In this sermon, the speaker discusses the vision described in Revelation chapter 13. He starts by emphasizing that despite the challenges and opposition faced by the church, the Gospel will not cease and the church will not be exterminated. He refers to the imagery of a wounded head and connects it to the concept of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, where three worlds converged: wicked men, the Father dealing with sin through Jesus, and the believer's personal guilt and sin. The speaker then introduces two beasts mentioned in the vision, one rising from the sea and the other from the earth, and highlights the power and authority given to them by the dragon. He concludes by emphasizing the consequences of choosing bondage to Satan or turning away from sin and finding forgiveness and eternal life.

Will you turn please to Revelation chapter 13. Now I wouldn't be so bold or audacious as to suggest that everyone that's written on the book of Revelation would agree exactly with me as to that which we've been saying and are saying tonight. But I have a secret for you. I don't agree with everyone that's written on the book of Revelation either. And the book remains and stands and holds itself. And what I say about it may be completely wrong, or it may be partly right, or it may be entirely right. But at least the basic truth and principle that we're presenting is that which the word confirms elsewhere. So if you couldn't find it in Revelation, you can certainly find it in the scripture. Tonight this 13th chapter has to do with the vision that the Apostle John had in this day, this day in which he was in the Spirit, this Lord's day long ago on the island of Patmos, when he saw two beasts. The first was a horrible beast. The description was such as to fill one with terror. Such a beast has never lived, has never been found. No zoology book that's ever been written would have a description of such a beast as this. And the second beast that is described is a very mild and subtle one. It has horns like a lamb. But it too is associated with the terrifying beast. But can you not see the strategy of this? If the beast, with all that he is in nature, terrifying, horrifying, were to present himself to the people, would they re-accept what he presents? No. And so he succeeds in getting in the vision another beast, mild and meek and harmless, that's going to do his bidding and fulfill his purpose. Well, now with that little preview, let us hear as I begin reading Revelation chapter 13 and verse 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea and 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. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given unto him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life, and the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, 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. And he had the power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, 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. Here is wisdom, that him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred three score and six." Now let us go back to the early part of the chapter. I admit to you, declare to you freely, that the study of the book of Revelation is not without its pitfalls, not without its difficulties, but it is certainly filled with blessing. We have seen in the previous chapters that from the very time of the beginning of the church right on through, there would be wars and rumors of wars, there would be satanic delusions poured out upon men who received the truth or heard the truth and refused to obey it. And now John, here at this point in the vision, sees the rising up of a beast. There has been a tendency all through the ages to associate this beast with someone on the scene at the time. For instance, when Nero died of his own hand, so we are told or have reason to suspect, it was said by many, even of the Christians that wrote at the time, that he would be this beast and would rise again from the dead and come back and terrorize, as is stated here. When this didn't happen with Nero, then someone else found another figure on the horizon and associated this description with that person. On down across the years and still another, and yet another, and still another. The tendency has been to associate this vision with some individual, some person, to whom the description would seem appropriate. Try and get the thought that even the Antichrist himself should be such a person that had been killed and been raised again or restored to life. But I would like to suggest that you approach this just in a little different manner, not trying to associate it with some individual. For this has proved to be fruitless for centuries now. Let's see it just as it's presented. It tells us that John stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having imperial power, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns. Here is a personality, or a beast as it's described, that has power to act and power to do. Well, who might fit such a description? You remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said? He said, the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Here is one that controlled the world, the world system. Here is one that had power to act. Here is one that could come to Christ and say, if you'll bow down and worship me, I'll give you the nations of the earth. And he could do it because he was the God of it. In the light of this, I would suggest to you that this beast refers to Satan in his government of the affairs of men, government of the world system. Notice as we read on that this beast was like unto a leopard. One of the most feared animals in the jungle