In Matthew 24:24, Christ warned about an end time deception that would be very effective, even against the believers, if that were possible.  His and other biblical warnings are seldom mentioned in the circles of heretics.  It is like a corporate moratorium has been declared against confronting heresy.  That has at least two effects on discernment.  First, it opens the gates wide so that anything can come in.  I say “anything,” but I mean it is actually anything but truth.  Second, it nearly annihilates any quest for truth.

Heresy has replaced truth as most desirable by professing Christians.  It has become so clever that it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference.  The heretics use, and teach their deluded subjects to use, Christian terms.  In fact, it is nearly impossible to discern between people with the form of godliness, and the ones with true godliness.  The former deny the power of godliness, and the latter embrace it.  Further, the former involve the flesh in everything religious.  The latter involve the Holy Spirit.

Godliness in the Greek, is eusebia, which means, “reverence, respect, and piety toward God.”  The mark of most heretics and their subjects is that they do not possess these qualities.  Consider the way they carelessly handle the word of God, adding words, or leaving words out, to force it to their particular conclusion.  They misinterpret clear verses, misquote God’s word, and then defend the misquote as if it were truth. The major error is, taking God’s word out of context.  This shows an irreverence and disrespect for God’s word.  If they do not reverence and respect His word, how can they reverence and respect God?  Further, how can they love Him?

The apostle Paul also prophesied a coming great deception, delusion, and apostasy.  Consider very carefully his words.  This is essential to understanding what is happening today.

“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.” – 2 Thess. 2:9-10

The NKJV says “according to” and the KJV says “after the working of” Satan.  The implication is the same.  It means that the lawless one, who is the Antichrist, will not manifest until after the working of Satan with all power, signs, lying wonders, and unrighteous deception.  First, it sounds like the time we are living in right now.  Second, it means that the Antichrist will find the religious realm prepared for him.  Professing Christians obsessed with signs and wonders are primary targets.  The ones who flit about chasing every heretic with a new twist, and every false prophet that glibly spills out his prophesies, will already be completely prepared to accept the Antichrist.  They will have no clue that it is him!   That time is now!

Will they not recognize pure evil?  No!  They do not recognize the working of Satan today, although it is having devastating consequences.  They do not recognize books, such as those by Sarah Young, Ann Voskamp, and Rick Warren (to name a few) that are heretical and damaging to Christianity.  In fact, by the millions they buy books by Rob Bell, Rick Warren, and other heretics.  They attend conferences and other events that use major heretics as speakers.  They join in ecumenism with false religions.  They love the false prophets and their lying signs and wonders.

They cannot recognize a false prophet or prophecy, and sit by the thousands under ministers who are incredible heretics.  Even when their heretic is caught in homosexual pedophilia, they may give him a standing ovation and crown him as a king (see Bishop Eddie Long).  Their heretic commits adultery, consorts with male or female prostitutes, uses drugs, and lives in complete luxury, yet the adulaters never cease to adore him or her.

They worship with demons during worship services being led by unrighteous people, using music written by unrighteous people.  They throw off all the restraints on their flesh, and call it a “move of the Holy Spirit.”

One more factor is, they have no genuine scriptural standard and are taught to abhor one when it is presented.  Their standard is to accept and defend the working of Satan.  Anyone who opposes it will be rejected and even personally attacked.  It is a very common and repeated paradigm.

What can be done?  Sadly, we are in the last days.  There is nothing in God’s word that says we can get through to them and deliver them.  We should try.  We do not know the depth someone may be toward accepting the working of Satan.  We should also never underestimate the power of the word of God when used by the Holy Spirit.  God’s word indicates that many will not be delivered.  I have witnessed clear evidence of this fact when reaching out to them.

The factor that will cause them to accept truth is love for truth.  They reject it.  When that occurs, it is clearly indicated by their disrespect for God and His word.  It is also indicated by their reaction when truth is presented against their heresy.  They have no scriptural response.  Heretics have convinced an entire generation or more to venture outside of God’s word for their “evidence” or premise.  By removing the restriction to using extra-biblical knowledge for the establishing of doctrine and practices, they have consigned their followers to a path without a compass.  Satan will be very happy to provide directions.

To avoid this fatal snare, one must first be committed to the word of God.  One must pray, and not just a few minutes each day.  He or she must be willing to endure rejection, verbal harassment, and ostracization by friends and possibly family. One must avoid everything new.  Avoid the crowd.  The crowd today is the broad-path group.  Reject everything that troubles the Holy Spirit.  Cultivate the spiritual eyes and ears by studying God’s word.  Recognize that you are in an unprecedented battle.  Find a group of like-minded believers, no matter how small it is.  Finally, don’t become obsessed with anything in the world system.  Make your greatest love Christ Jesus and His truth.

