Presented by Evangelist Wendell Stover

Take your Bible and turn to Revelation, chapter 1. I would like to give a brief review of where we were at last evening and where we closed. Last night was sort of an introductory presentation, and I know that. I know that we did not really get into a lot of deep theological discussion, but if you stay with me, we will. We are building just one evening after another, here a little and there a little. Something we decided last evening here as a class is that we are going to trust what the Bible says more than what man says. If we are studying here in the book of Revelation or in some other part of the Bible, and we come to something we haven’t heard before, rather than just dismissing that idea and throwing it away, I want us to be encouraged to study it carefully from scripture. Because, if God repeats it, perhaps in the book of John or the book of Revelation, by some other biblical authors such as Paul or even from one of the Gospels, it is important to God and He wants us to remember it. If I ask you as a class the question, when God repeats something in scripture, why does He do that, I would appreciate it if you would answer by saying it is important to God and He wants us to remember it. Wouldn’t it be awful if God asks us to remember something, and we just purposefully and willfully said, "Oh, I know what God says, but I’m not going to pay any attention to that"?

Notice with me Revelation 1:1. He says that this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto Him, and following comes the sequence. The message in the book of Revelation came from God the Father, to Jesus Christ the Son, then to the angel, he gave it to John, then John wrote it down in a book as we read last evening, and that has been preserved for us. We asked the question, "Can we trust the book?" Has man slipped something in here that should not be, or has some man or organization taken away from the book of Revelation? Can we really trust the book? And yes, as a class, we agreed that this book comes with a special protective cover from God, and in the last days we can trust the book.

I am building this foundation because as we move further and further into the meetings, I want us to learn some things. I want you to leave this building at nighttime thinking, "Why have I never heard this before?" I don’t want you coming here and just listening to the same messages spiritually given that you’ve heard all of your life. If that is the case, we could just make a tape or give out some literature and you could stay home and do that. But, I want us to not just brush the elbow of Jesus, I want us to come in direct contact with Him. I think people are tired of just singing about Him or just reading about Him. Every thinking man and woman, boy and girl, on the face of this earth realizes that something big is about to take place. They don’t know exactly what it is. It is time to stop playing games with God, our faith and religion, and become personally acquainted with the Author which is Jesus Christ.

There is another point we mentioned last evening which I am going to make a big deal out of, and if you get angry about it, I’m sorry, but that is just the way it is. Everybody smile. You still love me don’t you? The devil has introduced an idea among all of our churches basically. The idea he loves you to believe is that it doesn’t matter what you believe (did you catch it?). It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you love Jesus and you stay just with the Bible. Now, I’m telling you that is a lie.

A lady came up to me one night after a meeting, and she was angry. I’ve been a student of human behavior for a long time, and I can read body language pretty clearly. I could see the flush in her face. She wasn’t making fists at me, but she was very angry. She said, "Mr. Stover". Now, a lot of people just call me Wendell and that’s what I like, but she said, "Mr. Stover, you know the Bible so well, you can make it say anything!" Was that a complement or something else? Now, there’s a danger in that. Some of you may be tempted to say that because when we begin to learn new things from scripture, sometimes those new things demand that we change our lifestyle. The easiest way to wiggle out of it is to say, "That’s your opinion, and I’ve got my opinion." I refuse to let that dominate the teaching in our Bible classes. We don’t all have to agree, but we all must be in agreement that we will let this book settle any argument that we have. Even tonight’s discussion on the coming New World Order has a lot of room for discussion.

Turn with me if you will to the book of Revelation, chapter 13. I was sitting in my den listening to a speech by then Vice President George Bush. (You can tell this goes back a little way.) I was acquainted with the idea, but have never really labeled it the way he labeled it that evening. He was giving a speech and he mentioned the idea of the coming New World Order. I began to think about that. The more I thought about it, studied, listened and became an observer of what is happening in a global way, I really believe that Revelation 13 speaks to the whole idea of the coming New World Order. Preachers today can preach things they could not preach 100 years ago.

