John MacArthur Islam and the antichrist

go over to verse 22 you heard me read this false christs false prophets will arise show signs and wonders in order to lead astray if possible the elect they can't lead the elect astray but they will lead those who are not true believers to follow them I want to just talk about that for a moment in a way that perhaps will be interesting to you there are always our false prophets always false teachers we know that always people who claim to be Jesus claimed to be Jesus Christ some more notable than others but as you get to the end of human history and you get into the period of time called the tribulation there is a specific fulfillment of this prophecy that I want you to understand and it has to do with Islam most people think of Islam as an utterly distinct religion from Christianity with no connection to Christianity we would think that if someone is a Muslim they have absolutely no connection to Christianity and there are many religions that have no connection to Christianity Hinduism has no connection to Christianity Buddhism has no connection to Christianity many others have no connection it's amazing how many do connect because Satan wants to counterfeit and deceive and get as close to the truth as you can there are actually confessed evangelical people who think that Muslims not only believe in God because they are monotheistic in one God but who think that Muslims are okay because they actually believe in Jesus and by the way they do brian mclaren an emerging church heretic writer in his book the secret message of Jesus says and I quote all Muslims regard Jesus as a great prophet a shared reappraisal of Jesus message could provide a common ground for urgently needed religious dialogue this reappraisal of Jesus may be our only way of saving a number of religions including Christianity end quote so if we want to save Christianity and save other religions we need to all get together and that should be easy for us to do because we can start with the Muslims because they already believe in Jesus a popular speaker and author Tony Campolo says quote when we listen to the Muslim mystics as they talk about Jesus and their love for Jesus I must say it's a lot closer to New Testament Christianity than a lot of Christians really so you think that the Muslim Jesus is the same Jesus I can help you with that because they describe Jesus the Muslim Jesus plays a crucial role in Islamic eschatology now you do know that the the Muslims have an eschatology in other words they have a theology of the end they know where they're going according to their writings they know where they're going let me describe the Muslim Jesus to you this is out of their own writings the Quran and the Sunnah the Koran is supposedly the word of Allah actually the word of Satan but they think it's the word of Allah the Sunnah the Sunnah are the words of and the works of Muhammad the Quran then constitutes their Holy Scripture and the Sunna sometimes called the hadith constitutes their Holy Tradition their theology comes out of the Quran and the Sunna just as Roman Catholic theology comes out of the Bible and tradition or Judaism comes out of the Old Testament and rabbinic tradition the Muslims have two sources of authoritative truth in their system they have Jesus Jesus was a man he was not God he did not die he went to heaven like Elijah he did not die therefore he did not rise he did not die therefore he did not provide an atonement for anyone because no one can provide an atonement for anyone else he is a man he is a prophet he has nothing more he went to heaven like Elijah and he's in heaven right now standing alongside Allah waiting for Allah to send him back in their system this man this prophet Jesus who is now in heaven ever having died plays a key role in the end times because he will return from heaven without dying he will come back when Allah sends him back another question to ask is why would Allah want to send Jesus back has a lot of prophets to pick from why does he send Jesus back answer so that when he shows up he can correct all the Christians who have misunderstood who he is sources for this again the Quran and the Sunnah the great event of the coming of Christ of coming of Jesus is so that this Prophet this man who comes back can straighten out the misdirected misguided misconceiving Christians who think he was God who died and rose again and provided a tone that he'll come back and straighten it out and by the way after he gets here he'll get married have children and die and be buried next to Muhammad that's the Muslim Jesus in Islamic eschatology there are three great signs of the end of history three great signs there are some lesser signs or some minor signs and some major signs in their eschatology again quoting their sources exclusively there are three great signs of the end of history and each of them is a man let me tell you about those three men first of all the first man that will come in the end of history is the Mahdi ma HDI sometimes he's called the 12th Imam every time Ahmadinejad over in Iran gives a speech he says glory to the Mahdi glory to the 12th Imam every time he's waiting for the coming of the Mahdi what what is he coming to do he's coming listen carefully to slaughter all who will not worship Allah convert to Islam they are identified in their writings as pigs and dogs and to establish the everlasting world-dominating kingdom of Islam that's what he will do the Mahdi or the 12th Imam that means the guided one is the long-awaited Savior He is the establisher of the final caliphate the world must follow him as he takes over or he will destroy all enemies of Islam he will come and he will carry on holy war and either you convert or you're killed by the Mahdi he will have an army his army will be a massive army and his army will go from nation to nation to punish the unbelievers the holy writings of Islam say that this army will carry black flags and on those black flags there will be one word and that