An increasing number of stores are rejecting cash for digital-only payments. Obviously, this applies to online stores and businesses. The use of credit cards and the rise of Apple Pay and Google Pay in stores and restaurants is slowly working toward the cashless society prophesied in the Bible.
At that point, a particular individual will order that no one may buy or sell except for those who have a mark on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16). Some think that mark is some kind of visible imprinting that a scanner can read. Perhaps it’s a mark that shows something has been implanted there.
The alternative to receiving the mark is to have the number of the name of the beast or the number of his name, which is 666 (Revelation 13:17-18). But the point I’m making is that we are subjectively being prepared to accept cashless transactions. We will be more than willing to accept this dictator’s directive because it will make perfect sense.
Did you know it costs more than a penny for the government to mint a penny? Good riddance. Let’s get rid of all our coins while we’re at it. Why waste resources on printing money when we can make digital payments. Makes perfect sense.
Many Christians find these facts only of passing interest. “I believe in the pre-trib rapture, so I don’t need to worry about that.” Much has been written about being ready for the Lord’s coming. But if we see the coming rapture, the snatching away of the church, merely as an escape hatch, then very likely, that person is not ready or getting ready.
Chuck Smith, former pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, believed in the pre-trib position regarding the end times. In his book, The Final Act, he writes that the position does not mean that all people who are born-again church-goers are automatically included in the number of those who will be raptured. If they are not ready, they will be left behind. They could face the trial of whether or not to receive the mark of the antichrist figure.
If we see the rapture as an escape hatch for our trials, then we’ve misunderstood the warning to get ready. If we constantly worry about our finances, which I too often do, then we need to re-evaluate our approach to suffering.
Our trials here are to make us look to the Lord in faith and help that He may sustain us in our time of trial. He wants us to learn the lessons of hardship that we may encourage others with the encouragements we’ve received (2 Cor. 1:6). He wants is to find our identity in Christ, not in wealth, fame, or some other worldly metric handed to us on an app’s platter. We are to find His sustenance in our trials so the bond will be all the greater. He suffered for us, so we will suffer for Him (1 Peter 2:20-25)
When we see the upcoming trial of faith in the cashless society with the mark at the center, we should not see it as an escape hatch, and thus a cause for taking it easy. We who suffer and learn will see it as motivation to trust the Lord more for their provision, to cast their cares on Him, to be transformed in their minds to be like Christ.
We do not want to be conformed to the world and its broad way of quick fixes, but be those who have and exercise the servant mind of Christ and produce the fruit of the diligent Spirit who works among the humble and lowly, the faithful, joyful, and triumphant.
“The rapture of the church will be a real late wakeup call for a lot of people,” Chuck wrote in the chapter, Scene 4, The Three Camps, in the aforementioned book. “I believe that the foolish virgins [those left behind in Matthew 25:1-13], those not really walking in the Spirit but walking instead after the flesh, will be left behind when the Bridegroom comes.” I have a feeling that this aspect of the pre-trib rapture has many church-goers living the easy life.
I’m still waiting for the “late wakeup call” to materialize.
When the call draws near to receive the mark, persecution will intensify as Christians committed to God’s Word face a huge backlash. The vilification of our faith in the present day by the media and the cancel culture will exert huge pressure to conform. The love of many will grow cold as dissension erupts in their own households.
“Take the mark, or we’ll lose everything we’ve worked so hard for years to build up!”
“Take the mark, dad, or we’ll lose all our friends and be booted out of the home. We don’t want to be homeless or lose our stuff. Take the mark!”
In Matthew 10:21, Jesus tells them what will happen when the gospel of the kingdom is preached. “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.”
Those living out God’s kingdom values, where we put Jesus Christ first as Lord day by day, will experience an onslaught of darkness as the god of this world attempts to dim the light of the world. He will put many to sleep, lulled by dependence on the devices of our tech age and the corrupt, fleshly values they espouse.
Paul saw the Corinthian church as ignorant of the things of Christ, not having put into practice the words of Christ that were circulating. He wrote to them, “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:34). They did not see how to apply the words Paul taught them earlier, which was shameful. There is no other knowledge that is more important than knowing God. They needed a wake-up call, and so do we.
Revelation talks about the behavior of overcoming Christians and how they made their stand in the last days. “And they [Christians] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:21). In other words, they had fruitful devotion times in the Word that helped them be ready.
“The blood of the Lamb.” The upcoming cashless society, one of the signs of His coming, can be a wakeup call for you. Are you being trained to withstand inner and outer opposition? When the overcomers trusted in the blood of the Lamb, they were confessing their faults and inadequacies to the Lord as the Spirit brought them to mind. They trusted in the healing power of the blood, that believing Christ’s promise to forgive them was sufficient. In this way, they were not demoralized by the mental attacks of the enemy to discourage them. Instead, they believed the Lord’s promise to forgive and strengthen them. By their faith in Christ they made themselves ready.
“The word of their testimony.” Are you being confirmed in your faith by your experiences with the Spirit leading you? Our faith is not merely an intellectual assent to some doctrine, but results in real changes to our lives. Because Jesus is Lord instead of the flesh, overcomers have a testimony of the life-changing work of Christ in them. By their changed lives they made themselves ready.
“They loved not their lives to the death.” Another indication they are getting ready is by their bearing the cross. They crucify the flesh by the power of the Spirit, and thus deny the temptations of the enemy to make any inroads. They are laying down their lives in different ways to live for Jesus daily, and are ready to make the greatest sacrifice all, if necessary. By their humble submission to love the Lord above all else, they made themselves ready.
Are you ready?
Here are several other articles on the end times to help you see what the Scriptures actually say about it.
Why does the Bible talk about Israel signing a peace treaty?
About the Israel/UAE Peace Treaty, August 2020
The End Times According to Daniel 9
How could I identify the 666 mark of the Antichrist?
The Symbolism of Revelation 12
Why do people think we are living in the end times?
These articles will help you understand about getting ready.
How can you prepare yourself for the rapture?
Working in the End Times, Mark 13