of Africa is the leopard because it stalks its prey quietly, pursuing it silently, waiting until it's, if anything should come that might injure it, it will not make a move. It waits quietly until it's gaining its victim. And then with all the terrific strength of the coiled muscle springs upon the victim. A leopard is greatly feared because of this tendency to silently pursue until it has the right moment to strike. So this beast is now representing power, tremendous power to destroy. Then it has the feet of a bear. Those that have recorded their encounters with bears have said that the tendency was to squeeze and to rake with the long claws and to destroy, disembowel a horse with one sweep of the powerful claw. So it's the ability to injure anything that would come to it. Then notice it says it has the mouth of a lion to roar, to frighten, and to destroy. Well, this is a horrifying beast. As I said, no zoology book describes it. And I suppose that as much as men have feared anything, they would fear such a beast were it to be found in the woods or the jungle. But it isn't. I believe that this represents the God of this world who has the strength of the leopard, and the power to injure of the bear, and the power to strike fear of the lion, and in all to terrorize and horrify and destroy. Certainly it would be appropriate since he is described as the devil as a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Now the tendency is to say it's someone other than the devil because it says the dragon gave him his power, his seat, and his great authority. But it doesn't seem to my mind at least necessary to distinguish between the beast and the dragon, but really simply to say that this is the outworked power of Satan through governmental activities. Well, now here is what we find set forth in this scripture, that there is this force, this power. Of course this is laughed at in America. You see the devil very cleverly and cunningly got himself outlawed. He doesn't exist. He isn't there anymore. Oh, how nice this is for him. Theologians have laughed and scoffed at the possibility of a devil. They've said, oh, such a thing couldn't be. This is an anachronism. This is a the superstition of the Middle Ages. It doesn't exist today. But those of us that have been missionaries and have had any contact with people that are held in the conscious bondage to Satan know that such is not the case. He exists in a very real way. I could take the entire evening, as I have said in the previous occasions, endeavoring to tell you the things which Satan does among people that recognize him and bow to him and talk and give him the place that he asked for in their lives. I shan't do it. Suffice it to say that he's very real and very powerful. He is the one that is controlling the world system that we now see and under which we now live, actually. For he it is that is the God of this world. Now notice what happened. I saw one of his heads wounded to death. May I be so bold as to take you back to last Sunday morning's ministry, when we considered those words, it is finished. Do you remember that on that occasion we said that as the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, three worlds came to the same. First, and most apparent, were wicked men that showed how they felt about God by the things that they did to the one that was God come in the flesh, and showed also how they felt about other men, the cruelty and the brutality of the human heart was manifest in what was done to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we also said that at that scene was the Father dealing with you for your sin in the person of your substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ was there dying for you under the load and weight of your guilt and sin, that he loved you and gave himself for you, and that that was actually you on the cross in the person of your representative, the Father bringing to his lips the cup of his wrath and his anger against sin. Do you remember that we said there was a third thing taking place there at the cross, a third thing happening? Satan was coming to the scene. There was all that hell could do, the bulls of Bashan, the lion, the dogs, everything that the pit could do. Our Lord Jesus was now meeting his ancient foe with the weapons that he himself would use to defeat him. Love and light and life and truth now were encountering the one who possessed the very opposite, the hatred and darkness and death and the lie. Well, our Lord Jesus just opened his breast and took everything that hate could do, everything death could do, everything darkness could do, everything the lie could do, and he died. But in so doing, he led captivity captive. Now, might I just take that third verse and say that when our Lord Jesus died, he wounded Satan, mortally wounded him. And here at that time, he was wounded to death. He destroyed his power. He broke into his house and spoiled his goods. All right, having done that, why didn't Satan stay dead if Christ conquered him? Well, for that little period of cold day, until the Lord should gather his church, he allowed him to be, as it were, healed. Wounded to death, but healed. Come back to life, as it were, the deadly wound was healed. And here, Satan was destroyed and his power was broken. He was led captive. But it doesn't seem that way today, does it? He's still in great power today, isn't he? He's still the leopard, the bear, the lion today. Well, why? Well, you see, men rejected God back in the garden, back in the account of Genesis. They chose Satan, turned authority over to him. Had our Lord Jesus enforced his victory over Satan, there would have been no grounds of the presentation of the