You see, the Bible has given us great prophecies that are to come true, and the prophecies are being explained in one of three ways. With each of you here this evening, your view of Biblical prophecy and of Bible teaching is couched in one of these three ways. The preterits teach, "Don’t worry about Revelation or any other prophetic material because it’s already happened in the past." How would you like to belong to that group? The opposite of that is a futurist, and the futurist says, "Oh, don’t worry about the book of Revelation, don’t worry about the anti-Christ and the mark of the beast, don’t even spend your time studying that because that is all to come in the future." So, on one side, we have the preterits, the other side we have the futurist. This is sort of like an Oreo cookie. The sweetest part is right in the middle. Now, somebody is going to give me a health talk tonight, I can just see it coming. Be kind to me. In the middle is a view called a historist position. This lets the teacher or anyone interested in prophecy examine the scriptures to see what has already happened, and it can be identified and proven in history. If something has happened, we know that it has occurred in history. Why not get it out in the open? If, to the best of our knowledge, it has not yet happened, then we say that is to come in the future. Now, tomorrow evening some of our minds are going to be challenged because as we study Revelation’s most secret vision, you will sit there thinking, "Now Wendell, has this already happened or is this to come in the future?" And actually, that can be a question we have in all the chapters in Revelation.

In Revelation 13 we have a mixture. We have some predictions here that have already occurred. We know that some of the prophecy is unfulfilled – it is yet to come in the future. Can I just tell you as simply as I know how to state what Revelation 13 is all about? In the coming New World Order, there is a deliberate plan attitude for control of the world. The Bible gives us a story that the control of the world will come about by the marriage of two powers. Revelation 13:1 talks about a power that comes up out of the earth. Revelation 13:1 speaks of a beast that comes out of the sea. Revelation 13:11 speaks of the beast that comes up out of the earth. Now, whatever you believe, please just stay with the Bible. It is the union of those two powers that are destined to bring about that time of trouble and the time of the beast spoken of in the book of Revelation. It is not one power, but it is two powers that join themselves together and bring about one power. I would be bold enough tonight to tell you we know who the first beast is, we know who the second beast is, but I don’t want to tell you tonight. I told you last night I want to keep a carrot dangling out there, but stay with me. We have at least 10 or 12 major identifying points that let us know that the first power is a religious power, and equally so, the second beast is to be a political power. So what we have are the two largest and the most powerful forces on earth uniting themselves together to control the minds and the activities of men. Religion and politics are two great chains that are wrapped around people for control.

Let’s just read a little bit of this tonight in Revelation 13:1. This is such colorful language! A young man was sitting at my table not long ago, and he said, "Wendell, I’ve been reading the book of Revelation." He said, "In chapter 13, there is a beast that comes out of the sea." He said, "Is that the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean?" Now this is symbolic. When you read the word "beast" in Bible prophecy, it does not mean something like the Lochness Monster in reality is going to rear up it’s ugly head and be seen. But, a beast in Bible prophecy most often represents nations and powers that be. This one, though, has some very special qualities. We know where this one will originate, when it will originate, what it would do in full power and even how long it will be in control. Let’s just read a little bit about this. In Revelation 13:1, John says, "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." Read on to verse 2, "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." If we had time here in this class to have studied the book of Daniel, all this would make a lot of sense to you. What we have in the book of Daniel are cousin chapters to the book of Revelation. Most all of which is taught in Revelation is also taught in the book of Daniel. Now, when God repeats something in scripture, why does He do that? It’s important to Him and He wants us to remember it.

If I told you that in Daniel chapter 2, in Daniel 7:8 and even overlapping into Daniel 9, Revelation 12 and Revelation 13 and most of Revelation 14 can all be placed together in a certain package. Would that mean that God was very interested in the rise, the fall and the destiny of great nations? You see, in Daniel the second chapter, this pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream. I’m sure you’ve heard of this dream about a metallic statue of a man. The king was very troubled. Daniel eventually was called in to interpret the dream. The metallic man had four different metals, and those different metals are the head of gold, the arms and chest of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and then the toes of iron mixed with miry clay. Each of those different metals represented certain nations that would come just like the beast in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, and would represent certain powers that would come. Daniel said, "You, Oh King, you are this head of gold." That was the Babylonian Empire. His arms and his chest were of silver. Daniel said that represents the next kingdom that will come; we all know that was the Medo-Persian Empire. His belly and thighs were of brass; Daniel says that shall represent the third empire, which is the Grecian Empire. All of you have studied this. I have been sharing this for the last 11 years full time. I have never met anyone of any faith of any educational status anywhere that disagrees with all this. It is true and backed up by the record of scripture and history. You have, beginning with the Babylonian Empire, followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, and then the Pagan Roman Empire. All these are in that certain order.

