What Is the Mark of the Beast?

Happy Sabbath! Good to see all of you. My wife and I went, as we mentioned, to Arkansas, and we were able to spend time with my older brother. And, as I mentioned, I think to you to pray for his wife, Sue, for what happened, for what I understand, really the treatment they gave was too late, and as a result she died.

So we hurriedly made reservations and flew down and returned on Monday morning. I think it was about something after midnight. But anyway, my oldest brother wanted to extend his thanks for your prayers. We know that God, as the Bible even says in Isaiah 57, takes some from troubles that you and I are going to have to live through. So, in a way, it's a blessing. For her, and the pain, of course, that she was going through toward the end as well was very difficult.

My brother is doing pretty well. He's holding it together, as one would expect. It's very sad, very sobering, and so much more time in his life. But he seems to have his head screwed on straight and is going to do well. But thank you for your prayers. Of course, we come back from these things and we sort of dive back into the responsibilities that you have in the local area.

And as one of my jobs I try to do is I do a news update that you are able to see on a weekly basis. And I'm sure all of you keep up with different parts of the news. ISIS, of course, is always, it seems, grabbing headlines in the news. And I think it's kind of interesting when you look at this group over here that is just ravaging certain parts of the Middle East, that ISIS has proven one thing in this 21st century that we live in. That mankind is still capable of great brutality.

If we ever thought that brutality and cruelty passed off the scene in the time of Adolf Hitler, we should understand now that man is capable of this and man is capable of brutality. He's capable of genocide. And with ISIS, they have beheaded people. They have burned people. Remember the pilot they put in the cage and they burned to death. A horrible, cruel thing that they did. They have raped young girls.

You know, preteen girls, as a matter of fact. Recently, ISIS also beheaded some girls because they would not engage in marital relationships with some of the men that they had commanded them to do. They also betrayed people in slavery. And all of it in the name of religion. In the name of Muslims or Islam. In the name of Allah. It's all done in that. And again, if ISIS has answered anything, for us, this is one thing that we see is still existent in the world today.

We think we live in an enlightened world, don't we? We think we live in a world where these kind of things just couldn't happen. But they are happening pretty much on a regular basis. I want you to think about this in light of ancient times. And we're going to talk about today something, I think, very important for all of us. You know, it's amazing, again, that there is an organization that is ravaging the world today. Where there are those that have absolute power of life and death over people. You know, during the ancient times of Daniel, the Babylonian Empire, I'm talking about, again, an international system of government, was, of course, the first world-ruling empire.

And God characterized this world-ruling empire as a beast. And I imagine you could also characterize Isis as a beast as well. Being cruel the way they are. But Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute ruler. He exercised absolute authority over life and death in the empire. And, as you may recall, he erected a giant image, probably of himself. And it was a very large image that he set up.

And he commanded all on the earth to bow down at the sound of the music. The horns that were played and the trumpets and different things. And if they did not bow down, they would be put to death. You know, it's interesting, of course, when you read the story about this in the book of Daniel.

Let's go over here to Daniel, chapter 3. You may wonder, what does this have to do with our time? Well, I hope to again show you that history has a way of repeating itself. Of rolling back around. And God promised Israel, look, if you do not walk in my way, you know, thus and such is going to happen. He talked about how they would engage in heinous things themselves, because they will be pretty much pressed into a corner, as they did, in fact, in ancient times when Romans surrounded Jerusalem and people resorting to killing one another.

And cannibalism. It was so bad. You know, during the times when Rome was coming and, you know, laying siege against Jerusalem. But in Daniel, chapter 3, verse 1, it says, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was 60 cubits. Now, we don't know how tall this was, but, you know, if you look at a cubit, it's, say, 18 inches, which many people view it that way, or 24 inches.

It can go up to 25, I understand. This may have been an image that was 120 feet tall. It's a huge thing. But it was 60 cubits, and it's with six cubits. And he set it in the plain of Dura, in the providence of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather the satraps and the administrators, the governors, the administrators, in other words, the counselors, the treasures, the judges, the magicians, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

So they came before Nebuchadnezzar, here in verse 3, and they stood before the image, last part of verse 3 there, that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that in the time you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the harp, the lyre, and the sultry, in symphony, with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And of course, we read on down through here about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what happened to them. These young Jewish men who refused to bow before this idol that had been set up. And of course, there was a tremendous miracle that took place. God delivered them, you know, from the fiery furnace, as we know, and He rewarded them for their faith.

But again, we look at this absolute authority that Nebuchadnezzar had, and we know that in fact, God smote Nebuchadnezzar with a curse where He became a beast, because He was acting in a very beastly manner, you know, as sometimes leaders who are dictators tend to do. But, you know, I want you to think about this. Like I said, history has a way of repeating itself. An intriguing question explored since it was written about in the time of the Apostle John, and John lived around the, we know, up until the 90s A.D.

In the book of Revelation, he talks about it, and John writes about it in his epistles as well. It talks about the Antichrist that's going to come on the scene in the end of the age. And from the time that John wrote about this, there have been many theories as to what it means, and no doubt those have changed through the years. You know, as time has gone on, it seems like when people look at things from the prism of another generation, things change.

