This second beast has power. Horns = power. Power of false Christianity is quite a power. The power is the power of religious deception. Revelation 13:14 says that this beast deceives those who dwell on the earth. Man, beloved, ever remains a religious being. He cannot but be a religious being. Romans 1:1–32 teaches that man has a knowledge of God that he cannot remove from himself in his psyche. He knows that he is dependent upon a higher being, and that this being has created him and all things. He knows that there is a God in heaven who is to be worshipped. Romans 1:1–32 also says that man in his depravity then twists who this God is and worships that twisted idolatrous form of God. Always he knows that he needs religion in some form. He knows he must be religious. But he does not want the truth of this God by nature. He wants a god of his own making. He wants a god that will let him do whatever he wants to do and fulfil his every desire. And you understand, then, that the power of false Christianity is that it allows for that, all the while easing man's conscience.

False teachers teach what is not God's Word, but then do so in the name of Jesus Christ. They have a certain power over people, because they are giving people what they want: A religion of man instead of a religion of truth of God's Word. All the while convincing them that they are speaking on behalf of Christ and that Christ Himself is behind the religion of man, and that therefore it is actually right and good. It allows man to disobey God's Word and at the same time think that God allows it and that God is behind their disobedience of His Word. It eases their conscience.¹

Cory Griess