The End is Near - The Mark of the Beast | Week 4

Ever been in a situation where fear has driven you to extremes? Reflecting upon experiences like the pandemic-induced panic buying, we unravel how fear, fueled by media narratives, often blurs the line between preparedness and paranoia. We bring to light the impact of fear on our decisions and behaviors, exploring the uncharted territories of what it really means to be prepared.

Next, we transport you to the historical and spiritual epicenter of the world - Israel. Engage with us as we traverse through the rich history of Jerusalem, a central part of God's narrative with mankind, and contemplate the imminent end times and their implications for modern-day Israel. Amid growing tensions, we underscore the importance of praying for peace in Jerusalem, acknowledging the delicate balance between supporting Israel and advocating for the innocent victims caught in the crossfire. 

Journey with us into the enigmatic symbolism of Revelation 13.4, as we discuss the rise of Babylon's power, the infamous mark of the beast, and the insidious dangers of a power-driven mindset. As we navigate these uncharted waters, our conversation segues into the key message of Romans 10:9-10, emphasizing the necessity of faith and belief for salvation. We extend a warm invitation to embrace Jesus and His sacrifice, and rejoice with those ready to make this life-changing decision. As we wrap up, we leave you with a heartfelt prayer of blessing, reminding you of the importance of embodying God's love in these turbulent times.

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Transcript

Pastor Jason Brown: 0:00

Are you prepared for the end? All right? So a few years ago all of us were in the middle of a pandemic and the shelves were empty. Do you guys remember? It was a little bit daunting because a lot of us are not exactly the farmer type, so we're not those who can go out and harvest our own food. We're not those. So whenever the truck doesn't come with the food to the place, then we get nervous. Anybody else get nervous. And the thing is, some of us were a little more insulated than others. We were fine. We weren't worried about the famine OK, we were OK. But we were concerned about was this gold right here? I'm serious. Y'all you guys got serious about this stuff and I was right there with you. Man, I was out in line. You know everybody had the masks, they had the hazmat suit. They were all decked out and they weren't coming for the food. There was still food on the shelves. It was left right there. Nobody was going for that. They weren't going for the knickknacks. All that stuff was still there. They were going for the sweet golden toilet paper that was there.

Pastor Jason Brown: 1:02

I was in line at Sam's Club in Costco looking for it. People were hiding it. They were holding it underneath their shirt and stuff. It was crazy. You guys remember and some of us we buy in bulk anyway, right, we're trying to get that savings. Be a good steward under God. So we had some at the beginning. We were like I'm fine, I'm totally fine, and then suddenly the pile gets smaller.

Pastor Jason Brown: 1:20

You guys remember when the pile started getting smaller and smaller, we started getting real nervous. You guys started rationing it out to your family. How bad do you have to go? How you get two squares? The Lord be with you, keep you clean. You guys think I'm joking. You guys know exactly how you were, man.

Pastor Jason Brown: 1:40

It was serious when it came down to the TP issue. People were getting real, real radical about it. I remember, because we were just concerned. Man, when you feel like you're lacking, you think the end of the world is happening. Man, I could have filled the church, you guys, if I had just like a shipment of toilet paper. I'd have come up here and it'd just been like Oprah with toilet paper. It's like you get a roll and you get a roll and just like, throw in TP and you get a roll. We would have packed it out. You guys, I just couldn't get the shipment of TP in time, so it didn't work out.

Pastor Jason Brown: 2:14

Now here's the thing. You know, there starts to be this, this ah, like a stress about not having enough, and it comes. You know, some of us are those who are a little bit more on the prepper side. You guys know what I'm talking about. More on the prepper side, you want to be prepared in all things.

Pastor Jason Brown: 2:28

I grew up as a Royal Ranger, which is like the Christian version of Boy Scouts. Our motto was be ready. That's what the motto was. So we were ready with the go bag. You guys didn't know the go bag with the go bag people.

Pastor Jason Brown: 2:39

When I lived in the Middle East, I had the go bag to get out. I had the stay down stuff to stay in place. I had both things. I was ready to go and and I think a lot of us kind of operate in that. But here's the thing like you know, can kind of go from that. It scales up to the next thing where you got like all this food and all this stuff that's prepared and and that's not a bad thing either Because, like you know, that kind of comes from our background. Many people used to, you know, can food and can can their, their vegetables and their different things they got. That's all good, but what happens is it starts to get there and it starts to be motivated out of fear. And it's about what if this happens? What if that happens? And I love our media Like they. They monopolize on this right. So they have the show doomsday preppers. You guys know the show and they site man, I'm prepared for anything. They show all these families that are put together with all this stuff and and then they get a score. Like I could skip the whole show and just watch the end part. You guys know what I'm talking about, where they get the score and no one likes their score. It doesn't matter what it is, they don't like it. It's like you got a 6.2. What? I don't care what's coming, I'm going to survive. They're like you got a 6.2 because you don't have a flamethrower and they're like I knew it should have got a flamethrower. There's like games online about being a prepper. You have to make a bunker and stuff and there's all this stuff that is there.