I know when I came into the church, you know, we had certain thoughts about what the mark of the beast was going to be. And what it likely would be. But perhaps with time, things change again when we see what is possible in the world that we live in today. I had someone ask me if I would give a sermon on this subject I'm going to talk about here today.

And it ties in to Daniel 3. It ties in, brethren, to the mark of the beast. What is the mark of the beast? And of course, some would ask the question, too, who is the beast or what is the beast?

Frankly, I don't think we can absolutely know what the mark of the beast is right now. And I'll tell you why. You know, because Satan's tactics change. And the reason they change is he wants to always keep us guessing what he's going to do. How he's going to bring things about. But be aware of this. Whatever Satan does or leads man to do, the purpose of it is to deceive around fundamental concepts. And the concepts that he deceives for is to thwart God's plan, what God is attempting to do, and to destroy the people of God. You read in the Bible it talks about making a war against the saints of God. That is ultimately the purpose of what he does, all he does, to thwart God's plan and to fight against the saints of God. He knows, by the way, that the saints of God are going to, in fact, take the place of the high responsibilities of all of the fallen angels and of Satan the devil, when Satan is ultimately cast into outer darkness. That's what the church is about. That's why we've been called to be future kings and priests upon the earth, ruling with Jesus Christ for a thousand years. So again, we may not know what exactly the mark of the beast is, but we do understand what to look for. The Bible tells us that. We're told what to look for. Let's go over here to Revelation 13. Let's get right into it. And again, I want you to think in terms of absolute authority that we mentioned about there in the book of Daniel 3, and the kind of authority that, in fact, this end time beast will have, an incredible amount of authority, as a matter of fact, that the world will basically put their confidence in this person, this individual. In fact, a couple of individuals are going to be involved here in the process. But notice here, in what John writes here, "...then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name." So this is an anti-God empire that emerges from the sea, which of course, the sea here is symbolic of peoples here. And going on, it says, "...now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear, in his mouth like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority." So the dragon, of course, is symbolizing here Satan the devil. Satan imparts this great power and this great authority to this beast. Now this is a very diverse and different beast than that was described over in the book of Daniel. This is an amalgam of all those beasts, beasts that are described, in fact, over in Daniel and more. And I tell you, if you saw this beast, it would probably terrify you, terrifies all, to see something like this. And frankly, I think maybe that's a model to go to the back. If people on the earth realize what this symbolizes, what it means, it would terrify them. They would be afraid, and many are already, from what they already see. But going on, and I saw one of his heads, as it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. As we've understood, this beast to talk about is the fourth beast of the book of Daniel, which is the Roman Empire that was resurrected during the time of Justinian in 554 to become what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. And, you know, to maybe summarize, this Holy Roman Empire had, after that, seven successive resurrections. And, you know, if you have some of the old booklets, you'll see there's a chart over there talking about, you know, the resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. And we are looking for one more. One more resurrection.

But notice it says, so they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. The dragon, of course, is the devil. Mankind worshiping the devil. You know, Satan has always wanted to be worshipped. That's been his goal. That's why he thwarts God's plan. But the world is going to get right behind Satan's dominion, Satan's reign, the regime, you know, through the beast. And it says, and they worship the beast, saying, who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? See, this is a powerful, potent, military, economic power in the world.

Like right now, the United States is a very powerful, potent, military power, except we're not going to be the beast. We're going to be, in fact, destroyed in the future. Now, God is going to bring us down. We will, of course, that's another part of prophecy. I don't want to get into right here, but there will be, again, another power that will emerge in the world, and that will be the final resurrection, you know, of the Holy Roman Empire. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. So he's against God. He's blaspheming against God. And he was given authority to continue for 40 and 2 months. 40 and 2 months, of course, is a 3 1⁄2 year period. So he's going to exercise absolute power for 40 and 2 months, or 40 or 3 1⁄2 years. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted him to make war with the saints. See, this is where ultimately everything's going to end up, making war with God's true people. He's going to make war against the saints and to overcome them. He will gain the upper hand. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. See, much like Nebuchadnezzar. Over the known world, he's going to have influence. He's going to have power.

And all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So if your name's not in the book, you're going to worship, in fact, Satan and the beast. And it says, if anyone has an ear, let him hear. In other words, here John is saying, you better listen to what's being said here. Pay attention. Close attention. You know, these are matters, you know, John could have said, of eternal life and eternal death that are set before you. And we need to take it in and really understand what serious matter this is that John's talking about. Now let's go on down here. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. In other words, they both go into captivity. If you lead somebody into captivity, you go into captivity, too. He who kills with a sword must be killed with a sword. And it says, here is the patience and faith of the saints. Now what is the patience of the saints, by the way? And the faith of the saints? Well, elsewhere it talks about how it's keeping the commandments of God. You know, not compromising the commandments of God, the laws of God. But going on here, it says, then I saw another beast. So here's another beast that emerges. Now this is a diverse beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon. So he appears as a lamb. But he speaks through Satan. Satan is basically channeling through this particular beast.

