Satan’s Last Deception¹

“Have you ever aired up an air mattress with a foot pump?” she asked. “If you don’t stop pedaling that pump, the mattress will keep getting tighter and tighter until it bursts! That’s what it feels like — pressure, pressure, pressure until you just want to scream! Then, all of a sudden, the pressure releases and goes back down, but there’s no real relief because it immediately starts all over again — pressure, pressure, unbearable pressure! This goes on for hours and hours! It seems like it will never just be over! One thing is for sure, in natural childbirth there is no rest from the relentless pain until the baby finally comes!”

I remember April waking me up in the middle of the night when the baby was due and telling me it was time to go to the hospital. She was in considerable pain by then and it was building in intensity. We did not expect the baby to come so soon. We were planning on the baby coming later that day, but Eddie didn’t wait!

Jesus is coming back to this earth very soon. The prophetically foretold signs are all around us; His return is imminent! Ready or not, there are going to be some extremely intense social contractions before He comes — pressure, pressure, pressure until society nearly explodes!

The trouble just around the corner will be unlike any that has ever come before both in scope and intensity.

“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”(Daniel 12:1b)

The prophet Daniel received a vision about 2,600 years ago in which he saw “the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:4b) The “time of the end” that Daniel saw was identified as a time when “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Verse 12c) The past 200 years have seen exponential increases in human knowledge. An accurate understanding of Daniel’s prophecies is increasing too. Today we run to and fro at a frenetic pace undreamed of throughout most of history. The time in which we are living fits the description shown to Daniel unlike any other time in history. Based on Daniel’s description, this is the time of the end.

What does “time of the end” mean? — the end of what? The context of Daniel’s prophecies in Daniel chapters 2 and 7-12 clearly identifies this as the time just preceding the second coming of Jesus. We are nearing the end of the world as we know it. As this age draws to a stunning climax, history is preparing to give birth to a new and very different age. But as in the natural, so in the spiritual realm — birth pangs always precede birth. Jesus, ominously prophesied, “With all these things the birth-pangs of the new age begin.” (Matthew 24:8 NEB)

In the midst of extremely intense social contractions, Satan’s first lie will spawn a major worldwide deception just prior to Jesus’ return. What was that lie? With his very first lie in the Garden of Eden, Satan began deceiving humanity about what happens to the human soul as a consequence of sin.Satan“said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”(Genesis 3:4)

Satan the deceiver is the one who promised Adam and Eve immortality in disobedience. The assurance of the serpent to Eve in Eden — “Ye shall not surely die” — was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from Christian pulpits. The majority of Christians believe it even though the Bible does not teach it. The divine sentence, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20), is twisted to mean, The soul that sinneth, is immortal and shall never die.

What a strange infatuation, which renders people so credulous concerning the words of Satan and so unbelieving in regard to the words of God. Delusive teachings come straight from Christian pulpits, and millions of Christians accept the lies without ever questioning whether those teachings actually agree with the Bible.

Jesus warned, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Matt 24:4 NKJV) The Bible counsels us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1^st Peter 5:8) This alarming message particularly applies to the time in which we are living. God is giving a special warning to those of us living at the time of the end: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Revelation 12:12) This is very gripping language: Take heed, be sober, be vigilant, woe, your adversary, wrath, roaring lion, devour, deceive, short time. In the context of the subject we are studying, this alarmingly vigorous language raises some serious questions:

• Why is it so important to understand the truth that we actually fall into an unconscious sleep when we die?

• Why has Satan worked so hard throughout the ages to convince people that the dead do not sleep but are instead fully conscious?

• Does Satan intend to use his original lie to “deceive” and “devour” humankind in the last days?

• How has Satan’s first lie set the stage for his last and most vast deception?

Satan has an army of evil angels who serve as his ministers of darkness. But those evil angels do not usually appear to us as darkened beings; rather they often come to us disguised as angels of light. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (2^nd Corinthians 11:14) The most common manner in which evil angels manifest themselves is pretending to be ghosts of dead people. Beware of toying with them, of listening to them, of obeying them.

Many popular theologians teach that it is the spirits of dead people who are the “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14) Historically, the fraudulent teaching that dead people are “ministering spirits” has been a pervasive superstition within both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy with their veneration of and prayers to dead saints.

