This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

666. This is Revelation chapter 13, day 5, and that's the number that's
contained in this chapter. Revelation chapter 13 verse 18 says this, "This calls
for wisdom.

If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is a
man's number. " His number is 666. This verse has sparked more interest in the
book of Revelation than any other verse.

This number has sparked more interest in prophecy than any other number. More
speculation is based around this one verse, this one number, than anything else.
Who is the Antichrist and how does it work with this whole 666?

This number, 666, has been the subject of more speculation and misinformation
than anything else in all of prophecy. Rumors have circulated that every license
plate in Israel begins with 666, not true, that every credit card with a certain
store begins with 666, again, simply untrue. I just got one today in an email
that said, "Is it true that every barcode has in it the number 666, again
untrue?

" We get this wrong. We fall for things that simply are not true with this one.
It's because we read this and it says, "Calculate the number of the beast.

" So we get out our calculators and we start adding. We add this number and that
number and we add Roman numerals and Greek numerals and Hebrew numerals,
American numerals and French numerals. When it comes out to the right number,
then we think, "I've got it.

That must be the beast. " Based on that kind of figuring, that kind of what I
call math magic, people have figured out that Nero is the 666, he's the beast,
or then that Caligula, another Roman emperor, was the beast, or that Domitian,
another Roman emperor, or Muhammad is 666, or Cromwell in England, or Knox, or
Martin Luther, or many of the popes have been figured out to be 666 by certain
people. So many people figured that it was Adolf Hitler.

So many people were wrong. More lately in history, it's been Henry Kissinger or
JFK or Gorbachev, mostly because of that mark he had on his head, or some people
have figured computer and used the numbers and letters to figure out that means
666. Some people said it was Ronald Reagan because Ronald, Wilson, Reagan all
had six letters in it.

Every one that you'd want to figure could be 666. You could figure because
people just use math magic. I've loved for years to prove to people not making
light of the evil that's going to come at the end of the time, but making light
of what we do with it, that Mickey Mouse is going to be the Antichrist.

Mickey Mouse is 666. How do you do that? Let me just add it up for you real
quick.

I hope you're aware you've got a piece of paper not in your car because you're
going to have to write this down fast. You take the letters in Walt Disney, 10,
and you add the letters in Donald Duck, 20, and you add 101 Dalmatians. That is
121 you're at now.

You subtract seven dwarfs, now you're 114. You subtract three ugly stepsisters,
now you're at 111, and you times that times the letters in M-I-C-K-E-Y, which is
6, and you've got 666. So that proves it must be Mickey Mouse.

Now, just to prove how unhealthy that all is, a seven-year-old came up to me one
time after I said this and said, "Well, there's not three ugly stepsisters,
there are only two. " If a seven-year-old can figure it out, we should be able
to figure it out. Don't miss this.

This calls for wisdom, and that means it calls for more than a calculator. It's
not just about numbers. It's about wisdom.

In fact, it's a man's number. The clue is given to us in these verses. It is a
man's number.

His number is 666. Six is one less than seven. Seven is perfection.

Seven is God's number. Six is man's number. 666 means man, man, man.

The evil trinity, 666, apes the holy trinity, 777. What is this 666 all about?
He's just a man playing at being God, and he will not play for long.

He's going to be defeated in the end because he's just a man. Revelation chapter
12 and Revelation 13, as we walk through these chapters, you see a lot of evil.
I have to tell you, I also see incredible hope.

Revelation chapter 12, Revelation chapter 13, Satan is allowed to throw his
worst at the world. The doors are wide open. God lets him rule, and it's not
enough.

It's not enough to defeat those who believe in Christ. They endure to the end.
They remain faithful.

In these chapters, the dragon is defeated by Michael and the archangel. Satan
comes against God in a war in heaven. It's not enough.

He doesn't have the power to have victory in heaven or eventually on earth. The
sea beast is resisted through our endurance and faithfulness as believers. He
doesn't have the power to defeat us or defeat our faith.

The beast of this land, we can't figure it out sometimes when we think about the
number, but it's not so confusing that we can't figure out what's false and
what's real. We know that 666 is just the number of a fake God. This is an
incredible story.

This is the story of the fact that things never get so difficult that we cannot
have victory, that the world never gets so dark that the light of Christ cannot
shine in. As you look at your life right now, there may be some dark corners of
your life. There may be some dark happenings in your life, some circumstances.

It never gets so dark that the light of Christ cannot shine in. There's no
circumstance in this world that can take away the hope of heaven. There's
nothing that anyone says to you that can take away the fact that God has said to
you, "I love you in Jesus Christ.

" There is no bad news that happens to us that can take away the good news. Now,
the bad news is still bad. I'm not saying you pretend it's not bad.

The fact that there is a beast here, it is still real. When it's a man's number
and it's 666, I have no doubt that there may be something to that number more
than it's just a man as we come to the end of time. People may be able to figure
it out then, but for us to spend so much time trying to figure it out now that
we miss the hope here, we have missed it.

There is bad news in this world. There is bad news in your life, but it cannot,
it will never be able to take away the good news of what Christ can do. What I
love about this chapter, chapter 12 and 13 both, is that in the end, God shows
his victory.

And chapter 14, when we get to it next week, we're going to talk together about
what you do when life isn't fair. Hold on for how this next chapter begins,
because it begins with the hope that's been trying to be hidden in this chapter,
but was not able to be hidden because the power of God is a power that's
greater. As we end our look at Revelation 13, I'd like to end it together by
praising the one who gave himself for us.

Jesus, you are greater than this first beast. It's a weak imitation of your rule
and your power. You're greater than this second beast.

It is a paltry fake compared to your resurrection, compared to your life,
compared to your miracles. You are greater than this dragon, this one who feels,
senses that he may have power for a time, but whose power will be squashed in
the end by yours. Jesus, we look forward to the fact that one day every knee is
going to bow and every tongue confess that you are Lord.

There is no Lord in these chapters. There is only fake. There is only phony.

And we look forward to that day when we will bow before you together in heaven.
In the meantime, as we wait for that day, I pray that you help us to see the
difference. Help us not to trust in man, but to trust in you.

Help us not to trust in ourselves, but to trust in your spirit. Help us not to
trust in what we can do, but to trust in what you can do. Help us not to trust.

Help us not to trust in our ideas. Help us to trust in your word. And thank you
that in you, we can find hope.

We can find grace and power and peace that lasts, that endures all the way into
eternity. In Jesus name, we thank you. Amen.