CHAPTER 15 IF POSSIBLE - EVEN THE ELECT Matthew 24:24 quotes Jesus Christ as He teaches about the time of the end.  He says, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders SO AS TO MISLEAD, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT".  In response to the disciples’ question about the sign of His coming and of the end of the age, Jesus prefaced His remarks with, "See to it that NO ONE MISLEADS YOU".  In verse five He says, "...many will come in my name saying, "I am the Christ" and will MISLEAD MANY"".  He goes on to say, in verse eleven, "Many false prophets will arise and will MISLEAD MANY."  Jesus' main point is that the time of the end will be marked by a subtle and extremely effective delusion and deception.  All who are called by His name will be enticed, tempted, and bombarded by these clever errors and doctrines of demons.  If this is indeed the time of the end we must be extremely careful. In II Thessalonians 2:3-4, when discussing the day of the Lord, Paul starts his teaching with, "LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU IN ANY WAY, it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction".  In verses 7-12 he says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.  Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with ALL THE DECEPTION of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.  For this reason GOD WILL SEND UPON THEM A DELUDING INFLUENCE SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE IN ORDER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE JUDGED WHO DID NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH, BUT TAKE PLEASURE IN WICKEDNESS."  Here Paul warns of great deception and delusion, some even sent by God, in the last days.  In the same vein, I Timothy 4:1-2, Paul says, "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." We are currently experiencing tremendous deception.  We hear the lie that murdering babies is merely freedom of choice.  Television commercials even joke about how they deceive us into buying their products.  Salesmen are taught the fine art of persuasion using misrepresentation, half truths, and even outright lies in order to close the sale.  Our everyday lives are filled with lies that are no longer even considered wrong, because our consciences are so seared.  We "call in sick" when we are either too lazy to go to work, have other plans or we are too sick for work but are not sick enough to miss a trip to the beach.  "Tell them I'm not here" is what we tell our children to say to someone who calls us on the telephone and we don't want to talk to them.  Our income tax returns typically do not tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth".  We are a nation of liars in a world that has for millennia considered and even applauded lying.  Meanwhile, our children are deceived into taking drugs for peace. We are deceived into buying cars we cannot afford.  The public school children are being lied to about everything from sex to evolution to God Himself.  The mass media tells us, through sitcom after sitcom, and drama after drama, that "the little white lie" is a necessary part of life and SOMETIMES there is no alternative but to tell a blatant, selfish, hurtful lie - IT ALWAYS DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION.   Situational ethics has created the "GOOD" LIE and we have absorbed this teaching into our culture, our country, our personal lives, AND EVEN THE CHURCH! The white lie, subtle deception, misrepresentation and even the big lie are now an everyday reality in the life of the Saul Church in America.  Already discussed were the psychologically crafted techniques of manipulative, deceptive methods of raising money, ranging from "personal letters" “signed” by greedy big-name preachers to the trick of soliciting money for one purpose and then using it for another purpose.  A good example of this is when an offering for missions is taken and at a later date, the missionary’s money is used to pay the everyday bills for running the church.  The Saul Church is especially good at speaking only a part of the truth.  When the pastor wants you to spend $2,500 to go to Europe or Israel with him, he may neglect to tell you that if they get ten of you to go, then he goes free.  He implies that his dual purpose in extending the invitation is that he LIKES you, and is intensely interested in your spiritual growth.  Openness is not the strong suit of the Saul Church.   The Saul Church is shamefully involved in deception.  This slack attitude regarding lies has affected many charismatic denominations.  The world says “what goes around comes around” and the Bible says “you will reap according to what you sow”.  That is why it is no surprise that one of the great charismatic denominations lost 15 million dollars to a con man who worked a Ponzi scheme. IS IT ANY WONDER THAT DELUDING SPIRITS AND DOCTRINES OF DEMONS ARE IN THEIR CHURCHES?   Gal. 6:7 says, "DO NOT BE DECEIVED.  God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows this he will also reap."   