19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast

Our topic for this Saturday evening is: ―The Seal of God, and the Mark of the Slide
Beast.‖ 1

We turn our attention, tonight, to probably the most solemn topic in the Bible. The Slide
warning about worshiping the beast and receiving his mark is the most serious warn- 2
ing God sends to the world at end time.

We find that warning in Rev. 14:6-10—one of a three-fold warning that God sends Slide
the world at end time. Let‘s go read Revelation 14, and we‘ll read again these three 3
warning messages God sends the world at end time. Revelation 14:6, 7—we‘ll start
with the first angel’s message…

Slide
4

[verse 7]… The first angel alerts the world that the judgment has come. When did Slide
the judgment start? 1844. We studied that already. Alright, the second angel’s mes- 5
sage now, verse 8…

[Verse 8]… We‘ll study about Babylon and its fall in a future lecture. Now the third Slide
angel’s message, verses 9, 10… 6

[Verse 9]… Slide

7

[Verse 10]… So those who worship the beast and receive his mark will receive the Slide
wrath of God and end up in hellfire. What is the wrath of God? Rev. 15:1 says the 8
wrath of God is the seven last plagues. That’s the most serious warning God sends
the world!

And we notice that the issue is worship. The first angel tells us to worship the Crea- Slide
tor; the third angel warns us not to worship the beast. And the highest form of wor- 9
ship is obedience. Rev. 14:12 says,

1
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
―Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Slide
God, and the faith of Jesus.‖ Revelation presents two groups. 10

One group worships the Creator; the other group worships the beast. And ulti- Slide
mately the whole world will be in one of those two groups. 11

The Bible reveals that most of the world will receive the mark of the beast. Let‘s Slide
notice that from Rev. 13:16, 8, beginning with verse sixteen, ―And he causeth all, 12
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right
hand, or in their foreheads…‖ So he causes ALL to receive the mark. Let‘s read
verse eight now… All the world worships this beast. Evidently, the mark of the
beast has to deal with worship. Verse 3 says…
―All the world wondered after the beast.‖ So all the world wanders after him. And Slide Why?
the question is why? Why since God has given such a solemn warning not to worship 13
the beast, why would the whole world do it anyway? There are two reasons.

The first reason is (1) Deception. Most of the world is deceived about end time Slide
events. And the second reason is (2) Pressure. There will be tremendous pressure at 14
end time for people to receive this mark. Let‘s note the pressure from Rev. 13:16,
17… The Bible says that if you don‘t have the mark, you will not be able to buy or
sell.
We refer to that as economic boycott. And we use economic boycott to pressure in- Slide
dividuals or nations into compliance with what we think is right. That will be used at 15
end time. If you don‘t have the mark, you can‘t buy or sell—now that‘s pressure! If
that doesn‘t force the whole world to receive this mark, the pressure will get even
greater. Let‘s read Rev. 13:15 now… What’s that?
That‘s a death decree. Ultimately at end time, those that refuse the mark of the Slide
beast, will be threatened with death. Can you see the pressure that will brought to 16
bear upon the whole world at end time?

We can see pressure coming from two sides. God says, ―If you worship the beast and Slide
receive his mark, I‘m going to pour out my wrath on you—the seven last plagues— 17
and you will go to hellfire.‖ The beast says, ―If you don‘t receive my mark, you
won‘t be able to buy or sell, and we‘ll kill you.‖ Can you see the pressure?

That pressure will bring the whole world to the greatest crisis of the ages. And we‘re Slide
on the brink of that crisis. We‘ll see that tonight. 18

2
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
But the question is: what is the mark of the beast? WHAT the Mark of the Beast is Slide
and HOW it will be enforced are two separate issues. Today, we will identify 19
what the Mark of the Beast is. Only time will show us how it will be enforced.

The mark of the beast is actually a counterfeit to the seal of God. Did you know that Slide
God has a mark? It‘s called a seal. Let‘s read that from Rev. 7:2, 3… 20

[Revelation 7:2, 3]… Slide

21

[Revelation 7:2, 3]… Slide

22

So the Seal of God goes in the forehead. But the Mark of the Beast can also go in Slide
the forehead. One is a sign of love and loyalty to God; the other is a sign of loyalty 23
to the beast power. These two marks can go in the forehead. They are in opposition,
in competition. The mark of the beast is a counterfeit to the seal of God. what is
God’s seal? If we can know what God‘s seal is, it will help us to understand what
the mark of the beast is. As we already learned, Revelation is full of symbolisms.
God is not going to come down with some ―divine branding iron‖ and seal the saints Slide
in their foreheads. Will the seal of God be an implant in the saint’s foreheads? No. 24
So we know that the mark of the beast will also not be an implant.

