THE BEAST

CHAPTER SEVEN

I want you visitors to feel just as welcome as you possibly can. We are a people that love the Lord Jesus Christ and we love his Word. I purpose tonight to speak on a little subject of “The beast.” And then tomorrow night, the Lord willing, I want to speak on “The mark of the beast.” First, before we speak on the mark, we want to know who the beast is. I think that is very important. And then, the Lord’s willing, we will see how the Lord leads on Wednesday evening. I am sorry about the heat but I trust that the Lord really help us through. So we greet each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. And if you will turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation the thirteenth chapter; Revelation 13:1, we would read:

Revelation 13: 1-10 <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 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 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.>

May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of His holy words.

For our subject tonight we will speak on “The beast.” This is quite a subject, and I believe that many people are interested in the subjects of “The beast”, “The mark of the beast” and “The image of the beast,” and we are also interested in those subjects here tonight, even because we believe that modern events that transpired several months ago in the world have brought us closer to the fulfilment of these prophecies. I believe that we are on the verge to see the beast made manifest, and the image of the beast also come into full view of the world and also the mark of the beast be given out to the population of the world. And this subject held our interest for the past months because we truly believe that modern events have brought us closer to the fulfilment of Bible-prophecy.

BEAST – WHO AND WHERE

So we will speak tonight on “The beast”: Who is he? Where is he? How dangerous is he? Should we fear him or should we not fear him?

Now, the world around is educated about the beast, but that is as far as their education goes. There is a great difference between education and revelation. The mental believer lives from the lifeline of intellectualism and education. All education came from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and all revelation proceeds from the tree of life that was in the Garden of Eden. And that is what we trust and hope tonight that we are eating from that tree of life; but the world tonight is educated about the beast, from an educational standpoint, concerning his reign, concerning his power to kill and destroy those who oppose him, who fail to worship him, to worship his image and to receive his mark in order to buy and sell.

So the world around, through television, through radio programs, through books and different means, they are all knowledgeable and they expect the rising of this great beast to take over the whole world. And I believe that their concerns are correct about fearing what they call the beast. Because what is spoken of the beast here throughout the book of Revelation and other places should put some kind of fear into the heart of man who read these accounts:

Revelation 14:9-11 <And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.>

Right there we see in scripture that the beast is something to respect. If you do not fear him, at least respect him. It is also recorded that the beast has the power to put everybody to death that does not worship him. And much is spoken of this beast to arise in the end-time and it is the concern of many nations, many religions, it is the concern especially of Christian people, of what is this beast, who is he and where he is coming from. But there went out a program that educated the people around the world concerning this beast and I am here to state tonight that all their interpretations that they have given to the world concerning the beast are wrong. And I want to prove that right here in the scriptures tonight and I challenge any man who will hear this tape to come and prove otherwise.

FALSE CONCEPTIONS OF 666

So it went out in many books, the most popular book that you could ever write now as an author is one concerning the beast and the mark of the beast, and if you put antichrist there, your book will become a bestseller, but you better know what you are talking about. So they broadcast this on the television, broadcast this on the radio and the churches are preaching that from the housetops. And for many years now, preachers are warning their churches, warning their congregations concerning this great beast. And I believe that so-called Christians around the world, even genuine ones too. I believe that such fear is instilled in such people that they live in terror, they live in fear concerning the beast and that is because of the interpretations concerning the beast. So there are many interpretations concerning this beast. I will quote to you a couple of them to show you that this is one of the best pictures that you could have concerning the interpretation of the beast. This was in June 6^th, notice it, June the sixth day and the sixth month and 1996.

Quote: “Associated Press, 6/6/96, fearful that the antichrist would appear today to claim un-baptized children, thousands of Bogota, Columbia parents flooded churches this week so their kids could receive the sacrament in time. According to the New Testament the antichrist will bear the number 666, to many today’s date is …….. the sixth day of the sixth month in a year ending in six. Nearly twenty thousand people were baptized in the capital this weekend almost ten times the average, church leaders said. Thousands more filled church pews in Bogota on Wednesday and baptism increased in the rest of the country as well. According to New York Times, the Protestant Fundamentalist Group distributed a pamphlet last week warning of the coming antichrist. It spread panic among parents in this mostly Roman Catholic country, one rumour frightened expectant mothers by warning that the antichrist would be born today. Another said, an evil being would possess children unprotected by baptism and mark them with a sign. Many people have not learned the core of the gospel and are easily misled by superstitions.”

Unquote. That was just to give you a picture of what was published on the sixth of the sixth month 1996, people living in fear and terror concerning the beast, they were taught that the beast could have been born on that date. And then every pregnant woman was afraid that she would give birth to the beast child. People flooded the church, twenty thousand in one day, to make sure that the priest gave them the sacrament before the devil comes and takes away their souls to hell. Now that is only a picture of the kinds of interpretations concerning the beast, that is only one little picture. Now there are thousands of different interpretations concerning the beast.

