Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



One of the most enticing aspects of Roman Catholic Saint and
idol worship, is that of the concept of secrets. This is one
of Satan's favorite tricks with occult religions. He is the
master when it comes to arousing the curiosity of we humans,
through some purported hidden knowledge, which will only be
revealed to those who have been found worthy of such honor.
We find this very same ploy being used in kabalism, masonry,
satanism, illuminism, etc. Please don't ever forget that
Satan knows exactly how to use human pride and vanity, in
order to bring about our downfall. Isn't this exactly what
he did with Adam and Eve? Didn't he convince them that God
was holding back important information from them? Consider
the tempting words which that subtle serpent used in order
to bring rebellion, sin and death into the world:

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?" (Genesis 3:1)

You see; Satan was basically saying, 'Hey, I know something
that you don't know. I have a secret that I want to share
with you. God hasn't told you everything, and He is afraid
for you to find this out.'. If one carefully examines the
history of Fatima, and closely studies the messages from
Medjugorje, as I did for a time, this is precisely what he
will discover. The 'visionaries' have supposedly been given
some secret knowledge which is not meant to be revealed to
the world yet; and it attracts the unwary and the ignorant
like flies to a pile of garbage! If you doubt that this is
so, consider the years of controversy which have surrounded
the third secret of Fatima. All of these deceptive religions
and brotherhoods boast of some level of secret wisdom and
knowledge which is hidden below the surface, and just out of
sight. Well, if it is below the surface, then it is in the
dark; and it is a work of darkness; and we are not to have
anything to do with it. We will look at this topic again in
part eight of this series.

So again, this idea of secrets is all a well-laid-out plan
by Satan, because God's true Word is open to the entire
world, both to read and to study. It isn't just meant for a
chosen few, such as when the Roman Catholic hierarchy kept
the Scriptures in Latin for literally centuries, in order to
keep the truth out of the hands of the common people. The
Word of God is meant for anyone, and for everyone, who has a
sincere desire to know and to understand it, in order that
he might freely receive Eternal Life. As the Scriptures tell
us plainly:

"...freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8, KJV

"And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under
a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a
candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be
manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it
should come abroad." Mark 4:21,22, KJV

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?" Romans 8:32, KJV

"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely."
Revelation 21:6, KJV

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Revelation 22:17, KJV

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him." James 1:5, KJV

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you." John 14:26, KJV

So again, any belief system which claims to possess some
esoteric knowledge, or some secret wisdom which is only
reserved for a chosen few, such as the set of secrets which
were supposedly revealed only to the children at Medjugorje,
should be viewed with extreme suspicion. Through his subtle,
deceptive works, Satan, the false angel of light, will cause
a person to fall into disbelief, or to accept a counterfeit
religion; such as we see today in Roman Catholicism, and in
many other false religions around the world as well. Is it
really any wonder that in this age of strong delusion and
lying wonders, that many people are attracted by the occult,
by self-styled psychics, by horoscopes, by New Age thought,
by aliens and UFOs, and by other similar satanic traps? All
of these things use knowlege of the unknown to attract their
victims; and the secrets of Fatima and Medjugorje are no
different.

To reiterate what I said earlier; as far as I am concerned,
any being, whether human, 'alien' or spiritual, which denies
the Divinity and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ, is a liar and
a deceiver. They are antichrist! Any church, organization,
fellowship, faith or religious doctrine which seeks to lower
Jesus from His unique status as the only begotten Son of God
who alone died for the sins of the world, is also promoting
a lie and a deception. As I explain in my article 'The Holy
Qur'an: Doctrine Of Devils', this is exactly what is taught
by Islam. While the Muslims accept Jesus Christ as a great
Prophet of God, they do not believe that God has a Son. Not
only that, but they also claim that Muhammad was the final,
and the greatest prophet, who likewise ascended bodily into
paradise. Allow me to remind you of what Jesus taught us
concerning those who came before Him, and those who would
come after Him as well:

"All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but
the sheep did not hear them." (John 10:8)

"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."
(Matthew 24:24)

Let me warn you. Satan is so subtle, that there are even
some people who claim to believe in Jesus as the Son of God,
yet they teach that His Blood Sacrifice was not necessary
for our Salvation. Such is the case with that damnable book
of heretics, the Urantia Book, which I mentioned earlier.
That damnable tome casts serious doubt upon the necessity of
our Lord's Sacrifice. The Urantia Book is nothing but New
Age psychobabble, full of lies and subtle distortions of the
truth, so don't you believe it! It is poison for your soul!

