Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.52LIKELY
Disgust
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.56LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.67LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.42UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.88LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.87LIKELY
Extraversion
0.11UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.36UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.8LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Revelation 13:16-18
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
Intro: We have arrived at a passage of Scripture that has caused more speculation that possibly any other.
For centuries people have been trying to decipher the Mark of the Beast.
People actually fear the number 666.
I was in a store making a purchase, and the total of my purchases came to $6.66.
This has happened on more than one occasion.
Nearly every time, the clerk has tried to get me to buy something else so she won’t have to ring up $6.66.
I always pay the $6.66 and use the opportunity to witness to the clerk and to give a brief explanation of the Mark of the Beast.
It is a wonderful witnessing opportunity.
There is a lot of speculation concerning what the Mark of the Beast is all about.
There is much misinformation concerning this subject as well.
These verses give us some of the information we need to understand just what the Mark of the Beast is.
We won’t learn everything we would like to know, but we will learn enough to know that no Christian in this room needs to be afraid of the Mark of the Beast.
So, let’s look at these three verses today.
Let’s see if we can dispel some of the mystery surrounding the Mark of the Beast.
There are some characteristics of the Mark of the Beast that I want to point out to you today as I preach about The Mark Of The Beast.
I. THE MARK OF THE BEAST IDENTIFIES-VS.
16
(Ill.
There has been much speculation concerning what the Mark of the Beast might be.
Some believe that it might be some sort of a barcode system that is tattooed into the skin.
People would then have to scan their code to access their money to buy and sell.
Laser tattoos can be produced that are invisible to the naked eye, but which show up under ultraviolet light.
(Ill.If you have been to Disney World or Six Flags and left the park they stamped your hand with an invisible stamp.
When you came back in, you passed your hand under an ultraviolet lamp and the mark became visible.)
Scientists have developed tiny microchips the size of grains of rice.
These chips can carry all of your medical and financial information and they can be read with a simple scanner.
These chips are already being used in pets, and there is talk of placing these microchips in babies to prevent kidnappings and mistakes at the hospitals.
It is possible that technology of this nature could be used to fulfill this passage.
It is also possible to place GPS transmitters in chips the size of jelly beans.
With these transmitters, people can be tracked regardless of where they are in the world.
Of course, technology has advanced to the place where people can be identified instantly by scanning their fingerprints, (Ill.
My IPAD), and the retinas of their eyes.
DNA technology is advancing at such a rate that simple genetic testing will soon be possible almost instantly.
Who knows what the devil will use?
There are certainly enough resources available to him in these days.
As you know, the use of plastic currency is quickly replacing cash as the standard in business transactions.
It has been suggested that the Mark of the Beast will actually be a credit card system of some sort.
This is already being used in many cases for food stamps and other government services.
Whether we like it no not, we are headed toward a cashless society.
It makes sense!
Without cash, crooks and drug dealers have a more difficult time.
Without cash, there is less likelihood that people could hide their income from the IRS.
We are moving in that direction.
Again, whether we like it not, we have already been reduced to a number.
Everywhere you go you need your Social Security number and your driver’s license number.
It’s already this way in Sweden and Israel.
Everyone has a number!
Computers like numbers better than names, and you can be sure that computers will be involved with whatever system the Antichrist devises.
The stage is set and the minds of people are prepared for some system of public identification.
We are on the verge of a seeing a national identification card for citizens of our country.
Given all the problems we are having with illegal immigration, there is a rising cry for some sort of identification card or system that can identify who is and who isn’t an American citizen.
While we cannot know for sure what the Mark of the Beast is, we can learn something about how it will be utilized in that day.)
A. The Scope Of This Mark
– “causeth…all” – The word “causeth”, means “to force”.
We are told that all people of all classes will be required to wear this mark in the bodies.
Everyone, from the most common of men to the most famous of celebrities, will bear this mark in their bodies.
It will be a universal mark.
For once in this world there will be no favoritism and no discrimination.
Every person from the savage in the darkest jungles of Africa to the executive living in the New York penthouse will receive the Mark of the Beast.
B. The Specification Of This Mark
– “in the right hands, or in their foreheads” – This mark will apparently be place either in the hand or in the forehead.
The word “mark” comes from a word that means “a stamp, an imprint, something carved”.
Whatever this mark is, it will reside in the flesh, and it will be permanent.
People will not be able to alter it or counterfeit it.
It will be placed where it can be easily seen.
C. The Source Of The Mark
– The “he” in verse 17 refers to the False Prophet.
If you remember, he is the one who causes the world to worship the Antichrist.
He is the one who causes the image of the Antichrist to move and speak.
He is the leader of the one world religion that will dominate the world during the Tribulation.
He will devise this marking system and he will see that it is carried out.
Ill.It might help us to understand this if we consider what was happening in the Roman world during John’s day.
In the Roman world, there were millions of slaves.
A slave would be marked by his master with either a brand or a tattoo of a symbol or a number.
It was Roman law in those days for people to worship the emperor.
The Roman emperors had declared themselves deity and they demanded the worship of their subjects.
This emperor worship involved the Roman citizen going into a temple set apart for emperor worship.
The citizen would take a pinch of incense, place it on a flaming altar and say, “Caesar is god!” the worshiper would them receive a mark, signifying that he had fulfilled his duty to the emperor.
This is exactly what we see in this passage.
The world will worship the Antichrist, Rev. 13:4, 15.
When they do, they will receive his mark.
It will be a statement if their allegiance to him and to his government.
They will be identified as his servants.
I.
A Mark Of Identification
II.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST WILL ISOLATE-VS.
17
A. The Power Of This Isolation
– The mark will be tied to the economy.
People will be required to produce the Mark of the Beast in order to be able to buy or sell.
This, in itself, will be a great enticement for people to receive the Mark of the Beast.
In order to hold a job, to get credit, to access bank accounts, or to do something so mundane as buy a loaf of bread, will require a person to have the Mark of the Beast.
(Ill.
Imagine what this might involve – A young mother goes to the store to buy formula for her baby.
She lacks the Mark of the Beast and she is not allowed to purchase her products.
A man stops for gas at the gas station.
He does not have the mark and he is not allowed to buy.
A family shivers in the dark and the cold because they cannot buy utilities without the Mark of the Beast.)
This mark will instantly divide the world into two camps.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9