By Don Shoots
So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight (Isaiah 66:4 NKJV).
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11 NKJV). Save
IN the above, God twice introduces us to one of His great and sober acts which produce the continuing degradation of religion which we are witnessing today. It is a very heavy thing to bring those matters up because it involves people, churches and some can’t endure such things. We are still in a deteriorating age—a time of great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
This is a final act on God's part in dealing with mankind. Delusion is not new. We learn from Romans 1 that it is possible for humanity to live, walk, breathe, function, shop, work, go on vacations and even sit within the tabernacle, all the while believing a lie. Stop and think for just a moment what does it mean if everything you accept as truth and have faith in, is a lie?
The reality is that men of all walks of life—intellectual people, graduates from schools of higher learning and so on—can no longer differentiate between right and wrong. It is possible for intelligent people to function and live with society’s demands without understanding.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me (Daniel 4:34).
Delusion is not unusual or as peculiar as we try to make it. Nebuchadnezzar not only lost his understanding, but also his reasoning.
Many people today have blinded minds. They may drive a new car and own a home, but they’re blind. Some are very intelligent yet they are blind.
… whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:4 NKJV).
No doubt this blindness means lacking in discernment; unable to understand.
This delusion predicted by Isaiah and Paul is a God-sent delusion. God is love, and all of His sovereign acts are based upon His never-failing love in His dealings with lost humanity. He still chastens and rebukes those that He loves (Revelation 3:19). When people demonstrate a perpetual gullibility, and even wilful compliance with evil, one must wonder what is really the root cause of it all? Is it ignorance? Is it indifference? Maybe it is personal ambition? Perhaps the love of comfort?
There is another possibility it could be that you and I are about to wake up to the reality of a God-sent divine delusion on society in the closing moments of time. This could be the answer to the degradation that we have seen across the globe. A time when men can no longer understand and have lost their reasoning—groping in a world of darkness, blind, and their discernment vanished; unable to function in the realm of a living God.
To delude means to convince that something false is true. It is the act of deceiving, the affect of a mislead mind. There is not a cancer worse than that! When the very motor system of your being no longer knows truth and is now so deluded that it is constantly misleading you, you have no foundation on which to stand. It is over!
We’re in an hour when the angel of light has come with a message of righteousness. Thousands of intelligent people have no discernment or reasoning to understand what's happening.
Are we dealing with a straightforward rebellion against Christ and truth? Or has a final delusion set in, whereby men can no longer interact with a holy God? People are unable to sit in church and hear the Spirit of God speak softly in their ears. They can now sit in the presence of the Lord and not know it and not perceive God’s purity and Holiness. Could it be a final delusion?
In the 2007 July 7th issue of Time Magazine, there was an article about Harry Potter. The title was: “Why We Love a World Where Dragons Fly and Religion is Fantasy” This is where we are in our society that doesn’t know truth and yet craves and desires the false, thinking that it is truth. How can this be?
Delusion is sweeping this world and God is causing it. Men have dabbled with His holy affairs and they’ve gone too far. They’ve played with holiness and removed the altars from the sanctuaries. They’ve added to and taken away from God’s holy Word. They’ve tarnished the testimony of His only begotten Son and grieved the Holy Spirit. Now He’s sent delusion so they can no longer recognize truth.
The only reason a society gets to that level of depravity is because there is something looming that is greater than a simple rebellion against God. It’s greater than just a resistance to truth. In 20 years of observing the city in which I live, the strength of the full gospel message has dissipated. The evidence is here; delusion has come in. Many are falling away, while the remnant church is getting herself ready to see Jesus Christ.
The article in Time Magazine about Harry Potter goes on to say, “If you want to know who dies, the answer is easy: God.” This is the world in which we live. Harry Potter is one of the most popular fictitious characters that exists today and has been eagerly welcomed by our school systems and invited into thousands of homes. This reading material is full of death, old magic, spells, dark arts, sacrifices, wizards, witches and sorcerers. It is Satan’s manifestation in is boldest form; preying on the innocent. In Britain, six coins with the images of Harry Potter have been minted. Why would the entire system of our world welcome such garbage which tells little children, there is no God? How could intelligent parents and administrators feed children deadly poison? How can this happen except for a sent delusion?
In 26 years of counselling and pastoring, I’ve dealt with people who wouldn’t know the truth if it stared them in the face. I have counselled them for hours, preached the word of God and they never got the picture. They never see truth. I’ve said, “What is wrong?” The answer is delusion; a place where a man or woman can no longer discern or reason. They are now convinced that something false is true.