I read on the newspapers that there was a little baby born in Africa and he was oversized, and when he was born and he let out a scream the nurses fled from the ward. After a little while they monitored the little fellow and he was eating and drinking one pan of milk for the day, a five pound full, and when they did not bring the food in time he would ransack the whole house, so they concluded that this was the beast born in Africa. I will assure you that that was not the beast born and I will assure you that the beast was not born on 6/6/96.

And I recently read the news from Israel, a magazine that publishes only the news from Israel, I think the author’s name is Alfonso, and he published in the light of modern events, everybody is looking at the beast arising in the light of modern events, and he published recently that the beast is supposed to be born right now in Israel and the beast will be a Jew. I disagree with that, upon the basis of the scriptures we disagree with that. Then they think that the beast is going to be an idol and somehow or the other science is going to be able to put life into him and it is going to be an image like Nebuchadnezzar image and they will be called to worship this great image that will be invented by scientists, an idol and electronic man.

And this is an old, popular interpretation about the beast, and that is, it is going to be a giant computer. And that started way back, I heard it early as 1967, great, renowned men, over the radio. I am not here to call names tonight but I do, and great, renowned preachers said that it is going to be a computer. And I went into men’s homes, preachers that even preach this message, and up to today they are afraid of a computer, they won’t buy a computer because that hangover from those old religions still remained in their minds. I will assure you that it is not going to be anything like a computer.

This great campaign that Satan started many years ago; do you know how early he started this campaign, about what the beast is, what he is going to be doing in the end-time here? He started soon after the opening of the Seals. Now I am here to tell you that the opening of the Seals was to reveal the man of sin and was to reveal the beast, reveal the antichrist. Now this might be a little strange to some of you here tonight but I will refer you to a scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2, the Bible said that the man of sin, the antichrist will be revealed just before the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And when I say beast I am talking about the antichrist, when I say antichrist I am talking about the man of sin. So the man of sin, the antichrist and the beast are one and the same. And the Bible said in 2 Thessalonians 2, that the man of sin will be revealed in his time just before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the very opening of the Seals, and this might be strange to some of our visitors but this is also in your Bible in Revelation 6. There were seven seals to be removed from the book of redemption, and we are a people here that are gathered who believe that those seals came of the book in order to tell us all these things about the beast and about his image and about the mark of the beast, even because our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned about our salvation as Christians. And seeing that such a great thing is about to take place upon the earth, where the beast will take over internationally, throughout the world, I believe that it behoves Almighty God that is concerned about the people salvation to tell us all about these things, of what is the beast, what is his image and what is the mark.

SATAN’S MOCK-CAMPAIGN – HE PREACHES AGAINST THE BEAST

So now, all these interpretations that went out after 1963, were Satan’s campaign that went out throughout the world, and I call it a mock-campaign, and I call it a campaign of deception. Why would Satan go out preaching the mark of the beast? The very reason that Satan goes out and preaches the mark of the beast is to preach it wrong. And if he preaches it wrong and gets the people to believe the wrong interpretation of the beast, his mark and his image, then when the real thing come they are going to take it. Now, if you believe one of those interpretations tonight, from some pastor, from some church, from some book, from some television, some radio program, when you hear this message tonight you better re-examine that. Because Satan went out with a campaign and he himself arose and start preaching against the beast, preached against the image and preached against the mark. So when he gets the population of the world to believe the wrong thing about the beast and the mark of the beast, then when the real thing comes they would not be able to receive it, when the real thing comes your understanding will be clouded and you would walk into the trap of the enemy and take the mark of the beast because it is coming very slick, it is coming very sly, it is going to deceive a lot of sincere people and a lot of honest people.

