The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2Thessalonians 2: 9-12 (ESV)
I find it almost embarrassing to have to write this devotional. My sincere hope and prayer is that anyone who truly has the indwelt Holy Spirit would be able to discern that this new show is nothing short of demonic or at best, certainly not Christian. But then I am reminded about all that the church has fallen for and continues to fall for. How something as absurd as holy laughter could sweep this nation in the 1990's. How the Kundalini spirit of uncontrolled spasmodic jerking could be passed off as a move of the Spirit in Pensacola. How people fall for an incredibly unbiblical TV series like AD. Or the Purpose Driven Heresy. Or the ungodly Circle Maker. That is when I realize that this new show, "Preach", is no more or less ostentatiously ridiculous as anything else we fall for in post modern Christianity. Is it any more ridiculous that hundreds of thousands of people are following such blatant false teachers as Bill Johnson, Joseph Prince, or Joel Osteen? No beloved it is not. Sadly, it is just a full blown mockery for the world to look at and laugh at Christianity all over again.
Then I am reminded of the Great Apostasy revealed in 2Thessalonians, partly in our key verses today. The coming of the lawless one is preceded with Satanic activity containing all power and false signs and lying wonders. Just like you see on this new show. Just like you see in churches across this land every week. It is a wicked deception for those who are perishing because they think somehow that it is of God. The truth is there for all to see in the Bible but they refuse to see it. They refuse to believe it. They refuse to love it and so be saved. Be warned! God sends a strong delusion upon those who refuse the truth so that they might believe the lie! That they might believe what is false. We can take pleasure all we want in unrighteousness but God will not be mocked. Those who have been sent this strong delusion will be condemned. How ironic that a TV show designed to mock the prophetic ends up fulfilling the prophecy of the Great Apostasy? God always has a sense of irony and humor about Him. I have watched the first episode and that is all my Spirit can take right now. Let's start with the outrageous and self-glorifying claims made by the four false prophetesses on this show. I am not even going to differentiate between who said what because they are all speaking for Satan.
"I was able to see the events of Hurricane Katrina in a dream, weeks before it happened."
"I am the only major prophetess in this region."
"A prophetess is someone charged with the mandate to speak for God. This gift was bestowed upon me at age 11."
"A deliverance service is where people can come bound with demon spirits and have a prophetess like me, break those things off of you."
"I have brought someone back from the dead."
"We need to come together (the four) to combine our power."
"I have an international ministry and I bless people all over the world."
"She is telling me she is going to transfer God's anointing to me, so I can lay hands."
"As a prophetess, I have the power to cure diseases."
Beloved. If you do not see the prideful, arrogant, spirit of the devil dripping from these words then I fear for your very salvation. If you saw Hurricane Katrina, what did you do to warn people? If you raised someone from the dead, where is the proof? If you can cure diseases, why aren't you spending your every waking breath at hospitals instead of hawking your bogus claims like a used car saleswoman on a reality TV show? God gifted you at age 11 to speak for Him, really? You think the anointing of God is yours to transfer to anyone you want? I'm the only major prophetess. I bless people all over the world. I have the power. We need to combine our power. This is simply disgusting in its arrogance towards God. The moment that truly made me cringe however was this quote, when one of the false prophetesses was imparting her wisdom to one of her proteges.
"When you prophesy, you got to see your target (as she is firing a handgun at a shooting range). You got to know what the issue is in the person's life. Look at their pain. See into their situation and help them."
Beloved, this is all you need to hear to know you are dealing with demons and not the spirit of the one true God. God is the one who sees into the lives of His children. God is the one who sees their pain and collects their tears. When He used the prophets of old, He simply told them what to say. Period. They did not have to read into their targets. They did not have to understand their pain. All they had to do was say what God told them to say. But look closer at what this quote from the false prophetess infers. Prophecy to them is trying to read into the people they "prophesy" over. Try and see their pain. Try to see into their situation and then convey to them what you think you see. Not what God has told you. What you can read. There is a word for that.
Clairvoyance.
What passes for modern day prophecy is nothing more than clairvoyance, which is defined as, "the supernatural power of seeing objects or actions removed in space or time from natural viewing." Beloved I do not doubt that what goes on in many of these post modern "prophetic" encounters is supernatural. Sure some may just be charlatans using the tricks employed by carnival sideshow psychics. Many however are real. There are other spirits in this world besides the Holy Spirit. When the false prophetess instructs her protege to read into her target she is teaching her how to traffic in the demonic. Christians should stay far away.
Preach is only another step towards the Great Apostasy. The envelope keeps getting pushed to see how much rank heresy and outright God-mocking will be allowed within the church itself. We felt this way when the Preachers of LA came out and the show about the pastor's daughters. Preach is no more absurd than the Bible miniseries or the current debacle known as AD The Miniseries and that one is endorsed by the Assemblies of God! It is just sad to continue to see how you can dress anything demonic up in the name of Jesus and people will still line up to partake in it. They will seemingly hate the truth. But we cannot act surprised. God prophesied it in His Word and Preach is just another fulfillment of that. The only thing honestly prophetic about the entire mess.
Rev. Anthony.