Pastor Jason Brown: 4:00

We were talking with a friend and he really realized that he was motivated out of fear. And this is before the pandemic. This is back some years ago. We were actually I was at his house. He was helping us build a skate park. We were doing a skate park ministry here and reaching out to kids and doing all sorts of stuff like that. We were building Weldon in his house and he invited me. He said, hey, let's go grab some stuff for the guys. It's over there in the room. And so I go in there and he has a room that is packed from floor to ceiling with every kind of food and every kind of thing. It was just like stacks on, stacks on stacks of food everywhere and I was like kind of taking it back, I was like this is not a pantry, this is like this is serious, this is so much. And it wasn't just those things, it was also other things that he began to collect is a way to say it kindly. It really was hoarding and it became because the fear was that he was going to do without and if these things would somehow make him secure.

Pastor Jason Brown: 4:57

We're talking in that season Pastor Rich was preaching about the idea of trusting God and it became a real issue because whenever you have that tension of letting go of stuff, you really have to face your fears. And I'll give credit. I'll give credit to him because he was willing to let go, because he faced his fear that God can provide for him. It wasn't his, his trust in the stuff he had, it was his faith in God who will sustain all his needs. And see, it's not wrong having the stuff, as long as your motivation isn't fear and it's keeping you back for where God wants to take you. And so I showed back up to his house. We were building the ramps and I went into that same room to get a snack. This time All of it was gone, except for just a little section, and I said Paul dude, what happened to all your stuff? He said oh man, I just broke through the fear that was holding me back. I donated all that food to a food pantry and see, it was a. It was a change that happened in his life because he no longer was motivated by fear. So he was able to let go of all that stuff. Actually, he had this amazing die cast car collection, the big size cars, and he had hundreds of them. He donated those cars to the youth group because we needed to take some kids to camp at the time, and so he donated them to us and we were able to sell them on so that we could take kids to camp. He was willing to let go of stuff, the fear that he had in his life, he faced it so that he could be free and move forward.

Pastor Jason Brown: 6:31

I know personally for me, man. I grew up out here in the desert as a desert rat kid and hunting and fishing and all that stuff. And so when God starts to talk to Celeste and I about moving to Europe and going there with our family, that meant that me, the kid out in the desert with the guns, had to let go of the guns. And I had this real tension. I was like, how am I going to take care, how am I going to protect my family and what? And I had this real dilemma, this real fear that I had to face. Am I going to trust the God who's calling me to this thing or not? And I'm man, I'm, I'm for it. Man, you could ask me second amendment, I'm all that stuff. But at the same time there's this tension that's there. Can I trust God to protect me and be obedient to what he has called me to do or not? If I'm not willing to face this fear over here. I can never go on a mission trip because I'm too far away from my stuff. I definitely couldn't say yes to God to go be a missionary because I would have to let go of all those things.

Pastor Jason Brown: 7:45

Here's the deal. We are called not to be those who are motivated by fear. We are called to be those that are spiritually prepared. That we wouldn't just be prepared physically, because man be ready, have some good stuff, have some protection. But here's the thing, that we would be spiritually prepared, that it would be even more important in our life. Because here's the thing, all that stuff is fleeting, but our life with God is eternal. So don't be motivated by fear. That's why we're excited. Man, the end is near is not a scary statement to us, because we look forward to Christ's return, that we have a joy and a hope. We're not living in fear at all. The reverse, we're looking forward.

Pastor Jason Brown: 8:28

Lord, take me now, before the service is over. Let's be done with it. Come, get your church that we would be those spiritually prepared for what God wants to do in and through us. Would you say amen to that If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone? We're moving today to Deuteronomy 6, starting in verse 4. Here, oh Israel, the Lord, our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. That question for us today is are you prepared for the end? Lord? We thank you so much for your word. We thank you that you breathe upon it, holy Spirit. You make it alive. To us it becomes reima. It's transformative that we would be more like you in your image. We pray, lord, that you be upon our hearts today. We would hear from you what you want to speak. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. You know we're so excited that you're with us here today at Cornerstone.

