Curry's Chapel Church
20260705 1 - When the Light Go Out
  • SLIDE
    Isaiah 60:2 NLT
    2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
    SLIDE

    INTRODUCTION

    [Illustration] A few weeks ago, I walked into a store with a $20 bill — a perfectly normal, perfectly American piece of currency — and the young cashier looked at it like I had just handed her a dinosaur bone. She said, “Sir… we don’t really take cash anymore.” And I thought, Well, I guess I’ll go outside and trade a goat for groceries.
    We laugh, but you and I both know something deeper is happening. We are watching the world shift under our feet. And one of the biggest shifts — one that most people don’t think about until it’s too late — is the move toward a cashless society.
    Church, this isn’t just something pastors warn about anymore.
    In early April 2026, two major financial leaders — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — quietly cautioned top U.S. bank CEOs that a cyber event could freeze payments, block access to accounts, and destabilize the financial system. Bessent warned that our fully digital, interconnected financial networks are fragile enough that one cyberattack could halt the entire system. Powell likewise briefed Wall Street leaders, telling them the banking system is not prepared for a coordinated cyberattack and that such an event could shut down payments and liquidity faster than any crisis we’ve ever seen.
    Church, that means the world Revelation describes is no longer hard to imagine. The technology is already here. The vulnerability is already here. The control mechanisms are already here.
    And the people who run the system are quietly warning that it wouldn’t take much for the lights to go out.
    Now hear me: I am not preaching against technology. I’m not telling you to bury your debit card in the backyard next to your tomatoes. But Scripture tells us plainly that a day is coming when the ability to buy or sell will be used as a tool of spiritual control.
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:16–17 NKJV
    16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark... 17 so that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark ...
    The Bible describes a world where economic control becomes spiritual control.
    And today, I want to walk with you through this — not as a prophecy chart, not as a scare tactic, but as a pastor who loves you and wants you to see what Scripture says and what wisdom demands.
    Because we have a choice: We can resist Satan’s agenda and slow his progress, or we can shrug, ignore Scripture, and let the enemy advance without a fight.

    MAIN TEACHING

    SLIDE

    POINT 1 — A CASHLESS SOCIETY MAKES CONTROL EASIER

    When everything becomes digital, everything becomes trackable. And when everything becomes trackable, everything becomes controllable.
    Revelation 13 doesn’t say the Antichrist invents technology. It says he uses it.
    And I want to show you the biblical proof for that.
    When we read Revelation 13 carefully, we notice something important: John never describes the Beast creating anything. He only describes the Beast commanding, directing, and using systems that already exist.
    Look at the verbs Scripture uses:
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:12 NLT
    12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast...
    He exercises authority — he doesn’t invent it.
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:14 NKJV
    14 ...[telling] those who dwell on the earth… [image]...
    He doesn’t make the image. He tells others to make it.
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:15 NKJV
    15 He was granted power to give breath to the image...
    The power is given to him — he doesn’t originate it.
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:16–17 NKJV
    16 He causes all... to receive a mark... 17 so that no one may buy or sell...
    He causes the system to be used. He does not create the system itself.
    The verbs in Revelation 13 are administrative, not inventive:
    exercises
    causes
    tell
    was given power
    None of these describe invention. They describe control, coercion, and manipulation of systems already in place.
    This is exactly how Satan works.
    SLIDE
    John 8:44 NKJV
    44 .. he [that is Satan] is a liar and the father of it.
    Satan doesn’t create truth — he twists it. He doesn’t create life — he destroys it. He doesn’t create systems — he corrupts them.
    So when Revelation 13 shows the Antichrist controlling buying and selling, the text is showing us a man who steps into an existing technological world and weaponizes it.
    [Illustration] It’s like a thief who doesn’t build a house — he just finds the door someone else installed and picks the lock. The Antichrist doesn’t build the system — he simply walks into the world we built and uses the tools we handed him.
    And this is exactly why the warnings from Bessent and Powell matter. They are telling us that the “house” — the digital financial system — already has cracks in the foundation. The Antichrist won’t need to build anything. He won’t need to invent anything. He will simply step into a world where everything is already digital, already centralized, already trackable, and already vulnerable.
    If a cyberattack can freeze your bank account today, imagine what a global leader with evil intent could do tomorrow.
    And church, that’s why the move toward a cashless society matters. Not because technology is evil — but because Scripture shows the Antichrist using, not inventing, the tools of his control.
    Now let’s keep walking.