And this beast, by the way, is a false prophet that's going to come on the scene, will be quite an intriguing individual, accepted by all, just as the beast. This beast is going to be a colorful, very dynamic, powerful leader unlike anybody has ever seen before. Now this particular false prophet will be the same. But notice what he does. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those that dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. So in other words, we're seeing again that this particular false prophet will, in fact, cause the world to worship the beast. As we see here, he's going to be very instrumental in doing that. Going on, it says, he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth and the sight of men. Now who do you know that called down fire from heaven? Elijah, right? So here you've got a religious leader and instantly people are going to say, well this is Elijah, resurrected back to life. This is Elijah, manifest before us. And he's going to gain the attention of the world. And it says, he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he is granted to do in the sight of the beast. So these two, the beast and the false prophet, in tandem with each other, will go forth to deceive the nations. And it says, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast. We get back here to an image. Now whether or not this is going to be a physical statute, like in the time of Daniel, how can we say? It doesn't really say, does it? What it's going to be, it may be symbolic, but they're going to make an image of the beast.

And it says, who was wounded by the sword and lived. And he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast. Maybe miraculous things will be done. And the image of the beast shall be both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And you see what starts happening here, just as in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. You don't bow down before this thing. You're going to be cast into the fiery furnace.

And it says, he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or in their foreheads. So he causes them to have this mark on their right hand or in their forehead, as it mentions here, that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name. Now, so here, this is about the mark of the beast. Like you said, there's much speculation about it. You know, through the years that have kind of morphed from here to there, from one generation to the next.

But remember, it is, in fact, the false prophet that gives life to this beast power, that makes it work, that makes it gel. Now, we have felt for a long, long time that the Catholic Church, of course, is going to be involved in this in a very big way. They, of course, were instrumental in the past six resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire, and no doubt they're going to be involved in the last as well. But, you know, we know that in the past, by the way, you can go back to the Middle Ages and times where there were the imperial inquisitions against people that if they did not repent, they were tortured to death. They were put on racks, and they were tortured to death if they did not embrace the Catholicism and the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Many, in fact, remember the Waldenses suffered during that time, and many remember the Waldenses of Europe and the valleys of the Piedmont. They suffered because they would not change to believe in infant baptism. They would not accept, of course, Sunday worship. They would not accept other things that were done by, you know, then the universal church. And in cases like that, people were impaled on poles. They were. And what happened is the church would pronounce a curse on these people because they would not repent, but it was the state who carried it out. The state executed, you know, the person because they did not...they were considered to be heretics. So the time is going to come again, brethren. If you don't bow down before whatever image it is, if you do not submit to it, many are going to be killed, you know, and put to death as a result of that. And, you know, of course, during this same time, I'm not going to, again, talk a lot about this, but at the same time, the two witnesses are going to be working during this three-and-a-half-year period. And they're going to be saying all along that the beasts of the false prophet are not of God, they are false, they are to be condemned, and they're going to do that for three-and-a-half years. They're going to be preaching, those two witnesses, and they will not be able to kill them. Of all people upon the face of the earth, these two will not be able to be killed. In fact, if anybody tries to kill them, they will be killed as a result of it. And then, after three-and-a-half years, God will allow them to be killed, and they will lay in the streets of Jerusalem, again, according to what the Scripture tells us. But, you know, they are going to give a warning for three-and-a-half years. And during this time, we believe the church itself will be in a place of hiding, a place of safety. Revelation 12 talks about that. But there will be some who will go through the time of that three-and-a-half-year period of tribulation to try them, as the Bible says, and make them white or righteous. Because some have become lukewarm, and because they do not really, you know, have a real drive to obey God, they have not received the love of the truth. And so many of them are going to have to make up their final decision there during the time of one of the most terrible times in the history of the world. The Bible says a time that the world has never seen before. Then they'll have to make that decision, because they did not do so in this time.

But let's go on down through here. I want to talk about some of these things more, you might say, a little more microscopic. But notice in verse 6 it says, He causes all. It won't be a matter, by the way, brethren, of Him just simply, you know, setting a pace of leadership and people following Him. He causes all. He forces everyone. This false prophet forces everyone. And of course, the beast is going to be back of them. And vice versa, for that matter. He causes all. He forces all. Now, by the way, it says they're going to be compelled to take a mark. A mark here of some sort on their right hand or in their foreheads.

You know, it may or may not be, we don't know. It may or may not be a physical mark or identification. We don't know. In the past, we did not think so. But you know, times have changed considerably.