Pastor Jason Brown: 9:34

If we haven't met, my name is Jay Celeste and I have such an amazing opportunity being with a great team here at Cornerstone, and it's a blessing, because all of us are those who need to take a step after Christ. None of us have arrived, and since that's true, we use this image of following Jesus because we know that that is who we're called to be as Christ followers. We're all broken people, we all need a Savior, and so that's why we talk about this message to be more like Jesus. That's why we live the way we live and that's why we operate the way we do, because we want to love God and make disciples and reach the world. We want to be those that, beyond our weekend gatherings, throughout the week, throughout the city and life groups that we connect, we grow in our relationship with Christ and we serve others through our abilities and our talents, that we use every part of who we are to be intentional, to go after God. And so that's who we are and that's what we're about.

Pastor Jason Brown: 10:24

So, when we look at this idea that end is near, we do so through that perspective and that lens, not one of scared and one of that oh, the sky is falling, but instead being aware, so that we can see the changing times and that the end truly is near, as the Lord's return is emanate upon us. See, we are those, as Christ followers, who believe in an almighty God, a creator, god Yahweh, the I am, and that he came not just to be a religion, not just to be a God at a distance, but to have relationship with us, so much so that that's why Jesus came to become a sacrifice to restore back that relationship from a brokenness that we made mistakes, to bridge that gap of holiness as a holy sacrifice for all people for all time. And we've been using this imagery from Dr Jeremiah about the idea of some of these end time events. And though we look through a mirror dimly, as it comes to some of these things, scripturally as it talks about the end times, we see these markers very clearly there in scripture. You can look for them as well.

Pastor Jason Brown: 11:33

The first is the rapture of the church. We've been talking about that. It's the great hope of the church, with Christ's return for us that have our faith and trust in Him. At that time we're going to be brought up to Him, into His presence, and he's going to ask us what did you do with what I gave you Like? What kind of steward are you of the things that I put you in charge of? Or the way that Jesus said it, what did you do with the talents that I gave you? And it's going to be an assessment of the church and what happens at that time. Simultaneously, it's going to be a very difficult season here on the earth a great tribulation, a great hardship, war and famine and all sorts of evil happening. We see it beginning to ramp up and at that time the Lord will return back to become the just ruler that we've been looking for, the real peace in the almighty God, jesus Christ, and we see Him ruling and reigning for a millennium. And then, after that, the great white throne judgment, in which case evil will be dealt with once and for all and the enemy of our soul will get the justice that we have been looking forward to. So that's why we look forward to the return of the Lord with such admiration Now. We look forward with such great hope is that we look forward to seeing Jesus face to face Now.

Pastor Jason Brown: 12:50

Pivotal in this whole conversation is Jerusalem, the city, and in recent days it's been so difficult as we look to the city of Jerusalem, all the things that have been happening. We know this because it's pivotal within this story of Christ followers. That's who we are. We, as Christ followers, have been grafted into means, brought into the family of God. Israel is God's chosen people and the narrative of God with mankind is calling them back into relationship with himself over and over again, all the while Him saying this is my people, they are mine, and so, as we, by faith, become grafted into His people, that's what makes us being sons and daughters of the Most High God. That's what makes us coheirs with Christ is by faith we're included, not replacing included into the people of God, and so these things that have been happening recently in Israel, they're heartbreaking. They're so heartbreaking because there's been so much loss and so much pain.

Pastor Jason Brown: 13:54

We look to understand a bit better by looking at Israel's history, and so we'll take a few moments today to take a look at what that means. As you look some of these images here, you first understand this first map is one of the promised Holy Land, and so we see this imagery here of what would be all of this area. It's much greater than modern day Israel, including even land that would go into other countries in modern day, but this is what we'd see in Numbers 34, as the Lord said. This is what I give to you. In these diameters we see a little bit later these two maps giving us a better explanation. As they went into the Promised Land, we see Joshua leading that resolve, taking over from Moses. We see the different tribes of Israel and where they settled in the Promised Land, from taking over the land of Canaan Some years fast forward in the establishment of the kingdoms after David Solomon and then to his descendants, where we see Israel and Judah broken apart in the Philistines, taking a foothold in what is now modern day Gaza. We see a fast forward a version of this whenever the Babylonian Empire comes to take people away and they, like the Assyrians before them and then later others who ruled over them, would take people away and displace Jews from their homeland. And so we see a fast forwarded version to modern day Israel, one bifurcated and divided, a city that is there, carved out from itself. Jerusalem, old and new. And we see Israel in its current state and we understand it in that way.

