

The Antichrist is going to fool the entire world. So we're considering the the identity of this man. He is an actual human being who will be possessed by Satan and empowered with the ability to perform signs and wonders. He will be a genius. And again, if you really wanna know an in-depth study on the Antichrist, you don't come to the New Testament, you actually go to the old.

Specifically, the book of Daniel. And we don't have time to go there. We'll do that at a future time. But when you look at Daniel, you realize that he had amazing oratory skills. He will speak great things.

He he will be he will be so attractive that he's gonna put a spell on the nations. This is the identity. An actual man possessed and empowered by Satan who will step onto the world stage leading us now to our second point. That's his identity. What's his purpose?

What's the point? What's his mission? What is he seeking to accomplish? Why is Satan going to single out this individual and God allow him to be animated by the evil one to have this kind of an influence? Well, let's go back to our main text in Revelation six.

Again, not much is told in those verses, but there's enough for us to understand the general scope of the purpose of the Antichrist. The last part of it. And he came out in verse two. The last part of verse two, and he came out conquering and to conquer. World domination.

You're saying, well, conquer what exactly? Politics, banks, businesses, real estate. What does he wanna conquer? Now, I know I said that we weren't gonna go to Revelation 13, but let's just take a little peek. Just a little peek because it's gonna help us.

Notice the same word conquer is used in Revelation 13 verse seven. Look at Revelation 13 verse seven. Here's what I also noticed. John uses the term Antichrist in his epistles. He never uses it once in the book of Revelation.

Why is that? It's the same author. I think the simple answer is that he favors symbolic imagery. And so that's the reason why he's not mentioned plainly as Antichrist. Antichrist in this chapter is seen as the beast.

The beast. And notice what it said of the beast in Revelation thirteen seven. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to do what? Conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it.

Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain. What is he seeking to conquer? First, true worshipers. The Antichrist will rise to power with the primary goal of eradicating true worship and worshipers from the earth. But not just that, while deceiving the rest of the world into worshiping him.

This is what the Antichrist is after. Ultimately, what Satan is after. Satan has always longed to be worshiped, And he is driven by ripping worship, stripping worship and glory away from the one who deserves it alone. And so we see here the Antichrist will conquer the saints, which shows us really a sign of God's grace during the tribulation period. There will be people who will be saved during this time.

The gospel will still be at work. There will still be transformation. There will still be hope for people to repent before the eternal age and your seal is set forever. So the Antichrist is gonna hunt down those who worship the savior and at the same time, he's going to promote false worship. To to what end?

So that those who do worship him will be damned forever. And though many have attempted similar goals throughout history, no one will achieve it on the scale that this man will. Remember what Jesus said, there will be great tribulation like the world has never seen. And that will be greatly because of the work of the Antichrist. Now, some might be wondering, how is he gonna do it?

How is he going to accomplish this? How does somebody with such a despicable objective even get a chance to begin this kind of a campaign? Where does he start? How does it how does it even unfold? There's a clue back in Revelation six.

Six. Look again at verse one and verse two. Well, let's zoom in at verse two. And I looked and behold, a white horse and its rider had a bow. Out of all the descriptions you could have given about this figure, why tell us that he had a bow?

Underline that. He had a bow. Now, it's interesting that there is no mention of arrows. It's just the bow. And this suggests that the universal conquest that the Antichrist will accomplish will be performed without military efforts.

He's not going to use violent means at least initially. The beginnings of his conquest of peoples and nations will be bloodless. There's a bow, but there aren't any arrows. So don't make the mistake of imagining the man of lawlessness suddenly appearing on the scene and immediately hunting down Christians, and forcing everybody with threats of execution that unless you worship me, you will be killed. He's not gonna do that at least at first.

The impression that you get here is that he is going to gain influence by bringing peace. By bringing a false peace. A peace that the peoples of the worlds will desperately crave. That will actually be the setup, I believe, that the world will be in such turmoil like what we're seeing today. Such confusion, such conflict that a savior like individual step on the scene with a bow without arrows.

He's gonna conquer, but through deceit, through apparent acts of good, with his charisma, with his personality, with his presence, with other skills. Now if you think I'm reading too much into the text, I want you to look again at what we read earlier with the second horse and what he will do when he comes. So look here again at verse three and verse four Revelation six. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, come. And out came another horse, bright red.

Its rider was permitted to take what from the earth? Peace. To take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another and he was given a great sword. So what does this imply? That with the rider of the white horse, the first one, there was peace.