All of us, of course, know that people were in Dachau and Auschwitz, among the Jews in the old concentration camps of the Germans. And many of those people came out of there, and the Germans actually marked people. They put a mark on the Jews. They put a number. And you know, you've probably seen, in fact, this on television, where some of those that were of the Jews that went in to that, those concentration camps were marked. So it does have a precedence of marking. And I'm not sure which hand or arm they put a mark on with the Jews. But at that, some form of identification will be there. Certainly also there will be that from the standpoint of one's persuasion and belief. But maybe there will be also a physical way of them identifying. Some have thought a tiny chip could be injected into people for identification purposes. And it is remarkable now that they have developed these chips that are smaller than a grain of rice. That they can inject in you just takes a few minutes to do it. In fact, brethren, they are thinking about, and of course it's under the guise of medical reasons and medical needs, they're thinking about actually doing that with a child from birth. I don't know if any of you have heard that or not, but they're actually thinking of doing this so that you have all of the descriptions of this individual that is born in this tiny grain. Of course it could be altered, it can be added to, like you would add to information on a thumb drive. But also it would provide an identification for people. And you know, the advertising industry is looking for a way of targeting marketing individuals. And they're looking for a way so that if you just pass by a sign, oftentimes you pass by a sign, and it has something you're really not interested in. But if they could pick up your ID, who you are, what you search for on the internet, they could put an advertisement there of something you want, something you desire. So, brethren, things have changed. Identification has changed. And what we once thought was not possible is now possible. I don't think that's all that's going to be necessary, but I would just put that out there, is a possibility. I remember when they came out with barcodes. You know, I had a lot of people that thought that people would have a barcode on their forehead and their right hand. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think people would submit to that. And I think many people wouldn't submit to even a... I don't care how big the chip would be, they would submit to that. But they might do so in the guise of something else. They might do it, and the world has a way of masking things and collecting information. But it's in their right hands or in their foreheads, according to what it says here. But He causes all... notice here again, verse 16. He causes all, both small and great. In other words, there is no difference. Rich and poor, free and slave. You see the word slave? In the last days, slavery is going to be extant. And really, it already is. But it's going to be out in the open. It's going to be legal, brethren.

And it says to receive a mark on their right hand or in their foreheads.

Now, we have always believed, since I've been in the church, that the right hand is a symbol of work. And so, we have always believed that one, in order to prove their allegiance to... You know, the system that's going to emerge is going to have to work to prove that allegiance. And that the forehead is a symbol of intellect. In other words, your religious persuasion, your belief. You know, some people, of course, will find it very easy to submit to the future religious system that is set up.

We've also believed that the Sabbath will always be significant. You know, the Sabbath, as we understand it, has been always... You go back to, again, ancient Israel, and for God's people through the ages... The Sabbath has always been a sign of God's people, who God's people are.

Whereas the Sunday keeping, of course, is a sign of the world, and the worship of the world, of course, of false gods. But in the tribulation, we may have to prove our allegiance to the beast system by working on the Sabbath, or embracing the religion intellectually. You may have to actually be immersed or baptized into something. Chances are they won't baptize. They'll probably sprinkle you into whatever the religion has morphed into. And I think it's going to be an amalgam of various religions. You know, at that time, there will be, you know, basically under one heading, one religious organization in the entire world, and one government, a one-world government, when that time comes. Remember, Jeroboam was the one instituted the feast in ancient Israel in the eighth month. And we believe also that he is the one that caused Israel, Samaria, to begin to worship on Sunday, to worship the sun god, to be involved in Baal worship and the like. But this mark is taken, again, in the right hand or in the forehead. This word, Mark, by the way, comes from the Greek word that is charagma, and I'll spell it for you. It's C-H-A-R-A-G-M-A. Charagma, and it means a scratch or an etching. That is a stamp or a badge of servitude.

Or, sculptured figure, statue, raven, or mark. So this is going to be something that will be permanently, if indeed it is, again, a physical thing, will be permanently in someone.

And, you know, like I mentioned, it seems that the possibility of a chip is there. Whatever it is, it's going to be easily detected. Whatever way, it will be easily detected. We live in an increasingly wired world, and frankly, to people, I am amazed sometimes when I see people with their little phones. They're in love with those phones. Maybe it's me. I don't get a lot of phone calls. I mean, I get a lot of emails, but not enough to do it 24 hours a day. But everywhere I go, I see these young people. Young people. I mean, they're looking at these phones. I don't know what they're looking at. I have no idea. I haven't had the courage to ask anybody. What are you looking at, anyway? You know, do you have that many friends? I mean, you ought to start a business if you've got that many friends, you know. Raise up a corporation. You can be on this thing 24 hours a day. Raise up a corporation. You've got a clientele out there you can market to. But we live in, again, an increasingly wired world. And there have been some people, actually, who have voluntarily become more wired and put computer-type things in their, attached it to their body.

And, you know, this RFID chip they're talking about, you know, they like to put in people for the purposes of medical. I mentioned about earlier, it will give details of a person's life and it would be very quick. You'd be able to, again, if you pass by it, it would tell you quite a lot about that individual.

Where you were born, what your Social Security number is, you know, just maybe a picture of what you look like, whatever you're compelled to do, or asked to do with it, it would be able to do that just by passing in front of a computer somewhere. My sons were telling me about our credit cards. You've got to be careful when you're out just walking around. Have you ever seen these credit cards now with the... they've got a chip in them? Now, if you ever go to Walmart, you've got to stick...

you've got to do it twice. You've got to, you know, actually pass it through those little calipers, and then you've got to stick it into the machine. So there's two... sort of two identifications with a lot of these cards. The problem with these cards is that somebody can actually pick up.

