2.  Did I do That?

A Prophetic Warning

C. H. Fisher

First, we need to recognize how powerful that the deception will be. It will be so powerful that the only means of surviving it will be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

(Mat 24:24 NKJV) "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, [b]if possible,[/b] even the elect.

Satan will pull out all the stops, hold back nothing, pour out everything in his bag of dirty tricks, and the spiritual atmosphere will be too strong for people who have not prepared themselves to resist it.

(2 Th 2:9-12 NKJV) The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with [b]all power, signs, and lying wonders,[/b] {10} and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {11} And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, {12} that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The spiritual atmosphere will be diametrically opposite to the atmosphere of a great revival. During times of great revival even lost people feel the effects of the renewal of passion for God. During great revivals, sin has been driven back into the darkness. Evil workers are exposed for the charlatans that they are. False doctrine is denounced. Prayer meetings and church services take precedence over secular activities. Even the laws of the nation are reflective of the revival.

Today, there are deep doldrums in Christianity. Homosexuals are ordained and professing Christians are accepting their ministry. Liars and other phonies are honored while at the same time people who speak the truth are dishonored and persecuted. There is little passion for God or His Word manifested publicly. Sodomites not only are pouring out of the darkness to stand proudly in public view, but they have infected our government, public education, and almost every other area of society. False doctrine pours from the pulpits, out of religious television, lining the bookshelves of religious bookstores, and inundates the entire religious realm. Practically no one will attend a prayer meeting. Even a school event can replace a church service. Our nation's laws are becoming increasingly reflective of the satanic activity in our government.

I personally know pastors who have given up trying to pastor in this atmosphere. I know other pastors who appear to be just barely hanging on. Many professing Christians are simply flowing with the degradation of the great apostasy—marching to the cadence of Satan. Other Christians are feeling the overwhelming effects of it all. They cannot find an honest assembly of true followers of Christ. Every day they fight feelings of discouragement and depression. The joy of the Lord is very difficult to express and they battle daily with feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, and isolation.

This is the time that we have been warned about. We should understand that everything is going to be more difficult to perform and maintain. Prayer is a battle. Temptation to loosen ones grip on eternal life is constant. Urges to relax and roll with the flow, follow the herd, do what everyone else is doing, never cease. Evil workers of unrighteousness appear as workers of righteousness. In fact, it is difficult in some cases to tell the difference on the surface. They appear as ministers and people of righteousness. One should remember to listen to the small warning signals in their spirit. Consider their fruit. What have they ever done for Christ? Forget how they make you feel or their flattering words and comforting ways. Few people are driven to hell. Most of them are led there by deceptive people.

(2 Cor 11:12-15 NKJV) But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. {13} For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. {14} And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. {15} Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

God said that the one act that will doom people is rejecting love for the truth. The very thing that could save those who are deceived is the thing that they reject. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. If He is in us, we will not be deceived. We can walk through barrenness and never thirst or hunger. We will be filled with righteousness. We can master the deceptive time and rise above the clouds of evil lying signs and wonders.

When people reject love for the truth, the Holy Spirit will depart. They will be left to their own devices to defend themselves against the great deception of the last-days. God will not permit them to be shocked into returning to the truth. If they will not receive His love, His Word, His Son, and His Spirit, they do not deserve heaven—neither do they deserve to be driven into heaven by fearful calamities. Instead, they will be sent a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie and be damned.

In times past, when catastrophic events occurred, people flocked to church services in fear for their souls. Oklahoma churches reported huge increases in attendance after the Murrah building was bombed. In a few months, the attendance was back to normal. Evidently, those people went back to their old ways of living under the cloud of deception. The very striking fact about the aftermath of 9-11-01 was that people did not flock to the churches. Instead, they flocked to events where an evil ecumenical mixture of wizards, witches, and other evil workers of darkness joined with professing Christians to pray for the nation. We saw no increase in attendance in our Fellowship.