    POINT 2 — SATAN’S GOAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONTROL

    From the beginning, Satan has wanted two things: worship and control.
    SLIDE
    Isaiah 14:14 NLT
    14 I will... be like the Most High.’
    SLIDE
    John 10:10 NIV
    10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...
    The Antichrist is simply Satan’s final attempt to build a world where he controls the economy, controls allegiance, and controls survival.
    A cashless society is not the mark of the beast — but it is the runway.

    POINT 3 — CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO RESIST EVIL, NOT SURRENDER TO IT

    Some Christians shrug and say, “Well, prophecy is going to happen anyway. Why fight it?”
    But Scripture never tells us to help Satan.
    SLIDE
    Ephesians 6:11 NLT
    11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
    SLIDE
    James 4:7 NLT
    7 … Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
    SLIDE
    2 Thessalonians 2:7 ESV
    7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work... [but is being restrained...]
    Who restrains it?
    The Church. Us.
    We are called to slow the spread of evil, push back darkness, and fight for righteousness until Jesus returns.
    [Illustration] If your house is on fire, you don’t stand in the yard and say, “Well, eventually this house will be gone anyway.” No — you grab a hose. You call the fire department. You fight the flames.
    Prophecy tells us the world will burn. Obedience tells us to fight the fire anyway.

    POINT 4 — WHAT A CASHLESS SOCIETY REALLY MEANS

    Now church, I want to slow down here and talk plainly about something very practical — something that lines up with the wisdom Dave Ramsey has been shouting for years: when you lose cash, you lose control.
    A cashless society doesn’t mean “mostly digital with a little cash here and there.” A cashless society means no cash at all — zero — fully digital, fully traceable, fully controlled.
    And most people who support a cashless society have no idea what they’re asking for.
    A cashless society means:
    If you’re struggling with your mortgage one month, you can’t do an odd job to get you through.
    Your child can’t help a local farmer for a little summer money.
    You can’t slip a $20 bill into your grandchild’s hand before vacation.
    No more birthday cards with money tucked inside.
    No more piggy banks where children learn the value of earning and saving.
    No more rainy‑day fund tucked away in an envelope.
    No more little side jobs because your wages barely cover the bills.
    No more selling an old lawnmower or furniture for quick cash. No more yard or garage sales.
    No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones.
    All of that disappears.
    And church, this is exactly why financial leaders are warning us. Scott Bessent said plainly that Americans should keep cash on hand because a cyber event could shut down digital payments instantly. Jerome Powell warned CEOs that the system is so interconnected that a single attack could ripple through the entire economy.
    If the people who run the system are telling us to have cash and tangible assets available… then wisdom says: listen.
    And what replaces it?
    A world where:
    Banks have full control of every penny you own.
    Every transaction is recorded.
    All your movements are traceable.
    Access to your money can be blocked with a single click.
    You must declare and be taxed on every dollar.
    The government decides what you can and cannot purchase.
    And if your transactions are deemed “questionable,” your money can be frozen “for your own good.”
    Church, that is not freedom. That is economic captivity.
    A cashless society doesn’t just make control possible — it makes resistance impossible. If every dollar you own exists only in a digital system, then whoever controls that system controls you.
    That’s why Scripture warns us. That’s why financial leaders are warning us. And that’s why we must prepare.
    SLIDE
    Proverbs 22:7 NIV
    7 ... the borrower is slave to the lender.
    In a cashless world, you don’t just borrow from the lender — you live under the lender.
    And Revelation 13 tells us exactly who will one day control that switch.
    SLIDE
    Revelation 13:17 NLT
    17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark...
    A cashless society is not the mark of the beast — but it is the perfect environment for the mark of the beast.
    Cash is freedom. Cash is privacy. Cash is autonomy. Cash is the ability to function even when the system fails — or when the system turns against you.
    So church, hear me: Use cash. Teach your children and grandchildren to use cash. Support businesses that accept cash. Push back while you still have the choice.

