Good morning, friends, and welcome again to this very special prophecy series called "The Last Day of Prophecy." A warm welcome to those here in Charlotte, North Carolina for joining us on this special morning session. And also to our friends who are watching across the country and around the world. We know there's a number of churches that are joining us for this service today. We want to welcome you as well. And also some of the smaller home groups that's scattered all across the country, and literally in different parts of the world.
Now, today we have a very important program, very important subject that we're going to be studying together called "Satan's Mark or God's Seal." I hope those of you here in the auditorium received your outline of the sermon as you came in this morning. And also, our friends who are watching, you can download the sermon notes by just going to the website, lastdayofprophecy.com. You can follow along with us, and we will take a few minutes afterwards to review some of those questions that you'll find at the end of those notes.
Again, we want to thank you for joining us, and we have a theme song that we like to sing. We've been singing it each of the presentations so far called "Jesus Will Come on Time." And let's stand as we sing together. And friends, those who are watching, you can join us. Sing along with us as we sing our theme song. Thank you, Charles.
Okay. You brought your voices with you this morning, right? Well, let's see what you got. Get ready, sing.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, he will come on time
♪ ♪ Doubters may talk and scoffers mock
♪ ♪ Babbling without rhyme or reason
♪ ♪ His promises are true, he will remember you
♪ ♪ For the clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime, our God will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
♪ Beautiful. Sing now, please?
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, he will come on time
♪ ♪ For he's never wrong, it won't be long
♪ ♪ 'Til we ascend in joy and glory
♪ ♪ Be sober, watch, and pray
♪ Why?
♪ ♪ He may be on his way
♪ ♪ Now, the clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime, our Lord will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
♪ Please sing that again.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ Mean it now.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
Amen. Thank you, Charles. Our prayer this morning will be brought to us by the president of the Carolina Conference, Pastor Leslie Louis. Thank you, pastor.
Happy Sabbath, everyone. Shall we pray? Gracious God and Lord of the Sabbath, today we come to You here in Charlotte, North Carolina and, through the gift of technology, around the globe. This is Your day of rest, established from the foundation of the world, when You formed man with Your own hands, created him in his-- in Your image, and breathed into us the breath of life. Today, in solemn stillness, the world remembers this day of rest as we remember the great rescue effort that Jesus, our redeemer, prayed--paid the ultimate price for our salvation. Today we seek Your blessing, and we ask that, as Pastor Doug opens to our understanding the truths of Your Word, that Your voice will be heard as we are directed to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the Lord of the Sabbath. And today, not only here among us, but in companies both large and small gathered across the nations of this world, we invite Your presence as You guide our hearts into a closer relationship with Jesus, for it is in His precious name that we ask this, amen.
Amen. Thank you so much, please be seated. We want to thank the Carolina Conference for partnering with us in this special prophecy series. It's been a real delight to be able to work with the conference, and some of the area churches, in helping to put this series together. Good morning, Pastor Doug.
Good morning, I just snuck up on you, sorry.
All right, that's good. Now, of course, we do have some churches that have sent in some pictures, and we've got more pictures than we can actually share because of time, but I'd like to try and get through some of them. It looks like we have Tryon, North Carolina that is joining us. Not too far from here.
Pastor Doug Batchelor) That's right, and there it is. We'll make sure we get them on the screen. And on the other end of the country, we have Everett, Washington. Nice group there that's been meeting with us. Oh, by the way, before we go any farther, we want to send special greetings to the church where we pastor, Granite Bay, California. Hi, guys. Matter of fact, we'll turn all-- turn the camera, and you can wave at the next two groups, okay? Well, let's say hello to Lincolnton, North Carolina. I have no idea where that is, but we're glad that they're there. Greeting, or meeting. And we've got Clearwater, Florida, a group there. Let's give them a wave. This represents literally hundreds of groups around the world, from soldiers in Afghanistan, to India, to Great Britain, to Australia. Different times of the day, but they're watching the program.
We also got an email from a group over in, believe it or not, United Emirates-- Arab Emirates, in the Middle East, so folks watching all the way over there.
Amen, welcome. Now, these programs, you notice we've been pretty good about not saying much about funds to support the program through the week, but just these last two programs, we would like to remind you that these programs are being produced by faith because others have given. And if you've been blessed, we 'd like to encourage you. You can make an online donation to 3ABN, just 3abn.tv, or the other organization.
(Jean Ross) That's amazingfacts.org. Pastor Doug and I were just talking backstage, is it org or com? Either one will get you there, amazingfacts.com or .org. And of course, we're really delighted to be able to work with 3ABN. And I understand Hope Channel-- Church Channel is also broadcasting this event, and we appreciate that. So, yes, if you can help with some of the expenses, I know we'd appreciate it. Thank you, Pastor Doug.
