Many years ago, as I read in the Bible that all the nations of the world would unite to destroy the Jewish nation (Joel 3:2,12; see also Matt. 24:9 and Rev. 14:8), I wondered how a Christian nation--our country--could be brought to league with Muslim nations, and Hindu and Buddhist countries as well, against Israel. Each of these faiths is utterly opposed to the others! It would take a mighty transformation indeed to unite them under any banner!

Only recently have I come to see (in a book by Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing), the mechanism by which this reconciliation can occur: the New Age movement. And already, as Yungen makes clear, Satan's great scheme is far advanced, with its outposts firmly established in popular culture reaching ever deeper into the Church itself.1

Satan's great object, as we know from the Bible, is first to establish his man as the despot or dictator of the whole world. So widespread will his great power be that no one will be able to so much as buy food at the grocery store without displaying the Anti-Christ's mark of ownership. Then, with his power consolidated and his legions marshaled, this Anti-Christ, also named in Scripture as "the Beast," will move to obliterate God's Chosen People, the nation of Israel--thus finally fulfilling Satan's ancient ambition to defeat God's chosen champion, His Son, Jesus Christ (see Genesis 3:15) and rule unchallenged.

A vital part of the Enemy's plan is to create an all-encompassing one-world religion. This unified religion would pave the way for "the coming one"2 awaited by New Agers--i.e., a false messiah, alias "the man of sin." In order to elevate this imposter to world rulership, Satan will need an enthusiastic and dedicated cadre to lead the way, plus the passive acquiesance of "the silent majority," with deadly force waiting in reserve. Adolph Hitler followed this pattern in the 1930s, when he gave defeated Germany a renewed vision of greatness to come. It's a pattern that goes far back in history, probably even as far as Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah who is credited with first uniting all the tribes of man under one government, at Babel/Babylon (Gen. 10:10).3

Satan's plan was checked initially by God's direct intervention, when He split the common language into many different tongues. Satan's one-world attempt with Hitler in our day failed, though at a staggering cost to the world. Yet in the not-too-distant future, Satan will make his ultimate convulsive effort: again his man of the hour will hold forth an iron fist concealed within a velvet glove. This time he will offer peace and plenty to the whole world, and at the same time offer fulfillment of the vision that mankind is God (Gen. 3:5).

How will he do this? By proclaiming that everyone already is as God, at least potentially.4 His heralds are even now sounding forth this message in the world's market places, in its halls of government, and in its churches. The message is as old as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who said to our first mother, "Ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5). It is the same message which long ago empowered the mystery religions spawned by ancient Babylon,5 and today is revived as New Age doctrine. It is the universalist message predicted by New Age prophets to unify the world by drawing multitudes to a "higher consciousness" which transcends all the world's present religions. They believe the present opposing doctrines and dogmas will be superseded for millions of believers around the world who believe they are experiencing oneness with Deity.

With this elite cadre leading the way, with the power of all the communications media under his power, with impressive demonstrations of supernatural power (Mark 13:22), and with the tacit support of "solid citizens" around the world, the Beast will have secured a power base from which to launch his one-world dictatorship. The diminished power of the true children of God will earn them only pursuit and persecution--and the opportunity to be martyrs for the True Christ, Jesus, the Son of God.

Such, in essence, is the direction toward which I am convinced our world is tending. The Son of Perdition will enjoy his brief time of total ascendancy: He will gather his armed might to attack and overwhelm at last the major target of his enmity, God's chosen nation, tiny Israel. And in this final battle before the Millennium, The Lord Jesus will turn the certain destruction of Israel into its glorious triumph, by putting forth His omnipotent power.

Just prior to that hour when Satan's great hope is destroyed, Israel will undergo its final great cleansing trial, from which the surviving remnant will at last rejoice, as a nation, in its Savior, Jesus the Messiah (Zech. 12:10; 13:1, 6, 8-9). Then will follow the onset of the Thousand Years of Peace, when Christ rules the world--with a rod of iron for those who will not accept Him as Savior/Deliverer, and peace and plenty for His followers.

