Chapter
Thirteen
"False
Profitcy Teachers"
Jesus warns us not to be deceived about His coming (Matthew 24:4).
Paul also warns us not to be deceived by any means about the coming of the
Lord and the rapture of the Church (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). The Amplified
Bible gives an extended comment on the second verse. "Not
to allow your minds to be quickly unsettled or disturbed or kept excited
or alarmed, whether it be by some [pretended] revelation of [the] Spirit
or by word or by letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the
day of the Lord has [already] arrived and is here." (2 Thess. 2:2
Amplified Bible)
"But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction. {2} And many will follow their destructive ways, because of
whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. {3} By covetousness they will
exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not
been idle, and their destruction does not slumber." (2 Pet. 2:1-3
NKJV)
Today we are seeing a group of people who seem to fulfill the
descriptions of the people we have been warned about. They keep people
excited and alarmed, have pretended revelations, deny the words of Christ,
and secretly bring in destructive heresies, and they exploit people with
deceptive words for covetous reasons. Many are following their destructive
ways and the way of truth has been blasphemed as a result. I want to
believe in my heart of hearts that all the proponents of PTR are not evil,
that they are sincerely deceived.
Are they under deceived or under a delusion? I believe that some
are in that exact condition, and cannot grasp how false PTR is or
understand how poorly that they interpret the Bible. However, there are
some who are making small fortunes from writing fictional PTR material. I
have to wonder about their motives, especially those who are intelligent
enough to know better. They seem fascinated by a contrived mystery and
intrigued by everything God explicitly tells us that we cannot know. In
utter defiance of God's Word, they set about to tell us that they know the
forbidden unknown after all—making God a liar in the process. Do they
realize that at the moment that they decide to set a date for the coming
of the Lord, they enter open rebellion against God? Some do not believe
that they can sin badly enough to lose their salvation, so they have no
fear of God or of trampling His words.
There is knowledge that is sealed, extra-biblical if you please,
which we will not know until God gets ready to reveal it. Now remember
this if you forget everything else I write. When God gets ready to reveal
it, He will do so by the Holy Spirit, not through some pretended prophecy
teacher. You will not need to run out and buy the latest book by a
prophecy teacher to know what God wants you to know, if you are saved and
filled with the Spirit. In fact, this book would not need to be written if
more people would have studied their Bibles with the anointing of the Holy
Spirit. My proof text is found in the following Scripture. "But
the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will
teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said
to you." (John "But
the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do
not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you
concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has
taught you, you will abide in Him." (1 Jn.
I realize that the prophecy teachers who are making their living by
selling people what they should know freely will not agree with me here.
My contention with these people is that they are selling things that are
false, not in the Word of God, and it confuses and deceives people. They
pretend to know what God says that they cannot know, and declare they have
all the answers to what is going to happen by delving into knowledge that
is sealed or withheld. Now, consider the following Scriptures. "And
the vision of the evenings and mornings Which was told is true; Therefore
seal up the vision, For it refers to many days in the future." (Dan. "Seventy
weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the
transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for
iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and
prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy." (Dan. "But
you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the
end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." (Dan.
12:4 NKJV) "And
he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till
the time of the end. {10} Many shall be purified, made white, and refined,
but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand,
but the wise shall understand.'" (Dan. 12:9-10 NKJV) "Now
I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four
living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, 'Come and see.' {2} And
I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a
crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer."
(Rev. 6:1-2 NKJV) "Now
when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I
heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the
seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.'" (Rev. 10:4 NKJV)
By these Scriptures, we know that there is sealed
knowledge—extra-biblical knowledge that is to be revealed in the future.
