A lot of times what those that believe in a pre-trib rapture will try and throw at
you is this doctrine of, well, if those who take the mark of the beast are damned
eternally and if Christians are going to be here during the tribulation, then what
happens if a Christian takes the mark of the beast?
What's going to happen since we know that they can't lose their salvation and we know
that whoever takes the mark is damned, if Christians are going to be here, then how
in the world is that going to work? And they'll use that to attack the post-trib
rapture. But here's the problem with their logic. Even those who believe in
a pre-trib rapture must admit that there are going to be people saved on
this earth during the tribulation because what they claim is that, oh,
people are going to get saved after the rapture and so forth, the
so-called tribulation saints is what they call it, and so both pre-trib and
post-trib believers acknowledge that they're going to be believers here
during the tribulation. So to say that that is an attack on the post-trib
rapture, how is this going to work, doesn't make any sense when pre-tribbers
believe the exact same thing, that there will be believers on this earth
during the tribulation. And the answer is very simple, that no Christian will
take the mark of the beast.
It's that simple. You say, well, what if they do? What if they do? Well, you know,
what if aliens land and I'm abducted? I mean, you can say what if all day long.
The Bible makes it clear that no believer will take the mark of the
beast because the Bible makes it very clear that no believer will be
deceived by the Antichrist, number one. And number two, in order to receive the
mark of the beast, the Bible teaches very clearly that you must worship the
beast. It's always associated with worshipping the beast and receiving his
mark. Now, I think part of understanding this is understanding the motivation
behind the mark of the beast. The Bible says that the Antichrist is
making war against the saints and seeking to overcome them. His goal is
not to get Christians to take the mark of the beast. His goal is to kill all
Christians and to persecute all Christians so he doesn't want to give the
mark out to anyone who is saved. Well, God says that no one who is saved is
going to be deceived by the Antichrist. Well, think about this. What if there's a
way that the Antichrist will know whether you're lying or not? You know,
let's say you go down to your local wherever to get the mark of the beast.
You know, would it be far-fetched to believe that they will have a way of
determining whether your worship for the Antichrist is really bonafide,
whether you really do pledge allegiance unto the beast or whatever you have to
do to get this mark? You see, today, there are all kinds of technologies
coming out that involve brain scans. You say, oh, come on, Pastor Anderson,
this sci-fi stuff. Well, look, lie detectors have been out for a long
time and I understand that lie detectors are not very accurate but
they have been used and they have been somewhat accurate at times and so as
that technology expands and moves forward, I don't think it's that
far-fetched at all to think that there will be some kind of a test,
some kind of a brain scan or some kind of a, you know,
super advanced polygraph system that can determine whether you really
are one who worships the beast and believes on him. And let's say a
Christian just decides, well, I got to buy or sell. I'm going to go
bite the bullet and get the mark of the beast so that I can do this.
You know, when they get down there and try to do it, you know,
some kind of an alarm is going to go off saying, hey, this is not legitimate.
You don't, you're not one of us. You're not a true patriot.
And they'll be arrested and they will be beheaded. So really,
they'll just be showing up for their own death.