Strong Delusion!
The world is being prepared for the time of the end–even at this very moment! Jesus spoke of great signs that would appear before he returned to judge the earth. However, he also warned that most would be totally unaware that anything was going on. In Luke 17:26-30 Jesus said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” In other words, people will adapt to present situations and explain them away by natural occurrences. When we read about the signs of the end times in the Bible we may ask, “How can anybody be unaware?” The Bible testifies that the world will be deceived and that deception will come in part from God himself!
Right now, the stage is being set for the culmination of the end. Just look at the world around us and observe the things that “so called” Christians tolerate. We watch sit-coms that mock God and morality, and we laugh. We gain pleasure rather than being grieved by these things! We engage in wicked and abominable conversations. We “tolerate” almost everything and are afraid to stand against sinful values because we don’t want to be accused of being weird or a bigot. We are quick to compromise biblical beliefs when convenient. When we date, we freely commit fornication; when in trouble, we freely lie; when convenient we
“put down” our Christian beliefs and “pick up” hatred, revenge, lust, greed, and all types of things that the Bible calls immoral. We think that God will overlook all this because we say, “Everybody else is doing it.”
If we are truly Christians, we need to align ourselves with Jesus. Jesus said that this world’s system rejected him because he “testified that their deeds are evil” (Jn. 7:7). Do we tolerate and celebrate the evil world’s system or do we mourn over it and testify that its deeds are evil? If we tolerate and celebrate the evil of the world, we will be condemned along with it.
The Bible tells us, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn. 2:15). In the book of Ezekiel, the Bible explained a time of judgment on the city of Jerusalem. All those who “loved” the sinfulness of the world and engaged in those sinful practices were condemned but those who did not participate in their sinfulness and grieved over it were spared. The command was given, “‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’ As I listened, he said to the others ‘Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.” The judgment began in the temple–the house of the Lord! This is the same way that God will deal with us!
God Will Send Them Delusion!
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, the Apostle Paul explained how the end would come. Apparently, rumors began to spread among those in the church of the Thessalonians that they were in the final end-time judgment (2:2). However, Paul stated that two things must happen before the Day of the Lord (the day of God’s judgment upon the disobedient) which will end in God’s people being “gathered to him” and Christ’s return. There must first be a great apostasy and then the revealing of the Man of Sin (better known as the Antichrist–2:3). The “apostasy” is already beginning. It speaks of a wholesale rejection of God. We have totally pushed Christianity out of public life and many are also attempting to reinterpret the truths of the Bible to fit sinful lifestyles. The second sign, the revealing of the Man of Sin, is next. He will be energized by Satan himself. He will be able to do counterfeit signs, wonders, and miracles and will deceive many (see Rev. 13:13-17; Dan. 7:23-26; 11:36-39). He will reinterpret religion as we know it. Many so called Christians will accept him as the Second Coming of Christ. The Muslims will accept him as the last Imam. The New Agers will accept as the Great Guru. He will bring answers to all of humanity’s problems. No one will be able to buy or sale unless they receive his mark. God promises to give people over to this wickedness of their hearts because of their deliberate rejection of the truth. The Bible says, “For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe THE LIE and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:11-12). Do not be so arrogant to think that you can live your life in pursuit of worldly pleasure and repent when you see the signs. If you are not close to God, you will not even recognize the signs! The end will come unexpectedly!
What Can We Do?
Trust me, beloved, the stage is being set NOW! This MAY be the final generation. This is why Jesus encouraged us to remain spiritually and morally awake. The warning is thus, “Because wickedness will increase, the love of MOST will GROW cold, be he who ENDURES until the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Will you join in with the world’s wickedness or trust in Christ and testify about its evil deeds by your words and your life? You cannot serve two masters! To follow Christ, you must radically commit your life to him. What is at stake here is your eternal destiny–heaven or hell. NOBODY gets to heaven by doing nothing. You MUST act by turning from your self-ruled life (repent) and commit all your ways to following Jesus’ will (faith). There is no other way to be saved!