God clearly defined how the last days would play out, in the Bible. In fact, the book of Revelation provides the best overview of the transition from the age of grace into the seven-year Tribulation, which ends with the inauguration of the millennial kingdom. However, the primary focus of the book of Revelation is the Tribulation, during which all governments succumb to the one world: government, religion, and economy of the antichrist (Rev 13). This suggests that all nations will be in a state of decline at the end of the age of grace, an end which is clearly upon us. Therefore, trying to revive the United States is akin to warring against God’s plan. This means those who are procreating the great awakening have fallen for a grand deception that will leave them hopeless when the delusion crumbles.

This article will attempt to shed light upon the grand deception of the great awakening while simultaneously proving that believers are actually to be occupied with fulfilling the Lord’s will while looking for that blessed hope called the rapture.

Everywhere you turn, someone is proclaiming that a great awakening is taking place in America. Indeed, the call for revival is rising to a crescendo as the voices of many spiritual and political leaders converge into a plea for the impossible, the resurrection of a once great nation. Sadly, America, once the greatest beacon of hope to ever exist, is now fallen and writhing as a blind one in death throes. The brilliant light of this nation, which was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, has been extinguished because of continued rejection of God.

Now, incredibly, even this call for revival is a sign of America’s departure from the true light provided by walking in the will of God. You see, the great awakening is not about following the biblical mandate of the Great Commission and reaching out to lost souls (Matt 28:19-20). Instead, it is about reviving a lost nation. This is not what God called the church to do. Throughout Scripture, the church is charged with being about His business of making disciples and told to ‘look up’ when the signs of the times became what they are now as the great falling away manifests. With this in mind, it is paramount to understand what is behind this grand deception known as the great awakening: the ‘Kingdom Now’ heresy.

Briefly, the ‘Kingdom Now’ adherents allege that new apostles and prophets have brought forth new revelation from God, which changes the end God so laboriously set forth in Scripture. They believe the kingdom of God will manifest in those who adhere to ‘kingdom now’ beliefs. Thus, doing away with the messy aftermath of the rapture and the subsequent Tribulation. There is just one major problem with their belief system; it is not biblical.

Here are the Scriptures that validate the viewpoint that the church purifies the world through a great awakening and establishes the kingdom now: Chirp…Chirp…Chirp…Crickets. That’s right; there are none. Therefore, this idea is completely man-made. This is one of the many ways false leaders have drawn men unto themselves. [1] They simply depart from the sound doctrines of Scripture (1 Tim 4:16; Titus 1:9), make up their own doctrines, and disperse their errant beliefs to the masses who, because they have itching ears, want to hear the message put forth (2 Tim 4:3). [2]

Proponents of the kingdom now theology believe that Jesus will not return until the earth is conquered by the ever-expanding ‘Kingdom of God’ built by men. In reality, consulting God’s Word on the kingdom depicts a ‘coming’ kingdom rather than a ‘now’ kingdom. Perhaps the best place to look for defining information on how the final kingdom actually comes about is from the aforementioned last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, which is a panoramic view of the last days.

Close study of the entire book of Revelation establishes the fact that the authentic church does not usher in the kingdom of God into the world by infiltrating its systems and rising to supremacy. Instead, this most magnificent book describes, in great detail, how the kingdom of the antichrist is built and used to destroy those who come to true belief in Christ during the Tribulation, and the Kingdom of Christ will not ‘come’ into existence until Jesus returns at the very end of the seven-year Tribulation (Rev 20:1-6).

Sadly, many who have been led astray are unknowingly building the faux kingdom of the antichrist, and they will even, without repentance, inadvertently worship the antichrist, believing he is the Christ they had so diligently built the kingdom for. [3] They will even fall for the mark of the beast, believing it is the seal of God. [4] Worse yet, they will also become so zealous that they are the very ones who pursue, persecute, and slay the Tribulation saints. [5]

Throughout history, many of the greatest persecutors have been those who are the most zealous adherents to errant religious belief systems. Fox’s Book of Martyrs provides great detail about these instances. [6] Unimaginably, the coming Tribulation will cause all former persecutions to pale in comparison, as it will be global in scale:

Revelation 13:15

“And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed (NASB).” emphasis mine

Contrary to kingdom now theology, the church is clearly absent from the earth during the Tribulation. In fact, this absence coincides with John being called up to heaven in Revelation 4:1, which many believe is indicative of the rapture. By way of proof, the next time the church is mentioned as the church is in the closing statements of the book in Revelation 22:16, when Jesus reiterates the fact that the entire message of the book of Revelation is to be testified to the churches. This means those who spread the false doctrine of the ‘kingdom now’ are doing so in direct opposition to God’s Word, which is very dangerous.

