In order to understand the Mark of the Beast, we must first be sure to understand the first beast of Revelation 13. In this lecture Pastor Clark explores the specific characteristics of this power, and compares it with other passages that give similar descriptions, leaving no doubt as to its identification!

<p>In order to understand the Mark of the Beast, we must first be sure to understand the first beast of Revelation 13. In this lecture Pastor Clark explores the specific characteristics of this power, and compares it with other passages that give similar descriptions, leaving no doubt as to its identification!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Dalton SDA Church

Unlocking Prophecy

Chester Clark

1- Fools Who Fight the Future- Part 1

2- Fools Who Fight the Future- Part 2

3- Revelation’s Greatest Climax

4- Lamb on the Altar, Lion on the Throne

5- The Hero of Revelation’s Seals

6- A Game of Thrones and Revelation’s Answer to Evil

7- Revelation’s Ultimate Message

8- Humanity, Morality, and Society

9- Revelation’s Call to Worship

10- The Beast’s Greatest Conspiracy

11- How to Escape the Seven Last Plagues

12- The Certain, Unavoidable Identity of the Antichrist

13- Making a New Start

14- Facing Death Unafraid

15- Good News About Hell

16- Messages from Beyond the Stars

17- Prophecy Predicts a People

18- The Best is Yet to Come!

19. Daniel’s Worst Nightmare

20. Daniel 9 and Jesus

21. Daniel 9 and the Rapture

22. Revelation’s First Beast

23. The Seal of God

24. The Mark of the Beast

Tonight we're talking about something that's very important.

We're going to be talking about the first beast of Revelation chapter 13.

Before we get started, I just want to remind you that on your tables there are some papers and pencils, and you are invited to write down any questions you have.

It doesn't have to be on the topic tonight, it could be on other topics, but you're invited to write down any questions.

We want to have a short question-answer period at the beginning of each meeting.

We don't have any questions tonight, but hopefully we can have that tomorrow.

So if you have questions, make sure and just jot those down, and you can leave them at the registration table, and We can address those tomorrow.

Well, we read in our scripture this evening, in our discussion time, we read 1 of the most strong and fearful, you might say, warnings that are to be found in scripture.

Revelation chapter 14 verse 9 particularly warns us against receiving the mark of the beast.

It warns us against having that mark and it says that verse 9 says, if any man worships the beast and his image receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.

We're talking about some of the most severe punishments to be found in Scripture against the mark of the beast, worshipping the beast, receiving his mark.

Now I believe, I believe that if God is going to give us that kind of a warning, that He is going to not leave us wondering what the mark of the beast or the beast is.

I really believe that God has given us enough information in Scripture that we can know what He's talking about and we can be forewarned and forearmed.

And that's really the topic of this whole weekend.

We're going to be looking at Revelation 13 and Revelation 14.

We're going to be trying to understand the beast and the mark, and It's juxtaposed against the seal of God in the book of Revelation.

You have the mark of the beast, you have the seal of God.

The mark of the beast is either in the forehead or in the right hand.

But both are competing, you might say, identifications.

And God has his mark, the beast has his mark.

Now how could the devil have us confused?

Well, first of all, he could have us confused if we don't understand what the seal of God is, we probably won't understand what the mark of the beast is.

We also could be confused if we don't understand what the beast is to begin with, right?

And today we have a lot of confusion, especially in the realm of prophecy.

And so we want to try to explore together these topics in the Bible.

Now there's no verse in the Bible that says the mark of the beast is.

I think if the devil had that, he would be able to twist something around to still confuse people.

And so what we have to do is understand what God's Word is saying.

We look at the big themes of Revelation, We look at the passages that talk about these warnings and these marks and we then can come to an understanding of what it is that we're talking about.

So tonight we're gonna be looking, we're gonna be looking at Revelation's first beast.

And I want us to just say at the beginning that the topic tonight is a rather, how can I describe it?

It's a topic that is, it's not the most beautiful topic in all of the book of Revelation.

I hope that as many of you have been with us from night to night, this would be our 22nd night, our 22nd lecture studying the books of Daniel and Revelation.

I hope you will have seen Jesus in the books of Daniel and Revelation, have you?

I hope you will have seen the gospel in the books of Daniel and Revelation.

I hope you'll have seen the beauty of God's plan for us and for this planet.

And he has a wonderful purpose, a wonderful plan.

And so I want us to remember, even though we focus on the beast tonight, we are Christians, amen, we're not beastians.

That's not the main emphasis of our message or our mission.

That's the point even of the book of Revelation.

The beast is only important in the book of Revelation because the beast tries to obscure Christ.

The beast tries to keep the knowledge of Christ and the truth of Christ away from the masses.

And so there's an issue here, but the issue is we want Christ, and we want more of Him, we want all of Him, we want the real Christ, we want the Christ of Scripture and the Christ of the Bible, we don't want the Antichrist or the 1 who takes the place of Christ, amen?

