Is it time for Biblical Christians to have serious conversations with each other about 'the mark'?
You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Luke 12:56
…the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
Regardless of whether you’ve received the jab or not, you, reader, must acknowledge the seeming strange shift we’ve been experiencing from our national and world leaders in their public speeches, pronouncements, and attitudes. The shift has been palatable and is so widespread and almost seamlessly congruent that it feels and our intuitive selves notice that we, and the global populace – at least those in the ‘West’, are observing and experiencing a tremendous change in values, ideology, fundamental precepts, and day to day practices and routines brought by this season of the covid-19 pandemic.
The unitary message emanating from “official” authorities – government and private, institutions; business and banking corporations; government, public health, and medical agencies; and on and on is eerily extraordinary for the lack of public disagreement among these leaders and nary a word of exception in their messaging – a unitary narrative so ubiquitous that a discerning person should be caused to at least pay attention to one’s intuition and awareness of this unmistakable and extraordinary unity… as if it was expertly planned and being exceptionally executed. This fact plus the daily increase in resolute, reasonable, and rational push backs of alternative explanations and narratives by equally credentialed scientific experts help put intellectual and sane ‘muscle’ behind the significance of one’s intuition and unease about the glaring changes being imposed on us as individuals. What is a Biblical Christian to make of this?
Because of the nature of the ways in which these changes are being imposed – the turn away from traditional laws that have protected individual liberty for over two and a half centuries; the ham-fisted efforts to enforce the “vaccine” on the population – a “vaccine” that has been pushed in bypassing all former, established ways to assure its safety and efficacy to the questioning and anxious public; the acceptance and unexplained official toleration of the high number of “vaccine” deaths and the claims that the reported 18,000 deaths in the U.S. are under counted by a factor of at least 10 when vaccines in former times were pulled from the public after 50 deaths; the conflicting and debatable interpretations of the science behind the “virus” and its remedies; and the complete absence of open discussion and debates on the mounting questions about the facts of the “vaccines”, lock downs, masks, etc. by the Fourth Estate. All this and more creates more ambivalence, unease, and “stink to high heaven.”
For discerning Biblical Christians, that intellectual, heartfelt, and spiritual space of “heaven” is the one and increasingly only sure place to which we must hold fast and draw ourselves closer. For this reason, you are encouraged to turn your heart and mind more fully to the possibility, if not the probability that the realities of this present season reflect the world’s shifting decisively into the Biblical “end times.” As the Bible instructs and warns; “Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.” (Mark 13: 33)
I believe this in fact is the case. Hence, this post is not to suggest that we figuratively or literally “head for the hills”, but that we intentionally seek to deepen our relationship with the Lord of life by asking Him to draw us closer to Himself. The following is offered not so much meant to persuade as to encourage.
1. There is that coming dangerous period for Biblical Christians when the demands of the world-system will be a direct threat to our survival needs…Not when? But, by faith, whenever.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves,]to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:11-18
The Mark of the Beast (click to read… from https://endtimestruth.com)
2. Determine to be resolute in your relationship with the Holy Spirit and in your obedience to the Lord in action by seeking and hearing His voice.
My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. John 10:27-30
Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. Luke 12:35
Living by faith in and through this present and the unfolding crisis in the world-system (click to watch…Rev. John McArthur)
3. Watch, be wary, and do not trust your hearing, seeing, and understanding from what the world speaks, demonstrates, and interprets about any and everything. Remember the parable of the fig tree as a prophecy of the end times.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 1 John 4:1-3
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8
There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and all the trees: as soon as they put forth leaves, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near. So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:25-36
The Fig Tree Prophecy (click to watch)
4. Be comforted by the provision of grace, the sufficiency, the power, and the willingness of Jesus, our Lord, Savior, and Friend to provide, protect, and guide you through and beyond whatever the world-system brings, even the threat of death itself.
The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23
5. Seek, ask, and find confidence in trusting, believing, and depending on the Lord of Life through His Word, the Holy Spirit, in prayer, and by fellowship with other Bible-believing followers of Jesus who, awake and acknowledging the realities of the present difficulties, find comfort, inner strength, and confidence in Him through His Word…
… the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:6-13
A prayer for guidance (click to hear (and skip the ad)) (from https://crosswalk.com)