(Pastor Doug Batchelor) Thank you so much, Pastor Ross. And of course, pray. I was telling Pastor Ross before the program, I said, "I have never done a sermon quite like this," because this is--you know, I used to do 30 meetings or 32 meetings when we would cover some of this material, and we're coalescing things very quickly. Tonight, our--I'm so used to meeting at night. This morning, as we meet together, we're going to be talking about, in our subject, Satan's mark and God's seal. And in this presentation, we'll be talking about the mark of the beast, the seal of God, the antichrist, 666, all in one presentation. So pray, amen? But a very important subject.
I don't know if some of you caught this on the news the other day, but Amazon has patented some software now, where they're using facial recognition technology so that when you go to pay for something in public, you don't have to worry about someone looking over your shoulder as you type in your password on your phone. You can simply snap a selfie. And because they have very sophisticated software right now that takes the dips, and the valleys, and the peaks, about 80 different nodule points, or nodal points on your face, and it registers, and it's almost like a fingerprint. Everybody is a little different. You notice how quickly babies can recognize who is the mom and who is not? And they've developed some software, so now when you pay for something, you just-- you can make a selfie. You can even change your face, and it'll say, "Oh, that's them. Paid." And so, you got to be careful nobody steals your face or you could have problems.
But there are a number of identifying characteristics that are given in the Bible to help us know what are the beast powers spoken of in Revelation, and how that relates to the mark of the beast. Obviously, you need to know what the beast is to understand what the mark of the beast is, and likewise the seal of God.
So, we're going to get right into our lesson with our first question: What does a beast represent in Bible prophecy? If you go to Daniel chapter 7, verse 17, it says, "And these great beasts are four kings which arise up out of the earth." Now, kings mean kingdoms. And this comes from Daniel chapter 7, where it talks about these beasts, one like a lion, and one like a leopard, and one like a bear, and not in that order. It's actually lion, bear, leopard, and then this nondescript beast. Keep that in your mind. It's the antichrist power that is that final beast that is mentioned. But you're not--you know, when we talk about the mark of the beast, we're not talking about some monster. It was customary back then, as it is today, to have different animals that represented kingdoms. When I think of the eagle, or when I say that, what country do you think of? U.S. And if I say the bear? Russia. The lion? Great Britain like-- several countries actually claim the lion. When I say dragon? China, Satan. No, it's not the same thing. I heard someone say Satan. No, no, we're talking about governments right now. Yeah, we think of the dragon. And so, they had that back then. And so, when we talk about the beast, we're talking about this political-religious power in the last days.
Next question, how do the beasts of Revelation 12, 13, and 17 compare? All right, first we're going to start with Revelation 13 because this is the one that has the mark of the beast. You read there in verses 1 and 2, "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea." And it said it had seven heads and ten horns. Notice that, seven heads, ten horns. "And upon his heads the names of blasphemy. "Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear." And it says his mouth was like the mouth of a lion. Didn't we just see those beasts in Daniel chapter 7? Because the lion represented Babylon, the bear represented Medo-Persia, and the leopard represented Greece, and then came Rome. Just keep that in mind. Now, when you go to Revelation 12, there's a dragon. It says this dragon tries to devour this man-child, this baby, as soon as he's born. It's the--it's Jesus. It was the Roman power that was responsible for executing him, for trying to kill the babies in Bethlehem, so most scholars believe that the dragon here was working through the empire of Rome. But it's a dragon with, notice, "Great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns."
Now, when you, you know, travel around the U.S., every now and then you'll see a deer crossing. That deer usually has one head on those signs. We were in South Africa, and it was kind of interesting, they had like giraffe crossings. And then we were in Australia, they had kangaroo crossings. But what would you think if you're driving and it says "beast crossing"? And there was this creature with seven heads and ten horns. And you don't see those every day, do you? And so, right away you know this is the same beast, right? And then you look in Revelation chapter 17, "I saw a woman." Now, what does a woman represent in Bible analogies? It's a church. We've discovered that. It says, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church." But sometimes, God's church was unfaithful in the Bible. In the Old Testament, God said, "Israel has gone whoring after other gods. I was your husband, and look, you've been unfaithful to me." So, here you have a woman, a church, that has been unfaithful because he calls her Babylon, the mother of harlots. But she's riding on a beast. That was Rome in chapter 12. Seven heads, ten horns.
Okay, what power have Protestants historically associated with the beast of Revelation 13 and 17? All right, everyone take a deep breath, all right? You might turn to the person on your right and your left and say, "Are you getting this?" I want to just make sure everybody's tuned in, okay. Now friends, don't miss this part. I'm just telling you, in the next two presentations, I'm not holding back any punches, as they say. We are going to talk about Protestants in North America and around the world. We're going to talk about America, a country I love. I'm an American, I'm a Protestant. We're going to talk about Catholicism and the papacy. A lot of lovely Catholics, I went to two different Catholic schools growing up. We're not talking about people; we're talking about powers and systems that are mentioned in prophecy, is that clear? Now, I'm just going to give you history, so hopefully everyone knows we're in this together. I promise I'll talk about everybody before we're done, so cheer up. So, just bear with me. I want to do this in the right spirit.
