Eschatology - Antichrist and Mark of the Beast

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00:00
We don't have handouts this evening Because The handout that I gave you last week in the week before it would have just been the same one So if you don't have the one from last week or the week before I'd be happy to print it for you But I just figured No use in printing a bunch of new handouts if it's just the same thing.
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I will say this I feel a foot taller I don't know if you notice this is lower and just walking behind it It does feel so much better.
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I don't feel like I'm looking over like, you know Like a child anymore.
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Well, let me talk to you about what we're going to do tonight Tonight's gonna be a little different because we're continuing our study of Revelation and how I would Explain the book of Revelation, but but I admit from the outset.
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This has not been a Verse by verse or even chapter by chapter study.
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This has been an overview of the of the hermeneutic that I am using to understand revelation and the word hermeneutic means the interpretive method that I'm using and and if you remember we've talked about I believe the best way to interpret revelation is from the perspective known as partial or Orthodox Preterism simply stated preterism means that I believe that most of the book of Revelation was fulfilled in 8070 with the fall of Jerusalem and so my original plan for tonight was To talk about the Antichrist the mark of the Beast and the Great Tribulation But as I began to think about that I started to think I don't think I can do all that in the time that I have allowed So I I think I'm going to split it up and I'm going to focus tonight on primarily the Antichrist and The Beast of Revelation 13 and we're going to talk about the differing views of the Beast and Then we're going to talk about the mark of the Beast and then Lord willing next Wednesday when we come in since we're in no hurry That's a great thing is I'd rather give you a little bit to chew on then try to rush through everything and you go home And you you know, it's too much and and honestly, is this not a huge topic that people just want to talk about? People want to you turn on your television You go to the Christian station you if you have satellite where you have 13 14 Christian stations You know, you got the Catholic Channel in the Mormon Channel and you got all these different Somebody's gonna be talking about the mark of the Beast.
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Somebody's gonna be talking about the tribulation especially recently with the advent of kovat all all these conversations about whether or not this is bringing about the end of the world where the world is changing so rapidly and there's this worldwide pandemic and then of course the the fear that Of Well, they're going to put something inside of your body and it's going to be the mark of the Beast I mean, you know, that's that's part of the conversation that's been going on and so certainly Certainly something that people talk about people are interested in and there's no reason to rush.
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I will say this I'm going to be I'm going to be relying some tonight on an article by Sam storms If you don't know Sam Sam is a is a theologian teacher Bible teacher and he wrote a very good article on the mark of the Beast so I'm going to be citing his article some in my lesson because I think it's helpful I think his language is useful helpful.
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And while I wouldn't agree with Sam on everything.
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He's a little more charismatic than I am I think Sam's got some good ideas in this in this regard We can it's just like anything else you learn from folks what you can learn and you know Shoot eat the meat and spit out the bones, you know as they say Well, let's begin by talking about the subject of of Antichrist this mysterious figure known as Antichrist has been a huge focus of Conversation and particularly this the topic of eschatology almost always finds its Culmination and well who is the Antichrist and I know this every time a new leader emerges someone will accuse that leader of being the Antichrist When Ronald Reagan was president People accused My favorite president Ronald Reagan They accused him of being the Antichrist Because his name was Ronald Wilson Reagan Ronald r.o.n.a LD six letters Wilson w il s o n six letters Reagan re a g a n six letters so Ronald Wilson Reagan was the Antichrist because his name added up to six six six Now you laugh But you know somebody believed that I didn't I didn't make that up.
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I pulled that out of you know Some writings that I had read that there were people who were Arguing for that now When we talk about the Antichrist we talked about that name sick that number six six six with it There's a lot of conversation as I said and some have accused Preterism as being an invention of Roman Catholics and And I do think this is an interesting accusation the accusation is that the Roman Catholics came up with preterism because the reformers were claiming the Pope was the Antichrist and Because the and they did the the if you look at the historic documents of the Reformation the 1689 London Baptist Confession and the other major confessions of the time it says clearly the Pope in Rome is the Antichrist he is the one he is the beast of Revelation and so some people say that Preterism was created by Roman Catholics to to combat the argument I don't think that's true, but I do think it's interesting that that accusation has been made and Again if it's what I'm teaching I'm giving you a little ammo to use against me if you disagree you can say well That's a Roman Catholic fabrication created to Throw doubt upon the view of the the Reformers But let me say this just for a moment.
