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It says in Romans chapter 6, whom you obey, whose servant you are. So, you know, trying to analyze and melt and break down exactly what the mark of the beast is, it's not complicated, is who they worship? Our study today is very important.
I want to welcome our friends who are watching Prophecy Encounter - talking about a very important and intense subject called the mark of the beast. And when people hear that, immediately all kinds of images come to people's minds. They wonder, what is it? Is that a computer chip under the skin? Is 6-6-6 tattooed on the forehead? Is it a super special card that you carry in your purse or wallet? And what is this brand? Is it something physical, is it something spiritual? Well, let's talk about it.
First question: who is protected during the final seven plagues that you find in Revelation? That's in the 7th chapter of Revelation - it says there: "Do not harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." There is a group that is protected and they make a mark on their forehead. You may not have realized this before, but how many people are marked in Revelation? All.
The Bible tells us that one group has the mark of the beast and another group has the seal of God. One has the Father's name on her forehead, go to Revelation 17, she has a paragraph calling her a harlot on her forehead. What was it that took down Goliath? A stone. Where? on the forehead The Word of God - Christ is the rock - that Word of God - Ten Commandments written in stone - on the forehead - smite the devil - Jesus wrestled with the devil in the wilderness, 'It is written. Is written. Is written.' And the devil fell flat on his face. And so, Goliath, this story is even symbolic of that.
What is the seal that the righteous receive on their foreheads? It says right there in Isaiah 8:16, "Bind up the testimony, seal up the law among my disciples." Therefore, the law of God is the new covenant. You - 'He will write his law in our hearts.' And in the heart, when you say 'the heart' biblically, you don't point here. When you say 'the heart' biblically, you point here. 'As a man thinks, in his heart' - ok? So the law of God is here in the forehead, in the hand it is in the actions.
And he wants His law - now, whosoever has the mark of the beast, whose spirit has he? The spirit of the devil. Whose spirit has every one that has the seal of God? He has the spirit of God. We already know this and we showed where in Ephesians he says that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. But there is something deeper in the law of God which reveals the seal of God.
Now, let's remember what has a biblical seal. That contains? It's a lot like an official seal today: three main components. It's going to have the person's name, their official title that gives them authority, and then their territory, you know, it's usually restricted to somewhere. You can find the seal of God in the middle of God's law, in the commandment which is the longest, and the one which begins with the word 'Remember', and it is the only commandment where you find the word 'holy', and it is the Sabbath commandment. It talks about our time - giving our time - giving our worship to God. He made an appointment with us. He is so important to us that we will keep this sacred commitment because we love him and want to nurture that relationship.
So which of the Ten Commandments has this seal, the components of a seal on it? fourth commandment. Let's see-Exodus 20, verse 11, "For in six days the Lord made"-that's his name, the Lord-"made"-Creator-here is his territory-heaven and earth. Is there anything that is not included in heaven and earth? Because He is the Lord of all. He is Jehovah, the creator and sustainer of the heavens and the earth. God's seal is in the midst of God's law and that law must be in our hearts and in our minds.
I will make this study very easy for you. Who do you obey? It says, in Romans chapter 6, whom you obey, whose servant you are. So trying to parse, melt and break down what exactly is the mark of the beast? It's not complicated. Who do you adore? Now, how did early Protestants identify the beast? Let's tell some of the history of the church. What distinguishes Protestants from Catholics? Of course, Protestants protested. Martin Luther was the one who preached - by the way, we are, right now, on the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his protests to church doors in Wittenberg and one of the things most Protestants had in common. Did everyone unanimously agree on who was identified as the power of antichrist there in Daniel 7, in 2 Thessalonians, in Revelation 13? And now I'm going to read some quotes, so buckle up.
Before I read this to you, I want to make it very clear that there are many good, loving Christians in many different churches. We're not talking about any individual, we're talking about the official positions they hold and how they interpret God's place in Scripture in salvation. So this is really just an analytical study, but that's what they said. John Wycliffe, was called the star of the Reformation, the morning star. It was he who first translated the Bible into English. I've been to England and seen it there. He said: "We presume that the Antichrist, the head of all these wicked men, is the Pope of Rome." By the way, what church did he belong to? Catholic church.
So here is a Catholic scholar claiming to be the Pope of Rome. Again, John Huss, said: "The Pope is the true antichrist of whom it is written that he sits in the temple of God, among the people where Christ is worshipped." Martin Luther, "This teaching [of the supremacy of the Pope] shows forcefully that the Pope is the same Antichrist." - They didn't mince words, did they? - "who exalted himself above and set himself against Christ."