This whole idea of computer chips in peoples‘ heads or hands is simply a diversion. Slide
Will the whole world be willing to receive a microchip in their foreheads or hands? I 25
don‘t think so. Think about this: what do you do in your forehead? That‘s where you
make moral decisions. That‘s where our belief system is located—the frontal lobe.
The seal of God represents a decision, ―I will obey God.‖
Even if I can‘t buy or sell, even if they kill me, I‘ve made a decision to obey God.‖ Slide
And that decision goes in the forehead. But the mark of the beast can also go in the 26
forehead. The difference is the mark of the beast can also go in the hand. God‘s
seal cannot go in the hand.

Here‘s an interesting verse, Ex. 13:9, put it in your notes tonight. ―And it shall be for Slide
a sign unto thee upon thine hand [in other words, that you do God‘s law], and for a 27
memorial between thine eyes [what is between your eyes? Forehead], that the
Lord‘s law may be in thy mouth.‖

3
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
The forehead represents belief; the hand represents outward compliance. The seal Slide
of God only goes in the forehead. It does not go in the hand. God will not accept 28
mere outward compliance. Our obedience must come from the heart. But the mark
of the beast can also go in the hand. There will be people at end time who do not be-
lieve in the beast, or his mark; but they‘re willing to comply so they can buy and sell.
They receive the mark in the hand. So mark this:
The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast are not literal marks or implants in our Slide
foreheads or hands. Rather, they represent decisions and choices that we make. 29
We‘ll see that as we study.

God’s Seal stands in contrast to the Beast’s Mark. Slide

30

So what is the Seal of God? That will help us to understand what the Mark of the Slide
Beast is. First of all, what is a seal? 31

A seal authenticates a document. Every official document has the official seal. Slide
And every law has the official seal as well. A law with no seal is not binding. And 32
every lawgiver also has his or her official seal. A seal has three elements.

(1) The name of the lawgiver. (2) His Title, or position. (3) His territory. Every Slide
seal has those three things. For example, 33

President Benigno Aquino III of the Republic of the Philippines His seal would Slide
give his name, (1) Benigno Aquino. His position would be what? (2) President. 34


And his territory would be—? (3) The Republic of the Philippines (Republika ng
Pilipinas). Every seal has those three elements.

Question, is God’s seal connected with His legal document—His law? Every law Slide
must have an official seal. Before we answer that question, let‘s answer another 35
question:

What gives a person the authority to have a seal? For example, Slide
36

4
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
Benigno Aquino III. What gives him the authority to sign laws into action? His Slide
position. What is his position? He is the president of the Philippines. The office of 37
president gives him the authority to signs laws into action.

Since God has a seal, what is God’s position that gives Him authority over the Slide
whole world? He‘s the Creator. All through the Bible, God points us to this fact as 38
the reason why He has authority. Here‘s an example, Rev. 4:11…

―Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast Slide
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.‖ Why is God wor- 39
thy of our worship? Because He created everything. Then Rev. 14:7 says…

―And worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of wa- Slide
ters.‖ The reason why God claims authority in the world is because He created eve- 40
rything. And we can find many texts in the Bible where God points us to the fact that
He is the Creator as the reason why He has authority in the world. Well, question,

After God created the world in six days, what sign did He set up to remind us that Slide
He is the Creator? We‘ll read the answer from Genesis 2:1-3. 41

[Gen. 2:1-3]… Slide

42

[Gen. 2:1-3]… Slide

43

[Gen. 2:1-3]… Slide

44

So the Sabbath—seventh day of the week—is a memorial of creation. The Sabbath Slide
is a memorial in time. It has nothing to do with the Jew. Rather, it is to remind us 45
that God has authority in the world as Creator.