gospel as God intended it to be presented. And so he gave to his church power over Satan, authority over the defeated foe, the right to enforce his victory. He gave weapons, not carnal, but mighty to the tearing down of strongholds. He gave himself to fill every believer. And he put his church back in the world to enforce his victory through those that had once been the subjects of Satan, but now have been redeemed. So that where the church would be to him what he wanted it to be, the victory of Christ could be enforced. Of course, when the church failed to be what God wanted it to be, it had no power. It had no authority. It was good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men. Now this is why Satan has always hated the church, because the church is the unit God works with, the local church. We understand that the universal church is above any attack from the enemy, but we do not serve in the universal church. We serve in the local church, and it's the local church where the warfare is. Now there have been several different strategies that the enemy has used against the church. First, he tried to destroy it by persecution, and that signally failed, though he still does this in his folly. But everywhere the church is persecuted, blessing comes, because the blood of the martyrs continues to prove to be the seat of the church. The other and the more successful strategy of Satan has been to infiltrate the church. How? First, by getting into with the unsaved, by inventing such doctrines as baptismal regeneration, for instance. Now there's a proper place for baptism, but the thought has been in the church for centuries that when water strikes the top of the head, it has somehow a miraculous effect upon the spirit without God doing anything in the heart. And consequently, the church has been filled by this terrifying doctrine with people that have never been born of God. It has been through every subtle means whereby anyone could be led to a superficial profession without actually meeting God. And whenever anyone is taken into the church as a member or part of the group that hasn't truly met God in everything that God wants done in the meeting, Satan's plan is forwarded. Because now he has a fifth columnist of hell. You remember the word, do you not? When the present dictator of Spain was marching on Barcelona, he was asked if they were going to succeed. He said, yes, we're going to succeed, because we have four columns marching on the city from four points of the compass, and the fifth column is already in the city. And so we've ever since that used the word fifth columnist to represent those that are in the place of the battle, but who are on the side of the one that the rest of the group is fighting. And so Satan's strategy has been to get into the church, the fifth columnist of hell. Those that have never been born again, who are still the subjects of the God of this world, and are the vehicle, if you please, by which Satan's plan could be worked out. Imagine a football game, if you wish, for this moment. Here are two teams, both wearing jerseys and numbers and colors, but unknown to the spectators and unknown to the rest of the players, there's a third team. Half of them are on one side and half of them are on the other side. So what do you have? Well, here you have absolute carnage, and the only one that can win is that group that are there that are completely thwarting and hindering. And this is the type of strategy that hell has used in the church. And it's tragic that it's been so successful. Another thing, of course, that the enemy has done has been to get Christians that have been truly born again to be content with less than being filled with the Spirit of God. For everything in the New Testament that has to do with the church is postulated upon the being filled with the Spirit. This is the normal, this is the place of beginning. And no, nothing can really be properly done in the church on any other level if it's to be a spiritual church and be effective in the warfare. Of course, there's still a third tactic that's used by the enemy, and that is to get those that are Christians and even Spirit-filled who allow sin in their life, because when they do give place to the enemy, then they can become the tools of his effort. And so, through the centuries, this enemy has been working at the church. He's been seeking to hurt it. It's been the prime strategy to destroy the effectiveness of the church, because this is the thing that God is doing, and this is the instrument that he's using in his purpose to gather to himself a people for himself. Now, he was healed. He was slain. He was healed. If the church will take her weapons and take her position and take the provisions that God has made, the church is absolutely inviolate. It can't be conquered, and it can't be hurt. Now, I'm not speaking of the local organization in the sense of this cooperation. I'm speaking of the local church. When that church is what God intends it to be, then it can't be invaded. It can't be hindered. It can't be hurt. Even though they're all killed, it's still a glorious triumph. This one was healed. Satan was allowed to go again. He'd been dealt with there drastically and completely at the cross, but God permitted him to go on. He still controls the world. He still hates the church. And the reason that the Lord let him is mysterious and hard to explain. The only thing I can say is this, that he would leave the conditions of the sinner as nearly what they were before Christ's coming as possible, so that those that he gathered to himself would have had the full test of everything that was involved in anyone's coming. And I would say this, that as long until