| Recognizing Deception and Apostasy | ||
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| Can you be Deceived ? | ||
| Recognizing Deception and Apostasy | ||
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| Can you be Deceived ? | ||
Chapter 3
The Truth Will Set You Free
Have you ever read the Bible and felt like it was way over your head? 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 very 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 truly “becomes a 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 it. 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 problem isn’t so much that we sin, but that we are separated from God and His life. Once we have a new life in us, the new life takes care of our behavior problems.
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 an honest 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, and 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. 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 extra-biblical experiences? Can we stop the slide? Should we try? What should we do? What do we do if the institutional Church departs from the truth and begins to promote false unity and false doctrines? What if the church leadership begins to lead the saints down the road to apostasy? If the institution falls, will the average saint be able to stand without its support? Or will true Christians escape the troubled times by rapturing before the Tribulation? Is the study of prophecy merely academic or is it written for our generation? Are we wasting our time studying prophecy? On the other hand, what if we go through the Tribulation? Do we know what to expect? Are we ready?
This subject can be very upsetting but we should not allow ourselves to be overcome with fear. Whatever may be in our future will be glorious as long as we stay in His will. Yet, we need to be careful about preconceived ideas. We should not accept conventional wisdom blindly, but rather, each and every one of us should examine the facts in the Word of God. We should look objectively at the history of the Church and the condition of the Church today. We dare not allow conventional wisdom, traditions, teachings, our culture and the programming of this evil world to hold sway over our minds and emotions. The idea that Christians in the Western world are somehow exempt because God wouldn’t dare allow “Christians to suffer” is absolutely absurd--not only historically, but also considering the suffering of Christians around the world today. I would turn that line of reasoning around and propose that maybe that is what is wrong with the Church in the West. We have it so easy and have molded so completely with the world, there is no persecution because we are just like the world. The Lord challenges us to be separate from the world, to come out from among them and be separate from the evil religious counterfeit system. “Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” (Hebrews 13:13) We may be in the world, but we should not be of it.
I received an e-mail announcing a day of prayer for the suffering church on Sunday, November 16, 1997. It stated that more people are suffering and dying for their faith in Jesus right now than for the last 2,000 years combined. After all, the Lord said we would have “tribulation in this world” (John 16:33) and we should not be surprised when it happens. It’s just that we Western Christians are currently being spared pain and suffering for our faith. Saints down through the ages and even in this present day consider it a privilege to suffer for the Lord who gave His life for them. No matter what happens, we should count it all glory as the Apostle Paul did that he was counted worthy to suffer for the Lord.
Are we Judging Others?
If you are going to understand the coming deception, you can’t blindly follow your leaders. You have to compare what they are saying against the Bible. You are not disparaging their character, but looking at what they do and say in public. Christians are often shocked when “names are named”. They think it is unloving to talk about other Christians and disagree with them. Some even warn of the dangers of “touching God’s anointed.” If we are afraid to question the “so called” leaders who are leading us down the path of deception, we will surely be deceived.
Our Lord and the apostles were very open in “naming names” and disagreeing publicly with people who held public positions that were not in agreement with sound doctrine. Dr. Jay Adams, in his volume Grist from Adam’s Mill addresses the illegitimate use of Matthew 18 in an attempt to censure public criticism:
“Any Christian who sets himself up as a teacher in the church of Christ and publicly teaches anything thereby opens himself up for criticism by others (James 3:1). If they think what he is teaching is harmful to the church, they have an obligation to point it out just as widely as it was taught. Such public warning or debate on the topic should not be considered a personal attack at all. The teacher’s plea that a critic should first have come to him about his disagreement on the basis of Matthew 18:15 just does not hold. The passage has to do with personal wrongs known only between the two, who should privately discuss the matter that separates them. What a critic of a public teaching does in pointing out his disagreement with the teaching has nothing to do with personal affronts or lack of reconciliation; he is simply disagreeing at the same public level as that on which the teaching was given in the first place.” (Dr. Jay Adams, Grist from Adam’s Mill, pg. 69)
We are not obligated to go to every public person and confront him or her with things they have said publicly. Paul warned of certain people in his letters but there is no indication that he confronted them all before hand. Our goal is to illustrate the point, and to warn Christians to beware of false teachings. It is not our intention to vilify, denounce or unjustly criticize any person or ministry. We endeavor to speak the truth in love, and give teachers the benefit of the doubt. It is doctrine, not personality that concerns us; it is public teaching, not personal sin that we expose. The scriptures command us to test the doctrine of those who teach us. So, we are not attacking the private lives of individual Christians (they answer to God!) but merely repeating what these ministers themselves say, and holding up their teachings to the light of scripture.