In this last generation, there is a growing interest in contact with dead saints within the ranks of Evangelicalism and mainline Protestantism. This interest and associated supernatural phenomena will continue to increase as we approach the final scenes of this age. Surveys indicate that more than half of widows and widowers in the United States claim that they have had encounters with their dead spouses.

In their book At the Hour of Death, K. Osis and E. Haraldson write: “Spontaneous experiences of contact with the dead are surprisingly widespread. In a national opinion poll . . . 27 per cent of the American population said they had encounters with dead relatives, . . . widows and widowers . . . reported encounters with their dead spouses twice as often. 51 per-cent.” Communication with the spirits of the dead is not just an American phenomenon. Surveys conducted in other countries reveal a similarly high percentage of people who engage the services of mediums to communicate with the spirits of their deceased loved ones.²

In spite of scientific breakthroughs in our understanding of the nature of life, the popularity of the belief in the immortality of the soul has not subsided. On the contrary, it is spreading today like wildfire. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 71 percent of Americans believe in some form of conscious life after death.³

Satan’s original doctrine of consciousness in death, “thou shalt not surely die,” set the stage for the superstitious belief that the spirits of dead people return to minister to the living. That superstitious belief in ghosts has ominously set the stage for modern Spiritualism or Spiritism.

Many Christians consider contact with the dead a sacred experience; this opens the door for Satan to work his sinister agenda. The fallen angels under his leadership appear disguised as messengers from the so-called spirit world or even from heaven. These angels of darkness have power to bring before men and women the appearance of their departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect. The imposters reproduce the familiar look, words, and tone of dead friends and loved ones virtually identical to the original. Many Christians are deceived, believing that the apparitions are indeed their loved ones who have been enjoying the bliss of heaven. Without suspicion of danger, they listen to “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1^st Timothy 4:1)

We must resist them with the Bible truth that “the dead don’t know anything,” and that what we are witnessing “are the spirits of devils, working miracles.” (Revelation 16:14a)

Many who believe that Spiritism is a fraud will in the future come face-to-face with appearances, which are undeniably supernatural. Their encounter will lead them to accept the teachings of demons in beautiful disguise who claim to have messages from God. These persons have no protection against mystical deceptions because they have overlooked the Bible’s warnings about paranormal demonstrations.

Bite-a-Book™ chapters 1-11 present fascinating, Scripture packed Bible studies on the true nature and destiny of the human soul. Chapter 10, Do Ghosts Really Wear Clothes and Smoke Cigars? is a humorous and especially compelling presentation both scientifically and Biblically.

Paul testifies that before the second advent of Christ manifestations of satanic power will be widespread. “The working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” will precede the second coming of Christ. (2^nd Thessalonians 2:9b, 10a) John, describing the miracle-working power that will be visible in the last days, declares,

“He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do.” (Revelation 13:13, 14)

God has given us sufficient light to see the deceptive snare. The theory at the very foundation of Spiritism contradicts the plainest statements of Scripture. Dead people are unconscious; they know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth.

“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know nothing. . . There is no . . . knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 NKJV)

“You return mankind to the dust, saying, ‘Return, descendents of Adam.’ . . . You end their life; they sleep.”(Psalm 90:3, 5a)

“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalm 146: 4)

“So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep. . . . His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.”(Job 14:12, 21 NKJV)

“For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” (Psalm 6:5)

In the days of the Hebrews, some people claimed, as do the Spiritists of today, to hold communication with the dead. But God outlawed attempted communication with spirits in ancient Israel under penalty of death.

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:31)

“A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them.” (Leviticus 20:27)

“Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.. . . And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”(1^stSamuel 28:3, 9)

The prophet Isaiah plainly states:

“When they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? [Should they seek] the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:19, 20 NKJV)

Notwithstanding the Bible’s warnings, Spiritism has invaded churches in various forms. The Mariology and saint worship cults of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as New Age spiritualistic séances are forms of communication with demons in disguise, against which the Scripture soundly warns us. Incredibly, spiritism is even invading twenty-first century Protestantism.

Spiritism is changing its form and is assuming a Christian guise. You don’t have to go to a séance in order for a demon disguised as the enlightened soul of a dead saint to deceive you. You might simply believe, as millions of other Christians do, that your dear dead mother, husband, or wife is hovering about you with loving and encouraging messages from heaven.