What power did the great Protestant reformers identify with the beasts of Revelation chapter 13 and 17? Let me quote Martin Luther, "We are of the conviction that the papacy," the Catholic church, "is the seat of the true and the real antichrist." I don't think that comes to anybody as a shock. How about John Calvin? "I deny him to be the Vicar of Christ, "who is furiously persecuting the gospel, demonstrates by his conduct that he is antichrist." And it goes on to say, "I deny him to be the head of the church. "Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman pontiffs antichrist."
Now, the reason they call him antichrist is because there are anti-biblical teachings. Doesn't mean that the church is a monster, or that the pope is the devil incarnate. It's not what it's saying, you understand? People have these misconceptions. It's talking the system of beliefs.
Matter of fact, do you know who the first person was, one of the first people, to call the office of the pope "antichrist"? The pope. Pope Gregory the Great said, "When you begin to worship this office as though it's divine, that is-- that makes it antichrist." And so, they all understood this. John Wesley, if you're Methodist, "He is it that exalts himself above all that is called God, "or that is worshipped, claiming the highest power, "and the highest honor, claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone." And we'll give you some examples of that.
How about John Knox? "As with Luther, he finally concluded that the papacy "was the very antichrist, and the son of perdition, of who Paul speaks," there in 2 Thessalonians. Roger Williams, one of the founders of religious freedom in our country, and he was a Baptist pastor. "He spoke of the pope "as the pretended Vicar of Christ on earth, "who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, "but over all the souls and consciences of his vassals, "yea over the spirit of Christ, and over the Holy Spirit, yea, and over God himself."
Cotton Mather, this was a brilliant early America preacher. He had the whole New Testament memorized. "The Oracles of God foretold "the rising of an antichrist in the Christian church. "And in the pope of Rome, "all the characteristics of that antichrist "are so marvelously answered that if anyone "who reads the Scriptures and does not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them."
We're going to give you some of those things they were talking about. You've heard of Spurgeon, he was called the prince of preachers, great preacher. He said, "Behold on her forehead the name mystery, "Babylon the Great, "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. "The church of Rome "and her teachings are the vast mountain of rubbish covering the truth of God."
And so, why did they say those things? Because the Bible, for instance, teaches baptism by immersion. They teach of sprinkling. The Bible says do not pray to idols, they pray to idols. Jesus said, "Call no man father. You have one Father in heaven." They call their religious leaders father. The Bible says, "Do not pray in vain repetition; God is not deaf." They say, "You want forgiveness, confess your sins to the priest." You're supposed to confess them to God. And say "Hail Mary" or "Our Father" multiple times in repetition. And you could go through a whole litany of things that the great Protestant reformers protested against because they felt it was unbiblical. Wycliffe, Tyndale, Cranmer, these are the great reformers, John Bunyan wrote "Pilgrim's Progress," the translators of the King James Bible and the men who published the Westminster and Baptist confessions of faith. Sir Isaac Newton, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, these men, among countless others, all saw the office of the papacy as antichrist. That's what virtually all Christian Protestants in America used to believe, but it became politically incorrect to say it anymore. You don't hear it much anymore, am I right?
You know, I can understand there's a lot of pressure these days because if you tell the truth in some areas, you'll be accused of hate speech. Now, I want to make it clear again Catholics are wonderful, loving people. There are going to be millions of Catholics in heaven. There are millions around the world that are Spirit-filled, that love the Lord. All right, so you understand there's some sincere people, but there are teachings where they've been blinded to what the Scriptures teach. And many Catholics never hear the Scriptures. So, this is what the Protestant reformers taught. That's why they wanted to come out of what they called the mother church.
What is the second angel's message of Revelation chapter 14? "And there followed another angel, saying, 'Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen.'" Says it twice. "That great city, because she made all nations drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication." And so, God's people are called out of Babylon. Babylon is cursed. If you know your Bible history, you know that in the Old Testament, because of their unfaithfulness, God's people were carried captive to Babylon. Finally, God worked it out where they could go home under the kingdom of Persia, but many of them had become so comfortable in Babylon, they didn't want to go the Promised Land, they wanted to stay in Babylon. And God said, "You better get out of Babylon "because the city is going to be cursed. It will be destroyed." And so, we have the same problem today. Many of God's children have been so long in spiritual Babylon, they're comfortable and they don't know how to come out. But it's important to get out because the plagues fall on Babylon.