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I want to make this important reality When we talk about the term Antichrist First of all we we know this and I know you know this But I just want to make this point because there's a larger point to be made based off the simple point Antichrist is the Adverse of Christ and therefore Antichrist the prefix anti I meaning against Christ The Bible doesn't identify one Antichrist John says in his writings that many antichrists have come and So we have to we have to for a moment Understand that the Reformers could have been right and they're in regarding the the Pope as an Antichrist Yeah in that sense if we look at Antichrist with a lowercase a as being Antichrists, I would say anyone that teaches false doctrine about Christ.
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I think that's how the church identified.
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They are Antichrist and a person who Rejected Christ maybe somebody who once was a confessor of Christ and then became a Rejector what we would call an apostate.
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They were called antichrists Because they had once confessed and now they are rejecting and therefore they were referred to as antichrists in fact, I Think it was Jan hus when he was being when he was being condemned to be burned For his preaching the gospel and he was being condemned by the Roman Catholic Church one of the Titles given to him as a heretic was the title Antichrist you are a heretic you are Antichrist and for that reason you're being burned so the idea of Antichrist as Can it can apply to a broader scope can apply apply to? Specifically anyone in that sense who is who is who is opposed to Christ specifically someone who's against the church opposed to the church And his brother Andy just mentioned well in his lesson really all unbelievers Amen right there.
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That's right.
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Every unbeliever in that sense is against Christ is Antichrist, so we have to distinguish between Antichrist in the generic sense and what we might refer to as Antichrist with the capital a or what we might call the man of lawlessness which is the term that's used in Paul's writings and The term that is used in the book of Revelation is the beast in the book of Revelation chapter 13 it tells us about a beast Who rises up out of the sea? If you have your Bibles you can turn there and we'll look at that quickly it says in Revelation 13 and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads with ten diadems on its horns and Blasphemous names on its heads and the beast that I saw was like a leopard Its feet were like a bear's and its mouth was like a lion's mouth and to it The dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority right right there real quick the dragon Symbolism and Revelation is the devil.
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That's we were told that in a previous Passage that the dragon is the serpent of old the devil.
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So we know who that is.
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So this person this beast is functioning in the power of the devil Verse 4 and they worshiped the dragon for he had given authority to the beast And they worshiped the beast saying who is like the beast and who can fight against it? And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God blaspheming his name and his dwelling That is those who dwell in heaven Also, it was allowed to make war on the Saints and to conquer them and Authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation and all who dwell on the earth will worship it Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain If anyone has an ear let him hear if anyone is to be taken captive to captivity he goes If anyone is to be slain with a sword sword with the sword must he be slain Here is a call for the endurance of and faith of the Saints and then we see another beast rising out of the earth And it had two horns like a lamb and it goes on to say That it exercised all the authority of the first beast and its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beef Beast whose mortal wound was healed there appears to be some form of fake resurrection there or and we're going to talk about that in a minute how the the one thing that the Satan loves to copy and mimic the the ways of God and And so we see that It performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the Presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell in the earth telling them to make an image for the beast That was wounded by the sword and yet lived and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast So that the image of that beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain Also, it causes all both great and small both rich and poor both free and slave to be marked on the right hand or the forehead So that no one can buy or sell unless he has to mark that is the name of the beast or the number of his name This calls for wisdom.
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Let the one who has understanding calculate The number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is six six six All right Lot lot to unpack there.