Are you willing to accept the truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures that humans are mortal and dead people are sleeping unconsciously until the resurrection? If so, you will easily perceive the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders in the demonstrations of Spiritism.

Multitudes close their eyes to Biblical light and walk straight on in the sentimental superstitions they love. God will ultimately abandon them to the delusions they have willfully chosen: “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (2^nd Thessalonians 2:10, 11) Imagine holding conscientiously as truth something that you once had opportunity to recognize as a noxious lie!

I can tell you from personal experience we have a real fight on our hands! Those of us who oppose the various forms of Spiritism are not warring against mere “flesh and blood” but against Satan and his angels. They are vicious! We are battling “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” (Ephesians 6:12) Satan will not willingly yield one inch of ground. How can we defeat him? Christ has set the example for us to follow. When in conflict with the enemy, He met subtle deceptions with the words, “It is written.” (Luke 4:8) God’s Holy Word, the Bible, is “the sword of the Spirit,” with which you may win battles against deceptive temptations. (Ephesians 6:17b)

Liars are most effective when they subtly blend a lie with obvious truth. That makes it hard to detect the lie. But like a discordant note in a song, we’ll notice the lie if we are firmly grounded in Bible truth.

The time is coming when Satan will work miracles right in your sight, even claiming that he is Christ. Jesus said, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matt. 24:23-24) The only safety for you is to search for the truth as for hid treasures. Dig for the truth as you would for treasures in the earth, and open the Bible before your heavenly Father, saying, “Enlighten me; teach me the truth.”

Jesus second coming won’t be secret and His feet will never touch the earth. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:27; See also 1^st Thessalonians 4:13-18)

We are near the close of the great controversy between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness, and soon the delusions of the enemy will test our faith, to see how genuine it is. Just before us is the “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:10b) Satan will deceive and overcome anyone whose faith is not firmly established upon the Word of God. The enemy’s deceptions will continually increase as he “works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” to gain control of people.

The God of truth will protect you against deception if you will earnestly seek truth while striving to get your life in order through obedience, and while you do what you can to prepare for the looming danger. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee,” is Jesus’ sure promise. (Revelation 3:10a) What a wonderful promise! He would sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect His people, than leave one soul that trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.

Many of the most prominent evangelical Christian authors today are writing books filled with spurious teachings on the nature and destiny of the human soul. Some of these are extremely popular books with millions of copies in print. These books do contain some beautiful truths, but in each case, the author has also saturated them with Satan’s first lie, “thou shalt not surely die.”

If you pay close attention, you will see that many of the “Scripture quotes” in these books are actually Bible paraphrases. The average reader thinks that he/she is reading an authentic passage from Scripture, when in fact true Scripture does not say at all what the paraphrase says. Bible paraphrases are not true Bibles. They are a man’s opinion of what the Bible should say; but in many passages, they do not say what the Bible actually says.

Paraphrases subtly slip powerful deceptions in and cleverly syncretize them with beautiful truths. Remember, the tree that Eve and her husband ate from was the tree of good and evil mixed, truth and error amalgamated into a fatal cocktail that ended in disaster. Go directly to God’s Word and you will find the beautiful truths without the dangerous deceptions. You will find God’s purpose and meaning for your life in the pages of Scripture untainted with any spiritualistic poison.

The theory of a conscious soul that separates from the body at death is a pagan Hellenic idea. The Hebrew Scriptures disagree with Hellenic notions. Instead, the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) teach “Body and spirit are united in a single person, designated ‘mortal man.’”⁴The New Testament continues the Old Testament thought.

You are a soul, a whole, living soul. You are a whole, undividable person — an inter dependent mind and body. That inter-reliant relationship between mind and body cannot be broken without losing consciousness. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”(Psalm 146:4)

A living soul is a whole, complete person including personality and body. And the human soul is capable of dying. According to the Bible, a living human body isa vital component of the living human soul. When the body dies, the soul is dead. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20). I urge you to look that text up so you can see it for yourself in the Bible. I ask you my friend, how much more clearly could the Bible state it? “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “ Thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

A conscious soul does not emerge from a dead body. If you believe that conscious souls emerge from dead bodies you will get terribly confused when trying to understand many Bible subjects. Dead people are not living souls. Dead people are dead souls.