Here you have Calvin, "Daniel and Paul foresaw that Antichrist would sit in the temple of God...we hold him to be the Pope." Therefore, whether it has Baptist roots or Calvinist teachings, it is what Calvin believed, it is what Luther believed, John Knox, Presbyterian: “Yes, we do not hesitate to prove that the kingdom of the Pope is the kingdom and power of antichrist. . "Roger Williams: In America we have the separation of church and state largely because of Roger Williams. Williams had a very important understanding. He said, 'The Ten Commandments are on two tablets of stone. One is civil in nature and the other the other is more spiritual in nature.' The first four commandments are about our relationship with God. No government in America should force people to keep the first four commandments. You don't want the government to tell you which God to worship or when to worship Him or what He is like, He said : 'But no government can neglect the last six commandments: respect property, respect marriage, respect parents, and that was a very balanced approach.
This is what he said: 'Pastor Williams spoke of the Pope as the pretended vicar of Christ on earth who sits like God over the temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but above all souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea, in the spirit of Christ. It says that John Wesley said, "He is... he who exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped... claiming the highest power and the highest honor... claiming the prerogatives that belong only to goodbye."
If you read the Westminster Confession - many Protestants claim - there, you used to be able to read: "There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of Rome be head of it in any sense: but that is the antichrist". (whistles) I mean, that's - that's history. You at least owe it to yourself to know what they believe: "That man of sin and son of perdition who exalts himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God."
In the book All roads lead to Rome - "a great cloud of witnesses:" - listen to these names - "Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, Cranmer; in the seventh century, Bunyan." - I have read Pilgrim's Progress, this was the opinion of the author of Pilgrim's Progress - "The translators of the King James Bible" - uniformly believed this - "and the men who published the Westminster and Baptist confessions of faith:" - I have just read one of these - "Isaac Newton" - have you heard that name? He was also a great biblical scholar: "[John] Wesley, Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards; and more recently, Spurgeon." - the prince of preachers - "Bishop J.C. Ryle and Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones; these men, among many others, all saw the office of the papacy as the antichrist." They said, 'If you're going to read the Bible and study prophecy, it's inevitable.'
But, you know, it's certainly not politically correct to say that, is it? Especially when you have a Pope now who is so kind. He seems like such a kind and humble man and he seems to be, you know, he's been putting off a lot of the fanfare and wealth of past popes and apologizing for past history, so it's not very politically correct, but at least you should know that this it was the position of Protestants for five hundred years - four hundred and fifty. You haven't heard much about it in the last fifty years or so.
Don't go anywhere friends, we'll be right back with the rest of today's presentation.
The mark of the beast is probably the most controversial and feared subject in the book of Revelation. Some say it's a number tattooed on our foreheads or a computer chip embedded in our hands. Others suggest that the number is being secretly smuggled out into the world right now via a super ID credit card. But if you're confused or even a little apprehensive about this ominous issue, then you needn't be any longer.
A simple, practical Bible study will help the whole matter make perfect sense; And that's why Amazing Facts wants to send you a very special and inspiring Bible lesson that will help you do just that. It's called "The Mark of the Beast". It's a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand study that will not only help you avoid the devil's wiles, but will also guide you step-by-step on how you can receive God's seal of protection in your life today.
To get your free copy, call the on-screen phone number and request offer number 127 or visit the web address. And after reading this awesome resource, be sure to share it with a friend. Let's go back to today's presentation and learn some more amazing facts from God's Word.
So what is the mysterious number that identifies the beast? This number is, you all know, 6-6-6. Here's a picture of a Florida State Trooper - 6-6-6 on his license plate (Laughter) What does that mean? Look, you all laugh. Everyone knows that there is something about this number. I was getting change at a store one time and I forgot what I bought, but it came back and my change was: all the stuff I bought came to $6.66, and the cashier, the girl, said, 'Oh, look at this, 6 -6-6.' And I was like, 'Yeah, look at this. I said, 'Do you know what it means?' She said, 'No, but it's bad.' (Laughter) And everybody knows that. They don't know what that means. Well, you know, it's an interesting number.
If you read the document, Prompta Bibliotheca, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, this is a veritable encyclopedia of religious knowledge and will continue to be a precious mine of information. This book is often cited as an authoritative Catholic source. This is what it says: under the heading 'Papa Vicarius Filii Dei appears as the title of the Pope'. This is one of the Pope's official titles. Now, I want you to notice these Latin words. "The letters on the Pope's crown are these: Vicarius Filii Dei: which in Latin means 'Vicar of the Son of God'." - representative of the son of God - Jesus said: 'The Holy Spirit is my representative.'
