Let us first begin with a Scripture. "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction" (II Th. 2:3). This passage from the Bible says that before this Antichrist, "the man of lawlessness" that we have heard so much about, is revealed, the church would be given to "apostasy." What is apostasy? This Greek word, translated in some English versions as "falling away," means deliberate turning from known truth. It is not to be confused with error such as young Christians experience, having just come to Christ and not knowing much about the Word of God. No, this word has a stronger meaning. It is deliberate distortion of or turning away from known truth. There is no question as to whether apostasy exists today! The big question is: Is this Scripture that names apostasy talking about our day or some other time?

The Scriptures give us four characteristics to look for in this apostate church of the end time. She would give up traditional Biblical teachings. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim 4:3-4) - She would be cold, apathetic, and indifferent, with an emphasis on money (Revelation 3:14-20) - She would mock Bible prophecy and specifically the message that Jesus is coming (2 Peter 3:3-4) - She would accumulate false prophets that would show signs and wonders (see Mat. 24:24). After reviewing these characteristics from Scripture, who could possibly deny that we are a generation living in the days of the apostasy and deception that these Scriptures describe?

Apostasy and deception are not new concepts to the church, nor are they new concepts to the student of Bible prophecy; however, this apostasy, prophesied for the end-time church, would be accelerated, like all of the other signs. Literally thousands of Christians are being misled like never before by false teachers and prophets. As a matter of emphasis, Jesus warns three times in Matthew 24 that there will be false prophets that will arise and "mislead" many. Jesus also predicted a deception of great signs and wonders by false prophets and false teachers that would mislead many and be so powerful that, if possible, even the elect would be deceived (Matt. 24:24). It is naturally understood that if apostasy and deception increase in the last days, so will those teachers who promote them. The many false teachers worship false gods and serve idols; prophesy messages that do not come true in the name of the Lord; claim to receive messages from the Lord. They have deliberately walked away from the truth but continue to teach in the name of the Lord. Time and space will not allow us to survey all of the apostasies occurring today, but let us consider some recent examples.

Jesus stated that the Church should be "light and salt" to her the world, shining beacons of truth. But the light that Jesus wanted His Church to provide to the world is growing very dim! Who would ever have dreamed that we would be a generation that would produce ministers such as Bishop Spong of the Episcopalian Church? This apostate delivered an Easter, 1997, message to Foundry United Methodist Church (where the President and First Lady attend) in which he states that, "Jesus was a 'drag queen' and the Ten Commandments are immoral"!!! Who would ever have dreamed that we would be a generation of "Christians" in which one out of every two of us, according to a Barna Research survey, do not believe in any absolute truth? Who would ever have dreamed that we would be the generation that would produce the Jesus Seminar, a group of well-educated theologians and seminary professors from around the country who meet in Chicago ever year to establish things such as: Jesus' resurrection is a myth and that the only words Jesus actually spoke in the Lord's Prayer were "Our Father"???

Who would ever dream that we would see a popular teacher like Ken Copeland say in a recent message that God had revealed that if Copeland had known the Word of God like Jesus did, Copeland could have taken Jesus' place and died for the sins of the world and defeated Satan (Kenneth Copeland Ministries cassette tape #00-020). This is not only apostasy, but absolute blasphemy! One has to ask, "How could a man, trained in the Word of God, knowing there was only one individual ever, in all of the universe, who could have paid for man's sins, ever say such a thing? There is only one explanation!

Another popular teacher today, Robert Schuller, founder of the television ministry in the world, has recently endorsed one of the world's Satanic mind control systems, Transcendental Meditation. He said in one of his books, "Transcendental Meditation ... is not a religion, nor is it necessarily anti-Christian" (Peace of Mind Through Possibility Thinking pg. 131-132). In another of his books, speaking of Jesus, Schuller said, "Yes, He could have been an impossibility thinker. For He never had much time to do anything really worthwhile. They killed Him when He was only thirty-three years old. So He died. Unmarried. Childless. Penniless" (Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking pg. 186). We should ask ourselves, "How can one of the most popular television preachers of today sell to the Christian public a demonic mind control system from India, or the idea that Jesus came to earth to get a wife, a family, and a good job"??? The answer: apostasy! Again, we are not talking about error, we are talking about apostasy, the deliberate distorting of known truth. These teachers deliberately do this, and they know better!

Deception is just as deadly, but is a bit different. Deception is predicted for the end times as coming directly from demonic spirits. "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim 4:1). Apostasy and deception are very closely related in that they share the same result, false teaching. However, one comes from human flesh, the other from demonic spirits. Jesus predicted the deception that is running rampant today! Before the following words were spoken by Jesus, three times He used the word "deceive" in Matthew 24, speaking of the end times: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matt 24:24). In other words, Jesus has predicted that in the end days of history, a very unforgiving, powerful deception would sweep over the earth. We, Christian friends, are living in the days of this deception!

