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The World to Come. The Restored Church of God presents David C. Pack. Answering life’s
greatest questions straight from the Bible, and announcing the wonderful good news of
the World to Come.
We have reached the final part of this series about the Beast of Revelation. This is number
7. Realize that the Bible’s very biggest prophecies are on the threshold of fulfillment,
with the front edge of some already underway. They will soon crash and EXPLODE with a force
completely beyond what anyone anticipates, including Bible students who think they know
what the future holds! The most basic look at popular positions related to prophecy,
or the Beast, shows they do not. Everyone desires to know what the future holds.
In fact, the question of what lies ahead for the whole world has become the very greatest
question today. Millions are searching---wondering about the course of events. The time for understanding
these colossal prophecies has come! Approximately one-third of the Bible is prophecy---history
written in advance. Over three-quarters of this future history is yet to be fulfilled.
Tragically, most Bible readers remain completely unaware of awesome, impending world events,
soon to stagger all nations---focusing first on the greatest nations. Vast sections of
Scripture are hidden from them, and remain lost to their understanding. The result is
that most simply have no idea what lies ahead. Even those who are interested in learning
remain tangled in disjointed, disagreeing, confusing---and PLAIN WRONG!---popular ideas
and opinions. A simple survey shows that thousands of competing books and videos exist teaching
about the Beast. Thus, most stand ignorant of fascinating and incredible knowledge---what
is, in fact, life-changing truth.
Most who write about the Bible simply do not realize the Bible interprets itself, that
if a symbol is mentioned within a prophecy---any prophecy!---and many prophecies involve symbols---the
Author of this greatest of books would not leave the most crucial questions---those involving
all humanity---subject to human interpretation. He would provide clues---necessary VITAL KEYS!---to
understanding the large portions of His Word devoted to future events. He would also make
known that He IS the Bible’s Author. And He would make absolutely clear that the Bible
is a book backed by His authority, and that what He foretells need not merely be accepted
on faith. In Isaiah, the God of the Bible says this
about Himself and about what is written in His Word regarding future events: “Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth
I tell you of them.” Yes, God “tells you of them.” Believe
Him when He says this. What would be the point of a prophecy if you were not supposed to
understand what He is revealing? He would provide PROOF of the things He says!
He would not expect you to just accept that world-altering events are about to occur.
The Bible commands its readers: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” This
certainly applies to prophecy---and to all points about the Beast of Revelation. You
have already found that what has been explained in this series can be proven, that it is not
mere opinion from one more ill-informed, self-appointed “prophecy expert.”
So then, as we conclude, open your mind to what GOD says---not to what I or any other
man says. As mentioned in other broadcasts, most people
never ask why they believe what they believe or why they do what they do. Most generally
accept common religious practices without question, choosing to do what everyone else
does because it is easy, natural, and comfortable---because there is a certain “safety in numbers.”
The power of peer pressure alone makes most avoid hard questions, so that they can practice
what is acceptable---and fashionable. This has been the case with virtually every
one of the widely accepted teachings, traditions and practices of mainstream Christianity.
Few are aware---or even care---that these have been taken almost entirely from paganism,
false customs and human reasoning---and not from the Bible. Most of the teachings of Christendom
have no biblical basis whatsoever---and in many cases Jesus actually commands the exact
opposite! Most just follow along as they have been taught,
assuming what they believe and do is right. For many with an interest in prophecy, this
applies to what they believe about the Beast and related prophecies. They take their beliefs
for granted, almost never taking time to PROVE them.
We have already explained much about the Beast of Revelation:
You now understand that the Beast of chapter 13 is the Roman Empire, and the Beast of chapter
17 is the HOLY Roman Empire. You have seen that the identity of the Great *** who rides
the Beast is the false, counterfeit, universal religious system long associated with the
Holy Roman Empire. You have learned what is the Beast’s image and how to count the number
“666” connected to it. You have also seen the False Prophet, who works in conjunction
with the Beast, explained and revealed. Other broadcasts about the last days and whether
the end is near have made clear that we will not wait much longer until the Beast and False
Prophet appear. These have explained how world trends, conditions and events will spawn the
Beast’s arrival---and how all these things will directly affect YOU.
In Part 6 we reached a point deep inside the question of what is the Mark of the Beast?