5
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
Every week that Sabbath travels around the world. It comes to every country, every Slide
city as a reminder that God is the only one worthy of our worship. When we choose 46
keep the Sabbath holy we‘re showing our community and the universe that we
acknowledge God as the only One worthy of our worship; that we‘re loyal to God,
obedient to God. But let‘s come back to the question:
Is God’s seal connected with His legal document—His law? The answer is Yes. Slide
47

God’s seal is in the heart of His law. It has the three elements of a seal. Slide
48

(1) The Name, (2) the Title, and (3) the Territory. Slide
49

Which one of the Ten Commandments, do you think, contains God’s seal? Slide
50

The fourth one, of course. Let‘s go read it from Ex. 20:8-11. As we read this, see Slide
if you can spot the three elements of the seal. Ex. 20:8-11 says… 51

Slide
52

Slide
53

Did you spot the three elements? Slide

54

6
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
What was the name of the Lawgiver? The Lord. In Isa. 42:8 God says that the Slide
Lord is His name. What is God‘s position? He‘s the Creator; He made everything. 55
And what was His territory? Heaven and Earth. There you have the seal of God.
It‘s as if God signs His name to His law. Without the fourth commandment, any god
could say, ―This is my law.‖ For example, Buddha could say, ―This is my law.‖
―Thou shalt not have any other gods before Buddha. Thou shalt not take the name of Slide
Buddha in vain,‖ etc. But when you have the fourth commandment, God says, ―I am 56
the only God who meets this description; the Creator.‖ So we found the seal of God
is the Sabbath. The Sabbath shows God‘s authority, has the three elements of the
seal, and is connected to His law. Question,
What happens when you take a seal out of the law? You‘re effectively nullifying Slide
the law. Can you understand now why some preachers say that we don‘t need to keep 57
the Ten Commandments? They‘ve ripped the seal right out of the centre of God‘s
law thereby effectively nullifying it. That is why there is lawlessness in the ―Chris-
tian‖ nations of Europe and America. It is a statistical fact that in some ―Christian‖
countries, crime is higher than in nonchristian countries. You can see why.
They‘ve taken the seal—the Sabbath—out of God‘s law, and by doing so, they‘ve Slide
basically nullified God‘s law. Something else interesting about the Sabbath… 58

The word ―Sabbath‖ comes from the Hebrew word ‫—ׁשּבת‬Shabbawth. That word in Slide
the original Hebrew literally means the sign or seal of the Father, or of God. I 59
thought that was interesting. Sabbath actually means the seal of God. So now we
know what God‘s seal is—it is the sabbath. We find the Sabbath in the heart of
God‘s law, but where else does God want to put that seal?
In our foreheads. He wants us to make a decision to keep the Sabbath. And I hope Slide
you‘ve made that decision. Mark this: a Spirit-filled Christian that’s keeping the 60
7th day Sabbath, truly has the Seal of God. Notice I said ―Spirit-filled.‖ You can
keep the Sabbath like the Jews without being Spirit-filled. But when you love God
and you keep His Sabbath out of love for Him—that is a Spirit-filled Christian. But
let‘s come back to the question.
What about the Mark of the Beast? Does the Mark of the Beast also have some- Slide
thing to do with God‘s law? Yes. Let‘s read again the warning about the mark from 61
Rev. 14:9,

―And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship Slide
the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand…‖ And 62
then, of course, verse 10 tells us the results. So God warns the world, don‘t worship
the beast; don‘t receive his mark. And then in contrast to those who receive the
mark, we have another group—the saints. Rev. 14:12 says,
―Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of Slide
God and the faith of Jesus.‖ Evidently those who receive the mark of the beast are 63
not doing what? They’re not keeping what? They’re not keeping the command-
ments. Because if they were keeping the commandments, they‘d be among the
saints. Obviously then, those who keep all the Commandments of God and have

7
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
the faith of Jesus will not worship the beast or receive his mark at end time.
We can see tonight that both the Seal of God, and the Mark of the Beast have to do Slide
with God’s law. And they are both have to do with loyalty to. But let‘s come back to 64
the question, what really is the mark of the beast? Before we can correctly identify
what the mark of the beast is, we first have to know who the beast is. Right?

