We are
living in the last of the last days, the season of the return of Jesus, the
season of the Day of the Lord. Numerous
things have been prophesied to happen in this time, and as those who read our
newsletter and other communications know, many have. The coming of the Lord is near.
Now we are
moving forward at a rapid rate. While
concrete physical prophecies have been and are being fulfilled, the prophecies
of the falling away from the Lord and deception are also happening. Jesus’ first response to his disciples when
they asked him about the signs of his return was that they should watch that
they not be deceived. Shortly thereafter
he warned them that people would come claiming they are the Christ.
As our Lord
has warned us all, I want to re-emphasize now:
deception is extensive in our day – in the leaders of our governments,
in the media, in the entertainment world certainly, and even in our personal
interactions with others. With that in
mind, consider for a moment what could be the great deception of the evil one
in these last days.
We have read
the Bible. We know the end of the
book. We know believers win. But that does not mean the time leading up to
the tribulation period will not be increasingly difficult for believers.
What if the
evil one somehow could convince a large number of people that a particular
individual is Jesus, is the Messiah, and thereby totally mislead that huge
block of people? Jesus has already
warned us about this. And just consider
- there are so many who do not know scripture, do not know Jesus, do not know
the Holy Spirit, and they would be easy prey for such a dramatic deception.
Believers
must be alert and sensitive to all that is going on. Keep your eyes on Jesus and also be alert and
sensitive to the actions of the evil side.
To the extent possible, if it is possible and if believers will still be
here and not already collected by the Lord, it surely is our responsibility to
use all our best efforts with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to warn people
that they are being misled if and when such a giant deception occurs.
I expect
this may happen. This surely fits with
all we know about the evil one, who is after all the father of lies. Jesus has in his own words warned us
although he has not given us the details.
How are you going to respond if huge numbers believe Jesus is here, if
even some prominent world church leaders announce they recognize this false
messiah as Jesus, and yet you know from scripture and from the guidance of the
Holy Spirit that this is a false messiah, that Jesus has not yet come?
The end
times will likely not be easy, even for those who will hear the call and the
trumpet blast and join Jesus in the air when he collects his CHURCH. So much may yet happen before that point.
So be
alert. You have been warned again.
And may God
bless you all always.
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