one word will be the word punishment by the way the Iranian army today carries black flags they want to be ready for the coming of the Mahdi he will lead the army of black flags first to Israel slaughter all the Jews and then he will establish his rule in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount that's what their literature says slaughter the Jews establish his rule on the Temple Mount according to their holy writings the Mahdi will bring rain and wind and crops and wealth and happiness so that all will love him and no one will speak of anyone but him there writing say the Mahdi will come and make at first a peace agreement with the Jews and the West for seven years the reign of mahdi lasts seven years in which he establishes Islam on the earth their holy writings say this the Mahdi will come riding on a white horse and it even says in their writings as it says in revelation 6:1 and to Sodom huh Sodom Hussein by the way painted murals of this Mahdi on white horse all over Baghdad and he comes carrying a sword to kill the infidels when the Mahdi arrives he will discover hidden scriptures he will discover them interestingly enough somewhere near the Sea of Galilee and there will be there hidden scriptures hidden Gospels and a hidden Torah and they will be the true scriptures which will be used by the Mahdi to show the Jews and the Christians they were wrong that their scriptures were the false scriptures let me summarize the Mahdi will be a messianic figure he will be a descendant of Muhammad he will be an unparalleled unequaled leader he will come out of a crisis of turmoil he will take control of the world he will establish a new world order he will destroy all who resist him he will invade many nations he will make a seven-year peace treaty with the Jews he will conquer Israel and Massacre the Jews he will establish Islamic world headquarters at Jerusalem he will rule for seven years established Islam is the only religion he will come on a white horse with supernatural power he will be loved by all people on earth if that sounds familiar that is a precise description of the biblical Antichrist absolutely step by step by step by step the Bible's Antichrist is their Mahdi we know that the rider on the white horse in revelation 6 is the Antichrist they used that verse to describe their Mahdi why am i giving you all this because the description of the Mahdi is that exactly the description of the biblical Antichrist the Beast of Revelation 13 and you go into any kind of a study of that and you will find that all the details match up perfectly the Bible's Antichrist is Islam's Savior and world Conqueror who establishes a universal Islamic Kingdom and there's a second sign a second person and it is Jesus the Mahdi is not Jesus the Mahdi is greater than Jesus and that's important to their system because if you have somebody greater than Jesus then the Christians were wrong so Jesus will return yes Muslims believe that Jesus will come again they believed in the return of Jesus not the true Jesus the Jesus of Islam not God didn't die didn't rise didn't provide a sacrifice for sin but he does return he's a prophet and he comes back and he has one purpose when he comes back and that is to assist and aid the Mahdi he returns listen to this as a radical Muslim he comes back as a radical Muslim he will arrive by the way at a minaret near Damascus and he will come back holding the wings of two angels who flew him down to meet the gathering army of the Mahdi in the east the army of the Black Flag's Jesus when he comes back will pray to the Mahdi who is greater than he he will acknowledge the Mahdi as his Lord he will make a pilgrimage to Mecca he will worship Allah and thus he will lead all Christians who will follow him to reject their notion of Jesus and accept the real Jesus who is nothing but a prophet and a man he will establish worldwide Sharia law he will become the greatest Muslim evangelist and he will be the final witness on the day of judgment against non-muslims Christians everywhere will affirm they were wrong that the gospel is wrong the New Testament is wrong he didn't die he didn't rise he isn't God he isn't the Son of God he himself will come back and point out how wrong we've been he will correct all misinterpretations and all misrepresentations let me quote what their literature says he will shatter crosses that's metaphoric for the destruction of the church symbol of Christianity being placed in the church he will kill pigs he will abolish the tax on non-muslims because there won't be any living non-muslims can't tax dead people and then he will do one more thing he will kill the Islamic Antichrist he will kill the Islamic Antichrist then he will die and be buried by Mohammed but not until he has destroyed Christianity by revealing who he really is who is this you compare what he does to the false prophet in the book of Revelation chapter 13 16 1920 refer to the beasts coming out of the earth a false prophet who aids and abets the Antichrist he is as the Mahdi is the exact replica of the Antichrist the Jesus prophet in Islam is the exact parallel to the false prophet who aids and abets the Antichrist one of their writings says he espouses the cause of the Mahdi he is the Mahdi's executioner he is the Mahdi's enforcer he is the ma DS prophet and it is he who kills the Antichrist now that leads me to the third person the Antichrist will show up the Muslims call him Dajjal he is the great deceiver he comes to earth on a mule and he's blind in one eye he is an infidel he is a false miracle worker this Antichrist this Islamic Antichrist but you know who he claims to be he claims to be Jesus the Son of God he claims to be deity he will attempt to stop the Mahdi and the true Jesus but the true Jesus will slaughter him this is their view of the true Christ our Jesus is their Anti Christ our Anti Christ is their Redeemer it is a satanic counterfeit that is incomplete reverse the army this is a quote the army of Satan will be led by a