False Prophecies

The End Times Revival.

It's one of the most popular things to talk about in Pentecostal or Charasmatic churches today. It's the idea that God has saved His best for last - that in these last days (there is no doubt that these are in fact the last days - even the briefest research will show that this is so) - that in these last days the church will rise up in power and glory even greater than that showed by the early church, and will ussher in God's kingdom on Earth.


Sound's good doesn't it? An end-times army, dedicated to advancing God's kingdom on Earth, demonstrating their message with signs and wonders, and ultimately setting the stage for Jesus Christ to return to Earth!



But it's false.

It's a lie.


Let's see what the Bible has to say about what the church will be like in the end-times (which are now):

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. " (Matthew 24:4-5)

"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love* of many will grow cold." (Matthew 24:11-12)

*This is "agape" love - the love of God revealed inside man.


"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. " (Matthew 24:23 - 24)


So then Jesus Christ Himself prophesised that the end-times church would be marked by deception, false prophecies, lawlessness and lovelessness, and great - but false - signs and wonders. Where is the mention of a great revival?

What else does the Bible say about the end-times church?


Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition... (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)

This is talking about the church - the falling away must be a falling away from the faith - because natural man doesn't have any further to fall! To me it seems that this passage also reveals that the Antichrist (the "man of sin") will come from within the church!


2 Timothy is even more explicit:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

These people "have a form of godliness" - these verses are talking about people who outwardly appear to be godly - therefore it can only be talking about the church!


Now as Jannes and Jambres [the Egyptian priests] resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; (2 Timothy 3:8)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)


The bible is clear on what the end-times church will be like, and there is no mention of a great revival anywhere!

Furthermore it is clear that we should expect divisions and deception in the church:

Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 3b-4)

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. (Acts 20:29-30)


The end-times revival movement is characterised by many, many people claiming to have received prophecies from God (remarkable considering that Jesus said that "the Law and the Prophets were until John" (Luke 16:16)), and by the use of signs and wonders in the so-called "outpourings of the Spirit" - signs and wonders that correspond a lot closer to the work of demons than of God! People crawling on the floor barking like dogs, rolling around in seizures, and unable to speak coherently is NOT the work of the Holy Spirit!

But people will follow this movement because they "have itching ears" and can no longer endure "sound doctrine" - just as the Bible says. These days it is rare to find a decent sermon on good solid biblical doctrine - they have been replaced with speeches on fraternity, community, tolerance, global warming, and fulfillment in life. The truth has been replaced with what people want to hear.

However the Bible is clear - beware of any mass movements in the church in these last days because the only thing that will be spreading in mass throughout the church will be deception. The end-times revival movement, along with the "purpose-driven" movement and the "emergent church" movement is, in fact the apostasy that the Bible is warning about.




So then what of the prophecies in the Bible that do promise a great outpouring of the Spirit with a revival? Because there are many of them. Here are some examples:

"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke." (Joel 2:28-30a)

"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3)

"And it shall be, in that day," says the Lord, "that you will call Me 'my Husband,' and no longer call Me 'my Master,' for I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more." (Hosea 2:16-17a)


So what about these prophecies? They are referring to a great end-times revival. BUT -- they are prophecies given to ISRAEL!! NOT to the church! It is true - in the final Great Tribulation before Christ's return, Israel will return to the Lord and will experience a great outpouring of His Spirit like never before. They will be the light in the darkness in the world - not the church! Yes the church was called to be the light of the world, but in the end-times it will have forgotten its calling and have fallen away from the truth. This is what we see happening around us already today.

All except a few saints - a remnant - who will remain faithful. And these saints will know what it is to share in the sufferings of Christ.

Which will you be?