Now, tonight we're going to basically
look at two passages of Scripture, Daniel chapter 7 and Revelation
13. And I started last Sunday evening
on this subject, the saints' possession of the kingdom. The saints taking possession
of the kingdom. Verse 18 of Daniel 7. It speaks
this way, that even though God's people will suffer much tribulation
here on this earth in the last days, in the days between the
Lord's first coming and His second coming, we need to understand
from God's testimony now, and this is not based on feeling,
it's not based upon opinion, it's not based upon popular opinion,
it's solely based upon God's Word. We need to understand that
our salvation and the blessedness of that salvation, no matter
what we go through here in this life now, personally or as a
group, whether it's persecution, whether it's sickness or whatever,
whatever we face, whatever God sends our way, and it's God who
sends these things our way. We need to understand that we
who are the saints of God, sanctified ones, sinners saved by the grace
of God, that we will be victorious in the end because Christ is
the victor. We will take possession of the
kingdom. Look at verse 18. But the saints
of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom
forever, even forever and ever. We've been talking about the
kingdoms of men. the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian
Empire, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, and even the Roman
religion that come out of the Roman Empire, that little horn,
Antichrist, and everything associated with that spirit. You see, it's
wrong for anybody to limit that anti-Christian spirit to just
one denomination. And I'll show you again why.
I mentioned that last time, but I'll show you why again. But
we've been talking about the kingdoms and the empires of men. They come, they rise, they have
their fleeting glory, and then they go away. But that's not
the kingdom that we possess in Christ. The kingdom of God, the
kingdom of our Savior, that kingdom that we read about in Isaiah
60, whose gates are salvation, whose walls are salvation, and
whose gates are praise. That'll last forever and ever.
Verse 27 of Daniel 7, look at it, it says, the kingdom and
dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.
It's a gift from God, we didn't earn it and we didn't deserve
it. It's not by our works that this kingdom is established,
it's established upon Christ. He said, upon this rock I will
build my church, that's his kingdom. And he says, whose kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom. and all dominions shall serve
and obey him." So understand that. We have the assurance of
final glory because of the person, the glorious person and the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why Daniel was given
this vision. He starts out in verse 15 that
we began with last time. He says, Daniel was grieved in
my spirit in the midst of my body and the visions of my head
troubled me. Verse 16, I came near unto one
of them that stood by, one of these messengers, and he asked
him the truth of all this. What does all this mean? And
so he told me, and he made me know the interpretation of the
things. And that's the key now, to know the interpretation of
the thing. We can sit and give our opinions and ideas, but it
won't help us. But when we see the interpretation
of a thing, then we see the reality of it. And for God's people in
Christ, it's always a point of comfort and a point of security
and safety and peace in Christ, because really the key to interpretation
is Christ. And so he says in verse 17, these
great beasts, which are four, are four kings or kingdoms which
shall rise out of the earth. been talking about those kingdoms.
Nebuchadnezzar saw it in a dream that he had in Daniel chapter
two. He saw the glory of those kingdoms. Daniel here, he's seen
the sinfulness and the depravity and the ferociousness of these
kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar saw them as symbolized
in metals. Gold and silver and brass and
iron, see? And then finally, iron mixed
with clay, showing the weakness of it. But that's the only glory
it had. It was a fleeting glory. Daniel,
he saw these kingdoms as a lion and a bear and a leopard, and
then a composite beast composed of what? Composed of the lion,
the bear, and the leopard, and we'll show that again. I want
you to see it again. Don't lose sight of that, because
that's important. And so these beasts, they're
going to rise up against the kingdom of God, the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the people of God. Let's read on, verse
19. Then I would know the truth of
the fourth beast. He was especially interested
in this fourth beast because there was so much mystery surrounding
it. I mean, you know, you look at
the first beast, that's Babylon. And they're here and they're
gone now. And then the second was the Medo-Persian Empire,
and then the Greek Empire. But now this fourth beast, we
know it's the Roman Empire, and then out of the Roman Empire
comes that little horn, remember it had the ten horns, and out
of those ten horns came that little horn. And what you have
there is you have two things. You have a political kingdom
that is opposed to Christ and the truth and the government
of God. That's man by nature. But also you have the little
horn. You have a religious kingdom that continues on that also is
opposed to Christ and His truth. That's why they call it anti-Christ.