The Bible teaches that the living human soul is a combination of physical elements + vital life force+ individual identity:

Let’s look at a key passage in Genesis. “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground [human body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [vital life force]; and man became a living soul[possessing an individual character identity].”(Genesis 2:7)

Notice that God did not give the first man a soul rather he became a soul. God created him with a mind that functioned within his organic brain. When the brain dies, the mind sleeps, unconscious until the resurrection of the body.

Death is a temporary unconscious sleep. The soul does not cease to exist but only ceases to think. But “there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”(Acts 24:15) At the resurrection every person will take up his or her thoughts as though only a brief moment of time has elapsed since going to sleep. There is no cognition of time elapsing for the sleeping soul. A thousand years will seem as only a flash, a split-second of time.

Genesis 2:7 states that the first man (Adam) became a living soul when the breath of life entered his body. When Adam died, he went to sleep. At the moment of death, his mind, his unique personality, ceased to function. Nevertheless, his unique personal identity did not cease to exist. I repeat:At death, the human mind ceases to function, but it does not cease to exist! How so? The Bible teaches that God has record books in heaven in which He keeps the “name”(a detailed “blueprint” record) of every person that has ever lived. (See Revelation 20:12-15; 3:5)

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life. . . . The same form will come forth, but it will be free from disease and every defect. It lives again bearing the same individuality of features, so that friend will recognize friend. There is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives back the same identical particles of matter which composed the body before death. . . . A much finer material will compose the human body, for it is a new creation.⁵

Throughout the Bible, we see unmistakably that dead people are asleep — they are not able to communicate with the living. Yet, almost the whole world believes that dead people remain awake in disembodied form. Are dead people awake, conscious? Is the Bible lying to us when it says dead people are asleep, unconscious? Is God a liar? We can’t have it both ways! Are dead people awake or asleep? You need to settle this question for yourself. It is vital for you to know for sure the truth on this subject! I don’t care what your wonderful preacher says — what does God say? Your pastor may be ever so sincere and still be ever so wrong! He can be just as sincere as a heart attack and every bit as life-threatening.

I realize that this is strong stuff but it is very important for the last generation to know the truth on this subject! Noah had a special truth for his age — “It’s going to rain and flood the whole earth.” John the Baptist had a special truth for his age — “Messiah is here.” We have a special message for our age — “Jesus is about to return.”

Each primary truth had attendant truths that had to be clearly taught and understood to meet the needs of each respective generation. Noah — “Get into the ark!” John the Baptist — “Repent!” Jesus message for our time — “Be alert and don’t be deceived!” (See Matthew 24) This final generation, generation Z if you will, must know the truth that the dead are asleep and cannot communicate with the living.

More than a billion Roman Catholics are taught that dead people communicate with the living. Add to that more than a third of a billion Eastern Orthodox Christians. Billions more from pagan religions believe in communication with the dead. More than one and a half billion Muslims believe in the immortality of the soul. Most Evangelicals and Protestants also believe in soul immortality along with Satanists and Voodooists. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in disembodied spirits.”⁶ Mormons are a cult focused on death and the dead, one of the most spiritualistic of all religions. And let’s not forget Tom Cruise and his Church of Scientology, a ridiculous religion invented by a science fiction writer — duh! Unbelievably, the devil has even figured out a way to get God-denying biologists and physicists on board through the scientific-spiritualistic religion of Biocentrism! With such a huge abundance of believers primed and ready for his last deception, the devil would have to be a complete idiot not to impersonate dead people with fake messages from “heaven”

I love glossolaliaChristians but they especially are at risk to be deceived by demons. For example, a Pentecostal or “charismatic” Christian might not be willing to attend a séance, but he/she is still vulnerable to deception during an emotionally fired worship service. I am defining glossolalia here as meaningless incoherent chatter uttered in a state of ecstasy. The New Testament form of approved glossolalia was coherent speech in foreign languages for the sake of foreigners who were in the speaker’s audience.

Beware of allowing a supernatural power to take over your will and tongue! How can we know that this power is of God and not of Satan? How do we distinguish ruse from reality? An element of emotion is certainly natural and important in religious worship. Nevertheless, are, warm feelings, happy emotions, and sentimental experiences a safe and sufficient guide? Those caught up in sensational or highly emotional religious experiences should soberly reevaluate the road they are traveling. Is this really the safe path marked out by Scripture?

