In Search Of The Origins Of The Pretrib Doctrine: Part 8: Is The Pretribber In Danger Of Accepting A New Age Christ?

In "Jerome's Apology In Answer To Ruf inus--Book III" (AD 402) f rom t he writ ings of t he early Church f at hers, Jerome wrot e, Yet it behoves us t o know t hat t he enemy is wont t o count erf eit t his salut ary advent of Christ wit h cunning f raud in order t o deceive t he f ait hf ul, and in t he place of t he Son of Man, Who is looked f or as coming in t he majest y of His Fat her, t o prepare t he Son of Perdit ion wit h prodigies and lying signs, t hat inst ead of Christ he may int roduce Ant ichrist int o t he world; of whom t he Lord Himself warned t he Jews bef orehand in t he Gospels, "Because I am come in My Fat her's Name, and ye received Me not , anot her will come in his own name, and him ye will receive." And again, "When ye shall see t he abominat ion of desolat ion, spoken of by Daniel t he Prophet , st anding in t he holy place, let him t hat readet h underst and." Daniel, t heref ore, in his visions speaks very f ully and amply of t he coming of t hat delusion: but it is not wort h while t o cit e inst ances, f or we have enlarged enough already; we t heref ore ref er any one who may wish t o know more concerning t hese mat t ers t o t he visions t hemselves. The Apost le also himself says, "Let no t han deceive you by any means, f or t hat day shall not come except t here come a f alling away f irst , and t hat man of sin be revealed, t he Son of Perdit ion, who opposet h and exalt et h himself above everyt hing t hat is called God, or t hat is worshipped, so t hat he sit t et h in t he t emple of God, shewing himself as t hough himself were God." And soon af t erwards, "Then shall t hat wicked one be revealed, whom t he Lord Jesus shall slay wit h t he breat h of His mout h, and shall dest roy wit h t he bright ness of His coming: whose coming is af t er t he working of Sat an wit h all power and signs and lying wonders." And again, short ly af t erwards, "And t heref ore t he Lord shall send unt o t hem st rong delusion, t hat t hey may believe a lie, t hat all may be judged who have not believed t he t rut h."' For t his reason, t heref ore, is t his "delusion" f oret old unt o us by t he words of Prophet s, Evangelist s, and Apost les, lest any one should mist ake t he coming of Ant ichrist f or t he coming of Christ . But as t he Lord Himself says, "When t hey shall say unt o you, lo, here is Christ , or lo, He is t here, believe it not . For many f alse Christ s and f alse prophet s shall come and shall seduce many." But let us see how He hat h point ed out t he judgment of t he t rue Christ : "As t he light ning shinet h f rom t he east unt o t he west , so shall t he coming of t he Son of Man be."
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Jerome warned of a coming of t he ant ichrist being mist aken f or t he coming of Christ . Today many debat e whet her t he Pret ribulat ion doct rine is dangerous, t hat whet her or not Christ ians could be deceived int o f ollowing t his f alse Christ . I believe it is, because It t ells Christ ians t o look f or Christ t o come at a t ime when He will not come, opening t he door t o a f alse "Christ " t o be f ollowed It t ells Christ ians t hat when t his "Christ " comes, he will t ake t hem somewhere by means of a spirit ual experience The Pret rib belief in immanency - t hat t here is not hing else t o be f ulf illed bef ore Jesus comes - opens t he door f or t his decept ion because He can now come at any t ime, even t oday or t omorrow. In Post t ribulat ionism, Christ can only be immanent when we reach t he end of t he t ribulat ion period when t he event s of t he sixt h seal will t ake place. Some Pret ribbers show t he uncert aint y of t heir belief in t he doct rine by saying t hat if Jesus does not come just bef ore or at t he incept ion of t he Tribulat ion, t hey wouldn't be deceived. But , I say, some do not know t he power of decept ion. They've already f allen f or a f alse doct rine, t he seeds of which came f rom spirit s not of God. Many in t he Church t oday have f allen f or t he current apost asy af t er cent uries of being warned t hat such an event will def init ely happen. Decept ion is a very possible t hing in t he Church, especially in t his day and age. Is t here such a st rong decept ion ahead t hat Christ ians will f all f or a f alse "Christ " coming at a dif f erent t ime? I believe t he st rong possibilit y is t here. In spit e of t he t remendous amount of evidence coming f