All right? And what it is, it's the religion
of man, the religion of works. And I'll tell you, this is where
it comes down to, you see. And I told you last time, I said,
you know, I know there's a lot of stuff here now, and you don't
want to get bogged down in these details. That's not the purpose
of this. But understand that the issue
between Antichrist and Christ is the same issue in its simple
matter, and basis that was between Cain and Abel all the way back
to Genesis chapter 4. That's how simple it is. It's
grace versus works, period. If you get nothing else out of
that, get that. Out of this, get that. Cain, there's always... I know that man has many religions,
many denominations, many so-called beliefs, but it's always been
two religions. Grace and works, Cain and Abel. You're either going to be saved
by your works, which you cannot be, for by deeds of law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight, or you're going to be
saved by grace, pleading the blood of the Lamb of God, like
Abel. And that's how simple it is.
But now this fourth beast was particularly grabbed the attention
of Daniel. And he said, I would know the
truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse. It was different
from all the others, exceeding dreadful. In other words, this
beast was worse than all of them, whose teeth were of iron, his
nails of brass, which devoured, breaking pieces, and stamped
the residue with his feet. And of the ten horns represented
the ten kingdoms that were in his head. The ten kingdoms, many
say, in history that Rome was divided up into, and that's fine.
But I believe these ten horns now represent the completeness
of all the kingdoms that are associated with this beast in
opposition to Christ and His truth, any government. And so
he says, and of the other which came up, that's the little horn,
and before whom three fell. Some say in history that's the
three kingdoms that that at the ten kingdoms that rome was divided
into three would not bow to the papacy and that was the three
kingdoms that could very well be and that's fine that's fine
but they were destroyed and this is even a of of that horn that
had eyes and a mouth that spoke very great things whose look
was more staff than his fellow more pride here see that's what
he's saying there's more pride here And he's talking about religious
pride. He's talking about a pride by
which man lifts himself up to be equal or more than God. That's
what it is. Verse 21, he says, I beheld and
the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against
them. Remember I told you, thank God
for the word until. Look at verse 22, until. He prevailed. Some people say that this would
involve the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire in the beginning,
and even by the Catholic Church in the beginning. In their beginnings. Whether you want to count one
or the other, or say it's a little bit of both, that's up to you.
But I know this, I know this, they're going to persecute, they're
going to make war with the saints. They're going to make war with
those who are saved by the grace of God in Christ. Who, like Abel,
stand firm That salvation and all that is included in salvation
is by the grace of God through the blood of the Lamb and no
other way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Somebody like Cain or somebody
who's associated with this beast, this fourth beast or this little
horn says, oh, but there's another way. Or it's Christ plus. Say, no. It's Christ alone. His blood alone. His righteousness
alone. There's no other way. And anything
less or anything more is a blasphemy against God. Anything less or
anything more than Christ and Him crucified, His blood alone,
His righteousness alone, is an abomination unto God. It may
appear great and righteous and good unto men, But my friend,
it's an abomination unto God. Now, it says He prevailed against
them. Now, in Revelation chapter 7,
we won't turn there. Well, we will be turning there
in just a moment. But in Revelation chapter 7, we read of the blood
of the martyrs. And that's speaking of the martyrs,
those whose blood was shed from ungodly governments and ungodly
religions over the cause of Christ and His glory and His truth.
And that's what he's talking about here when he says he prevailed
against them for a while and until what? Now look at verse
22, until the Ancient of Days came, and that's the eternal
God, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.
Judgment was put into their hands. Now judgment is placed into the
hands of Christ, but his saints are his servants, you see, and
were servants of the judge, and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom. You see there? The saints possessing
the kingdom of God. That fourth beast, that little
horn, was allowed to prevail for a little while, but there's
a time when it stops. There's a time when it all stops.
And that's, I believe it's talking about the second coming of Christ
right here. When He comes again and He puts an end to it all.