Pastor Jason Brown: 15:25

If we were to look back into Scripture, we see so much about what is said for Israel, dictated to and understand by God, saying this is the hell and I have for you, this is what I said, a part unto you In 1300 BC. We see that's where they enter into Canaan, that's where we see Joshua there and the Lord saying to Joshua be strong and courageous. He says it over and over because the fight that's going to be ahead of them as they come to conquer this land and to take it back. And so they go into Canaan and the Lord gives the land into their hand and we see, as the tribes were there, what property they had. In about the year 1000 BC, the kingdom of David is established following Saul, and we see it where it's there, actually established in it in large, to be what we would see in modern day. Following that, solomon and the being built the house for God or the temple, judah and Israel there for become divided kingdoms. Following it with the squabble for power, following Solomon, with the sons and others, and we see the battle back and forth.

Pastor Jason Brown: 16:24

By 722 BC, there's the Assyrian exile, or the Assyrians rise the power and take the first set of slaves away from the land of Israel In 586 BC. That's where the Babylonians this time come in and they, much more powerful, take even more, this time destroying the temple of God that Solomon built In 515 BC. That's where we see the return back to build up in Jerusalem and we know that story where the second temple is built following the return back from Babylon by 63 BC. That's when the Romans had ruled it, gained into power and they began to rule over this area as they took over the modern known world at that time. At that time it was called Judea and that was the land of Judea and it was a vassal state of Rome. In fact, that's where we find the story of Christ as he comes onto the scene, seeing many leaders that were there under the rule of Rome as vassals of Rome at a distance. We just talked about the apostle Paul planning the church and how, even there, as he went back into Jerusalem, he met with Roman leaders above those of Israel who had been spiritual leaders. They had more authority, keeping Judea underneath their hand. Jesus comes, he becomes a sacrifice for us all, at the Roman hand, and he comes back alive from the dead to be the Christ that we look for. I mean, it's an amazing thing. It brings it back into alignment the fall of Jerusalem.

Pastor Jason Brown: 17:51

In 70 AD. After the Lord had returned back to heaven and the church had moved forward, the destruction of Jerusalem happens and the second temple is destroyed. We see that the fall of that actually becomes about where the Barcashba revolt happens them revolting against the rule, in that time against the Romans, and as a result, they squashed down the Jewish people even more, renaming the area as Palestine or, in that local dialect, palestine as a slight against the Jews. No longer Judea In 636. We know the rise of Islam coming out of Saudi, then taking over North Africa, the Middle East and into this region, and that is the year that they took over Jerusalem. From that point forward, in 1099 to 1291, there were a series of battles, with Christian crusaders from Europe coming over to take over Jerusalem and the Holy Land, battling back and forth with Islamic rulers of their day, ultimately resulting in the Mamluks taking over an Islamic regime that was there, coming out of modern day Iraq and then other places ruling over, not just there but down into Egypt and across North Africa. Following them, out of Turkey comes the Ottoman Empire, the rise all the way into what would be known into Europe and the power of what they took over, and they barred Jewish land purchase in the region, trying to keep them at bay in the Holy Land. Even during that time there was this movement, this yearning, this resolve to return back to the Holy Land by its people, and so in 1892 we see that return start to happen. In 1897, a Zionist movement saying we should return back, that we should go back to the place that God had given us. In 1917, there was a Balfour Declaration saying there should be a Jewish homeland in Israel by 1918.

Pastor Jason Brown: 19:55

It's the end of World War I and there we see that there had been fighting between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem and beyond. There had been squabbles happening from that time even in a present day. In 1922, the British Palestine mandate took part beyond the Jordan River and gave that over to modern day Jordan, taking a whole swath of land away from the Jews that owned at that time. At the same time, we see the Hebrew on riots. That started to happen from the Arabs and they started to fight against the Jewish people and against the Christians that were in the region and they began to block Jewish land ownership because of the fighting that was there. Trying to pacify the situation In the same way, the appeal commission said that there should be a split control over this land, trying to give a homeland to both people, both of them fighting the whole way In 1939. Something very pivotal is that they restricted Jewish immigration by the British who controlled the region, saying they didn't want them to establish this very place that they said that they could have earlier this while they were fleeing great persecution in Europe before the Holocaust. It was then at the in World War II in 1939 that we see the start of the Holocaust and all that happened to the Jewish people?