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And again, we'll we'll can't go through everything But the first thing to address is obviously the last few weeks I have been Saying I believe that this this is something that happened in 8070 Therefore who in the world could this be referring to? Preterism does believe in the beast of Revelation 13, but we believe that the beast is referring to a ruler And the ruler was From my perspective and this is not universally held but I from my perspective I think the ruler most likely falls into the category of being Nero and I'll give you a reason for that You you can do math and you can come up with all kinds of magic answers, right I just did it with Ronald Reagan So what I'm about to show you I readily admit is Not proof of anything But if we step back for a moment and we say what does this number Got to do with anything.
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What is what is the idea of? the number of his name Because that's that's what the text says, right? It says that he has a number and the number is how you identify him it is the number of a man and his number is six six six and And you have to ask that question is it six is it six six six or is it six hundred sixty six Right in the King James Bible.
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It says six three scoring six All right, so that's six hundred and sixty six.
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We don't talk in scores anymore But you would know, you know a score is 20 years, right? So three score would be six six six and in the Hebrew alphabet Alphabet and I want to admit from the outset Hebrew is where I have a lot of failings.
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So I want to make sure you understand that what I'm saying right now is coming from Scholarship and from others who have studied this But if you use the Hebrew alphabet to spell out Nero Caesar, which is what he would have been called You arrive at the number 666 and this is how that happens Nero Caesar would be spelled noon resh vav Noon, which was to be Nero Kof Samik resh, which would be Kaiser so be Nero Kaiser and Nero Caesar and in Hebrew Number numerology, they're not numerology Hebrew numbering letters are given numerical values just like in you think of the the old Roman numerals right a V is 5 and you know an X is 10, right? That's how the that's that's how they understood numbers well in in Hebrew the same thing so a noon Letter would be the the number 50 Resh would be the number 200 Bob would be the number 6 noon again is 50 Kof is 100 Samik is 60 and resh is 200 which I already mentioned So noon and resh are 50 and 200 respectively and again, I could do it on the board But if you add it all up at 666 So that at least is one argument for John is saying his name without saying his name He's identifying to his audience who he's talking about without saying who he is And was this a code that was used among the believers.
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I Don't know.
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Is this a possible answer? I think it's just as I think it's just as possible as some of the other stuff.
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I've heard again the Ronald Wilson Reagan thing and Think about it people come up with all kinds of crazy stuff If we're able to fit it, huh? Oh, yeah, yeah Adolf Hitler could Yeah, absolutely, so I readily admit that the Finding the name and the number is is not exactly a foolproof answer But if somebody says who do you think the Beast could be referring to I think the Beast could be referring to Nero Now I want you to think for a moment.
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Do y'all know much about Nero? Probably just what little bit you've heard maybe in sermons and stuff Most people have never studied the life of Nero Nero was if there was anybody in history Especially in this time period of history that would have rightly been called beastly It would have been Nero Nero was a man who? Would would light people on fire for fun He would dip them in in and flammable liquid and he would light them on fire to light his garden at night he would dress up in the skins of an animal and he would have People tied up to posts naked and He would go dressed as a bear or a lion with the skins of the animal over his back And he would using his teeth would mutilate their bodies most specifically their nether regions This is very historically attested He was a beast of a man he blamed the Christians for Rome's burning and Turned the world in a sense into Opposing the church.
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So certainly would have been known as Antichrist in that regard And if there is a man yet to come Who is the Antichrist if the futurists are right and the preterists are wrong? And there is still an Antichrist yet to come.
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I can't imagine his behavior being any more reprehensible than Nero so that that would be another argument for the Character of the beast.
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I think Nero certainly qualifies both in Timing remember last week I showed you chapter 17 and how Nero is the sixth king and I said I think this fits I think timing wise I think character wise and I think the number of his name the only issue and Dr.
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Sproul talks about this in his book I'm gonna throw you guys for a quick loop and I promise it won't take long but in the book Where He dr.
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Sproul talks about a lot of this.
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He talks about The name of the book is last days according to Jesus He talks about a textual variant Most people don't know this but we all think six six six is the is the number here But there there is a textual variant here and in some of the manuscripts.