ort h regarding Ribera, Lacunza, Macdonald, Irving, Kelly and Darby, not t o ment ion t he Pret ribbers being present ed excellent Script ural evidence t here is no Pret rib rapt ure, t he vast majorit y of Pret ribulat ionist s ref use t o t urn f rom t heir error. In f act , it seems any debat e only hardens t heir heart all t he more. In Jesus' own descript ion of His overwhelmingly visible parousia t hat occurs "immediat ely af t er t he t ribulat ion," He warned of deceit several t imes: Mat t hew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unt o t hem, Take heed t hat no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many. Mat t hew 24:10 And t hen shall many be of f ended, and shall bet ray one anot her, and shall hat e one anot her. 11 And many f alse prophet s shall rise, and shall deceive many. Mat t hew 24:24 For t here shall arise f alse Christ s, and f alse prophet s, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch t hat , if it were possible, t hey shall deceive t he very elect . 25 Behold, I have t old you bef ore. 26 Wheref ore if t hey shall say unt o you, Behold, he is in t he desert ; go not f ort h: behold, he is in t he secret chambers; believe it not . 27 For as t he light ning comet h out of t he east , and shinet h even unt o t he west ; so shall also t he coming of
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t he Son of man be. Not e - t hese are warnings f rom t he Lord Himself against DECEIT: "Take heed," "shall deceive many," and "if it were possible, t hey shall deceive t he very elect . . . Behold, I have t old you bef ore . . . believe it not ." Jesus wasn't just blowing of f st eam. He was t he Son delivering a message of warning and danger f rom His heavenly Fat her concerning t he culminat ion of all t hat God had been doing since t ime began. Of special int erest is Jesus' st at ement concerning f alse prophet s in verses 10 and 11, where t he prophet s inst igat e an apparent ly successf ul apost asy, t urning many f rom t he f ait h. As a result , love among God's people grows cold, and is replaced by hat e. Whenever t rue and decept ive messages are mixed, t here is division result ing in visible apost asy and a change in ult imat e vision. All t hat is needed t o st art t his process is one small change in t he t rut h. From t hen on, it is just a mat t er of let t ing t he weed grow t o f ruit ion. The devil's goal is unit y in t he world and apost asy in t he Church, f or t he purpose of leading t he Church int o t hat world t hrough spirit ual decept ion t o a f alse Christ . How deep can such decept ion go? We believe it is t his deep: t he devil has most likely set up t he coming of a f alse Christ t o mimic t he parousia ant icipat ed in pret ribulat ionism (and ot her isms, except post t ribulat ionism - I will deal only wit h pret ribulat ionism here). Heirs t o t he belief t hat only Christ ians will see Jesus' coming f or t he Church bef ore t he t ribulat ion, eit her visibly or invisibly, pret ribbers are most likely one of t he t arget s f or t he New Age occult (meaning "secret ") "leap int o t he heavens" I will now describe. In t he prologue of his book, "Inside The New Age Night mare" (pp.89-91), Randall Baer writ es t hat he was involved in East ern myst icism since his t eenage years, event ually becoming an int ernat ional New Age t eacher on t he nat ional t eaching circuit . The reason he wrot e t his book was because he became a Christ ian. He said "I want you t o know exact ly what t he New Age Movement is about ." Baer discusses t wo major schools of New Age t hought concerning humanit y: The f irst is t ransf ormat ional, in which all men reach a st at e of consciousness t hat enables t hem t o see t hat heaven has been here on eart h all t he t ime, and t hey f inally reach a point where t hey can see it . The second school of t hought , labeled t he "Quant um Leap of Consciousness," has a st rong similarit y t o Pret ribulat ionism. This Quant um Leap int o t he heavens is t ypif ied in Baer's quot e f rom a New Age Cent er's lit erat ure: "We are on t he brink of a new age, a whole new world. In t he t winkling of an eye, mankind's awareness, our collect ive consciousness, is going t o make an inst ant aneous quant um leap int o t he heavens. Everyt hing will change in a f lash of divine Light . Get ready. Your heavenly herit age await s. Come on in; t he wat er's f ine . . . He who hesit at es is lost . . . . He who chooses lif e is f ound" (From promot ional mat erial f rom "The Cent er f or New Age Light .")