Pastor Jason Brown: 21:15

The end of the war in 1947, there was a split control that was established by the British. They promised it first to the Jews and then to the Arabs, and neither of them really. They gave them what they wanted, and promising even other lands to the people that surrounded them as they were on their exit, in the way out. In 1948, israel comes and they establish their independence and in doing so they they are attacked by all the Arab countries on all sides. They are able to retain their ground, but Jerusalem becomes a split city.

Pastor Jason Brown: 21:46

In 1964 there is the Palestine Liberation Organization that has started literally to eradicate the Jewish people is what it's declared to do, and they just seeks to destroy them at every turn. There's what's known as the Six Day War, when Israel was attacked, and this war, even though it was just a few days, had such a favor as God's hand was with Israel that all those that attacked Israel actually lost ground themselves, egypt losing the whole Sinai peninsula. They controlled it from that day forward, later giving it over because of UN talks. The Yom Kippur War followed in 1973 and then in 1979 there was a Camp David Accords where they gave back that land. We see that a war with Lebanon kicks off as they rocketed in, unprovoked, rocketing in from the northern part against Israel. We see that there was talks and try to be peace and no peace could be reached. The whole time Yasser Arafat and others that led the PLO would promise and say yes and immediately attack the people. We see it over and over Camp David.

Pastor Jason Brown: 22:54

And then we see Oslo Accords and Y River agreements, even Camp David again in 2000. But this triggered an infatata where they fought rigorously for years and years, for five years straight, where they would fight, and this was Hamas who pledged that they wanted death to every Jew, a modern day Holocaust. It begins where Hamas starts to win elections. We see in 2006 inciting these wars with Gaza over Hamas. Even after the 21, 2021 Abraham Accords, we see the current attacks that have taken place. Now. Here's the thing, because I think about Jerusalem as someone who lived for years with Arabs, it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart Because, as the people of God, we're called to be those that stand with Israel, and we do stand with Israel. We stand with Israel and we believe in praying for Israel, and that's what we're called to do, so we stand with them.

Pastor Jason Brown: 24:03

At the same time, our heart is broken for the innocent people that have lost their lives. Our heart is broken by the children and the innocent people that are suffering even today. And so we stand in this tension saying, lord, we stand with Israel, we believe for Israel, your people. At the same time, lord, help these innocents. I think it's very appropriate for us to stop and pray. The peace of God would rest upon everyone. Lord, we thank you so much that you are a God who loves us so very much. Lord, you love us all, all of us, jew and Arab and Christian alike. Lord, you love us so much that you came, lord, to forgive us of our sin. Lord, jesus, you come to us. You've forgiven us so very much. And, lord, at this time, lord, we stand with Israel, your people, lord, we stand and we ask Lord that your hand would be with them, lord, we ask Lord that you would give them wisdom, lord, we ask Lord for your hand, lord, to protect them. At the same, god, we ask for peace, we ask for mercy, lord, we know that you in you, not in any man-made thing in you is the only real peace is found in Jesus Christ. So, lord, we know that, jew and Arab and Christian, that every single person will turn and bow their knee to you. So we pray, lord, jesus, that you or kingdom come, your will would be done. We pray for the innocent today, lord, lord, that they would know shelter, they would know safety. Lord, they would know food, they would find water. Lord, they would know provision. We pray, lord, for the leaders that are there. Lord, that you would soften their hearts, that they would make a way forward. Lord, you tell us to pray for our enemies. So we pray, lord, even for the hearts of Hamas. Lord, that these that are radicalized against you, let even they, lord, that their heart could be turned towards you. Lord, we pray for justice and we pray for grace, we pray for peace and we pray for mercy. Lord, we know that you are the righteous judge and none of us are. So we pray, lord, you would be made known and you would be lifted up. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem today. We pray this in the power and name of Jesus Christ. Amen, as we look to the word of God.

Pastor Jason Brown: 26:48

This whole narrative of God with people is one that's powerful, it's one that's tied together. It just doesn't start here, in the end of Revelation, with the revelation of John about the throne of God. No, it starts all the way back with God, meeting there with Abraham and having these promises of what was going to be Saying I will bless you and I will multiply you there. And then again with Moses, as he charged him to come and take the people of God out of persecution, out of being imprisoned and enslaved in each Egypt, and brought liberation to them. It's that same narrative that he did for us years later, as Jesus came as the Messiah and for all people for all time, came to ransom us back, to steal us back that we would be those that are set apart as unto him and belonging to him. So this narrative of loving God and worshiping God with everything is so pivotal, it's so important.

