Study – Grow – Know

Growing Ecumenical Deception Taking Hold, Pt 1

October 31, 2017 at 2:02 PM 4 comments

This series will undoubtedly offend people. Nonetheless, we’re moving ahead with it because it is extremely important. We’re doing our best to present truth in love. We’re not here to condemn, but to highlight and educate.

The Bible foretells of a time that is coming (and is likely here now), when people will no longer care to listen to sound doctrine. They will prefer to hear what makes them feel good. In short, experience will be their teaching, not God’s Word. That time seems to be clearly upon us.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions… – 2 Timothy 4:3 ESV

When I ultimately left the Charismatic Movement, it was because I could not line up many teachings and experiences with Scripture. In fact, there was much within the movement that appeared opposed to biblical truth. I realize of course, there are many who disagree with that.

Upon leaving, I took with me the Scriptural teaching that Christians are to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV). We are to offer Him a sacrifice of praise and thanks during those times that are difficult, just as we should when things are going well. If we trust God, we know that He is working out His will in and through us, for His glory, correct?

Prophetic words of knowledge and tongues are forms of ecstatic experiences which are routinely believed to be manifestations of God’s Presence. These are still very much apart of the Charismatic scene in all of its branches and offshoots.

We are going to discuss and highlight in this series the way the Charismatic Movement has morphed into NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), or other movements. We’ll try to answer the question, what is the intended end result? We’ll be including some videos and research by others who have done a great deal of legwork and crediting them accordingly as we look more deeply at the subject of growing ecumenical deception.

I’ve known from the Bible that evil will abound and become thoroughly evil in these last days, and the Bible also teaches that apostasy within Christendom will also become a major global problem that will feed into the things that Satan is attempting to accomplish.

The growing evil as well as the apostasy will work hand in hand to bring Satan’s final kingdom to the fore, headed up by Antichrist. Those who understand these sections of Scripture allegorically disagree with this assessment. As a biblicist, I take the Bible literally, but this does not mean that I approach Scripture literalistically. There is a huge difference.

Regarding the present, growing apostasy the Bible warns about, the one main reason for its occurrence is clearly spelled out in Scripture. No guesswork is needed on our part. God tells it like it is and describes why these things are going to occur to an ever-increasing degree. Let’s start there with Paul’s words from 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing…(ESV)

I deliberately stopped in the middle of verse 10, but we’ll finish this section up in a moment. Notice that even during Paul’s day, he warned his readers that the “mystery of lawlessness” was already working throughout society just as yeast works its way through the entire loaf of bread.

But exactly what is this “mystery of lawlessness” Paul speaks of here? In a general sense, this “mystery” (truth not previously revealed) of “lawlessness” refers to the growing sense of contempt for law and order. We are seeing that on a large-scale. While the FBI says violent crime is down over the past few years, crime and lawlessness in general is up.

Society has always had lawless people, but Paul is saying that at some specific point in the future, this will increase greatly. Paul is speaking about “the revelation of a future climax of lawlessness that would follow the removal of the restrainer” [Constable] that he just referred to in verse 7.

Paul is saying that God is keeping the full measure of lawlessness (anarchy), at bay until the appointed time when the restrainer is removed or gets out of the way. Once that restraining influence is gone society will become even more exponentially lawless as it prepares to make way for the Antichrist.

But why does all this happen?

10(b)…because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (ESV; emphasis added)

The reason lawlessness will increase will be due to a refusal of people to love the truth and be saved. This same idea is echoed in the Old Testament in places like Psalm 2. Humanity in general, like Satan, does not want God to be Ruler over the earth. In essence, Satan’s attitude is reflected in and throughout much of society.

But what does this have to do with the Church or those who are considered to be part of what is termed Christendom? The Bible tells us that Christians must give up self and adopt God’s perspective since we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), putting Him and His will first. We are to spend our remaining days living for God. Becoming saved means the Holy Spirit indwells and seals us unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13), making it possible to truly serve Him and His purposes. However, serving Him daily must be a conscious, continual decision on our part, often moment by moment. Satan is always on hand to make that very difficult.

But the sincere, devout Christian often wants “more” of God. We reason because God is ethereal, supernatural, and all-powerful (etc.), it is often naturally assumed that our relationship with Him should also be ethereal, supernatural and powerful (to a degree). If this is not the norm for Christians, many teach that those Christians are doing something wrong and it must be righted. In order to right it, Christians must learn to rely on experience with God, not necessarily biblical knowledge.

Those teachers will say that experience with God reveals a new degree of knowledge about Him, therefore we should not eschew the experiences. They will also give lip service to the idea that the spirits should be tested (1 John 4:1), but rarely did I ever hear anyone warn of this during my time in the Charismatic Movement. In fact, I cannot recall one instance of any leader warning anyone during all the meetings I attended of potential fraud from demonic spirits masquerading as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The same can be said of today’s meetings, books, and video conferences. There is only admonition to open one’s self to the Spirit of God and allow Him to work, however that “work” may appear.

What you’ll see in the videos that will be shared in this series, are people fully anticipating what’s about to happen. They appear to long for it, wait for it, and want it badly. There is no warning at all from leaders even when demonic manifestations appear to break out. People simply smile benignly as they help people to the floor and let what happens, happens.

It would be well for all believers to realize and remember that Satan hates God and those whom God loves! Satan will do anything to cause us to stumble or become sidetracked through deception. He wants to harm us, kill us if he could (Job 1), but God stays his hand. However, are too many believers guilty of being deceived by the enemy of our souls? It can happen to any of us. No one is exempt, least of all the person who believes it could never happen.

It is very disconcerting to see what is happening today. It is the result of the continuing push of the Charismatic Movement and its various offshoots into society, often with leaders stating that God is doing “something new.” Normally, this “something new” is seen in new experiences. 

Conferences are held across America touting unity within Christendom, yet I have yet to see any serious, ongoing changes that last. That is, except the watering down of sound doctrine. That is the only real change. Solid doctrine is being pushed out the door for the sake of unity, which then translates to “brotherly love” and all is based on ecstatic experiences which have no lasting value and cannot change anyone with permanence.

The growing thought within Christendom is that we must practice “unity” regardless of the many conflicting and even egregious opinions regarding God and what is taught in His Word. It ultimately means never disagreeing with anyone who does not share your views. If we disagree, the world will see and label Christians hypocrites.

Yet Jesus, Paul and others routinely disagreed with religious leaders who did not teach truth and they did so out of true love for them. Today, it is not politically correct to try to teach someone what the Bible actually says. That is seen as bigoted, judgmental, egotistical, or even as the late Tony Palmer has intimated, “spiritual racism.” We’ll flesh out what he meant by that in an upcoming installment.

In our next article, we will view some short videos that highlight some of the things that have occurred at conferences recently held in the United States. We’ll do our best to determine the source of these phenomena and we will also answer the question, where is all this heading? We know the end result as explained in the Bible, God’s Word, but specifically, we’ll try to discern where the Charismatic Movement is trying to take society (including believers)?

As always, it is strongly encouraged that readers do not simply take what is said here as gospel. Everything must be compared with Scripture and each reader has that responsibility. It was good enough for the Apostle Paul in Acts 17 and it is something that every Christian needs to be doing; always going back to the entirety of God’s Word as the only source of truth. There is no other.

Entry filed under: christianity, Cultural Marxism, Demonic, devil worship, Emotional virtue, eternity, Life in America, new age movement, Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Pretribulational Rapture, rapture, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, Satanism, second coming. Tags: ecumenical, ecumenical deception, ecumenism.