When we come to Revelation 13, it says that John saw a beast or power coming out of the sea. Even the water has symbolic meaning. The water represents a populated region of the country; Revelation 17:15 tells us that. Surely, God must have had a plan in all this. He wanted us to be sure that we knew there was a sequence of great powers that would come beginning with the Babylonian Empire, the second Medo-Persian Empire, the third Grecian Empire, and the fourth one the Pagan Roman Empire. God knew the sequence of things that were to come, that in the last days there would be people searching the scriptures, earnestly desiring to know what would be happening in the last days. This power in Revelation 13:1, 2, is a composite beast that would come up after the first, second, third, and fourth beast representing those empires that I have already mentioned. So, already you know in your mind, when you read Revelation 13, that this beast was to come after all of those, but it would have characteristics and qualities like the Medo-Persian Empire, the bear that raised itself up on one side and had three ribs in it’s mouth, etc. One night, we are going to study all of this. It is so filled with historical significance so impressive as to how accurate God’s word corresponds with the record of history. It cannot be denied. We even know who the three ribs represent that were in the mouth of that bear.

Go with me back to Revelation 13 and notice verse 2, it says that, "The dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority." If we have time one evening, you will be amazed to discover how wily and how deceitful Satan really is. I know the dragon represents Satan because in Revelation 12 in verse 9, it tells us this. "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." If you stay just with the Bible, you are in a very safe position, Amen? In Revelation 13:2, we have learned the beast is a composite beast, and we’ve learned that the dragon primarily representing Satan. But, Satan usually never shows himself. He always uses human instruments to do his work for him when he can. Satan would be the engine and the motivating power behind this beast. Automatically there is a red flag that goes up in my mind, because if Satan is for it, Jesus is against it. If Jesus is against it, I don’t want anything to do with it. One of the greatest explanations, I think, of Godly behavior and of conversion is defined by the attitude that says, ‘I want to love the things that Jesus loves. I want to hate the things that Jesus hates." Some of us have that twisted just a little bit. More than hating the sin, sometimes we hate the sinner. Did you know that Jesus died for the sinner?

Getting back to verse 3 in Revelation 13, very quickly I would like to move through about four or five verses here because I want to spend an hour back in this chapter with a board and some other tools to help us understand this. But, we know for sure who these powers are. Read quickly in the beginning of verse 3, "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." Now, you have to determine if that has already happened, if it is happening today or if it’s yet to come in the future. Let’s notice verse 4. I am suggesting this is a religious power. It says, "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?" The natural response would be NOBODY, NOBODY! Let me tell you something, God’s people will be found faithfully standing.

Did you know that even right now Satan wants to keep you pushed down? He wants to keep you so discouraged that you don’t even want to be a Christian. A few weeks ago, the Lord laid upon my heart the 23^rd Psalm. If you have ever attended church more than twice, you’ve heard the 23^rd Psalm. We have all memorized it. I’ve always thought of that as a sweet, soothing psalm that you can read as the evening sun is going down, and the clouds are covered with a burst of color. On my knees, I began to pray, "God, I’m not even interested in the 23^rd Psalm right now. What is there here in this psalm that’s so important?" In the morning and the evening, I kept reading over and over that psalm. I’ve been reading another book through all this year, and I’m going to give it away tonight. I have it right here by these registration cards. It’s a book called Peace Above the Storm. My little book is titled Steps to Christ. It just happened that part of that psalm says, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." It began to just ring so clearly in my hearing. To my sweet Debbie, I said, "Debbie, when you read the 23^rd Psalm, what does it say to you?" She says it means that God is a comforter, that He blesses us, that He helps us and that He gives us security. And I’m saying that is not what I’m getting out of it. I called a pastor friend. I said, "When you read the 23^rd Psalm, what do you get out of it?" It just happened that a few days later, I was asked to read scripture at a graveside. I was asked to read the 23^rd Psalm. I knew why God had laid that Psalm on my heart. I told that grieving family what He really wants us to see is that we are going through. That wonderful truth had never come to me from the 23^rd Psalm. David says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Though you have a divorce, though you lose your job, your children don’t make the best judgement, your body begins to wear out the older you are. Something is happening at MY home. The washing machine is shrinking all of my clothes. Every book I have, the print is just shrinking up. Yet, David says, yea, though I walk through all of this! Of all the atrocities that are committed across the world with all the meanness and the bad things that are taking place, God’s people are going THROUGH. You will go through.