The Saul Church has sown lies and now it is reaping lies.  The Saul Church has become so permeated with the world's attitude about truth and falsehood that it is now on the verge of experiencing II Thess. 2:10-11, "...because they did not receive THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH so as to be saved.  And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false."  So-called Christians, whether Evangelical or Charismatic, who do not LOVE the truth, both in the Scriptures and the truth worked out in their own lives, are dangerously defining themselves as candidates for the words of our Lord in chapter seven of Matthew which say, “Depart from Me you workers of iniquity; I NEVER KNEW YOU!”   We MUST have a passionate love for truth.  True born-again Christians are dwelling places for the Holy Spirit.   He is the One who guides us into ALL truth.  We must want truth regardless of what it cost.  We must set aside our pride and be willing to lose ministries, money, friends, and family for THE SAKE OF THE TRUTH.  How cheaply some sell out to the Father of Lies.  How terribly some grieve the Holy Spirit by their disregard for the truth.  The truth is more than mere words.  The truth is embodied in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He said, "I am the way, the TRUTH and the life".  How do we worship God?  The Bible says, "In Spirit and IN TRUTH".   What sets us free? "THE TRUTH shall set you free". Why is the Saul Church so lax with truth and so filled with deception?  It is very obvious.  It is because it does not love the truth.  If we LOVE Jesus Christ, we must love THE TRUTH, even to our own hurt.  If we do not, we are in danger of not being His.   Saul was not willing to pay the price of humility.  He should have known and repented of disobeying God by sparing the best of the flock and the king he had conquered.  He excused himself and blamed others.  How can people who lead God’s people be so spiritually stupid and blind? The answer is simple.  They did not receive the love of the truth.  They tolerated small lies and they were slightly deceived.  This hardened their hearts to small lies.  Then they tolerated medium sized lies and they were moderately deceived, and their hearts were correspondingly hardened.  Then they quite easily put up with gross lies and they were then grossly deceived and ripe for Great Deception. The Saul Church tolerated the lie that allowed them to use the methods of the world to preach Jesus.  Then they embraced the lies about seeking material wealth AND the Kingdom of God.  Furthermore, they adjusted their viewpoints to accept the love yourself doctrine of the world in place of the deny yourself doctrine of Scripture.  IS IT ANY WONDER they have openly embraced New Age doctrines and methodology in their churches?  Is it any wonder that some VISUALIZE, POSITIVIZE and make agreements with worshippers of Mary?  WE MUST UNDERSTAND that they also made adjustments to the truth in their personal lives.  First it was, "Tell them I'm not here, honey".  Then it was, "It isn't necessary to tell the government about this outside income - I'll use it to help build the Kingdom".  And finally, lying and half truths became a way of life so that even “In the Name of Jesus”, they could lie about a supposed healing or "Word from God".  Throughout the Charismatic Movement we now have big time preachers calling out healings in large crowds, knowing that a response is certain because of the size of the crowd.  Either a person will come forward whom they can declare as "healed", or the person can even go along with the whole thing and pretend to be healed.  People who go up to be prayed for are badgered into "confessing" their healing, even if it is not so or worse yet, they feel the very real pressure of the evangelist to answer positively the statement "you ARE healed, aren't you?"  IS IT ANY WONDER that the enemy could gain a foothold in such lie infested groups of people?  IS IT POSSIBLE that the ENEMY MIGHT BE THE ONE behind some "supposed" miracles that are worked in Jesus Name?   Take a look at the Catholic Church and the "miracles" that occurred at Lourdes and Fatima where "the Blessed Mother of God" appeared to many of the "faithful".  In the Name of Jesus Christ many were "healed" to confirm the word of Mary's special place with God as the perfect Mother of God, the eternal virgin, the ascended one, the co-mediatrix along with Jesus and all the other heretical lies that goes along with the Catholic Church and Maryolotry.  WHO WAS CONFIRMING the blasphemous teachings and "manifestations" of Mary?  WAS IT GOD?  OF COURSE NOT!  It was Satan!  