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February 25, 2002
WHEN GOD SENDS DECEPTION
The indented
sentences are from the book, PERHAPS TODAY, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
"The coming of the lawless one is
according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did
not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, NKJV"
"OUR GOD is in the business of truth.
Deception can never be any part of that business. Yet this passage tells of a
time when God will send "strong delusion, that they should believe the
lie.. . .‘The time of that delusion will come during the Antichrist’s
reign, particularly during the latter half of the Tribulation.
Obviously, God was revealing truth all
through the 1,600 years that He inspired more than forty authors to write the
Bible. That revelation, consisting of sixty-six books, is without doubt the
most authentic ancient book ever written. So why, when God characteristically
reveals truth, would He give deception to mankind?
As it is in our day, the majority who live
through the Tribulation will reject that truth because they find pleasure in
unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12). It is for the same reason that many
people reject the truth of the gospel today. Loving their indulgence in some
particular sin, they are unwilling to give up that pleasure and receive Jesus.
Thus, their indulgences damn their soul for eternity. These will accept the
lies of Antichrist who will take the mark on the back of the right hand and
place it on their forehead. Most of these will refuse to hear the preaching of
the 144,000 servants of God and the two supernatural witnesses of the
Tribulation (Revelation 7 and 11). They will choose Antichrist over Christ.
They will not reverse that decision, once made. God will then send them a
delusion to continue believing Satan’s lies.
How wonderful that such is not the case
today. I recently gave an invitation to a large audience at the end of a
prophecy conference. Many received the Lord. But the best thing is that those
who did not receive Him can still change their minds. This is why the Bible
calls every day "the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2)—or, as we
might phrase it, a "day of decision."
Authors
Changed the Meaning of "the lie"
Why and when would God send strong
delusion? The answer is clear in the context, which the authors chose to
ignore. I am going to put the verses in question here so I refer to them:
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 1 Thess. 2:9-12
The
strong delusion is clearly laid out in Scripture so
that nobody can miss unless they choose to miss it and subvert others into
missing it too. God shall send them strong delusion.
Why? Because they "received not the love of the truth that
they might be saved." God will send these people who would not be
saved a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. What lie will they
be deluded by God himself into believing? The lie that "that
Wicked" wants them to believe: that "he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, shewing himself that he is God." (See verse 4) Those
who were witnessed to but believed not the truth will be given over to this
strong delusion by God as a judgment!
They will not have a second chance as taught in
the Left Behind series. It is a cruel lie to teach that after that Wicked
is revealed, people who have already rejected Jesus Christ will be given another
chance, and that revival will break out among people who had previously scorned
Jesus Christ's right to rule over their lives. This is anti-biblical and is a
satanic deception. Those who presently rebel against Jesus Christ's
right to reign over their lives have an antichrist spirit, and this spirit will
not depart when the Antichrist is revealed, it will instead be solidified and
reinforced through a God-sent delusion. Those who are against Jesus
Christ now will be judged (strong delusion) into accepting Antichrist in the
flesh!
The Bible is clear that for this cause
(receiving not the love of the truth) God shall send them strong delusion.
The Bible is clear about the when as well: people who have been previously witnessed to,
and "head-knowledge" but not heart-surrendered Christians will be in grave spiritual peril when
"that Wicked" shall be revealed. They will have no second
chance, and will be deluded into thinking that Antichrist is who he will claim
himself to be: as God. Why they will be deluded is clear: they
believed not the truth (about the Lord Jesus Christ and his Word), but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. That is why today (while the Holy Ghost
is convicting you) is the only
guaranteed day of salvation. Deliberately putting off repentance and
waiting for some supernatural signs is
setting oneself up to be supernaturally deluded.
"They will choose
Antichrist over Christ. They will not reverse that decision, once made. God
will then send them a delusion to continue believing Satan’s
lies."
