| Recognizing Deception and Apostasy | ||
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| Can you be Deceived ? | ||
| Recognizing Deception and Apostasy | ||
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| Can you be Deceived ? | ||
Table Of Contents
Preface
Introduction
The Nature of Christian Deception
When Will the End Come?
When Will the Tribulation Begin?
A Word about the Antichrist
Part 1 Recognizing DeceptionChapter 1 - The need for divine revelation
Chapter 2 - How we got off track
Chapter 3 - The truth will set you free
Part 2 Recognizing Apostasy
IntroductionChapter 4 - Ecumenism and the Roman Catholic Church
Chapter 5 - Psychology: The Trojan Horse
Chapter 6 - Case Study - The Promise Keepers
Chapter 7 - The Signs and Wonders Movement
Chapter 8 - The Church growth movement
Chapter 9 - The Cell Church
Chapter 10 - Apostles and Prophets and Accountability
Chapter 11 - The Deception of the World & Politics
Chapter 12 - The Church – The Roots of Deception
Chapter 13 - Laodicea - The American Church?
Chapter 14 - The Church in Tribulation - Timing is important
Chapter 15 - Can Christians be Deceived?
PREFACE
In the “last days” the greatest deception ever perpetrated on mankind will beguile mankind, including Christians. One great nation, headed by the antichrist, will subdue the nations of the earth and dominate the world. People will think him the Savior, the man with the answer to the world’s complex problems, and the great peacemaker in an exceedingly dangerous world cowed by the specter of terrorism and economic collapse. He will do the unthinkable and make a pact with Israel to make peace in the Middle East. One man, who claims to be a Christian and appears to be a wonderful person and great leader, comes to power with the backing of the Church only to later turn on the church and Israel in the worst persecution the world has ever seen. Although seen by Daniel 2,600 years ago, and the Apostle John nearly 2,000 years ago, this could very well happen in our lifetime.The Bible speaks of a period of deception, and tribulation that is without precedent. What will it mean practically? If the Bible is correct (and I believe it is), it will get to the point where you will not be able to buy or sell anything. You won’t have access to food, clothing, housing, health care, schools - nothing! If you are not a Christian (and by that I mean you don’t have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and haven’t been reborn in your human spirit), you will probably be so caught up in the deception that one day. When you are given a choice that will enable you to continue to buy and sell and live a half way normal life, you will agree to take a mark and worship the antichrist. This will determine your eternal destiny. Most will be deceived! Most will take the path of least resistance. You will be deceived if…
· If you are a Christian that has made himself at home in this world.
· If you don’t grasp your true citizenship, you will become a part of the system without realizing it.
· If you live in the wisdom of this world.
· If you live and act as if you are a citizen of this world rather than a heavenly eternal kingdom.
· If you try to straddle the fence and have the best of both worlds. What you love most will win out in the end: Jesus or the things of the world.
· If you love the approval of this world, and are afraid to go against the tide.
· If you love your life more than God.
· If you love your family and friends more.
· If you don’t love the truth as revealed in God’s Word. As the country singer sings, “you have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”
· If you aren’t clearly standing for what God stands for.
· If you have given in to the “broad way” of thinking without questioning.
If you are a true “Christian” and not part of the apostate (fallen) “Church”, you will be persecuted by your “Christian” friends and family - people you loved and trusted--because of your contrary stand. If you are an overcoming Christian, you will suffer the loss of all things, including the rejection of those closest to you. You will be delivered up and put to death (again, these are not my words, but right out of the Gospels). This is a small price to pay for the privilege of seeing our Lord return and to be able to rule and reign with him throughout all eternity.
Revelation speaks of “witness”, “witnesses” and “testimony”. The root in Greek for all of these words is “martyr”! Revelation 12:11 tells us that “we overcome by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, loving not our lives unto death.” Only those willing to die for their faith will escape the great deception. This is as it has been down through history but even more so in the end of days.
Our assumption in writing this book is that many who read it will be those who want to stand for what God stands for, are aware of the inevitability of deception, because they know the Scripture tells us that this deception is so good that it can deceive even the very elect (by the way, Matthew 24:22 – and the phrase “if it were possible” found in some translations is not in the original Greek text). They want to know how to recognize it. They know prophecy was written for a reason - not just for academic interest. It was written to warn us about what is to come so we will not be deceived.
The purpose of this book is to equip the believer to recognize deception and to expose the extent of deception that is already at work. There is deception in the media, the entertainment world, the news, schools, government and even church. Only those who recognize and obey His still small voice will overcome. Only those with the eyes of the “Spirit of God” will see the true picture. Only those who “have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” will overcome. Only those who are willing to suffer the loss of all things will overcome. Only those who are built up with others in a vital “Body Life” will overcome. This is not the time to stand alone. We need one another.
Don’t depend on others to interpret the Bible for you (not even us.) Let God’s Word speak to you personally. Your only hope for avoiding deception is to know the Lord, know his Word and be closely knit with other saints. The stakes are high. The reward is great, so hang in there!
INTRODUCTIONThis book is about recognizing deception and apostasy. If we are those Christians – finally, after 2,000 years, living in the “end of days”, the greatest delusion ever to come upon the earth is coming or may already be here. How do we recognize it? How can we avoid getting caught up in it? Is there a magic bullet, some protection from its beguiling power?
The word “deceive” means "to mislead by falsehood or to delude." A good deception is so compelling that people ARE conned by it. You may think you are seeing something really good when it is evil. If you think it is going to be easy or obvious, then it isn’t deceiving. Right? So many glibly think God will take care of them when the time comes. But if you haven’t learned to get into God’s presence and get fresh revelation from Him today, I doubt that, in that day, truth will just jump up and slap you in the face and say “Here is how you are being deceived.” Deception works like the frog in the heating pot of water – the frog gets used to the gradually increasing temperature until it is too late.
That being the case, it would make sense that there is some careful manipulation being done in the world to "muddy" our understanding of both the scriptures and world events as they happen. Because the end times prophecies are going to happen in this physical world, Satan will need to deceive Christians in their understanding of Bible prophecy or their application of it to the nations and events on the earth, or both. Therefore, we need to see with increasing clarity if there is political spin, media spin and even “Christian spin” in the information fed us.