Revelation--and question five, how does God symbolize Babylon in Revelation 17? Let's take our Bible for just a minute, open to Revelation chapter 17, and we're going to look at some of these verses together. I'm just going to read the first maybe five or six verses in here. Revelation 17:1, "Then one of the seven angels "who had the seven bowls, he came and he talked to me, "saying, 'Come, and I'll show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.'" Waters mean many peoples. "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication." She's in cahoots with other governments. "And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." It's an intoxicating wine. "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, "and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of names of blasphemy," titles, blasphemous titles. "Having seven heads and ten horns. "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, "and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, "having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations "and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead, a name is written."
Notice in Revelation, seal of God is in the forehead. Mark of the beast is in the forehead. This woman's got a title in her forehead. More about that later. It says--this is a big paragraph for somebody to be carrying around in their forehead. "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, "and the abominations of the earth. "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." It's a persecuting power. "And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." By the way, if you're in that chapter, just jump to the last verse. It kind of fills it all in. "The woman that you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth." When John wrote Revelation, he had been imprisoned by what city? Rome. What city was ruling over the kings of the earth? Rome. Says it's a woman in Rome. Does that narrow it down for you?
All right, let's give you a few more details on this subject and get back to our-- the screen. I've got a lot of the Scriptures on the screen. Revelation 17:18, "And the woman that you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth." That's Rome. Question six, what other evidence from Revelation 17 proves that Babylon refers to what we would call papal Rome, or the Catholic Church? By the word--by the way, the word "Catholic" means universal. It means it's something that is all over the globe, a worldwide power.
All right, we're going to go through seven points here, like A through G. Just stay with me. First of all, it says that she is guilty of blasphemy. Blasphemy means putting yourself in the place of God, or assuming the names of God. Let's see if it fits that definition. Here in Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary, the Catholic Church says about themself, "The Pope is so great dignity and so exalted "that is not a mere man, but is, as it were, God, and the vicar of God." See, I believe that's blasphemous. I don't think a man can put himself in that position. Pope Leo XIII said, "We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." And you know, when you live in a virtual palace, and you sit on a throne-- you know, the pope sits on a throne with two angels on the right and the left, similar to the Holy of Holies in the sanctuary that was the dwelling place of God, between the two angels. That was the Shekinah seat, mercy seat.
B, she's dressed in purple and scarlet. Well, I think most of us know that the cardinals, their principle color is scarlet, and the bishops is purple. And you'll see a lot of that if you go the Vatican. Furthermore, it says, "And adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls." And so, it's a very wealthy institution. You realize the Catholic Church owns more priceless treasures than any other private institution in the world? At one time, they owned the majority of the world's silver. I don't know if that's still true today. But no one will question if you go to some of these churches, and you see the gold relics and the art, some of the most exquisite art and treasures, gold and pearls and so forth. "Having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations." Now, the reason they say full of abominations there is because--one reason the whole Protestant church and all these churches split off from the Catholic Church is because of their teaching regarding the Mass, or what they call transubstantiation. The priest, when he goes through his incantations during the Mass, supposedly is transferring that grape juice-- that is not grape juice. In the Catholic Mass, it's actually alcoholic. Jesus said that it was to be new wine that's unfermented, and unleavened bread. Unleavened bread, unfermented wine because it represents the blood of Jesus, which is pure. You notice it said in Revelation, "fermented," because people got drunk from it.
I remember I went to military school as a young man, and we were required to go to services every Sunday. And because my mother was Jewish, my father had been Baptist, he was pretty much an atheist, and they sent me to Catholic school. So, when I was in military school, I didn't know where to go on Sunday, so I kind of rotated between the Jewish services, Protestant services, Catholic services. And I remember one day, because the priest had to do several services that day, and several Masses where he drank, he was tipsy by the time I got there. He's going through, I said-- I mean, you know, my parents drank. I knew what it looked like. Not only that, they say they are turning it into the actual blood of Christ. And it is the actual body, meaning that the priest has the power to make God when you think about it. That was a big debate during the Reformation. And if you look in the Catholic encyclopedia, if you doubt me, they say, "The chalice, the golden cup, is the most important of the sacred vessels," having in her hand a golden cup. She's called the mother.
Well, did you know that the pope not only lives in the Vatican, but he is the pastor of a church in Rome? He's the pastor of the Lateran church. And you know what it says on the door of the Lateran church? "The sacred--" I'm translating the Latin that you see there on the plaque for you. "The sacred Lateran mother and head of all churches of the city and the world." It doesn't say just the Catholic churches of the world, all churches of the world. Calls itself the mother. And she has many daughters, who are also fallen. She is the mother of harlots. That means they're not good girls. That means many of these Protestant churches, when they came out of the mother church, they retained in their bosom relics of popery. They kept--and when I say popery, I don't mean potpourri. I'm talking about relics of their theology. Some of you got that. They kept some of the teachings.