The Bible asks the question right here, "Who is like unto the beast and who is able to make war with him?" Revelation tells us that there is a controversy, a conflict that occurs in the last days between God’s people and Satan’s people. Revelation teaches a message of reformation, of revival and of preparation. The devil hates the book of Revelation, but Jesus loves it. Revelation demands a holiness and a sense of obedience like we’ve not witnessed yet. For Satan himself to come on the scene, and even to impress people to say, "It doesn’t matter what you believe", that in itself is an atrocity. It’s a lie; it’s wicked, and don’t you have anything to do with it. If the Bible teaches it, and it’s clearly spoken of in scripture, let’s be man enough and bold enough to take a stand for what the Bible says no matter what the majority of people are saying! The only way God’s people are going THROUGH is to go through with Christ because He is the only way.

I cannot tell you sometimes how I feel. People pat me on the back, they shake my hand, they say, "Wendell, we’ve learned more in the last few days than we’ve ever learned going to church. Why aren’t more people sharing the same things that you are sharing? We just LOVE these meetings!" In all honesty, I appreciate that. But, even more of what I’m worried about is that even if we know all the prophecies, if I can be such a good teacher that you could know all the dates and all the names and all the historical background of what is in the book of Revelation; if you knew every bit of it, but you did not know Jesus, you still could not go through into the eternal gates of heaven. The old devil, if he can, will cause us to get hung up somewhere along the pathway. He will take us into a valley, and I’m sick and tired of those valleys.

You know, I’ve also discovered something. Usually in every church there are people who gripe and complain. If they would get out of the way, the Lord would work. Did you know that anytime God wants to work, Satan is always there? I don’t know how the old devil does it, but sometimes he influences the mind and the mouths of Christian people and I’m sick of it. I think someone who is truly converted as we were talking about last night, they should be walking the walk! I don’t want somebody looking at me all the time. I once was invited to a church that believed it was a sin to smile. I told Debbie that I guess I’m a great sinner because I’m going to smile. So, I made SURE that all that morning I smiled. I even spoke for almost an hour. Don’t you think that one reason today more people are not attracted to Christianity is because of some of the sorry examples of Christianity that we have? I want to go through to the kingdom. I don’t want to belong to this old beast power and all that is associated with that. I want to be on Jesus’ side, don’t you? Yes, I want to call sin by it’s right name, but you be very careful of someone or somebody or some organization that’s always trying to correct everybody else. I believe in the gift of prophecy, do you? But, a true prophet should meet every gift. They should meet every requirement of scripture. How did y’all get me off onto this? Boy, I’m rambling up here tonight.

Let’s go back to Revelation 13. Back to the identity here of this first beast that is going to join it’s powers together with the second beast. I’m suggesting it represents the world’s largest religious body on earth. It even tells us in verse 5, "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." There are some that will tell you that this has already been fulfilled in the past and others who will tell you that it shall be fulfilled in the future. One night, we shall see what God says. Notice verse 6, "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." Now verse 7, here it is, please notice verse 1, "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints." Now the saints represents God’s people, and God’s people loves the things that Jesus loves. You can just about declare that if Satan loves it, we need to hate it. Verse 7 again, "And to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." In verse 8, I KNOW this is a religious power, "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." "If any man have an ear, let him hear."

I’ve been told that up until the mid-1950’s, and I don’t remember much about the mid-1950’s, that every major Protestant church in North America was teaching the same explanation in pulpit and print of the identity of this first beast in Revelation 13. There is a reason why that pendulum of teaching has swung another direction. I want to tell you one night what they were all saying this represented.

Let’s read on. What does it mean here if any man have an ear, let him hear? Verse 9. Our teenagers would say this, "Let’s give it up for John!" You didn’t understand that, did you? How about this one, "The homeboy understands it!" How about this one, "Wake up man and pay attention!" Wake up! If you’ve got any knowledge at all, any interest at all, any curiosity welling up in your mind to know what this is all about, he says, God will help you to understand it.