Richards J. Heuer Jr. wrote about this common phenomenon in a 1979 article entitled, "Do You Really Need More Information?" He writes:
"Information that is consistent with our existing mindset is perceived and processed easily. However, since our mind strives instinctively for consistency, information that is inconsistent with our existing mental image tends to be overlooked, perceived in a distorted manner, or rationalized to fit existing assumptions and beliefs. Thus, new information tends to be perceived and interpreted in a way that reinforces existing beliefs."
People don’t want to be confused with the facts. They want to make the facts fit their preconceived notions. That is why it is so difficult to perceive the deception. We were born and raised to believe a certain way and few can think outside the box they were raised with.
So how do we recognize deception? How do you recognize a counterfeit dollar bill? They teach bank tellers that the best way to recognize the counterfeit is to know what a real one looks and feels like. Below is a short checklist of how to avoid deception:
· Have a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ yourself. We are responsible for our own spiritual destiny – not depending upon a relative, a pastor, priest, church or program.
· Satan is the Prince of this world. This is his territory and he is the master deceiver! Expect the media, your leaders and others to lie.
· Don’t be afraid to question information and sources. We answer to and are accountable to God alone – not to any person in between. No one will be with us at the judgment seat of Christ.
· Read the Bible. Study prophecy and expect the Spirit to enlighten you.
· Be open to see what is happening in the institutional church. If we blindly accept what our Christian teachers tell us, we may be led astray.
· Be open in your mind and heart (because it is ultimately a spiritual matter requiring revelation). We need to have an open heart so God can reveal the truth to us from His Word – not the spun teachings of the establishment sold out to the world and the State. We must be careful whenever we are reading or listening to the professionals. This information is so important we shouldn’t assume we know it all. We had better take a fresh look ourselves instead of taking the “experts” word for it.
· It is not a sin to question our Christian leaders. Bereans were praised by the Apostle Paul for holding up what he said to Scripture. If anyone tells us otherwise, we must be very careful. These are not “God’s anointed” with a corner on the truth! We have access to the same Bible and the same Lord!
The Nature of Christian Deception
In the last chapter of the Book of Daniel, it says twice that the words of the prophecy should be “sealed up and concealed until the end of the age.” Christians have been trying their best to determine the meaning of the prophetic books of the Bible but it will only be revealed to the generation with a “need to know.” Christian writers tried to interpret prophecy in terms of their historical, political and social context. It is easy to see how things could get off.
The biggest source of deception, in my opinion, comes from confusion relating to dispensationalism, a doctrine which started in the 19th century. It started as a vision that the church would experience a “secret rapture” prior to the tribulation. Once theologians believed that the church was gone, they came up with a theory that the church age (or dispensation) ended with the rapture and that God’s attention turned back to Israel. Today, fundamental Christianity is so steeped in this tradition that they can’t see beyond it. What started as a little doctrine has grown to be a huge system of doctrine with one error compounding upon another. This is called systematized error.
This is a huge subject for another book but suffice it to say at this point that the question is not so much the timing of the rapture, but the importance of the church and Israel to be present as the “Two Witnesses” of Revelation 11 – the two olive trees and the two lampstands. The failure of Christians to see the Church in every chapter of the book of Revelations has blinded them to the essential role both groups have.
If Christians assume the church will not be here during the Tribulation period, they will miss the signs. In working on an up coming book, we have read and reread the great theologians of the past – Ironsides, Pentecost, Barnhouse and many others to the present such as Ryrie, Walvoord, Steadman, etc. The blindness of these men caused by one false assumption has led to the failure of an entire generation to grasp the significance of the last days to the church and an escapism worthy of the Laodicean Church.
Two errors make prophecy of little importance to Christians. First, the dispensational approach believed that since the church raptures at the beginning of the tribulation, it is not even present during the final seven year period. The second is preterism, currently promoted by the Bible Answer Man (Hank Hannegraff), which says that Revelation was written before 70 AD and all prophecy has been fulfilled. Both extremes tend to negate the importance of prophecy.
When Will the End Come?
Although Christians down through the ages thought their generation might be “the one”, there are two major events that signal the "beginning of the end”. The end cannot come until these two things occur. One relates to the restoration of the nation of Israel and the other relates to the rise of a nation that dominates the earth like none other in history--a young nation that comes out of the Western Christian world and dominates the entire world (the eleventh horn).
The Bible clearly foretells many times in the Old Testament the scattering of the Jews throughout the world and their gathering in at the end of days just before the Messiah’s reign. In 1948 the nation of Israel was restored, with Jerusalem being captured in 1967 during the 6 day war and made the capital in 1981. Luke 21:24 says, “and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” After nearly two millennia of being dispersed throughout the world, this tiny people group made their way back to the land God had given them. Today we see the Jews barely holding on to their little nation of Israel, as the whole world experiences wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes - all of the “signs of the times” foretold in the Bible.
The other major event is one that almost all theologians and Christian leaders seem to have missed. The Bible tells us that there will be a powerful nation in the last days that will dominate economically and militarily. Just as the modern nation of Israel was born, another nation was becoming a world economic, political and military superpower. In the years following WWII, America was emerging as the supreme military superpower in the world. Today it spends more on its military as all the nations of the earth combined. It has been so technically advanced, no one can stand against it. Wherever America has gone, she left troops and military bases (e.g. Germany, Korea, Bosnia, Iraq), and in recent years she has taken on the world in preemptive strikes at will around the world, totally ignoring world opinion and the UN.
It also emerged as the dominant commercial force in the world. In 1972, the entire world went on the dollar standard and U.S. domination of the world economies was complete. It is very interesting that most Christians can’t see America for what it really is but academics clearly understand the complete dominance of America from a military, economic or political point of view. If you have never traveled extensively outside of the United States, or better yet, lived abroad in another country, you may not understand why no one likes or trusts us. When I presented this material to a group of conservative Jews in Buenos Aires, they had no difficulty in seeing the role America is playing in the world. Outsiders such as the 19th Century Frenchman Alexis de’Toqueville and the Russian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn have always been able to see our strengths and weaknesses better than we can. They have also seen the dominant place of religion – Christian fundamentalism in our history. Based on the above, isn’t it conceivable that this really could be the end? These conditions that were prophesied so long ago have never before existed in history.