ONE REVELATION TO WITHSTAND 666

Children, we better thank God for truth. You got to have something inside of you as a Christian regardless of what church you belong to. We are not preaching religion here, we are not trying to get you to leave your church and come and join here, but we are pointing you to the Word of God. If you could follow the Word of God wherever you are, go ahead and follow the Word there. But I am saying that by the time this mark of the beast comes down upon the people and his image starts showing up, you got to have something genuine in your soul. Now that’s the time, and it is facing us right now, when make-believers will show up from believers. Believers and make-believers will be separated, because if you are a make-believer when that squeeze does come down, when they start tightening up, you are going to have some problems. If you are a coward now, you’ll be a coward then. If you are a compromiser on the Word now, you’ll be a compromiser then. If you live a halfway life now, you will live a halfway life then. If you cannot stand up for what is right now, you cannot stand up for what is right then. If you cannot run with the footman, you surely cannot run with the horseman. And if you cannot run with the horseman, you cannot run in the swelling of Jordan, you got to have something genuine down on the inside. And I know of a revelation that you must have down inside if you will prevail against the enemy. “Whom do men say that I the son of man am? Some say this and some say that. But whom do you say that I am Peter? Thou art the Christ the son of the living God.” He said, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto you but my Father which is in heaven hath reveal it unto you. Upon this rock shall I build my church and the beast shall not prevail against you.’ You say, “It never said that, it said the gates of hell.” Well if you notice, it said, “gates”, not one gate but many gates, the beast is a gateway to hell, his image is a gateway to hell, adultery is a gateway to hell, fornication is a gateway to hell, belonging to an organization is a gateway to hell if they are not preaching the Word of God, any church that is not preaching the Word of God is a gateway to hell, any religion that is not pointing you to the Word is a gateway to hell. There is only one revelation that is able to withstand the antichrist and that is the revelation of Christ, the Word of God, the son of man revealed is the only revelation. When you have a revelation of Christ down in your heart then nobody has to tell you who the antichrist is because you know Christ and Christ is the genuine dollar and the antichrist was duplicated from the genuine dollar, and if you have Christ down in your heart and you know Christ by a divine revelation, let that antichrist come in whatever form he wants, you will identify that antichrist. When we invite a preacher here to preach the gospel, we don’t have to come up ahead of time and tell the congregation, “Now, you better watch that fellow, watch him carefully, and I’ll be sitting in a certain place and if I give you a little sign up there it means that he is preaching wrong.” It goes to show that that is a mental congregation. But if you have the congregation posted on the Word of God, it doesn’t matter who comes up here and preaches the Word of God they already discerned that is wrong. So we don’t have to give any signs and we don’t have to warn the congregation ahead of time, all that we have to do is to preach the Word of God, and if we preach the Word of God and that Word is true and it is revealed to the congregation then they discern when a man goes off the Word of God. Oh yes, I believe the Word of God.

STAMINA TO WITHSTAND 666

These interpretations around the world, it is Satan’s campaign, and none of those false interpretations on the beast will be able to help the people in that time. You got to have a clear cut understanding, a clear cut revelation, you got to have discernment on the antichrist even now that you will be able to face that antichrist. You got to have stamina right now, you got to have belly to stand up for the Word. If you don’t have stamina right now to stand up and put your wife in place, put your children in place, put the church in place, put your brothers in place, and the deacons don’t have stamina to stand up and tell the congregation what to do and what not to do, and the minister don’t have that stamina right now to tell the congregation how to walk, how to dress and how to live, he would not have the stamina to face the beast. That is common sense. If you have a wishy-washy pastor that lets everything go on in the church and he wants to hold his face up amongst all the people and he wants to be a buddy with everybody and he doesn’t have that stamina to stand up there, it is time to get rid of him and sit under a man that has stamina because you would need that leadership in the time of that squeeze. In the time of that beast showing himself, you will need that kind of leadership. If you have a coward behind the pulpit, from the time the beast shows his head he will bolt, all that he could tell you is, “Let us run.” But if you have correct leadership with a discernment of the antichrist, he will stand up like David. You notice a lot of big soldiers were out there and they could not take on Goliath, but there was a man anointed for the job called David. Thank God that we have David on our side, the son of man, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, he’s the David today and we are going to follow the captain’s footsteps everywhere he goes.

We are drawing strength from our Lord, we are drawing courage from our Lord, and we are drawing stamina. And what makes you strong is the Word of God, understanding, the knowledge of the Word of God, revelation on the antichrist makes you strong. When you know the antichrist you are not afraid of him. When you know the antichrist you won’t be afraid that somebody will deceive you, you would stand up in the face of any opposition. And look at these cowards back there, great big, tall men, Saul was taller than everybody in the army, and they were buckling when that Goliath raised his head, that was a beast man in that time that raised his head, and another beast man is getting ready to raise his head. And this beast in the end-time in type and shadow is like that Goliath. I quote Brother Branham, he said, “Somewhere in the back part of the desert, God is growing a last great crop for the last great kill.” And somewhere in the back part of the desert God is training men, he’s putting courage in them, he’s putting stamina in them, he’s putting the Word inside of them because they were born for that purpose, David was born for that purpose, Samuel anointed him for that purpose to defend Israel, as small as he was, he was born for that purpose in that time. And there are people upon the earth today that are born to face the beast, they are a special brand, specially cut out to face this beast in the end-time, men ready to fight, when they hear about the antichrist they hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, they hate the antichrist, they hate the beast, courage inside of them, women with that kind of courage, ready to face the antichrist, ready to face the challenge of the hour. That’s the kind of a man that God wants to use today and you must be founded upon a rock. Unless you are founded upon a rock revelation of the son of man today the gates of hell will surely prevail over you because that’s the only revelation that the gates of hell would not prevail over. You got to have a revelation of this message, you got to have a revelation of the Word, a revelation of Christ then you will be able to face the enemy.