the last member of the body of Christ is in, the last person is saved, Satan is still going to continue his working and his power. Because in so doing, it gives the church an opportunity to exercise the victory of Christ and show the conquest that he's made, and it also leaves the sinner in the situation where his coming to Christ is the same as every other sinner's coming to Christ. I don't suppose that's a satisfactory answer entirely, but it's the only one that I can give as to why God allowed Satan to continue after he was mortally wounded. But nevertheless, he says, John, I saw one of his heads that were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And this is true today, you know, because we had Easter last Sunday and the world paused for just a brief moment in its downward plunge to destruction to remember that 1,900 years ago a man died and they said he was raised from the dead. We know he was raised from the dead, but this skeptical world says, if he was, why hasn't he done something to all the evil in the world? Why hasn't he put down evil? Why has he allowed the brutality that we've seen? Why did he allow Hitler? Why did he allow Stalin? Why is he allowed, if he's truly alive, why? This question is being asked and has been asked. And so, men say, well, if Jesus Christ is alive, he doesn't seem to be doing much about it, and he doesn't look like he's the one that's in charge of things anymore. I guess we'd better not worry much about him, and we'd better worship the beast. And so, they worship the dragon. They give, they worship the world power, world system, and world government, and world organization. You talk with some people, for instance, about the United Nations. Now, I'm very grateful for it. I'm sure the world has been spared from possibility of two wars in the last ten years. I'm not a sum who would condemn it. I believe that it's a forum that's saving, perhaps, untold misery and suffering today. But I talk with some idealists, and they say, now this, and their eyes light up, and their faces become illumined, this is the answer to the world's need. We're grateful for it, but as long as someone can take his shoe off his feet in that forum and thump the desk, and the rest of the world tolerate such indignities, it doesn't seem to be the answer. It happens to be a convenience, and we're grateful for it. People wonder at it, and they worship the power of the dragon. They, that is, they worship the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is like unto this one that's able to exercise authority, and power, and government? But it's all anti-Christian government. It's all, we're a Christian nation, and we passed the Christian amendment, and people were excited a while ago when they said, we've got to put into the pledge to the flag, one nation under God. Oh, I'm grateful for that. But it's more or less like the phrase, the hackneyed phrase, on our coins. In God we trust, because you have a handful of coins in your pocket, and which say, in God we trust. Are you trusting in God? Has this made us a Christian nation? No, not so. Not so. It's still a nation that worships power, power block, and worships money, and worships success, worships achievement. These are the things to which men give their adulation and their loyalty. All right, our Lord was despised and rejected of men. He didn't achieve. He didn't organize any schools. He didn't organize any groups. He didn't build a big program. He didn't get a lot of money. He never wrote a book. Who was he? Carpenter. What's he had? We know that he's God. God come in the flesh, gloriously triumphant. But the world doesn't worship this lowly Nazarene. Oh, when they see Rome, and St. Peter's, and the Vatican, and they see all the power of a worldly system, that's impressive. You remember what one said when he was standing by one of the popes and centuries gone by? He said, well, no longer can it be said, said the Pope to this one, no longer can it be said, what Peter said, silver and gold have I none. Yes, said the devout heart, neither can we say any longer, such as I have, I give thee. Rise up and take up, rise up and walk. No, the church organized, the church visible, the church political, the church magnificent, the church grand. Well, men wonder at that. But you know, you have to ask, is this the product of the blessed Holy Spirit's working? Is this something that God has sovereignly done? Not just that one, but all of the political organizations. Are these of God? I do not think you will accuse me of being an iconoclast, an idol breaker, if I say to you that I do not think this is of God. But then you say, it's of Satan. No, it's of men. It's of men. Now, I believe Satan has used it, but it's of men. And men have done it. I don't believe God has done it. But it's something that is so easily captured by the God of this world. And so across the centuries, we have seen in Russia, for instance, under the Orthodox Church, the pogroms against the Jewish people. In Spain, we've seen the Inquisition. And we've seen Christianity, falsely so-called, that has been using weapons of cruelty and brutality. And I submit to you, therefore, that part of the instrumentality of government is not only that secular government with which the history books are filled, but also church government that has taken its place along the side of the secular government. And this, too, is part of the working out of the beast's successful enterprise. They worship the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worship the beast saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. This number, forty and two months, I do not accept as a literal period. Not if you wish to, you're free to. I