And if you believe that the enemy would not have the right to "assist" liars in their desire to "confirm their word" about prosperity, lawlessness, psycho-Christianity, visualization or name it and claim it teaching, you are not familiar with Scriptures. Listen to what the Lord says in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the SIGN OR THE WONDER COMES TRUE, concerning which he spoke to you saying "Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them; you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS TESTING YOU TO FIND OUT IF YOU LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL Your HEART AND ALL YOUR SOUL...that prophet or dreamer of dreams...has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God...to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk.” Just because a sign or a wonder "confirms" the word spoken does not mean it is from God.  If you are told it is OK to worship Mary and a miracle follows - DON'T DO IT!  Mary worship is not in the Scriptures!  It is NOT the way of the Lord.  We are not to follow after men who encourage "covetousness which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5) EVEN if there are miracles in their midst "confirming" their word.  So it is with men who mix psychology or any other worldly philosophy that leads us from utter dependence upon the pure unadulterated truth of God's Word.  We must realize that when we see SIGNS AND WONDERS following men or women who preach another way, other than the narrow road of Scripture, God is TESTING US to find out if we LOVE HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS.  If these Scriptures regarding signs coming to pass from Deuteronomy were important for God’s people in the Old Testament, HOW MUCH MORE are they important to us, the generation that is experiencing what may well prove to be the greatest deception of all time. Although there are still some real healings in the Charismatic Movement, the deluding influence is already here.   Saul has lost the authority of God and the Lord has sent an evil spirit (I Sam. 16:14).  The Saul Church does not love the truth and God has sent them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false (II Thess. 2:10- 11). As important as it is to identify New Age methods and doctrines that have infiltrated the Church, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to love the truth and to live the truth.  We must learn to be a people who consistently tell the truth, even to our own hurt, and are without guile or deception in our conversations and actions.  OUR ABILITY TO PERCEIVE TRUTH IS DEPENDENT UPON HIS GRACE WHERE IT IS MANIFESTED IN OUR LOVE FOR HIS TRUTH AND OUR PURSUIT OF HIS TRUTH.  If we live and speak lies, we will believe lies.  ONE test of the soundness of your doctrine is to check how completely honest and guileless you are.  If you are a sneaky liar, your doctrine will be faulty.  But if you repent of being a liar and do all you can to repair the damage caused by your lies, you will be able to see and hear the truth more clearly. Deception is not only sinful, it is DANGEROUS.  Those who are hardened to everyday little lies have been defined by God as liars and liars have no part in the Kingdom of God.  Preachers who practice deception and will not repent of this may be deceived by GOD HIMSELF!  We must be careful lovers of truth!  We are living in the most deceptive time in history and we must cling to truth like life Himself!  The more we remain in our white lie mentality, the more deceived we will become.  We must receive the love of the truth!  Then we must, with God's help, test every teaching to see if it is consistent with God’s truth from His Scriptures. Years ago, at a pastor's meeting the speaker was talking about revival.  He made it sound like revival was going to be a lot of fun and that everything would be rosy when God poured out His Spirit on all of us.  I had a prophetic word about the fact that God was going to send revival but it was not going to be a Christmas-like atmosphere as they supposed, where everybody gets gifts and celebrates.  The Lord said that it would be like Good Friday and Easter - death and resurrection, and that we should expect death before resurrection.  I did not deliver the message because of fear of being laughed at, ignored or misunderstood.  And later, when I was confessing my fear of man and my selfish pride to God, I asked Him if they would have received the message.  He did not answer me but He did speak this to me.  He said, "The Church has chained its prophets to the walls because they do not want to hear the truth, and the prophets will stay chained until they become small in their own sight."   He said that the prophets, for the most part, were like those to whom they would minister - people with a high regard for themselves - but that when they become small in their own sight, they will slip through the handcuffs that hold them chained to the walls.  Then they will go forth one by one until there is a mighty army of prophets speaking the Word of God with the authority of the Holy Spirit.  They will speak the truth and warn of judgment to come.  They will correct false doctrines and bring forth personal truth that hurts.  Along with these difficult words, they will speak words of hope, words of promise and words of great blessings.  All of this is for the pur- pose of raising up a people who love the truth and are willing to live the truth regardless of the cost.  