Christians are blinded to the possibility that America could be that nation. They see the antichrist coming out of Europe, Russia, Iraq, Israel, etc. – anywhere but America. They fail to understand that God looks at peoples rather than geographic boundaries. We are European in language, culture, law, etc. We are also the most “Christian” nation on earth whereas Europe, Russia, etc. are post-Christian. Because theologians were expecting the church to be gone, they saw the antichrist as likely a Jew – again, so confused because of their predisposition to believe Christians are gone. However, if they are gone, how can they be deceived? Oh well.
When Will the Tribulation Begin?The issue of when is somewhat dismissed by both camps since one sees the church as gone and taken up and the other believes we have been in the last days for the past two thousand years. Once Israel returns to the land and the last great superpower is in place, there are only two major prophetic events that have to occur before the beginning of the last seven years known as the Tribulation, or more accurately, the seventieth week of Daniel. One is the Gog-Magog War where the Islamic nations come against Israel. This is a conflagration between Israel, the armies of the antichrist and the Islamic world.
The other major event is a treaty. (Daniel 9:27) Most Biblical scholars agree that the signing of a treaty between Israel and the antichrist marks the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel (more on this later). This is a defense treaty that is broken in the middle of the seventieth week. Can you imagine Muslim countries getting so enraged with Israel that they attack her? And if Israel unloads all their nuclear and conventional weapons to avoid annihilation, how will she defend herself in the future unless she makes a defense treaty with a country powerful enough to guarantee her peace? Isn’t there only one nation that is Israel’s historical ally and that has the power and the desire to defend Israel? Guess who?
America has become the only world superpower, and Israel's only friend. In the name of world peace, ridding the world of terrorists and nuclear black mailers, the U.S. is bringing "democracy" and “free” trade to the world. The economic knots are being tied. U.S. star wars technology makes technology of other nations as impotent as sticks and stones. Military spending exceeds that of all of the nations of the earth combined… but this comes at a great cost to the American people as the dollar falls in value, debt mounts and local jobs disappear. Only the spoils of war and the lust for dollars keep the empire alive as the nations continue to send their goods to the American consumer. The result is still an economic and military empire without rival in the history of mankind. However the empire simply cannot continue to stand under the weight of its debt. Could its salvation be the drastic economic measure foretold in Revelations? Or the control of Middle East oil?
America is a unique country, a “Christian” nation that is the only superpower on earth that has the missionary zeal, the sense of “manifest destiny” to bring "Christian" truth, capitalism and democracy to the rest of the world. None of the “usual suspects” such as Russia, the European Community, the United Nations or Iraq possess the capability or the Christian missionary zeal of America. They are not “Christian”, do not have dominate offensive military capability, nor do they dominate the world commercially as the great consumer nation America (Revelation 18). How could that nation be any other? Only in America do people still attend church regularly and overwhelmingly believe in God. Comparatively, Europe is truly post-Christian.
It may be difficult to comprehend the idea that America could be anything but good. We have been brought up to think of ourselves as the “good guys” but would it be deceiving to the world otherwise? Can it be that this “Christian” nation with a “manifest destiny” could be the source of a great permeating evil? Are we really as good as we think? Just look at the entertainment industry the past 40 years. What has become of prime time TV? What kind of cinema do we export? What kind of culture do we promote in the world?
A WORD ABOUT THE ANTICHRIST
We greatly underestimate Satan himself if we do not remember that he is known as the “deceiver of the brethren” and the one who can appear as an "Angel of Light." As such, he will perpetrate his cleverest deception upon the American evangelical church. Can you imagine anything more diabolical than deceiving Christians into actually helping the "beast" come to power? Revelation sees the beast come to power with the woman (the church) riding the beast! Since Satan's plan is to hit us coming and going, we must be cautious when a leader comes along who seems to have all the answers--one who is moral, decisive, and charismatic and, above all, talks the Christian talk. Watch out when a leader feels called by God to bring peace to the world, solve the sticky problem in the Middle East, and bring Christian values, morals and free market prosperity and democratic self-rule to the whole world. He sees the Church and State in partnership, funding “faith-based” initiatives, in bringing this new wonderful peace to the world. He will be lauded from the pulpits across the land as Christians are caught up in the great patriotic fervor as his armies march against the evil forces of ignorance, intolerance and Islam. The term “antichrist” is a misnomer. People think it means “against Christ” but it really means a “Christ substitute”. Could an obviously evil, new age person from Europe fool an American evangelical Christian? I doubt it. So many believe the antichrist will be from the Middle East or Europe, marginally Christian if at all – probably “new age”, even a Jew but this is not what the Bible tells us.
The Bible indicates that many trusting Christians will take the antichrist at his word and even support him. Today, if a public figure claims to be a “Christian” everyone believes him and takes it at face value. The Bible tells us that antichrist represents the most powerful country in the world – one that dominates it militarily and commercially. That can hardly be Russia, Italy (the Vatican), Iraq, Israel or even the European Union. He makes a defense treaty with Israel and he is so beguiling that even Christians are seduced by his wiles. Only one nation fits the description. Only one country has the crusading Christian zeal and sense of destiny. We hear from Christians around the world and it is interesting to note they don’t find that nation quite as hard to identify as we do.
People do not understand that God deals with peoples – not geographic boundary lines. America is an extension of Europe in language, culture, history and law. We are the apex of Western Civilization. We may well be that conquering “Christian” nation that no one in the world can stand against. We may be the “little horn” of Daniel, having grown out of the ten, ripping the three that colonized us out (the English, French and Spanish) and now dominate the whole World as the only superpower with the will and the way!
So what does this say to American Christians – that their beloved country could be the evil empire of the “last days?” That very well could be, and if that is the case, the deception will be far worse in the heart of that darkness. Apostasy means – “falling away” implying a church that once had the truth and lost it. So is it possible that the American church is epitomized in the description of the Church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22), a church that thinks it has it all and really doesn’t? How deceiving would it be for the American Christian who thinks America is a force for truth, justice and democracy taking the world for “Christ and the church” by vanquishing the evil “godless” dictatorships of the world? What if things are not as they seem? Recognizing deception and apostasy may be more difficult than you think!