Notice verse 10. This is a very interesting text. We could spend an hour here, but we won’t, "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." This takes us right back to the idea that this power would make war with the saints. And then in verse 10 the last sentence, "Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." You know, John does not finish that. It’s sort of like an incomplete thought. I don’t know if there on that island of Patmos he was caught up in vision and was just writing as quickly as he could with his pen. I don’t understand exactly what brought him to this place except that when we go to Revelation 14, he identifies for us that explanation of who the saints are. Let’s look at it in Revelation 14:12. Here is the identity of the saints, and there is no way you can twist this to make it prove it doesn’t matter what you believe. I promise you, what you believe determines how you behave. Now, I don’t believe in righteousness by behavior, but I do believe that someone who is born again, filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized with fire, whose name is in the Lamb’s book of life, will not enjoy willful sin against the true Lamb of God.

Let’s read verse 12, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." There we go back to these two things again; the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I suppose that when it boils down to it as every major church in North America teaches, the commandments of God are really important after all. But, they become more important when we learn to love that which Jesus loves. There are some who try to be obedient simply because they have to. I would like to be obedient to my God because I want to.

Let’s go back to Revelation 13. Again, this first beast is a composite beast, it rises up out of the sea, we have at least 10 or 12 identifying marks that let us know it represents a religious power, and we know who it is. We do not have time to go through those in detail tonight. I will do this at another time for your information. The second beast in verse 11 rises out of the earth. If the sea represents a populated region of the country, earth would then represent an unpopulated region of the country. So, as the first power would be losing world influence, the second beast would be born. Notice with me in verse 11, John says, "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." That is sort of like an oxymoron. You know what an oxymoron is, don’t you? You say, "That’s pretty ugly." That’s an oxymoron. Here is a power that speaks like a lamb, but eventually would behave like Satan. It even here describes for us in detail what that behavior is. He says that he would speak as a dragon and that he would even give power to the first beast which was before him.

When I was in school, I hated history. I always made good grades because I just wanted to do well, I guess. I memorized all about Queen Mary, King John, all their children and who they married. That’s the worst mixed up time of history I’ve ever read about. They didn’t marry for love back then. They just married, a lot of them, for political reasons, etc. But, in the real pursuit of knowledge, because we want to get it, we learn that this power in history did, and is, and will be active in bringing about the very same things that the first beast stood for. You say, "Wendell, what are you really trying to say?" What I’m trying to tell you is that this political power represented by the beast that comes up out of the earth, that he is going to be instrumental in bringing about this marriage of politics and religion that will set the stage now for the mark of the beast, and the number 666 to really be understood in a greater way. It will be a union of politics and religion coming together by the identifying powers known here as the first and second beast of Revelation 13.

Notice verse 12, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth." Now if you choose, my dear friend, you can take your hand and tear out the pages of this book. I saw a man do that after a meeting one night. I saw him walk out. I’ll tell you the story. He went out to a dumpster beside the parking lot. He took that Bible, ripped it up into shreds and slammed it down into the dumpster. Now, you can do anything you choose, but God has brought you here for a reason. God wants you to be ready for heaven, and it’s very important to know what to believe and to base it solely upon scripture.

Now this power, the Bible says in verse 12, is to "cause the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Has that happened in the past? Is it happening today? Or is it to happen in the future? We are going to talk about it. See how good these classes are going to get? I can’t wait! I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be at every one of these.

Let’s move along. Notice verses 14 and 15, "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth." Now that’s another interesting phrase there, "that he would deceive them that dwell on the earth." Don’t be fooled. This is not some local commodity that takes place in some little dinky town in the middle of nowhere. You want me to always be honest, don’t you? There is another idea in circulation that says, "Don’t worry about any of this because through a miraculous deliverance from God, all the saints are going to be taken out of here before any of this takes place. I would be happy to sit in private consultation with anyone that has a question about that. I can tell you, it simply is not true. There are two classes of people when Jesus comes. One group of people has the mark of the beast. You don’t want to be in that group. That group does not have the testimony of Jesus nor do they have the commandments of God. The other group of people has the seal of God in their foreheads. They have the commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus.