Here is a photograph of a popular Christian novel entitled The Mark. The subtitle is Slide
The Beast Rules the World. Well who is the beast? The reason why most Christians 65
today have no idea what the mark of the beast is, is that they have no idea who the
beast is. If I don‘t even know who the beast is, how can I know if I have his mark?

So let‘s go to Rev. 13 and we‘ll review the description of this antichrist beast. Rev. Slide
13:1-3… 66

[Verse 1]… Verse 1 says, ―And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast Slide
[not a computer, or a barcode, or a credit card number, a beast] rise up out of the 67
sea… Continue on through verse 3…

[Verse 2]… Slide

68

[Verse 3]… So, who or what is this antichrist beast? Well, we‘ve already learned Slide
that a beast in prophecy represents a kingdom. Daniel 7:23 said, 69

―Thus He said unto me, ‗The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.‘‖ Slide
So in Bible prophecy, a beast represents a kingdom or a nation. We recognize 70
immediately, then, that the beast of Revelation 13 must symbolize a kingdom.

The antichrist, as we saw, was represented in Daniel 7 by the little horn; and the lit- Slide
tle horn represents a little kingdom. In Rev. 13 we have a beast, but the world wor- 71
ships this beast; so it would have to be a religious kingdom. When you put these
two together, you have a little religious kingdom. And Rev. 13 indicates that this
kingdom would be based in Rome. Of course that‘s pretty obvious…
There‘s only one little religious kingdom based in Rome and that‘s the Vatican. Slide
Again, we‘re not talking about Catholics—we‘re identifying a kingdom. 72

8
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
And we found eleven clues about this kingdom. Let‘s review them now. (1) Among Slide
the Ten—there in Western Europe—that fits the Vatican. (2) Came up after 73
476—It was 538 when the Vatican came to power. (3) A Little Horn or a Little
Kingdom. The Vatican is the world’s smallest independent nation. (4) It Would
Uproot Three—those were the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths.
They were uprooted because the refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the bishop Slide
of Rome. It would have a (5) Human Leader. That, of course, is the pope. (6) It 74
Would Be Different from all the other kingdoms in western Europe—Vatican is the
only kingdom in Europe today where a church dictates the policies of the state.

(7) It Would Blaspheme God. We got two definitions of blasphemy. John 10:33 Slide
blasphemy is when a man makes himself god on earth. We saw that the pope claims 75
to be god on earth. And Luke 5:21 blasphemy is when a man claims the power to
forgive sin. Both the pope and the priest claim they have the power to forgive us of
our sins. By the way, who do we go to for forgiveness? Jesus. And there are many,
many Catholics who do that—confess their sins directly to Jesus.
Then number eight it would be a (8) Persecuting power—we saw that the Church of Slide
Rome itself estimates that it put over 50,000,000 to death during the dark ages. 76
Then number nine, (9) Changed God’s Law. We saw that the fourth command-
ment has been changed, the second commandment has been removed, and the
tenth commandment has been divided.
Then, number ten it would (10) Rule for 1260 Years. We saw that the Vatican came Slide
to power in 538;and then 1260 years later in 1798, Napoleon‘s general went to Rome 77
and took the pope captive; abolished the papal government. So number ten fits the
Vatican. (11) Based in Rome. Of course we know the Vatican is in Rome. Then we
added a twelfth clue, (12) 666.
And I want to enforce this point again: 666 is NOT the mark of the beast. Slide
78

Rather, 666 is the NUMBER of the beast. We saw that in Rev. 13:17. Slide
79

What is the number of his name? 666. We‘ll find out in a moment what the mark is, Slide
but the number is 666. Here again we read, ―Here is wisdom. Let him that has un- 80
derstanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man, and his
number is 666.‖ Notice that it‘s a number of a man. Not a computer, or an implant,
or a barcode, or a credit card. But it is also the number of the beast. And vs. 17 said
it was the number of his name.
When we put those three together—the (1) Number of His Name, the (2) Number Slide
of a Man, and the (3) Number of the Beast—we saw that it would have to be the 81
number of the name of the man at the head of the beast power. Is there a man at
the head of the beast power? Yes—the pope.

9
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
We saw last night he has an official name—Vicarius Filii Dei which means vicar or Slide
substitute for the Son of God. And the Bible said in verse 18 that we had to count 82
the number. So to arrive at 666, we must do some counting.