This is the broad sweep of the future as I read the signs of the times, both in Scripture and in ancient and modern literature. Please allow me to explain:

Yungen's research led him to this prediction, in Messiah and the Second Coming, by John Davis and Naomi Rice6: "The coming one" [note: not Jesus, the True Christ, but a false messiah anticipated by mystery religionists beginning with ancient Babylon and culminating in our day by New Agers] "will not be Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, not an American, Jew, Italian, or Russian--his title is not important; he is for all humanity, to unite all religions, philosophies, and nations."

Yungen points out that New Age philosophers don't actually try to reconcile the many diverging belief systems we see in the world today. They regard them all as more or less irrelevant--as simply steps to a higher level of truth, in which doctrines have no real power or place. Instead, these devotees look forward to freedom from all the restraints of "religion," because they have been promised by their "spirit guides" that they will find God within themselves: They will be "God"!

Of course their "spirit guides" are demons, disguised as "angels of light" (2 Cor. 11:14), and these "ascended ones" are simply deluded fodder for Satan's control apparatus, but that revelation will only come when Satan and his "ministers" unmask themselves and reveal the mailed fist within the velvet glove.

Meanwhile, his agents find "fields white unto their own peculiar harvest" within the realm of Christendom. This advance corps of Satan's deluders--themselves deluded--come in the guise of Christians, offering a "better way into the presence of God." It is a seduction that is fulfilling before our eyes the biblical prophecy that seducing spirits would turn away multitudes of hearts (1 Tim. 4:1), which will "seduce, if it were possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22).

This way is called "contemplative prayer," which must be entered into by emptying the mind of all thought. This "silence" of the mind supposedly invites God to come in. Actually, however, it unbars the heart's door to the intrusion of the spirit world.

This type of prayer--or non-prayer--is directly descended from Oriental Mysticism, which in turn can be traced to the Babylonian mystery religions which infiltrated Roman Catholicism, and which also spread throughout the world. The method of infiltration was to simply clothe the pagan rituals and belief system with a skin of Christian nomenclature. The principle works well with churches half-asleep and inclined to blindly follow trusted leaders no matter where they lead. It worked in the Fourth Century, and it is working today.

All that the Bible foretells WILL come to pass. We cannot turn that aside. What we can do--must do, for the sake of our souls and the souls of those in our charge--is WAKE UP! Try the spirits (1 John 4:1). Be not deceived by well-sounding titles, but ascertain what lies beneath. Be very sure that it is Jehovah God and our true Lord (not "the Cosmic Christ" who is Satan's imposter) that are glorified.

And gird your loins for the intensifying struggle, as the Lord's true soldiers. But know that the battle is the Lord's, and He will be ultimately victorious. He cannot fail! And how sweet will be our victory with Him!

Author Bio: Ted Kyle was managing editor of Pulpit Helps magazine for fifteen years. Prior to that, he was involved with newspaper journalism until he accepted Jesus Christ at the age of 40. He resides in Oregon with his wife of 55 years.

Notes:
1. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing, (Silverton, OR, 2002, 2006, Lighthouse Trails Pub. Co., eds. of 2002 & 2006), p. 9.
2. Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, quoted in A Time of Departing, p.10.
3. Ralph Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion, (Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Assoc., 1966, 1981 ed.), p. 8.
4. Yungen, op cit, p. 14.
5. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, (Ontario, CA, Chick Publications, (latest reprint n.d.), pp. 96-97.
6. John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second Coming, (Wyoming, MI, Coptic Press, 1982), p. 150; quoted by Yungen, p. 114.
7. Hislop, op cit, p. 103

In his book A Wonderful Deception, Warren Smith comes to the startling conclusion that the new age, instead of being a bygone movement of the past, is alive and well, and in the process of merging with a false church is a movement that threatens to destroy orthodox Christianity as we know it. (Church + New Age = Emergent Church) It is a movement that will "deceive wonderfully" (Daniel 8:24).