They can actually get your information off those cards. So they were telling me I needed to protect my cards a little bit, which I haven't done. So if anybody out there is tapping in my credit cards right now... But anyway, you've got to be careful. Apparently you need to put a special protective thing around those things so that if you're out shopping at Walmart, you're sitting in the doctor's office or whatever, somebody's not got a computer there picking up all the information about your credit card.

That they can do that. So again, things have become quite advanced, and the world is increasingly wired. You know, again, these things could be introduced in the guise of health, in the guise of terrorism. These things could be very much introduced. Think about the fact, brethren, that if we had a serious threat...

I'm talking about if we had an atomic bomb, a dirty bomb, that exploded in one of the major cities, what would change? I think you'd find things that would change overnight. You may remember in 9-11, when 9-11 happened, the Federal Aviation Administration, they brought every plane across the country down.

I don't know if you've ever seen one of the charts of all these dots about where these planes are flying all over the United States. But within...it was just within a matter of minutes, they had all the planes on the ground. And that entire map of the United States was blank. There's nothing. Nothing flying through the air. And, you know, so it's amazing. That was, what, 15 years ago. Imagine what they are capable of doing now, today, through the power of computerization. And not only, brethren, the power of computers that they've shrunk it down.

They've made it so small. You know, things can happen. Of course, the nanotechnology and so forth of being able to develop, not only... You know, where you have a computer chip that is getting smaller and smaller, they have these nano drone-type figures. One time I saw...this was a number of years ago, by the way. One of the elders down in Phoenix brought me a picture of a car. I mean, it was this big. This big. And they had actually made...it was a Model T.

And they had made it operational. It was that small, though. And it's almost unbelievable. Again, that was back in the...well, I left from Phoenix probably 20 years ago. That was 20 years ago. Imagine what they can do now. In the time of nanotechnology, when they can get something down the size of a molecule. I know my son is working on some of those things, you know, in his studies, and exploring a lot of those things himself.

But, you know, brethren, many things are possible. In fact, you could, in fact, be tagged, as it were, without you even knowing it, probably. So that's a potential also that we're looking at here for the future. But let's go on down here, verse 7. 17, I should say, that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. So this is a religious leader, brethren, who's going to come on the scene, a false prophet, as we refer to him, who causes the world to worship the beast in this seventh resurrection and revival of the Holy Roman Empire.

And this is during the time of the tribulation when it becomes the most formidable empire ever brought together. But he will devise some sort of marking system, and he's going to execute it upon the world. He's going to put it into play. You know, during ancient Roman times, millions of slaves were marked for ownership. They were owned, even in ancient Israel. God gave certain instructions as to who was going to be a slave and how they should be marked. Remember, they had to put their earlobe on the doorpost and the hole put in their ear, basically.

They became a slave like that. But also think about the fact, brethren, that the Roman emperor declared himself God. The Roman emperors were gods. And whatever, brethren, is developed, it will be used to show one's allegiance and dedication to the false prophet and the beast power. And you know, this pope, by the way, that is currently in office, I won't mention his name, but you may not be aware that he is a Jesuit background.

And this pope, by the way, and the Jesuits themselves, one of their goals has always been to win the Muslims.

And it seems also quite as interesting about this particular pope, and I'm not saying that this is the one. I think he may be a precursor. He may be too old for what the final false prophet is going to do. But this particular pope is, I think he finds it very easy to, he's very much a socialist for one thing. But I think it would be very easy, an easy step for him to go into fascism.

Communism, whatever you want to call it. You know, in some sort of a dictatorial type system, I think it would be very easy for him. Well, of course, he is a dictator, isn't he? Over the largest religion in the entire world. But it is interesting right now that we have a pope, there's a pope in office that has that mental persuasion toward Muslims. I mentioned about how ISIS is over there killing people right and left and cruelty and so forth, and what the capability of man is. So these two figures, the beast and the false prophet, will work in tandem with one another. The mark of the beast, obviously, too, brethren, is tied very much into the economy. It's tied into the economy. You know, Jesus warned about false prophets in the end of the age. And he said that many false prophets were going to emerge in the world. Let's go to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 over here. Matthew 24. He said that many false prophets were going to emerge and come on the scene, some claiming to be Christ. And there has been a number that have claimed to be Christ. Interesting, there have been quite a number of claimed to be the two witnesses, too, which did not turn out the way they anticipated. But Matthew 24 verse 23.

Matthew 24 verse 23. He said, If anyone says to you, Lo, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christ and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. And so the goal will again be to be deceiving God's people, and if possible, they will even strive to do that with the elect.

Going on down through here, notice verse 32. He says, Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know, the summer is near. In other words, look at the climate that is around you. Look at the environment. That's why we again report to you the news, try to do that on a weekly basis, to keep you abreast.

So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors. You know, as was talked about in the announcements, you know, the article talking about how basically Israel is on their own. And the Bible talks about a time when armies will be surrounding Jerusalem.