How many of you have noticed the incredible energy that Pope Francis has been putting into calling Protestant churches together? He's calling for unity again. He's inviting them back to the mother church. And he is doing more. He's first pope who's visited a charismatic church. He's had international interfaith programs, and he's reached out to all different faiths, trying to draw them back again. And if you look in the paper now, the pope is the most respected world leader right now, according to the polls. Very interesting. During a passionate call for unity from the Vatican, the pope said that the Christian division is a wound in the church and it is the work of the "Father of Discord." By the way, you read in Revelation chapter 13, it says there is a wound. Notice that word, it'll come up again later.
Answer E, it's a persecuting power. Drunken with the blood of the saints, the martyred saints. If you saw the papers from Turin, Italy, June 22 last year, Pope Francis went to visit the Waldensian Christians in their church, first time in the history of the Catholic Church. They persecuted the Waldensian Christians that were Protestants that broke away. Thousands were slain and tortured. And he kissed their Bible, which was a Protestant Bible, which was unheard of. And he wrote them a letter and said, "We're apologizing for the persecution of the Waldensians." And you know what? A little while later, the Waldensians wrote back and said, "We do not accept your apology." I didn't know if you caught that in the news. Some of you catch that? Interesting. "History of the Popes," "Great numbers of Christians and Jews were driven "from their habitations with their wives and their children, stripped and naked, many of them inhumanely massacred." This happened over a period of over 1,000 years. And some estimates say as many as 50 million Christians and Jews and others that they called heretics were killed. You've heard of the Spanish Inquisition. This is just history. You could go to the churches of Europe, see the dungeons where they tortured people, and the torture implements. They'll take you on a tour. I've seen them. It says she sits on seven hills. Now, that ought it make it clear. Just google "seven hills". You know what pops up? Rome. It's called the city of the seven hills, and there you have it. Rome was founded in 753 BC on the seven hills, a term used for centuries to describe the primary hills surrounding the old city. I think we all know that.
G, she rules over the kings of the earth. This is an international power. The pope has been facilitating peace between nations. Here, he's got the Palestinian and Israeli president meeting together at the Vatican. And I think you all know the pope was instrumental in trying to heal the wound between the U.S. and Cuba, so to speak. It started over a year ago. And just the last year, in this--in November, the pope addressed the United Nations. How can he do that? Would the United Nations invite me? I'm a pastor. If you know anybody, let me know, I'd love to talk to them. But you know why they invite the pope? Because the Catholic Church is not just a religious power. It is the smallest country in the world. The Vatican is an independent state with about 1,000 people. They've got their own army, they're called the Swiss Guard. They've got their own currency. They have their own little railroad. It's very short. I think it basically just goes from the dwellings to the Vatican. They have their own paper, their own TV station, their own press, own postal system. And the supreme ruler, the absolute dictator of that country is the pope. And they have ambassadors from around the world from the Vatican. No denomination has ambassadors that are political, that are recognized as diplomats, but the pope is. Only church that would fit that description, do you agree? Around the world. Says it's a political power. "From Cuba to climate change," this is Time Magazine this last year, "he has revitalized "the Vatican's role in global diplomacy. Now he's bringing his activist agenda to the U.S." This was written, of course, just before his recent trip to the U.S.
Now, onto the number, number seven. What is the significance of the mystic number 666? I think I told you if you add up the first 6 Roman numerals, you know, I, V, X, L, D is 500, you'll get to-- I left one out there. M. No, that's 1,000. It comes to 666. And I thought that was-- do you know if you play the roulette wheel, if you add up all the numbers on the roulette wheel-- now, I hope you don't do that. But all the numbers on the roulette wheel, 1 through 36, you add them up, it comes to 666: 1 plus 2 plus 3 plus 4, up to 36 is 666. 360 degrees in a circle, what does that mean? I don't know. It's a very interesting mathematic number. Ah, C, I left out C for century. C is 100. That was the one I left out. You add it up, 666. So, where does that number come from? "Here is wisdom." You find this Revelation 13:18, "Let him who has understanding "calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man." It'll be connected with a man. "And the number is 666." God created the world in 7 days really, including the Sabbath, because He made that part of His week. First time you hear a number repeated three times in the Bible is the Sabbath. It says in Genesis chapter 2, "On the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day." A number associated with God, and the worship of God, and the name of God, that He is Creator. And the number for man, man was made on the sixth day, is six.
This is all about worshipping man or God, which is a big question. Who will you worship is the battle of the last days. That's our study tonight, a war over worship. You know, when you read Revelation 13, "Those who do not bow down and worship should be killed," that harkens to the story in Daniel chapter 3, where it says Nebuchadnezzar makes this great image. The height is 60 cubits, its width is 6 cubits. And in the Hebrew economy, if it doesn't give its depth, it would be the same as its width, and so what you have is 60 by 6 by 6. And they're told to bow down. So, you see, there is echoes of Daniel in Revelation even with that number. And it was Goliath had a son, six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. And it says, "It was set up in the plain of Dura."
