ARMAGEDDON

Part 3 of a 3 part series by Hank Beymer

Each of these people has been named, at one time or another by one group or another, as "the anti-christ".

Shown here, starting from the upper left and moving clockwise, are:

Kofi Annan, Secretary General, United Nations
Lord Sir Robertson, Secretary General, NATO
Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister
Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq
General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan
Usama bin Laden, cave dweller
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
King Fahd, Saudi Arabia
Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of Germany
George W. Bush, President of the United States
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Istrael

Who knows...the bad guy might be one of them...or not.

To protect against the intrusion of Gods Truth into their assemblies, they also define a false prophet as follows: " if a prophet comes who attempts to LEAD US AWAY FROM TRUTH ESTABLISHED BY REVELATION...and that prophet...shall be PUT TO DEATH". Notice that no mention is made of the Word of God, or His Truth, but only that it is "truth established by revelation", or whatever the teacher/preacher has come up with. This IS NOT CHRISTIANITY, but instead is a new religion, "another gospel" as Paul phrased it, and along with Paul I say, "let them be accursed" for preaching it (Gal.1:8-9). 1Cor.13 is the best summary of the Gospel of Christ that has ever been preached or written, and present truth teaching denies every aspect of that Gospel. In conjunction with this attitude of absolute control, or "nicolaitanism" (Rev. 2:15), the followers of this satanic deception believe that they themselves are greater than God, and can put His will and Word completely aside whenever they want. Al Jandl, writing in "The Mandate", states: "...then, all of a sudden in my spirit, these words came up, and before I thought about them, I said out loud: I DON'T CARE WHAT GOD ALLOWED, I DON'T ALLOW IT!". First, the Holy Spirit does not speak of himself, but only speaks what he hears God speak. John 16:13. Second, if Mr. Jandl should try to cop out with the excuse that the Holy Spirit was prophesying through him, and the Spirit was in control, then he obviously does not know about, or CARE about the scripture stating that "the Spirit of the prophet is SUBJECT UNTO THE PROPHET" (1Cor.14:32). This is a blatant statement, made under the control and direction of satan that corresponds directly to lucifers statement as found in Isa.14. Jesus said in Mat.7:21-23; "Not every one that says Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: only he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not PROPHESIED IN YOUR NAME? AND IN YOUR NAME HAVE CAST OUT DEMONS? AND IN YOUR NAME DONE MANY WONDERFUL WORKS? and then will i say to them, I NEVER KNEW YOU! DEPART FROM ME YOU THAT WORK INIQUITY".

As time has progressed, the dominion movement has taken root in an ever-increasing circle of charismatic and Pentecostal churches, and each has placed a greater reliance upon two things...new revelation knowledge, and manifestations of the spirit. To many of them, the manifestations are of more importance than any thing else, as they believe that through the manifestations, more of God is being experienced. It has gotten to the point in many of these churches where the manifestation is the only thing to be sought after, and it is totally immaterial to them as to whether or not the manifestation being experienced or exhibited is in the least bit scriptural, only that it is occurring. One of the most recent "movements" is one being foisted off under the name of "God Chasing", and it's chief proponent is Tom Tenney. Mr. Tenney certainly hits upon the desire of most Christians in wanting to experience more of God in their daily lives, but what he says on the way is unscriptural. "The difference between the truth of God and revelation is very simple. Truth is where God has been, and revelation is where He is (now)". This statement immediately sets up a premise that there is a difference between truth (then) and truth (now), and that truth (now) has a value that exceeds the "old" truth. Again, a truth that has no basis or foundation, and that is subject to change at a moment's notice. Scripture plainly tells us "my Word shall never pass away", which certainly indicates that it is forever, and "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever", which also means that in Him there is neither variableness nor indication of turning. Further, scripture tells us that "all scripture (that which is written) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". (2 Tim.3:16). Tenney goes on to say "there is a vast difference between present truth and past truth". Again, Mr. Tenney flies in the face of God's Word by saying this, because the truth of the matter is this...the truth of God endures forever and ever, and does not change.

