Nuggets from An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith – Spiritual Deception Even in the Church

At the same time that the world is being set up to worship the Antichrist, so is the professing Christian church. Paul’s warnings concerning apostasy, or a turning away from the faith in the last days, are many. One of the specifics he mentions seems unbelievable: “The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith [apostasize], giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy:4:1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
See All...). Such a prophecy is shocking: that a characteristic of the last days will be trafficking with evil spirits by those who call or have called themselves Christians! Yet our generation is experiencing this to a degree never before known in history.

There have always been attempts to contact the spirit world through séances, Ouija boards, and other divination devices. Very few participants were involved, however, and they rarely admitted the practice, which was generally conducted in semidarkness and was always looked at askance by the average person. But today Spiritism is practiced by scores of millions of people around the world, although under a variety of new forms and called by different names that make it widely acceptable.

In the church, too, there is a departure from the faith but in the name of faith. Seducing spirits are being contacted, but here they don’t pose as “deeper levels of the psyche” or as “ascended masters” but as Christ Himself. The practice of visualizing “Jesus” is being used in “inner healing” and in order to enhance one’s prayer life or to gain a deeper insight into what Jesus taught.

The visualized “Jesus” literally moves on its own and speaks in its own voice. Contact has been made with a demonic spirit, not with Jesus, who does not appear in response to visualization. This powerful occult technique is exactly how witchdoctors conjure up their spirit guides—and now it is in the church. The explosion of this phenomenon worldwide to become rampant even in the church is unique to our generation and provides further evidence that we could be in the last of the last days.

Paul was given remarkable insights which are so uniquely applicable to our modern world that they could not possibly have come to him by any means except divine inspiration. He warned: “…in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves” (2 Timothy:3:1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
See All...,2). Mankind has always been self-centered, selfish, and narcissistic. Our generation, however, is the first one in history that is being taught how to love self. It is now widely accepted that we naturally dislike ourselves and must learn to love ourselves before we can love God or other people. The first commandment has become “Thou shalt love thyself,” relegating “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God” to second place.