Dennis L. Finnan Commentator
"The World, the Word & You! Broadcast"

THE MARK?

“WELL IT SEEMS THE TECHNOLOGY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! TECHNOLOGY THAT READIES THE WORLD TO RECEIVE WHAT THE BIBLE PREDICTS AND WARNS ONE DAY WILL BE THE FINAL MARK THAT SENDS BILLIONS TO HELL!”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about this LAST DAYS happenings in our world…

… Recently in the news, a lot of activity has surfaced in the area of new technology. That in itself is not surprising these days, for every day we hear of new inventions or at the least continued non-stop improvements of present technology in mind-boggling ways. Why we’ve become numb to the many new things that are flooding the market for sale and use by 21^st century people. However, there has been one new item that has reached the news recently that should not be overlooked, or passed by. Why? Well, it has much to do with the Bible and especially its predictions for the future for our world. Therefore, when such technology advances appear such as this, we would do well to examine it in the light of God’s Word. So after just one more pause for another musical refreshment, I’ll return with my message from the Bible on the end times “MARK” that has its reality and beginnings in what today is dubbed, the DIGITAL ANGEL. Don’t go away, you need to hear what I’m going to say…

… Well, it all came about on Halloween, October 30, 2000. It was on that date a technology company called Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach, Florida announced it had developed a working model of a new type of microchip that was specifically designed to be implanted in human beings. Of course, technologists have long discussed implantable chips, but on that date the world had the unveiling of a coming microchip specifically for human monitoring. This device hit the news and strangely disappeared as quickly. However, it has resurfaced weeks ago when the firm that invented it, said it is now ready for marketing. At present ADS, is making it available in an external form such as a watch to wear or a credit card sized device to place on your person. What’s the purpose? Well it has merit for sure, for ADS will be marketing this device for medical monitoring of those who might need emergency care. For instance, Alzheimer patients could wear this watch and if they wander off and get lost, loved ones or caregivers can track them through the GPS satellite and know exactly where they are. Also, if someone with implanted organs or limbs becomes unconscious, medical doctors could scan the microchip in the watch or card carried and gains instant life-saving medical information. Indeed, in such usage it seems a breakthrough for help for handicapped humanity.

However, the implanted chip version is yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which ADS expects to receive by the summer of 2002.  Now what’s so important about this as to a relationship to the Bible? Well my friend, one must consider where this can go in future days and how it can be used in ways that would fulfill biblical prophecy.

You see the bible tells us that in the end times, just before Christ returns in glory to take back the world and establish His everlasting kingdom, there will come a great period of peril and destruction called the Tribulation Period. The Bible identifies this time as a literal seven-year period when Satan and rebellious mankind will work together to establish a world completely void of God’s presence and power. This world will begin peacefully, we believe, after the Church of Jesus Christ is raptured or taken off the earth in one glorious moment, and following that, a world leader will arise to direct and lead humanity without God.

Now, during this seven-year period, godless mankind with the help of fallen angels called demons, will lash out at the world’s masses and begin the worldwide control of all people. To do this, this world leader, called the antichrist will have to utilize some technology to track, control, and manage the human race. Let’s read the Bible’s prediction of how this will be done. We read in,

Rev 13:16-18 (NASB)  And he (antichrist) causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one should 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. 18 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.

Now, no one knows what this “mark” will be that will be applied to the human body at the right hand or on the forehead. All we know from scripture is, this “mark” will be a universal coding and controlling device of some sort. Christians have speculated for centuries about this, but our generation now can see that the technology is here that can actually accomplish this. Call it a glorified barcode if you wish, but the microchip designed for human implantation can carry with it your asset and banking information, your health statistics, your family and job relationships ¾ in short, it can be the means to completely identify and “mark” you for future global use.

More strikingly, the United Nations has been moving towards global control of humanity. Through the bartering of national treaties for the purpose of global law to deal with terrorists and other international criminals, the world is being readied to accept global controls. Moreover, this implanted microchip has already been tested in England. The London Times reported a few years back in October 1998, “Film stars and the children of millionaires are among 45 people who have been fitted with microchips (called Sky Eye) in secret tests.” So to think this marking device is not going to get off the ground, think again. After the 911 Islamic terrorist attacks last year, people are ready for some type of marking device whether it be a national identity card, or a personal identity chip ¾ in the hopes to control the worldwide increasing terror and death we all face these days at the hands of Islamic warriors.