Right now, you are privileged to choose whose side you’re going to be on. Choose Jesus’ side! Let’s read along right here in verse 15; this gets better. Don’t anybody leave yet. Blockbuster video will still be open when I finish. Revelation 13:15, "And he had 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." Now, here comes the third angel’s message. Remember last evening, we were studying the Heartbeat Chapter of Revelation, chapter 14, which bears the great first angel’s message, the great second angel’s message and the third angel’s message. The third angel’s message is the one that most all Christian people want to know more about than any of the others. I’m not sure I made the point as clearly last evening as I wished, but if the third angel’s message which has to do here with the mark of the beast and the image to the beast and the number 666, if that one is important, let’s please give some attention to the second angel’s message and to the first angel’s message. Does that make any sense to you? As a matter of fact, if we only study the third angel’s message, we are getting 33 1/3% of the total message here of the three angel’s messages.

Notice verse 16, "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." Are these the ones who love Jesus, or are these who love Satan? This is Satan’s crowd, isn’t it? You don’t want to be in that group. Turn quickly to Revelation 7. One night we are going to study here the seal of God. We are going to study here Revelation 7 before we study the mark of the beast. I do this because I don’t like the devil, and I want to study Jesus’ way first. You don’t mind that, do you? This is Jesus’ mark. It’s called the seal of the living God, and it is also placed in the forehead. Revelation 7:1, "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea." And he said to hold back a little while. God has commissioned me for a special work. Do not bring about the last waves of destruction and war and commotion until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Jesus’ group has the seal of God in their foreheads. The mark of the beast is also in the forehead. In Revelation 13, go back there with me, it describes for us how this shall be a worldwide movement, affecting and infecting every living person on earth. Aren’t you glad that God never asks us to make a decision without giving us enough information to make that decision?

Verse 16, now this is Satan’s group working, "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." And then it says, "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." Let me tell you something, the number 666 is NOT the mark of the beast. There will never come a time in which some organization will line you up like cattle and hold you down, taking a branding iron, and searing into your skin the those great numbers 666 in your forehead literally. Actually, this 666 is one of the identifying marks that let us know who the first beast is. Well, we are going to talk a lot about that in "Page 2".

Aren’t you thankful tonight that you live in such an age as you are living? Now, we’ve got something on the horizon looming right ahead of us. Notice the two sheets of paper that were given to you as you came in. I’m not going to read all of these, but the idea of controlling the minds and behavior of men is not a new idea at all. Some of you know more about the Illuminati than I do, but notice it says it is necessary. From the writings of the Illuminati way back in 1780, they were writing, "It is necessary to establish a universal regime and an empire over the whole world." Notice the one at the bottom, "To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, their loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism and religious dogmas." We could build and entire sermon just over that one quote right here! Let’s spend a little bit of time on that. Here is part of the plan: To remove from the minds of men their individualism. Have you noticed lately that if there is a global conflict, the United Nations are the ones to go there and fix the problem? By the way, have you noticed that the United States always gets her way? We have a foreign policy, and we always get our way with the United Nations. That is because the golden rule has changed. It used to be do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but now the golden rule is whoever has the most gold rules! That happens to be us. It says right here that it would be necessary to remove from the minds of men their loyalty to family traditions. I don't know about you, but I'm bothered with alternative lifestyles. Some of you can to home this evening and turn on your television and see things that are not pure.

The older I get, the wiser my daddy becomes, even though he's been dead now for several years. We did not have a TV until I was almost a teenager, but I remember watching Father Knows Best. What a good program! The show would often close showing their bedroom. How different than today! Fred McMurray clothed in full pajamas. They slept in TWIN beds, can you believe it? He would lie down in one bed fully clothed, and she would lie down in a twin bed fully clothed. Now we've got people, openly and blatantly, getting into bed together unclothed in full view of everybody with the absolute desecration that father really knows best. Let's move along right here.

The paper speaks about national patriotism and religious dogmas. Do you know today you can go between about six or eight different religious denominations and never change anything you believe? I am one who believes that we need to let go of racial prejudice, religious prejudice and gender prejudice. I want Jesus to be in full control, but if the Bible teaches obedience, how can we let that part of our belief go by the wayside and say that it's just not important? I don't want to be a part of that group, do you?