He says, when you begin to see these things Christ talked about, know it is near. He said, not only that, it is at the door. I know you've gone to the door sometimes, you didn't expect to see somebody over there on the other side, and boy, it's a shock, isn't it? You've taken a back. You know, usually we say, well, you scared me. You know, because you walk around a corner and you come face to face with somebody. But anyway, so you also, when you see all these things, know it is near at the doors. Surely I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are going to take place. And he said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. And so the words of Jesus Christ are going to be fulfilled. They're going to be accomplished. But notice going on here, but of that day and hour, you don't know specifically, you know, the day and the hour, you might know the time again. No one knows not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah's were, so also should be the coming of the Son of Man. But as for the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. So that shows us, brethren, that not only will the world be in the midst of a tremendous transformation with the emergence of the beast of the false prophet, but at least for a time we're going to see probably normalcy when it comes to economy. In other words, we're not going to be in the midst of a Great Depression. In fact, the world's going to be in the midst of a boom. That's going to not sit around the United States, by the way. We may go through some tough times in the United States, but the beast is going to be amidst a great boom when the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire comes about. And so in the last days, for many people, for the majority of people upon this earth where there are 7.5 billion people, unless we think we're the center of the universe, you know, we're, what are we, 330 million in the United States? We're a drop of the bucket, compared to the rest of the world. But the world is going to be basically in the midst of prosperity. Now, one thing is very important about how the market is going to be tied into the economy.

Satan, brethren, is the author of materialism. He's the author of it.

And he corrupted the first dwellers on this earth, and that is the angels that fell and became demons. Those that were under his charge, and he had a third of the angels, he corrupted them by merchandising, by materialism, by things, by peoples, by all of the, you might say, the comforts, whatever it is that they enjoyed. Over in the book of Ezekiel, let's go over to Ezekiel chapter 28. Ezekiel 28, I'm going to have to hurry here to make sure I cover all that I want to cover here with you. But in Ezekiel 28 over here, just to show you again what sin, a major sin that Satan was guilty of, you go through these things and you begin to put the puzzles together here to understand, again, how it all ties together.

But in this modern day, where people, it seems like they eat, breathe, and die for physical things, the physical accoutrements of life, they wonder where that all proceeded from. It came from Satan, who's the God of this world. He's the author of confusion, he's the author of lies, he's the author, again, of this pursuit of materialism in the world. But in Ezekiel 28 and verse 15, it says, But notice where it proceeded from. We know it was vanity that was involved here. But notice, by the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within and you sent.

If you have a King James, it says merchandise.

So it was the abundance of the merchandise. And going on down through, Therefore I cast you as profane, a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, covering carob. This is definitely talking about Satan or Lucifer. From the midst of the fiery stones, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor, and I cast you to the ground. I laid you before kings, and they might gaze on you.

Revelation 12 says, by his tail, by his power, he drew a third part of heaven, the stars of heaven. In Revelation 12.9 it says that Satan and his demons were cast to the earth. So that's what happened to them. And Christ told the disciples when they came back, after going out and healing and resurrection and casting out demons, Christ said, I beheld Satan fall as lightning to the ground, basically. I saw him streak down as he was cast down to this earth.

So the demons, I know it's hard for us to grasp this, but they were corrupted by the materialism here upon the earth. And when the beast power emerges, the beast power is going to promise prosperity. That's interesting with this particular pope as well, by the way, that he's talking about how capitalism is a terrible thing. You do know what they're talking about, brethren, don't you? Basically, they're talking about redistribution of wealth. In other words, let's make everybody equal. And so this marking system will make everybody equal, rich or poor, bond or free. Prosperity for everyone reminds you of the time of Hoover, when he put a chicken in every pot. Everybody gets a part of the pie. But you see, this is what is coming, brethren, for the future. It's why a lot of people will probably, you know, kowtow to the beast and the false prophet when it does come on the sea. Let's go to Daniel 11. In Daniel 11, Of course, we know, brethren, that Daniel is the key to the book of Revelation. You can't really understand Revelation without Daniel, and you can't understand Daniel without Revelation. Daniel 11, in verse 32, It says, Those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery. Talking about this king in the end of the age is going to emerge. You see the word flattery here? People are going to be flattered. They're going to be kowtow too. He's going to corrupt them with that and suck them in.

But notice, it says, Those who do wickedly against the covenant. Some people, some translations talk about a covenant people. Do you know the word Britain means covenant people? Israel, they are covenant people, and all the descendants of Israel are covenant people. The United States is a covenant people. Britain and Australia and South Africa, these are covenant people.

Interestingly, though, the covenant people now are against Israel. Strange, isn't it? But it's what is occurring in Satan's leadership, of course. But the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. And it says, Those who are people who understand shall instruct many, like we're doing now. We're talking about this now, brethren. Yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.

And now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help, but many will join with them by intrigue. Apparently, some of even those who are considered God's people are going to join with the beast.