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Terminology borrowed f rom script ure, no doubt . Baer sums up t he above quot e wit h t he st at ement t hat some f act ions of t he New Age believe t hat "Eart h and humanit y will lit erally leap in a f lash of light int o t he heavens above." He goes on t o say t hat t his Quant um Leap model "is direct ly t ied t o some f orm of divine int ervent ion. Though t here are a rich variet y of concept s about t he nat ure and f orm of t his divine int ervent ion, essent ially a sovereign and omnipot ent celest ial f orce is said t o deliver Eart h int o t he heavens above. Various groups at t ribut e t his int ervent ion t o various sources." Baer closes t his sect ion wit h t he st at ement t hat t he Quant um Leap view cont ains wit hin it self predominant t hemes t hat "lie much more t owards mediumship, spirit ism, wit chcraf t , psychic powers, and sorceries in myriad shapes and f orms." He at t ribut es increased levels of demonic f orces in t he world t oday t o t his branch of t he New Age belief syst em. The New Age has long expect ed such an experience of change, promot ed t hrough New Age philosophers such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Omega Point ) and Mat t hew Fox's Creat ion Spirit ualit y (Quant um Leap). Could Christ ians be deceived t o t he point of accept ing t he coming of "a [supposed] sovereign and omnipot ent celest ial f orce" masquerading as Christ ? I believe t he seeds of such an accept ance are viable. Hint s of t he "mediumship, spirit ism, wit chcraf t , psychic powers, and sorceries in myriad shapes and f orms" are evident in t he origins of t he pret ribulat ion doct rine. For inst ance, we've already looked at Margaret Macdonald's spirit ist ic vision concerning t he second coming which was delivered by a spirit not of God, and it draws very close t o what some New Agers describe as "The Second Coming.". So, is t here a hint of evidence t hat Christ ians can be deceived? Look at t he apost asy. Look at t he phenomena f rom New Age spirit s t hat invaded t he Church t hat were "t ransf ormed" int o "Christ ian" experiences. Look at t he appearances of "Jesus" in meet ings, even in f ire at t imes. People are seeing "Him" in visions, and also "angels" t hat act ually minist er t o people. We know t he visions and promises of Benny Hinn regarding "Christ " appearing in meet ings. We are already hearing of "mediumship, spirit ism, wit chcraf t , psychic powers, and sorceries in myriad shapes and f orms" being t aken as Christ ian pract ices and event s on which t he whole agenda of t he modern day "Church" hinges. Put t hese t oget her wit h seeing "Jesus" and "angels" in t he spirit in so many f orms and f ashions, and see t he st rong possibilit y t hat t he st age is being set f or a decept ive "Second Coming of Christ " at a t ime f oreign t o Script ure, i.e., t he Pret ibulait on doct rine. Even t he language of t he "revival" is basic Barbara Marx Hubbard doct rine, who also believes in a Quant um Leap where man changes f rom Homo Sapien t o Homo Universalis (corporat e, universal human). If you don't believe me, look at t he comparisons I have done bet ween New Age and t he "revival" at PART IV: Laughing: Deeper Realit ies and Part Five: The Preparat ion Of The Corporat e Child. If Irving bought int o Macdonald's vision t o use t he idea of it in his "secret coming" and brought t hat spirit int o t he Church, why do we believe Pret ribbers when t hey say t hey won't be deceived if t heir is a f alse "rapt ure"? If t he "revival" brought t he New Age agenda int o t he Church - lock, st ock and barrel - as described in t he t wo f iles I ref erenced above, why do we t hink Pret ribbers won't buy int o a f alse New Age experience of a "rapt ure"? These are t wo major decept ions t hat
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have deeply deceived people who responded t o t he gospel at one t ime. What in heavens name do we t hink will st op t he decept ion short of a f ake rapt ure bef ore t he t ribulat ion? I don't know how t he devil will work his deceit f ul "leap int o t he heavens" in a count erf eit coming of "Christ " as f ar as t he Christ ian is concerned, but we know he will. Decept ions are rampant now, and it is not even logical t o t hink t hat t he adversary would ignore t he premier event of our t ime and work his decept ions around it . I am basically saying "let t he buyer beware" because t here is already a f alse "Christ " appearing in t he "Church" wit h signs and wonders, and some Christ ians have f allen and are f alling f or it . We've drained our energies warning people about Pret ribulat ionism and a f alse revival, but t o what avail? And yet we give t he Pret ribulat ionist t he benef it of t he doubt t hat he won't be deceived when t he culminat ion of it s promised rapt ure arrives. We call t he "revival" and t he apost asy t he delusion God has sent , and I am believing more and more t hat pret ribulat ionism is a part of t hat . ======= Part 1: Is Pret ribulat ionism Found In The Early Church Fat her's Writ ings? Part 2: Psuedo-Ephraem Depict s A Post t rib, Not Pret rib, Rapt ure Part 3: The Early Church Was Fut urist In It s Prophet ic Out look Part 4: The Birt h Of The Pret ribulat ion Doct rine In The 1800s Part 5: Margaret Macdonald's Original Secret Coming Vision Part 6: Discerning The False Spirit That Delivered The Secret Coming Doct rine Part 7: The Pret rib Doct rine Came From A "Revival" Similar To Today's Part 8: Is The Pret ribber In Danger Of Accept ing A New Age Christ ? Home Page

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