The word of faith movement has produced some of the most ridiculous deceptions yet! Many in this movement teach that if one will just claim something, anything, by faith, it will come to pass. If this were true, I would like to find someone with a lot of faith to claim that my car would never run out of gas again or need maintenance! Think of the blessing a person could be to the world if he could claim by faith that the clock would roll back twenty years, or just claim collectively for the world that sickness, hunger, and disease would cease to exist!

Also, many of this movement's teachers tell us that if we give money in the name of the Lord, the Lord will multiply back to us the money given up to 100 times. How deceptive this is! If this were unconditionally true and the ministers who teach this principle really believed it, instead of asking for money, they should be sending everybody on their mailing list $1,000 dollars per month. God would multiply it back to them, plenty of ministry money would be available, and they would never have to ask for money again! If they wanted to get more, they would simply give more!

This movement has also produced many who believe they are prophets, believing they are able to tell the future. This is a most dangerous deception! Most of this movement's so-called prophets would be disqualified if the standard of Deuteronomy 18:22 were enforced. It says, "When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken." How many times have many of us heard prophecies given, only to become disappointed that they did not come true? In this regard, I am reminded of a lady slowly dying with cancer, who was taken to a man recognized as a prophet in one of the four largest local churches. She was given the prophecy by this man that she would be healed. She died a short while later, leaving behind not only those who grieved her death, but family and friends who realized they were given false hope from a false prophecy from a false prophet. The sincerity of this man's Christianity is not in question, but a true prophet of God is!

Ialso remember a few years ago when John Hinkle, pastor of Christ Church Los Angeles, appeared on TBN to relate a dream. In his dream, God had revealed to Hinkle that on June 9, 1994, God would fulfill Isaiah 25:6-9 by "ripping the blanket of evil out of the world." The date came and went. Did any of us see the practice of evil cease in the world? Did either one of the messages given to the two men described above come from God? NO! If they were of God, they would have come true. So where do these false messages given in the name of the Lord come from? The Scripture answers this question by saying, "... that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits ..." (1 Tim 4:1). We know from this Scripture, those words of Jesus in Matthew 24, and many others, that they come from deceiving spirits!

These deceptions of our day are not only to be limited to Christian circles, but would affect all of the secular world as well. Paul looks ahead to this day and says, "...because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth ..." (II Th 2:10-12). We can look around us and see deception everywhere! Deception is occurring because love of the truth is rapidly becoming a thing of the past! Because of our lack of love for the truth, secular humanism and evolution can be taught in our schools while the Ten Commandments and God are kicked out. In spite of all the signs of our world, many of the church leaders today mock the message that Jesus is coming soon, saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?", just as Peter said they would in the last days (2 Pet. 3:4). Lies are told in our elections so as to mislead the voters and nobody does anything about it. In our courts, justice is mocked! Criminals are protected and the victims are interrogated. Liberal-thinking judges give light sentences to perverse criminals when they deserve death, while we watch the violent crime rate increase 560% since the 1960's. We are allowed to murder 40 million babies just in the United States, many even to the end of the third trimester, and we call it pro-choice. International criminals like Yasser Arafat are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. We are being led to believe that the Russians are disarming their military. The Press is allowed to slander and misrepresent facts all over the world and we call it "freedom of the Press." Why should the press have the freedom to say or print anything that is not true?? The world is a place of deception today!!!

So, what do we do about it? First of all, we have an obligation to ourselves, our families, and to God to test everything we are involved in as Christians by the Scripture (1 John 4:1). We should learn to ask ourselves, "But is it true?" Judgment is coming upon all those who do not love the truth (2 Thess 2:10-12). We shall all stand one day at the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of the things that we either rebuked or spoke blessing to. Jesus has strong rebuke toward His churches and Christians that tolerate false doctrines and teachers (Rev. 2:14-16). Do you tolerate false doctrines? Just because it looks good, or sounds good, or looks successful, or looks professional, doesn't make it Biblical! WE have to remember that Satan himself has the ability to transform into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). If we do not know the Word of God and test everything by it, he will deceive us! We should learn the Word of God for ourselves (II Tim 2:15) and hold our teachers accountable for what they teach (II Cor. 11:4).

Finally, we should note that the increase of apostasy and deception, like all of the other signs, are increasing like birth pangs upon a woman with child. Our world is a place of deception today! It is just as was predicted. God is not surprised at all! The deception we see around us in the religious and secular worlds is just one more indicator that Jesus is coming and the Great Tribulation is approaching! Jesus has made an incredible promise to those who love His Word and resist the deceptions of the end times by keeping it: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" (Rev. 3:10). Do you love the Word of God today, and are you keeping it? Do you love truth?

Many of us are living with the promise that Jesus will appear at any moment! World-wide deception, along with the other signs, is proof that He is right at the door! Are you ready? Do you really belong to Him? Will you go with Him when He comes? If not, ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart today! You may not have the opportunity tomorrow. Time is running out!

What time do you think it is?

Note: If you want to do more research concerning many of the alarming quotes used in this article and many more, I would like to refer you to John MacArthur's book, Charismatic Chaos.