Now, what is the official title of the pope? If you look for Prompta Bibliotheca, according to the 1913 Catholic encyclopedia under the heading PAPA, the title is Vicarius, this is in Latin, Filii Dei. And it appears for the title of the pope. Let me give you some other ones. If you can read Dr. J. Quasten, professor of ancient history of Christian archaeology, Catholic university of America, there are their own teachings. "The title Vicarius Filii Dei is common as the title of the pope." You can also look here in a book by Pope John-Paul II, it says, "The Pope: A Scandal and a Mystery." "Comforted with-- or confronted with the pope, "one must make a choice. "The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ." That means Vicarius Filii Dei. "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." Those are bold--defined as blasphemous statements, but notice the title again. They're taking the title of Christ. If you look at this quote from the Sunday Visitor, "The title of the pope of Rome is Vicarius Filii Dei. This is inscribed on his mitre."
Now, pope--modern popes don't wear the crown very much. They used to always wear their crown. They had several crowns. These triple-tiered crowns that represented the pope is the king of heaven, the king of earth, and the king of purgatory, and that's in their own teachings. That's why they had these triple-tiered crowns. They used to have a little placard, like the high priest of Israel had a placard on his crown that said "holiness to the Lord." The pope had Vicarius Filii Dei as a placard on his crown. You add up that title using Roman numerals. You realize names had numerical value, letters had numerical value in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. We don't do that so much in America. A would be one, B would be two I guess if you did it like that. That's kind of the Cracker Jack's code. But in these languages, in Roman numerals, what is V? Five. What is I? You take the title of the pope, Vicarius Filii Dei-- U and V are the same. You'll see that in many ancient Roman writings. Vicarius is 112, Filii 53, Dei 501.
The number of his name, 666, above the head of the pope on his crown. A little different crown than the one that Jesus wore when he hung on the cross. And above Jesus' head, it said, "This is the king of the Jews." And here, you got Christ, who was a poor man, who had nowhere to lay His head, and He is our King, He's the one we follow. Then you have someone else who is supposed to be the head of the church, who lives like a king in a palace. Now granted, Pope Francis is turning away from a lot of that. He's winning people's hearts by this very humble approach. Instead of coming in the limousine, he drives a Fiat. He's a very--he reminds me of my grandfather, a very likable guy.
Now, let's talk about the mark. And Cain--first, there's a bad mark and a good mark. I just want to make this clear. You know, in Revelation, everyone says, "I don't want the mark in the last days." Well, it depends on what mark. Everyone's marked. You either have the mark of the beast, or you have the mark of God, which is called the seal of God, so think about that. So, first the bad mark. You go all the way back to Genesis. Revelation is the sum total of the whole Bible. In Genesis, Cain and Abel, two brothers. They had an argument, and Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him because Abel worshipped the right way, and Cain had altered the true worship, and his sacrifice was not accepted by God. He became angry and persecuted his brother. This is the same scenario in the last days. Those who persecute you, Jesus said, "Your own people are going to persecute you," those who claim to be Christians. Who was it that turned Jesus over to the Romans? His own church. And Judas, His own apostle. It's like Joseph's own brothers sold him. You're going to see it play out again in the last days. Now, there may be a war with Islam in some way, and we'll talk about that tonight, but I think the biggest fear is what's going to happen in the name of the Lord. Who was it that was killing Jesus-- killing Christians in Christ's time, in the days of the apostles? Paul, thinking he was serving God, out there killing Christians. It's going to happen again. "And the Lord placed a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." Doesn't give us a lot of detail about that mark.
Now, here is the good mark. If you look in the book of Ezekiel chapter 9, I can't read it. You read the whole chapter, but I'll give you a couple of excerpts. "The Lord said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, "'through the midst of Jerusalem, "'and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done.'" This is a good mark. These are the people who are praying, and they're sad for the sin in the church, and they're praying for revival. "Put a mark on them," God says. Notice it's a good mark because then an angel of judgment is sent after the angels with the mark. It says, "Go after him through the city and kill. "Do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. "Utterly slay old and young men, "maidens and little children and women, "but do not come near, do not slay anyone that has the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." That's why Peter says, "Judgment must begin at the house of God." So, this is talking about a division among those who claim to be believers, one true, one false. We got to know what side we're on, amen, friends?
Number eight, who is going to be protected through the seven last plagues? You can read in Revelation 7, verse 3, it says, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, 'til we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads." Now we're talking about the good mark. Those that have the seal are going to be protected. Angels are holding back the winds of strife now ready to release, but God is sealing His people. What is this seal the righteous have in their foreheads before all the fury is released? First of all, those who have the mark of the beast have the spirit of the devil. Those who have the seal of God have the Holy Spirit. Does everyone already know that? Obviously, they've got the spirit of the power. And it says here in Ephesians, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption." 2 Corinthians 1:22, "Who was sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." How many of you want that seal? But there's another seal that is more distinctive in the life that identifies us as unique. Isaiah 8:6, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." In the heart of the convert, when God creates a new heart and they are under the new covenant, he says, "I'll write my," what in their hearts? "My law." And within the law of God is the seal of God.