Returning to the Word of Faith movement, we find a number of things that are in complete contradiction to the basics and tenets of recognized Christianity. Remember what Jesus warned us about concerning those who would say "here is Christ, there is Christ", and "many shall say...I am Christ...and deceive many". Kenneth Hagin said "Man...was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God's presence without any consciousness of inferiority...God has made us as much like Himself as possible...He made us the same class of being that He is Himself...the believer is called Christ...that's who we are; we're Christ!" (3). The number two man in the WOF movement, Kenneth Copeland, has also claimed "I say this and repeat it so it doesn't upset you too bad...when I read in the Bible where He (Jesus) says "I Am", I say, "Yes, I Am too!" (4). To bring things up to very recently, the current "leader" in the blasphemy of Jesus and God is Benny Hinn, who says: "When you were born again the Word was made flesh in you. And you became flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. Don't tell me you have Jesus. YOU ARE EVERYTHING HE WAS AND EVERYTHING HE IS AND EVER SHALL BE...It (the new man) says, 'I AM as He is'. That's what it says...As He is, so are we in this world. Jesus said, 'Go in My name, go in My stead'. Don't say, 'I have.' Say, I AM, I AM, I AM, I AM." (5). Hinn further establishes his claim on being Christ with "When you say, I am a Christian, you are saying, 'I AM mashiach' in the Hebrew. I am a little messiah walking on earth, in other words. That is a shocking revelation...May I say it like this? You are a little god on earth running around." (6) The blasphemy of these heretical "ministers" is without fail the greatest blasphemy that has been recorded since the time of Jesus, and far exceeds the heresies spoken of by John, Jude, Peter, Paul and others that cropped up in the first century. Should we be surprised? No, because scripture also tells us quite plainly, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if HIS MINISTERS ALSO BE TRANSFORMED AS THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; WHOSE END IS ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS". (2Cor.11:13-15). Ah, but you say....what about the signs, and wonders these people perform....isn't that the sign of a true prophet, according to the Word of God. I will point you to the Word of God, in Deuteronomy 13:1; "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he has spoken unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; you shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proves you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul". It becomes very clear here....God will allow signs and wonders to accompany false prophets, so the fact of a sign, wonder, miracle, or manifestation is NOT the be-all and end-all to determine the truthfullness of a given preacher or teacher. It has to do with what the person or movement is leading you to, and whether or not it draws you away from honoring and worshipping the one true God, and His son Jesus. Now I will agree....Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, Copeland, all of them....have NOT said..."let's go worship Baal, or Krishna:, and so on. They do not blatantly and openly state we're gonna follow after other Gods....or do they? What is more blatant than to get you to believe that YOU are Christ....YOU are the messiah...YOU are the incarnation of God on this earth...YOU will establish righteousness on this earth? This line of thinking, this twisted reasoning, is no more and no less that Lucifer's rebellious words recorded in Isa. 14: " I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High". Indeed....these pernicious and blasphemous purveyors of satanic deception have declared openly an equality with God and Christ that is forbidden unto them. The most recent new twist to this already twisted corruption is that Jesus, the Son of God, is not coming physically back to earth until the very end of time, at the Great White Throne Judgment. Instead, the millennial reign spoken of in scripture is going to occur, but Jesus will be incarnated spiritually in His obedient followers, who will then rule the world for one thousand years as Christ.

Along with the "God Chaser's", and as is evident in the televised offerings of Hinn, Copeland, et al, is the increasing reliance upon "manifestations" of the Holy Spirit. These manifestations are considered by all to be proof of the presence of God in the gatherings, and evidence of the truthfulness of the ministers in their various postulations. The so-called "Toronto Blessing", and the "Pensacola Outpouring" which derived from Toronto, are both off-shoots of the dominion theology movement, and place great emphasis upon any "manifestation", regardless of it's apparent scriptural basis or not. I have observed some of the meetings conducted by pastor Steve Hill at his Pensacola church, and seen people doing things that are best described as exactly like the descriptions given in scripture of the "tearings" of demons. In one particular instance, a young lady from the choir began shaking uncontrollably, and continued in this manner for over an hour. To legitimize the "manifestation", pastor Hill stated that this young lady had a neck problem, and this shaking was proof that the Lord healed her. Other "manifestations" that are best considered suspicious, have occurred at Hinn "miracle crusades", where he waves at a group of people on the stage, shouts loudly "fire on ya", and the people fall en masse to the ground and flop about like fish out of water. After being brought to their feet later, and asked "what happened", most say that they cannot remember anything. Some few have stated that they "felt like they were on fire". In all instances, they do not recall any feelings of peace, no refreshing, no retained zeal to spread the gospel, or a greater love for God. One of the strangest manifestations that has occurred is the so-called "holy laughter" that originated in the Toronto Vineyard, and has since spread to many other churches. In this "manifestation", the Holy Spirit allegedly causes the believer to begin laughing joyfully, (and uncontrollably), for hours on end. The fact that there is no scriptural reference for any of these "manifestations" is totally irrelevant to those who push them off on us....this is a "new move of God", and we're just to accept it.