When you add these words up, how many of you remember Roman numerals from school? And the V is? Five. Five. From time to time, you'll still see something where they're using the old Latin numerals. The letters had numerical value, not all, but some had numerical value. That title, when you just add up the actual value of these numbers, Vicarius adds up to 112, Filii adds up to 53, and Dei is 501. And you add them up and you get 666.
Now, you know, over the high priest's head, he had a standard. The sign read: 'Holiness to the Lord'. It's like I told you, the word 'Holy' is in the Sabbath commandment. Holy is the seal of God - Holy Spirit. When Jesus died, above his head was written: 'King of the Jews'. And here, at least on some occasions, the Pope wore a crown that said 'Vicarius Filii Dei' - 'I am the representative of God'.
Now again I want to be sure and fair. This is just -- this is just Pope Benedict a few years ago. He almost never appeared with the same crown. He liked to change clothes. He was a little more flamboyant than Pope Francis. Now, the third crown you see him wearing over there on the right, most papal crowns used to have three crowns, and that meant he was king of heaven, king of earth, and king of purgatory. The three-tiered crown: only the Pope could wear it back then. Some of those old crowns had that sign that had the official title.
But, if you still don't believe it, maybe you believe John Paul II's book, “Crossing the Threshold of Hope”. “The Leader of the Catholic Church” – and this is page 3 – “is defined by faith as the vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who represents the Son of God, who takes the place of the second person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity." He takes the place of - and he is the vicar of the Son of God. That's what he represents Vicarius Filii Dei.
So what is the mark of authority of the beast? Now we're getting into the brand more specifically. We learned that the seal of God is in the law, it is the Holy Spirit. And, in particular, the Sabbath represents this. Now I'm going to read you the Catholic Catechism. The catechism uses the question and answer method. And when you are - so writes the Catholic Church - when you are teaching.
Question: What day is Saturday? Answer: The Sabbath is the Sabbath, which begs the question, why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
If you want to know what happened, Jesus didn't do that; it was not done by the apostles; happened hundreds of years later. It happened gradually. Part of the reason was because when the Romans started fighting the Jews and conquered Israel again, they destroyed the city, the Jews converted, fell out of favor with Rome, and associated Christianity with Judaism. Well, the Christians wanted to distance themselves from the Jews, and after Constantine's conversion they said, 'Look, why don't we keep the day that the heathens keep? The first day, the day of the sun, because it was all about sun worship, and it's the resurrection day. And the church leaders started to discuss it, but there was no scripture for it. It was a man-made law and Jesus said, 'Why do you keep the traditions of men and reject the commandment of God?'
So in the last days, God is calling people back to the Word, not just on the subject of Sabbath truth, but in many areas. Let me finish this quote here, he says, do you have another way, ask, do you have another way of proving that the church has the power to institute holy days of observance? And the answer is yes, if she didn't have that power she couldn't have done what all modern religionists agree with her, not all but many: she couldn't have replaced the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, until Saturday. the seventh day of the week--to the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.
Well in the Catholic Catechism they freely admit that this is not based on the Bible. We did this out of a sense of our own authority. And they claim that what the Church says and what the Pope says has more value than what Jesus said, what God said from the mountain; what the Lord wrote with His finger - I respectfully disagree. This is a problem.
In short, in the last few days, who do you worship? Who do you obey? Is the mark of the beast or the seal of God a visible mark? Now, I think we've probably made that clear. What does 'In hand' mean? In actions. In the head, in the thoughts. Here are some verses: Hebrews 10:16, "Says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and write them in their minds." He goes on to say, in Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."
This is symbolic. Your hand means your actions, right? And you can read, again, in Isaiah 59:6, "Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hand." You don't have the word 'violence' in your hands, it's something that represents actions.
So when someone gets the mark of the beast on their forehead, they are speaking in his worship. They may be sincere, but they will be worshiping the laws of the beast rather than the laws of God. And maybe some won't agree, but yes. It's in their actions, it's not in their hearts, but they will still follow you out of fear.
So it says the beast has a mark to represent its power and authority. Does God also have a sign of his power and authority? Yes. Yes, praise the Lord. See Ezekiel 20, verse 12. "I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctify them." Ezekiel 20, verse 20 - similar verse - He says, "Hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God." It's a sign. There is something different about the Sabbath commandment. Does God say so, amen? It is a symbol of who you adore.
As I mentioned before, it's easier to give someone your money than your time. God says, 'Do you really worship me? It's not a donation, I want your life, because life is made of time. I want your Love. You don't have a loving relationship unless you spend time with someone. Amen? “You shall certainly keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”
Now, do we still need the Sabbath to prove that He can create and recreate? Do we still need sanctification? Amen. Whenever we pray for holiness and forgiveness, the Sabbath is a sign that God, if he can keep a day holy, can keep us holy.
