As followers of Jesus Christ - who are IN Christ by God’s grace and indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God - Satan has no power over you.

He can tempt you, but he cannot force you to make choices. He can seek to influence you, but he cannot dominate you.

James 1:14–15 (ESV) - But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

There is a cosmic battle, but the true nature of the battle exists within your own heart.

He has forgiven us the guilt of our sin.

He has freed us from the power of sin.

Romans 6:22–23 (ESV) - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The presence of sin remains. The desires of our flesh are not eradicated, they are not removed from us, but we can overcome them.

We fight this battle by relying on what God has graciously provided – His Word and His Spirit.

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV) - I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Colossians 3:10 (ESV) - …put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Don’t expect to live a life that honors Christ if you are consistently setting before your eyes and engaging your mind, things that do not honor Christ.

Revelation 12:17 (ESV) - Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Revelation 13:1–2 (ESV) - And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
The beast rising out of the sea represents a system of belief or, more specifically even, a person under direct influence of and empowered by the dragon.

In both interpretations, many refer to this beast as the antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

Revelation 13:3–4 (ESV) - One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

Revelation 13:5-10 (ESV) - And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also 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, 8and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 10If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 13:11-18 (ESV) - Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Another beast rising out of the earth represents the false prophet (chapter 16:13). The false prophet is a second human figure – a religious leader specifically (prophet) – who is given power by the first beast and deceives (false) people to follow him.

So what?
1. Satan’s efforts, although devastating, are futile. He cannot and will not defeat God or any part of His sovereign will.

2. If you are not standing with God, you are standing with Satan.

Romans 10:9 (ESV) - …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

3. Those who stand with God are called to endurance and faith (v10).

4. Those who stand with God are called to live with wisdom (v18)

James 3:13–18 (ESV) - Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Discussion Questions
1. Share your experience regarding the antichrist and mark of the beast. Have you tried to discern exactly who and what or been around others who have?

2. Revelation 13:8 can be an encouraging truth to hear. Why?

3. Revelation 13:10 can be a hard truth to hear. Why?

4. In 13:10 and 13:18, what are we called to as Christians (saints) and why are these things important?

5. Many have tried to specifically determine who is the antichrist and what exactly is the mark of the beast. What would you point to in this chapter, and the larger context of Revelation, which comforts you to know that, although we may not know these things ahead of time, Christians present when that time comes will know exactly who it is and what it is?

6. From your discussion, what is one biblical truth you can seek to apply more fully in your life?