2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 “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.”

We spoke about how, in the times that we are now living in, the Bible is becoming ever more “provable”. The events that it predicted so long ago are happening before our very eyes. We can only hope that, as more and more prophetic evidence becomes available, people will begin to understand that the Bible is truly the Word of God. As events unfold, all we have to do is have our Bible ready to point out to people that it was all predicted ahead of time, and everyone will accept Jesus Christ and be saved, right? Well, it might not be that easy. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about what people will believe in the end times:

Revelation 13:8 “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast- all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

(The Beast mentioned here is a reference to a coming world government or system).

Here the Bible gives us an interesting riddle: we have shown that the Bible is a supernatural book, a book that can tell the future - the Bible warns about significant deception that will occur before the return of Jesus-  the Bible is widely distributed around the world and many, many people have access to it…so… why don’t they just pay attention to what it says? Why does the Bible predict that so many people will be deceived, and worship a false christ? What is it that will prevent people from putting their trust in God and the Bible, when they see that it has actually come true?

It’s the same old problem. Many people own a Bible, a few of them even read it, but how many of them actually believe it? In order to believe the Bible, you must believe in the supernatural realm, which is something that many people refuse to believe in today.

“Regarding the supernatural, Christians need to wake up to the fact that they have been brainwashed by Western scientific rationalism. This is the viewpoint that denies the reality of anything that cannot be quantified in some way. Thus, according to this attitude, if something cannot be seen, touched, weighed, measured, or quantified in some other way, then it does not exist. But the Bible teaches that there is a whole realm of reality that cannot normally be perceived by the senses. It is called the supernatural. Because so many Christians have rejected the supernatural, much of the Bible is either incomprehensible to them or irrelevant.”  (David Reagan, Living For Christ in the End Times, p. 81).

Many people who call themselves Christians don’t really believe in the supernatural claims of the Bible. If they did, why do so many of them have a problem with a Six Day creation? They say they believe in an all powerful God, but don’t believe He could create the world in six days? That sounds a little contradictory. Think for a moment. If you truly have a problem with a Six-Day creation, can you really believe that Jesus was resurrected after being dead for three days?

That is one piece of our puzzle. Many people (even people who call themselves Christians!) have been brainwashed that there is no such thing as the supernatural. So we have many people who are rejecting the prophetic evidence of the Bible, despite the compelling and growing number of facts that support it.

The verse from Revelation predicted this unbelief, so we should have expected it. But that leaves us with the second part of our puzzle: if they reject the Bible, why do they end up accepting (and worshipping) the Antichrist? 

Matthew 24: 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect- if that were possible.”

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 “The coming of the lawless one 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.”

Revelation 13:13 “He performs great signs…because of the miracles he is allowed to perform…he deceives those who inhabit the earth.”

What kinds of “signs and miracles” will the majority of the people end up falling for? What will be THE powerful delusion that they will accept??? The fact is, no one will know for sure until it occurs. But, as Christians, we need to be sure that we understand what the Bible says about The Delusion:

1) We should be prepared for any eventuality (within the parameters of what the Bible says). In this case the Bible is warning us about a “POWERFUL delusion”,  “GREAT signs and miracles”, something so great that it would “DECEIVE EVEN THE ELECT- if that were possible”. The Bible doesn’t spell out for us exactly what it will be, but whatever it is sounds like it will be huge and incredibly convincing to most of the world.

2) We see in the verse above that the Antichrist is allowed to perform miracles. He is allowed to use supernatural powers. It doesn’t say exactly what he’s going to do, but the Bible gives us a few clues elsewhere. We know that the Antichrist is Satanic, and the Bible describes Satan as “the father of lies”. We can reasonably infer that whatever the delusion is, it will serve the purpose of deceiving the public. So, it would make sense if The Delusion and the Bible appeared to be incompatible. Or, in other words, The Delusion, if successful, would destroy one’s faith in the Bible.

3) Satan, being the Father of Lies, obviously doesn’t play fair. We shouldn’t expect him to pull any punches. We should be prepared for any eventuality, including the most brazen, bizarre, outright lie that you can imagine (and possibly a few you can’t). The Bible says he will be given the powers to deceive the public, so it makes sense that his lies will look (and possibly feel, smell, and taste) real. Christians need to be prepared to see things with their own eyes or even touch them, and yet reject them as demonic lies. ***This is a key concept that many people in our culture don’t understand! The Bible gives numerous examples of supernatural phenomena- and in the verses above says that supernatural power can be used to perform deceptive miracles.  If we really believed what the Bible says, we probably wouldn’t be such sitting ducks for a great delusion. But, unfortunately, when it does appear, people will consider The Delusion to be true, no matter how strange it is, because they can “see it with their own eyes”.***

There are a number of weird possibilities that we could examine, but we don’t need to because the Bible is very clear: the Antichrist (“the lawless one”) will appear before the second coming of Jesus Christ, and the Antichrist will rule the whole world (for short period of time) through a world government. A world ruler is a sign you can’t miss! This person will reject God’s laws, sit in the temple and declare himself to be God.

So, whatever The Delusion turns out to be-- little green men, pink Pillsbury doughboys, beings who look like angels, ten story Killer Space Toasters, or whatever- remember that the Bible warned you first!

 

Practical Advice

Repent and confess your sins, and call on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation. Confess and repent of your sins and all previous occult activity that you have been involved in. Be specific. Ask the Lord to free you from any addictions, habitual sins, generational curses, or sins that may involve you in occult ties. Publically proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ, and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Find a Bible believing church and spend some time with fellow believers. Spend less time with the TV. 

Read your Bible daily. Immerse your mind in God’s Word, Memorize and quote scripture. Read a good Bible summary to get an overview of what the Bible is all about.

Call on the Lord in prayer. Pray for your family and friends. Pray for big things you need and the little things. Pray for safety, pray for health, pray for understanding.

Protect Yourself! Submission to God and resistance against the enemy is prescribed by the apostle James: “Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Secondly, we must be armed with truth- the  truth of God’s Word.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself: if you love your neighbor, you will warn them and give them an opportunity to hear the Truth. They may or may not listen, but at least you tried.

1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

And, finally, in the event of the Great Delusion itself, consider the following:

Don’t Watch!: it is likely to be incredibly deceptive. If a TV program comes on, turn it off. Don’t let yourself be tempted into watching it. It’s enough to know that it is a lie. By giving it too much attention you might be opening yourself up to brainwashing. As Americans, it is very difficult for us to turn off the TV, especially when it’s so spectacular and entertaining, but that might be a good time to turn it off.

Don’t Listen! It may not be possible for the Delusion to confront born-again Christians in order to try to deceive them, but if that happens, don’t believe it (or them)! If you are asked or ordered to follow it (them) or to do anything else, simply refuse! Invoke the authority of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, your will and spirit is protected. The Delusion may or may not have the authority to kill your body, but scripture says not to fear those who can kill your body but he who can destroy your body and soul in hell.