the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, ofrin their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
The mark of the beast! During the Tribulation period a powerful and evil ruler will arise, ordering all people to receive a mark in their forehead or in their right hand. Those who refuse will suffer the wrath of the beast. Those who submit will suffer the wrath of God. Those who refuse will reign with Christ in His millennial glory. Those who submit will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
As we read this, we can feel quite detached from it all, knowing that it belongs to the future, and believing that the Church will be raptured home to heaven in the meantime. And yet there is a sense in which the mark of the beast is with us now. There are times in life when we are forced to choose between loyalty to God and bowing to a system that is opposed to God.
There are times when, in order to gain employment, for instance, we are asked to accept conditions that are clearly contrary to divine principles. It is easy to rationalize at such times. Unless we can work, we can’t buy groceries. And unless we can get food, we can’t survive. And we have to live, don’t we? Under this false excuse, we agree to the demands and, in effect, take the mark of the beast.
Whatever threatens our food supply or our continued existence throws us into panic, and we are tempted to sacrifice almost anything to avert that threat. The same arguments that men will use to justify worshiping the image in the Tribulation period are the arguments that present themselves to us today when we must choose between God’s truth and our own lives.
The idea that we must live is false. What we must do is obey God and love not our lives unto death.
F. W. Grant wrote, “On the coin for which we sell the truth, there is at all times, faint as it may be, the image of Antichrist.” So the question is not, “Would I refuse to take the mark of the beast if I were living in the Tribulation?” but rather “Do I refuse to sell the truth now?”
'Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time' Copyright 2007 © William MacDonald. 'Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