And some of those who understand shall fall to refine them, to purify them, and make them white until the time of the end, because it is still for the appointed time. So the purpose ultimately will be to cause them to be purified, and it will serve... They're falling also will serve as a warning to all of us, brethren. You know, take heed, lest you fall. Remember back in, you know, when the church went through its upheavals in the 90s, in 1995 particularly, there were some who were high up in the church back then that remained and forsook the truth. I mean, people I thought never would. But I know all of us were saying even then, man, if it could happen to that individual, you know, some of his name people that were so seemingly so strong and so resolute, it served as a warning to all of us to be on our toes, to be on our guard.

Going on here, let's notice on down through here.

And it says, then the king shall do according to his own will, he will exalt and magnify himself above every god. You know, just as the Roman empires call themselves God, this individual is going to do the same. And so speak blasphemies against the God of gods. Does this sound familiar, brethren, to you? Some of the things, in fact, that were said over in the book of Revelation. And shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. We know there it's talking about the end of the age and the seven last plagues when God brings an end to his own wrath. That he's going to bring upon mankind.

Going on down through here, let's notice. And he shall neither regard the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall exalt himself above them all.

And over in Thessalonians, Paul talks about, in fact, an individual sits in the temple of God, calling himself God. And it says that people are going to be deceived during this time, and what was the reason? They're going to be deceived because they did not have a love for the truth.

You've got to have a love for the truth, brethren. But in their place you shall honor a God of fortresses, a God which his father did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.

And it says, then he will act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign God, which he shall acknowledge and advance its glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land, it says, of gain. This individual is going to be marching across the globe and being very successful. And at that time, at the end, the king of the south shall attack him. So this is why we say, you know, it's in probably Europe, it's going to be centered out of Europe, this final resurrection of the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire. So the king of the south is going to attack him. And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind. He's going to make war, he's even going to enter into Israel, the glorious land of the tribe. Verse 41 here, and it says that several are going to escape, eat him in Moab, or modern-day Jordan today, and he shall stretch out his hand against the countries of the land of Egypt, shall not escape. He's going to conquer as far down as Egypt. And by the way, interestingly, Egypt now is fighting ISIS. There's been a number of nations, in fact, that are fighting ISIS. Jordan, at least ostensibly, is fighting ISIS as well. The Saudis, of course, and others, you know, are doing the same.

But they're not going to escape, ultimately speaking. But this individual exalts himself as God, and he stakes, as you read the last part here of chapter 11, he stakes his claim on Jerusalem. He sets up his palaces and his tabernacles in Jerusalem, as we see here.

Like I said earlier, brethren, Satan corrupted the angels which fell through merchandise. But when this whole system eventually comes crashing down, as we're told it will, in Revelation 18, the system where one could not buy or sell without this mark, couldn't have a bank account, you couldn't buy any food, and men and women, by the way, during this time, will be like so much chattel, like a piece of furniture to be bought or sold, to be used.

This will be a time also, in this kind of a system, brethren, where slavery, again, is going to be legal. Let's go over to Revelation 18. I'll just show you some of what I'm talking about over here, but for the sake of time, I won't go through all of it. But Revelation 18 over here, in verse 9, it says, The kings of the earth who committed fornication live luxuriously with her, this Babylonish system. It's called Babylonish because it is an amalgam of many languages and tongues and people. Just like the Tower of Babel was where all the languages were confused. But the kings of the earth who committed fornication will live luxuriously with her, will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning. So eventually, you know, this will be brought down. They're going to stand in the distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city, for in one hour your judgment has come. Something's going to happen rather quickly.

And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore. Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls. See, it will be a time of great prosperity. Fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory.

Every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron and marble. And cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil, frankincense, wine oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots. Interesting wording here. And bodies and souls of men.

Now, I want you to think about this, brethren, how that during this time, the buying and selling of body parts is going to be a part of the economy. And oftentimes, under the table, it already is. It already is. I don't know if you followed this thing with Planned Parenthood. This lady was drinking wine with another lady, and they were talking about these babies that were aborted. You want to be careful you don't crush your head. You know, when the baby is aborted because of certain tissue that was needed. And you know, how many abortions are there now in the world? We don't know. Maybe 40 million or 50 million have been abortions. Maybe more than that. I know we have, last I heard, was about a million a year in this country. I think it's more than that. But, you know, it's amazing. Here we are. We've got a Congress that frankly probably won't withdraw funding for Planned Parenthood. So it shows you where the heads of many of these leaders are. And you know, the Bible in Isaiah says, well, doesn't it? That the whole head is sick even from the head to the toe. It's just, you know, man is corrupted in so many ways. But during this time, body parts of humans will be sold. Slavery will be, like I say, legal and in vogue. Even right now, by the way, human trafficking is going on. ISIS does it.