Ideas abound. But most who are watching are looking to avoid some kind of computer microchip
to be implanted in the forehead or right hand, when they should be preparing for the correct
nature---the right view---of the coming GREAT TEST of who is marked and who is not.
We closed last time having demonstrated that God’s servants obey His Law, with whether
one observes the 4th commandment---the Sabbath day---being the obvious test commandment.
We also saw that Satan’s servants are disobedient to God’s laws. And we saw that willingness
or unwillingness to obey the 4th commandment will become the only special distinctive test
in a world that otherwise at least generally professes to keep the others of the Ten Commandments.
Further, we saw that the other 9 commandments would not automatically separate one from
all others around him. And remember before we continue, recognizing
the coming Mark is absolutely crucial to your future because all who receive it will incur
God’s wrath as a direct result. You must know exactly what to do---and what to avoid.
We are ready to ask, where did “Sunday keeping” come from? Since we saw last time that God
commanded the Sabbath be kept forever, how did Sunday-keeping originate? It certainly
did not come from God or His Church. Sunday is commonly referred to as “the Lord’s
Day.” I have covered this in other broadcasts. The true Lord’s Day of the Bible is actually
the Day of the Lord---or the Day of God’s Wrath, among similar terms. (Read such verses
as Joel 2:1-11, Rev. 1:10 and 15:1, 7, among many others in the Old Testament). Yet, the
term, “the Lord’s Day,” has come to be synonymous with Sunday.
But why? How did this happen? The reason is simple. Many have taken for
granted the unscriptural, and easily disproven, tradition that Jesus was resurrected from
the tomb on Sunday. If Sunday can be established as the day Jesus was resurrected, it can be
a means of artificially validating and then “authorizing” the keeping of Sunday by
the churches of the world, in place of God’s true Sabbath. Then, the pagan Easter festival
and celebration, with its Sunday sunrise service, becomes much easier to establish.
Many pagan festivals, including Christmas (the Saturnalia), Easter (the festival of
Ishtar) and worship on the day of the Sun, were observed throughout the Roman Empire
long before Christ. The apostate universal church simply adopted them into practice,
and enforced them, thru the civil government, on all citizens in the empire. Actually, the
first one to enforce Sunday worship was not a Pope or a church, but was Constantine, Rome’s
emperor. Here is what happened next. At the church
Council of Laodicea, in A.D. 363, the following decree was passed: “Christians must not
judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s
Day [Sunday]...But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
Understand what this decree meant. When one was branded “anathema” (accursed or heretic)
by the church, he was arrested by the state, tortured and, unless he recanted, the torture
continued until he died. This was enforced so strictly that people were required to rest
on Sunday, and work on Saturday, in order to engage in business or hold a job. This
enforcement governed their “buying and selling.” Are you seeing the message here?
Now briefly back to the Beast and to the “little horn” of Daniel 7. Verse 25 sheds important
light on what happened in the Roman Empire. Daniel wrote, “And he [the little horn,
already explained] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out
the saints of the most High [now get this next point, and do not misunderstand] and
[shall] think to change times and laws.” This is a remarkable statement about how the
great false “woman” church sought to alter God’s Law as it had to do with time. The
single most obvious way she did this was to change the time of God’s Sabbath to the
pagan sun’s day (the day long set apart by Romans for worship of the sun), thus altering
the fourth great law of God! (More and more people today speak of Sunday as their “sabbath.”)
HOW PLAIN has been the work of this universal false church in its efforts to “wear out
the saints”!---and to speak against “the most High” God!
Is it any wonder God will pour out His wrath without mercy on any who would dare to do
these things to His Word and to His people? God has never authorized His Church or mankind
to keep the pagan Sun’s day. Nor did He ever command or allow His people to keep numerous
other pagan festivals and days of worship---and has always explicitly commanded against them!
Here is irony: When people celebrate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” they unwittingly
celebrate the very wrath that God will pour out on them for keeping this pagan custom
in place of His Sabbath! Exodus 20:8-11 showed that Sabbath-keeping
is the Fourth Commandment! The Sabbath has always been the 7th day of the week, never
the first day. God hallowed the Sabbath at creation. Jesus kept it in Luke 4:16. Jesus
also said, “The Sabbath [not Sunday] was made for man” and that He “was Lord of
the Sabbath [not Sunday].” The apostle Paul also kept the Sabbath. (Read Acts 13:42 and
44, and 17:2 and 18:4.) So did the New Testament Church.