This may indicate that the great delusion has been delivered. If so, people who stand in the shadows, who are trying to live on the fringes of true Christianity, who play both sides of the fence, who fail to develop passion and intimacy with God, are in deep, serious, trouble. We were warned by God's Word and His prophets that this time would come. In my opinion, it is here. I encourage everyone not to settle for a casual relationship with God. Don't settle for a passionless, nonchalant, church where you are not inspired or challenged to stay fresh in your relationship with God. Don't let your guard down. The hour is late and the time is short. Stand your ground and keep your armor on.

It is going to get very difficult in the last of the last-days, but the most dangerous time is during this initial wave of deception. The reason is because we have gotten used to the blessings of Christianity in a democratic nation. We can get in our vehicles on Sunday morning and there are many church buildings within a short drive from our homes. Someone else preaches to us, teaches us, and does almost every other thing for us. All we have to do is show up. What kind of Christians has this type of "Churchanity" produced? I do not mean to be offensive here, but for the sake of clarity I must be blunt with my answer. In most cases it has produced people that cannot take care of themselves spiritually. Instead, they depend on the three-per-week church services to keep them spiritual and inspired. Most of them only attend once each week.

Now, we are going to have to adapt to the harshness of the time that we are in. We Christians should have been building ourselves spiritually during the times of peace. If we had been actually assimilating and applying the Word of God that we have been inundated with, then we would have more than been prepared for this evil time.

We've been taught to be weak, to live weak, to need the church services to a degree that God never intended. Certainly we find strength in fellowship and it is a tremendous blessing to hear the Word of God taught or preached by someone who is anointed. But what are we going to do in the tough times if we have not developed the practice of feeding ourselves?

Men need to get strong in the Lord and begin taking responsibility for their spiritual duties. The time is coming when men will have to teach their own families. We need to get tough, knowledgeable, and spiritually strong. All of us need to become prayer intercessors. I believe that it is time to consider what is eating up our time and make some serious choices about our activities. If it comes to the point that we cannot find a church building to meet in where God is present and people are sincere, then the only option is to meet in our homes. However, there were times when the Church was even denied that privilege. They had to meet in catacombs and other places that do not even remotely resemble a church building.

I realize that someone is going to get the impression that I believe we are nearing the time of persecution in our nation. That is exactly what I believe. When the only voice for Christianity is apostate religious churches and organizations, I believe that the net of persecution will fall on the American Church very swiftly. The true Church is being scattered—slowly and systematically and shrinking in number. Right now I do not know of one medium or large Church of true believers that is standing against the current apostasy. I also do not know of any highly visible professing Christian that is doing so.

I could say a lot more, but let me conclude with one more point. The key to understanding that this current apostasy is not going to be resisted by most professing Christians is in the way most of them perceive Christianity. The only way that so many hirelings could be in pastorates is if most of the people want it to be this way. I heard one of the deadest sermons I have ever heard one Sunday morning while visiting a church in another city. A toxic religious mixture oozed from the pulpit and entered the hearts of people who love to be poisoned. The sad thing about that church is that it is growing steadily in number. I thought the man might be sick, but I was informed later that he was in good health. In other words, he preached that way on purpose. May God help us to understand what is happening!

(Jer 5:31 NKJV) The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?

Did I Do That?

C. H. Fisher

In the past several weeks we have been recovering from a horrific and very unusual ice storm here on the East Coast.  The snow fell first in huge irresistible flakes that made me want to run around with my mouth open like a whale eating plankton.  But then the ice mixed with freezing rain began to fall.  It wasn’t long until the roads were a solid sheet of ice.  That first evening I was coming back to town from several miles out on West highway 64 and had the blessed provision of getting behind a snow plow.  I saw a semi jack-knifed on the side of the road and I thought, "This is going to be really bad."