Now remember that this persecution, we'll see that too down here,
that persecution, it comes in different forms, at different
times, to different degrees, in different ways. But it's always
there. It's always prevalent in the
lives of God's people. Because we're in the world, but
we're not of the world. And Christ said, while you're
in the world, you'll have tribulation. But he said, but don't be, don't
get downcast, don't quit and give up. He said, I've overcome
the world. Look at verse 23. He says, thus he said, the fourth
beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse
from all kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth. In other words,
the influence of this fourth beast will be worldwide, not
just one locale. And he shall tread it down and
break it in pieces. And the ten horns, powers, out
of the kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another
shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings. We've already discussed that.
But look at verse 25 now. He shall speak great words against
the Most High. Now this is the key here. This
is not just some kind of a general disobedience here. This is a
specific form of government and religion that speaks great words
against the Most High." In other words, what kind of words? Well,
they claim to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2 speaks of that. They claim to be the vicar of
Christ. You know what the word vicar
means? You've heard the word vicarious? We talk about the
vicarious work of Christ, the vicarious death. That means substitute. That's what that means. Any man
who claims to be the substitute of Christ here on earth, that's
blasphemy. That's speaking high of things.
I'm not a substitute. As your pastor, I'm not a substitute.
As a minister of God, I'm not a substitute for Christ here
on this. No man is. He wants to be called Holy Father. Who's to be called Holy Father
according to the Scriptures? The Lord God alone. You see what I'm saying? And
that's what he's talking about here. And I'll tell you another
way they speak great words against the Most High. They do like Cain. They come to God expecting salvation
and blessings based on their works. That's speaking great
things against the Most High. Do you realize that? Do you realize
any sinner who comes to God seeking and or expecting salvation based
on their works and their efforts, they're speaking great things
against the Most High? Because, you see, that doesn't
glorify God. You know what that does? That glorifies man. That
lifts up man. That's what Cain was doing. That's
pride. That's self-righteousness. And
it says in verse 25, "...they shall wear out the saints of
the Most High." That means simply they'll persecute the saints
of the Most High who stand against Him, like Cain persecuted Abel
and finally murdered him. And they'll think to change times
and laws Oh, they're so big on their holy days. Let me show you scripture. Turn
over to Colossians chapter 2. They're holy times, you see. And they make their own laws.
Colossians chapter 2. Here's an example of the exact
thing he's talking about here. Now, under the old covenant,
When God made that covenant with Israel, the nation Israel, which
was a rebellious nation now, there were days and times that
were fixed for those people to do specific things and not to
do specific things. But that was given to a rebellious
people. But all those days and all those
times and all those fixed seasons were types and pictures of God's
grace of salvation in and by Christ. And now they're abolished
by Christ's coming. And now to try to keep those
things in effect as if they have some significance with a sinner's
relationship with God is blasphemy. But look at Colossians chapter
2, look at verse 16. Paul writes here in Colossians
2, 16, "...let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holy day." or of the new moon, or of the
Sabbath days. Don't let people judge you that
way. You know, the Seventh-day Adventist church, when they read
Daniel 7 and verse 25 and talk about changing times and laws,
they say that that's part of the Antichrist because they changed
the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. And that's not what it's
talking about at all. The Sabbath was never changed
from, well, in some false religions it's said that way, but the Sabbath
has never changed from Saturday to Sunday. The Sabbath day has
been abolished because Christ is our Sabbath. We meet on the
Lord's Day, which is the first day of the week, the day of His
resurrection. But Paul writes here, look at it again, verse
16, let no man therefore judge you in those things. Holy Day
and the New Moon or the Sabbath, which are a shadow of things
to come, but the body is of Christ." Period. But now that anti-Christian
spirit will put significance on these things as if they mean
something to a sinner's relationship with God other than or more than
Christ and Him crucified and risen again. That's what he means
here, they'll change the times in the law. Go back to Daniel
7.25. It says, "...and they shall be given into his hand until
a time, and times, and the dividing of time." Now, I'm not going
to go into all the so-called biblical mathematics of this. There are a lot of people who
spend a lot of time trying to take these things literally.
For example, they would tell you that a time means a year. Times, plural, means two years.