Already the European Union, the “United States of Europe” if you please, is moving to consider using this microchip first in wristwatches and credit cards called “smart” cards to manage and control the new European national order, its diverse ethnic groups, ideologies, religions and the economics of its nations.

Yet, according to biblical predictions one day future, a single personality will arise in the last days to head and administrate the new utopian world that forms when the Church of Jesus Christ vanishes from the face of the earth. He will appear as a man of great charisma and care, but when he gains political, economic and military control, he will reveal his true demonic nature. Listen to this prediction found in,

Dan 8:23 (NASB)  “And in the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise Insolent and skilled in intrigue.

The Antichrist’s power will be derived only at the expense of humanity’s relinquishing of its personal liberties. Already, many even in the United States are saying, its better to give up personal liberties, so as to have a measure of government controlled “freedom and safety”. Amazingly, Senator Charles Robb of Virginia proposed issuing a national identity card called, Multi-technology Automated Reader Card in short called “MARC” to catalog Americans for identity. Imagine that “MARC”, almost the same word used in the Bible for global identity by the antichrist.

The point of all this is, things are moving so fast around us that set the stage for these bible prophecies to come true. It’s no surprise to some that this new implantable microchip that begins in a watch, will move to our person at the time God’ predicts. Right now, it is a United Nations vision that may well ultimately become what the Bible predicts is the MARK OF THE BEAST!

Now in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; and 20:10, along with the beast, the counterfeit “Christ” is the “dragon” or Satan, the counterfeit Father, and completing this false satanic trinity is the false prophet is the counterfeit Holy Spirit.

One of the ministries of the true Holy Spirit of God,  is to glorify Christ and lead people to trust and worship Him (John 16:7-15). The false prophet will point people to the Antichrist and his image and compel people to worship Satan through “the beast” by taking his literal mark!

Now it’s important to understand what this prophetic mark is. It is some type of physical marking device that may be implanted under or on the surface of the skin of all humanity by the one the Bible calls the Antichrist. This supposedly will occur sometime around the middle of the Tribulation Period, and will be the official identity of those who are loyal to, and committed to the antichrist and the false prophet, who sets up a one-world religion without the one true God, Jesus Christ. Not content to control people through religious deceit, the false prophet will institute controlling economic measures too. Everybody, except believers, will willingly receive a special physical mark in order to buy or sell; but the only way to get that mark is to submit to “the beast” and worship him.

Scripture makes clear ALL WHO RECEIVE THIS MARK, willingly I must add, WILL FOREVER BE SEALED IN THE FATE OF BEING REJECTED BY GOD AND CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE!

Now some Christians are worried about this. Even the popular “Left Behind” prophecy book series presents a predicament in that one of its leading characters, Chang Wong, a believer in Christ in the Tribulation period is forced to receive the “mark” of the Beast, the antichrist.  Yet the Bible says,

Rev 14:9-10 (NASB)  And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God… and will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Rev 20:4 (NASB) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

It appears quite clearly that once an individual receives the mark of the beast in the Tribulation period, it seals their fate forever and there can be no turning back. Now this presents a theological problem. For instance, in the newest Left Behind books, this fictional character named Chang Wong, a believer who also has the mark of God upon him (Rev 7:3), was forced by his parents to be implanted with the mark of the beast. Is he saved, or is he lost as a result? Well a light reading of Revelation, pertaining to this “mark,” will cause us to say he is lost once he receives the mark, but in reading all seven sections of Revelation that refer to the “mark of the beast,” we can conclude from scripture,

Rev 20:4 (NASB) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Notice, the phrase, “had not worshiped the beast or his image, AND, had not received the mark..” Notice, there are two requirements stated here to be cast into Hell forever. I believe God is telling us that He will determine if the “mark” was taken willingly, and for the purpose of standing with the antichrist in his rulership of the world. Obviously, there will be in the Tribulation period people, from infants to adults, who might be forced to receive the mark against their will. Will God send them to Hell as a result, of others actions as some teach? Hardly, God judges the heart and based on this, God determines our fate, hence the two requirements of (1) worshipping the beast, (2) receiving the mark.