What is a seal? A government seal always has three primary characteristics. It's going to have the name of the power it represents, its title, territory. Presidential seal would say, at the time of this recording, "Obama, Barack Obama," name. "President," title. "United States," territory. Here, I've got one from Canada, where they recognize the queen of England, and it says, "Elizabeth, Queen, Canada." When there was a seal put on the tomb of Jesus, you know what it said? "Pontius Pilate," the name. "Governor," title. "Judea," territory. There was a seal put on the stone when Daniel was put in the lion's den, government seal. You know what it said? "Darius," his name. "King," his title. "Medo-Persia," territory. Seal will always have those three things, that clear?
Where do you find the seal of God? Which of the Ten Commandments contain all the elements of a seal? It's in the middle commandment, in the longest commandment that has the name of God. It says, "For in six days the Lord, Jehovah, made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them." God's His name, the Creator, his territory are all there in that commandment. And that's why God said, "Don't forget this." It's the seal of God. It shows that you give Him your time and your worship. The Sabbath contains the elements of a seal. So, we've identified what the seal of God is. What about--and what the beast is now.
What is the mark of the beast and its authority? All right, just looking now in a Catholic catechism, they teach question-and-answer format. What is the Sabbath day? Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day. 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. It wasn't from the Bible. It was transferred by the church. It goes on to say, have you any other ways of proving that the Catholic Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had the Catholic Church not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no, zero scriptural authority.
You've got the law of man-- are you getting it, friends? You've got traditions of men, you've got the law of God. You've got the seal of God, you've got a mark of the beast's authority. "Now, Pastor Doug, "are you saying that people that go to church on Sunday have the mark of the beast?" No, stick with me. One of the characteristics of the beast power, he would think to change times and laws. It says here in Decretal De Translat, "The pope has the power to change times, "to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ." Did you know that? That's called blasphemy when it says that the leader of the church can even change the teaching of Christ. That's officially their teaching. That's why I told you they don't blush. I showed you a picture of the Ten Commandments. The second commandment about idolatry is just, like, deleted. And they take the Sabbath, they make it the third commandment. And they change the day from the seventh to the first. And most modern religionists agree with that. And whether knowingly or unknowingly, they're paying homage to a manmade law. "Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change "was her act, and this act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." That's from C.F. Thomas, the cardinal.
What does the second beast of Revelation 13 force all to receive? He caused how many? There's going to be a consolidation of power. "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, "free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead." No man might buy or sell unless he does. We'll talk a little about that tonight. Does anybody have the mark of the beast now? No, why? Because it has not been a law. It's not being compelled. People aren't making the choice. They're not informed on what the issues are. When they say you cannot buy or sell, Revelation 13:17, and there's a law that you have to worship on the first day instead of the seventh day, that would be a sign.
Number 15, is the mark of the beast or the seal of God a visible mark? Now, this is very important. Some Bible translations even say, "Don't get the tattoo in your forehead." Doesn't say that in the original. It says in the hand or in the forehead. What does that mean? If you look in Hebrews 10:16, "Thus says the Lord, "'I will put My law in their hearts, and in their minds I will write them." The Bible says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your mind." What does that mean? Does it mean your hand goes off by itself, or does it mean your actions? In the mind means in the thoughts. In the head means in the thoughts. In the hand means in the works. For example, you can read in Isaiah 59:6, "Their works are works of iniquity, "and their acts of violence are in their hand. Their thought are thoughts of iniquity." It's talking about in the hand being the actions; in the forehead are the thoughts. Let me give you one more. Exodus 13:9, "And it shall be for a sign unto thee "upon thy hand, and a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law might be in your heart." You can also read this in Deuteronomy chapter 6, "These words I command you, this day shall be in your heart. "You shall bind them for a sign upon your hand. They shall be frontlets between your eyes."
Very simply, if you don't have the law of God in your hand and in your head, you will have the mark of the beast in your hand and in your head. It's talking about the actions. If you're waiting for someone to get everyone to line up with a rubber stamp and go ka-chink, ka-chink, and stamp everybody on the forehead, that's not what's going to happen. It's something internal. The beast has a mark that represents its power and authority. Does God have a sign of his power? Yes. "I gave them," my what? "My Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, ""that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them. "Hallow my Sabbaths. "It will be a sign between me and you, "that you might know that I am the Lord your God. "Verily my Sabbaths you will keep, "for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations." A sign, a seal. "That you might know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you."