Part I
RECOGNIZING DECEPTION
CHAPTER 1
THE NEED FOR DIVINE REVELATION
God makes Himself known to man by divine revelation. Man does not understand the things of God with his mind alone. In fact, we were alienated from God and enemies in our mind (Col 1:11, Romans 8:7) We need a renewed mind (Romans 12:1) “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)
Understanding spiritual things does not come from studying, reading or thinking about God. Nor does it come from exercising your will and demanding to know about Him or opening your emotions to feel God. You can’t get to God by following a formula or a form, by going to a church or a “holy man”. There are no intermediaries! You understand God when He reveals Himself to you!
Man is made up of a body, soul and spirit. Only the human spirit can comprehend God. “God is spirit and those who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Let me paraphrase, “God’s essence is spirit, and those who want to fellowship with Him must do so with their human spirit.” This is the essence of the Christian life. It isn’t about doctrines, teachings, acting a certain way, going to church and Sunday school. It is about having a relationship with God! It isn’t about learning, studying, thinking, meditating. It is about touching God with your human spirit. If a glove is made in image of a hand, it does not fulfill its purpose until filled by a hand. In the same way, man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) but man has no purpose until that “God-shaped void” – the human spirit is made alive and indwelt by Him!
Please read John 3. Because of sin and the fall of man, the third part of our being, the human spirit was dead. A learned Jewish priest comes to Jesus and asks,
“Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no on can do these signs that you do unless god is with him. Jesus answered and said to him ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’” (John 3:2-6)
So what happens when we are saved? Our human spirit is brought to life and the human spirit is literally “born again” as the Spirit of God brings the human spirit to life and takes up residence. Once that happens, we have divine revelation inside us. All of a sudden our human condition and what God did in the God-Man Jesus Christ makes sense. We find ourselves drawn to Him, thankful to Him and in love with Him. There is a change, a spark of life that every young Christian experiences. It is not an intellectual experience, not an emotional experience, but a spiritual experience that can’t be explained rationally.
With revelation from the Spirit in us, the more we read the Bible, the more it makes sense. When we read it before, nothing made sense. Now it does. We understand God’s eternal plan and purpose, how from the very beginning of the Old Testament, He had a plan on how to bring man back into fellowship with Himself. In Genesis 1, it says, “Let us make man in our image…” If you use the example of the glove, what is it made for? To fill it up with sand? With water? No, obviously the glove finds its purpose and meaning when a human hand fills it. No other animal was made in His image - only man! But proud and arrogant man tries to fill that “God-shaped” void with everything but God - knowledge, possessions, pleasure, etc. Instead, we try to create God in man’s image. We sense there might be a "Supreme Being" up there, so we make God into what we think He should be. Man worships the sun, the moon, the elements, teachings and doctrines. But unless we accept God’s plan and have our human spirit made alive, we have only our vain imagination, not true revelation.
The Bible says “those who seek me diligently will find me.” (Proverbs 8:17) If you seek Him you will surely find Him. No one can do it for you. It is not a matter of joining a church, of believing a set of teachings or of changing your behavior. It is a matter of opening your heart and asking Him to reveal Himself to you and, whole heartedly accepting Him and His plan for your life and giving yourself completely to Him. If you want to know what the Bible means and know the author of the Bible, you need to have your human spirit made alive by being “born again” and then you will have the inward revelation and you will have a relationship with God Himself! Christianity is about “relationship,” not “religion.” All religion is about doing things, trying to be good, living to a standard. Christianity is about having a relationship with God and letting Him change you day by day.
Now that isn’t to say that man hasn’t reduced formal Christianity to dead religion. Frankly, the clergy/laity system, the stately church buildings with their crosses and stained glass windows, the grand choirs and worship groups, the “order of worship” have little or nothing to do with the true church. Can you imagine the early church with a printed bulletin telling them what they were going to do and when? Where is the Holy Spirit’s leading in that? Can we anticipate His move the week before when the bulletin is printed and the songs and prayers are selected? No, that is merely religion, not true Christianity! If you have ever lived in the south, you have seen cultural Christianity at work and all the rules you have to live by.
The early church was made up of common men and women who were so excited by the new inner life they had discovered, so willing to give up everything, including their lives for the love of their Savior and God. The problem with today’s Christianity is that it just goes through the motions. Congregational singing and pastoral prayer are hardly spontaneous and representative of the working of the Holy Spirit in His body. The priest or pastor stands up to preach and teach, and the average person just sits there dutifully and listens to the same thing week after week, month after month and year after year. The clergy may be regurgitating canned sermons, or he may really know how to touch the Lord in his human spirit and get fresh revelation from the Bible. But they impart the knowledge, not their ability to get that revelation to others. If the clergy really knows how to touch God, why don’t they impart their ability to the laity and work themselves out of a job?
So, getting back to recognizing deception, if you depend on others (from your pastor to great Christian books to Christian tapes and/or programs on the radio) for your revelation, you may be disappointed. There are two basic reasons why. First, as we shall see in the next chapter, the pastors and priests are probably telling you the wrong thing because they are just passing on the same out of date teachings they have received. And second, and more importantly, the only real protection you have is your own real personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you have that, the Bible will come alive for you and the Lord will open your eyes to what is really happening in the last days. Your inward sense will be so heightened that you will see through the lies and the sham, and have the strength to stand against the tide of opinion and the friends opposing you.
I would encourage each of you to develop your relationship with God and be willing to follow Him wherever He leads. Learn to listen to His still small voice and obey it. Shame on the clergy for perpetuating their jobs rather than passing on to the saints their supposed ability to be close to God and get revelation from the Word! You will not recognize deception if you follow a man or his teachings. You need to have your own relationship and your own revelation! You will answer to God on judgment day for what you do, and blindly following other men won’t get you off the hook. In fact, later we will show how many so-called Christian leaders are going down the primrose path of deception. The Bible clearly says that there will be a great falling away of Christians in the last days and this is not what is being preached from the pulpits today.
So that’s what this book is all about, “Recognizing Deception”. Satan is out to deceive and he has had a lot of success. Christians are deceived all the time. Cults are full of “born again” Christians who have been drawn away. And the fact of the matter is we are all susceptible, if we are just living in our “natural man” rather than in the spirit and a “renewed mind”. For anyone to say we somehow have an immune pill from being deceived is wishful thinking, because it should be obvious that Christians can be and are deceived all the time. Some Christians say that “when the time comes they will know what to do”. But, if we don’t know the Lord and know how to discern the times today, the chances are not that great we will be successful tomorrow.