Global peace. Unprecedented peace. In fact, this could be the very reason why the Antichrist is elevated and promoted and praised because he's gonna do what no other person could do. And then when the second horse comes, that peace is stripped away and chaos ensues. So again, let me remind you the purpose of the Antichrist.

He will be used by Satan to snuff out the saints, to eliminate true worship and worshipers from the earth while promoting false worship for himself. He will try to eclipse the true savior. Again, we see Satan, you're trying to imitate the truth. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh without sin. Satan energizing a man, a man full of sin.

Jesus Christ, the true prince of peace. The Antichrist, who will seek to bring peace. This is his purpose and it will begin with mass deception. It will begin by enthralling the wider population, and then things will make an ugly turn at a certain point. But here's where we're gonna end and I can go on, but we have to break bread which is something we honor and cherish.

I wanna consider his destiny very briefly. This is all introduction. There's so much to learn about this individual, but we're just opening our understanding before we continue Revelation. His destiny. Note how the man of lawlessness in chapter six is given a crown.

Notice it again. Verse two, and I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown, highlight this part, was given to him. Now, some would say that this crown was given to the Antichrist because of what he was able to accomplish. Meaning, it's it's the world that crowned him and elevated him to the most powerful position in the world. But I think that's difficult to say and no matter what interpretation you hold about this, my mind late last night went to the words of Jesus when he stood before Pilate and said the following in John 19 verse 11.

Jesus answered him in John nineteen eleven, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. What is Christ teaching here? That any level of authority is ultimately granted by heaven. This crown was ultimately permitted to be placed on the brow of the rider of the white horse because God allowed it.

Why do I mention then? How does that tie into the destiny of the Antichrist? Well, it reveals who's really in control, doesn't it? That's the point. Our God is the one who restrains him today.

Second Thessalonians tells us that he's being restrained. People debate is he still on the earth? We're not told that. Is he here now? No information is given.

We shouldn't speculate. But it's clear that this force, the full manifestation of the spirit and work of antichrist is being restrained. God is the one who is ultimately restraining him. And as we just read in Revelation six, God is the one who will reveal him. It's the breaking of the seal.

It's the summoning. Apart from God's sovereign decree, the antichrist can't do a thing. So he's the one who restrains him today. He's the one who will reveal him one day. And here's the best part, there is a day coming where he will reign him in.

After he has accomplished everything that God wants him to accomplish in order to fulfill his righteous purposes, the Antichrist will be pulled by a leash and he'll be brought back to be judged forever and ever. So what's the point here? You have to remember that when John was told by Christ to write these things down, one of the main goals was to encourage the church who was being heavily persecuted. The intention here is not to make Christians afraid, It's to embolden them. Again, you think what was the practical purpose of what we just heard today?

There are many things that we can apply. But remember this if you remember anything, God knows the future. God knows the future and he has given us a blueprint of what's to come. That's supposed to give you rock solid confidence. And secondly, he's in control of the future.

He's in control of your future. He's in control of the fate of the church. He's in control of absolutely everything including this powerful man who will arrive on the scene named Antichrist. The sovereign one is supervising him. And although he will perform these false signs and wonders, although he will sweep up the world in deception, there's not one thing he can do more or less apart from God's permission.

And so, we're supposed to feel what the original readers must have felt. Joy and knowing. Yes. There is a rider on a white horse who will arrive, but there is ones whose voice is over him. And there's one who allows him to go so far and to do all these things and this should cause us to rejoice.

Brothers and sisters today, we just got a surface level sample of who this Antichrist is. And what we're supposed to take from this in connection to the rest of the chapter is that he plays a major role in the tribulation period. He's a key significant force that will be unleashed. And for now, we will rest, we will see much more of him as we approach Revelation 13, but let us now return to the true Christ in our thinking, in our meditation. The one who died for us, the one who shed his blood for us, the one who already conquered, the one I hope conquered your heart when you repented and believed on his name.

You see, if you truly belong to Christ, not even the antichrist with all his power and ability can do anything about your eternal destination, You're safe in the hands of Jesus. And we're here to remind ourselves with all the turbulence in the world around us that we belong to him and that our home is in heaven, and that's all because of grace. Amen and amen. Lord, we ask that you would help us now with all that we heard to relish in the truth of the true Christ. The true Messiah, the true savior, the true king, the true ruler of all things.

Lord, we gladly confess that you are the king of our hearts and we do not fear anything including the future, because you hold it. Lord, may you receive glory and honor as we savor what you have done for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can you stand with me?

We're gonna sing a song of reflection before we eat together.