According to Scripture, supernatural manifestations will begin occurring openly as we near the return of Christ. In Matthew 24, Jesus warns us to beware of deceptions as He predicts the condition of the world just prior to His second coming.

The Bible indicates that extreme weather events, new and frightening diseases, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and religious and racial conflicts will inundate the world as we near the return of Christ. Society today is riding a wild roller coaster with economic, social, weather, and geothermal-related circumstances changing rapidly. The world will descend into deeper financial difficulties, which will precipitate tremendous social unrest involving labor union agitation, unprecedented crime, poverty, and hunger.

Attempts to cope with the escalating traumas will lead to a solidarity league between governments and major religious powers in an attempt to bring “everyone” (including God) on board with a universal solution to economic and societal problems. The prophetic book of Revelation refers to the head of this conglomeration of religions and governments as “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:5b)

The miraculous signs that will occur and the false testimony of demons in disguise will be the final catalyst to convince the world to unite in the “peace and safety” confederacy. (1^st Thessalonians 5:3) This would not be a one-world government per-se, nor would it be a one-world church, but an alliance for common cause.

Demons will perform supernatural manifestations right in the sight of skeptics who will suddenly be “converted” and become “believers.” These new “converts” will not believe the Scriptures however, but rather the lying testimony of the dazzling demons who will impersonate angels of light, dead saints, and even Christ Himself. The masses of people will believe their senses and reject the testimony of Scripture. This is what the Bible warns will occur as we near the end. Beware of “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.” (2^nd Thessalonians 2:9b-10a)Jesus sends His warnings in love. Only those who study and believe the Scriptures will be able to see through the deceptions.

As the return of Christ approaches, the world will descend into deeper financial difficulties, which will precipitate tremendous social unrest involving labor union agitation, unprecedented crime, poverty, hunger, and so forth. Add to that a continued peppering with extreme weather events, outbreaks of new diseases, earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions, and continued religious and racial conflicts. This will cause the religio-political confederacy to increase its regulations and stiffen its penalties under which the world will experience the full brunt of persecution described in Revelation 13-14.

We have arrived at a major crossing in history. There is a screaming train of socio-economic troubles coming at a very high rate of speed, and it will not stop at the crossing. Furthermore, if the train itself were not dangerous enough, there is a deep precipice, a yawning chasm of supernatural deception immediately beyond the tracks. Our only safety is to take another road than the one we are on now. We must immediately turn onto the luminous path marked out clearly in God’s unchanging, unerring guide-map the Holy Bible. Ominous signs demand our attention like the rapid flashing of bright red lights and the loud clanging alarm bells at a railroad crossing.

“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”(Daniel 12:1b-3)

The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal.⁷

We are now entering . . . a battle not between rival churches contending for the supremacy, but between the religion of the Bible and the religions of fable and tradition. The agencies which have united against truth are now actively at work. God’s Holy Word, which has been handed down to us at so great a cost of suffering and bloodshed, is little valued. The tremendous issues of eternity demand of us something besides an imaginary religion, a religion of words and forms. . . . God calls for a revival and a reformation. The words of the Bible and the Bible alone, should be heard from the pulpit. . . . Let the word of God speak to the heart. Let those who have heard only tradition and human theories and maxims, hear the voice of Him who can renew the soul unto eternal life.⁸

Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.⁹

In light of all this, it certainly makes sense to get out of debt. And, it makes sense for families to move into the country where we can grow our own food and drink water from our own private well. If possible, wouldn’t it make sense for you to establish your homestead, mortgage free, even if you must dramatically scale down your living standards? It may seem like a sacrifice now, but such a move will prove to be a great blessing in the future. I suggest that you read Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Revelation 11-18; and then watch or read the daily news.