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It doesn't say six six six it's a six one six and a lot of people don't know that but that that is a possible variation that made its way into the text somehow and there's arguments that there was The reason behind that was that that was even more specifically pointing to Nero and and I don't have the literature for why that all works out, but I Again point you to that book the last days according to Jesus So if somebody asked me does the preterist position Believe in the beast or believe in the Antichrist.
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I would say yes, but now the next More difficult question for people to accept is they say well, what about the mark of the beast? Because chapter 13 doesn't only tell us there's a beast and you're telling us it's Nero Okay, we can we can understand your argument.
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But but what about What about the mark I mean I know that the mark is a computer chip and they didn't have computer chips in the first century That's supposed to be fun, you know, yes smile everybody you think it's so serious How many of you grew up hearing that well, maybe maybe you're a few years older than me except for Caleb and and You guys you are a little younger.
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But for those of you how many of you grew up hearing? It was going to be a computer chip Or maybe that it was your Social Security number There are a lot of people when Social Security first came out.
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They didn't want it Because they didn't want a number attached to their name Because they were afraid that it had something to do with this mark of the beast the idea that you were going to number people and There was going to be some some form of using that to bring about the end so there's this this the mark of the beast is certainly something that a lot of people have questions about And I want to I want to propose to you an idea this where I'm going to switch to Sam's article for a moment the belief by many is that the mark of the beast is a literal tattoo or chip implant which I mentioned or some other imprint of sorts or perhaps some other physiological branding by which His or its followers are visually identified this popular notion among many Christians is That some such designation whether the name of the beast or the number of the beast or something will be forced On people living in the final few years prior to Christ's second coming and if you want to buy or sell anything Then you won't be able to do so unless you have this mark of identification That's the way most of us see it right That's where most of us have been taught there's going to either be a computer chip that you have to get and you have to Accept it or you have to have a number branded that you have to take and if you don't do this you won't be able to to do any any form of commerce And that's basically what the text says right people who don't have the mark of the beast can't buy or sell anything makes sense and Certainly that interpretation is is largely Accepted and And I want to admit something on the outset the last 12 months If I were still a dispensationalist, I'd be going out of my mind Because of all the things that are happening and I know there was a little talk earlier about the vaccine Please understand.
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I'm not anti-vax for what I'm about to say, but what there is a there is a feeling though Of There's there's almost a conditioning Because there's gonna if you don't get vaccinated eventually it's going to be you won't be able to go anywhere You won't be able to get on a plane.
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You won't be able to go to the courthouse You won't be able to do anything.
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You won't be able to buy anything and There's in in the minds of many people.
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There's a connection there and that's why some people are And don't get mad at me.
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I'm just saying this is why some people are very uncomfortable You're telling me if I don't get vaccinated.
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I can't have my kids go to school You're telling me if I don't get vaccinated.
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I can't get on a plane and go see my son So you're telling me essentially if I don't do this thing if I don't submit to this Injection that I can't function in society So you understand how people would connect that and please don't think again.
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I'm not I'm not up here spouting conspiracy I'm when I'm preaching I take this very seriously, but that's the mindset, right? And I can understand like I said if I was dispensationalist, I'd be I'd be foaming right now, I'd be like this is it They're setting us up And maybe they are but that's not what I'm here to say tonight because I think that The mark of the beast is a lot less Of I think it's I think it's less physical Than what most people expect Most people are expecting an implant or a tattoo or something else on your body And here's my challenge to that Remember earlier when I said that part of Satan's modus operandi is that he likes to copy God's The way God does things even even in Revelation We see what we the Holy Trinity, right is God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit What do we see in Revelation 13? We see the dragon we see the beast and we see this other beast who points people to the first beast Sort of like the spirit points people to Christ, right? So you have an unholy Trinity there in Revelation 13 So it's almost as if Satan is always trying to copy God And I want you to look at four verses they're all in Revelation But just turn with me very quickly to Revelation 7 and verse 3 now these are From Sam's articles.