Pastor Jason Brown: 27:40

In fact, as we look here in Deuteronomy, it seems opposite of where we should start in this story, but it's very important because we start here in Deuteronomy 4, looking at verse 28 about what it says about how the people of God are to worship. It says it like this and you will serve gods of woods and stone and of human hands and neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell, but from there you will seek the Lord, your God and you will find him If you search after him. With all your heart and with all your soul, you say amen to that. It continues. It says this when you are in tribulation, all these things will come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord, your God, and obey his voice, for the Lord, your God, is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. See, this story comes all the way back to Moses and is charging him, saying listen, if you depart from me and worship these other temporary things, it's hollow, it will bring you destruction, but if you put me first, then I will be merciful to you and I will keep you and I keep my promises. So that's what God is saying to them. That's what he says to us today that we would be those that put him first and that he keeps his promises. And since that's the understanding of what we know, our God and he doesn't change that we're looking at the end times. We understand that he's a God who keeps his promise and that we're called to live for him.

Pastor Jason Brown: 29:15

So, as we pick up here in Romans 13, we're following last week where it started to talk about these letters to the seven churches and all the things that they should do, how they should be corrected, how they should live for God, or encouragement to continue living for God. And in the same way, it starts to be a revelation to John about what things are going to happen and he talks about the rising of the beasts. Now, these beasts, though he gives them a physical description, are symbolic. It's not that a beast is going to rise out of the ground and take us over, like Jurassic Park, but then instead it's symbolic and it's representative of things that he talks about here. Very much so, people in theologians talk about how the beast represent military and economic power, spiritual power being wielded in this way from an evil perspective. And it starts to pick up here in Revelation 13.4.

Pastor Jason Brown: 30:08

It talks about how the people will begin to worship this first beast and they said they worship the dragon, the evil one who's behind it, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worship the beast, saying who is like the beast and who can fight against it. See, it talks about the way that we understand things, that they wanted to have power for themselves. It's a type and a shadow of Babylon which, if you remember, as we talked about in week one of this series, was where people motivated by spiritual evil tried to set themselves up in front of God as an example. They tried to rise above God, the tower of Babylon. And so we understand the same thing with Babylon after the power that was there of trying to be against God and for themselves. In the same way, that power was to be seen in images like Persia, or even Greece, and later Rome, in the day of Christ and at the day he's writing this, it is very much the day of Rome, and so he's writing to understand that the worship had turned away from the most holy God to a power that was against him. And so we see that same imagery as we come into the second beast and it starts to talk about it here.

Pastor Jason Brown: 31:22

Also, it causes all, both small and great, this time the second beast, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding. Calculate the number of the beast, for is the number of a man, is the number is 666. The mark of the beast. Now, when we think about this mark of the beast, this number, 666, not to get into numerology too deeply, but the concept is this that the perfection of God's example to us is one of seven. It says that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. This is the completion of God. Would be that 777, the absolute, perfect perfection of God and his power.

Pastor Jason Brown: 32:21

So when we're talking about an idea of a number like 666, that's because it's only the rise of man, stopping only at mankind. It's all us and all, focused on only what we can do, and none of the glory for God, only glory for me, subjugating you and you subjugating me, and that mentality that we are the culmination and the be all the end. All me, me, me. And so whenever we look at the number 666, it talks about that we would want to rise against God and that's what evil is coming against him. So it is. You would look at the way it's written, even in their day. You would see names like Nero, or the word beast as it would be seen there, and that's the understanding he's saying. Listen, this is the understanding of who it is. It's living not for God, but for something against God. So as we start to look about this number 666, it starts to have a deeper meaning. We think about where they're talking, about it being. We're talking about being on your hand or on your forehead, and I think a lot of people get really nervous because they see the scanning of a wrist and some of that, the barcode idea of what that might be look like, or even in a modern day iteration of that, with maybe a chip in your hand that gets scanned for something. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I would just say pay attention when people start to control everything. Now here's the deal. When we start to look at military and economic power, we have to look beyond this idea of just a mark forced on us and look beyond that to really the motivation behind it. We look to military and economic power.

Pastor Jason Brown: 34:10

There's no greater example in the Bible than that of Solomon. Now, solomon was a great king. He was a king of Israel. He was someone who we looked to. We looked to his writing about wisdom and proverbs and we looked to the understanding of what he says in places like Ecclesiastes, and in doing so we would think man, solomon, what a great guy. But it wasn't always that way. In fact, we see what happens there.