Now, I want to prove my point on the fact that all these interpretations on the mark of the beast are false. And I want to show you in the Bible why I call them false. You could come up here and make a statement but you got to prove it in the Bible, and I am here to prove that to you first of all that all these interpretations on the beast and his image and his mark are false. And I read:

ANGEL ORDAINED TO EXPOSE BEAST & 666

Revelation 14:9-11 <And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.>

Is this something to respect? Whosoever shall worship the beast, whosoever shall worship the image and whosoever shall receive his mark shall not have rest day nor night but shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. In other words, whosoever shall take that mark of the beast is going to hell and eventually ends up in the lake of fire. Is it something to be concerned about? I believe that that should concern every human being in here, and every human being under the sound of my voice, whether on the radio or overseas, I believe that it should concern every single person, knowing the torments that a human soul must go through if he ever worships the beast and worships the image and takes his mark. I read that scripture to make a point and the point that I want to make is that there are many interpretations that went around the world educating people of what the beast is, what his image is and what his mark is. Upon the basis of this scripture, I say that all the interpretations are wrong. “Why would you say so preacher?” Because the ministry of exposing the beast, exposing the image, exposing the mark, and warning the world about these things, was given to an angel. It was not given to a Bible school, it was not given to a seminary, it was not given to the theologians, it was not given to the computer. It was given to an angel, and if you want to know about the beast you will have to contact the angel. If you want to know about the image you got to contact the angel. If you want to know about the mark of the beast contact the angel, and if you cannot contact the angel, meet them that contact the angel.

The beast is a dangerous fellow; he will vamp your soul into hell and cause your soul to be burnt with fire and brimstone. The image of the beast is a terrible thing if you worship it. The mark of the beast if you don’t take it you can’t buy or sell, but if ever you take the mark of the beast you are going straight to hell and into the lake of fire. And all preachers know that, around the world, and they are warning the people around the world about the mark of the beast, and I am saying that they have no business interpreting those scriptures. That ministry of warning the world about the mark of the beast was given to an angel called the third angel. I challenge any theologian to tear up what I am saying. I challenge any Bible school, I challenge any organization to tear up what I am saying and you cannot tear that up because the ministry of warning the world about the beast, his image and his mark was only given to one, it is the ministry of the third angel. I am saying that the ministry of the third angel was responsible for warning the world about these things. And if that ministry was given to him to warn the world about these terrible things now coming upon the face of the earth, he ought to have the revelation to outline to the people, what the beast is, what his image is and what his mark is. Now I believe that that is very simple, I believe that is ABC.

FLEEING 666

I am saying that any man that tries to tell the world by books, by television, by education and by whatever means what the beast is and what the mark is, he’s out of place, terribly out of place. And I was not in place and you were not in place, and our gathering here tonight is that we are a bunch of people that are trying to flee the mark of the beast. You say, “What is this gathering about, what is the name of your church?” I will tell you the truth, we came out of Baptist, we came out of Pentecostal, we came out of Methodist, we came out of Catholic, we came out of Independents, we came out of all kinds of churches, Hindus and Muslims, because we are a bunch of people fleeing the mark of the beast. Not that we don’t like Pentecostal or Baptist or Catholic, the beast is coming down the road, you have to get up and take off. If I am not safe in the Baptist, I am running out of there. If I am not safe in the Pentecostal, I am running. If I am not safe in the Methodist, I am running because it is a beast behind me, it’s a terrible creature, mark of the beast.

Upon the basis of what I just read here in Revelation 14:9-11, I am saying here tonight that nobody had the revelation of what the beast is, what the mark is and what the image is. Right here in our Bible it is recorded that that was the ministry of the third angel. All the books that they wrote are no good, all the programs that they have are no good, it is Satan’s campaign, and on top of that they rejected the third angel’s ministry. Now this third angel, if he is going to tell the world what the beast is, what the image is and what the mark is then he got to have the ability to unravel mysteries because the beast is a mystery, image is mystery. So he must have an ability to unravel mysteries, and there was only one angel that had the ability to unravel mysteries and you will find him in Revelation 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” For your information angel means a messenger. And Christ in his love, knowing that such a terrible thing is about to come upon the earth, He must warn His people, not only that but He must give a clear cut picture of what the beast is, what the image is and what the mark is, otherwise what kind of a God are we serving. This is going to be one of the most dreadful and terrible thing to happen upon the face of the earth and I assure you that God loves His people and that is why He sent today that ministry upon the earth to unravel that mystery.