What did the antichrist power try to change? Daniel 7:25, "He will think to change times and the law." There is only one commandment you can point to, which is both a time and a law.
Now here - we quoted this to you the other day. "The Pope has power to change times to repeal the laws and dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ." I respectfully disagree. And so they freely admit - it says here - "of course the Catholic Church claims the change was their act... and the act is a mark" - this is a letter, October 28, 1895, from C.F. Thomas, who served under Cardinal Gibbons. And they admit, 'Yes, we changed the Sabbath.' And they say, "This is a mark of your ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters."
Now, I don't know if you noticed, on the right is a copy of the Ten Commandments that I picked up in front of a Catholic church. You'll notice the second commandment just isn't there, and they split the tenth commandment in two. They removed the commandment of idolatry. They make the Sabbath a third commandment. He says, "Holy Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday... not because of any guidance noted in the scriptures. But because of the church's sense of power..." - note this quote - "People who think that the scriptures should be the sole authority, they should logically become Seventh-day Adventists and keep the Sabbath holy.” This is from St. Catherine's Catholic Church, May 21, 1995. Thank you very much for that endorsement. (Laughter)
We didn't write that, but they're right. They say, 'Look, if you're going to follow the Bible, logically you should be a Seventh-day Adventist.' They are making fun of most Christians who don't really follow the Ten Commandments. They are following a tradition. Peter and the apostles said: "We must obey God" - Acts 5:29 - "rather than men." this is all about 'Who is your God?' You are the servants of the one you obey.
The Sabbath is all about worship. The big theme in the last days is worship. They are told to worship the beast or worship Jehovah. The Bible is quite clear about how it specifies that we are to worship. And He illustrates this in the Ten Commandments. Amen.
When you decide to accept Jesus and follow him completely, what happens? Christ said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." The Lord wants us to have that rest.
Who will have rest in heaven? You read in Revelation chapter 15 - we like to start and end with Revelation - it says, "I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. And those who have victory over the beast, over his image, and over his mark, and over number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding the harps of God".
And there they are, in Heaven, they're redeemed. They are saved. They have that rest and they have that peace because they have accepted the truth. They have the seal of God and have turned away from the mark of the beast.
Now, when you stand for the truth, friends, you may have some struggles, and Jesus never said, 'Follow me and it will be easy.' He said, 'If you love me, you must take up your cross and follow me.' but the promise is that this is the only way for you to have peace and rest. If you seek to save your life and live for yourself you will lose it, but if you want to find your life you need to say 'no' to yourself and 'yes' to Jesus and then you will have abundant life. He said, 'I came to give you life in abundance.
So when you learn things like this about the beast and the mark of the beast and the Sabbath truth, do you worry? Well, maybe now, but then why would God want you to know these things? Is the Sabbath cursed or blessed? Blessed. He wants to bless you. Some of you have never experienced this blessing.
There are people I know who are watching right now. You've heard these things for years. You know it's true. You know it's in the Bible. And one of these days you plan to do this, but, 'Oh, Pastor Doug, if I do this now, you know, I'm going to get kicked out of my church.' Or 'If I take a stand on this now, my family, we've been through this, they're going to sue me.' I know people who, when they take a stand for the truth, their family says, 'Don't ever speak to us again.' I will lose my job. Sadrac, Mesac and Abed-trading were willing to lose their jobs and their lives.
Jesus said, 'It is not I and something else.' He said: 'If you are going to love me, you must love me more: father, mother, husband, wife, houses, lands, everything.' He needs first place in his life. Amen. And when you put Him first, He gives you everything else. Jesus continues and says, 'No man who has left his father, mother, husband, wife, house, land, for the sake of me and the gospel, will receive a hundredfold in this life.' Amen.
You may have persecution, but He gives you a hundredfold and eternal life in the world to come. There will be judgments. There will be crosses: life is hard, but it's much harder to get lost. It's much harder not having God walking with you because you're rejecting him, not having peace about your future.
And so we share all these things, it's not just a commandment, it's a heart: give your hearts to God. Have you ever said, 'Lord, I want you to be the first in my life. I am willing to say 'Yes' to you one hundred percent.' Jesus said, 'I'm not going 50/50 - you and the world - 50 percent world/50 percent me' - He said, 'You're either with me or against me.'
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Doug Batchelor: We'll be able to meet. There is no more pain. No more police stations, no more diseases, no more deaths, no more suffering. And it's real, folks. This pain and misery in our world was never God's plan. He will restore things to their original plan. Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth. Anyway, no...
Man: "Because I was hungry, and you fed me. As soon as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me."
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