Monday, September 27, 2021

Beware of This Insidious Deception! Many will come in My Name!

Dear Saints,
 
The very first thing Jesus warned us about when the disciples asked him about end times was,

“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many Matt 24:4-5

Notice the "in my name" which also means people such as pastors and Bible teachers, prophets, etc, who say they speak for Jesus.
 
I've posted about this topic before, but since then, I have encountered many friends who have fallen for this very deceptive deception. I'm talking about people who are very Godly women, some who are Christian authors, others who I have known for years and prayed with.  Recently, one of these dear friends became furious with me when I tried to warn her, slinging insults and saying horrible things to me. My heart is breaking for the many many Christians who are falling for this. I'm sure that after I post this, I will get angry emails and many people unsubscribing to me. But I don't answer to any of you. I prayed about this, and I feel strongly the Lord wants me to warn you again. 

I'm talking about something called the New Apostolic Reformation and/or Dominion theology. There are a huge number of pastors, prophets, and teachers who, though they may not label it as such, are propagating this doctrine and gaining millions of followers. I will try to describe it as best I can. 

From the Berean Research Site
 
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a dominionist movement which asserts that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of Prophet and Apostle. Leading figures in this seemingly loosely organized movement claim that these prophets and apostles alone have the power and authority to execute God’s plans and purposes on earth. They believe they are laying the foundation for a global church, governed by them. They place a greater emphasis on dreams, visions and extra-biblical revelation than they do on the Bible, claiming that their revealed teachings and reported experiences (e.g. trips to heaven, face-to-face conversations with Jesus, visits by angels) can not be proven by the ‘old’ Scripture 

It is also known by these names: Also known as Dominionism, Third Wave, Latter Rain, Kingdom Now, Joel’s Army, Manifest Sons of God, Charismatic Renewal, Charismania.

NAR teaches that the new apostles and prophets are to be the government for the emerging “New Order” church. They claim there will be a reformation greater in scale than the Protestant Reformation.

From what I have researched, this movement is hard to detect because it is very loosely organized and many of its teachers do not label themselves as NAR. Basically, they believe that it is God’s desire for the church — under the leadership of apostles and prophets — to take dominion of the earth in preparation for His return.  When they refer to dominion, they refer to taking over 7 of the most influential societal institutions called "mountains"— which are identified as government, media, family, business/finance, education, church/religion, and arts/entertainment.

They rely heavily on spiritual warfare by battling territorial spirits that rule over geographic regions. To identify what the territorial spirit is they are battling, they do something called spirit mapping. They engage in Warfare praying and prayer walking and worship. (I'm not at all condemning some of these things)

Many NAR pastors believe that before Christ returns, God will transfer control of the world’s wealth from the wicked to the hands of the apostles in order to establish God’s earthly kingdom. They also believe that before Jesus returns, there will be a great worldwide revival in which enormous numbers of people will become saved. 

They believe that during this final harvest, the people of God will do even greater works than Jesus did (John 14:12) with miracles, healings, signs and wonders, even commanding the laws of nature. (Actually, the true followers of Jesus have been doing that for thousands of years already)

One of the most radical teaching is that Christians who continue to receive revelation by the NAR apostles and prophets will gain more supernatural powers and eventually become "manifest sons of God" who will overcome sickness and death and execute God's judgements on earth.

I come from a Charismatic background. I am well aware and have experienced things like speaking in tongues, miracles, healings, demon deliverances etc. I do believe that prophets still exist as well as all the offices of the church listed in Ephesians 4. I even follow some very Godly men on Youtube who have a prophetic ministry. I also believe strongly in spiritual warfare and using the name of Jesus to deal with pesky demons. So, I am not at all against these things that are manifesting within the NAR movement. 

I'm also, of course, not against spreading the Gospel to the whole world (which I believe has already been done), nor am I against a revival in which many get saved before the Lord comes!  Nor am I against signs and wonders that aid the spreading of the Gospel! These things are all good!