WHO IS THE BEAST

So you say, “Just what is this thing about? Tell us what the beast is then. If you say that the interpretations are wrong, tell us what the beast is.” That is why I am here tonight. I am here for a few more minutes to point out to you what is the beast right in the scriptures. How many are with me? Some say it is a computer. Let us see if it is a computer. Some say it is a giant born in Africa. Let us see if it is that. Some say it is a great idol they are going to put up. Let us see if the Bible said so. Absolutely not!

Now, my brothers and sisters, note that this beast, he arose out of the water. First of all I want to call something to your attention...

Revelation 13: 1-2 <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.>

Now, what I want you to observe...

<And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard...>

Everybody say, “Leopard.” [Congregation says, “Leopard!”]

<...and his feet were as the feet of a bear...>

Everybody say, “Bear.” [Congregation says, “Bear!”]

<...and his mouth as the mouth of a lion...>

Say, “Lion.” [Congregation says, “Lion!”]

<...mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.>

All right! Let us turn over to Daniel, if you want to, Daniel 7 and let us see if we could get something about this beast back there. Daniel ought to tell us if he is a computer.

Daniel 7: 1-7 <In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.>

Now, notice your third verse.

<And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, (Ed. How many says, “Leopard?” [Congregation says, “Leopard!”]) which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.>

Hold that right there. I hope you are comparing that with the thirteenth chapter. There is a fourth beast. Now, my concern is the fourth beast. Now, I want you to look at the twenty-third verse. The twenty-third verse is too sweet to read. Let us all read it together. [Congregation reads along.]

Daniel 7: 23 <Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom...>

What is the fourth beast? Is it a computer? Is it a fellow born in Africa? [Congregation says, “No!”] Isn’t our Bible saying that this fourth beast is a kingdom? Is it a kingdom? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] It is a kingdom. The fourth beast is a kingdom.

<Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom...>

Now, brothers and sisters, if it is the fourth kingdom, then there were three other kingdoms before that. Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] So then, brothers and sisters, a lion will represent one kingdom, the bear will represent another kingdom, the leopard will represent another kingdom and the fourth beast will represent a kingdom. How many know that the first kingdom was Babylon? Does everybody agree with that? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] You say, “How do you know it is Babylon?” Read it properly.

Daniel 7:4 <The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.>

God turned Nebuchadnezzar into what? An animal and his hair grew out like eagles’ wings, and his nails like what? [Congregation says, “Claws!”] Claws! Is that right? And then after a certain time the Lord took off his wings. He was flying too high. And then He told Nebuchadnezzar, “Stand up upon your feet like a man.” Is that right? “And a man’s heart will be given to you.” So the lion represents Babylon, the kingdom of Babylon. Oh my, did you hear it? The lion represents Babylon, and the bear, he represents Medo-Persia that came there and took away the kingdom from Belshazzar. Is that right? So now, that was the bear, and then the leopard came, and how many knows who the leopard was? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] The leopard was Greece. Is that right?

FOURTH BEAST OF DANIEL 7 IS THE FIRST BEAST OF REVELATION 13:1 - ROME

Now, that is three kingdoms over there, but there is a fourth kingdom left? Is that right? Now, this fourth kingdom is a terrible fellow. And everybody knows that after the Babylonian kingdom fell, after Media-Persia fell and after the Grecian power fell, Rome came into existence. Come on; let me hear, “amen.” [Congregation says, “Amen!”] I say, the fourth kingdom is Rome. Therefore the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is the first beast of Revelation 13. Your fourth beast over here that Daniel had seen which is Rome, my brothers and sisters, John seen a beast rise up out of the sea, and that is also Rome. “How do you know that is Rome, preacher? Please tell us.” Right now, I am going to tell you here, why. Read over here in your second verse.

Revelation 13: 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.>

Is the bear represented here? Is the leopard represented? Is the lion represented? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] So now, in this beast of Revelation 13: 1, is represented the three other kingdoms, even because Rome overpowered Babylon, it overpowered Greece, it overpowered Medo-Persia but the strength of all that was in Rome. Now, brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that this beast out here is none other than the same beast over there that Daniel called the fourth beast. John is calling him here, the first beast because that was what John had seen. Now, but this fourth beast, I am here to identify it to you and the identification of this beast is the Roman kingdom, not a computer, not a single man, although it represents a single man and he will be the ruler of that fourth kingdom. So in your Bible, at certain times the ruler of the fourth kingdom is referred to as the beast proper, as the antichrist proper, as the man of sin proper because he is the ruler of that beast kingdom. The Roman Empire was the beast kingdom. Bear a little patience with me. I am proving to you that Revelation 13, the first beast over here, he is none other than the Roman Empire. The beast is a kingdom. It is the Roman Empire because there were only four great Gentile kingdoms that arose in your Bible and that is, Babylon, the Medes and the Persians, the Grecian kingdom and after that Rome ruled.