person who will claim to be Jesus Christ there will be a great battle the Muslim Jesus will fight the false Jesus and kill him and establish Islam forever the truth is the true Jesus will destroy the Antichrist and the false prophet and establish his kingdom forever this is Satan's complete counterfeit Muslim world domination now somebody might say well you know you think about the future and what's going to happen in the world don't we have a revived Roman Empire doesn't that mean the West you remember that the image in Daniel 2 of the final world empire had two legs and the Roman Empire had the west and the East you know of course if you know history that the western part of the Roman Empire basically dissolved and the East survived for a thousand years or more so that at the time of the New Testament 60% of the Roman Empire was land that is now under Muslim control least 60 percent the vast majority of the Roman Empire in New Testament times is today under Muslim control and Islam is moving across the West rapidly in Europe isn't it when you have a picture in Ezekiel 38 you have a picture of the Antichrist Gog and you have the listing of eight nations that will be a coalition for the Antichrist all eight of those are Muslim nations all eight of them and they ring the Mediterranean all the way to Libya in revelation 17 9 to 11 it says there were six kingdoms and then a seventh and finally an eighth what is the seventh well there's been discussion about that that well could be the ottoman turk empire which lasted 500 years and didn't really fall til the modern era turkish empire was the last caliphate which ended in 1923 and they're waiting for the restoration when the Mahdi comes so right at the very end somebody's going to say I'm Jesus somebody else can say I'm Jesus who are you going to believe that's just one form of this deception that will show up at the end and even now it's deceiving people there are a whole world of Muslims who who think Jesus is someone he is not they consequently reject the true Jesus do not be deceived there's a world of Muslims deceived about the person of Jesus Christ you cannot accommodate that by saying isn't it wonderful they love Jesus they owned any other Jesus and the true Jesus is not Jesus and if you worship any other than the true Jesus you're cursed so destruction and deception may be just a few minutes on disaster verses 7 & 8 this is so obvious the third aspect of looking at the future when you hear of wars and rumors of wars do not be frightened those things must take place but that is not yet the end for nation will rise up against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom this is human history Wars hot and cold wars between nations and kingdoms have been a reality through every year of history and we're not getting any better we're not really evolving too well are we our Lord accurately foresaw the world would never know peace never never improve morally never improved socially never improved spiritually that it would rather devolve and evolve and evolve into worse and worse condition by the way as many as 95% of societies throughout history have engaged in war it's ubiquitous and as technology increases so does killing power and it's amazing to read the theories of why people make war I won't explain them all I'll just list a few of them that I found there's the Marxist theory which has to do with economic inequality there's the evolutionary theory which has to do with the survival of the fittest there's behavioral theory that there are some people who have an inherent violent Bend there's the demographic theory the Malthusian theory it's called of expanding population that leads to conflict there's the rationalistic theory having to do with information asymmetry some people just don't have enough information and there's the political science theory a quest for security and on and on and on and on we know that James says you war because you lust and because you hate since 1985 up until recently almost a half a million people have died every year in war in World War two 72 million people died in 755 let's go back to 755 the 763 a period of time rate war in China 36 million people died in the Mongol conquest in the 13th century 30 to 60 million 20 million in World War 1 and so it goes and that is human history and it's not changing it will escalate way to get to Revelation 6:9 16 and you see the wars at the end massive death will take place massive death and not only war in this category of disasters there will be earthquakes in various places there will also be famines Luke's counts as great earthquakes seismo mega LOI mega quakes like the nine-point quake 80 miles off the shore of Japan through history millions and millions countless millions have died in earthquakes I read this week that there are one-half million earthquakes a year every year you are on a shaky place 100 thousand of them are felt but half a million register on Richter scales Luke 21 also adds there will be plagues terrors and great signs from heaven you want plagues how about the Black Death 1300s in Europe carried by rats killed 60 percent of the population of Europe in excess of a hundred million people how about 40 million plus in the great influenza of the early 20th century great signs from heaven terrors fires diseases heat cold floods hurricanes tornadoes droughts it's dangerous place and the worst is yet to come revelation six revelation eight our Lord says those things in verse seven must take place but that's not yet the end it's the nature of living in a cursed planet it's not yet the end in fact if you will look at the end of verse eight it says there merely the beginning of birth pangs that's an analogy to a woman's contractions they are separated they are mild and they intensify and intensify and intensify to a great degree just before birth what we're seeing in human history is just the beginning is just the mild contractions wait till you see what's going to happen just before the very end 2,000 years