This is all the more reason why you need to base your Christian life on your own relationship with the Lord, rather than depending on what the experts tell you. You need to band together with other Christians in living communities reminiscent of the early church. You need to realize that you will probably suffer the loss of all of your possessions, many relationships you hold dear and eventually your own life. Don’t be attached to the world and possessions. Steel yourself to the heartache as battle lines are drawn. The Bible says that son will turn against father and father against son, mother against daughter, brother against brother. Only a real relationship with God will protect you from the trouble ahead enabling you to overcome the tide of deception sweeping the church.
Only divine revelation will protect you from the coming deception. You need to get out of the box of your culture and the Christian institution. Read the Bible and ask the Lord to speak to you with an open heart and mind. Remember, the Bible tells us the church in the last days will fall away, so be careful. And if you are a Christian in the “western world” and can’t see what is happening in the church today, you may already be deceived! The church has been “slip sliding away” for years now, but we are as frogs in the water pot who have gotten accustomed to the rising temperature.
How We Got Off Track
Many bad doctrines and teachings in Christianity today add up to a massive deception. Just as there has been a “dumbing down” in general knowledge of history, geography, political science and other subjects with huge numbers of high school graduates unable to read, write or do basic math, so Christians are no longer literate in the Bible and the basics of the faith. They have become accustomed to the watered down “seeker friendly” Christianity which is afraid to offend or get too technical. Repeat a little ditty chorus thirty times rather than slog away through a boring hymn such as Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” or “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.”
When it comes to eschatology (study of the “end times”), Christians eyes roll back as their minds boggle over the mixed messages and varying opinions. They are not likely to hear much about it in their churches anyway. It is just too negative and may drive people away. Christians are taught so many conflicting things they no longer know what to believe. Here are a few examples of conflicting teachings:
· All prophecy has been fulfilled. There is no millennial kingdom.
· God is through with the Jews. The “Church” has inherited all of God’s promises.
· After the rapture, God is through with the “Church” and turns back to the Jews.
· Prophecy doesn’t matter to Christians because they escape the Tribulation by the rapture!
· The United States has no role in prophecy. It will either be destroyed or fall into decay. It just has to get out of the way so the “play” can continue with the proper players on the prophetic stage.
· The antichrist will be an evil, “new age” despot from Europe or the Middle East, so anti-Christian that he will be easy to recognize.
· The church needs to take dominion over the earth one institution and country at a time (and preferably through that new chosen nation, America, the last bulwark of fundamental Christian faith in the world)!
· So many have said that they were living in the “end”. We could go on for hundreds of years more. There is no way to know when it will come, so why worry?
If you hear anything at all, you get these conflicting opinions. It is very interesting that in the typical church in America, you hear very little about prophecy. There was a prophecy conference here in Sacramento with Tim LaHaye and a few other notables, but all they had to say was “not to worry since we will rapture soon and leave the problems behind for others to solve”. When it comes to hearing a serious sermon on last days prophecy from the pulpit from the average American church, you don’t hear much at all except talk of escapism or dominionism. The subject is just way too controversial for any pastor to want to tackle so they just stick with the “here and now” issues of salvation, having a good family life, being responsible in society and with your money, etc. Don’t talk to anyone about possibly suffering and losing life, limb and possessions.
Yet, if you talk to today’s pastors they complain that their people have no vision – that they are just caught up in hearth and home, soccer and dance, sports, TV, SUVs and survival. They are preoccupied with keeping their marriage together, the kids from flying out of control and holding on to their jobs. They criticize the church, the pastor, the other members, the programs. Why? They are living at the most critical time in history and have no vision!
Conflicting Schools of Thought
There are several major schools of thought on prophecy today and they are all leading the average Christian down the wrong path. These can be roughly classified by their position on the millennium (referring to the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ after His return). The degree of doctrinal error and deception held by each of these groups may be measured by their position on three things: the millennium, the rapture and Israel. The terms discussed below are extremely important. Why? A person will live his life according to his idea of what he thinks is going to happen. If we think we will either rapture or just sort of slip into the kingdom, why be too concerned? If we consider the possibility of passing through the worst tribulation the world has ever seen, we may more carefully reevaluate our lives and where we are going.
· The a-millennialists believe there won’t be a millennium. They believe the world will just keep on going. Historically, the liberal, less “evangelical” churches such as the more liberal Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, etc., who are advocates of social justice and social gospel, take this position – pretty much defined historically by the World Council of Churches. The net result of this position is that they believe Christians are here to improve the world and extend their influence politically, socially and culturally in order to keep evil from prevailing. We will see later that these churches can make an easy alliance with the dominionists – those seeking to literally bring the kingdom of God to the earth! Another related group, called the “preterists” believe that we have been in the “end times” for the past two thousand years and all prophecy has been fulfilled.
· The post-millennialists believe we are currently living in the tribulation period and that Christ can’t return until the church unites and becomes more “Christ-like”. This is the traditional position of the Roman Catholic Church that is endeavoring to unite the church under its authority. Recently the Vineyards and Word of God movement (which was always 60 percent Catholic) and many other charismatic churches and ministries, as well as the Anglican and Lutherans, have been making their way back into the Catholic “dominionist” fold.
Both of these first two groups also tend to be supporters of Covenant Theology, which believes that the Jews have forfeited their place and all of their promises to the “Church” because they were unfaithful to God. They have been replaced by the Church (known as “replacement theology”). This is in spite of Romans 11 that warns the Church to not be so jealous and haughty because we were grafted into the tree and that God still has a covenant with His people and in the end they will recognize Jesus as their Messiah.
As far as these two groups are concerned, there is no rapture. The Church doesn’t ever go anywhere but is absolutely essential in its role of turning the world around and establishing dominion over the earth. Once the church has done its job, Christ can finally return to rule.· In the past century and a half, the more fundamental Protestants belonged to the pre-millennialist school of thought. They believe Jesus Christ will return at the end of a seven year period of persecution that has become known as the “tribulation” and establish his thousand year rein.
Within the pre-millennial fold, there are different positions depending on the timing of the rapture which has three possible positions: Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation and the Post Tribulation rapture.