accept it as saying the entire time until the end, from the beginning to the end, the whole time, from the time it started until it finished. And it's a symbol that's used here of the time period. And yet, for this entire period, the beast with this anti-Christian governmental authority and power is going to continue. That's what he's saying. This one that was wounded mortally at the cross and allowed to be restored again is going to continue gaining the loyalty and the enthusiasm of men right on down to the end. They're going to worship him. They're going to be loyal to such right to the very conclusion. He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And the governments of the world have been notorious for this, nor to the very present. We understand by this that the whole world system is blasphemous. You know, the most religious people that I know are not church members and not evangelical Christians. Occasionally, I'll be sitting in a restaurant somewhere listening. I hear a man talking religion. Over there, someone is talking about damn. That's a terrible thing when people are damned. Then he talks about hell. This must be a tremendous on the lines because it seems almost every other sentence they're talking about damn and about hell. And then the other man on the other side of the table talk about God and about Jesus Christ. And I'm glad to conclude that the most religious people aren't church people, but they're the they're the irreligious falsely so But what are they doing? Are they concerned about hell as the goal? No. You see, Satan's strategy is to make the terrifying so commonplace that it loses its hold. So people are always talking about hell, always talking about damn, because that's what's going to happen to them. And if Satan's strategy can be completed, then they're going to lose their fear of being damned. It won't have any hold on them. And if they can make God a mockery and Jesus Christ a word of blasphemy, then their only hope of forgiveness and eternal life is gone. And so thus the strategy of the beast, this terrifying thing, is to by blasphemous blasphemy to make the fate of the unsaved an impossible thing in their minds and the means of grace just a nothingness, just a word without consequence. So he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Notice something else about this beast. And I think in this you may see that it has reference to what's been transpiring for eighteen, nineteen hundred years. It was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. That's true. And across the centuries there has been this power. My heart has been stirred as I have heard the reading on that legion of tradition tells us and history gives us some verification of that Christian legion of men out there in Armenia, Roman legion, where the order went out that they were to worship the emperor by leaving incense at his statue. They refused to do it. The company of soldiers that had been sent with the general insisting upon the act of devotion ordered his soldiers to go through the ranks standing at attention, and they were decimated. That is, every tenth man was killed. And they said, now will you worship and step forward? Not a man stepped forward. They went through, and the entire legion was slain. They had swords, and they could have fought. They would have fought against one of Caesar's enemies. But when the emperor said, either worship my image, do obeisance to me, or die, they were overcome in that sense in which seemingly they were no longer a thorn in the side of the emperor. He succeeded. The sword was driven into the heart, and the soldier died. He wasn't a problem any longer. Caesar had overcome. They had died. They died. But had he really overcome? Oh, no. For they had gone immediately into the presence of the Lord. And so it gave power to persecute the saints, to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. But it was a false victory, really, because everyone that was thus overcome was immediately taken into the presence of the Lord. But this power is in the hands of Satan. It has been, and it will continue to be. And we trust and pray that it'll never come in our lifetime or our children, that such will transpire here. I hope it won't. But my friend, if we are spared, if we are spared from this kind of a test of our faith, believe me, it will not be because we deserve it. For I can see absolutely nothing in America today that should cause God to withhold persecution for so much as an hour. Here is a nation that's been spared the Holocaust of two wars on its own soil. Here's a nation that's been blessed with creature comforts as no other nation under history. Here's a nation that's had access to the gospel as no other nation in history. Here is the most drunken nation with the highest rate of divorce and juvenile delinquency and national crime of any nation. Here is a nation where they have 95 million people in churches and the moral life is deteriorating hourly. I see absolutely no reason why God should spare us for a moment. As Stacey Woods said on this platform last October, we are ripe for judgment and not one thing to stop us. And listen, he has power to make war on the saints. This was granted to him by God. God granted to Satan power to make war on the saints. And no authority has ever been given to the church to stop him from doing that. We have authority against his working in the life of a Christian, but we have no authority to stop persecution. No authority at all. When the heart, when the sword is aimed at your heart, there's only one thing to do with it. You have no authority to stop it. Not any. Only authority you have is to say, Lord, help me to glorify thee. He has power to make war on the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And everywhere you go to the remotest place in the land, in the world, you'll find they worship evil spirits and worship Satan. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, this is the only encouraging thing that we have in this whole thing. Here is one wounded to death, but allowed to live. But there are certain company over which they will not worship him. Certain company that he can't control. And of course, these are the ones that he hates. Who are they? The ones whose names are written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, what does this mean? Their names are written from before the foundation of the world or the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world? You will bless your heart you don't have to choose because they're both true. Before the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain. Before God ever put a speck of dust in the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ had consented to go to the cross to redeem man. God wanted to love him so much that he was willing to let his son die in order to secure him, that beloved. And so before the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus consented to die and Calvary was just acting out what had already been set in the heart and mind of God. Wait a minute. Before the foundation of the world, God knew everyone to whom the means of grace would prove effective. Everyone that he could bring to himself by those means that he would sovereignly choose. He knew the elect. He knew who they would be. And the names were written there in the Lamb's book of life. My friend, he won't have to open up another page on the back and say those overlooked. They're written. They're written. We don't know who they are, but he does. And when we go to preach, we know that he sovereignly ordained preaching the gospel. He sovereignly ordained intercessory prayer. He sovereignly ordained longing love for the unsaved as the means of grace. We don't know who's going to be saved, but we know that someone is. But he knows who they are. And their names were written before the foundation of the world. You come to the door of grace and over the arch you see the word, whosoever will may come. And you say, this means me, for here I am with my sin, and he has bid me come. And you come in repentance and faith and receive Jesus Christ as the one who loved you and died for you and shed his blood for you. And you're forgiven and pardoned and you have peace and life. Then you turn around and you look at the inside of the arch, and you know what it says? Chosen in him before the foundation of the world. Known under God are his works before the foundation of the world. The Lamb's Book of Life. Oh, how glad that you should be that there's a sovereign God, a God that reigns, a God that rules, a God that's not willing that any should perish. And we'll extend this message even to those whom he knows are adamantly going to refuse, because every means of grace that he has provided, they will scoff at and scorn and reject. But he knows also that there will be those to whom the word will come as a savor of life unto life. Oh, has it come that way to you? You say, well, how do I know that my name is written there? There's only one way. Cease from your sin immediately. Throw down the arms of your warfare now. Sue for peace now. Everyone that has left his sin, everyone that has stopped his fighting against God, everyone that's abandoned his warfare, everyone that's come asking for forgiveness has been saved. That's all you do. You come. You'll take care of the rest. Say, well, why, I won't come unless my name's written there. Oh, no, it didn't say that. It didn't say that. It said your name wasn't written there because you wouldn't come. Now, you come. You come. That's all. You come and God will meet you and God will save you. It's up to you there. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And whosoever hear us say, come. Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him come. Take the water of life freely. All right, but that person that's going to consent to captivity, as we see in verse 10, shall go into captivity. He that is going to be happy in it, he that's going to be content to be the slave of Satan, let him go on thus. And he that killeth with the sword, he that has rejected and spurned the means of grace, is with that sword going to be slain. If you choose death, then death will be your portion. You choose bondage to Satan, then bondage eternal will be your end. But if you will cease from your iniquity and your sin and turn, ah, then here is patience and the faith of the saints. Here is forgiveness and eternal life. Now, quickly, I close just by calling to your attention the second beast. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. Here is one that's innocuous and pitiful and not anything to be affrighted of at all. But he still speaks the message of the dragon. He still communicates what Satan wants communicated. I remember a young man going from the college from which I finished my work. And he was going to a liberal seminary. And he came to me, said, you know, I've pretty well given up those doctrines we were taught back at the good old school. I said, why? Well, he said, at our seminary, there's a professor. He's so gracious. He's so kind. He's so devout. He's so earnest. And he's so sincere. And he is so loving. And he doesn't believe those things. And, you know, just being around him has convinced me that those doctrines we were told were important really weren't so important. And so I've just given them all up because I've been so impressed with this man. What were