We are commanded to “test spiritual things” (a literal translation of 1 John 4:1) and God is not offended by our careful sifting out of the truth. We should not be intimidated out of the careful, prayerful searching out of things to see whether they really are of God. Jesus tells us not to believe everyone that comes along with a spiritual claim (Matthew 24:23-26) and Paul echoes this thought later on when he speaks of the false apostles with their false Christ and false Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 11:3-5, 13-15). The question is complicated by the fact that there are two words in the Greek language for “judge” and one is wrong (Romans 14:13) while the other is an essential part of Christian discipleship (Philippians 1:9). The “judging” we are not permitted to do is called “krino” in the Greek and it means to judge the person/thing as a whole. e.g. to say “he is absolutely no good”. We are permitted to judge particulars which is called “dokimazo” judging “that was a good action”, “this person has strong faith”, or “that person has a wrong doctrine in the area of ....” etc. For instance it is not right to say that “the Toronto Blessing is absolutely no good” or “everything about the Toronto blessing is of God”. When Jesus judged the licentious Nicolaitan heresy in Revelation he said “..the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I hate...” (Revelations 2:6) thus specifying what it was that offended Him. Thus you can say “I am concerned about such and such a manifestation” or “I think it is wrong that they believe such and so” and be on much safer ground.
There is more at stake here than just a mere difference of opinion. As you will see, it goes to the very heart of the matter. Will we follow truth or error? Adrian Rogers, former head of the Southern Baptist Convention said,
"It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. Let me tell you something, friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. There is only one Gospel and Paul said, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
The Apostasy of our Leaders
As the leadership goes, so goes the church. The following illustrates the apostasy of the highest leadership of the evangelical community taken from Dave Hunt’s May 1998 newsletter, The Berean Call:
· Archbishop Desmond Tutu declares, “The Holy Spirit is not limited to the Christian church” and that the Holy Spirit shined through Mahatma Gandhi
· R. Kirby Dodsey, President of Southern Baptist Mercer University denies the infallibility of the Bible, the unique power and authority of God, the validity of the Gospels..., the efficacy of Christ’s atonement and the uniqueness of Christ as the only Savior.
· Bill Phipps, head of the United Church of Canada, rejects Christ’s deity, His resurrection, etc.
· Zondervan published a book titled "More than One Way"? Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World.
· Echoing Billy Graham, Leighton Ford declares, “I respect other paths to God...”
· Jerry Falwell commends the Reverend Moon who believes Jesus should bow to him.
· Robert Schuller, of the most popular Sunday morning program, says the greatest influence on his life was Norman Vincent Peale (who denied the faith and was into the occult)
· Sir John Marks Templeton, promotes the Antichrists’ coming world religion and offers a price for contributing toward its development, and is praised by recipients of what? Billy Graham, Charles Colson and Bill Bright.
· Many evangelicals signed the ecumenical documents “Christians and Catholics Together” (more on this later).
