Matt Hagee - Who Would Follow This Guy?
When it comes to the topic of the end times and the apocalypse, there is an apocalyptic figure that theologians call "The antichrist". In the Book of Revelation, he's mentioned under the name of "Beast". And there's a number of things that the Bible tells us about how he's going to operate in his administration here on the earth and what his purpose is. But the question has to be asked: what kind of people would follow a guy, knowing before he even takes power, how it's all going to end? In his administration, he will destroy one-third of the world's population. He will behead those who resist him or do anything to stand against him. In seven and a half years, he turns the world into hell on earth. And knowing all of this in advance, why would anyone consider him to be God incarnate?
Today I'm going to take you to the pages of scripture and describe exactly the kind of culture that would look at the antichrist, and say, "That's our guy". What does it say to us in this sanctuary today? Simply this: that the stage is set. The dominoes are in place, and church, Jesus Christ is coming soon. Lift up your heads and rejoice: for your redemption draweth nigh. Read with me 2 Timothy 3:1 through 5. If you're there, say, amen. "But know this: that in the last days, perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of Godliness, but denying its power. And from such people, turn away".
Heavenly Father, your word is alive and it is powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Let it quicken our spirits today: that we would be filled with boldness to do the labor of your kingdom on this earth: that we would tell others about Jesus Christ and who he is and what he's done in our life: that through your Holy Spirit, they may be drawn to salvation and be prepared for the rapture of the church and your glorious appearing. This we ask, in Jesus' name. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. So here's the question: why would anyone follow an antichrist? They're not going to be forced to follow him: they're going to want to follow him. Last week, I made a statement in the sermon just seven days ago that I thought that in some way technology would play a role in the Mark of the beast: that there would probably be something like a microchip, not a tattoo. You know in the 70's, we used to make bad movies about the rapture, and people got 666 in their forehead, and it was like, uh-o-o-h! I said that it would be something about the size of a grain of rice, and it would be implanted into your hand, and it could be used for a number of things like identification and commerce and all of these things.
Now, people would consider that to be a convenience, but the antichrist considers it a method of control. I said that seven days ago. And then Monday morning, and here's the headlines from river falls, Wisconsin. "A software company is offering to its employees a microchip to be implanted in their hand". The owner of the company said, "It's the next thing. It's inevitable and we want to be a part of it". The Bible says that the antichrist will come at a time during economic chaos. And this is going to be one of the things that creates a solution for the chaos. You see the culture that we live in is the exact kind of culture that he will thrive in, because we live in the kind of world that chooses to solve problems by creating more problems. We don't solve problems by addressing them directly, taking personal responsibility over them: we solve problems by creating more problems.
That's the kind of life and culture that the antichrist will work in. How did that culture come to pass? It is as Paul said, "Because we are lovers of self". And the Bible says that when you love yourself, in essence, you have the spirit of antichrist. The world will follow this monster, because the culture of the world is the same spirit that will create him. Consider these things as written in the Bible. 1 John 2:22, it says that "He (the antichrist) is one who denies the father and the son". Now in this verse, John is not speaking about the man the antichrist. He's speaking about the attitude of antichrist. He said there's an attitude that the second you deny God and you deny his son, in essence, you are not for him: you're against him, which is antichrist.
In 1 John 4:3, he said, "The spirit of antichrist is now already in the world". The spirit of antichrist is indeed in the culture today, but even worse, it's in the church. We'd much rather create an environment of comfort rather than take a stand in conviction. We'd rather make excuses about corruption rather than speak against it, because if we do speak out, we'll be labeled. We'll be called radical. We'll be religious right. We'll be controversial. We've become more concerned about public opinion than we are honoring God. We have softened the message of the gospel rather than be unashamed of it, as Paul said. This is simply antichrist. When Jesus commanded us to be light, and we hide in fear, it's antichrist. When he told us to take a stand in the evil day, and we do not engage, it's antichrist. When the church is bowing to the culture rather than standing on the word, it is antichrist.
So when will the antichrist come to power? He'll do it suddenly and he'll do it at a time when the world is in total chaos. Now last week, we saw how all those dominoes make what we call "Stable" really fragile. But that's just part of the chaos. Another part of the chaos comes when millions of Bible-believing Christians vanish off of the earth and are gone. So there are going to be two things that cause the world to give the antichrist instant immortality and follow him loyally. One is he is going to bring economic stability in a chaotic time. The church vanishing is going to create that chaos. The chip is going to solve the problem. Something else is going to happen.