The specific dangers associated with changing the way God depicts the end are varied and should be emphasized. First, the book of Revelation contains a specific warning about how it is to be preserved and shared:

Revelation 22:18-19

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

This warning is serious indeed. Think about it for a second; changing what the Lord said about how things are concluded, according to His plan, causes the plagues of this book to come upon the one who changes it. Do you realize what this is saying? It is saying the one who dares to change what God has said will not make the rapture and have to suffer the plagues of the Tribulation. Even more serious is the fact that those who alter what God has said will be removed from the book of life. Ironically, this means those who generate and share the kingdom now theology will, in their misguided attempt to establish God’s kingdom on earth, actually be excluded from it altogether.

The second danger, believing there is no rapture and that building a physical kingdom now is the only hope for mankind, causes misplaced focus, which will have a devastating impact on the eternal future of those who are deceived. Imagine for a second that you were deceived into believing that you had to work very hard at rising to the top of whatever field of endeavor you are involved in for the sake of building the kingdom now. Thus, you are steadily working on promoting the physical kingdom while disregarding the future kingdom altogether.

At the last hour, somehow, someway, you see the error of your ways and repent and make the rapture. At that moment, you realize that although you made it to heaven, you got there by the skin of your teeth with no heavenly rewards. This is true because you were busy building the earthly kingdom, which was never to come, instead of building the heavenly kingdom. After all, Jesus teaches that men should lay up treasures in heaven rather than on the earth where moth and rust corrupts (Matt 6:18-19). Sadly, you even missed out on the crown of righteousness which is given to those who long for His appearing (2 Tim 4:8).

One last danger should be discussed here. Believing one lie from false leaders makes the deceived susceptible to other lies. Typically, those who are unsound about one area of the Bible are, because of their misconceptions, wrong about other areas. This often results in the remainder of the Bible having to be modified in order to justify the errant doctrine. This generally leads to increasingly worse deviation, which can cause the deceived to rely even more heavily on the deceiver to sort out all of the problems created by getting off track in the first place. The end result is that deception grows as the blind lead the blind further away from sound doctrine.

The simplest way to avoid all of these dangers is to rely solely on Scripture as the standard of truth. After all, Scripture says, “Let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4). Therefore, the best way to assure correct understanding of what God has relayed to man is to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).

This often-quoted Scripture is paramount because it indicates that every individual has a responsibility to validate each thought and belief by examining it through the light of God’s Word. This type of examination is what caused the Bereans to be included in the pages of the Bible. They simply verified everything said by everyone, even the Apostle Paul (Acts 17:11). This type of exploration of Scripture, regarding the last days, will lead the student to realize the falsehood of the kingdom now doctrine while simultaneously validating the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture, which will take place when the church is in the midst of decline rather than revival, a process that is already underway. [7]

This is not to say that the remnant church is in spiritual decline. Instead, the point is that the remnant church will be in decline in terms of numbers, as many will fall away because they love this world more than the next (2 Thess 2:3; 2 Tim 4:10). Ironically, the false church that propagates the kingdom now doctrine will absorb those who fall away and continue to grow right past the rapture, and they will even achieve their goal of becoming dominant in this world. [8] Unfortunately, they will, without repentance, end up part of the apostate church of Babylon.

Before concluding, it is very important to note that it is not improper to desire revival, which undoubtedly provides growth of the kingdom of God on earth. However, it is crucial to understand exactly what the kingdom of God is right now. Jesus made it very clear that His kingdom is not of this earth, and it will not come to earth until the full force of God’s wrath has reshaped everything we now know as earth during the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments of the Tribulation. With this in mind, what is the kingdom of God right now? Simply put, God’s kingdom exists in the hearts of those who have chosen to make Him King (Luke 17:21). Therefore, the kingdom of God is not a physical, religious or political kingdom. Instead, it is a spiritual kingdom that may only be built and or expanded spiritually.

One special note should be added here. Throughout history, the times of greatest revival have not caused people to rise up and take back their countries. On the contrary, those who have witnessed these great moments always affirm the fact that these times of refreshing are marked by bended knees and yielded hearts which, in turn, leads to the salvation of many in fulfillment of the Great Commission. This is how the ‘spiritual’ kingdom of God grows.

This reflection upon true revival provides further proof that the kingdom now doctrine is false because the doctrine runs contrary to historical revival and the revealed will of God held in Scripture. The good news is that when one forsakes their own will to follow the will of God, He will always lead them to His revealed will in Scripture. In the case of the kingdom, He set forth a specific way for things to play out at the end of time, and that is exactly how things will happen.