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So this may not be in the translation you're used to Revelation 7 3 Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads notice that they believers receive a seal on Their foreheads now go with me to Revelation 9 for two chapters over they they were told I'll give you a second here page is turning out won't go too fast They were they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree But only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads So what do we see twice in two chapters? There's a seal on believers and it's on the forehead Revelation 14 1 If you want to turn quickly just so you can see this Says in verse 1 it says then I looked and behold on Mount Zion Stood the Lamb and with him 144 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads And then lastly in Revelation 22 for you don't have to turn there unless you just want to It says they they that is believers will see his face and his name will be on their Foreheads now.
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I want to ask a question and I'm not being I'm not being Sarcastic or in any way juvenile.
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I'm asking in genuine thought Do we think that this is a literal mark that Christians are going to walk around with on their head? I? Don't think so.
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I'm not saying it's impossible But I think in this regard the mark in in a sense is describing Those who have been born again those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who are marked by faith in The Son of God they are marked by their trust in him and the mark I I think is the the concept of receiving that that Seal that we receive when we become believers in Christ if you read Ephesians it says the moment that we are redeemed or the moment we are Converted we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
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The Bible says that we are sealed with a it says you're sealed But you don't have a mark on your head.
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You have the seal of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
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And so the seal that's being referenced here is Not physical but is in a sense in regarding a person's allegiance Where is a person's allegiance if it is to Christ then they are sealed by the Spirit of God But if their allegiance is not to Christ Then they are sealed with the seal of The devil or the Antichrist or the beast? Let me give you a thought having someone's seal on you is Saying they own you they're saying you belong to them and so in this sense the mark of the beast could be and I'm not making a dogmatic pronouncement, I'm just saying it could be a symbolic way of describing loyalty Describing loyalty So Please That's right That's right Yeah, so it just clicked in my mind.
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That's that was identification.
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That's right.
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Just what you just said.
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That's right And the Jews really literalized that because they would take a little pass They would take little passages of Scripture and where what they call phylacteries which were these, you know Jesus talked about them having broad phylacteries that would think they would have big ones on their head to show how much they were show their allegiance but Is that really what God wants us to do right Scripture verses and timed our head or is he referring to and again? Think of it like this if there is symbolism the symbolism means something What does it mean to be in the head and in the hand? It means to be in the mind and in the actions and what you think and what you do So if we talked about the mark of the beast being how we think and how we behave Does this not Relate more to a person's allegiance Than to a person's taking of a literal mark Again, I'm not being dogmatic.
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I Have one guy what one guy Craig Hill? He made the argument that it was referring to money in the Roman days Because the money had the mark of the forehead of had the head of Caesar on it And they have held it in their hand.
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So the head and the hand, you know went together.
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I Understand it.
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I think that might be a little I think that's moving away from the symbolism there I think that's putting a little bit too much in the physical but still possible, right? Because you can't do commerce unless you use their money One of the things the Jews tried to do in 80 70 was they tried to coin their own money in? 80 66 The Jews tried to produce their own form of currency as a way of trying to split away from the Romans and That was one of the things that was shown you were accepting Rome By using their money So again, this is all going back to the 80 70 thing I'm not trying to create more questions and I give you answers, but I am trying to make us think But when it comes to the mark of the beast Let me say this as I draw to a close No matter how I feel about this.
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I Do think there is danger and now I got to be careful.
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I'm gonna say it.
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Anyway, I do think there is danger in Any government that wants to try to force Microchips into people's bodies.
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I don't necessarily think it's the mark of the beast But I do think it's a dangerous thing So personally, I'm not interested in taking a microchip not because I think it's the mark of the beast but because I think it's a bad idea Yes There are Currently there is nothing in the works that I am aware of but let me tell you a few stories currently in China which is a communist country They have something called a You know We have credit a credit score and based on how you purchase and pay your bills Your credit score is either high or low Over in China, they are much more strict on behavior and how people behave and they have created a functional social credit score where you're speaking out against things or saying things basically lowers your social credit score and Produces an ability to identify people that they would consider to be dangerous because they speak out against the state and they are monitoring things like that with cameras and All kinds of things you can't go anywhere in China right now Hardly anywhere where you especially in the cities where you're not where you can't be seen as everything is under surveillance and so the idea of Something like a microchip being used to To identify people.