In the time of our Lord Jesus, Rome was ruling. Yes. And the Roman kingdom was supposed to rule from that time on until the second coming of Jesus Christ, when the stone will be cut out of the mountain and smite Daniel’s image on it’s feet. Now, Daniel’s image was also divided into four. How many knows that? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] A head of gold, a chest of brass, the loins of silver and the feet of iron and clay. The feet of iron and clay represent the fourth kingdom.

But there is a fifth kingdom that is coming on the scene and that is the kingdom of the Messiah. There is a fifth kingdom, right in the book of Daniel. There is a fifth kingdom. The stone came and hit the image on its feet and it because a great kingdom, an everlasting kingdom that shall never pass away. That is the kingdom you and I belong to.

Revelation 11: 15 <...The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ...>

CONSTANTINE’S WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES HEALED DEADLY WOUND

It is right in your Bible. After the four Gentile kingdoms rule, then Christ will set up His kingdom, yes, but the beast must make his appearance here in the end time. Oh my, here we are, children.

Now, notice in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation that this beast that came out of the water, one of his heads was wounded. As you go down there it says that it was wounded by a sword. All that happened there, brothers and sisters, is that the Roman power was defeated after a certain time, after the first coming of Christ. Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] But then the Bible said, “His deadly wound was healed.” And I do not have time with that but let me just tell you in plain words what it is. The Roman power, the Roman kingdom was defeated in war. A sword represents war. It was defeated in war, but then the deadly wound was healed by Constantine the Great. By Constantine the Great, the Roman kingdom changed from pagan Rome where they were worshipping idols of wood and stone; and they still do it up to today, and now they became religious and they embraced Christianity, and set up a church called the Roman Catholic Church. Pagan Rome became papal Rome. And this is what you are seeing out here: the beast of Revelation 13 represents papal Rome. Now, let me clear that up for you. This beast of Revelation 13 represents Rome, but it represents Rome in a religious form. Now, the thing that represents pagan Rome is called the red dragon. Notice that colour: red dragon. The thing that represents the old Roman Empire is the fourth beast that was terrible and dreadful. They lost the war and soon after that, Constantine the Great, he was going to revive this beast. And how was he going to revive this beast now? He was going to bring all religions together in a world council of churches. Brothers, that was the thing that revived the beast from dying, was that he brought all the religions together, and formed a world council of churches and he set up a holy man over that church. That is what revived the head that was wounded.

You say, “Is that a church?” Yes, it is a powerful church. How many know that a woman represents a church in the scriptures? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] Yes, you know that. Right! Brother Paul said, “I espoused you as a chaste virgin unto the Lord.” Is that right? Now, if the true church is a chaste virgin, then one who turned away from the Word, how many says that she is a whore? She is a whore. Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] If the Bride is a chaste virgin, one that goes away and lives with another man and runs around like a prostitute is a whore. All right! So I am reading about the whore.

Revelation 17: 1-18 <And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Her doctrine.)

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman...>

Hear this. Everybody listen.

<So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.>

Oh my! You better put on your thinking caps now. We just read about a beast in Daniel 7. He had ten horns. How many agree with that? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] We just read about a beast in the thirteenth chapter. He had seven heads and ten horns. And now a woman is sitting on top of the beast, and this beast has ten horns and seven heads. It is the same beast. But now in the seventeenth chapter, something took place and that is, a woman is riding the beast. All the time there was no woman riding the beast. No. But, you see Rome became religious, and the woman represents the religion. It represents the city that the church is in. Is that correct? Is it clear to you, children? [Congregation says, “Amen!”]

That wiped away a computer. That wiped away the fellow in Africa. That wiped away an idol because my Bible told me that the beast is a kingdom, and my Bible told me that a woman is riding it. Let me see what kind of a woman she is. She is a bad woman. She is a prostitute. O yes! She is a bad woman. She left her first husband and went about with a holy man. O yes! A lot of preachers are running away with people’s wives today, the very same way. Our Lord suffered the same thing. Let me get this.

THE WHORE

How many says that is the same beast of Revelation 13? Is that the same beast? And how many know that that beast is Rome? How many know that the fourth beast of Daniel 7 is Rome? How many know that the beast of Revelation 13: 1 is Rome? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] Therefore the beast of Revelation 17 is Rome, and a woman is riding him. In other words, brothers and sisters, the power behind this great religious body is the Roman power. So Rome never died. Rome kept on ruling the world through a great religious body.

All right! You have to be careful how you preach now, you know. There is an “Equal Opportunity Bill”; and they may not like how you are calling names, so you have to call them scriptural names. So when I say, “Whore”, you know who I mean? Amen. When I say, “Beast”, you know who I mean? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] All right! We could speak in parables like Jesus and still understand the revelation, and in so doing we escape the "calaboose." Do you know what is a calaboose? Jail!

So now, let us look at the whore.