    POINT 5 — GOD CALLS US TO BE WISE, NOT NAIVE

    Jesus said:
    SLIDE
    Matthew 10:16 NKJV
    16 ...be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
    Wisdom means seeing the direction the world is heading and preparing spiritually and financially.
    [Illustration] If you see storm clouds forming, you don’t say, “Well, can’t stop the rain.” You grab an umbrella.
    Prophecy is the storm forecast. Wisdom is the umbrella.
    And part of wisdom today is very practical: Have cash. Have tangible assets with value you can barter with (like gold and silver). Have the ability to function if the digital system goes down — whether from a cyberattack, a power grid failure, or intentional control.
    This is not fear. This is stewardship. This is Proverbs‑level wisdom.
    [OBJECT LESSON] — “THE TWO WALLETS” Bring two wallets on stage:
    1. A cash wallet 2. A digital-only wallet (cell phone)
    Hold up the cash wallet, then say:
    This represents independence. If the system goes down, I can still function. If someone tries to control me, I still have options.
    Hold up the phone, then say:
    This represents convenience — but also vulnerability. If someone flips a switch, freezes an account, or blocks a transaction, everything stops.
    Then say:
    Technology is not evil. But dependence is dangerous. The Antichrist’s system works only when people have no alternatives.

    POINT 6 — THE CHURCH MUST NOT BE PASSIVE

    Satan advances when Christians are:
    distracted
    divided
    discouraged
    disengaged
    But Jesus said:
    SLIDE
    Matthew 16:18 ESV
    18...the gates of hell shall not prevail against [my church]
    Gates are defensive structures. That means the church is supposed to be on offense.
    We don’t hide. We don’t retreat. We don’t surrender. We don’t shrug and say, “Oh well, prophecy.”
    We fight.

    CLOSING — OUR MISSION TO RESIST

    Even though the world is moving toward the system Revelation describes, we do not fear. We do not panic. We do not hide. Because God has not called His people to sit on the sidelines and watch darkness advance — He has called us to stand, to resist, and to shine.
    SLIDE
    Ephesians 6:13 ESV
    13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
    Church, that is our mission. Not to surrender. Not to shrug. Not to say, “Well, prophecy is going to happen anyway.” No — our mission is to withstand. Our mission is to stand firm. Our mission is to push back against the schemes of the devil.
    And Scripture is even more direct:
    SLIDE
    1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV
    8 ...Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith...
    There it is — our assignment in one word: Resist.
    Resist deception. Resist control. Resist spiritual compromise. Resist the systems that prepare the world for the Antichrist. Resist the drift toward a world where buying and selling becomes a tool of worship.
    We are not helpless. We are not powerless. We are not victims of prophecy.
    We are soldiers in God’s army, ambassadors of Christ, salt and light in a darkening world.
    SLIDE
    Matthew 5:14–16 NIV
    14 “You are the light of the world… 16 ... let your light shine before others...
    Light doesn’t run from darkness — light pushes back darkness.
    That is our calling.
    So here is the question we must answer today:
    Will we resist or surrender? Will we stand firm or give up? Will we obey Scripture or ignore it? Will we fight Satan’s agenda or help it along by our silence and passivity?
    As for me and my house — and as for this church — we will stand. We will resist. We will shine. We will not bow to fear, to pressure, or to the systems of this world.
    Because the Antichrist may one day control buying and selling — but Jesus Christ controls eternity.
    And until He returns, we will be found faithful.
    And church, resisting isn’t just spiritual — it’s practical. If the enemy wants a world where no one can buy or sell without his approval, then one of the ways we resist is by refusing to become fully dependent on systems that can be controlled, manipulated, or shut down.
    Keep cash. Keep options. Keep freedom. Keep the ability to function even if the lights go out.
    SLIDE

    CLOSING PRAYER

    Heavenly Father, We come before You today asking for courage in a world that is changing faster than we can comprehend. Give us discernment to see the schemes of the enemy, strength to resist the pressures of this age, and boldness to stand firm in the truth of Your Word. Guard our hearts from fear, guard our minds from deception, and guard our families from spiritual compromise. Make us a church that shines brightly in the darkness, a people who resist evil, and a community that stands firm until the day Jesus returns. We trust You, we follow You, and we commit ourselves to Your mission. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray — Amen.

      • Isaiah 60:2NLT

      • Revelation 13:16–17NLT

      • Revelation 13:12NLT

      • Revelation 13:14NLT

      • Revelation 13:15NLT

      • Revelation 13:16–17NLT

      • John 8:44NLT

      • Isaiah 14:14NLT

      • John 10:10NLT

      • Ephesians 6:11NLT

      • James 4:7NLT

      • 2 Thessalonians 2:7NLT

      • Proverbs 22:7NLT

      • Revelation 13:17NLT

      • Matthew 10:16NLT

      • Matthew 16:18NLT

      • Ephesians 6:13NLT

      • 1 Peter 5:8–9NLT

      • Matthew 5:14–16NLT

Curry's Chapel Church
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