When we studied the antichrist and 666, we counted up the number of the pope‘s. Slide
And you remember in Latin certain letters have certain numerical values. So if you 83
add up his name, it adds up to 666—just as prophecy said.

Here again we have the twelve identifying marks of the antichrist. Slide
84

All twelve identifying marks point unquestioningly to the Vatican Kingdom—not Slide
talking about Catholic Christians. So now that we know who the beast is, it‘s not 85
hard to figure out what his mark is.

What is the mark of the beast? Slide

86

We already saw that the Sabbath is God‘s mark—the sign of His authority. Slide
87

So the mark of the beast must be the sign of the beast’s or the papacy’s authority. Slide
What is it? Let‘s see if we can find out. Let‘s go back to our list of clues now. 88

Point nine on our list of identifying clues said the antichrist power would Change Slide
God’s Law. 89

We got that from Daniel 7:25–where the Bible said that the little horn—symbol of Slide
the antichrist—would think to change times and laws. It‘s interesting that in the 90
original language it actually read this way...

10
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
―…Shall think to change time IN the law.‖ Slide
91

Question, where in God’s law do you have time mentioned? There‘s only one Slide
commandment that deals with time, and that‘s the fourth commandment—where 92
God said, ―Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…the seventh day is the
Sabbath.‖ So here we have holy time—the seventh-day, which is the Sabbath.

And the Bible told us that the antichrist power would think to change time in God‘s Slide
law. That would be attacking the seal in God‘s law. Mark this, 93

Satan has always attacked the Sabbath because it is the seal in God’s law. He Slide
knows that if he can remove the seal from God‘s law, he will effectively nullify it. 94
But here‘s the literal fulfillment of the prophecy of Dan. 7:25,

This is from The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (P. 50)… Slide
95

Question: which is the sabbath day? Answer: ―Saturday is the sabbath day.‖ Slide The Convert’s Catechism
96 “Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: why do we observe Sunday instead of sabbath? Here is the Roman Cath- Slide The Convert’s Catechism

olic Answer: ―Because the Catholic Church transferred solemnity from Satur- 97 “Q. Why do we observe Sunday
instead of Saturday?

day to Sunday.‖ There, friends, you have the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel A. Because the Catholic Church transferred
solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”

7:25. Prophecy said the antichrist power would think to change time in the law.
And the church of Rome said, ―Yes, we did it.‖ Here‘s another statement from a
Catholic magazine:
―The Catholic Church designated Sunday as the day for corporate worship and gets Slide
full credit—or blame—for the change.‖ Changed God’s law. The Bible prophesied 98
that the antichrist system would think to change time IN the law. Here‘s another
statement from a Catholic Magazine,

―Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did hap- Slide
pened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed not from any di- 99
rections noted in the Scriptures,

11
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
―but from the Church‘s sense of its own power…. People who think that the Scrip- Slide
tures should be the sole authority should logically become Seventh-Day Adventists, 100
and keep Saturday holy.‖ So this Catholic Priest admits that Sunday has no higher
authority than the tradition of man. Here‘s a statement from another Catholic priest,
Father Enright,
―I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible Slide l@

alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a 101
law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, remember that thou keep ho-
ly the Sabbath day. The Catholic Church says, No! By my divine power I abolish Rev. 13:3

the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, Lo!
The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the
holy Catholic Church.‖
There you have the literal fulfillment of Rev. 13:3. The Bible said the whole world Slide l@

would follow the beast and this Catholic priest said that the whole world is bowing 102
reverently to the command of the Catholic Church. Let me show you how
Protestants actually agree that Sunday is not Biblical. Rev. 13:3

Here‘s a statement from Dr. Edward T. Hiscox—author of the original Baptist Man- Slide
ual. He said: ―There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but 103
that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of
triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the
week....
Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament— Slide
absolutely not.... Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early 104
Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers, and other
sources.

But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened Slide
with the name of the sun-god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, 105
and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!‖ So this great Baptist theologian
has basically summarized what I‘ve taught you—Sunday came to us from paganism
and was given to the Protestant world through the Papacy. I want you to notice an
interesting word here. Mark of paganism.
So again, what specifically is the mark of the beast? The mark of the beast must Slide What specifically is the
mark of the beast?
be the sign of the Roman Church’s authority. What is it? You might have already 106
guessed it, but here‘s their answer. This is an official statement—the Catholic Rec-
ord. It says,

―Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act… And the act is a Slide What is the “mark” of the beast?

mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.‖ So they say the 107
act of changing Sabbath to Sunday is their mark of authority. That‘s amazing.