Satan has conspired for ages to bring the world to just the point where we are today. God has held him in check until the time when the final events of history are to take place. Satan’s first lie about the human soul has set the stage for his masterpiece, a last awe-inspiring deception on a vast worldwide scale. Personal and family economics will play a major role in this last act in the great drama of history.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”(Revelation 13:16-17)

Using highly figurative language, the Bible foretells a future in which the Dark Ages’ principles of state-enforced religion will envelope the whole world in a vast religio-political confederacy. During that last act of the great drama of history, the religio-political hegemony will persecute a small Remnant of Christians who remain faithful to God’s Word. The little Remnant will suffer economic boycott and threat of imprisonment and death. A persecuting power from the past will be amazingly revived to persecute again — “and all the world wondered after the beast.” (Revelation 13:3b)

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. . . . Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:1-17)

God foresaw the development of persecution by Christian against Christian during the Dark Ages and, according to the Bible, a mirror image of that persecution will soon burst on the scene as an overwhelming surprise. (See Revelation 12-14) Will the papacy once again be at the forefront of Christians persecuting Christians? The papal power behaved ruthlessly in the past when it established a perverted form of Christ’s kingdom in this world. Would it do so again were the sovereign governments of the world to remove the restraints they have placed on it?

Most Protestants historically identified the papacy as the first beast of Revelation 13:1-10. See also Daniel 7:8; 8:9-12. But today, most Protestant and Evangelical churches have made an about face and are flirting with the papacy. Demons disguised as dead saints and false Christs will soon give impetus to a threefold union between nominal Protestantism, Spiritism, and a resurgent authoritarian papacy.

“I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”(Revelation 16:13-15)

By using repulsive language, Bible prophecy accurately and startlingly reveals the future of 21^st century civilization. God deliberately inspired John to use this disturbing, attention-grabbing language because the nature of what the prophecy is describing will be so awful. Almost the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people of our nation and of the world (both Christian and non-Christian alike) are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God.

While the coming church-state union will promote many good moral statutes, it will also enforce laws based on superstitions that the Dark Ages Church inherited from paganism. This is Babylon or confusion. Bible believing Christians will refuse to obey laws that expressly violate God’s word. Just as remnants of faithful Bible believing Christians were persecuted by church-state unions during the Dark Ages, a Remnant of faithful Bible believing Christians will be persecuted once again just prior to Jesus’ second coming. The popular church and the world will fill up their cup of iniquity in that persecutory time. The God of love does not use coercion and neither does His True Church. In this age of enlightenment, there is no excuse for relapsing to a Dark Ages image of totalitarian Christianity. God will intervene before His little Remnant is completely destroyed.

The issue before us is simple. It is the same issue that faced Europe during the Dark Ages. Will we obey God or man? It is that simple! Muslim terrorism is a horrible scourge, but it does not claim to be Christian. The fact that Persecution will be carried out in the name of Christ is what makes the last great deception so awful in the eyes of God. God does not use force to gain adherents to His Kingdom of love. All throughout Scripture He is pictured as asking for entrance to the heart. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

I tuned in one evening as a speaker on Catholic Radio touted the theological greatness of Thomas Aquinas. The speaker hyped an old Catholic legend, claiming that the disembodied souls of the Apostles Peter and Paul visited Aquinas one evening and instructed him, helping him develop his theology.¹⁰If Aquinas was indeed visited, we can be sure, based on the overwhelming evidence of Scripture, that it was demons in disguise, and not Paul and Peter who were instructing him. Aquinas should have believed the Scriptures rather than his own imagination or supernatural visitants. “[There is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10b) “He breathes his last breath, he returns to the dust; and in that same hour all his thinking ends.” (Psalm 146:4 NEB)

The Bible claims that deceiving devils will fool almost the whole world with miraculous signs in the future! That includes billions of Christians who have been misled by their pastors to believe that the human soul is created immortal and that the souls of dead saints can communicate with the living.

According to the Bible, demons will soon begin appearing disguised as dead saints, holy angels, and even Christ Himself — deceiving spirits will bring skillfully disguised false messages to Christians. As a result, millions of Christians will be dazzled and deceived; they will embrace a “Christianized” form of Spiritism. Multitudes will accept the alluring messages of stunning supernatural visitors even when they contradict the plain teachings of Scripture. The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are your feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable Word?