And that's just for starters. What this is all leading to is an ecumenical, one world religion (as prophesied many places in Scripture, most notably in Revelation). This global religion will be panentheistic in nature; that is, the belief that God is "in" everything. This of course stands in distinct contrast to the Christian view, which holds that God is separate from, and transcendent to, His creation. But Smith even makes the case that the scientific community is on the verge of proclaiming that this religious worldview--panentheism--is not only true, but is scientifically verifiable. As Christians, we know that God "writes" his signature on many aspects of creation, just as a painter might sign his painting, signifying that the work is His. But the (largely atheistic) scientific community, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, does not (or will not) "see" any evidence for a sovereign, creator God who stands separate from His creation. Instead, they are on the brink of "proving" a god who is identical to the pagan and occultic worldview of what god is: god as vibration, as energy, as chi, prana or flow (depending on the worldview one holds). This belief is of course preferable to an atheist, who does not want to bend the knee in humble submission to the creator God of the universe. Vibration? Energy? Those are just natural laws--and require no response because they are, in essence, "neutral." But the sovereign creator God does require a response from His creation: either repent of sin, love Him and come to him as he requires (through the blood of Christ) or rebel against him. The Bible states that there are only two choices! Jesus himself said plainly: "He who is not for me is against me." (Luke 11:23)

As a former new ager, I have also been doing new age research for a few years, and have noticed a curious trend in the publications I review: there is increasing talk about something described as a "quantum leap," a "planetary evolution." These terms are used for the new age belief that the world as a whole will begin to move from "individual co-creation" with the world around it to a "planetary co-creation." This is new age parlance for the idea that the number of people awakening to their "inner divinity" will reach such a "critical mass" that the entire world, including those not in alignment with this belief system, will be swept along toward the next stage of planetary evolution: world peace. This of course is also in direct contrast to scripture which states that because of the Fall, we are born wicked and "dead in our sins." We have no inner divinity. But many innocent Christians today, thanks to a generation of "seeker sensitive" churches teaching "doctrine lite," do not even know the truth of scripture enough to recognize deception when they see it--and thus are buying into this belief system, which is nothing more than a spiritual wolf in sheep's clothing.

Warren Smith also makes the case well that this "one-ness" and "inner divinity" new age talk is going on in the emergent church movement. The underlying belief in both the new age and in the emergent church seems to be that only when our world awakens to its "one-ness" will there be peace. This is a false eschatology and is actually fulfillment of the prophetic statement in Jeremiah 8:11 (" 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace."). The traditional Christian view has always been that there is no peace and there will be never be peace until Christ returns and reigns over his earthly kingdom.

Warren Smith is a meticulous researcher who dots all his i's and crosses all his t's. If you have heard the terms emergent church, contemplative prayer, fractal theory, quantum leap, etc., and wondered what they meant, then this is a must-read. Satan's lies and schemes aren't new ... but they are remarkably effective. Arm yourself with truth so that you may stand against the deceptions and lies of Satan. Warren Smith's book will open your eyes and help you see the deceptions flowing into today's church.

by Miscellaneous News Source

LTRP Note:

Within a source paper called Spiritual Disciplines: Pathway to Christian Maturity (SDPCM), from the Georgia Baptist Convention (SBC), we learn what is now considered consistent with a proper Protestant approach to spirituality for Christians in the Southern Baptist Convention. Continuing along the lines of Richard Foster Forming Protestant Southern Baptist Convention Spirituality here Apprising Ministries begins with the following from Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster in SDPCM.

You can find SDPCM e.g. under Discipleship Resources of the State Board of Missions of the Alabama Baptist Convention (SBC) right here and it opens with a quote from Foster's magnum opus of spurious spirituality, which Dr. Gary Gilley correctly called a virtual encyclopedia of theological error:

Thirty years ago, Richard Foster, in the beginning of his book, Celebration of Discipline wrote these words: "Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths."

This begs the question: What "classical Disciplines of the spiritual life," which apparently escaped the attention of God's Church Reformers, are we talking about? Pastor Bob DeWaay has done a scholarly expose The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines: A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines; for those who don't know ordained Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard is Foster's twin spiritually, who was once Willard's pastor.Click here to read this entire article.

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