You've all heard of Y2K. The Y stands for year, the 2 represents the number 2, the K is an abbreviation of the Latin word kilo meaning thousand. So then we have the Year 2000. I never dreamed in ministry that I would ever place a disclaimer on what I was saying, but here is something that I cannot figure out. I have a computer, and I can manage to get it to do basically what I want it to do, but I'm certainly not an authority or an expert. One group of qualified experts proclaims that Y2K is going to produce tremendous doom and chaos. Another group with equal authority is saying it will not produce major chaos at all except maybe some little problems here and there, but not to worry about it.

Now, here I stand as a minister of the Gospel, sandwiched in the middle. I believe something is going to happen, but I don't know what to tell you is going to happen. May I share with you tonight just a little bit of what the authorities are predicting MAY happen? I don't know if this is the way that it's going to go or not, but I see a real setup here. If the devil misses the year 2000, he is going to miss a wonderful opportunity. If I were a strategist in the devil's army, I would be saying, "Look Mr. Satan, all the religious world, all the secular world has their mind focused upon Y2K. If Revelation 13 is going to come to pass, there might be a way here to begin more control than we've ever had. They tell me that the concern is over three main areas. Over mainframe computers which are the big boys. Governmental agencies like the military, Social Security Administration, the FBI, state and local governments have the larger frame computers. Some of them I understand are very old. The secondary of concern are personal computers, and that in the dating, if many of them aren't compliant by December 31, they claim the computers will not be able to read the difference between the year 1900 and the year 2000. Everything that we do basically, financially, in record keeping, is all based on numbers. The third area of concern is over imbedded microchips.

I've noticed in the last few months that the United States has been giving a lot of care and attention to bringing our networks up to compliance for Y2K. But, the third world countries who have neither the resources nor the technical skills to do this are the ones I'm really worried about. Those imbedded microchips, I understand, have been used all over the world by the millions. The latest ones being made, I have read, we have no fear of anything bad taking place in those, but in the average home in North America averages about 50 of these imbedded microchips. Our automobiles even have them. I drive a wonderful car. It is an Oldsmobile 88, and it's just a wonderful car -- they will probably be in heaven. Right along beside Ford Diesel Trucks. You know, those Fords are better than Dodge Cummings trucks. But, on my key there is an imbedded microchip right here. It helps to control my entrance into the lot. I understand that inside my carburetor's system, which keeps in check the fuel and air and other things, there are microchips. They are even in the security systems. Just listen to this list! They are in our automobiles, home security systems, stereos with remote controls, televisions with a remote controls, VCRs with remote controls, digital satellites, dishwashers, refrigerators, time controlled ovens/stoves, kitchen mixers, toasters, juicers, bread makers, blenders, coffee makers, microwaves, washers and dryers, freezers, and I like this one, electronic bathroom scales; I've got to get one of those. You can also find them in a digital thermometer, cordless telephone, telephone answering device, a pager like we all carry, a fax machine, copy machine, personal calculator, portable radio, electric shaver, and the list goes on and on. I'm not naïve to believe that with the millions of computers that we have, I'm not so naïve to believe that there will not be some problems somewhere along the way.

There is a big "IF" in here. I certainly do not want the reputation of being a doomsday preacher; I want the reputation of being a Bible teacher, but I know what the book of Revelation says, and we are not in the industrial age anymore, we are in the technological age. We are advancing rapidly, and the greatest way to control the minds of men and women is through religion and politics. Wouldn't it be something if the world's banking system went into chaos? The Social Security Administration sends out about 56 million checks a month; if only one or two percent of those checks were miscalculated, wouldn't that be an awful problem? It would provide a wonderful opportunity for someone to come to the scene and say we need to be in control. This is the perfect setup because most of us know very little about what's going on in other places.

Aren't you glad tonight that we don't always have to focus on these things? Someone gave me this tonight before the meeting. A large highway billboard observed in South Carolina said, "Y2K will have no effect on God's eternal Word." Don't you like that?

We are privileged tonight to turn our attention and our eyes away from the things that might happen upon to that which we are sure, and that is the richness of Jesus Christ. How dare we end this meeting with our attention focused upon what Satan wants to do? We shall end this meeting with an appeal to turn our eyes upon Jesus.

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Copyright 1999 by Wendell Stover and McDonald Road SDA Church