<And the woman...>

The woman who left her husband, Jesus.

<...the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour...>

Scarlet colour is red. This religious body, their colour is red. Come on. They have a colour. They paint their churches in red. A lot of things are red.

<And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour (That is the red colour.) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:>

It is a rich religious power. They have the most gold in the world. Yes. The boss, he sits down on tons of gold just waiting for the bankruptcy. He is just waiting for the money to collapse. So there we are.

<And the woman was arrayed in purple...>

The whore I am talking about.

<...was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:>

Filthiness of her fornication means, her doctrines that she was giving out to kings. The doctrine is a wine. She intoxicated all the great rulers of the world and made them drunk by her doctrine. Big as they are, they are going to confess their sins by a confession box: kings, monarchs, emperors, they tremble in their boots. They were made intoxicated by the doctrine of this whore. Oh glory to God! Now, the Bible is very plain. We say, “Whore.” God called it a whore. People call it a church; God called it a whore. So, it is a rich church, has all the gold in the world, all the money... Down in the back there, are you hearing me? ...all the money in the world, they have it heaped up. You are talking about a wicked system. All right! And you know this religious power and the colour. Now, watch something here.

<And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON...>

Now, in other words, Babylon was destroyed over there but Babylon continued to live on in this beast. Is that right? That is why Revelation 13 still represents the bear, the lion and the leopard. Is that right? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] Showing you, brothers and sisters, that Babylon continued to live on, because all the mysteries, all the "obeah" and all the teachings of old Babylon ended up with this whore: burning candles, worshipping idols, confessing to priests.

<And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.>

So now, this is a mother church, and the mother church claims to be the first Christian church. No. You are the first whore that left your husband, Jesus, and you became a mother. And when you became a mother after a certain time, you gave birth to daughters and these daughters were called harlots. And she has about a thousand harlots, all about the place with different kinds of names. Remember the equal opportunity bill; so we just have to say harlots, all in one, sitting on the corners, speaking in tongues, burning candles, still singing the doxologies from mother whore. Those harlots, speaking in tongues and saying that is the evidence of the Holy Ghost, preachers running away with other men’s wives, defiling the young women from the church, speaking on the television and saying, “If you do not give me eight million dollars, God will kill me.” You should have died long time because you bewitched God’s people, like Simon the sorcerer. O yes.

MOTHER OF HARLOTS

<...MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.>

Yes. Look at this wicked whore.

<And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.>

This woman, this religious body, this prostitute, this whore, she was drunk and staggering, and she had drunken all the blood of the martyrs and she marked it down on her martyrology: sixty-eight million martyrs and she drank the blood of the saints. It is not a woman. It is a church. Yes sir. It is not a woman. It is a power and she is riding a beast. I believe that is clear-cut. I believe a fool should not err therein. Yes!

Now, the angel is going to help John, to tell him who is this woman and tell something about the beast, just in-case you make a mistake, you will have it here.

<And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel?...>

O, you are watching at that woman. You are talking about bracelets. You are talking about neck chains, gold and pearls. And the Bible said that she was decked in all kinds of pearls and gold. Now, he was seeing a woman because it was a vision. Yes. And all of a sudden, a beast came from nowhere with ten horns; my God; and seven heads, and the woman jumped up right on his neck and she was riding. She is galloping internationally, right around the world, riding. So this surprised John, he marvelled, and the angel said, “Why didst thou marvel? Does that surprise you? Why should that surprise you, John?”

<...I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.>

I am going to tell you about the woman, and I am going to tell you a little bit about the beast that carried her. Our subject is, “The Beast.” Yes. And he started unfolding it.

<The beast that thou sawest (Hear this) was, and is not...>

They died out after a time. Come on. I said, the beast was, it existed before and he said, and it was not. It just kind of died out. They lose their power. And something is going to happen.

<...and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit...>

When you see that Rome loses power, that is not the end of it. It is coming back from hell. So the beast is now arising from hell. The spirit of antichrist is arising from hell to take over the world, take over all the governments and take over all the religions.

<...and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Is the world wondering today? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] The world said he is a computer. They are surely wondering. The world said it is an African baby. I tell you, they are certainly wondering. They do not know what it is because they rejected the third angel’s message. Oh yes, my friends. I will tell you the mystery of the woman. Now, notice something here, to which I want to call to your attention. I made a statement earlier and the statement is that the beast represents the kingdom of Rome but it also represents the man that is ruling that kingdom. That scripture is also speaking of the different ones that sat upon the throne. All right! We are going to pick up that a little later.

We are going to close in any case. It says that if your name is not written in the Lamb’s book of Life, this thing is surely going to fool you. You are not going to believe this message tonight. As far as you are concerned, that fellow is talking stupidness but if this makes sense to you and something is thankful in your heart that you could see this, it shows that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life, and was written there before the foundation of the world.