of these milder contractions will explode in the end and the time of tribulation described starting in verse 14 and more in detail in revelation 6 through 19 amazing predictions by our Lord destruction deception disaster a fourth distress distress from conditions that affect the whole world our Lord turns to conditions that affect believers this I'm sure the disciples didn't want to hear verse 9 be on your guard for they will deliver you to the courts you will be flogged and so he goes be on your guard a shock to their senses it's not going to get better it's going to get worse this isn't what they expected with the arrival of Messiah it's not what they wanted persecution distress to the believers well that that's not new he told them this was going to happen back in chapter 10 I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves be shrewd as serpents as doves but beware of men they will hand you over to the courts scourge you in the synagogue that was way back at the beginning of their time as disciples but I think they probably thought oh we've already suffered that yeah we've already faced the hostility of the Jews we've already seen their hatred and animosity even though there is no record in the Ministry of Jesus that they were ever hauled into court and scourge and flogged maybe they thought that was metaphoric talk and that was all passed not so the next night Thursday night when they gather in the upper room our Lord is going to tell them for sure in case they were wondering that this is definitely still future if the world hates you John 15:18 you know it hated me before you a slave is not greater than this master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you and then he says in chapter 16 verse 2 this is in on Thursday evening in the Upper Room they'll make outcasts from the synagogues of you they will kill you thinking they are offering service to God you haven't yet experienced this you will experience it and as 2nd Timothy 3:12 says all who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted it'll be worse and worse it'll escalate specifically they will deliver you to the courts and you'll be flogged in the synagogue that's Jewish persecution the courts of Israel were in synagogues courts were held in synagogues cases were tried in synagogues by local appointed judges and scourgings were decreed in synagogues and they were carried out and executed there and never more than 40 lashes that was the maximum forty lashes and they always gave 39 because they didn't want to miss count and go over the limit that's why Paul says five times I received 39 lashes from the Jews he was hauled into synagogues he was accused of blasphemy and he was beaten but persecution will not only come from the Jews and by the way the book of Acts will give you the story of this Acts 4 5 8 12 21 22 25 26 you'll have in all those chapters in the book of Acts the record of Jewish persecution but it won't only be Jewish persecution he tells them go back to mark there will be a gentile persecution in the middle of verse 9 you will stand before governors and Kings for my sake as a testimony to them acts records that as well Gentile persecution in chapter 16 17 18 21 24 25 and 26 as well so it'll come at you from the Jews it will come at you from the Gentiles by the way when you get to revelation 6 7 13 17 18 you see the worst persecution just before the Lord comes the big picture is false religion has massacred Christians and it's doing it right now as we speak in this modern world why do they do this they do this because they hate Christ that's why they do it they resent Christ they do it for my sake verse 9 for my sake because of me Paul said I bear in my body the marks of Christ or as he said to the Colossians I fill up in my flesh the sufferings of Christ it's a serious thing they're thinking the kingdom and he's telling them it's not what you think it's not what you think but in the midst of all of it this is so wonderful in the midst of all of it you will give a testimony to them because all that persecution will not break your faith all that suffering will not cause you deny to deny your Christ in the midst of all that suffering grace will abound to you and where there is this kind of persecution where there is this kind of suffering grace abounds second Corinthians 12 tells us that the Lord gives us whatever grace we need doesn't allow us to be tempted above we were able gives us a way of escape and what will happen is you will in the midst of that suffering give a testimony we have the record of that don't we foxes Book of Martyrs I have three original volumes and they're this big the record of all the people who gave testimony to the honor of Christ in the midst of facing death and with that warning comes a promise the gospel must first be preached to all the nations in spite of the hatred the gospel is going to go to the ends of the world they will not stamp it out in fact we always say the blood of the martyrs becomes a seed of the church then acts 180 said go into all the world preach the gospel Jerusalem Judea Samaria the ends of the earth be my witnesses we are 2000 years after that and the gospel has for all intents and purposes covered the world hasn't it it's covered the world 2,000 years later it has spread to the ends of the globe just what Jesus said you can't kill it just imagine this he's sitting there with these twelve men one of whom was going to betray him in a few hours that little group of nobodies and Jesus says from you the gospel will cover the globe what a prophecy that has come to pass Matthew 24:14 then adds then shall the end come persecution yes but in spite of that persecution the promise that the gospel will cover the globe and then a personal promise in verse 11 and when they arrest you and when they hand you over don't worry beforehand about what you are to say but say whatever is given you in that hour for it is not you who speak but it is the Holy Spirit isn't that a wonderful promise sometimes you read