12
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
So what is the mark of the beast? First of all what is the beast? We found out that Slide Beast = Kingdom

the beast of Rev. 13 is a symbol of the Vatican Kingdom, and the Vatican says the 108
act of changing Sabbath to Sunday is our mark. Now some of you are probably
thinking, does that mean if I keep Sunday holy, I have the mark of the beast?

Question, does anyone have the mark of the beast today? No. Slide
109

No one will receive the mark of the beast until religious legislation is passed en- Slide
forcing Sunday observance. Now some people say, ―Well, I‘ll wait till the law is 110
passed enforcing Sunday observance, and then I‘ll make my decision which day to No one will receive
the mark of the beast until
keep.‖ What? If you don‘t have the moral courage today to obey God, what makes religious legislation is passed
enforcing Sunday observance.

you think you‘ll have the courage then when the pressure is turned on?
If we make our decision now to obey God, then, when the pressure is brought upon Slide
us; God will give us the strength to continue doing what we know is right. However, 111
if we insist on keeping Sunday, even though we know it‘s not biblical, when the No one will receive
the mark of the beast until
pressure comes upon us, it will be easy to continue doing what we‘re used to. religious legislation is passed
enforcing Sunday observance.

But question, will religious legislation one day be passed enforcing Sunday- Slide
observance? The answer is yes! Let‘s take a look at the news. 112
Will religious
legislation one day
be passed enforcing
Sunday observance?

This is from ABC News July 2008 under the heading Sunday Shopping Banned in Slide
Croatia. Croatian shops to be closed on Sundays as of Jan. 1 in Concession to the 113
Catholic Church. I thought that was pretty amazing.

Here is another example. This in America. Back in February, CBS News, a leading Slide
news in America, had an article entitled, ―30 Years of Sunday Morning, a History 114
of Sunday.‖ And it was a very interesting article. In the article, it was telling about a
book written by author Judith Shulevitz.

―…Writer Judith Shulevitz. In her upcoming book The Sabbath World…. In a world Slide
of 24/7 commerce, she‘s pushing for a return to laws that would shut down business- 115
es one day a week.

―Which brings us back to the Puritans of the 1630s: their measures may now seem Slide
extreme [Sunday-observance was required on pain of death; in Puritan America, 116
if you did not keep Sunday holy, you could lose your life.], but what if they were ac-
tually onto something?‖ So this author is saying, maybe it would to go back to the
days of the Puritans. Can you see it coming, tonight?

13
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
Here‘s a more recent example. Dec. 3, 2009: German Court Enforces Day Of Slide
Rest. The subheading says, ―Germany’s Highest Court Strictly Enforces Day of 117
Rest, Bans Sunday Shopping.‖ So Germany is also trying to enforce Sunday ob-
servance. One more example…

This is Hungary. And the headlines say: ―A Vasarnap nem csak vasarnap.‖ Translat- Slide
ed, Sunday is not just a shopping day.‖ You see, In Hungarian, Vasarnap means 118
―market day‖ or ―shopping day.‖ And the Christian party supported by the Catholic
Church would like to introduce banning shopping on Sundays from this fall onward.
We can see it coming. The Sunday law will soon be upon us.
Here is an interesting news article entitled, ―EU urged to press for work-free Sun- Slide
days.‖ Among other things, the article said the following: ―The conference was or- 119
ganised by the ‗European Sunday Alliance‘ with the aim of raising awareness of the
importance of ‗decent‘ working hours and work-free Sundays. Some 65 civil society
organisations, trade unions and churches were represented at the event at the Europe-
an Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels.‖ It will not be long before
Sunday observance will be legislated.
Now they have what‘s called the European Sunday Alliance—an alliance of some Slide
65+ organisations with the purpose of making Sunday a ―day off.‖ 120