If you read over in Ezekiel, I mean Joel 3, verse 3, it talks about how that, you know, boys during this time are going to be sold. You know, of course, obviously for sexual purposes or prostitution. And it says, you know, there in Joel 3, 3, that a young girl is going to be sold for wine. You just trade her for some wine. However, that would be done. But this is what the world of the future is going to be like, brother. It's going to be very cruel, very brutal kind of world. And you know, we are going to desire more than anything if we have to live through one minute of this, God's kingdom. We're going to be praying, thy kingdom come. Hopefully God will take us away from that, but it may not be. That will be the case. But all of what the beast, the false prophet do during the tribulation time, you know what it's going to do? It will simply fear it and separate out God's true people. I mean, those that go through the tribulation, you know, to develop that gold, that revelation says, tried in the fire, it's going to separate out and, you know, God's people from the rest of the world.

You know, a man under a communist Bulgaria wrote this, you cannot understand and you cannot know that the most terrible instrument of persecution ever devised is an innocent ration card. This is talking about, of course, during World War II period when Bulgaria was behind the Iron Curtain. He said, you can't imagine how much of an instrument of persecution just a simple ration card is. He goes on to say, you cannot buy and sell except according to that little innocent card. If they please, they can be starved to death. If they please, you can be dispossessed or everything you have. For you cannot trade, you cannot buy, you cannot sell without permission.

Interesting. You know, this is, again, back, you know, during the World War II period. We have a man in Phoenix Church, by the way, who lived behind the Iron Curtain. He was a young man. He gave a speech in our speakers club down there in Phoenix, you know, when I was pastoring in Phoenix. And he described the harrowing escape he had. He had to do to get out from behind the Iron Curtain. And, of course, he came to the United States and he settled in Chicago, you know. But he was describing some incredible things he had to go to escape.

But he devised a plan. Frankly, I can't remember the specifics of it right now, but I remember he had to go into a building and there was a secret passageway. He had to watch that he didn't get caught. You know, a lot of the people in East Germany were shot trying to get over the fence, you know, into West Germany. And we may find again that kind of thing happening again. Now, millions, no doubt, are going to refuse to bow down to the beast in his image and will reject the false prophet.

But their defiance will lead to their death. They'll have to pay the ultimate price and, you know, they'll have to not love their lives into death and keep the faith. But if they do that, they will be greatly rewarded. You know, also, the mark, as we know, in Revelation 13, 17, 18, identifies the beast. The number 666, by the way, has a symbolic meaning. It identifies the beast power. Actually, what in the ancient times was called gamatriya, or numerology, you know, a letter had a symbolic numeric value.

And there are a number of ways, by the way, 666 comes up in the identification of the Holy Roman Empire. I won't take the time to go through that right now, but 666 is the number of the beast. And like I say, that number identifies the beast. It identifies the system. We know where to look. And the number 6, as you know, its meaning basically is the meaning, it's a mock of man. Because man was created on the sixth day.

But God created the Sabbath on the seventh day. The number 7, by the way, is a number of completion or perfection. And when God says something three times, it means it's absolute. So the number of the beast is 666. And the reason for that is, though this particular individual may be, again, an icon in the entire world, he yet does not measure up to God.

He is not number 7. He is not number 7, and God is number 7. God is perfect. God is complete. By the way, Satan at one time was complete and perfect, but he was corrupted. And man, of course, is not complete yet. When Adam and Eve were created, God was not finished with them. Now, it's quite interesting, by the way, that Nebuchadnezzar's idol we read about was 60 cubits by 6 cubits. It's also interesting that Goliath, when he came out to fight against David, he was 6 cubits and a span tall. And he carried a spear with a head that was 600 shekels.

I don't know whether that was a play on the numbers, 6 or not. But the end to Christ, brethren, will be crafty. He will present himself. In such a way as to deceive most everybody in the world. His number, again, is 6, showing he is just a man. Imperfect, incomplete. And we know he's going to be destroyed at Christ's return. He's going to be, along with the false prophets, going to be taken by the nap of the neck and thrown into a fire. He's going to be burnt up. Because he will never symbolize, he will never be number 7, brethren. On the other hand, you and I have a chance to be in the 7 category.

To be perfect before God. We're being perfected now. We've not achieved that yet. But we're going to be completed as God intended Adam to be. And we're going to be, again, eventually in the God family. Brethren, but it's important for us to remember. We have to be different from the world out there. The world is filled with lawlessness. And it's abounding. A love of many are waxing cold. In the midst of this world, what does God tell us?

In the midst of what is forming in the world? And it all, make no mistake about it, brethren, is leading to this. God tells us in Revelation 18.4, He says, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues. And if we won't, of course, come out of the world now, brethren, today, in this time when we have relative peace, we sure will not do it during the tribulation. We certainly will not. So not making the decision to come out of this world and be separate from the world, brethren, could be the worst decision you ever made.

We have to come out of the world and be separate, and begin to be lawkeepers, keeping God's law, not only in the letter, but the Spirit as well. In Revelation 14, verse 2, John wrote what it was inspired to write, Here is the patience of the saints, Here are they who keep the commandments of God in the faith of Jesus Christ. Well, brethren, may we weather through this time that is coming, and I believe that many will, and that we'll have that patience to keep the commandments and the faith of Jesus until the end of all of this, so that we can have a part in the great episode that will follow for the next thousand years after the return of Christ.