I'm not sure how they specifically derive that. I've looked and
I've studied. I've studied their interpretations of other scriptures
and all that, and then they talk about the dividing of time, which
would be a half year equals three and a half years. And if you
take each year, if you take the year as 1,000 days and 1,000
days as a year theory, if you take that literally, then you
come up with like 1,260 years or days or whatever. It's real
confusing. So if you're confused, just don't
feel bad. It's there. But here's what I
think it's talking about. I believe it's talking about.
It's simply saying that this is a specific time that God has
set aside for all these things to take place. Man doesn't know
the exact time, but God does. But I'll tell you what it's going
to be like. It'll be like a time... We'll think, you know, well,
time's gone by. And then it'll be like times,
plural. Well, it's been an awful long
time. And then all of a sudden, there'll be like a divide, like
a half a time. It'll come before we know it. And I believe that's
what he's talking about. It's just, it's just, we know
there's a set time. God set the time. You can spend
a lot of time trying to figure out the time, but I believe you're
wasting your time. It's just something like this.
We may think it's a long time. We may, it's going to come before
we know it. That's what he's saying. That
phrase is used about four or five times in scripture in that
way. But I believe that's the only way that you can pin that
down and be sure about it is that way. So, it's just another
symbolic figure to represent a definite long period of time
of the whole gospel age from Christ's ascension to His second
coming. And it's going to be here before we know it. Well,
look at verse 26. He says, "...but the judgment
shall sit..." That's when court comes to order. We'd say order
in the court. That's what that means. Judgment
shall sit court comes to order when the court comes to order
and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy
it unto the end when the court comes to order when God comes
and sits when this time times and time and a half is over when
it's up and Courts called to order the judgment the horn that
Antichrist will be stripped of all his power and totally destroyed
verse 27 and and the kingdom and dominion and the greatness
of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the
people of the saints of the most high." That judgment will be
a declarative judgment. The enemies of Christ will be
judged according to their works and found guilty. The people
of God, our sins have already been judged at the cross. and
will be declared righteous in Him, gain the victory, and we
will, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall
serve and obey Him." And look at verse 28. See, this is all
under the authority of Christ. He says, "...hitherto is the
end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my cogitations,
my thoughts, My meditations, you might say, much troubled
me and my countenance changed in me. This affected him physically,
but I kept the matter in my heart. Now turn to Revelation 13. Incidentally,
that doesn't mean Daniel kept it to himself. It means that
he took it to heart. This really meant something to
Daniel. This was something that he could
not just let it slip by. And what's the issue? What's
the lesson? It's simply this, folks. All
of that now. I mean, you say, well, you know,
you might go out tonight and say, I can't remember all that.
Can you remember this? Run to Christ and rest in Him. Can you remember that? Because
that's the issue. Let me show you that. Here in
Revelation 13. I dealt with this a little bit
this last time. You remember in the first verses?
Revelation 13, he stood, verse 1, I stood upon the sand of the
sea, saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads
the name of blasphemy. That's that beast, that fourth
beast that Daniel saw. And remember Daniel now, he's
looking into the future, so he saw him in one order. John's
looking into the past, he saw him in reverse order. And that
beast, look at verse 2, that beast which I saw was likened
to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his
mouth the mouth of a lion. You see how Daniel saw him in
reverse order? Well, what are you talking about? The Babylons,
the Medes, and the Persians, the Greeks, all composited into
this fourth beast. What does Babylon represent?
Confusion. Works, religion, free willism,
that's Babylon. That's Babylon. Man trying to
build himself up, work his way to God. What do the Medes and
the Persians represent? Mysticism. The diviners, the
mystics, the astrologers, the soothsayers, the sorcerers. Mysticism. What is mysticism?
Anything you believe, or I believe, that is not based on... When
it comes to salvation and a relationship with God, that is not based upon
this word right here, is mysticism. Emotionalism. Judging the things
of God, the things of the Spirit, by our emotions. That's what
that is. And then the Greeks, what do
they represent? The wisdom of men. Philosophy. The Jews require sign, the Greeks...