Daniel 8:25 says, "And by peace, he will destroy many". How does he destroy with peace? He makes peace treaties and then he breaks them. So who does he make a peace treaty with? Israel. Now why is he able to do what no other administration has ever done? Since 1948, Israel wanted peace. They wanted peace with their neighbors. They wanted peace with the world. And they have not been able to get what they want, not because they don't want peace, but because the world doesn't want them. Every time they make a concession, their enemies say, it's not enough, it's not enough, it's not enough. So if they want peace and the world does not, how does the antichrist convince the world to make peace with Israel? The answer is he doesn't. He's just in the right place at the right time.
God is the one who changes the minds of the world. How does he do it? Ezekiel 38, there's a prophecy that's given about a war. And this prophecy comes to Ezekiel. And God tells Ezekiel, he says, "I want you to speak to these nations". And God gives Ezekiel a list of the nations that he is inviting to the valley of Jezereel, because he is going to reconcile with these nations for how they treated the Jews. God uses Old Testament terms to describe the nations. But how they'll read on today's headlines are going to be "Russia, Iran, Turkey". We have Syria along with north Africa represented by Ethiopia, and Libya, and Germany.
Now why is God so specific to let us know he wants these nations? Because he made a promise in Genesis 12:3 to a man by the name of Abraham, in which he said, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you". In Deuteronomy 7, it says that God keeps his word to a thousand generations, which means that he has a very long memory. And what he says to Ezekiel is these are the nations that tried in their history to wipe out my people Israel, and we're going to settle the score in one afternoon. He says, Persia, under the leadership of Haman, you came up with a plan to hang every son of Abraham.
I sent Esther to the king's throne room and you hung on the gallows that you built for them. But I still haven't forgotten and we're going to settle the score. He looks at Germany. He says, you pushed six million of my children into gas chambers and you killed them in what you considered to be the final solution that the world called the holocaust, and you decided would rid the world of the Jewish problem. God said, their blood cries out to me. I haven't forgotten. We're going to talk about it. He says, Russia, you locked my children behind an iron curtain of communism and you persecuted them because they believed in the one true God, and they wouldn't let you make the state their God, so we're going to settle the score. Every nation that at any time has taken its finger and stuck it in the eye of God, God tells Ezekiel, write this down because I'm going to take it up with them.
And here's how the Bible tells the story in Ezekiel 38:18. God says to Ezekiel, "My fury are come up in my face". God says, "I'm going to put a hook in your jaw". When you have a hook in your jaw, you go wherever the hook takes you. How is God hooking their jaws? He's hooking their jaws in two ways: one, because of their hatred for the Jewish people that has existed for centuries: and through oil right here. Opec plans a production crackdown. There are people meeting right now trying to figure out how to get the price of oil back up. Do you know who's very interested in that? Russia. Russia has more oil than they can use. But if it's worthless, what good is it? They've got to get the price back up so that their economy can thrive.
So God has a hook in the jaw of Russia in the price of oil. And God has a hook in these Islamic nations in their hatred for Israel. And he's saying, and when he pulls them into the valley of Jezereel, the Bible says that he (God), "His fury will come up in his face, and he will send a great earthquake". The earth will literally open up and swallow a portion of this army alive. You say, I don't think God can do that. Go check and see what he did whenever the children of Israel danced around a golden calf. They said, God, how do you like our services? He opened up a hole, and he swallowed them, and that was the end of it.
Then the Bible says that every man's sword will be turned one against the other. Think about it. You've got a coalition from seven different nations that speak seven different languages and have seven different communication systems. And even though they had a battle plan, now an earthquake has happened, and a portion of their army is gone. You can see how friendly fire would suddenly be a problem. God said, I'm going to make them turn on each other, and they'll start fighting each other instead of fighting Israel.
You say, well, I don't know if God's ever done that before. Go check and see what he did with Gideon. Whenever Gideon broke the jar over his torch, and he said, the sword of the Lord in Gideon. The Bible says that the armies of the Amalekites that were against Gideon turned their swords on each other. God did it then. He's going to do it again. And then he says, "And then I will rain down fire and I will rain down brimstone". He's going to open up the heavens and start chunking rocks at the enemies of Israel. The weather people are going go, "There's been a global warming event over in the Middle East. Don't use your hair spray, folks: it's hurting people". They'll come up with some lame excuse. But the truth is God is going to do exactly what he did when he held the sun still for Joshua.
The Bible says, on that day, "More people fell by the rocks that came from heaven than by the sword that Joshua held in his hand". God did it before and God will do it again. Why is God going to do it? Because in Ezekiel 38:23, he says, "I will magnify myself, and I will sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. And then they shall know I am the Lord". The carnage from that day is going to take seven years to clean up. And when it happens, this world that has been saying, "We don't want peace with Israel" is going to turn towards Jerusalem, and say, "Hevenu shalom aleychem"? How can we get along? Because they're going to recognize that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not slumber, he does not sleep, and he keeps his word to a thousand generations.