I believe that with the opening of the seals, which begins in the sixth
chapter of Revelation, the sealed and withheld knowledge begins to be
revealed. The knowledge of the Voice of Seven Thunders definitely
has a seal on it that has yet to be broken. No one is going to break that
seal until God is ready for it to be broken. I am still contemplating
whether or not the seal on the Seventh Thunder knowledge is the same as
the Seventh Seal, where silence appears for one half hour. If this is
true, then my thoughts about the chronology of the seals, trumpets, and
bowls are correct (see chapter three). "When
He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour. {2} And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them
were given seven trumpets." (Rev. 8:1-2 NKJV)
Traditionally people have taught that no man knows the day or the
hour of Jesus' coming, and that is correct. Let us look at the Scriptures
and see what they truly say. "Assuredly,
I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these
things take place. {35} "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My
words will by no means pass away. {36} "But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." (Matt.
24:34-36 NKJV) "Assuredly,
I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these
things take place. {31} "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My
words will by no means pass away. {32} "But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father." (Mk. 13:30-32 NKJV) (See chart on "Day of the
Lord")
We can readily see that Jesus was not just referring to His coming,
but also to the entire last days prophetic fulfillment! That casts an
entirely different light on the subject. Pretribbers say that there is no
way that Posttribulation Rapture could be correct, because one would be
able to determine the coming of the Lord seven years in advance. Jesus is
saying that we will not know everything that is happening, which I believe
is in continuity with the knowledge being sealed. If so many Spirit-filled
people do not know and have to buy books from prophesy teachers to find
out, two things could be true. Either the Holy Spirit is not talking, or
they are not listening.
I know that pretribbers who sell a lot of books and have lucrative
ministries based on their special knowledge will not like this
interpretation of the Scriptures either. They can never seem to accept the
fact that they cannot know everything that is going on. Maybe this is why
they continue to set dates contrary to their own interpretation of the
Scriptures.
Edgar Whisenant wrote 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Is in 1988, and
tricked a lot of people into buying his book. Undaunted by his error and
false prophesy, he wrote The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989, in which he
predicted that the Lord would come in 1989. He's still writing and selling
his false predictions. Grant
Jeffrey has predicted that the Lord will come in the year 2000 A.D.
Charles Taylor predicted in Bible Prophecy News that Jesus would come in
the fall of 1992. Harold Camping wrote that Jesus would return in the fall
of 1994. There are many others who have hinted at the date of the Lord's
coming, but to no avail. The days come and go without a ripple on the
surface of time.
Although many declare that they do not set dates, their
implications are so strong that no one can get anything else out of it.
Just as Satan posed a question in the Garden of Eden to trick Eve, they
continually pose questions that are really statements in disguise. Why are
they setting dates? For the same reasons that they continue to write last
days theory and present it as fact, that is, they cannot tolerate not
knowing. Also, they know you do not know the date of the Parousia either.
Thus, they can make a lot of money as a result by simply pretending to
possess secret knowledge.
My belief is that the events that Jesus terms the Great Tribulation
will gradually come on the earth simultaneously with the Great Apostasy.
The Tribulation will increase as the apostasy increases. As the true
people of God become more aware of the last days Tribulation's
approaching, those who are apostate will become more and more deceived.
There will be a certain counterpoint when God will send a great delusion.
This is to keep the wicked that have rejected His Word from being alerted
to what is going on as God unfurls His plan. "And
John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his
waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. {5} Then Jerusalem, all "Therefore
I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing
they do not hear, nor do they understand. {14} "And in them the
prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and
shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; {15} For
the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and
hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and
turn, So that I should heal them.'" (Matt. 13:13-15 NKJV)
Note: This is an example of the Lord Jesus intentionally
deceiving the Pharisees because they did not love the truth.
Those who have a love for the truth will be given truth. Those who
do not have a love for the truth will have even their symbolic form of
godliness taken away from them. "And
the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do You speak to them in
parables?' {11} He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given
to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has
not been given. {12} For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he
will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken away from him. {13} Therefore I speak to them in parables, because
seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.'" (Matt. 13:10-13 NKJV)
If pretribulation rapture is true, then we have to revise many of
the Scriptures in the Bible. We would need to ignore a few as well, which
I believe is a dangerous action. It does not matter what we want to
believe; we have to believe what God wrote in the Bible. No matter what it
costs us, we must be prepared for the coming of the Lord. Many will not be
prepared, and, as a result, will be trapped in a very dangerous time
without the power to be free from deception.
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