So what do you have? What you do, you take the spirit
of Babylon, the spirit of works, free will religion, and I'm talking
about free will-ism now, all right? Works, free will religion,
combine it with mysticism and human wisdom, package it all
up, and call it Christianity, and what have you got? You've
got the fourth beast, Antichrist. You've got the little horn. It's
religion that comes in the name of Christ, but denies the truth
of Christ. Remember we looked at 2 John
9. He that transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ
hath not God. They preach Jesus, but he's another
Jesus. Another of a different kind.
Not the Christ of the Bible. They preach a gospel, but not
the gospel. The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace in Christ. They have a spirit, but it's
not the Holy Spirit. It's a lying spirit. It's a spirit
that uplifts men, brags on men, gives men some part in their
salvation that denies the glory of God, all right? And that's
what they talk about. Now, all of this is going to
be the way it is for those who do not run to Christ. Look at
verse 8. And all that dwell upon the earth,
that is, who are so connected and love this world and love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, shall worship Him, this Antichrist,
this little horn, this beast, whose names are not written in
the Book of Life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." Now see, there's the issue again, the Lamb slain. You say, well, I can't remember
all those details. Can you remember this? Is your hope in the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world? Because there's no
other hope for any of us but that. He goes on down here in
chapter 13, and he speaks of Antichrist. Verse 13, let's look
at that. He says, "...and he doeth great
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the
earth in the sight of men." 2 Thessalonians 2 calls those lying wonders.
They're wonderful and they impress men, but they're not in concordance
with the truth of God, the gospel of God's grace in Christ. And
so it's a lie. I don't care how impressive it
is. If it doesn't leave you totally
without any hope or assurance or salvation or righteousness
or forgiveness, but in Christ and Him crucified, it's a lie.
It's a deception. And he says, verse 14, it says,
and he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, that is the earth
dwellers. What is he talking about there? The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. And he does it
by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the
sight of the beast. You remember those false preachers in Matthew
7, 21? They said, haven't we cast out demons and done many
wonderful works? saying to them that dwell on
the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had
the wound by a sword and did live." That wound, as you know,
we talked about that last time, the fall of the Roman Empire,
but out of the Roman Empire came that religious order and that
religious kingdom. I believe that's what it's talking
about. You might have a different interpretation of it, but that's
okay. He said in verse 15, and he had power to give life unto
the image of the beast, and the image of the beast should both
speak and calls that as many as would not worship the image
of the beast should be killed." That's the persecution. Verse
16, and he calls us all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, all classes of individuals, to receive a mark
in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might
buy or sell save he that had the mark. or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name. Now, here is wisdom. I preached
on this chapter on TV, that's why I entitled the message, Here
is Wisdom. Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast. What is that number? He says,
for it's the number of a man. And his number is 600-366-666. Why is it six? Well, that's the
number of man. Well, why is six the number of man? Well, seven
is the number of the finished work of Christ, the finished
work of God. God created the world in six
days, and on the seventh He rested. He finished His work. It was
a completed, finished work. Why is six the number of man?
Because man, by nature, is incomplete. He's unfinished. He always falls
short. For all have sinned and what?
Come short. of the glory of God. Where's
the glory of God? It's in the seven. It's in the
finished work of Christ. Why is Christ our Sabbath? We
rest in His finished work. We have complete eternal forgiveness
of all our sins based on the finished work of Christ. The
number of men won't give you that. No matter what man does,
even at his best, he'll always be a six, he'll never be a seven.
He'll always fall short. You say, well, at least I'm not
a one. Well, big deal. You're not a seven. The only
way you can either be a seven is in Christ. His finished work. For by one offering He hath what? Perfected them that are sanctified
forever. That's a complete work. For in
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you
are what? Complete in Him. You're not complete
without Him. You're a six. The best you can
be is a six. It's the number of man. Now,
what is this mark of the beast? Well, I'm sure you've heard everything
from barcodes to computer chips under the skin to tattoos on
the forehead and on the forearm or on the hand of 666. It's none
of those things. What does the forehead represent
in the Bible? First time foreheads ever mentioned
in the Bible is with Aaron the high priest who put a mitre on
his head that said on his forehead, holiness unto the Lord. What
does that mean? That means that high priest,
when he went into the holiest of all, he ought to have one
thing on his mind, the holiness of God in Christ. What does the hand represent
in the script? The works of man, man reaching for something, man
doing something, man trying to work his way. That's what that
mark is. What is those who serve the beast? What do they have on their minds?
