Pax, Amor, et Lepos in Iocando

Last week a friend of mine (always on top of the news) finally heard about these child-tracker microchips. You know the ones that you can get implanted just under the skin and are tied to a GPS.

Anyhow--he's a strong premill dispie, and he knows I'm not (tho' I don't think he really understands what a preterist is). So he's gloating about this. Ah ha! Don't you see it? The Mark of the Beast is on the way. He doesn't say that, but it's the vibe I'm getting off of him and his trying-not-to-be-smug smile.

Clearly I'm being sanctified, so I didn't attack him on this. (it was perhaps a more self-ish reason, actually). How does he know (accepting his hermeneutic on this) that these aren't the marks of the saved, and that the mark of the beast won't be something else? Or are the marks of the saved an "invisible" mark--seen only by others who are saved, while the non-saved will be known by their physical marks? Why is one of those a "literal" fulfillment, while the other isn't?

My wife and I knew the instant that we heard about these chips that it was only a matter of time 'til they became nominated as The Mark. Wouldn't mind being wrong sometimes . . .