The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions. At every revival of God’s work, the prince of evil is aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and his followers. The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. . . . None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test, Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable Word?¹¹

The devil has conspired from long ago to create virtually all of the world’s diverse religions with one common belief in the immortality of all human souls. There are also many other striking similarities between the world’s tradition based Christian and pagan religions. In the last moment of time, Satan intends to bring about a worldwide syncretism of religion which the book of Revelation calls “Babylon the Great.” Satan will use the false belief in the immortality of the human soul as a catalyst to fuse the major religions of the world together in an alliance for peace, prosperity and morality. It won’t be a one-world church, but it will be a confederacy of religions with a “Christian” headship. This confederation will also include the civil governments of the world. The World Book Dictionary, 1971 edition, defines syncretism in the following words:

• [An] attempted union or reconciliation of diverse or opposite tenets or practices, especially in philosophy or religion.

• A process in the growth of religions in which the religious doctrines, rituals, deities, etc., of one creed or belief are adopted, adapted, or identified with its own by another, which thus gains adherents from the first.

Roman Catholicism is the undisputed world champion at syncretizing religions together. As we have already demonstrated in chapter 12, Catholicism has merged a huge morass of superstitious and anti-Biblical teachings, symbols, ceremonies, and liturgies from many diverse and even opposite religious systems. Will Catholicism do something similar in the future if it sees headship advantage from such compromises?

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are virtually identical systems. The papacy’s claim to apostolic supremacy is really the only defining reason the two churches remain separated. Both churches have a long history of syncretism; therefore, a future agreement to become “Sister Churches” for common cause is quite doable.¹²

Anglicans, Lutherans and other Christian denominations are flirting with the papacy today. Mainline Protestants and right wing Evangelicals have also clearly demonstrated a willingness to cling to a handful of syncretic traditions inherited from Catholicism’s vast hodgepodge.

Chapters 1-11 of this series present overwhelming and undeniable proof that the Bible does not teach the popular traditions about the nature and destiny of the human soul. The religious leaders of the Christian world have access to the Bible just as you and I do, and yet they continue to teach a syncretic amalgamation of paganism with Christianity. Jesus never approved such religious amalgamations — never. We are constrained by love to expose these dangerous errors.

We hear a great deal today in right-wing religious circles about immorality in society. Certainly, this is a very wicked generation similar to that of ancient Sodom and deserving of the same fate as that vile society. But Jesus said of the religious people of His day that they were even worse than the Sodomites and deserving of a worse fate. (See Matthew 10:1-42; 11:16-25; 12:38-45; Luke 10:10-14; 11:28b-36)

What made the religious people of Jesus day even worse than the Sodomites? They mixed their traditions with Scriptural truth and thereby perverted the truths of God. They were so blinded by their traditions that they rejected the true Gospel unadulterated by false tradition. They preferred signs, wonders, and made-up traditions rather than the plain, unadulterated teachings of Scripture. (See Matthew 15:3, 6, 9;12:38-39;16:1-4; Mark 7:7, 9, 13; 8:11-12; Luke 11:16, 29) So according to Jesus, religious moralists who reject His teachings and cling to their traditions are even worse than the sexually deviant Sodomites.

I repeat; the false traditional teaching that all human souls are created immortal leaves God’s people vulnerable to terrible end-time deceptions. This is why the false tradition is so abominable in the eyes of God!

What excuse do modern Christian leaders have for mixing fables about the nature and destiny of the soul with Bible teachings? Being consistent with His character, Jesus must surely condemn the modern religionists and moralists for their false traditions just as surely as He condemned the ancient religious leaders for their made-up traditions. (See 2^nd Timothy 4:1-4)

How could Christians have allowed such mixed-up, irrational teachings as bodiless conscious souls going straight to heaven or hell immediately upon death to invade Christian doctrines?” It is because after the death of the Apostles, some second and third century church leaders began to compromise principles of truth in order to bring half-converted pagans into church fellowship. As time went on, pagan superstitions and holidays were given a “Christianized” spin and were melded with church tradition. Some Church leaders merged pagan customs with Christian practice in order to make the half-converted pagans feel more comfortable joining the church. Because pagans were welcomed into the church without fully renouncing their past errors, those very errors gradually became associated with Christian tradition.

Constantine compounded the problem when he ended persecution of Christians and showed favor to Christianity in the early fourth century. As a result, huge numbers of pagans began to flood into the church, half-converted at best, and retaining many of their pagan superstitions and practices. The shear numbers of nominal converts overwhelmed the faithful within the church. This was followed by forced “conversions” of whole subcultures at the point of a sword. Of course, such conversions are not genuine. These masses of false converts diluted the teachings of the church as they amalgamated their pagan beliefs with Christianity.