Pastor Jason Brown: 34:34

Solomon, knowing that he wasn't the one to rule originally, he actually needed a lot from the Lord. After all, david, his father, chose him. But he chose Solomon over his other brothers who were in line in front, and so there was a fight and a struggle and they anointed Solomon to be king. But then he was like before God God, I need your help. And as he cried out to God, god said I will give you what you ask. He didn't ask for the death of his enemies. He didn't ask for power. He didn't ask for wealth, he asked for wisdom. And when he asked for wisdom, the Lord gave him wisdom. Because he gave him wisdom, he gave everything else too. Now here's the great thing about Solomon Solomon put his heart after God and he did the things the Lord had called him to do. He built the temple for the Lord, all the things that his father, david, couldn't do because David's hands were dirty with blood. Solomon could do as unto God, as a worship. But God gives you your talents without reproach. I mean he doesn't pull them back. So Solomon did all these things for God and then started doing stuff for himself. He was like God, I am awesome, let me do this for me. You don't believe me? Listen to Solomon himself talk about it.

Pastor Jason Brown: 35:51

In Ecclesiastes two he says I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which the water, the forest growing trees. This is in the desert, by the way. It continues. It says I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and providences. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of men. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Pastor Jason Brown: 36:41

Also. My wisdom remained with me and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil. This was my reward for my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil that I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun. I think about that for a few moments here.

Pastor Jason Brown: 37:21

He, in all his wisdom, started to amass all this great wealth and he started to use it for himself. He started to focus inward on what he wanted to do, and so he stacked up all these things to make himself great, to make himself a ruler. Overall, the very children of Israel who were liberated from slavery were now enslaving people. The very people who were supposed to live for God were living for themselves. In very many ways, solomon himself came like a Pharaoh, ruling over other people. He became the very thing that God liberated them from.

Pastor Jason Brown: 38:02

Now, what I love about this is that, in his wisdom, he finally turned from his own heart after himself and realized all of this is hollow. You can't have enough sexual experiences. You can't have enough things. You can't buy this much stuff because all of it is temporary. Therefore it will not keep you for eternity. It's hollow, it passes away, becomes ash in your mouth, and so you need more and more and more, and you can't get it. You cannot accumulate all of that because it's still hollow. You can't take it with you. The next person gets your crumbs and so, realizing this, he himself says all is vanity and his challenge to us is to live for God.

Pastor Jason Brown: 38:52

See, during that time, when he was amassing all this wealth, this is what the scripture says about him in 1 Kings 10, verse 14. Now, the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold. Solomon was living for self. Because he was, he became the very enemy of the God he was supposed to represent, living for himself. Here's the thing more than the way that we have to fear someone else stamping our head or our hand with a mark of the beast, we should understand that we too could live like Solomon and be living the 666 on our own head and our own hand, on how we live. We, spiritually, can be representing the very thing we say we're not for, because of what we're living like, because of what we put our faith in, because of what we're trusting in. See, our representation can already have the mark, without someone forcing it on you because of how we've chosen to be.

Pastor Jason Brown: 40:08

It talks about it like this, and we see it in Scripture, the Shema, the prayer that the Jews pray, the ideation that I belong to God. It says it like this Deuteronomy 6-4, this time through verse 8. It says here O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, I command you today, shall be on your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign to your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. See, the very word of God, the very thing that the evil one will do is try to take away from what God's place is in your life.

Pastor Jason Brown: 41:12

What is on your mind? What do you do with your hands? See, we don't have to worry about someone else forcing a 666 on us. We have to worry about what am I doing with my mind. Is my mind the mind of Christ? What am I doing with my actions? Am I loving and serving God with what I have, or is it about me, because me is short of 777. Me is 666. But when I let it go, it becomes Him. When I lift my eyes to Him, it's about Him. It's no longer the mirror of 666. It's the living God and I lift my hands to Him and I lift my eyes to Him because he is my source, he is my strength. It's in Him that I trust. I do not have fear of the empty shelf. My heart and life is in Him. We would be those that have the mark of God on our mind and in our actions, loving God with all that. We are Professing the shema to God that you are my God. I will serve you with everything, holding nothing back. The Lord, our God. The Lord is one.

Pastor Jason Brown: 42:41

As we look to this idea today, we have that same question for each one of us Are you spiritually prepared? You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. What are you putting your mind and your hands to do? Are you prepared for the end? Friends, as we come to this altar today, it's one that we do so joyously. See, we don't live in fear because we have this relationship with God, but maybe you're not in that place yet. Maybe you have not embraced the living God.

