1. You trust God’s teaching that suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are temporary, while the life beyond this one will be eternal with Christ. You love Christ more than your earthly possessions and your physical life.
2. You possess the Spirit of discernment that will enable you to discern the deception of Satan and the beast’s system when that time arrives.
3. You were instructed by godly teachers who were not afraid to tell you what the Bible teaches concerning the Antichrist’s great tribulation. They did not spiritualize Scripture’s teaching, or ignore its teaching dismissing it as “it will all pan out in the end,” nor did they teach you that you would be out of here before the Antichrist’s arrives.
4. When faced with the test of the mark, you will prove to be a genuine Christian being faithful to Jesus, standing up to the Antichrist and declaring: “My allegiance is not to you. My allegiance is to Jesus, the Lord of the universe!”
5. You understand correctly that if you end up taking the mark of the beast you will be damned to eternal perdition, no exceptions, no ifs, ands, or buts.
6. You are determined before hand to resist the Antichrist’s mark. You understand that when faced with taking the mark, you are entrusting your life, and eternal life, in God’s promises. You will take heed to God’s dire warnings against taking the beast’s mark. You actually believe God’s Word when it says your eternal soul is at stake.
Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast—that is, his name or his number. This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666. (Rev 13:11–18)
A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.” This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus.” (Rev 14:9–12)
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