In all of the crusades and meetings that I have seen with these people, there is one thing that is noticeably absent in them...and that is a preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and invitations to salvation. There is plenty of reference to "the Lord", the name of Jesus is invoked many times, there are invitations to be healed of physical ailments, there is plenty of invitation to "ask for the desires of your heart" (mostly about monetary needs), and plenty of invocations to the attendees to "give, give, give....help us spread the gospel" around the world. On April 2nd, 2000, Benny Hinn said "Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is shaking the world! Now somehting else is happening that is to me awesome! Absolutely awesome! The Lord is physically appearing in the Muslim world. I'm telling you, Paul (Crouch, pres. of TBN), I am hearing it now more and more and more. Since we preachers cannot go there, Jesus is - just going there Himself. Since we preachers are not permitted to go in, He is just showing up - Himself. You know the scriptures says clearly that the Lord did appear, did He not? Ah, for forty days, isn't that right? And the, and the, and the scriptures say s he, he, he even, he even appeared to Paul. Now we are always thinking, well Jesus can't really preach, preach the Gospel. Who told you that? He was the first to preach the Gospel. In fact He is the one who came to Paul, and said, Paul, I am Jesus. He, He didn't send no angel to do that job. He did it Himself. If Jesus revealed Himself to Paul, why not reveal Himself to a lot more than just Paul? And He is doing it! The reason the Lord had to appear to Paul is because He knew Paul wouldn't listen to nobody else. Now in the case of Cornelius, the angel said send for Peter, 'cause,, because Cornelius was, was ready, his heart was right, he'd been in prayer. But here's Paul killing everybody, causing 'em to blaspheme, Jesus said this man won't even listen to an angel, so I'll go do the job myself. So He went and knocked him right off his horse and preached the Gospel to him. He's doing the same thing today in the Muslim world. He's appearing, hear this, He is appearing to Muslims, saying I am Jesus of Nazareth! And they're coming to know the Lord! Why are those things happening? It's the last days! Saints, this is why we need to give to the Gospel now more than ever. You know naively say well I gave last year. Forget it! Last year it's gone! That cycle is over with! Seed time-harvest of last year is gone. Every season is a fresh season. We are in a fresh season!" Naturally, we not only have a statement that contradicts scripture, and shows a blatant disregard for the person and words of Jesus, but is designed for nothing more than the inevitable appeal to give, give, give....more money for the merchants of hell.

That these named ministers are not of God is further evidenced by the fact that they take a totally unbiblical stance when confronted scripturally with their heresy, their false statements, and in some cases, their outright lies. Without fail, they curse those who come against them. Benny Hinn says "I place a curse on every man and every woman that will stretch his hand against this anointing. I curse that man who dares to speak a word against this ministry". Paul Crouch has stated many times on TBN that he gives not one whit for the "heretic hunters" who speak against him, his stations, or the false ministers that he pushes on the air, and consigns them all to hell.

To whoever is reading this.... if you are a follower of, or believer in, any of those people named here, or the teachings that they are pushing, get away from them before it is too late. This is indeed the last times, and we are close to the rise of anti-christ....and it is because of the apostasy, the heresy, the blatant trumpeting of "I am" from these disciples of the devil that we know that Armageddon is right around the corner. Many times, and from many directions, these heretics have been shown from the Word of God how wrong they are, and yet they still continue to lie, twist, corrupt the Word of God, and run full speed ahead into the pits of hell....dragging as many as they can right along with them. While they use the name of the Lord to cast a veil of self-righteousness across their lies, they prey upon well meaning believers who do seek a deeper understanding and relationship with God. DO NOT BE DECEIVED! Read the Word of God for yourself, pray for understanding and enlightenment through your study of the Word, and rely on God through His Holy Spirit to open your eyes to Him, to His understanding, and to the falsity of these ministers of darkness. The words of Jude ring across the ages to condemn these people; "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ".

It is time for true Christians to turn their backs on these purveyors of lies and heresy. Stop supporting them. Tell everyone you know what they are. Quit going to their crusades and meetings, stop buying their tapes and books. Write to them and point out their errors, and when they come to your town, organize protests and pickets....but most of all....PRAY FOR THEM. Pray that God will turn their lies into truth, that He will touch them, their souls and their ministries and turn them to good for His sake. Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgement to come. Pray that others who follow them will have their eyes opened to see the truth.

Armageddon is indeed close at hand, and the wide-spread apostasy, the great falling away that is occurring within the church is the greatest of these proofs. At some point in time, Jesus will come in the clouds to gather His children, those who truly believe in Him, and have not followed after fables, doctrines of men, and false teachers. And immediately after that, the anti-christ shall rise to power, and the tribulation period will begin, leading to Armageddon.

Footnotes:
(1) Excerpt from March 29, 2000, TBN broadcast with Benny Hinn.
(2) Excerpt from March 20, 2000, "This is Your Day" broadcast with Steve Brock, 700 Club, by Benny Hinn.
(3) Kenneth Hagin. Zoe: The God-Kind of Life, p35-36, 41.
(4) Kenneth Copeland, July 19, 1987, crusade audiotape.
(5) Benny Hinn, Our Position in Christ #2-The Word Made Flesh, audiotape 2
(6) Benny Hinn, Praise-a-Thon program, T.B.N.