Which is why this new movement is so insidious and so very deceptive. It appeals to Christians who love the Lord and want to spread the Gospel and do spiritual battle and witness miracles! Who doesn't want that? But beneath the surface, this may lead (notice I say may) its followers to either miss the rapture or worse, lose their focus on Jesus and eventually their salvation. (please no OSAS people leaving nasty comments) 

Why do I say that? What is wrong with NAR?
 
As far as I can tell
 
It places the positions of prophets and apostles ahead of all other positions in the church and these "anointed" people with their special giftings are the only ones worth to lead all the others. 
 
It seems to divert attention from the Bible and shift it onto "new revelations" from the Holy Spirit
 
It seems to divert attention from Jesus and onto miracles, signs and wonders 

Spirit mapping and casting and binding "territorial" spirits is nowhere found in Scripture.
 
The focus is more on the Kingdom of God over the Gospel of Salvation
 
It places the power and success of God's Kingdom on earth on mankind and not on God.  

God does not ask His children to conquer 7 mountains of society, or to conquer the world at all. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations, not to "take over" the world and then hand it to Him. We are to influence society as his ambassadors and lead people to Jesus and Godliness, but we don't control and take over society. That doesn't happen until the 2nd coming when we return with Jesus. 

There is nothing in the Bible about a great transfer of wealth to Christians before Jesus returns. 

NAR teachers do not believe in the rapture. This concerns me greatly because there are a few verses in the Bible which indicate that if you aren't longing for Jesus to return, you may not be going. God gives us what we ask for by faith, right? If you don't have faith for the pre-tribulational rapture, then.. well, why should you expect God to take you?

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Titus 2:11-13

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8

Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:3
 
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,  so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Hebrews 9:28
 
One of the websites one of my friends sent me to in order to prove her position that there was no rapture and there would be a huge end time revival was Flashpoint. I have not spent a great deal of time on the site, but from what I can tell they post "shows" from various speakers, pastors, prophets, teachers, etc all about the coming revival, taking down the enemy, and restoring America. My friend informed me that the people she listens to on here have advanced degrees in theology and linguistic studies including Biblical Greek and Hebrew and therefore know what they are talking about when they say there is no rapture. I found that very interesting because if you take an inventory of the Godly pastors I watch who teach the truth of the Bible, they are mostly uneducated, unremarkable, with small followings.
 
The following verse came to mind:
 
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1:27

I'm not putting down any of these pastors or prophets, nor am I putting down my friends and others who believe this. I'm merely posting a warning because, and I'll be honest, ten years ago, I could easily have seen myself fall for this. However, today, because I've spend years studying the bible, EVEN IF I didn't believe we were living in the end times, some of the things they believe are not Biblical at all.

However, we are in the last days before the Tribulation. I have NO doubt, based on years of my own Biblical research and years of study under very Godly Bible teachers. Despite all the signs around us, the quakes, volcanoes, wars, character of man, evil, satanic worship, immorality, famines, signs in the sky.. despite all of that, Jesus said in Matthew 24:32 that the generation that witnesses Israel reborn would be the final generation. That happened almost 74 years ago. The Bible says a generation lasts 80 years at best (Psalm 90:10) but even if we don't go by that, the average worldwide lifespan is only around 73 years.

Nowhere in Scripture does it talk about a great revival right before the rapture (or even the 2nd coming), OR that Christians will take over the world before Jesus comes. Nowhere. In fact, Jesus and all the disciples, as well as the prophets in the Old Testament foretold of very trying times, an evil world growing more and more evil, and the character of man becoming more and more corrupt. I could list countless verses here to prove that, but I'm already making this too long. Jesus, Himself, said it would be like the "days of Noah". Noah preached to the people on earth for 120 years before the flood and not a single one of them repented. Doesn't sound like a revival to me!

This insidious deception is also loosely associated with the Q movement and Trump's return. Several members of my family are involved in this. They adore Trump and act like he's the only one who can save America. They believe he will not only return to the presidency but that he will rid our government of all the bad actors and help other governments across the globe get rid of theirs. This is all part of this Great Awakening and Great Global Revival that NAR preaches. The Great Awakening is all part of the New Age Religion. If a revival actually occurs, it will not be a Christian revival, a Godly one, but one that leads to destruction.

The thing is, I've warned you about Trump HERE. And if the man does actually return to office, can you imagine all the people who will absolutely worship him after the horror we've had under Biden?  Has Trump been appointed by God to save the world? That's what one of my family members said. Sounds a bit like what people will say of the Antichrist. Be careful. Be very careful. Think about it, many of these pastors today who are promoting the vaccine will be the same ones promoting the Mark of the Beast, telling you that the Bible teaches we are to follow the rules of the land and obey those in authority.

So, I guess what I'm saying is this: The people of NAR appear very Christian. They quote Scripture, they preach the Gospel, they say they perform signs and wonders. Maybe they do. I've just not witnessed it. Yet remember being able to do signs and wonders is not exclusive to God, nor is it a sign of being saved!
 
 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’  Matthew 7:22-23
 
Yet, these NAR pastors want people to get saved! That's a great thing! Yes. They want to take America back for God and then move onto other nations. It sounds so good, so holy and wonderful!  But that's what makes it so very deceptive. It appeals to those of us who love our country and want it to go back to being a Godly nation. It appeals to us who want to see these evil leaders punished. It appeals to us who want to see other nations turn back to God and millions of people to be saved! How great would that be!  And Yes, God wants all of that!
 
But He has a plan, a timetable, that He has made clear in His Word.  Even if these are good things, do we want to be going against the prophetic Word of God?

The World will NOT turn to God and repent until Jesus returns the 2nd time and takes over during the millennial reign! That's what the Bible says. In fact, when He returns (with us) it is to fight a battle at Armageddon where the armies of Antichrist from all the nations have assembled to fight Him. Does that sound like a great Revival to you? Does that sound like Christians turning over the control of the world to Jesus? 

We are about to enter Tribulation. The Bible teaches that once the labor pains start, they do not stop, yet they increase in both strength and frequency. (Just like a natural birth) We see the labor starting all around us. We see the beginnings of something that will become the Mark of the Beast. We see the One World Government rising. We see a great increase in quakes, volcanoes, storms, plagues and famines! The Bible does not teach a great awakening or global revival before the Tribulation. DURING the Tribulation, yes!!  Many, many will get saved during the Tribulation! 

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,....So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb Revelation 7:9,14 
 

Please please, hear my heart. I'm not judging anyone. I'm just warning you as the Lord directed me.  If you are involved in this NAR teaching, even if they aren't calling it that. if your pastor or the people you listen to are preaching a coming revival in the USA or the World, you need to get alone with the Lord and find out what is true.  It is quite possible that if you are following a false doctrine, putting your hopes and dreams on America, on patriotism, on the efforts of mankind to take over the world for God, then you might be worshiping the wrong Jesus, or quite possibly involved in idol worship. Your heart might be in the right place, but you aren't following Jesus and the plans He so carefully laid out in Scripture for these last days.  This, in my opinion, puts you at great risk for further deception, which leads to further deception, which could lead you down a slippery slope far away from God's purposes. Is that where you want to be when Jesus returns? Remember the devil is extremely clever and he knows how to dress himself up as an angel of light to fool as many as he can. 



9 comments:

  1. Hi. MaryLu...Enjoy....https://youtu.be/iO7ySn-Swwc

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  2. Thank you for this post. It's weighing on my mind for sure. I attended a small, and I mean small group yesterday for a worship service and someone said the word dominion. Which led me to read through Hebrews where it does say Christ has dominion over the world. And I reasoned that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me. So I can see where that whole Dominion idea comes from, but it's still not me. It's still not us. It's Christ who has Dominion on this Earth. It's a fine line you cross when you start believing it's you that has it. This is such a dilemma, because I know we are to have authority with Christ living within us, but I can see how it will go to your head real fast and become prideful. I also don't want Jesus to say to me, ye of little faith, you could have been moving mountains. Again though, it's Christ Within Me, not me. I'm dead. I also know Holy Spirit shows me things and reveals things to me. Even in my writing, Holy Spirit will lead me to the resources I need in the time I need them. God is always faithful and does reveal things to His children. But that doesn't mean every single vision and dream is supposed to be leading other people. It could just be for me. I see your point, though, where you say the Apostolic ideas are more about their visions and dreams than scripture. I see that a lot in their posts. Which is why I always look to the word to confirm and look for even a third confirmation before I take it as from God. But so many don't. Many will listen and take them at their word without doing their own research to confirm that's its from God. And you're right that this movement puts so much into this revival idea that they're not watching, like Jesus instructed us to, for his rapture.

    On a side note, I want to thank you for sending me over to Pastor Sandy Armstrong. I was able to listen to his Saturday sermon and I found it just to be so simple and comforting. I loved how he said stop counting the days until the end days. We're here. We're in it. The end times have come. And then he went on and showed time and time again how God's prophecies always came true and they will again. So we can take a rest and peace knowing what he says in his word is true. Of course, Satan had to come back at me with that one. Someone posted a message that I'm committing a sin for reading the Bible because it's not in the original Hebrew and Greek text. And to read it in English is a sin. Satan would just love it if we all stopped reading the Bible because we're told it's a sin. What a crazy world.

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    1. Katy.. yes, you can see how people are so easily confused. There are Scriptures that they use that seem okay,.. seem to fit their ideas... which is why it is so very devious. Anyway, I'm so glad you watched Pastor Sandy. I've learned so much from him. He doesn't speak perfect English and led a very sinful life before Jesus, but when the Lord called him, he didn't even want to be a pastor. He was in prison ministry. He never wanted to start a church, but the Lord told him to learn Hebrew and then the Lord would teach him the Bible. He then told Sandy to "prepare the Bride" . He's not for everyone but I really have learned a great deal about the Bible from him.
      So, now we have to read the Bible in the original Greek and Hebrew text? Oh, my. Satan is pulling out all his weapons to try and get us. Resist him and he will flee!! Blessings!

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  3. Thank you for sharing the verses. Why do folks feel the need to pick and choose from God's Word and try to deceive people? It boggles my mind. I know that it is the enemy who likes to deceive people by twisting God's Word. I pray I never fall into that trap. Just need to go to His Word and verify. Please don't lose heart if people don't like what you have to say. Keep up heeding what God wants you to share! You are loved.

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    1. Thank you, Barbara! People have been plucking out Scriptures and twisted them for their own agenda for years.. even since the early years of the church. Satan actually did that very same thing to Jesus in the wilderness Temptation. Thank you for your encouragement!! Blessings and hugs!

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  4. MaryLu....once again...you are spot on and your warning of this false narrative is very timely and needed, even if it makes people mad. I have a sister who is involved in this philosophy and I've been praying she would come out of it but she continues to send me these false prophecies and revelations about this new revival that will make this country great, etc. and I keep asking her to show me in scripture where this occurs. There is an arrogant spirit within this movement and almost scary commanding God to do such and such and using Jesus' name rather than bowing to Him and asking His good will. I've even asked her to read Mathew 24, Daniel and Revelation but she does not want to believe it is going to get bad, but better and clams up every time I mention 7 year tribulation so close and the rapture. It is so sad to see how ignorant so many are to what the scriptures say and these are God loving people, but deceived in deed!! Thank you for speaking up about this false movement and continuing to obey The Lord as He leads you to speak and to be a watcher on the wall. We continue to pray their eyes be opened. God bless you, sweet sister! Yes, birth pangs are closer and closer....Maranatha!!

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    1. Susan, I, too, have close family members deep into this false cult. I'm calling it a cult now because it almost seems like they've been brainwashed, and it' so hard to pull them out! When you said the spirit of arrogance, I nodded. Yes.. I've definitely come across that! It's definitely there, along with anger at anyone who challenges them. I'm sorry for your sister and so many others. We must pray hard for them.. for the Lord to open their eyes before He comes to rescue us! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

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