“great signs and wonders to deceive”

Friday, January 26, 2018

Fathers, husbands and brothers in Christ – we, not our wives or daughters, are commissioned as the spiritual heads of our homes; we are the watchmen on the wall; we must sound the alarm of an approaching enemy; we must always be scanning the spiritual horizon of life for the enemy who comes only “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).

Spiritually, we must be like Gideon’s three hundred chosen men, who, scooping up water with their hands to drink were able to be ever-watchful, unlike those who knelt with their faces to the water to drink were unable to be vigilant. We, like the former, must be prepared with the Sword of the Lord, meaning God’s Word, to watch for and recognize the enemy and sound the alarm.

The church is in a time of grave deception when even many popular evangelical Christians are unable to discern the enemy within Christianity: Roman Catholicism. Jesus warned “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). In 2018 this deception will increase mightily. Are you discerning it?

Pope Francis is a master deceiver, the architect of false unity foisted upon the Christian church. The popes have always believed they are God on earth and that all should worship them as God, and Pope Francis is no different. Typical of deception, it’s incremental but highly effective as deceiving spirits draw increasingly more evangelical Christians to the side of the great whore.

Many Christians are like the cowards of Gideon’s men who were afraid to confront the enemy and went home; who turn their spiritual faces down, or are carelessly unaware of imminent danger. What makes this situation so much worse is the fact that many church leaders themselves are either afraid or unable for lack of discernment to warn the people of imminent spiritual peril.

As you know from many years of me writing TheFridayLetter.com, I seldom provide links to other articles, but it’s important for readers to understand that there are a few other Christians with discernment of this vital issue that has the possibility to carry millions to perdition. There are a few of us sounding the alarm that the enemy has breached the walls and is now within!

Note this link demonstrating the false unity and popularity of Pope Francis and evangelicals: https://ktfnews.com/joel-osteen-meets-pope/  This next article describes Kenneth Copeland’s and James Robison’s trek to the Vatican to meet the pope: http://christiannews.net/2014/07/03/tv-preachers-glowingly-describe-meeting-with-pope-to-tear-down-walls-of-division/

And Rick Warren also has a strong penchant for Pope Francis and Roman Catholicism: https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=18028 In this article be sure to read the linked articles within this article. Church leaders and pastors who lead their people to false unity with Roman Catholicism are “false prophets” who approve of the great whore of Babylon.

This April 10, 2016 article shows Lou Engle of The Call, a popular evangelical Christian leader, falling prostrate, bowing the knee to and kissing the feet of a Roman Catholic priest in a show of reconciliation with this false unity now underway: http://christiannews.net/2016/04/10/lou-engle-of-the-call-prostrates-himself-kisses-foot-of-catholic-leader-as-act-of-reconciliation/

The Lou Engle article goes on to say that, “During the segment at Azusa Now, [Azusa Street being the birthplace of the Assemblies of God] Calisi [a Catholic priest] told the audience that division between Christians and Catholics is a ‘diabolical sin,’ and that Jesus ‘doesn’t care’ that Christians and Catholics disagree on biblical doctrine.” While Calisi’s statement is of the devil, many Christians are unable to discern it and thus fall headlong into its deception.

Saving faith in Jesus Christ is highly exclusive. It does not co-mingle doctrines of devils with the doctrines of Christ. True Christians do not pray to the dead, nor elevate Mary the mother of Jesus to the position of divinity, nor believe the pope is the Vicar of Christ, nor believe that salvation is dependent on membership in the Roman Catholic Church, which all popes have decreed, etc.

Jesus warned that “false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). The Pope of Rome, his Cardinals, Bishops and Priests are “false christ’s”. And Christians who propose unity with them are “false prophets”, and their false unity is a manifestation of “great signs and wonders to deceive”, but few discern it.

God warned of those who find false unity with the beast. “These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. Then he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues’” (Rev. 17:13–15).

Gideon’s men who stood and scooped up water in their hands to drink were able to be ever-vigilant; but those who comfortably knelt to drink were not. Much of Western Christianity is, likewise, so comfortable that many are unable to be a watchman, guarding the truths of Christ, content with maintaining the peace and status quo. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). That forcefulness, in love, sounds the trumpet of warning, bringing division of darkness from light.

Remember, it was Jesus who said “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). That Sword is God’s Word that divides between falsehood and truth, and as Christians we must wield that Sword exposing the lies and deceptions of the enemy who comes only “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).

God calls us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:10–12).

The problem is that it’s easier to conform to those we are able to see than God who is unseen, which truly defines the meaning of walking by faith versus walking by the flesh, for which God reminds us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).

Marlin J. Yoder