And so I want us to just have this understanding at the very beginning, I want us to realize that while we focus tonight on the Beast of Revelation 13, that's not our overwhelming focus when we look at the Bible.

I think in that context I would just invite you to bow your heads with me for an additional word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you that you've given to us your word.

We thank you that you've given to us the opportunity to study tonight.

We thank you for the things that we have learned already, the things we will learn, and we just pray that tonight also we might keep our eyes on Jesus.

I'm going to remember 1 technicality here or else you'll have a silent video to watch if you get the DVD.

Revelation chapter 14, Revelation chapter 13, we just looked at this passage.

And we're going to do a little bit of review here because in order for us to understand what Revelation is talking about, we must understand the foundation, which we've already seen in Daniel.

So let's just look real quickly in Daniel once again.

You remember the succession of empires, the vision that was repeated a number of times with Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, Daniel chapter 2, the head of gold, Daniel chapter 7, the lion, then Medo-Persia represented by the chest arms of silver, the bear of Daniel chapter 7 and Greece, the empire of Greece represented by the belly and thighs of brass and the leopard of 4 heads and 4 wings.

Rome represented by the legs of iron and then by a great and dreadful beast with iron teeth that was a persecuting power.

We studied how the 10 toes came after that.

And then after the breakup of Rome, no 1 empire followed, but these 10 tribes arose.

A little horn, Daniel chapter 7, and it would uproot 3 of the original horns and it would it would really capture Daniel's attention in Daniel chapter 7.

This would become something quite troubling for him as he saw the way it waged war against God's people, the way it decimated the followers of God.

And so this is 1 of the focal points of Daniel chapter 7, And we saw here that there are 11 characteristics just in this 1 passage of this power.

This power that tries to take the place of God, that tries to change the times and the law of God, that tries to persecute God's people.

These 11 characteristics we find in Daniel chapter 7.

And we talked about how this power would not be 1 of the original 10 tribes.

It would be a little horn, perhaps in more ways than 1, but perhaps even geographically, it would be a little horn.

It would emerge among the horns, so we would expect it in the Western Roman Empire, or in other words, in Europe.

It would uproot 3 of the original horns, we have to look at history to see how that would happen.

Of course, It would arise after the 10 horns, which would mean that it would be after Rome broke up into those 10 kingdoms around 476 AD, as the decline and fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons defines it.

That's the generally accepted time frame.

It would speak great things, in verse 25 it says, it would have human vision, it would be different from the other horns, it would persecute God's people, it would think to change times and laws, and it would be in power for 3 and a half times.

Or if we look at those times as years, as it's often used in the Old Testament, 3 and a half years, this is the same time period that we find elsewhere in the Bible.

It's described as 3 and a half years, it's described as 42 months, it's described as a time times the dividing of times, it's described as 1, 260 days, all the same time period, of course, since a Jewish year has 360 days, and a Jewish month has 30 days.

So these characteristics we saw have only 1 possibility for fulfillment.

There can be only 1 power that historically answers to these descriptors.

And I remember I shared with you the story of going to Ukraine and my translator said, you shouldn't tell the people what that is, you should ask them in history.

It was a different power, it was a little power.

And do you know in that atheistic, communistic country where people hadn't been educated with a Protestant worldview, I don't know where they have been educated with a Protestant worldview anymore, but that audience with 1 voice identified it as the papal Roman Empire that followed in the footsteps of the Caesars.

And so here we find these characteristics were indeed fulfilled.

And we talked about how, especially with that time prophecy, that time prophecy, you Remember, 538, the last of those 3 other tribes were destroyed.

Of course, it was not the Pope of Rome who was actually doing the fighting.

No, the Emperor of Rome, Justinian, had sworn himself to do the bidding of the Pope of Rome, the Bishop of Rome, and so he was actually the 1 using Rome's own armies to establish the Church of Rome as the civil power that would rule that part of the world.

Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Series

Unlocking Prophecy

22. Revelation’s First Beast

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

02 Identifying the Seven-Headed Beast

52m

Prophecy Made Simple

15. The Day When True Worship Will Be a Crime

1h 20m

When Protestant America Speaks as a Dragon

1h 1m

War of Thrones

What is the Mark of the Beast in the Book of Revelation?

54m

The Dragon’s Voice

53m

Plenary Sessions

666 Part 1

1h 8m

Which Way, America?

08 Unmasking the Antichrist

58m

Genuine Fakes Won’t Do! Medical Missionary Work in the 21st Century

1h 1m

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Sanctuary

15 The Adversary of the Heavenly Sanctuary

1h 3m

The Book of Revelation

03 And There are Seven Kings

1h

Talking Points 2nd Quarter 2023: Three Cosmic Messages

13 Ablaze With God’s Glory

30m

Unlocking Prophecy

2- Fools Who Fight the Future- Part 2

55m

Sound Doctrine