Pastor Jason Brown: 43:17

Today, it's your opportunity to do so. It's that question that you have to answer have you embraced Jesus? Have you embraced the work of Jesus upon the cross? For you See, there's nothing that makes us better than anyone else, except that we've accepted his love for us and because of it it's transformed who we are and it continues to transform us as we walk after him. That's why the symbol of the cross is not one of pain, it's not one of threat, it's not one of fear. It's one of salvation and freedom, because Christ took all of my mistakes and all of my sin and all of yours, and he paid for it upon the cross, once and for all. He took all of that sin of the world and he paid for it. That by faith we can have a relationship with the living God. Because a holy God needed a holy sacrifice. It couldn't be me or you. We can't earn our way in. It's only by Jesus and his sacrifice for us. It's his mercy upon us, it's his grace extended to you that we embrace that by saying Lord, I believe you are who you say you are. Forgive me of my sin, of where I fall short. And when I do that, when I make that decision, it's embracing Christ, it's starting a new relationship with him.

Pastor Jason Brown: 44:36

The apostle Paul, he writes it like this to the church at Rome. He says it like this in Romans 10, 9 and 10. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your day of salvation. It's your day to embrace Christ for who he is.

Pastor Jason Brown: 45:05

I'm going to ask, if you're here in the room, if you just stand and bow your head right where you're at, if you're online, that you would just prepare your heart for what God wants to say to you. It's a simple prayer, but a powerful one. I'll ask you today if that's you, if you're ready to embrace Christ, if you would just raise your hand right where you're at and say Pastor, that's me, you just include me in that prayer. We see the hands that are here. It's the very first time that you're saying yes, maybe it's. You just need to make a recommitment to that, saying Lord, I want to live for you. You see the hands that are here. Lord, thank you for that. If you're online making that same decision, we rejoice with you making it today. It's a simple prayer.

Pastor Jason Brown: 45:52

I ask you to pray after me. It goes like this Lord, thank you for loving me and thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you In Christ's name. I pray Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with you and make a decision to follow Jesus. What a powerful decision, so amazing. If you're here in the room, if you would just let us know if you make a decision, you can just connect with our prayer team right back here at this prayer banner. We want to put some resources in your hands. If you're online, just message us. We want to send you some stuff so that you can live after God and just be successful in doing so.

Pastor Jason Brown: 46:44

For each one of us that are here, that are Christ followers, that we will be those that put Christ on our mind and in our hands, that we will be those that live for God with intentionality, holding nothing back. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you how you speak to us, lord. As the end draws near, this time of your arrival, lord, we are so thankful. We are looking to your return, lord. Lord we say come, lord, jesus, come, come back after your church. And so, lord, we stay after your business, lord, as we're here till we see you face to face. We're about the business of the Lord, lord, in doing so, we ask that you would help us, lord, that we would not allow anything to get between us and you, lord, that we would not be focused on our own selves, lord, but instead we would have the mind of Christ, lord, that we would put our hands to the things you've called us to do. That we would be busy about your business, lord, in that we would be living for you.

Pastor Jason Brown: 47:39

In all these ways, lord, we pray for your empowerment and your spirit because, lord, we know we can't live these things alone. We can't do this under our own power. So, holy Spirit, have your way in us as we come to this altar. It is a step saying Lord, I need more of you today. Lord, I want more of your empowerment for this week. Lord, I need more of who you are. Lord, I need your grace and your peace and your forgiveness anew today. So as we come to this altar, lord, we echo all these things. Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done in us. We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen, amen. I'm going to ask if you'd stand for the blessing today.

Pastor Celeste Brown: 48:17

Before you head out today, we just want to encourage you to come. Next week we're having our Fall Family Day. You'll see a little invite like this Just grab some as you head out. You can hand them to a friend, a colleague, a neighbor. Just invite them. We're going to have fun. I don't know if there's adult bouncy houses, but I know that there are some for the kids. So we want to invite you to be there for that and food. I mean, come on, I think it's a love language food. So you want to be a part. But just come and it's just going to be a family type environment. We encourage you to be a part. Sign up on the app. Let us know if you can come and help in any way. We're going to be excited. It's going to be a good day.

Pastor Jason Brown: 48:55

There's also a chili cook off, if we haven't said that, so you can come and judge and help me out. It's going to be actually really, really fun. We're excited for next week. So invite a friend, invite their family to come and be a part of it, and you yourself, come in and join us. It's going to be an amazing time. Before we go, I'm praying this blessing over us today the Lord bless you and keep you. What make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, or lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. What I pray? A blessing upon your church, your people. God, do you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. You pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.