Derek Prince - Are You Following The Lamb Or The Beast?
This is an excerpt from: True and False Christ - Part 1
So, let's just continue for a moment in the time that's left in this session and look at three other titles that are given to the antichrist. You'll find two of them in 2 Thessalonians 2. Paul is talking about the coming of Jesus, the return of Jesus in power, and glory to establish His kingdom. And incidentally, this is one of the key chapters, for this theme. And he begins: Now brethren, concerning the coming [the parousia] again of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind, or troubled either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as if from us, as though the day of Christ [or better, the day of the Lord] had come. Don't believe it if people tell you the day of the Lord has come. They were already saying that, you see, in the day of Paul.
And you see, the deceptiveness of the agents of Satan, they were even circulating letters that they claimed had been written by Paul. That's why Paul is so careful to say this is the real signature in all my letters. Don't believe any letter that doesn't have that signature. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away come first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. Paul says two things there. First of all, the coming of the Lord will not take place until something else has happened. And it says here the falling away. The NIV says the rebellion. But the Greek word is the one from which we get this word: Help me Lord. I alwyas tend to spell it wrong. Apostasy. Now, that means a deliberate rejection of revealed truth.
So, there's going to be a deliberate rejection of revealed truth. The apostasy. Not just some little apostasy, but the complete apostasy. Where is that going to take place? It can only take place with those who have had the revealed truth, isn't it? First the truth is revealed, and then there's a deliberate rejection of it. So where is that going to take place? In the what? In the church, that's right. The only other place where that word is used in the New Testament is where Paul is accused of teaching apostasy from the law of Moses amongst the Jewish people. So, it's specifically a rejection of revealed religious truth.
So, Paul says the coming of the Lord will not take place. I know there are a lot of different concepts about this and I'm very open-minded. There are some things I don't know. There are some things I don't understand, but what is clear I teach. Paul says the coming of the Lord will not take place until first there has been the apostasy. And then he says the man of sin, but the better word is the man of lawlessness, has been revealed, the son of perdition. So here are two extra titles. Apart from antichrist he's also man of lawlessness. You remember that Jesus said in Matthew 24 because lawlessness will abound, the love of many Christians will grow cold? He's also son of perdition.
So those are two extra titles. Antichrist, man of lawlessness, son of perdition. And there's one more which is found in Revelation 13. I'll read beginning at the 1st verse. I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard And then it says: and then I saw one of its heads as it been mortally wounded [and it says at the end of verse 3] all the world marveled and followed the beast. So, they worshiped the dragon which gave authority unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?'
You see the word beast is a recurrent theme. So, the other alternative title is beast but it's better to put wild beast. It's a cruel, savage, fierce, devouring creature. So, now, we have a more complete picture. The antichrist who is the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, the wild beast. Tell me who else in the New Testament is called the son of perdition? Judas Iscariot. And you see, Judas was an apostle. He started in association with Jesus. That's one of the characteristic marks. Now, there is in the book of Revelation a deliberate contrast between two beings. One is the wild beast, the Greek word, wich I'll put in brackets. You can write it like this: Pherion. Who can tell me what the other creature is is that's contrasted with the wild beast? The Lamb, that's right. And in Greek there's a very strong similarity, arnion.
See, the ending is absolutely the same. This is one of the pointed contrasts of Revelation. The world is going to have to choose. God has ordained this. He's going to confront the whole world with a choice. Do you want the Lamb or will you follow the wild beast? You see, this goes right back to the trial of Jesus when Pilate said: Which of them shall I release to you? Jesus or Barabbas? Jesus the Lamb, Barabbas the violent criminal, the murderer. Isn't it amazing that they chose Barabbas? Have you ever pondered on that? And history is going to repeat itself. Confronted with the choice between Jesus the Lamb and the antichrist, the wild beast, the great majority of the human race is going to choose the beast.
And you see, one of God's ways of judging people, which has worked throughout history, is letting them have the kind of ruler they deserve. And so that's how one of the ultimate judgments of God is to permit this terribly cruel, evil, despotic, villainous creature to gain dominion over the whole human race. There are exceptions which we'll look at later. You see, when Jesus appeared at the River Jordan and John the Baptist was to introduce Him, you remember what he said? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And immediately after that what happened? The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended on Jesus and rested on Him.
b]And here is a wonderful truth. The Dove looks for the Lamb. The Dove will not rest on a tiger or an elephant or any other savage creature. He looks for one nature, the Lamb nature. What is the mark of the Lamb nature? I would suggest three things: purity, meekness and a life laid down. And you see, you and I are going to be part of this decisive process. Are we going to cultivate the nature of the beast or are we going to cultivate the nature of the Lamb? If need be, are we going to suffer? Are we prepared to lay down our lives? Will we cultivate the character of Jesus even in the midst of intense wickedness? It's a very real decision. It's not abstract, it's not theoretical, it's not theology. That's the issue before the human race. The wild beast or the Lamb? I trust you'll see this is not an abstract lecture about something remote. It's very real concerning you and me at this time.[/b]