I wish there were a warning label with every offering of deception. It ought to read, “Danger: ingesting
deception has been known to cause sin, rebellion, hedonism,
hypocrisy, delusion, and may be fatal.” Instead the warning is in
God's Word. There are also warnings that come from people whom God
sends. But sometimes warnings are not enough. Some people are so
strongly deceived that a clear picture has to be presented so they
can understand and be delivered. Here is the clear picture. I will
begin with this passage from Jeremiah.
“The
instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation
against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the
disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant
it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My
voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I
would benefit it.” (Jeremiah 18:7-10)
It must have been difficult for
Jeremiah and the other prophets to live in a nation that once had the
blessings of God, but that had become ungodly and rebellious. They
were not allowed the privilege of sitting back and waiting for
everything to change. Instead, they had to speak out, to exhort the
leaders concerning their sins, and to warn them of God's judgment.
In nearly every case, the people rejected the prophetic exhortations
and warnings. In my opinion, they rejected the prophet because he
was one man with no social status opposing a majority. Additionally,
people who have become accustomed to following the herd do not easily
veer from the well-worn path of deception.
In Jeremiah’s situation, the nation
of Israel believed that their prior status with God was still valid
although they has chosen sin and rebellion over righteousness and
obedience. How does America compare with that paradigm? It is a
fact that a significant percentage of our nation has become
hedonistic. Hedonism is the philosophy that “pleasure and
happiness is the sole or chief good in life” (Merriam-Webster).
The hedonist believe that he or she should make every effort to
achieve as much pleasure as possible from life, that it is their
right, and that it is the greatest good. Hedonism not only is the
norm in secular society, but also has been accepted in most of
evangelicalism. It was inseminated into Christianity by the
so-called Word of Faith doctrine. Presently, the majority of
teaching, preaching, books, videos, and periodicals, focus on
teaching the professing Christian how to maximize as much pleasure
and happiness from life as is possible through a bogus relationship
with God. How does this work for the persecuted church?
As our secular realm denigrated into
rampant immorality, Christianity also descended into hedonism. Along
with hedonism, Christianity has been inundated by false doctrines
that set professing Christians up for deceit. Hedonistic (apostate)
Christianity will not and cannot prevent the moral decline in society
because it has lost its salt and light. Instead, hedonistic
Christianity will alter its doctrine in order to appear benign to the
decaying moral society (seeker-friendly). There is a vast portion of
Americans who are presently at that level of debauchery. One only
has to consider the amount of completely diabolical videos, music,
games, and literature, that is sold in our nation. Also, we must
consider that even with scores of channels, television has little to
offer that promotes or at least does not attack godliness.
The consequence of the malignancy of
hedonism in America's secular and religious society is predictable.
Historically, a nation that becomes hedonistic will eventually
embrace complete licentiousness and debauchery and before falling
into ruin. The result is that many professing Christians are being
set up for a mighty fall. The majority of them believes that America
still deserves peace, liberty, and prosperity. They are willing to
vote for anyone that can bring about those factors. The trap has
been baited and set. Multitudes are not only stumbling toward it in
the fading light, but they are praying and pleading for it to snare
them. To explain more fully, I must go to another passage from the
Old Testament.
In Numbers
chapters 22 to 25 and chapter 31, Israels enemies bribed
Balaam to curse Israel. God informed him that he could not curse
Israel because they were a blessed people. Balaam informed Israels
enemies that he could not curse Israel because there was no source of
iniquity among them. However, he taught the Moabites and Midianites
to lure Israel into defeating itself by committing harlotry and idol
worship.
Here is the deception today concerning
the presidential election. Satan has learned from the past that when
he launches a violent attack against Christians, he awakens a
sleeping giant. Consider that in spite of the great persecution in
China and other nations, Christianity has not only survived, but
increased. Therefore, he first sets up Barack Obama, but not to
destroy Christianity directly. I'll explain later. The way he
brought him into power was by deceiving many black and even white
professing Christians. I once ask the question, “What would it
take to deceive you?” The answer for black Christians was a man
who has the perception (Obama is an Arab/American who transformed
himself into a black man) of being black.
What would it take to deceive the
majority of white professing Christians? First, Obama's goal was not to
destroy Christianity directly, but to become so despised that
professing Christians would vote for anyone in order to defeat him.
Next, Satan sends another antichrist, Mitt Romney, that professing
Christians are not only willing to vote for, but they are praying and
pleading for God to make him their leader. It is like herding
cattle. You make it unpleasant for the cattle to go in any other
direction that the one you choose. The deception is that an overwhelming majority of
professing Christians despise Barack Obama, and are unwilling to
suffer for their faith, so much that they are praying, pleading, and ready to
vote for an antichrist to rule over them. Thus, the trap is set and
ready to be sprung on November 2, 2012. On that day many black
professing Christians will vote for one antichrist, and many white
professing Christians will vote for the other antichrist. They will
sin against their covenant relationship with God, invite deception
and God's judgment.
Many professing Christians disagree
with me. They declare that Mitt Romney has been sent by God to
defeat Barack Obama. Here is the clear truth. Christ stated
explicitly that the final and great deception would be so powerful
that even the very elect would be deceived, if that were possible.
The only way to avoid deception of this magnitude is to be filled
with the Holy Spirit and to love the truth. Mitt Romney is neither
filled with the Holy Spirit, nor does he love the truth. Instead, he
harbors demons and believes the incredible antichrist and anti-gospel
lie of Mormonism. When I was thinking over this situation, a verse
came to mind.
“And if the righteous scarcely be
saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter
4:18)
In other words, if the righteous barely have a chance of survival, how are the ungodly going to survive?
So here we are in a hedonistic nation
where most of Christianity is in full-blown apostasy. Christians
that have rejected hedonism and apostasy are faced with a dilemma.
Do we reject both candidates and prepare for the inevitable
persecution? Or do we vote for an antichrist to replace the
antichrist we despise? My wife and I feel a strong pull to support
Mitt Romney because we completely dislike the presidency of Barack
Obama. Many of our friends are insisting that there are only two
choices, but that is incorrect. The choices that the Chinese
Christians had were Communism, the Communist-controlled church, or to
reject both and obey God. We have the same number of choices.
Christ declared that He is the Way, Truth, and Life. We decided to
choose the Way, because we know the Truth, and His Life is in us. It
is the last days. In our opinion, making a covenant with an
antichrist to rule over us is to willfully submit to deception.
The truth is not always easy or
popular. It is clear that in the last days truth will be rejected
and even despised. Believing a lie because it is convenient is
rejecting truth. It is imperative that we pray for clear truth that
harmonizes with God's word. I leave the reader with these questions.
If we are a nation of true Christians, why is it that we can not put
forth a Christian candidate for president? And why is it that we now
have two antichrists as our choices? And why in our failure are we
now willing to accept what Satan is offering us? And is achieving
our prosperity and victory in the other major issues worth our
sacrificing and compromising our faith in and commitment to God?
“What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This is not a
game. This is a deadly battle for your eternal souls.
Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.'”
“Thus says the Lord: 'This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.'”
Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.” (Jer. 38:1-4)
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