Let us return now to our discussion on false manifestations.
The sad truth is that some Christians are so eager for real,
physical proof in order to boost their faith, that they will
readily accept anything which appears to be miraculous in
nature, as automatically coming from the Hand of God; and
this is a serious error. If there is one lesson which I am
constantly trying to impress upon my readers, it is that
they should not accept things on their face value. In our
modern day, it seems that many Christians are desirous of
obtaining the more noticeable Gifts of the Spirit; such as
Speaking in Tongues, and the Gift of Prophecy. The desire
for these particular Gifts, is due in part to the erroneous
doctrine which is spread by some churches and denominations,
which basically teaches that unless a person manifests such
Gifts, he is not truly filled with God's Holy Spirit.

In my view, this is an absolute lie. As I point out in some
of the articles mentioned earlier in this series, these are
not the most important Gifts of the Spirit. Furthermore,
while Speaking in Tongues and Prophecy are available to us
Christians, it is important to realize that they can also
become a trap, and a snare; particularly for those people
who are proud in the flesh. In other words, the exercise of
such Gifts can easily change from being Christ-glorifying,
to self-glorifying. They can cause one to boast in the flesh
of some false spirituality. If that weren't enough, another
danger here, is that some people may desire these two Gifts
so much, that they will actually deceive themselves into
believing that they possess them when they really don't. On
a subconscious level, they will begin to try to mimic those
around them who really do possess these Gifts; and this can
obviously lead to the potential danger of false prophecies
being uttered in the Body of Christ, which I will address
again in a moment.

To be quite honest with you, I consider the Gifts of Wisdom,
Knowledge, and Spiritual Discernment, to be of much more
importance and value in our daily Christian walk of faith,
than the Gift of Tongues, and the Gift of Prophecy. Let us
speak honestly here. If more people possessed these Gifts,
instead of some of the others, perhaps we would not see so
many Christians who have been duped by these false prophets,
messengers and 'visionaries'. While some of these Christians
understand that we are supposed to try, or test, the spirits
according to John's admonition, as I mentioned in part one,
what they fail to realize, is that just because a person
verbally confesses belief in Jesus Christ is not enough. In
response to the statement I have just made, some Christians
may be tempted to reply by quoting some of the following
verses to me:

"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting
out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we
forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said,
Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle
in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me."
Mark 9:38,39, KJV

"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by
the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man
can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
1 Corinthians 12:3, KJV

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4:2,3, KJV

If we were to limit our research to these verses alone, it
would definitely seem that I am wrong in my assertion; thus,
some people will say, 'See; that person believes in Jesus
Christ; so the miracles they are doing must surely be of
God'. Or they might say, 'Surely that man is a prophet of
God. He openly confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour!'.
Or perhaps someone else will say 'How can you doubt those
visionaries? They have accepted Christ into their lives'.
What such people fail to do, is to balance Scripture with
Scripture. This is one lesson which I have tried to teach my
readers over and over again. In fact, in a number of my
articles. I speak quite extensively regarding this issue;
such as in 'Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth'. While all
of the previous verses are indeed true, they only represent
half of the Scriptural picture. For example, consider the
following verse which paints a very different picture:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19)

Do you see that? The devils believe in God; the demons know
who God is; but in their rebellious state, they don't accept
His authority over their lives. In like manner, just because
a certain person claims to believe in Jesus Christ, is still
not sufficient proof that their miraculous works are truly
of God; after all, even the devils fear and tremble, and
recognize God the Father. Not only that, but in the Gospels,
we find at least one example of a certain demon-possessed
person who knew, recognized and confessed that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. Consider the story of the demoniac who
was possessed by many devils named Legion, found in the
eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

"And when he was come to the other side into the country of
the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils,
coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man
might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying,
What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art
thou come hither to torment us before the time?"
(Matthew 8:28-29)

Just as James wrote, these devils trembled before Jesus'
presence. They knew who He was; and they also knew what
awaited them in the future. Notice that they say 'Art thou
come hither to torment us before the time?'. It should be
clear then that it isn't that Satan and his demons don't
know who Jesus and His Father are, it is simply that they
reject their Divine Authority. In like manner, there are
many Christians in the world today, both within and without
churches and organizations, who claim to believe in Jesus
Christ. To say one believes in Jesus is easy; people do it
every day. Words are cheap; but some of these people are not
very sincere. They aren't speaking from their hearts, but
only from their heads. Jesus exposed such people very well,
when during a certain clash with the Jews, He quoted from
the Prophet Isaiah. Consider the following verses:

"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but
have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men:" Isaiah 29:13, KJV

"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from
me." Matthew 15:7,8, KJV

"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied
of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth
me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."
Mark 7:6, KJV

"Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:"
Ephesians 6:6,7, KJV

The Salvation forumula is not based upon verbal confession
alone. It isn't just making a verbal show in the flesh in
order to impress others, but rather it is really believing
in our hearts as well. The Apostle Paul made this very clear
when he wrote the following lines to the Roman brethren:

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)

Thus we see that there are clearly two conditions to one's
Salvation; believing inwardly; and confessing openly. Sadly,
some people confess Christ openly, but they don't really
believe inwardly. As I pointed out in part one, this is
precisely what has been happening since the First Century
Church. Even back then, Satan had already crept into the
flocks of God via the false Jewish brethren, in order to sow
division and discord within the Church, so that he could
ultimately destroy the Work of God from within. In speaking
of these false brethren who confess with their mouths, but
yet who deny within their hearts, King Solomon was inspired
to write the following in the Book Of Proverbs:

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to
mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren." (Proverbs 6:16-19)

This is precisely what these false brethren were doing. They
were openly saying, 'Of course we accept Jesus Christ as the
Messiah; ...but!'; and then they would begin spreading their
damnable lies, doubts, heresies and false doctrines. These
subtle deceivers were, and are, wolves in sheep's clothing,
who like to lie in wait, in order to deceive, and to devour
the flocks of God with their twisted doctrines, and their
lying, miraculous wonders, when the proper moment arrives.
Consider the following verses which clearly expose their
evil nature:

"The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels
of the wicked are deceit. The words of the wicked are to lie
in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall
deliver them." Proverbs 12:5,6, KJV

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
(Matthew 7:15)

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:
be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."
(Matthew 10:16)

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive;" Ephesians 4:14, KJV

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"
(1 Peter 5:8)

Some of these sly wolves are priests, pastors, ministers and
shepherds who have totally compromised the true message of
the Gospel, in order that they might retain their wealth,
and their positions of authority, control and respect within
their particular church or fellowship. As I mention in other
articles, the Prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah both exposed the
sins and hypocrisy of these false religionists in their day.
Please read Ezekiel chapter thirty-four for a clear example
of this. While these Prophets were referring to the false
Jewish shepherds of their own day, it is very alarming to
see how their descriptions can easily be applied to members
of the Christian leadership today. I am reminded of Jesus'
warning found in Matthew chapter seven:

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
(Matthew 7:21-23)

Please take careful note of the previous verses. To whom is
Jesus addressing His Words? Who is He describing here? Is it
the leaders and shepherds of other non-Christian religions?
Are they the ones who would be doing these things in His
Name? Definitely not! The Lord is clearly talking about the
Christian shepherds who deceive their flocks by their lying
wonders! Notice that they say 'Have we not prophesied in thy
name?'. Have we not seen this very thing in our current day?
The churches are filled with deceptive false prophets and
visionaries; from the charismatic Catholics, to the more
liberal Pentecostals! We find them on the radio and on the
television set as well; and the Internet is literally full
of sites which contain messages from 'wannabe' prophets. It
seems that everyone has their in-house prophets who tickle
the ears of the Believers with what they want to hear; even
if it is false and never comes to pass. Consider the
following verses:

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will
ye do in the end thereof?" Jeremiah 5:31, KJV

"For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not
sent them, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 29:9, KJV

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
2 Timothy 4:3, KJV

So you see, Satan has been using the false prophecy trick
for literally thousands of years; and yet God's children
continue to be deceived by it. In particular, I am reminded
of the followers of William M. Branham, who some people
claim was a great prophet and faith healer of God. In fact,
as I point out in 'Elijah: Where Are The True Prophets Of
God?', Branham boasted of being the Endtime Elijah; and some
of his most ardent followers adamantly believe this to this
very day. I have read Mr. Branham's personal testimony, and
it is clear that this is what he believed. Although he never
came right out and said it directly, it is clearly suggested
and insinuated in his writings. Well, it seems that even
though Mr. Branham has been dead for several decades now, he
has spawned a generation of William Branham clones. I have
met a number of them on the Internet, who have even joined
our online ministry for a time; that is, until I was forced
to remove them. They just love saying 'Thus saith the Lord',
when maybe the Lord really hasn't spoken through them.
Notice that in that previous verse, the Lord says through
the Prophet Jeremiah 'they prophesy falsely unto you in my
name: I have not sent them'. The Apostle Paul also tells us:

"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets." 1 Corinthians 14:32, KJV

The word 'subject' in that verse is derived from the Greek
word 'hupotasso' which means to arrange under, to be subject
or subordinate to, to submit to, to obey, or to yield to. In
other words, the true Prophet is supposed to control what
comes out of his mouth. He must spiritually discern first,
that the message that he is receiving is truly of the Lord,
before he speaks it. If he isn't sure, if the message seems
to contradict the Scriptures, then he had better shut up, or
not even start prophesying to begin with.

I have read quite a number of wild predictions, prophesied
by both Christian 'prophets' and New Agers alike; and just
as I pointed out in part one, they have not come to pass. As
such, the Scriptures plainly tell us that we should reject
these people, because they have not truly spoken in the Name
of the Lord. Just like those lying demons, they may say that
they believe in Jesus, and they may even say that they are
speaking in the Name of the Lord, but they are liars! Let me
tell you; pride is a deceiver; and some of these Christian
brethren have indeed fallen into its trap! Since God didn't
choose to make them famous, they have apparently chosen to
cultivate their own images as self-styled prophets. I am
reminded of a story found in the Book of Acts, concerning a
man who was known as Simon the sorcerer. Just like some of
these Christians false prophets today, who aren't satisfied
with being humble servants of the Lord, and thus desire to
be famous prophets and healers, Simon too apparently used
his sorcery in order to perform some amazing feats of magic,
as a way to convince the people of Samaria, that he 'was
some great one':

"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime
in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of
Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:"
Acts 8:9, KJV

This proud attitude of wanting to be somebody famous, even
if the desire is to be some great, flaming evangelist for
the Lord, is in absolute contradiction to the Scriptures;
yet sadly, modern Christianity is plagued by this sickening
spirit. The humble, sacrificial attitude which is supposed
to characterize real servants of the Lord, who are willing
to die to themselves, and to their own desires of the flesh,
in order to accomplish God's Will in their lives, and thus
be a blessing to others, is clearly revealed in the
following verses:

"(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth.)" Numbers 12:3, KJV

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall." Proverbs 16:18, KJV

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Matthew 11:29, KJV

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:4, KJV

"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but
to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Matthew 20:28, KJV

"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he
that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Matthew 23:11,12, KJV

"And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto
them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last
of all, and servant of all." Mark 9:35, KJV

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but
whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall
save it." Luke 9:23,24, KJV

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30, KJV

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you." John 15:13,14, KJV

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
Romans 12:1, KJV

"...I die daily." 1 Corinthians 15:31b, KJV

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
(2 Corinthians 4:5)

"But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:"
Philippians 2:7, KJV

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble...Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you
up." James 4:6, 10, KJV

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed
with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace
to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"
1 Peter 5:5,6, KJV

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down
his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren." 1 John 3:16, KJV

What a far cry from the self-glorifying preachers, teachers
and prophets we find within the Body of Christ today! Lord
help us all to be more Christ-like in our nature, and to
truly be servants of all, as was Christ and His followers.
Is it any wonder then that we must go through the Great
Tribulation, in order to purge out the dross and impurities
in our lives? Truly, in our current state, none of us are
ready to meet our Maker. This is why the Prophet Daniel and
the Apostle Peter were inspired to write:

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the
wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall
understand; but the wise shall understand."
Daniel 12:10, KJV

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house
of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
1 Peter 4:17, KJV

As we continue this discussion in part eight, we will be
looking at such topics as false miracle workers, the Word as
our standard, written for our admonition, lack of knowledge,
apostate America and ancient Israel, spiritual famine and
imitation manna, Christ the Cornerstone, a Spiritual Temple,
faith built upon God's Word, the immutability of God's Holy
Word, comparing the fruit, according to our works, flee from
the workers of darkness, keeping our eyes only on Jesus, and
the children of disobedience. I trust that you will join me.

Please go to part eight for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.