Dispensationalism
Most pre-millennialists believe in “dispensationalism”. Again, a big word but an important concept. Historic Roman Catholicism and the state churches of the Reformation (Covenant, Lutheran, Anglican, etc.) believed basically that the Jews lost their inheritance to the church. A reaction to that doctrine, especially after the special revelation of the pre-tribulation rapture, was that the church dispensation ends with the rapture and God turns his attention back to the Jews. They went so far as to say that none of the promises of the future refer to the Church since the Church is gone.
Both extremes confuse the issue of the end times and prophecy. One takes Israel out of the picture and the other the church! We believe that the clear teaching of the Bible is that God has two peoples – the Jews, his physical people and the saints of the church, those born of the Spirit. Romans 11 says:
1 “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew… 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved
So what are we to infer from these Scriptures? We (the church and Israel) are in this together. We were grafted in and God isn’t done with either people. If you read the book of Revelation carefully, you will find the “church” in every chapter, but no more than in Chapter 11 where it talks about the two witnesses which are the “two olive trees and the two lampstands.” Verse 17 above clearly refers to Israel as the “two olive trees” and the church is referred to in Revelation 2 and 3 as the “lampstands.” Clearly, these are the two corporate witnesses. In Chapter 7, it speaks of the first group of 144,000 coming from every tribe of Israel and chapter 14 speaks of another 144,000 (verses 1-5) “who have His name written on their foreheads…who have been purchased from the earth…from among men.” Both peoples stand and boldly witness throughout Revelation. You can’t say God is done with one group and moves on to another.
“Systematized error” starts when you make one wrong assumption and then build upon it. That is exactly what happened with the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture which began in the 1840’s and was popularized by John Nelson Darby. If the church is taken up to heaven in a secret rapture, they had to twist and turn the Scripture to fill the void left by the church being gone. Although the doctrine restored Israel’s prophetic importance, it led to a massive distortion of the Scriptures. The visions of Zechariah 4 of the seven lampstands and the two olive trees clearly mirror the two witnesses of Revelation 11. Those who have the church completely out of the way by the time the tribulation begins have a very basic problem. Saints are still on the earth during the Tribulation, including every chapter of the Book of Revelation.
One of the tenets of the pre-tribulation rapture position is that the church can’t suffer the judgments of God (they misunderstand the difference between the wrath of Satan and the Judgment of God as well as the timing of it all) so it has to be removed. I’m not going to go into the details of the pre-tribulation rapture right now but am going to point out one major inconsistency. Proponents often site II Thessalonians 2:8 saying that the rapture occurs because the Holy Spirit (the “restrainer” is removed which means Christians have to go as well). This doctrine calls for two Second Comings – a secret rapture where the Lord comes “for” the church and, seven years later when Jesus returns “with” the church. There is no straight forward Scriptural justification for this position – conjecture at best and twisting the Word at worst. If you look at the chronologies in Luke 21 or Matthew 24, it is clear that the return of Jesus and the church being caught up coincide. I Thess. 4:14-17 leaves no doubt:
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in ‘Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
I am a very curious person and read all of Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series, which although just a piece of fiction, LaHaye and Jenkins both believe follows their interpretation of Scripture. Immediately after the “rapture”, new Christians are born and by the mid point of the Tribulation, he estimates there are more than a billion new believers, which the pre-tribbers call “tribulation saints.” If the Holy Spirit has been removed from the earth, how could this be? How could they be “born again” if the Holy Spirit isn’t there? And further, aren’t “tribulation saints” also the church – part of the body of Christ? And if so, how could the Lord allow them to suffer? What makes them any different than you or I – except timing? To say that the church is not mentioned after Revelation 3 is disingenuous at best. The “saints” are mentioned a dozen times in the book of Revelation. In Chapter 13:7, the antichrist makes war with the saints and overcomes them.
God has never spared the church from Tribulation or the wrath of persecution. Marvin Rosenthal makes a clear case in his book titled “The Pre-Wrath Rapture.” The vials of the wrath of God occur in the 75 days following the return of Jesus and the rapture. But even more compelling is the matter of the two witnesses which clearly describe two corporate entities which make up God’s people’s – the Church (the golden lampstands) and the two olive trees, Israel. Who else is going to take the witness stand against the world that rejected Christ and chose the antichrist? What is God’s glory, but His people “who overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto death.” (Revelation 12:11)
Dispensationalism doesn’t work because you can’t take the church out of the Old Testament prophecies any more than you can out of Revelations. The doctrine of a secret pre-tribulation rapture made it imperative to so convolute Scriptures that an entire end times theology has been mistakenly built around it. The “a” and “post”-millenialists rightly reject this view although they tend to go overboard and reject Israel as well. The fact of the matter is you need both God’s spiritual and His physical people to culminate the battle of the ages “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. (Ephesians 3:10) God isn’t through with the Church or Israel. Both are critical players in the final act.
The Testimony of Jesus
The book of Revelation is the testimony of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at the verses:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ... And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. (1:1-2)
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (1:9)
I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. (6:9)
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days…When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (11:1,7)
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (12:11)
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (12:7)
"See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (19:7)
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, (20:4)
The Greek root for the words “testimony” and “witness” is “marturia” – in other words, the word MARTYR! The testimony of the last days church is a group of people who will stand boldly, even to giving up their lives – martyrdom! And you will notice that in Chapter 11, the beast comes out of the bottomless pit and makes war against the “two witnesses” (the two olive trees and the two lampstands) – the two corporate people of God. The souls of those slain for their testimony (marturia) – those beheaded for their witness (marturia).
So what about deception? Do you expect to escape via the rapture or be a martyr – a saint who doesn’t love their life even unto death! There will be no easy escape. This is no less than that asked of saints down through the ages. Please see Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. We will have a lot more to say about the testimony of the church in later works.
Does Prophecy Really Matter?