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I mean we already do it to dogs, right? And I want to tell you this wouldn't it be easy to convince somebody I have five children Three of them are under 10 years old, you know, one of the things I fear most is one of my children Getting lost And not being able to find him we were at a fair one time and JJ I Turned around he was gone and he was gone for like five minutes long as five minutes of my life You know because he got away from us and he was in another Area of the fair so scary and I cried.
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I mean I wept I mean and wouldn't be easy Caleb to convince parents to say You know, you could put this chip in your child and you'd always know where they are every day You know, but what kind of power would that give to whoever controls that chip and Yes, there are Biomechanical chips that can be placed in the human body that can produce you can hold all of your medical information.
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Wouldn't that be convenient? Yeah, it's already there You That's been that that's been scary to me that I'm not even on Facebook if I google a Whatever if I a widget And I go on to my Facebook page and now it's giving me advertisement and So so the the ability for and it's not just the government like I said, it's companies Why would why would Facebook care what you do because they want to sell you things They want to put advertisement in front of you that works and the way they do that is by monitoring your behavior.
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And so Go ahead You didn't tell where you're going anything so Yeah, it really is.
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It's frightening Like I said, I've seen a lot of videos of the of these little chips are creating that can go in the human Yes So so getting back to do I think these things are the mark of the beast? No, because I think the mark of the beast is Referencing our allegiance.
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Here's the thing.
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Here's the thing I'll tell you this people say well What if they started giving mark of these these marks or chips or whatever to babies when they're first born? And I would say well, then it's not a mark of allegiance then because that baby didn't choose to take that You know, it can't be that the the one thing about the mark of the beast is this it was a choice it was a choice to to show allegiance to the beast and If you read the revelation toward the end what it does say is those who bear the mark of the beast and again if you take it as symbolic of allegiance those who have had their Allegiance to the beast will have their place in the lake of fire but those who are marked as Believers those who are marked by allegiance to Christ will be saved so that that's really the picture and And So we did we did get a little off there.
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I hope I didn't Go too far out, but I do think there are things that we have to be careful of in our own day But I don't think it's necessarily that we have to go around seeing every new invention or every new Thing is oh, that's the mark of beast or this mark or that's the beast or this is the beast or whatever.
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I think I think we have to be Reasonable and simply say some of these are just bad ideas no matter whether it's mark of the beast or not and and just and I'll close with this.
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I read an article yesterday that said if you believe in creation you are a conspiracy theorist and I'm gonna reference this in my sermon Sunday because they they had a picture of Noah's Ark you went and saw the Ark up in Kentucky Paul they had a picture of the Ark and they said at the bottom it said it said why creationism it's like a conspiracy theory and And what I what I've been trying to let people know conspiracy theories can be dangerous but eventually Everything you believe about Christ is going to be called a conspiracy theory One day everything you believe about creation Everything you believe about Christ.
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In fact, wasn't it a wasn't it the The Jews who when Jesus was out of the tomb the soldiers came back and what did they say tell them they stole the body and We will back you up What is that? It's a conspiracy theory So We had to be careful what we believe and what we don't believe and I hope tonight's been somewhat helpful next week.
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We're going to talk about the Great Tribulation Because I do think that that's another area people get very confused about and hopefully I won't add more to the confusion Let's pray Father I thank you for this time together.
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We continue to pray and lift up your name and we pray that we would truly Have our full faith and allegiance in the Lord Jesus Christ that we would never be tempted to bow our knee to any form of of government or any form of Masterhood that would say deny Christ and follow us Lord.
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Let us never think that For Lord that option will always be available deny Christ and serve the world Father may we never consider such a thing as an option for those who deny Christ Their end is destruction, but for those who are in Christ Their end is life.