Some years ago Pope John Paul II wrote a letter to the world calling for Sunday Leg- Slide
islation: Here‘s the letter—Dies Domnini (Latin for ―Lord‘s Day‖) back in 1998. 121
Do you know who probably wrote that letter? A cardinal by the name of Joseph
Ratzinger. Pope John Paul II signed it. And Ratzinger has a new name—Pope Ben- Apostolic Letter, Dies

edict XVI. Here‘s what the letter says:

Domnini, May 31, 1998

―Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will nat- Slide
urally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy.‖ 122
Civil legislation—what‘s that? That‘s laws enforcing Sunday observance. The issue
is more than what day we keep. Apostolic Letter, Dies
Domnini, May 31, 1998

The issue is who will we obey? Jesus Christ or antichrist, the commandments of Slide
God or the commandments of man. The day we keep holy indicates who we are 123
being loyal to. The whole world will soon face the test we talked about in this
lecture—including you.

Implants? You‘ll never get the whole world to receive implants. But when Sunday Slide
observance is enforced by law, then those who choose to keep Sunday because they 124
believe in it, receive the mark in the forehead. Those who keep Sunday, not be-
cause they believe in it, but rather just so they can buy and sell, they receive the
mark in the hand.
By the way, I might mention today, the mark of the beast issue will go beyond the Slide
mere enforcement of Sunday as a day of rest and worship. Laws will eventually be 125
made that will require you to break the Sabbath day. The devil knows that if you
don‘t work on Sunday, you‘re not breaking any commandment. However, if you
work on the Sabbath, you ARE breaking the commandments.

14
 19 – The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast
God is calling us today to keep the Sabbath holy. He says, ―Remember the Sabbath Slide
day to keep it holy…the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.‖ (Ex. 126
20:8). That’s God’s call to us. At a time when the whole world is trampling on His
holy day, God is calling His people at end time to keep the Sabbath—a sign of loyal-
ty to our Creator!
And Jesus tells us, ―If you love Me…‖ Do what? ―Keep My Commandments.‖ There Slide
will be people at end-time, probably not a lot of people, but there will be people at 127
end time who love Jesus enough to keep His commandments, all of them. Not to
earn salvation, but because they love Jesus. They‘ll keep the Sabbath even if they
cannot buy or sell, or even it they are threatened with death. Your question: will you
be one of them? I hope so. The Bible pictures this victorious group. Rev. 15:2.
This is a scene from Heaven. I want you to imagine yourself here in this group be- Slide
cause you can be there if you will choose to fulfill the conditions God has outlined in 128
His word. It says here in Rev. 15:2, [text]… Here we have the saints in Heaven. Will
you be in that group? Victorious over the beast and his mark? I hope so. Today we
still have the freedom to choose to obey God and keep His day holy.
And the best thing to do is to make the choice now which day I will keep holy. Slide
Which will you receive? The seal of God—the Sabbath—or the mark of the 129
beast—Sunday?

Who will you obey? God’s Commandments? Or man’s (Rome’s) command- Slide
ments? Remember, the day you keep holy indicates who you are obeying. Jesus 130
says, ―If you love Me, keep My Commandments.‖ I want to keep those com-
mandments, don’t you? Out of love for Jesus. Our helpers have a little card I would
like to have passed right now. And I‘m going to invite you to make a decision. Take
a card.
There‘s something everyone can check—whether or not you are a Sabbath keeper. Slide The Seal
of God Mys eries
131
of Prophecy

Does everyone have a card? Raise your hand if you don‘t have one. Please take a  I understand that the seal of God, found in the heart of His law,


is the 7th day Sabbath.

I choose not to ―worship the beast,‖ receive its mark,

card as it is passed to you. There‘s something on this card everyone can check,
or follow any pagan traditions.

 I choose to keep the 7th day Sabbath and to

―worship Him that made heaven and
earth.‖

whether you‘ve been a Sabbath-keeper all your life, or whether you just started keep- Name: _____________________________________________ Phone_________________
Address: __________________________________________________________________
Are you a church member?  Yes  No

ing the Sabbath. Put your name on this card as you receive it. Let‘s go through this
If so, what church do you attend?_______________________________________________

card together this evening (Go through card).

Sing a song such as ―I will Follow Thee My Saviour.‖ Slide
132

No meeting tomorrow. We‘ll meet back Friday night for ―Revelation’s Woman on Slide
the Moon!‖ 133

15