So the antichrist is going to play a major role in that peace treaty. But he's only going to keep a seven-year deal for three and a half years. He breaks this peace treaty and he hurdles the world into a war that makes every other war seem like a picnic in the park. One-third of the world's population is destroyed. How does the story end? I'll tell you how. The Bible tells us in revelation that the antichrist is going to lead the armies of the west to a valley called Armageddon. This is at the end of the Great Tribulation. The Bible says that in that battle, blood will run for 200 miles, the height of the bridle of a horse. That's from here to Houston, about six-foot tall.
Think about that. In the midst of this battle, the antichrist is going to make a major administrative mistake. The Bible says he is going to look to heaven, "And he is going to open his mouth in blasphemy". He's going to look at God, and his son Jesus Christ, and the tabernacle, meaning those who dwell with him, and he is going to blaspheme God, and his angels, and all of the saints in heaven. He's going to say, look at what you gave up. You could have been part of this. I am God on earth. I am the one who decides what happens down here. I am the one who rules in Jerusalem. I am the one who sits on the Temple Mount. I am the one who possesses the throne of David. I forbid you from coming back to this earth to set up your kingdom. And when he opens his mouth in blasphemy, that's when God gets off of his throne, and says, enough is enough.
Revelation 19, John says, "I (John), I saw the heavens opened, and he that sat upon a white horse was called faithful and he was called true". Child of God, the one who was faithful to redeem you, he's coming back with power and great glory. The one who was faithful to provide for you, he's coming back to sit on the throne for a thousand generations. The one that was faithful to heal you, he's coming back with healing in his wings to restore the nations. John said, "I saw him and he was riding on a white horse. And he doth judge, and he makes war, and on his thigh and on his leg are written a name, 'King of kings and Lord of lords'".
Church, I'm here to tell you I know how it ends. Jesus is coming back. The fairest of 10.000 will shine like the noonday sun. The bread of life will come and restore the broken. The Lamb of God will come and bring peace. The lion of the tribe of Judah will rule from the City of Jerusalem. He'll split the Eastern sky. Out of his mouth comes a two-edged sword with which he destroys the enemies of Israel. He casts the antichrist and that serpent of old into the lake of fire. He puts his foot on the Temple Mount. He splits the Eastern gate. He sets up his throne. And of his kingdom, there shall be no end! Give the Lord a shout of praise in this house! Bless and magnify his holy name! Jesus is coming. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Would you remain standing as we bring this service to a close? The question is not, what's going to happen. The Bible told us. The newspapers confirm it. The Holy Spirit of God that's in this place right now shouts inside your soul, Jesus is coming. The question that you have to answer today is, will I follow Christ or antichrist? Will I deny myself to say, "Jesus, I love you, and I want to serve you, and I want you to use my life for your purposes"? Or do I walk out of this place so filled with me that there's no room for him? The only opportunity you have is to make the decision now that Jesus Christ is your Lord and he is your Savior, and that you'll live for him.
With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to ask that question of those of you who are in this place. You say today, pastor, I know that I need Jesus more than ever before. I need him to be my Savior and forgive me of my sin. And I need him to be my Lord where he leads and I follow. If that's you, and you know that you're not where you need to be, if you know that you're full of yourself and not full of his spirit, I want you to lift your hand right where you are as a profession of your faith.
Hands all over this room. Knowing that Jesus is calling, I want you to come to this altar this morning. And I want to pray with you. You say, I don't want to take the walk. Believe me: the few feet that it takes for you to get from where you are to where you need to be can change your life forever. We're going to sing this hymn. And if you know that you need Jesus today, you need a Savior, you need him to be the Lord, I want you to come walking this way: "I have decided to follow Jesus". Come as we sing. "I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back".
There's people moving in from the balcony and every aisle of this room. There's people in this place today making a decision to serve Jesus Christ. And if that's you watching, wherever you are, I want you to know that today is the day of salvation. Today is the moment that you get to choose. And the choice you make can change your life for eternity. We're going to receive Jesus in this place today. We're going to receive him in our heart so that when he comes in the clouds, we can receive him as king. And I want you, who are watching, to pray this prayer with us. I want everyone in this place to repeat this prayer with me today with your head bowed and your hands raised:
Lord Jesus Christ, today I thank you for being my Savior and forgiving me of sin. And I thank you for being my Lord and my king. Today I surrender my will for yours. Today I place my life in your hands. And I thank you, Lord, for loving me enough to have a plan for my life, to give me a hope and a future, to give me eternity worshiping you, celebrating my freedom and the victory that I have over the world, the flesh, and the devil. From this day forward, I'm following you because you are my king. And I thank you for what you've done today, in Jesus' name. Amen.