I’ve been amazed that God hasn’t allowed caused things to die out. He manages this entire world so meticulously. He could have let yellow fever wipe out society. He could have allowed polio or the Adolph Hitlers and the Neros to annihilate mankind. In managing this world, there have been numerous times He could have allowed us all to die, from wars, nuclear bombs or diseases or catastrophic weather, but He didn’t. As creator, God made us with a free will and lets us choose and believe what we want to believe. After we’ve craved and pursued the opposite of His truth, God at last lets us now believe what we desire to believe; He sends a delusion.
The delusion in Isaiah 66 was caused because they were a people who chose their own way.
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent de¬ceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).
“Corrupted” here means withered. It is possible for a mind to wither and wilt away because it has rebelled with such arrogance against its Creator. A withered mind can no longer be the mind of Christ because it has accepted a rebellion against God and it has now succumbed to a strong delusion.
I’ve looked into their eyes and listened to their words and recognised that they no longer had an understanding of the things of God. Their minds have been corrupted and wilted.
The mind set of Christ on the cross was “not my will”. If you haven’t learned to pray that, or if you’ve neglected to do so, first repent, then start praying that way. “Not my will, but thine be done.”
Somewhere Israel chose their own way and the will of God was no longer important. Then they began to delight in unholy things. If you stump your toe and you don’t feel pain, be careful. If you make a mistake and you don’t feel a prick in your heart, be alarmed. Don’t try to pass it off; the Holy Spirit plays no games. Our desires must die so His can live!
Another reason God sent the strong delusion is because HE said “I called and nobody answered” If God ever calls, you must answer! You may feel frail and weak, but answer Him. God called young Samuel when he didn’t know all the scriptures or have all the answers; he simply answered.
God said, “I called you and none answered”. He sent a strong delusion because He spoke and nobody heard Him.
We are in the last of the last days and this helps explain the madness. God saw every time society shook its fists at Him. God has watched while we have aborted tens of thousands of precious babies. God has recorded every homosexual act and man’s aggressiveness to have it legalised. God’s been watching as men with power and authority turn His truth into error and preach false doctrine. Influential men who stand behind pulpits are telling people you don’t have to repent and that the cross and the blood aren’t necessary. They say to die to self is outdated. They’ve preached a self esteem gospel which emphasizes self needs and encourages self satisfaction. We’ve been a people which loved sin more that the Word of God. In God’s sovereignty, He has spoken. “I don’t stop everything, but I send judgment to all things. You can now believe what you want to believe.”
The cause in 2 Thessalonians was only one: “They did not receive not the love of truth”. Can you see it narrowing down? There were four reasons in the Old Testament and only one reason in the New Testament, which is getting us closer to the book of Revelation and the end of this age. Can men fill their minds with every vile element of a sin-sick world and remain holy? This is the core of the message. Our general religious crowd says “yes” and God says “no”!
Read this scripture in the last book of the Old Testament carefully.
You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Ev¬eryone who does evil Is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17 NKJV). Society’s posture in Malachi, ushered in 400 silent years between Malachi and Matthew. Their mind-set removed any more open revelations from God and cut off the interactions of heaven.
It has reached such proportions you can no longer say, a man loves sin more than he loves God. It’s deeper than that now! Men have walked into church and now they don’t know what’s right and they think what’s wrong is right!
There is an Antichrist walking along this road and those who do not know Christ will follow him because they have. They will have a kindred spirit with him. A media report speaking of the USA presidential election said, “We hoped this election would be decided on ability and experience, but again it looks like popularity and charisma is what takes the office.” This is delusion. “It doesn’t matter who you are, if you have a charismatic personality, we’ll follow you”! They want the Antichrist to come. They’re beckoning Harry Potter to come. How can this be? There’s a strong delusion!
“People prefer to believe what they prefer to be true” (Sir Francis Bacon)
Paul said those would be damned who did not believe the truth (2Thessalonians 2:12). He lays before us a three fold repudiation of truth. It affected their hearts in that they loved NOT the truth. It affected their minds because they believed NOT the truth. It affected their wills because they had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now the apostle Paul is saying it’s almost all lost. Their minds, will, and hearts now repudiate truth. Mankind chose his own way and delighted in unholy things.
God called and none answered, God spoke and none heard. Delusion came because they did not receive the love of the truth. This final hour has revealed a generation that prefers a lie over truth. We have come to God’s final response to those who have chosen not to receive Him. This final act brings us to a certainty of the end of time. If you can feel the conviction of the sweet Holy Spirit, first rejoice, then repent and seek to be drawn closer to Him. The truth still sets men and women free! (John 8:32)
This article is reproduced by kind permission. It first appeared in the June 2008 “The Message of Truth and Purpose” a publication of Central