about the martyrs singing hymns giving testimony to Christ I've spent years and years and years reading those testimonies and the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would utter things that in the human moment were just way beyond human strength and power this is Comfort so they get a promise and a comfort none of your opponents look 2115 says none of your opponents will be able to refute it your testimony will be so powerful that's what happened virtually all of the apostles were martyred the last of them John ended up as an exile a kind of permanent martyrdom they would they were killed in a myriad of different ways beheaded crucified that didn't stop the spread and in the moment of their death as with all true believers through history in the midst of persecution the Spirit of God was there to lift them above human strength to say things that were basically generated out of their hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit in verse 12 Jesus says not only will you be persecuted by the Jews and persecuted by the Gentiles you'll be persecuted in your own family brother will betray brother to death and a father his child and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death I just can't imagine how hard it was for them to hear this they had so much hope well there are people who say well Jesus came made a good effort miserable failure he predicted exactly the way history would go exactly the way it would go there would be literally animosity in a family go back to Matthew 10 it's all in Matthew 10 it's in Matthew 14 how many times did you remember Jesus saying you have to hate your father hate your mother your sister your brother even your own life to be my disciple this is reality and again I say reality corresponds to Scripture Jesus was correct about the destruction of the temple he was correct about endless deception escalating at the end so you have Jesus here and gee there he was correct about disasters of all proportions escalating he was correct about the distress of persecution and martyrdom and about the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth he must be God only God knows that and then one final statement verse 13 you'll be hated by all because of my name it'll be a but the one who endures to the end who will be saved the one who endures to the end will be say what do you mean save taken to glory taken to heaven what do you mean the one who endures to the end how can we survive how can we handle this how can we handle Jewish persecution gentile persecution family hatred family persecution family execution how can we handle it well the truth is the one who endures to the end he will be saved and what are we learning from that that false Christians will not be able to handle it by your endurance Luke 21 19 you will gain your lives you don't earn salvation by endurance you prove you have the real thing by endurance superficial faith will collapse under persecution they went out from us because they were not of us first John 2:19 this is basic gospel truth authentic god-given faith will endure because the Holy Spirit will provide strength God will provide grace trouble deception persecution suffering will burn up the chaff it will reveal the shallow weedy rocky ground of false profession and under these kinds of pressures superficial interest in Christ will have no endurance and so I say again we don't earn our salvation by enduring we don't keep our salvation by gritting our teeth and enduring we demonstrate our salvation by enduring we have a salvation that's a gift of grace it's authenticated in the midst of suffering James count it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance true faith is strengthened to endure Peter 1st Peter 1 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance imperishable undefiled will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time then this in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ the testing of your faith produces endurance the testing of your faith proves to you that it's the real thing so our Lord gives a warning promise comfort and even heavenly hope in the face of the way history inevitably must go that covers all of history until the time of the tribulation triggered by the event of verse 14 which we'll look at next Sunday father we thank you for the wonderful time we've had tonight in your word it stretches us it expands our understanding and our thinking it ciao lunges us it draws us into your word to know more and to understand more how we hunger to know that we might know you and that we might understand the world the way the world really is thank you for the reality of your word the truthfulness of your word that gives us an accurate understanding of everything that's going on around us it is a dangerous place to live even though there are marks of your benevolence and your common grace all around us it is a dangerous place to live and we need to be sure that we have been rescued from that danger ultimately by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whatever might come be at war or earthquake or famine or fire or flood or persecution or whatever may come we know that we who have that faith which is a gift from you the real thing will endure to the end and enter into your glory that ultimate promise secures us in the midst of everything we thank you for that as a gift of grace we acknowledge that we cannot earn it we can do nothing to keep it it is you who grant it and you who sustain it and we thank you for that may we be faithful to so live that we would bring honor and make a testimony such as the martyrs through history have made to your glory in the face of every difficulty be honored in every life we pray these things we ask for the glory of our Savior amen you

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Keywords: Islam (Religion), mahdi, Quran, Muhammad, Prophet, false, prophet

Id: 2sci_WFp8ec

Length: 43min 50sec (2630 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 31 2012