the doctrines? The authority and the inspiration of the scripture, the deity of Christ, that Christ is God, all the precious truths of the faith. He'd been given up. Well, why? Because he met one like a lamb. But the one that looked like a lamb still spoke like a dragon. He still attacked the very foundation of our faith. So what do we see in this second beast? This is the continuance of anti-Christian propaganda. The first beast was anti-Christian government from the entire period. This is anti-Christian propaganda that's subtle, that comes in quietly, that it's poison covered with a sugar coating. And he's the beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb. And he spake as a dragon. But he exercised the power of the first beast. And he caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. A missionary going out to India said, I didn't come to make you believe in Christ. I simply came in order that we could together synthesize the beautiful out of both of our faiths, supported by evangelical congregations here. Spake like a beast and caused them to worship the lamb. The scripture says, neither is there any other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And so I would see this as that religious propaganda that has been, as we should say, mild like the lamb, but deadly in its effect. I would see it as educational propaganda. I would see it in such horrendous doctrines as those that we find in our colleges and seminaries so frequently, that strike at the very root of confidence in the revelation of God. That looks so nice, but so deadly in the effect. He doeth great wonders, maketh fire come down from heaven and on the earth. Out in Nigeria, there was a demon dance. The influence of the gospel had permeated that cruel culture. And this witch doctor in the midst, caught up in the frenzy of his dervish-like worship, stopped and pointed to a little blind girl sitting over at the side. And he said in the native language, Satan doesn't want you blind. Satan is kind. And in the name of Satan, your eyes be opened. And the child received half of her sight. And the whole area and many professed Christians came back again to the demon worship. Power is there, but it's the power that leads to death and not to life. He deceived them with miracles. And this propaganda has not only been accompanied by such miracles, for I think there are few, perhaps relatively, and far between. But the miracle is this, that a society, a company of people, a great denomination has such of these historic denominations that once were held and enwrapped in love for Christ could, over a period of a hundred years, be brought to the place where they've completely denied the truths that the founders loved. This has happened. It's going on around you today. Miracles have happened. Miracles have happened. He had power to give life unto the image of the beast. He had power to make white seem black and black seem white and life seem death and death seem life and sin seem holy and holiness seem sinful. He had power to give life to the beast. He had power to make everything fit in to what he was seeking to do. With propaganda came ability. And he caused all, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads that no man might buy or sell save he that hath a mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. How much speculation has gone on about this? How many times there have been efforts to prove that a certain man was the 666 because if you took the value of his letters of his name, it would add up to that. A good bit of twisting has been done. But you know, seven is the number of perfection and completeness. And seven is the number of God and man. Four is the number of man. And three is the number of God. When you find seven, you find God dealing with man in the perfect revelation of himself. And what is it saying? It says, here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast. What is it? 666. Not 776. Not 777. Not from heaven. Not from God. But 666. It's earthly. It's all of man. It's all of the world. All of logic. All of reason. All of science, falsely so-called. It all seems so plausible. But it's all of man. It's of the beast. But men take it. Men invent it. Men use it to destroy other men. And it's all the effort of Satan to thwart the purpose of God. 666, humanism. 666, that destructive soul-destroying liberalism that destroys confidence in the Word and the truth. What is it? It's the beast who's there behind all government now having the little beast that comes in plausible and open. And oh, how subtle and how destructive. And so through the while, our only confidence is this. We can't match the arguments of man 666. You come with revelation. You say, that's passé. That's old-fashioned. That's old hat. That's archaic. That's from the medieval period. That's from the dark ages. Why don't you get in tune with the times? You can't believe in the inspiration of the Bible and the supernatural coming of Christ by the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection from the dead. These things are unscientific. They're unscriptural. Well, here's Dr. So-and-so from such-and-such a seminary. And here's another and still another. Pressure mounts up and comes. And in the midst of all of this, you say, well, what can happen? Surely the gospel's going to cease. Surely the church will be exterminated. Oh, no. No, because you see, before the foundation of the world, there was a lamb slain and a book written. We don't know who they are, but we know that when we give a clear witness to Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, in spite of all of the great terrifying beast and all the anti-Christian propaganda, there will be