God has always said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” He has never said,
“Remember Sunday to keep it holy---and just call it the Lord’s day!”
Paul explained that people are the servants of whatever and whoever they obey: “Know
you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to
whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
People either serve and obey God, and are given eternal life---or they serve and obey
sin, and the “god of this world,” Satan, and earn eternal death!
In the Old Testament, Sabbath-breaking was punishable by death. II Corinthians 3:7-8
describes the original administration of a civil death penalty, which is no longer applicable,
because God is now building the nation of spiritual Israel. Take time to read all of
the verses listed here. We saw from Part 6 that the Sabbath was to
be kept perpetually and throughout the generations of Israel. There are still generations of
Israel today---and there is spiritual Israel, which (we saw) keeps the commandments of God,
the faith of Jesus, and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Take heed whether and how you will obey God. For “He that despised Moses’ law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose you,
shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?” This is terribly serious!
During the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire caused people to receive a “mark.” What
was this Mark? Those who had it lived---those who did not, died. This Mark protected all
who received it. The Roman system “set” this Mark on all
who obeyed and submitted to its pagan religious practices. These included observance of Sunday
as the day of worship (instead of the true Sabbath), along with other pagan holidays
(Christmas, Easter, New Year’s and others). History records that at least 50 million people
were killed for not obeying the Roman Empire in regard to Sunday observance.
Notice this revealing passage, again in Daniel 7: “I beheld, and the same horn made war
with the saints...” This “war” is referring to the period that the Roman Empire, under
the false church’s direction, put to death all those who would not worship on Sunday!
Let me repeat: The universal church in Rome, working with the civil government, caused
everyone under the Roman system to receive this Mark. Sunday became the official day
of worship for all---throughout the Empire. Sabbath observance was outlawed, and anyone
observing it was killed! Millions lost their lives in this persecution, and God’s Word
tells us that it will happen again! We have already seen that the book of Revelation
is largely one of visions and symbols. We read that the Beast “causes all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on
their foreheads...” What does this mean?
Let’s understand. What do people do with their hands? They work! So the “right hand”
referenced in Revelation is a symbol for working---making a living. What about the forehead? The forehead
is a symbol for what people believe. This is referring to one’s intellect or mind---specifically,
what one obeys. Again, God also has a “mark,” or a sign,
He puts on those who follow His laws. In Exodus 13:9, God is explaining one of His annual
Sabbaths to the nation of Israel. Notice this: “It shall be as a sign to you on your hand
[they could not work on the Sabbath] and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s
law may be in your mouth.” This could not be more plain! Let’s examine
two more verses: “Now these are the commandments...and these words which I command you this day,
shall be in your heart...and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes,” and “Shall you lay up these My words in your
heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as
frontlets between your eyes.” The Fourth Commandment, addressing God’s
Sabbath, is the one command that professing Christianity outright rejects! This commandment
separates those who have the Mark of the Beast and those who carry God’s sign of Sabbath-keeping.
It is the test command of one’s obedience to the true God.
God’s Law is not negotiable. If one breaks any of His laws, that person is guilty of
sin. We saw that “sin is the transgression of the law.” If you break it, you earn a
penalty---death (Rom. 6:23). So both God, with His sign, and the Beast, with his mark,
identify their followers. And both bring death---if disobeyed!
You must choose which mark to take. Choose correctly. Your future depends on it!
Now notice again Exodus 31:13 “...Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign
between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies
you.” So then, in plain terms, the Mark of the Beast
is Sunday-keeping and the keeping of pagan festivals---in place of God’s weekly and
annual Sabbaths! The Mark is disobedience to God’s Way!
Today, there is no governmental power to enforce this Mark. However, the final revival of the
Holy Roman Empire is now forming in Europe. Soon it will rise, and again have the power
to force this Mark on an unsuspecting world. The great false church---the Great ***---will
once again ride this Beast. Together they will cause all mankind to carry this Mark
in their forehead (obedience or submission), and without it, people will not be able to
work (the right hand) and ultimately feed themselves.