· Evangelicals such as Colson, Packer and Bright agreed to not evangelize Catholics because there “was no need to”. (more on this later also)
· These are but a few examples, the tip of the iceberg. If this is happening to the foremost evangelical leaders, what will happen to the rest of the evangelical Christians, the non-professionals, warming America’s pews? So what does the Bible say about the Church in the “last days?
Notice that these statements focus on what these leaders have said or done publicly. It doesn’t say they are bad people. Indeed, they may be wonderful people. But if leaders are leading their flocks down the road to deception, we must speak out! We can’t just quietly sweep it under the rug just because of their position or reputation.
What the Bible has to say About the Apostate Church
The Bible clearly says that in the "latter days", there will be an apostate or fallen church. One does not have to look far to see that the institutional church is already infected with an apostate and worldly spirit. This is not meant to question the sincerity of the many dear saints who are in it, nor to condemn those who are serving the Lord with all of their heart--for there are many. But there are others--leaders of the flocks that will be held accountable on Judgment Day because they are leading the saints astray. And there are saints who willingly and blindly follow their lead because they are too lazy to pay the price themselves to study the Word and really know the Lord. We are all responsible for what we do in these bodies and in “that day”, we will stand alone without anyone to blame.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that in the last days, the love of many will grow cold, there will be a great Tribulation that comes from within, brother delivering up brother thinking they are doing God a favor. The Epistles all talk about the condition of the Church in the latter times. I am not being critical. I am merely stating a fact based on the Word of God. Here are just a few examples:
· But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage … (I Tim 4:1-3a)
· But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men. (II Tim 3:1-5)
· For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but {wanting} to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. (II Tim 4:3-4)
· For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you lie a thief…so then let s not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. (I Thess 2-4,6)
· For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they shall deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another … for there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect hose days shall be cut short. (Matthew 24:7-10,21-22).
· {that is,} the one who’s coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, (2 Thess. 2:9)
· But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God … but according to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:10-13)
Those are not my words. God said it will happen and it will. Nowhere do we see a great “end time” revival that many predict--but instead, a falling away. No one should be surprised when it does. In fact, we should expect it and keep our eyes open so we will recognize the deception and the apostasy of the church.
Believers will “fall away from the faith.” It is impossible for an unbeliever to fall away from something he doesn’t have. The threat is not from without, but from within. People who call themselves Christians will be deceived. What a description of our generation--lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, etc.! This generation scorns sound doctrine. They say doctrine is too narrow; too exclusive and it is impossible to have unity if we are divided by doctrine. It is also interesting that those churches that promise health, wealth and blessings are the ones that are growing. Only the TV preachers that promise to multiply your gifts can afford the high cost of television. Most churches that are really growing are those that are seeking greater and more spectacular signs and wonders, wealth or acceptance of the masses. The “way of the cross” has become “old fashioned”, divisive and boring.
These are but a few verses about the latter times that we ignore at our own peril. All you have to do today is look at the lead stories in Christianity Today or walk into any Christian bookstore and look at the book titles to realize that the church is in trouble. It is in trouble morally as laity and clergy alike fall into sin. The divorce rate in the American church exceeds the nation’s rate. The church is in trouble spiritually as sound doctrine is replaced by “experiential” Christianity and a quest for unity at the expense of the truth. For the first time in history, mainline evangelicals are looking to the Roman Catholic Church for leadership and direction--ecumenism is “in”. They are softening the differences and telling people they really are not that important--we are all Christians. The church is getting more involved politically. The Church (Evangelical and Catholic) has formed a powerful political force known as the “religious right”. These are not just wild accusations and in the next few chapters we will examine these issues in detail.
The true church is under attack. Satan’s goal is to pull the veil down over your eyes so you won’t see the deception. Only those who stand uncompromisingly for the truth will avoid it. If you are a wishy washy person who likes to keep everyone happy; if you are afraid to take an unpopular stand that may alienate others, you are a prime candidate for apostasy! The verses above can’t be ignored, and they are not my words. They are God’s.
Continue to Chapter 4
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