7 KINGS – THE EIGHTH IS THE BEAST

I am here to tell you, brothers and sisters, that Rome is built upon seven hills. The seven mountains upon which the woman sitteth, Rome is built upon seven hills. Now notice something here; the tenth verse:

<And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.>

All right, hold it right there. This was A.D.96 that John was writing that. The angel was speaking to John for that time. He said, “There are five kings that ruled the Roman Empire and they are not. They died. And there is one right now sitting...” Is that right? “There is one sitting right here.” Okay!

<And there are seven kings five are fallen, (which they are dead) and one is, (That was Nero who was ruling right then, to persecute the Christians) and the other is not yet come; (He is not even born yet.) and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.>

THE BEAST – HE IS THE 8^TH KING

He has a short time. Yes. Something else is going to happen after that short time. Hear this.

<And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth...>

Now, in the eleventh verse, it comes down to the man. Not the kingdom, not the power. It is speaking about the man that represents the kingdom. And this scripture is beautiful. Hear this.

<And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth (After those seven Roman emperors ruled the kingdom, there was an eighth.) and is of the seven...>

Now, let us understand the thing properly.

<And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition. (Hell.)>

What does that mean? Now, there was an eighth king going to come but this eighth king is of the seven. Well, the seven died already, how come he is going to do that? The same spirit of the emperor that was in the seven emperors now comes in a holy man to sit upon the throne of the Roman kingdom, and that man is called the beast, together with the kingdom. That man that took over the Roman Empire, through Constantine the Great, bringing a world council of churches together, that one was the eighth king but he is of the seven. He took up the spirit of the old emperors, and the spirit of the old emperors possessed this holy man and he is the beast. That is the beast. The beast comes down to the man that is over the kingdom, and interchangeably the beast is called the kingdom sometimes and it is called a man sometimes, but it will always refer to the man that has the power over that kingdom. So don’t let it tie you up at all.

All right! Let me see if I get something here for you. We are going to close now. Oh my! He is going to tell you a lot here.

<And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition.

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings...>

Interpretation now. The ten horns are ten kings. Now, the angel is making things plain.

<...which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast>.

They are going to agree with this eighth king, these ten kings. It is a lot to follow there, brothers and sisters. Let us read it out. Yes.

<These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.>

They control all nations, all tongues and all languages, and the whore was sitting over all of them.

<And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.>

She is a great city. There is one city upon the earth that is called, “The Eternal City.” And that is maybe Port-of-Spain? [Congregation says, “No!”] No! Port-of-Spain does not rule over all the kings of the earth. There is one city upon the whole earth that is called an eternal city and is ruling over the kings of the earth. How does she rule over the kings of the earth? By religion! The wine of her fornication is a religion and their doctrines, and it intoxicates all the kings of the earth and makes them drunk to do the will of this great woman out here, she is the great whore.

Now, there is a little scripture here, if you want to find out that beast also represents the man that concerns that kingdom and you will find that in Revelation 19. Yes. And the Bible said,

Revelation 19: 19-20 <And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.>

And a little later on it said,

<And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet...These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.>

Now, that is your beast in the end time, brothers and sisters. Closing remarks - come to the piano and organ. That beast in the end time is the rising of a world empire, to force the whole world into honouring that kingdom and honouring that king. And if you refuse to do that, you could be killed. And that is why the seals was opened today, that is why the third angel flew today. And if you are in ignorance of what that is, I boldly state here tonight that that was the ministry of the hated man called William Branham, who was sent upon the earth today to warn men about the beast, and his image and his mark. And he went thirty years through all the churches and seven times around the world warning them about the rising of the Roman Empire and the world council of churches.

Tomorrow night, we will speak on “The Mark Of The beast”, now that you know the beast and you understand the beast. I am saying boldly tonight, just in-case you do not come back tomorrow, that the mark of the beast must come from the beast. How many says, “Amen?” [Congregation says, “Amen!”] I am saying that the mark of the beast will come from the beast. Where is it going to come from? Where will the mark come from? It is the mark of the beast, therefore it got to come from the beast. I am saying that the mark of the beast is coming from Rome. Flee for your life. Run for your life; the mark of the beast is coming from Rome. Yes. Tomorrow you are going to hear the rest.

Lift your hands to Him. Let us praise the Lord.

Thank you Father for your Word tonight. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your people, O Lord. Look down upon your people. Bring light and understanding. Bring deliverance unto your people Father, by the Word of life. Even bless the meeting tomorrow. Touch some heart and give them light and understanding, for we pray for the people Lord and we pray that you will bless this message, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray with thanksgiving, and the congregation say, [Congregation says, “Amen!”] Amen! Amen means, “So let it be.” The Word of the Lord shall not return void unto Him. Amen.