By the way, who is it exactly that has always tried to change God’s plan? That would be the great deceiver himself, the god of this world, Satan, who will empower the antichrist during the Tribulation. Dare I forget to mention that God has a plan for Satan as well. He will end up in the ever-burning lake of fire along with all who serve and/or worship him (Rev 20:10-15).

Conclusion

The ‘Grand Deception of the Great Awakening’ is growing in strength and scope. Incredibly, this is further affirmation that God is God as He foretold this nearly two thousand years ago in the Bible. Indeed, the Lord told us that many would depart from teaching sound doctrine while, simultaneously, many would flock to these false teachers because they want to hear the lies they tickle their ears with (2 Pet 2:1-2; 2 Tim 4:3).

The best antidote for this grand deception is a healthy dose of the truth of Scripture which indicates that the remnant church will remain steadfast and continue to fulfill the great commission while simultaneously looking up until raptured. When this light of God’s Word is applied to the errant beliefs of the kingdom now doctrine, the doctrine crumbles because it has no biblical foundation.

Be a Berean and search this out. God has already provided all the answers you seek.

Isaiah 46:10

“I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish'” (BSB).

Website: In His Commission

[1] For greater understanding, see the article “The Rise of Many.”

[2] For greater understanding, see the article “The Greatest Lie Ever Told: The Origin of All Lies.”

[3] For greater understanding, see the article “Thy Will Be Done: The Epicenter of Right and Wrong.”

[4] For greater understanding, see the article “The Ultimate Mandate: The Mark of the Beast.”

[5] For greater understanding, see the article “Only the Ready are Raptured.”

[6] For greater understanding, see this free online resource, “Fox’s Book of Martyrs.”

[7] For greater understanding, see the article “The Five W’s of the Rapture.”

[8] Post rapture, see the article “Open Letter to Those Who Miss the Rapture.“

In 1980, Jerry Falwell declared a ‘holy war’ against the rise of sin and evil that was engulfing this nation at that time. Women were killing their babies in record numbers, and homosexuality was being normalized through our media.

In response to this decadence, Falwell created the ‘Moral Majority,” which he initiated in 1979. It was designed to be a political force that would hopefully reverse the gains that evil had made in our culture. This began the rise of the ‘religious right.’

America had been a God-fearing nation since its founding, and a political conflict was brewing between those who believed in the Bible and those who believed in moral relativism. Falwell believed that he could win this conflict by ensuring that moral politicians were elected to the federal government. These virtuous politicians would then pass legislation in keeping with the word of God rather than nihilism. They would also ensure judges were appointed who would reverse misguided decisions such as Roe vs. Wade and restore moral order back to the country.

Falwell seemed to have limited success in slowing the cultural rot that was taking over the nation during the next ten years. The election of Ronald Reagan, the greatest president of the twentieth century, made the 1980’s a decade of remarkable prosperity that the country had not experienced before. Although great strides were made in the area of taxes, deregulation and military buildup, there was little progress in reversing the moral decline of the nation.

The problem was that Falwell, and the nation, would have been better served if he had proclaimed the Gospel in conjunction with his political activism. His focus on the lawlessness of the nation regarding abortion and homosexuality was laudable, but the call to repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus was, as far as I can tell, missing.

This was exacerbated by the fact that there were many false teachers with which Falwell was associated that he failed to call to repentance. In fact, he often partnered with them to the detriment of the movement.

It is now time for a new organization to be created to declare holy war on the demonic forces that are taking over the nation and the world. Unfortunately, there are very few people of faith left, so this will be a daunting task.

The vast majority of people in this country 40 years ago still had decent moral standards, so it was appropriate to call that organization the ‘Moral Majority.” Judging from the state of our most popular churches in this country, the same cannot be said about the faith of this generation.

We can learn from the failures of the past and create an even more influential movement than the Moral Majority. We can call our new movement “The Faithful Few.” The name is not very intimidating, but if it is done correctly, it can be far more devastating to the Godless than the Moral Majority.

The mission of the Faithful Few is twofold and actually quite simple:

1. Teach people the Gospel (including ‘Christians’).
2. Teach people how to use the Gospel in spiritual battle.

Let’s take each of these two goals individually.

Teach People the Gospel

I know what most people are thinking. Every Christian knows what the Gospel is!