The Bible reveals that the whole world today is deceived. All nations, in one form or another,
practice paganism. The physical descendents of Israel (the United States, Britain, Canada,
Australia and others) unwittingly are already following these false ways of ‘Babylon’---a
system of religious confusion. God warns all who will listen in Revelation 18:4: “Come
out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her
plagues”! If you take heed to what you have learned
throughout this series, you can receive divine protection from the living God (read Luke
21:36). Obey God, watch, pray always and you shall be accounted worthy to escape! This
also means great reward: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed
to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus
and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received
his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for
a thousand years.” We have reached the end of this series---7
parts, over 3 hours. The identity of the Beast of Revelation and all the biggest questions
connected to it, are now known to you. You have been warned. Now you must decide what
you will do with the knowledge you have received. Take responsibility for where you are.
I cannot, nor can any man, make you act on the understanding within this series, or make
you obey God. I can only jostle you---shake you---but you must rouse yourself from the
comfort zone of your life. Wake up! Throw cold water on your face! Clear your vision!
Don’t waste time! Get going! Start down the road, one step at a time, to where you
should be! Determine to keep your eyes on the truth of events!
A transcendent world test is coming, and this will crash into an almost entirely unprepared
and unsuspecting world. By the way, reject, for the nonsense it is, the idea of December
21, 2012 being the end, since Christ said no man knows the day or hour of His Return.
When asked about conditions that would precede His Return to Earth, Jesus answered, “Take
heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying ‘I am Christ [that
Jesus is Christ]’, and shall deceive many.” Jesus goes straight to the problem that would
exist at the end of the age, and about which I am speaking. There are many, many deceivers
at work today. But how many people are doing what Christ said, and taking heed about this?
How many are carefully doing their homework regarding men claiming to represent God? How
many are following through on claims made by preachers about the Beast with even minimal
Bible study to see how ridiculous---how completely absurd!---are the most popular ideas about
the Beast of Revelation and related prophecies? Jesus Christ promised to build His Church.
Men have built their churches and Christ built His---just one. By now you know it is not,
and never was, the great false system based on the practices of Babylon.
If you want to know more about where the Church meets that understands not only the Beast
of Revelation, but the whole book of Revelation and the entire third of the Bible that is
prophecy---as well as all the other laws and truths of God---read this thorough book, Where
Is the True Church?---and Its Incredible History! And, for the final time, if you have not done
so already, read our eye-opening, thorough booklet, Who or What Is the Beast of Revelation?
You will also want to read related literature, carefully covering subjects directly related
to the Mark of the Beast, such as Saturday or Sunday - Which Is the Sabbath?, The True
Origin of Christmas, The True Origin of Easter, as well as God’s Holy Days or Pagan Holidays?,
among others. (PAUSE) I repeat: one full third of the Bible
is prophecy. God foretells in His Word a great deal about what the future holds. Many prophecies
involve a tremendous amount of understanding that God makes available, and with all necessary
details. He wants His servants to understand exactly what lies ahead for all mankind, and
for themselves---if they are faithful, or if they are not.
Most seem to think that all Bible prophecy involves bad news. This could not be further
from the truth. Vast sections of God’s Word describe the awesome and permanent GOOD NEWS
that lies ahead for the world---that of God’s coming, world-ruling supergovernment, under
Christ and the saints, announced by Jesus as the kingdom of God. This follows immediately
on the heels of the Beast’s final appearance. Towering---truly colossal!---prophecies, concerning
the most terrible calamities to ever strike the earth, are now unfolding. You have seen
them explained in clear, plain detail. A spiritually darkened, blind and deceived world rushes
headlong toward disaster, now just ahead. They do not suspect that God’s wrath, poured
out in full fury, and undiluted with mercy, will soon fall on a sin-ravaged humanity that
God has marked to receive it. Be careful. Many almost seem to think that
by hoping these things will not happen, or wishing them away, their certainty will be
cancelled. How naïve---and foolish! Prophecy does not turn on yours or my agreement. God
declares them in His Word. These prophecies are certain---they are sure. They will happen!
Will you be deceived when they come to pass? Will you be seduced by miracles and lying
wonders? Will you take the Mark of the Beast? Will you not resist worship of the Beast and
his image when the entire world is falling in line? Will you follow the masses and ignore
God? OR---will you obey God, watch and pray always---and
ESCAPE? Until next time, this is David C. Pack saying,
“Goodbye, friends.”
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