These are the major views of the “last days” held by Christians today. I would challenge you to search the Scriptures. Some would say that none of this really matters, but the fact is that it really does. Your view of the “last days” will determine what you do. If you think the church is supposed to take dominion over the world, you will work toward that end. If the antichrist appears to be a wonderful Christian out to save the world, even Christians will be deceived and sucked in. If you think you are going to rapture and leave all the suffering of the Tribulation behind, you aren’t going to worry about preparing for it. Why bother? If you believe there will be no tribulation or millennium, you will just go on with your life “business as usual.” Matthew 24 tells us that “the coming of the Son of Man will be as in the days of Noah.” (verse 37) No one had ever seen a flood before. They had no need for boats so when Noah said that God was going to judge the earth by a flood, they just laughed. What is the tribulation about? The final judgment of the earth! Very few will pay any attention. They will just get caught up in events until it is too late. Only Noah and his family survived. The question is what is the ark today? (more on that later)
I used to believe like many of you that these issues don’t really matter. I used to call myself a “pan-tribber” – everything would “pan” out. The point is, only one of these positions is the “truth” as consistently revealed in the Bible, and the other is a false teaching and part of the deception. This is no small issue, because your answer will determine what you do or don’t do. If the doctrine is false, it is also misleading and a part of the great deception.
Think about it. Just as surely as hundreds of prophecies were literally fulfilled to the letter when Jesus came the first time, the same will happen when He returns. This could be extremely important if we just happen to be the generation that is alive when He comes. Will we go through the Great Tribulation? What will it be like? Should we do anything to prepare? How will we recognize the signs? What will the deception be like? What should we look for? How will it affect our family and friends?
If we are really going to enter into that tribulation period, and we hold to the first two scenarios above, we are ripe for deception. We are either not expecting tribulation, or we are confident we will rapture, so we won’t really understand what is happening. The antichrist will not be some easy to recognize evil person. He will look, sound and act like a wonderful Christian man. The name is a misnomer. “Antichrist” really means “Christ impersonator or substitute.” So liberal Christians hoping to make the world a better place will fall right in line behind their new leader. The pre-trib rapture folks won’t have a clue as to what is happening because they aren’t expecting to be here at all, so it will be very difficult to recognize the deception.
Why the Discrepancy?How did all of these different theories arise? The Bible is not that hard a book. It is meant to be read and understood by the common man. You don’t need a doctorate or read a dozen commentaries for it to make sense. You need an open heart and mind and a living human spirit. If you approach the Bible with a closed or made up mind, you will seek to justify the position you already have. That is what many have done – reinforced what they already believe. The question of the rapture illustrates the point. A straightforward reading of any of the associated Scriptures (Matthew 24, II Thessalonians 2, etc.) indicates that the rapture occurs simultaneously with the return of Jesus Christ in the clouds. You have to read all kinds of things into the Bible to come up with any other conclusion. But that is what they do. They hear a teaching, get an idea and seek to justify it and build upon it.
Over the centuries, sincere theologians and Bible Scholars honestly wrestled with passages relating to “end times” prophesy. They did their best to interpret the passages, but the problem was they were interpreting them in the light of their culture and their point in time and history. Imagine someone interpreting Scripture in the 16th Century when Spain dominated the world. What would their conclusion be? Or France under Napoleon or Germany under Hitler – many thought both to be the antichrist. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun never set on the British Empire. What was America - a fledgling colony across the ocean? What was Israel at the end of the 19th century? The hope of a few Jews, but most were just scattered around the world, having been scattered by wars and the inquisition. These theologians did their best interpreting prophecy, but how else were they to do it if not based on their own historical/political context? The problem comes when their interpretation is passed on down through the years.
Obviously, if you are interpreting “end times” prophecy in the light of 19th Century Europe, or any other time for that matter, it is not going to be accurate. It is interesting that in the last book of Daniel, probably the most relevant Old Testament prophetic book, he says basically the same thing twice, “Go your way, Daniel for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end of time.” (Daniel 12:9) In other words, we are told that the prophecy is not only sealed but “concealed” until the end and in the “end” it clearly states that the prophetic meaning will be revealed. In “Intelligence” circles, this principle is called “need to know.” No matter what a person’s security clearance, classified information is only revealed on a “need to know” basis. If you have a “need to know” and the security clearance, the information will be revealed to you. You may be the President of the United States but if you don’t have the “need to know”, it will remain secret. These verses tell us that the prophetic scripture will be revealed in the end times when we have a need to know and understand what was written.
The closer we get to the “end”, the more the Lord will reveal the true meaning of about one fourth of the entire Bible which deals with “end times” prophecy. The problem is we have baggage - pre-conceived ideas that have been passed down from generation to generation in Bible Schools and Seminaries. It is easy to understand how miss- teachings could come about, but the problem is, these teachings take on a life of their own. They are validated because that “is what we have been taught.” Eventually, that “miss-teaching” can become a false doctrine. Only the person with the nimble mind and open heart will escape the resulting deception. This isn’t to necessarily blame anyone, especially those who are dead and gone, because they probably did the best they could with the information they had. But if the next generation accepts their interpretation, it just adds to the deception.
Some blame should be laid on present day teachers who refuse to see the truth and think outside their narrow little box. If we are in the “last days”, these issues are no longer “academic”. God wants to reveal the truth about what is going to happen so people can prepare and know what to expect. There is a lot at stake. Think about it. The two extremes on the rapture question are: 1) we escape before the Tribulation or 2) there is no rapture because we have to take dominion over the earth. Does it matter? If they are wrong, those promoting them are false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, leading the flock astray, deceiving the brethren. And, as I said before, people will act according to what they believe. The first group won’t do much of anything and the second, e.g. American Christians will work toward world hegemony for America, Christ and the Church. Do you see how either position can lead someone down the path of deception? To say the most powerful economic, political and military force the world has ever seen is either irrelevant because it isn’t mentioned in prophecy or that it is God’s chosen nation to bring the kingdom to earth are both wrong and lead to serious consequences. The first is refusing to see the elephant taking up half the painting and the second is to turn prophecy upside down and work right into the hands of the antichrist.
Before we leave this subject of timing, I want to remind you that whether intentionally or not, most pastors will push variations of these two agendas. Why? Maybe that is what they have been taught and they are just passing it on to you. Or maybe, Laodicean pastors are just giving “Laodicean” (lukewarm) messages. Laodicea means “rule by the laity”. In other words, if they don’t give the laity what they want, they will be voted out and lose their job.
The church is backwards. Instead of having a laity demanding the clergy take care of them. The “laity”, the people themselves are gifts to the church and every person has a gift and should use it. We do not need a class of “professional full-time Christians”. What does that make the rest of us “unprofessional” part-time Christians? We each need to know Him and know His word. We are all responsible to God alone. But a word of warning, if you listen to false teachers, you will fall into deception. “A little leaven leavens the whole loaf, speaking of the teachings of the Pharisees” (Matthew 16:6-12) If you eat junk food, your body will become a sickly junk food body. If you listen to spiritual junk, your spirit and mind will be tainted. There is no way around it. I don’t understand how any Christian could watch TBN or listen to Christian radio all day and not be nauseated by the hype and false teachings!