Trying to make it to heaven, trying to be righteous by their
works, by their will, by their way. What do they do with their
hands? They're busy trying to work their
way to heaven. You say, well, preacher, how
do you know that? Well, turn back to Revelation 7. I want
to show you something here that's very interesting. Interpret Scripture
with Scripture. Look at verse 1 of Revelation
7. Now, he says in verse 1, now
this is in the midst of Christ opening the seals of God's
wrath and you read about the four horsemen and then you you
can chap and part of them in chapter the four horsemen chapter
6 and then the fifth seal is the blood of the martyrs those
who are martyred for the faith and here in chapter 7 he gives
the assurance that of the fact that all of God's people will
be saved and will be glorified, and he says in verse one, he
says, and after these things I saw four angels standing on
the four corners of the earth, north, south, east, west, holding
the four winds of the earth, that four winds represent the
wind of God's wrath, that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree, that in other words, it's not
time for this world to be totally destroyed yet. And verse 2, he
says, And I saw another angel ascending from the east... I
believe that's Christ coming from the east. He always comes
from the east. He's the sunrise, you see. ...having
the seal of the living God. What is that seal? That's the
seal of the covenant. Who's that seal have to do with?
It has to do with Christ saving His sheep, His church, God's
elect. They're sealed under the covenant
of grace. And nobody can break that seal.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it
was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the
earth. It's not time now. The earth's
going to be hurt now. The world's going to be destroyed.
This world's going to be burned up and there's going to be a
new heavens and a new earth. But this is not the time. That's
what he's saying. Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the
trees, till... Here's another until. Till we
have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Now, if you believe that everybody
who serves Antichrist is going to have a 666 written on their
forehead, do you believe this one that says that all the people
of God are going to have a tattoo on their foreheads too? Most
of the commentators who believe in that literal tattoo or whatever
they call it, when they interpret this verse, they say that's symbolic. But now over there, it's not
symbolic. Now my question is, well, what rule of scriptural
interpretation do you use to say one is symbolic and the other's
not? Well, there is none. What does he mean? Until he has
sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Turn to Romans
chapter six. Show you exactly what he means. What's he talking about? Ask
yourself this question. Are you a servant of God? Now
if you answer yes, then you have to say you've been sealed in
your forehead and I don't see any mark on y'all's foreheads.
No literal mark. And I'm not just making fun now.
But if you're a servant of God, you've been sealed in your forehead.
What's he talking about? Look at verse 17 of Romans chapter
6. He says, but God bethink that
you were the servants of sin. Now that's what we are by nature
and before we were born again, unbelievers. But you have obeyed
from the heart, the mind, the affections and the will, that
form. Now that word form there, you
know what it means? It means like a stamp or a mark. That's
what it is. You have obeyed from the heart
that form of what? Doctrine, which was delivered
you. Being then made free from sin,
liberated, you became servants of righteousness. What is that
mark, that seal in the believers for? My friend, it's the gospel
of God's grace in Christ. Their minds, and it's not just
a mental intellectual thing, it's a heart thing. Their minds
and their affections and their will are filled with the glory
and the truth of God in Christ. That's the mark. and their hands
are in service like a willing, loving bond slave to the glory
and honor of God. That's the mark. How do you know? By their doctrine. Now those who are servants of
Antichrist, their minds and their hearts are filled with self-righteousness,
self-love, religious pride. You see what I'm saying? And
that's the whole lesson even back here in Daniel. That's what
it's all about, you see. Don't fall prey to this beast
of false religion, works religion, no matter what it calls itself.
It may say Catholicism, it may say Baptist, whatever it says,
whatever label it wears. If it doesn't leave you, leave
me with no hope but Christ and His blood and righteousness alone,
stay away from it. It's the mark of the beast. It's
anti-Christ. Oh Lord, seal us under the glory
of your Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ.