The Revival From Hades II

"You create the presence of Jesus with your mouth...He is bound by your lips and by your words."  Paul Yonggi Cho, The Fourth Dimension

If a tiny spark is merely all that's needed to ignite a devastating forest fire, then all it will take is a tiny spark to ignite one of the greatest spiritual revivals in the history of the world. 

Unfortunately, like the forest fire that is visually spectacular and yet destructive, so too will the coming global spiritual revival be both impressive and deadly; impressive in its sensual deceitfulness and deadly in its mass destruction of souls.

So deadly will this revival be that literally billions may be drawn into its spiritual black-hole. In fact, this revival will be so seductive in nature that Jesus Christ himself warned his followers to be alert and ready for it when it appeared. Christ stated: "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time."(Matthew 24:24)

Just who did Christ warn? Certainly not the pagans or unbelievers who reject the truth and embrace falsehood in whatever form or package it comes. Rather, Jesus warned his own to guard their hearts and stay awake because their enemy Satan would target them specifically for the greatest spiritual fraud since the inception of the Church. 

And, in what way would the devil attempt to deceive true Christians at the end of time? By sending an imposter who will claim to be Christ who will be empowered with incredible supernatural power that will convince many that he's the real deal who has returned to earth to establish his millennial kingdom and restore peace and harmony to a strife-torn planet.

That scenario seems unlikely if not preposterous when you consider that Christianity appears destined to land on history's ash-heap of dead and forgotten religions. Christianity has all but vanished in many areas of the world such as Northern Africa and the Middle East, and the faith has reached coma status in Europe where the majority of churches are virtually empty on Sundays. 

In the United States, once considered the most Christian nation on earth, the numbers don't lie; every major denomination has experienced a significant decrease in membership since the 1970's. That fact itself underscores a prophecy given by Christ who revealed a great falling away from true Christianity in the end times. (Matthew 24:10)

So, knowing how much the devil hates God and His Son Jesus Christ, it seems only logical that Satan would work desperately to eradicate any and all evidence for the existence of God and his plan of salvation that he offered mankind by grace through Christ's atoning sacrifice for all sin. 

In fact, that seems to be playing out with Islam's rapid expansion throughout the world and with the explosion of militant atheism in the west that threatens to criminalize religion and erase all vestiges of God from the earth's landscape.

But the devil isn't bound by man's logic; in fact he often uses human logic to deceive mankind. Case in point: Most Christians who still believe that Satan is a real, diabolical being rather than a "symbol of evil" understand correctly that the devil is incapable of committing righteous acts. However, the devil will often mask his diabolical intentions behind noble causes. 

For example, both the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism) and the Roman Catholic Church oppose such evils as abortion, sexual perversion and euthanasia. In fact, the Catholic Church has been passionate in its defense of life and the sanctity of marriage, as has the LDS church.

However, both are counterfeit forms of Christianity that offer bogus paths to eternal life. No one, no matter how earnest and sincere they are in adhering to the unbiblical gospels promoted by these two churches will gain eternal life because the Jesus Christ presented by these churches is not the genuine 

Christ revealed in the bible who willingly died "once to take away the sins of many people" (Hebrews 9:28) on the Cross. Rather, the Christ of Roman Catholicism must be continually immolated on Catholic altars for the remission of sin while the Christ of the LDS church must be looked to as a New Age messiah who allegedly appeared in the world again after his ascension to heaven to reveal the path to godhood through Mormonism.

And so, Satan's diabolical genius is simple and easy to understand; infiltrate the true church of Jesus Christ with imposters (Jude 1:3-4) who would deny God's power, pervert the Gospel and replace it with an ecumenical, man-centered gospel that would drain the cross of its power and send Christians into the godless, secular world for spiritual wisdom and deliverance from sin and its ramifications. The growth of godless, humanistic psychology has coincided directly with the fall of Christendom. 

As Christendom began to doubt and deny the power of Christ in the nineteenth century, many Christians began to turn to secular psychology for answers to spiritual problems and deliverance from the consequences of sin such as alcoholism, drug addictions, anger and sexual perversion. Many Christian seminaries and universities have instituted courses and programs in "Christian" Psychology, that are mandatory for prospective pastors, ministers and youth leaders before they can be ordained.

As Christendom turned away from Christ and the power of his Holy Spirit, it withered and died; first in the eastern world and now in the western world. The spiritual vacuum created by Christianity's collapse was initially held in check by totalitarianism (Communism, Nazism, Fascism etc.) until its collapse in the late twentieth century. 

Following that collapse, Islam then moved to fill the spiritual vacuum in the eastern world followed by militant atheism in the west led by liberals, socialists, intellectuals and Marxists. Both Islam and militant atheism have global aspirations; Islamists envision a global caliphate that will exterminate world Jewry and outlaw all other religions while atheists envision a godless, secular world where all religions would be outlawed and man would replace God as the supreme authority of the universe.

Between the epic struggle for world supremacy being fought by Islamists and atheists, we have also seen an increase in "wars and rumors of wars...nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...famines and earthquakes in various places." (Matthew 24:6-7) Combine this with the "increase in wickedness" (Matthew 24:12) and global economic turmoil and you have a spiritual climate that is ready for a global savior and millions who are eagerly seeking a savior who will rescue the planet from certain destruction.

And so, Satan's master plan doesn't involve establishing Islam as a one-world religion with a global caliphate. Nor does it involve setting up a secular global government sans religion; rather it involves creating global hopelessness, panic and hysteria and then offering his "Jesus Christ" to the world as his ultimate solution to rid the planet of fear and strife. 

Neither Islam nor atheism will play any role in the upcoming world government, a fact that God revealed through the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah over 2,700 years ago. Satan, it turns out, isn't an atheist and he has no desire to establish his own manufactured religion as the world standard. Rather, Isaiah revealed that Satan desires to beat God by deceiving God's people into embracing the devil as God himself. 

Concerning the devil's ultimate ambitions, Isaiah recorded God's revelation: "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain, I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14)

Satan's ultimate desire then is to offer a phony Christ to the world; promote him as the Messiah and order the world to worship him, a fact revealed in prophecy. The apostle John wrote: "He (Antichrist) exercised all the authority of the first beast (Satan) on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast..." (Revelation 13:12) 

 But how can the world be convinced to pursue and follow a religion that it views as outdated and passé? John gives us the answer: "And he (Antichrist) performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth." (Revelation 13:13-14)

What will be the tiny spark that will ignite the counterfeit global religious revival? And who will ignite that spark? That spark will be ignited by supernatural signs and wonders that will dazzle millions. And that spark won't come from some small, independent church or self-styled messiah; it will come from an old and established church that will give the supernatural movement credibility that it never could gain through a small-time operation. The Roman Catholic Church will indeed become Satan's accessory to reveal his phony Christ to the world along with all sorts of supernatural phenomena that will deceive multitudes.

But how can we know for sure that the Catholic Church will become part of Satan's master plan to deceive the world? The apostle John not only revealed that a world government consisting of 10 nation groups led by seven rulers will arise in the last days (Revelation 13:1, Revelation 17:3) but that this world government will be partnered with a powerful global religion headquartered in a city surrounded by seven hills. 

Only two world cities are surrounded by seven hills; Rio de Janeiro that is located in Brazil and Rome that is located in Italy. Rome is home to the Vatican which is the world headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. When John recorded the Revelation in about 90 A.D. the Roman Catholic Church didn't exist and wouldn't come into existence until the Fourth Century A.D.

And so, keep your eyes on the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church successfully instituted a global ecumenical movement with Vatican II (1962-1965) that has encouraged many Protestant denominations to promote Christian unity to the world by joining with Rome. 

The infamous Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECTI) and ECTII agreements signed in the 1990s between high-ranking Catholic bishops and leading Evangelicals such as Pat Robertson, Charles Colson and Bill Bright opened the door for many Protestants and Evangelicals to return to the Catholic Church. Denominations such as the Anglican, Episcopalian and Lutheran churches have even pledged to stop evangelizing Catholics and have taken steps toward sharing a communion with the Catholic Church.

But the ultimate communion won't take place until the miracles begin, and biblical prophecy indicates that those counterfeit supernatural wonders may begin taking place soon. Many Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Charismatic Christians have turned away from the historic biblical gospel and are eagerly pursuing a gospel based upon supernatural events. 

For example, Kathie Walters, an associate of Charismatic-Messianic evangelist Sid Roth, claims that she saw Michael the Archangel appear at a conference in North Carolina where Roth was speaking in 2008. Upon seeing the angel, Walters then said this while claiming to hear the audible voice of Christ himself: "As I saw Michael suddenly come, I knew in my spirit that God was calling Sid to signs and wonders in Israel...The Lord kept saying to me; 'The Jews require a sign and they will see signs and many healings and miracles.' The Messiah Yeshua, the Healer, the Deliverer and the Restorer, the forgiver of sins will demonstrate his power in Israel with signs and wonders."

Like all end-time revival prophets, Walters and Roth ignore scripture by claiming that miracles will directly precede and expedite the return of Christ. In fact, these prophets teach that once the miracles commence among the Jews in Israel, then all Israel will embrace Christ as the Jewish Messiah. Not only does biblical prophecy not say that, but it reveals that the Jews and the nation of Israel won't corporately embrace Christ as the Messiah until he returns to rescue the Jewish nation from certain annihilation at Armageddon. (Zechariah 12-14) 

Nevertheless, self-styled prophets such as Walters, Roth and many others have superseded the bible with manufactured prophecies and false visions that will lead many to the Antichrist. The apostle Paul warned: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

The Bible identifies spiritual wickedness with counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles. You determine the supernatural source of these events by testing them as the apostle John admonished the early church to do. (1John 4) However, Paul revealed that in the last days, many would become so enthralled by supernatural manifestations that they would refuse to test their sources and thereby allow themselves to be deceived. 

Charismatic-Pentecostal leaders such as Roth, Morris Cerullo, Benny Hinn and many others not only have become the leaders in the growing end-time global Christian Revival Movement, but they are claiming incredible miracles such as the blind receiving sight and the dead rising that simply can't be substantiated.

The ultimate counterfeit supernatural events however, are still to come and those miraculous events will manifest through the appearance of Marian apparitions that will begin to increase rapidly across the world. Those these apparitions have historically been considered "Christian" in nature, they are anti-Christian because they direct their adherents away from Christ to the worship Mary as the alleged "Queen of Heaven." 

For example, a woman named Judiel Nieva-Agoo, who lives in the Philippines, claims she began receiving Marian visions in 1989. Among the messages that Nieva-Agoo claims she was given was this one: "Pray the 15 mysteries of the holy rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the conversion of sinners." On October 24, 1992, Nieva-Agoo claimed that Mary appeared to her with this message: "My child, I love you all. I am begging you to pray the rosary and wear the brown Scapular with lively faith." 

And on September 8, 1993, Nieva-Agoo claimed this message from the Virgin: "My children, listen, you see how hard Satan is working to destroy unity in the whole world especially between the priesthood and the flock, and in families between man and children. Satan works to take away peace and unity and to stir up trouble all over the universe. We have to launch a counterattack. This will be only through the holy rosary. So pray the whole mysteries of the rosary daily because this is the most evangelical prayer." (The Miracle Hunter)

Though Nieva-Agoo's visions were never officially approved by the Roman Catholic Church, they are consistent with the messages spoken by Marian apparitions throughout the centuries. In fact, 25 Marian apparitions were approved by the Vatican in the previous century alone, making the twentieth century the most active for appearances by the so-called "Queen of Heaven" since the Catholic Church began in the fourth century. 

Coupled with those appearances that are still being evaluated by the Catholic Church as well as those that Rome won't confirm, it is clear that the greatest counterfeit spiritual revival in the history of Christendom is about to occur. The apostle Paul warned: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) It is clearly evident that we are now in those times.

Don't allow yourself to be caught up in the coming spiritual deception. Heed the words of Paul who was very familiar with spiritual deception in his time. Paul understood that spiritual deception is always present and the way to reject it is by standing firmly by faith on the word of God. Paul wrote: "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by world of mouth or by letter. My our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17)