We just need to ask this question, friends, that Peter said. "We ought to obey God rather than men." Who will you want to obey? You know, before we close our service today, we want to give you an opportunity to respond. I'd like to invite Charles and Kelly to come out. Sure appreciate the music they've been bringing to our event. And we've got some ushers that are standing by, and they're going to be giving you each a card. If they could do that right now. When I share a heavy message like this, I don't want it to evaporate, I want you to think about it. It's--don't want you to go away and say, "Pastor, that was interesting." I want you to say, "Pastor, I want the seal of God. "I want the Holy Spirit. I want to be on God's side. I don't want to be deceived."
And so, we'd like to invite you, take one of these cards that you'll be getting in the bucket, and pass them around. And there are four simple questions. Write down your pertinent information on there, if you would please, and these questions are really the main questions. Hopefully, you got a tool to write with there. If you don't, you might borrow one from a neighbor. And here are the questions. I choose to put God's commandments before manmade laws. Some of you who are watching at home, your group leader I trust is distributing these cards among your group, or they're available to download online as well. We hope you'll lead your group through these same questions. I want to put God's commandments, first question, before manmade laws. If that's your desire, would you put that down? Second question: I choose to keep the seventh day Sabbath and to worship the Creator. Do you want to follow the law of God, and have Him write His law in your heart? Check that. Say, "Lord, I'm making a decision "that I want to be on Your side in the last days. "I don't want to receive the plagues that will fall on Babylon." Third question: I am interested in joining the Sabbath-keeping church. You might want more information. Write that down. No one's going to force you to do anything, but we'd like to pray with you, help you make that decision, direct you maybe to some good locations. And the fourth question: Pastor, pray for me, I am praying about this decision. I've still got many questions, and you might put a prayer request down here. Also, on our cards, you have it in Spanish on the back, and it's English on the other side. Maybe it's Spanish on the front and English on the back, I can't tell. I'd like to have Charles come out and sing a verse or two while you're praying about this. And I'll be praying for you and making your decisions.
♪ ♪ Nothing between my soul and my Savior
♪ ♪ Naught of this world's delusive dreams
♪ ♪ I have renounced all sinful pleasure
♪ ♪ Jesus is mine, there's nothing between
(Pastor Doug Batchelor) What would it be in your life, friends? Is there something that's keeping you from making a full surrender to the Lord? Are you waiting for a good time to do that? Now would be that time. Why don't you surrender everything to Jesus now? You're looking for a good day? I've never known anybody that was sorry they said yes to Jesus. You'll never regret doing what God commands you to do. Just like a loving parent, He only wants to command us to do what's good for us. I hope you'll make that decision to say yes. Choose to obey God's commandments. Choose to keep His day, be part of His people. Make your decision, we'll be praying for you.
♪ ♪ Let nothing between
♪ ♪ Nothing between my soul and my Savior
♪ ♪ So that His blessed face may be seen
♪ ♪ Nothing preventing the least of His favor
♪ ♪ Keep the way clear, let nothing between
(Pastor Doug Batchelor) Now, hopefully you've had time to fill out your card. And when you do that, and you can just pass it up the aisles. You'll see our ushers will receive those. Hopefully, those in your home groups, you'll have a device for collecting that because we want to pray for you, we want to provide whatever biblical information you want. We don't have to be afraid of the truth. Answer whatever questions we can because we want you to know what the truth is. God has told us to get this message out in the last days because we are running out of time. Can you say amen? I believe Jesus is coming soon, and we want to be ready, amen? So, please pass your cards to the aisle. If for some reason you didn't have time, following closing prayer in this service, there will be some ushers with buckets at the door. You can give them your card. You may have a special prayer request you'd like to write down as well. And our group organizers, we want to pray for you and your personal needs if there's something you want to share and ask God to bless. But I'd like to pray for you before we close the program that God will encourage you, and it'll help you to have the resolve to do His will. So, could we bow our heads then at this moment?
Father in Heaven, our loving Lord, we know we're dealing with issues of eternity right now. I know that You want to fill each person with Your Spirit, but it requires that we trust You, that we have faith and surrender our lives to You. That we believe that You love us so much that You sent Your own Son into the world to die in our behalf, to save us from our sins, our lawlessness. That You might fill us with Your Spirit and put that seal in our hearts. Lord, we know that when people hear this truth, sometimes it requires a struggle. Even as the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, there was a struggle involved in that new birth. I pray that You'll give these people courage, help them keep their eyes fixed on Jesus as they go forward and follow You with all of their hearts. Bless them each one. Some, Lord, have problems maybe in their families. Bring healing. Some may need healing in their bodies, Lord. Give them healing there. Some may be struggling in their finances or relationships. Bless them, help them to know, as You promised, there's a blessing in Revelation for those who hear, read, and keep the things that are found written in this book. Help us to be doers of Your Word. We thank You, Lord, and we pray asking this all in Jesus' name, amen.
All right, when is our next program, friends? Tonight, 7 o'clock. We hope you'll tune in. Email your friends, text them, tell them to join us. "A War Over Worship," don't miss it.