If you have carefully read my article titled Do You Have a Love for the Truth, then you may already understand why I believe that the coming one-world religion foretold in Revelation 13 will be a form of false Christianity. I believe that the coming one-world religion will be a form of “Christianity” that will be acceptable to everyone....that is, everyone besides those who have a love for the truth!
In that article, I also pointed out that the “strong delusion” which is described in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 will come on those who, deep inside, wanted to believe that something else is the truth (Perhaps something which they consider to be more “positive”). And whether or not we want to admit it, everyone has a belief of some kind which they regard as truth. Even if someone states that there is no truth, or that we can not know truth, those very statements are in fact what they regard as “truth”. It is a “truth” of their own which they obviously intend for others to follow – otherwise they would not teach it at all, and they would not be so intolerant toward anyone who disagrees with them (Read my article titled Avoiding Correction? for more info).
This hypocritical attitude of intolerant "tolerance" is just one trend that is setting the world up for a strong delusion, but there are other trends which are doing the same thing, which I will discuss in this article. But first I want to make it very clear that God is not to blame for the coming strong delusion.
I believe that the coming strong delusion will come on many who did not want to go to the Bible as a book that will correct them, but perhaps they only wanted to go to the Bible to search for a proof text to back up what they already believe. I had a hard time seeing how the delusion in the world could get much worse about three years ago, but I have watched this delusion increase over these past three years - much of it which is in the professing church. And I do believe that it will get worse yet, because the Bible itself indicates that it will....
I believe that the delusion which is already in the world will take its full effect when “the son of perdition” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is revealed, partly because the deluded masses will already be in such an irrational state of mind that they will believe any lie that he tells them, and partly because the restrainer (See 2 Thessalonians 2:7) will be gone.
Here is why God is not to blame for this strong delusion: since this delusion is coming only on those who will not receive the love of the truth, (See 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11) I believe that this delusion will partly be the natural result of rejecting the truth. That is just simply what happens when the truth is rejected: God can only give man over to the debased mind that results in rejecting Him (See Romans 1:28).
My point is that rejection of the truth darkens the mind to the truth all the more. Those who seek and love the truth will have more truth revealed to them, but those who have a contempt for the truth will become ever more deluded as the result of their rejection. So I believe that this delusion will be partly because of the rejection of the truth by those who have heard it, and partly because the Holy Spirit will be removed. After continual pleading, God will simply let people have their way, and this strong delusion will be the result. Since He cannot force Himself on anyone, He will one day let them believe the lie that they insist on believing, and that is how this delusion will come about.
One of the strongest delusions in the professing church today is the idea that we must always be “positive” – and if someone is not, then they are regarded as a trouble maker. For example, "positive thinking" often gets confused with biblical faith. I may have lost some of my readers now, but if you are still with me then I am asking you, out of love, to please hear me out before jumping to conclusions.
First of all, anyone who has read through the Bible should know that it presents both positive and negative truths. So true Christianity is neither positivism nor negativism, but it is realism. Truth is truth whether it’s positive or not, so I think we might as well face the facts honestly. If we come across a truth in the Bible which is positive (such as John 3:16 or Revelation 21:4), then lets be positive about it. But if we come across a negative truth in the Bible (Such as Jeremiah 17:9 or 2 Timothy 3:13), then I think we might as well take an honest look at it and accept it for what it really says. Those who don’t are only setting themselves up for the “strong delusion” which is described in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, and there is certainly nothing “positive” about that!
One teacher that I know who does take an honest approach to the Bible is often accused of being too hard on people, but I think that he is really just being straight-forward, and many people are simply not used to that. It seems that the majority within the professing church today are more used to being told what they want to hear, or what appeals to our natural emotions. But our emotions do not determine what is true – God does.
One day God will demonstrate that believing something hard enough (that is a common misconception of what biblical faith is) does not make it true. Believing that something is so does not make it so. It is God’s truth that matters, not “what feels right” to us. True biblical faith must be in God, (See Mark 11:22)not in positive thinking, or in the power of our words. Those who truly believe that God is wiser than they are will not want their faith to be in anything other than Him.
Here are some other brief examples of delusion that I believe is setting the world up for the coming one-world system:
When professing believers quote the words “judge not lest you be judged” in order justify themselves before those who try to correct them, this is what I consider to be a delusion. Why? Because, although they don’t seem to realize it, they are also making a judgment, and they are guilty of the very unrighteous judgment that they hypocritically accuse others of (Read my article titled “Judge Not Lest You Be Judged" for more info).
When otherwise seemingly sound teachers don’t see the rather obvious problems with a perverted paraphrase like The Message, I also consider this to be a delusion.
When professing believers seem more zealous to promote and even defend psychology more than the Bible itself, I consider this to be a delusion as well. And the fact that so many professing believers bitterly resent hearing the truth about psychology only shows how strong this delusion already is.
When professing Christians defend Harry Potter rather than the Bible itself, I also consider this to be a delusion. And even if the Harry Potter series is "just fantasy" (which it is not), that would not make much difference, because it would still be a fantasy which glorifies what the Bible condemns. Personally, I understand why those who do not believe that the Bible is God's word would see no problem with Harry Potter, but since God's word says things like “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23), I would think that this would not even have to be debated between those who profess to believe His word.
When many professing evangelical leaders praise The Passion of The Christ as "biblically accurate", even though there are some Catholics who realize that it is not, I also consider this to be a delusion.
When so many people fall for something like The Secret, I also consider this to be a delusion. From some of the examples of delusion that I have given here, I hope it is clear by now that the professing church is being set up for the ultimate “strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). So what is “the lie” that they will believe? I believe that it will be the same lie that Satan told Eve at the very beginning: “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). Considering all the emphasis on self-love and self-esteem, it is not difficult to see the world and professing church headed in this direction. The popularity of The Secret is also a clear indication that the world and the professing church are being prepared to believe this lie.
If you read through the writings of classic Christian authors like Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) and Andrew Murray (1828-1917), it will seem like they simply did not recognize the self-love and self-esteem teachings back in their day. Yet now, they are teachings which have been taught so often from so many pulpits that most professing believers accept them as biblical doctrine without question. This is a delusion indeed!
Considering the delusion that is already in the world, it is more than likely that those who are left behind after the rapture will not believe that it was the rapture. After all, they will already be deluded enough to believe that they are the good ones. With such a “healthy” self-esteem, it is not likely that they would consider themselves to be the problem. But it is most likely that they will be glad that all the “negative” influence of the “trouble makers” is finally gone.
They will most likely be prepared to believe any lie, as long as they are told what they want to hear, and what makes them feel good about themselves. I am not a prophet, but from simple observation and from God’s word, this is the direction that I already see the world and much of the professing church headed. It is my hope that God will use this article and others that I have written to open people’s eyes to the increasing delusion which is taking place in the name of Christianity.
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He [really] find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
Can You Be Deceived - Part 2
Resources On The Emerging Church
The First and Final Lie: Self-deification, by T.A. McMahon
Unwittingly Proving The Bible to be True
WHAT IS SALVATION?
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