Escaping the Last-Days Delusion That’s Seeping Into the Church
It was the perfect setting—that would soon become the perfect storm.
She had a perfect marriage.
Truly, they never fought or argued. They had a perfect home and lived in perfect peace and were perfectly joyful. It really would be very difficult for you to imagine.
A screen writer could not make it more ideal on the big screen.
Then, the unimaginable news came. It was devastating. All of the imagined security, pristine joy and affirming comfort were suddenly gone.
The innocence was stolen.
Like a crystal glass shattered on the floor, the ideal perfectness was in a million pieces.
Her oldest son had murdered her second-born son. How was that even possible? How could this perfect couple, with a perfect marriage and a perfect home have this happen?
The seeds of their destruction were sown in their hearts when they chose to believe a lie.
It was a lie spawned in hell for the exact purpose of destroying their ideal perfectness.
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'” (Gen. 3:4-5).
The enemy has not changed his battle plan.
Indeed, as the end of time draws closer, people will be so deceived they literally be living in with delusion. How is that possible?
The apostle Paul explained it.
“(The lawless one’s) coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
The spirit of darkness will continuously sow lies in the heart of the people through music, literature, education and junk science.
They will hear it so much they will lose their love for truth and choose to believe the lies.
Slowly, at first, the culture becomes clouded and evil begins looking good and good takes on shades of evil. As the lies continue and the love for truth diminishes, the public media, sitcoms, movies, politicians and courts begin declaring the righteous are wrong and evil is right.
The stage is now set for the “Son of Perdition.”
Just as God has revealed Himself through the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, so the evil one has chosen to reveal himself through the dark trinity, Satan, the Son of Perdition and the False Prophet.
Lucifer will empower a man in the last days to be his messenger.
He will come as a master of lies and the people will believe him.
He and his false prophet will manifest power and signs and perform wonders that are actually deception, “lying wonders,” to lead the people further away from truth.
All the while, there will be a remnant of the righteous who declare the truth and point out the lies and the working of deception. The populace will choose to believe the lies so they can continue in their sin and unrighteous pleasures.
Because the people no longer love the truth and instead choose to believe the lies and deception and find pleasure in unrighteousness, God will allow a spirit of delusion to be released upon the people.
It is not just a spirit of lies and deception. It is a strong delusion, a supernatural power that blinds to the truth, disabling a person from being able to see truth even when it is right before them.
The people do not know there are actually believing a lie as true and the truth is a lie. Just as Adam and his bride were deceived, sowing the seeds of destruction in their family. The people are being deceived and sowing the seeds of her own destruction.
The question arises, are we living in the time leading to the rise of the Son of Perdition? There certainly are indications of that being so. Our politicians, judges and educators cannot or will not see truth, even when presented to them with undeniable evidence.
Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders are accepting the psychological deception of gender dysphoria and embracing the tolerance agenda and same-sex couples.
The lies that have been sown, leading the churches to such delusion, is a study of its own and will be the subject of the next blog.
But let’s not overlook the hope and assurance the apostle gave to those who do not lose their love for truth.
“But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, beloved brothers of the Lord, because God has from the beginning called you to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth. 14 To this He called you by our gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter” (2 Thess. 2:13-15).
God has a remnant of righteous ones who will not give into political correctness and the pressure for tolerance.
They will not allow the rewrite of truth and history to sway their stance on the infallible, inerrant Word of God.
They have not allowed themselves to become passive or slothful in their study of the Holy Bible and worship in the house of God.
They choose to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning, their passion for the Lord Jesus Christ and their love for His Word white hot.
These will not be caught in the delusion. {eoa}
Dr. F. Dean Hackett has served in full-time Christian ministry since October 1971. He has ministered throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, serving as pastor, conference speaker and mentor. He has planted four churches, assisted in planting 15 others, and currently serves as lead pastor of Living Faith Church in Hermiston, Oregon. Dr. Hackett founded Spirit Life Ministries International in 2001 to facilitate ministries in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and to open a training center for workers in those nations. You can find him at F. Dean Hackett – Foundational, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