False teachings, apostate teachings, misguided, out dated teachings all add to the deception that is rampant in the Body of Christ today. Unless you take a fresh look at the Bible yourself, you are at great risk. If you just go along with today’s Christian leaders, you are likely to be led down the path of deception. The stakes are high. This is not a game.
The Truth Will Set You Free
Have you ever read the Bible and felt like it went in one ear and out the other? Other times, you read it and the words jump out at you? It really is an unusual book. Depending on the occasion it may confound, confuse or bless. But what if it is really God’s attempt to clearly communicate His plan and purpose to man?
Many people think the Bible is a mysterious and hard to read book, especially if you are struggling with the old English of the King James Version. Others criticize the watered down modern paraphrased Bibles. But the issue isn’t so much which Bible you read, but how you read it. John 6:63 tells us that the “letter kills but the spirit gives life and the words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” If we read the Bible with an unregenerate mind, relying on our own powers of deduction and understanding, we will get just the dead letter, not a revelation from God.
The Bible should be read with an open heart, with the human spirit alive and engaged. When a Christian is “born again” (John 3), his human spirit is regenerated (made alive) by the Spirit of God. At that point, the lights go on and it all makes sense. You read the “living word” when your heart is open and your human spirit is engaged and interacting with the Spirit of God. That is when the Word thrills you, enlightens you, speaks to you and feeds you. That is when you receive fresh revelation from God himself through His Word.
Do you know what I have just done? I have given you the key to recognizing deception. The whole purpose of this book is to encourage you to become one of “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb 5:14b) This is not something you learn, but something you do, something you experience yourself. When the Bible comes alive in your heart and mind, it is the most important thing you can experience in your Christian life. That is when God speaks to you and you listen to His still small voice. One thing to remember, we are not into “hearing voices” because what he tells us will NEVER contradict His Word. It will always be in agreement. But there is a time when we have confessed our sins, opened our hearts and are sitting in His presence reading His word and He impresses it on our hearts and minds. Hopefully, this is what your pastor does, but it is also what you should do every day. If you learn to get into His presence and let Him speak to you through His word, your life will be changed and you will never be the same again. You will be empowered and you will want to share the living gospel with everyone you see. If you maintain that fresh relationship, God will guide you and protect you from deception.
Now for those who are new and not sure what I am talking about, this is what happens to every person who “becomes a real Christian.” It is about “relationship”, not “religion”. God made you with a body, soul and spirit. In case you haven’t noticed, we may know what is the right thing to do, but it isn’t always in us to do right. The problem is, we are spiritually “dead”--our spirits are dead and we are open to whatever temptations the world, the flesh and the devil may throw at us. The issue isn’t so much that we sin, but that we are sinful by nature and separated from God and His life. Once we have a new life in us, the new life takes care of our problems and short comings.
A lot of Christianity becomes play-acting. We try to be good. We ask what would Jesus do and try and do it, but mainly we just conform to the standards of the people around us. That is not real Christianity. Real Christianity is not trying to conform to outward standards and try harder to be better. Real Christianity is to have a changed, transformed life because we have a relationship with God. We spend time in His presence and let Him change us. II Corinthians 3:18 gives us the key, “But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord, the Spirit.” Our transformation comes from living in His presence, beholding and reflecting Him, not necessarily from going to church or doing this or that.
The Bible says, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly my disciples and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) The Bible is the word of God revealed to us. It is the key to truth. Read it. Reread it. Let God speak to you in your human spirit as you read it. It contains the information you need to live, the spiritual nourishment and strength to be strong, and the revelation you need concerning the future.
The Bible has been proven to be historically and archaeologically accurate, even aiding archeologists and historians in their searches. But is it reliable? Do you know that we have a total of seven manuscripts of Plato dating back to 1200 AD and five of Aristotle dating back to the 1400’s, yet no one doubts their authenticity. We have 25,000 manuscripts of the New Testament dating back to the fourth century. There are 66 books written over a 1500 year period. The Dead Sea Scrolls showed no significant variation in 1000 years of copying. The Bible has a perfect prophetic record, something that can’t be claimed by any other religious writers such as Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith (the founder of the Mormons), Confucius or Krishna.
But most important is the Bible’s incredible ability to speak to the heart of man like no other book. The proof of the pudding is in the reading - not with your mind alone, but with your mind, spirit and heart engaged together. I am not describing something mystical or occult. It is hard to put into words because it has to be experienced. God will speak to you through the Bible. The test as to whether what you are going to do is the right thing or not, should come from your inner sense. The secret is to glean “life”, not just knowledge from the Bible, John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” II Corinthians 3:6 says, “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” The reason some people don’t get anything out of the Bible is that they are reading the “dead letter” and don’t have the revelation of the Spirit as they read. I can’t explain it! You just have to try. So just go do it!
If you want to avoid deception, know the Bible. Memorize it. Read it and reread it. Let it comfort and minister life to you. It is your best protection. It is the real thing. When teaching bank employees how to recognize the counterfeit currency, they have them become so familiar with the real thing, they easily recognize the counterfeit. It is the same with all of the false teachings that are so cleverly packaged and promoted today. Only if you know the Word and have a discerning spirit, will you recognize the deception.
And for Christians, deception takes the form of false, misleading or tainted teachings. By tainted, I mean you take a little bit of Bible and a little bit of “political or historical spin”, a little psychology, or a bit of personal opinion or bias and it becomes tainted. That is why you have to learn to judge these things on your own.
I challenge you. What I have to say means nothing. The only thing that matters is what God says in his Word.... not what someone says that God says, not some interpretation. You are responsible and I challenge you to look into this for yourself. God will hold you and you alone responsible on Judgment Day. You can’t blame your pastor or teachers or this book or that.
These are some of the most important questions you will ever consider in your life: Is the church becoming a better, more effective witness? Is it setting an example of righteous and holy living? Is it seeing a revival of signs and wonders? Or does it mirror the world? Is it sliding into apostasy? Is it abandoning sound doctrine and biblical roots? Is it relying on