I discovered that one of my pastor friends, and his church, has joined the Bethel Church Network.  This puts me at odds with him, his associate, and several other leaders in the church who are friends.  I knew that they had come under the influence of some leading heretics, such as Joseph Prince.  We had disagreements over NAR (New apostolic Reformation) doctrine, such as dominionism and the so-called great endtime revival.  Eventually, because we live in the same city, we will come into sharp conflict over this recent decision.  I cannot suppress the truth in me any more than one who has imbibed a heresy can suppress it.  In this world of shrinking friendships and a growing number of enemies, every Christian will eventually face this dilemma.

“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. – Matthew 10:21-22

It is a time of difficult choices.  We are having to choose between Christ and friends, Christ and family members, and even Christ and our jobs.  One day it may be the choice between Christ and our lives.  I have already lost friends for denouncing Bethel Music, which is very powerful alluring music that has drawn innumerable people into Bethel’s diabolical influence.  My detractors claims that the music is beautiful and that they can find nothing wrong with it.  Do they not know that is the cleverness of the final deception?  They are responsible for every soul they introduce Bethel Music to who ends up in fatal deception.

Bethel Church (Redding, CA) is an incredible cult.  It is a heretical NAR church controlled by notorious heretics “Apostle” Bill Johnson and his wife, Beni.  Bethel Church is established on a smoldering mass of heresy and heretical practices not unlike the aberrant Latter Rain Movement that plagued the early days of Pentecost.  However, it makes the original Latter Rain Movement appear mild by comparison.  From their “dead-raising teams” to “grave-sucking” practice, Bethel is an unrestrained, anything-goes cauldron of manifestations of diabolical lying signs and wonders.  Participants often go into trances, hallucinate, and become so mesmerized by the Bethel Deception/Delusion that they reject their families.  I personally know godly parents estranged from their children and grandchildren because of Bethel Church.  Like all cults, they are completely under the sway of their leaders, Bill and Beni Johnson (Beni allegedly change her name to honor heretic Benny Hinn).

There is no doubt that we are in the time of great deception, delusion, and apostasy.  I believe it is the final one. The Apostle Paul wrote that during the final apostasy the working of Satan would manifest all diabolical power, signs, lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:9-10).  Christ warned of the intensity and captivating nature of that deception (Matt. 24:24).  Individuals who surrender themselves to this vast and unprecedented cloud of deception will be sent a great delusion by God so that they will believe a lie that will damn them (11^th – 12^th).  The Bible doesn’t spell out what that lie will be, but I believe it will lead to complete subservience to the False Prophet.  He will eventually manifest as the supreme, charismatic, one-world, “miracle-working” leader of United Religions.

Everyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit wants to see the power of God at work in their lives.  The Holy Spirit is still working powerfully through surrendered vessels.   However, there is a great danger in becoming obsessed with signs and wonders.  What is the greater benefit:  to see a sign or wonder in the church meeting, or to receive something from God’s word that makes you stronger, better equipped to face end times deception and prepared for the unprecedented evil storm?  Gold dust falling from the ceiling, oil appearing on people’s face and hands, rocking for hours in a trance, lying on a grave trying to suck the anointing out of a dead body, running around crying out, “Wakey, wakey wakey,” (Beni Johnson in the Mojave Desert, http://www.benij.org/blog.php?id=1 ) trying to awaken angels, will NOT prepare you to overcome the final deception.  Instead, it will guarantee you a place in the apostasy.  Bethel Church is a doorway to eternal darkness and hell.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The word “inspiration” in the above verse is the Greek word, theopneustos, which means “divinely breathed in.”  In other words, God divinely breathed His word into the writers of the Scripture.   In my opinion, He still breathes words into His ministers today.  He has something that He wants to say and it is not “Your Best Life Now.”  He wants to wake up a slumbering Christianity and shake up a rapidly disintegrating world.

The problem is that pulpits are being filled by hirelings and heretics.  Additionally, they are filled by genuinely called men of God who are intimidated into tiptoeing around fiery truth.  They are afraid of losing people.  Some churches are so deep in debt that debt is like an austere room monitor in a library imposing and restrictive of any words that might rattle the cages.  Many pastors have become “benign parsons”, loved by all, but presiding over spiritual death camps.

It is tragic when a man is intelligent and articulate enough to preach a good sermon, but not anointed enough to inspire a change in anyone’s life. I’ve known men like that all my Christian life. They build churches, draw great crowds, avoid saying or doing anything controversial, but it’s all just religiosity.

I pray that God will send some gate shakers. I’m talking about preachers who are not deterred by the locked gates guarding people’s hearts. At this dark and evil hour, the world needs fiery prophetic voices that ignore the pastoring how-to books, the public relations manual from denomination headquarters, and just let the Holy Spirit breath through their words.

Let a fire breath and it will get hotter. 
“…for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” – 2 Peter 1:21

Open the religious dampers!  Let there be a free flow of the Divine Breath from heaven!  Preach without fear and worry about negative reaction or rejection!

If people don’t shake up and wake up, the world as we know it is going to fall like a mountain into a cauldron of simmering wickedness so vile the entire planet will teem with unprecedented demonic activity. It can’t wait, this business of dispensing fire-breathed truth. Don’t hold back! There will be no need to preach “return and repent” when the Bridegroom comes and the door slams shut.