That is where they are mistaken. If you ask the vast majority of Christians what the Gospel is, they will usually verbally fumble around until they finally come up with an inadequate answer. Too much false teaching suppresses the Gospel to the point where most people cannot even testify to it. Most of our seminaries are not much help either.

This is a sad situation because Paul was very clear as to what the Gospel is:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (I Corinthians 15:1-6).

This is the primary testimony of the Christian; it is of first importance. The Gospel is the light of the world; it is the pearl of great price. The Gospel is an actual historical event, and it is for this event in history that we throw away everything we own to possess it.

As Paul delivered this great truth to us, we must be prepared to deliver it in all situations. The Gospel should be the foundation of every discussion or argument that you find yourself in with an unbeliever (or a ‘believer’ for that matter). Every discussion should begin (and end) with “Do you believe that Christ died for your sins.” This must be the foundation of every spiritual debate.

It should also be how you evaluate those who claim to be Christians. When you listen to a sermon, you should always ask yourself throughout the sermon, “What does this have to do with the fact that Christ died for my sins?” If you cannot answer that question by the end of the sermon, you are in all likelihood dealing with a false teacher, and it is time to vacate that church.

The Gospel is also valuable for ensuring that you are not subject to spiritual deception. Every doctrine should be evaluated in terms of its relationship to it. If you cannot link a doctrine to the Gospel, it is probably false doctrine.

For instance, what does the ‘Purpose-Driven Life’ have to do with the fact that Christ died for my sins? The answer, of course, is absolutely nothing. Therefore, you can and should discard this doctrine as meaningless nonsense. The same process can be used with “Best Life Now” theology, Social Justice Theology, and the ever-present “Love Gospel.” (Please see my previous article on my blog with this title for more information.).

Use the Gospel in Spiritual Battle

After the resurrection of Jesus, Christ made the most important statement in the entire Bible. He summarized all of Scripture when he said:

“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things'” (Luke 24:44-48).

This is our nuclear weapon that we must use relentlessly against the demonic evil that is overwhelming the world.

When we view the world through the lens of the Gospel, we evaluate it in terms of God’s law and his Gospel. The following are three examples of how we use the Gospel to do spiritual battle against the ungodly.

When someone demands that we accept homosexuality as moral, we respond the way Christ told us to. We simply say that homosexuality is a terrible sin in the eyes of God (God’s law). But we have good news for you (The Gospel). Jesus died for that sin too, and he calls you to repent and be forgiven in his holy name.

When unbelievers call you a ‘homophobe,’ we then turn to the Ten Commandments and inform them that bearing false witness against your neighbor is a terrible sin against God. But we have good news for you. Jesus died for that sin too, and he calls you to repent and be forgiven in his holy name.

When a ‘pastor’ opines that you are unloving because you refuse to accept homosexuality as moral, you turn once again to the Ten Commandments. You inform this ‘pastor’ that he is taking the name of the Lord in vain (as he is claiming that God said homosexuality is acceptable when God said nothing of the sort). But you have good news for him. Jesus died for that sin too, and he calls him to repent and be forgiven in his holy name.

If these people refuse to repent, then they are turned over by God to the tender mercies of Satan. If they continue to refuse to repent, they become Satan’s possessions, and there is nothing more that can be done for them.

There are a lot of evildoers out there who need to be silenced. This becomes much easier when they do not have the demonic power behind them to help them push their agenda. The best way to get rid of that demonic power is to proclaim the Gospel as Christ intended us to do.

Now that we have the mission statement of the Faithful Few, it is incumbent upon all members of this group to proclaim the Gospel.

We do not have to create a formal organization, have meetings, or even contact each other to be a member of this group. All we have to do is hold firmly to the Gospel and not allow others to ‘overintellectualize’ it to the point that it becomes meaningless. (Please see my article on overintellectualizing the Gospel titled “The Deconstruction of the Gospel.”)

Since much of the church is struggling to get this message out, it is the job of the evangelists to proclaim the Gospel. Fortunately, we have guidance in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that helps us to understand that we all play a role in this mission.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).

There is a great reward for those who proclaim the true Gospel of Christ. It is impossible to be deceived when all Scripture is viewed through the lens of the Gospel. Paul continues:

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth (the Gospel) in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:14-16).

If we stand on the true Gospel of Christ, this is our reward. Although it would be nice to have moral politicians who cannot be bought and who work for the good of the nation, this is not likely to happen anytime soon. It is certainly not going to happen until the spiritual condition of the nation begins to improve.

This change in the spiritual condition of the nation begins with the proper proclamation of the Gospel. It is not possible to obey the Gospel, and thereby increase the faith if you do not know what it is.

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:16-17).

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