So now let’s ask ¾ “What’s in your heart my friend?” Do you have a heart that rejects God, and His Son Jesus Christ? Are you looking for a world to be finally stripped of all semblances of God and His faith and followers of Christianity? Just look at our nation of America today. With organizations such as the ACLU, People for the American Way, and other anti-Christian groups ¾ their desire is to cast God out of everything from our schools to our social and even societal life. These are those whom God is talking about who will “willingly identify” with the mark of the beast. Yet today God is looking for those who will identify with the Lord God of glory, Jesus Christ. Is there such an identifying today? Yes there is! We read in,

Mat 28:19-20 (NASB)  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This word, “baptize” is a word that means to be identified with. Indeed, God wants all those who profess to know and follow Jesus Christ to be identified with His local bible believing churches. It begins with water baptism, testifying to one’s new birth experience, and then is followed through with membership in a local fellowship group of Christians. Yes indeed, God is looking on the heart of people today who profess Jesus Christ. Are you identified with today’s mark? If not, and you don’t know Jesus Christ, the Devil’s mark is coming for you, and it may come sooner than we all think! Why the technology is here and amazingly in the year 2002. Today the “mark” called the Digital Angel has arrived. It will be ready and waiting to be used for sin, and the Antichrist will surely use it in whatever form technology advances to at that time.

Will digital marks be mandatory in our lifetimes? I believe absolutely. It will begin with a national identity card that will become a “smart” card housing a tiny microchip with all your identity and in time your banking, assets, and employment record. Already Americans are being readied for it through fear, anarchy, and the quest for order and safety. I believe beyond a doubt that all the terrorism of Islam that is being unleashed in our world is of satanic origin as is the faith of Islam. Its purpose is to ready mankind and push us into giving up our individual rights, for the sake of protection and safety. All we need is one or two more terrorist attacks that kill and maim hundreds of lives, and the world will cry out for the “mark” of identity!

Of course everything begins voluntarily, from Social Security cards to driver’s licenses, but today you cannot do anything without them. Yes, the biometric chip will begin voluntarily for those who need medical care, or protection, but in time with the right scenario ¾ mandatory implantation and use will be the order. How do I know? Because the Bible says so!

Rev 13:16-18 (NASB)  And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one should 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. 18 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.

Let us not fall prey right now to alarmists, but let us ever be aware of what’s going to happen, and the best way to prepare is to identify today with the God of creation, and the God of redemption, Jesus Christ. He alone can save us all, and give us His mighty protection against the onslaught of Satan and Hell. The Bible repeatedly says,

Isa 55:6 (NASB)  Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

Heb 4:7 (NASB)  “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.”

2 Cor 6:2 (NASB)  “…behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”—

God only gives us today, friend, and He pleads with us for there is no promise of tomorrow. If one does not receive the mark of God, and identify with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heart, tomorrow comes with the wrath of God upon you. May God grant you a desire and longing in your heart to receive Jesus Christ, and to yield yourself to Him that He might be your God, your Savior and Lord. That’s the only protection against the coming MARK OF THE BEAST. The Bible warns,

Rev 14:11 (NASB)  “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

As the continuing antichristian system pervades our nation and world, we who are true believers must not be a part of it (1 John 2:15-17). We must shun false worship (1 Cor. 10:14-22), avoid the appearance of evil, and we must be found faithful to the Lord in these last days! (2 Tim. 3). Friend make it so to the glory of Jesus Christ!..

… Well friends, we are living in exciting times as we see unfold daily around us new things with the explosion of technology. However, all this technology brings us closer to what was predicted in the Bible over 2000 years ago. And, all these things should adequately warn us to get ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you ready? I am, because Jesus is my Lord and Savior. May He find you His child too through faith alone in His worthy Name.

·         Radio talk #0302

·         Broadcast date: January 20, 2002

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.

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