While the original twelve Apostles lived, they stood as a bulwark against deceptions. But after the Apostles passed from the scene, some churchmen began to fancy that the Holy Spirit was speaking through them in a manner similar to how He had spoken through the original Apostles. Tertullian seems to have toyed with this notion and actually sowed seeds of this genre in his writings. Those presumptuous principles eventually morphed the western church into a hierarchical system, which claimed apostolic succession from Peter. There is no Biblical support for church organization under dictatorial prelatism or autocratic Papal church hierarchy. These paternalistic systems did not exist during the first several generations of the Christian church. Certainly Peter had nothing to do with any of it.

The Apostle Paul had warned that there would be a major apostasy and corrupting of Church leadership before the return of Christ. Paul’s prophecy was a specific reference to the papacy, which reigned for 1,260 years during the Middle Ages.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” (2^ndThessalonians 2:3-5)

The papacy became so corrupt during the Dark Ages that it forbade the common people to own or read the Bible in their own languages. (See Bite-a-Book™ chapter 12) The papacy coerced civil governments into doing its police work and countless Christians were tortured and executed because of these church edicts. But in the midst of this something happened that began to change the course of history:

In the fifteenth century, Muslim invaders conquered Constantinople, the old capital of the eastern Roman world. This set off a chain reaction of events, which lead to the Renaissance and the great Protestant Reformation. Those fleeing Constantinople brought out vast stores of ancient literature containing a wealth of civilization’s knowledge of the arts and sciences, which had been to a great degree lost to Western Europe, due to the church-induced Dark Ages. Among the documents discovered were a large number of uncorrupted eastern manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. These eastern Greek New Testaments were far superior to the corrupted western Greek manuscripts, Latin texts, and superstition-filled apocryphal Scriptures of Roman Catholicism. This providential windfall of enlightening literature led to the Renaissance. The Renaissance led to the development of the printing press and the Protestant Reformation, as the fog of centuries of church-perpetuated ignorance began to clear.

Because of the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century, and its enlightening after effects, we today in western countries have complete liberty to study the Scriptures for ourselves. We have a very high rate of literacy and there are literally billions of Bibles available to us. Therefore, the question for us today is, “Why do so many professing Christians remain mistaken in their beliefs about the state of the dead in this age of opportunity and enlightenment?”

It is because most of us listen to the opinions of men rather than studying the Bible for ourselves. We place church creeds and traditions above Scripture. We depend upon theologians and church pastors to spoon-feed us. Instead, we ought to turn the TV off and then pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and actually personally study the Bible.

Shielded From Deception

Our western culture makes cult idols, superstars, and heroes out of people based (in part) on their ability to dazzle us. This includes movie stars, rock stars, sports “heroes,” and even some politicians and religious leaders. Satan has star power too, an incredible amount of it! Does he have this star-dazzled generation primed and ready for the greatest deception in history? The train is coming! The whistle is blowing! The crossbars are flashing! Do we have so much stardust in our eyes that we cannot clearly see the DANGER signs flashing from God’s Word?

“Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation.”¹³ Millions reject the plain teachings of the Bible, and eagerly believe the deceptions of the enemy. Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. He laid the foundation of his work when he fooled Eve in Eden with the assurance, “Ye shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4) Little by little, Satan has built a modern spiritistic framework for his crowning masterpiece of deception. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs, but he will reach it — and soon!

If ever there was a time when we needed faith and spiritual enlightenment, it is now. Those who are praying and searching the Scriptures daily with an earnest desire to know and do the will of God will not be led astray by any of the deceptions of Satan. Do you want the truth on every point? Do you want it unadulterated by error and unpolluted by the maxims, customs, and opinions of the world? Do you want the truth even though it is inconvenient and involves a cross? Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for you. Shouldn’t you give Him your best friendship, your holiest aspirations, your fullest service?

You can depend on the LORD and His holy word. He never changes. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) “I [am] the LORD, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6a) “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5b)

In the last remnant of time, demons in disguise will deceive professing Christians who have accepted their religious leader’s claim that God creates and sustains every human soul immortally conscious, despite the Bible’s clear rebuttal of such teachings. The only ones spared will be those shielded from deception by unshakable faith in the Bible, God’s unchanging Word.

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