Yes, whoever takes the mark of the beast will
not be able to turn back, but that is not the delusion that is referred to here
in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12. The fact that God will send strong delusion to
those who have heard the gospel but refused to be saved, is being ignored here
(this is being done throughout the Left Behind series) and made to refer to
taking the mark of the beast and then not being able to reverse that decision.
You may think, "Well, I will just wait
until people disappear and then I will know I had better make my decision before
Antichrist arrives on the scene." The Bible says that before we are
gathered together unto the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Thess. 2: 1) certain things
must happen and we must let no man deceive us about this. (See verses 2,
3): That day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
First a falling away and then the son of
perdition (also known as that Wicked, man of sin, and Antichrist). If
falling away means "gathering together" then we do not
need to worry about being here when Antichrist is revealed, but if "falling
away" means apostasy (of the church), then we need to take careful notice
because we would be here when that man of sin is revealed.
"Falling away" comes from the
Greek word apostsia (Strongs 646), which means departure from the
truth; apostasy. We will be gathered together unto Jesus Christ after the
apostasy of the church occurs and that man of sin is revealed. It is so
important to receive the love of the truth today, and also to purpose in your
heart to stay true to the Lord Jesus Christ and his word and not depart from the
faith. Every individual Christian that repents of sin and deception is
doing their part to delay the falling away, which will delay that man of sin
being able to be revealed. It is not fixed when this will happen;
much depends upon the church of the Lord Jesus Christ being willing to stand for
truth and holiness so that "that Wicked's" revealing will be delayed.
Satan's followers (the leaders of the One World
Government of Antichrist) are at work constantly and spend many millions of
dollars on all kinds of campaigns (both within and without the church) to get
Christians to completely fall away from the faith. Why are they doing
this? So that they can reveal that Man of Sin! They cannot do this
until the church has fallen away to the point where God allows him to be
revealed, and they certainly do not sit back passively waiting for the church to
just somehow fall away on her own. They work at it actively and put
much more effort into getting the church to fall away than the church does in serving
the Lord Jesus Christ who is so worthy!
It is God's decision when he will allow that
"man of sin" to be revealed. It is not Satan's decision or our
decision. However, we can have an influence upon God's decision (by our
prayers and holy lives) just as Satan actively works to have an influence upon
God's decision upon when he will be allowed to reveal himself in that man of
sin. If Satan can get the church to depart from the faith (apostasia)
sooner rather than later, then scripture will be fulfilled for his man of
sin to be revealed, and God will allow it.
It is not true that we can do nothing about the
timing of these events! I used to think that we just should just sit back
and wait to be raptured, but that is what Satan wanted me to think. He
wants the church to allow herself to be given over to all-out apostasy so that
he can go forward all the more quickly with his short time of glory on this
earth. The Luciferians had plans for when they wanted to go full force in
bringing in the New World Order, and they have already been foiled. Some expected the year 2000
or 2001 to be the time they would be able to take control, but that time has
passed, so they undoubtedly have another date to shoot for. This is
not in their power to make happen, no matter how carefully laid their plans may
be. If the falling away (apostasy of the church) has not yet happened,
they cannot go forward with revealing Antichrist. If they think that an
unexpected crisis will aid in getting the church to fall away from the faith of
Jesus Christ, they will try this as well. As a matter of fact, they do
believe this and planned crises are one of the ways they hope to frighten and
deceive Christians into thinking the Lord Jesus Christ has deserted them. They are working every angle
they possibly can to get the church to forsake the Lord Jesus Christ and look
for another "Christ."
Yes, Satan will have his time, but God wants
his people to move against and expose his workers as they seek to destroy the
faith of every Christian on earth if they had their way. We must occupy-even after that man of sin is revealed-until
he comes. We must repent of all known sin and seek to live the Christian
life in obedience to Jesus Christ and overcome the world.
We must get the true gospel to the ends of the
earth now, while we have time to freely travel. The more Christians that do this, the longer Satan will be held back
in his plans to bring in the New World Order, which is the Kingdom of
Antichrist. God is in control, and he is calling his church to repent.
Feb. 5, 2002
Perhaps
Today Devotional Critiques
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