The first night of the storm we lay awake late that night listening to the transformers shorting out.  The bursts of brilliant light scattered through the ice-clad trees like digital pinballs—lighting up the glacial sky.  There were other cracks and pops that sounded like large guns.  Before midnight the city sounded like it was under heavy siege by an invading army.   The electricity went off early that first morning and we woke up to a chill in the house.  Daybreak brought a revelation of the artillery noise that we heard during the night.

Outside the trees, bowed under the heavy weight of ice, were snapping in two all over the place.  Thousands of trees lost their struggle on the icy battlefield that night and the following day.  More would be gone forever before the cleanup ended.   You could stand outside and hear the cracks and subsequent crash landings of the trees as they gave up the fight.  When it was all over the city appeared as if a powerful tornado had passed through.  Trees were scattered all over the roadways, streets and homes.  The trees that were not broken were bowed like defeated soldiers under their frigid burdens.  Great drops of melting ice dripped from branches that hung down like crystallized dread locks.  Utility lines, phone and cable lines were scattered every where.  It was amazing to observe that in several areas where large trees had fallen on utility lines the lines had not broken under the tremendous weight.  I also saw large limbs hanging upside down like wishbones on several utility lines.  It was a great prank that Old Man Winter had played on us, and I was glad that it was over.

It was well over a week before most of the homes got their utilities back on.  Most folks were very grateful for the things that they had taken for granted before the storm.  Things like heat, electricity, cable television, and Internet access.  Other people are trying to figure out how to get rid of their newly purchased generators that they probably will not need again for the next thirty years.  But the major problem on everyone’s mind was how to dispose of the massive amount of tree limbs. 

Several days after the ice melted I saw another tree come down and there was something unusual about it that caught my eye and my imagination.  I thought all the trees that were going to fall were on the ground until that particular day.  I was out in the country standing in a yard talking to some folks when we heard a loud crack.  The crack was immediately followed by the crashing sound of the tree breaking through the surrounding branches on its way down.  That sound reminded me of a bull elk coming through the forest at a dead run.  It was so close by that I thought it was going to land on us.  I spun about when I heard the snap just in time to see it fall.

An amusing sight was a little squirrel that had apparently been on the tree when it broke.  When the mighty tree snapped and started down, he jumped over onto the next tree.  There he stood on a limb dancing around and chattering the blue blazes.  He appeared to be beating his little chest as if to say, “Look what I’ve done!”  I thought, “Yeah, but they’ll never believe you back at the squirrel colony.”

Immediately I was reminded of the many things that God does for us that we take the credit for.  I could stop now and convict myself into a deep and long prayer meeting.  But let me continue.  There are many things that God gives us the power to accomplish that we fail to give Him glory for.  We often believe that we taught that great lesson or preached that amazing sermon or won that soul—oh really!  Some ministers even take credit for building large churches, evangelistic organizations or other amazing works.  Wow, aren’t we wonderful!  We may indeed have major accomplishments in life that will win us praise and acclaim from all quarters. But do we really know and appreciate the One who is responsible for our successes?

Even the little things that God does are greater than our “big” things.  What we often do not consider is that many times each day we pass within inches of death and think nothing of the great protecting hand of God.  Take driving for an example.  If we drive on a two-lane highway at the speed of 55 mph and pass a car going at the same speed, we were inches away from hitting an immovable object at the combined speed of 110 mph.  That used to bother us when we were first learning to drive.  However, we’ve had these narrow brushes with death so often that we don’t think about it anymore, much less give God thanks.  With the same lack of consideration we confidently move about life believing that we have survived, we have lived, we have accomplished so much, but like the little squirrel we often appear to be unaware of the power behind our lives.  In Him I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28 ).

Some recent difficulties in my life have forced me to admit that I am helpless and even hopeless without God.  There are so many things that I cannot do, mountains that I cannot climb and catastrophic situations that I have no answers for.  Getting through these trials requires strength and wisdom that I do not possess naturally.  In light of this truth I cannot think too much about what I might accomplish that would ever be praiseworthy or of any sense of achievement.  After all, neither the little squirrel nor I could have pushed over that tree.