those who come to Christ. We don't know who they will be, but he does. What a joy this gives to witness. How it ought to thrill your heart when you're going down the street calling on homes. How it ought to bless you when you're being sent away from a door and they're laughing at you. How it ought to encourage your heart when you're writing letters and sending the gospel with it. How it ought to thrill you when you're talking with someone. Because you do not know the ones that will come, but you know that he has ordained the means of their coming. And so as you witness and give out the gospel and pass out the tracts and you invite others to come to Christ and talk here and pray for these and visit there, what are you doing? All you're doing is finding those other sheep that he said he must bring. He knows who they are. You don't, but he does. And so everything this terrifying beast of anti-Christian government can do will be done, and everything that this subtle beast of propaganda can do will be done. But here is what Christ said, the gate of hell shall not prevail against the church. And what he is saying is this, that all of this is not going to stop the gathering in from every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation and people that are going to come. They're going to come from Islam. They're going to come from Hinduism. They're going to come from Buddhism. They're going to come from atheism. They're going to come from communism. They're coming. I don't know who they are. You don't, but he does. He said, other sheep have I, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. All that the Father gives unto me shall come unto me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Oh, may your heart take courage today. Perhaps the next person that you speak to is one whose heart's prepared, who will respond, and who will come. Shall we pray? With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, just before we conclude, we've been speaking to someone here tonight that's been a victim of the beast, terrifying, not knowing it, been a victim of the little beast, enticing, subtly drawing, not knowing it. Let me ask you, do you have peace, peace with God? Do you know your sins are forgiven? Do you have that completeness that only he can bring? Do you have that joy, which is the portion of the redeemed? Is Christ in your heart? You were made for Christ, you know. When God made you, he put into you an empty place that only he can fill. You'll never be complete or whole or truly satisfied without Christ. I wonder tonight, if in your weariness, perhaps even despair, you're prepared to say, I don't know all the answers, and I don't even know my own heart, but I know that I need God, and I want to learn more about him and come to him. I am a candidate for the grace of God. I need forgiveness. I need pardon. I need power. I need God. And tonight, I'm simply going to crystallize my feeling by raising my hand and by their doing, saying to myself and to God that I need him, and I want to learn about Jesus Christ. Would you put your hand up? Anyone? Anywhere? I need him. Yes, thank you. I see that hand. Is there another? I need God. I need God. Anyone else? Put it up and let me see it. Father, it looks as though the one that was wounded and lived has won the day. If we just saw what's going on around us, we might get discouraged. But because we've seen thee on the throne, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and thou has told us exactly what's happening, what's going to happen, and thou has told us that those whose names are written in the book of life will not worship the beast, and they will worship the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We make bold to say to sin-weary hearts tonight that if they will turn unto thee, thou will forgive them and pardon them and make them everywhit whole. We thank thee for the hands that have been raised and the hearts behind the hands. We thank thee, our Father, that thou, by thy Spirit, art working in these hearts. Might there come a clean break with all sin and a throwing open of the door and an inviting of Jesus Christ to come in to bring forgiveness and pardon and love and life and power and joy? O Father, we plead his precious blood over us tonight and ask thee for thy continued working. Lord, there may be those that have been discouraged. They've grown weary in well-doing. They've given out tracts and had them thrown away down. They've called on people and been turned away. Help them to realize that what they're doing is simply going with thee to those prepared hearts in due course that will receive. We don't know who they are or where they are, but thou has said that if we would preach the gospel to every creature, there would be those who would come to Christ. Help us to be faithful. Lord, help us to realize that in that day we may hear him say, if you'd have just gone to the next door, you'd have found someone waiting for you. I had to send someone else because you wouldn't go. Help us to be faithful to the Lord. In spite of all the power of Satan and all the anti-Christian propaganda, help us to be faithful, knowing that thou hast thine own. Give to every one of us today the joy in this week to come, the joy of speaking to someone about Christ. We ask thee to make guide and direct and lead that we may be faithful in our witness for Christ, just as faithful as those enemies of Christ are in trying to blot out his name and his remembrance from the minds of men. So seal the word. Encourage the hearts of thy people by showing them that thou dost know what's taking place and nothing is surprising thee. And thou art going to fulfill all thy purpose in spite of them.