What if speaking or preaching the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth cost you your job or your income?   Would you do it?  What if the truth cost you your ministry?  Would you do it?  Many will be tested in just such fashion.  God is looking for truly honest men and women who will not deceive!  They will not do so simply because they love Him too much to grieve Him with a lie. We must let the sword of the Spirit cut away our lying hearts and give us new hearts.  We must realize that we are deceitful lying individuals in the midst of a nation of liars and let God touch our lips and our hearts with a stinging burning coal that will purify us, and allow us to hearts His words of correction—correcting  both our lives and our doctrines. During and before the 18th century whenever ships went on long voyages the crews and passengers would be afflicted with a dread disease called SCURVY.  Neither ship captains nor doctors were able to figure out what caused this ravaging ailment.  In 1741 an English doctor discovered that men became sick after they had run out of fruit.  After that time the British government made sure that all ships were well supplied with lemons and especially limes.  All on board who ate these lemons and limes were not affected by the scurvy.  The practice became so prevalent that British sailors came to be known as “Limies” and eventually all English people were called “Limies”.  I believe that God wants His people in America to become Limies of the Spirit.  The following i s a Word that God compellingly committed to my heart on November 3, 2005.   The Lord says to the Church of Jesus Christ in America:  “””I will take you on a long journey of the Spirit across a great ocean of challenges, conflicts and attacks.  You will be in many spiritual battles and must be prepared!   Both before and during this great conflict and trial, you must learn to eat sour fruit such as lemons and limes of the Spirit.  These are not the lemons and limes that are sweetened with sugar to make lemonade or limeade; rather these are lemons and limes that My prophets will feed to many people that are called by My Name.   These will be words that will be sour to the taste and sometimes sour to the stomach, but will be strength and health to your spirits, your hearts and your walk.   Many will resist and say, “”NO! We don’t like the sour words of “Repent, Sin Not and Obey.”  We have learned to love the ice-cream words such as, “I love you and have wonderful things for you””.  The Lord says, “If you do not learn to love the limes and lemons of the Spirit, you will be afflicted with scurvy of the Spirit.  Your teeth and gums will rot and you will be unable to chew meat.  Your legs and muscles will ache and you will not be able to walk right or run or fight.  You will be weakened terribly, and will be easily defeated by the Enemy.   The journey will be long and dangerous and filled with storms and attacks.  Some will think it will never end, but My people who trust Me and desire the sour, but health giving Words of My prophets, will fight and defeat the Enemy with health and strength they have never known and will be exhilarated because of the many victories over sin and Satan, and will REJOICE as I prepare and perfect My people.  In turn, many of those who eat and learn to enjoy the flavor of the sour words of the Spirit and appreciate their effects will then prophesy to others who will become healthy, strong warriors.””” The Bible says that IF POSSIBLE EVEN THE ELECT will be deceived.  For this deception to be effective, ANOTHER Jesus Christ will be presented.  This alternative to the real Jesus Christ will have to be very attractive.  The alternative will fit the desires of the religious people.  This alternative will likely be an undemanding, soft and somewhat feminine Jesus similar to the artistic representations of Jesus in the Middle Ages.  The “other Jesus” strategy is not new for Satan.  Many groups offer another Jesus - among them are the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, the Catholics, Unity and many modern liberal churches.    Now we see another Jesus being offered who preaches a lawless gospel and is more concerned about the hurts that His people have than He is about their sin.  This Jesus is now being offered to the so-called Evangelical and Charismatic churches. WE MUST UNDERSTAND that this deception is extremely effective and can only be avoided by having a heart like David's - one that is after God's heart and will do all His will regardless of the cost to our pride, ego, flesh, or ministry.  Those who are like David, the single-hearted lovers of God for Himself Alone, will not only be spared from deception but blessed with the Real Jesus Christ for all eternity! Zeph. 3:13 says, "The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and TELL NO LIES, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth..."  Oh that we may desire and pray with all of our hearts, to be a part of the remnant who will know the Living Truth (Jesus Christ) forever and ever.

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