We are living at a critical time of world history, right at the end of the church dispensation and shortly before the revelation of Satan’s world empire which will be headed by the Antichrist and the false prophet. Christians proclaim the second coming of Jesus Christ and the future revelation of His kingdom, while the non-Christian world is preparing for a new world order which will be in direct opposition to the kingdom of God.
The present conflict in spiritual realms between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan will culminate in a physical confrontation during the battle of Armageddon at the end of the great tribulation, directly after the second coming of Christ. It will be a short and decisive war, during which the Antichrist and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire, their followers will be destroyed and Satan will be bound in a bottomless pit for one thousand years (Rev. 19:19 to 20:3).That will be followed by the revelation of God’s kingdom on earth.
Satan has been the adversary and enemy of God ever since being cast out of heaven in prehistoric times due to his self-exaltation and rebellion. He is waging an unabated battle against God and His kingdom as he aspires to replace God as the deity to be worshipped and to become the sole ruler of the universe. He has a large following of fallen angels (demons or evil spirits) as well as unsaved people who are doing his will on earth. Together they constitute the kingdom of darkness, and they occupy such a dominant position that the Bible refers to them as “the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Eph. 6:12; cf. 1 John 5:19).
We have not been surrendered to the control of these satanic powers, since the Lord Jesus came to spiritually “deliver us from this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4) and to establish His kingdom in our hearts. However, we still physically find ourselves in an evil and hostile world in which we have to put on the full armour of God which will enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11).
In the end-time, with an interval of only seven years between them, both these kingdoms and their kings, Christ and the Antichrist, will be publicly revealed on earth. First, the kingdom of darkness under the leadership of the Antichrist will be revealed. During the subsequent tribulation period he will physically control the world. When the restrainer of the Antichrist – that is the true church as the temple of the Holy Spirit – has been taken out of the way at the rapture (2 Thess. 2:6-8), the Antichrist will be revealed.
During the seven years of the Antichrist’s reign, the judgements of God will be poured out upon his evil kingdom, culminating in the moment when he will lose all authority on earth. The climax of these judgements will occur on the last day of the tribulation when Christ will return to earth to destroy the satanic powers and have Satan bound in a pit. Following this, Christ’s kingdom will be revealed and established on earth.
Satan is fully aware of the dire future prophesied for him in the Bible, but he rejects it entirely. Since the creation of humanity, he has been waging a war in an effort to gain more control over people and also to be worshipped by them eventually. He does not want to be known as Satan, but as Lord and God. That is the reason why he appears as an angel of light and employs all his cunning powers to deceive people into worshipping and following another god, another Jesus and another spirit, which are all impostors from his kingdom (2 Cor. 11:3-15).
We are in the final phase of the church dispensation, during which evangelical Christians have good reason to expect the imminent coming of Christ. This explains Satan’s intensified efforts in bringing humanity under the power of delusion to the extent that they engage in preparing the way for his false kingdom, rather than waiting for Christ. Deceived people do not realise that they are advocates for Satan’s kingdom because they have lost the ability to discern between the truth and the lie. Their minds have been blinded by the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4).
This deception is so subtle and convincing that even many Christians, those who have a poor knowledge of the Bible, are falling for it (compare the saying that “if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything”). Consequently, they will “depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). The Lord Jesus also warned against this serious deception: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many… For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:4-5,24).
The deception is aimed at perverting and falsifying the principles and characteristics of God’s kingdom, and then applying them to Satan’s kingdom. It calls for humanity to continue to expect God’s kingdom and to actively promote it, but in such a way that, in effect, they are preparing the way for Satan’s kingdom. The intention is that people’s altered thoughts, brought about by spiritual deception, should be the driving force behind their actions to support Satan’s alternate kingdom rather than the true kingdom of God.
This distorted way of thinking and believing is the fruit of deception. Some people refer to it as a paradigm shift; others see it as the emergence of a new, ecumenical belief system, while large groups justify it as postmodern reforms brought about by the demands of a new world order. Whatever the excuses for their new way of thinking may be, the fact remains that they are all victims of the master deceiver of the ages. The Bible calls him “the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). He is in the process of transforming theological thinking in a manner which will ensure that it complies with the principles of his kingdom and no longer with those of God’s kingdom.
On investigation of Satan’s most important strategies for the revelation of his kingdom, it becomes evident that he has a thirteen-point plan for the final deceit and takeover of the world. The implementation of the plan leads to such a distortion and misrepresentation of God’s kingdom that humanity, which includes a large segment of the nominally Christian church, is becoming instrumental in the efforts to reveal the alternate kingdom of Satan. They are doing it under the self-deceiving assumption that they are still involved with God’s kingdom.
Satan’s major battle is against the Bible as it contains facts on the revelation of God, His plan of salvation for humanity through Jesus Christ, as well as clear prophecies on what the future holds for the world and its inhabitants. The subversive works of the kingdom of darkness are also revealed in the Bible, as well as God’s judgements over Satan and his kingdom. These divine truths stand out like a beacon of light in a dark world, and refute everything that is contrary to that light. God is truth, His Word is truth, Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who guides us into all truth (John 14:6; 16:13; 17:17).
Satan realises that he first has to try and do away with the Bible as the source of Christian doctrines before he will be able to institute his plans for an alternate faith. Once the pronouncements in the Bible have successfully been made questionable, been spiritualised and distorted, any possible meaning can be ascribed to them. That will give rise to a far-reaching transformation of thinking in support of a satanic new world order. This new way of thinking, propagated by false prophets, is spiritual in nature and will occur in the following 13 areas:
Satan will not be able to reveal his kingdom to the world without resistance while there are significant numbers of people who regard the Bible as credible. For that reason he has been launching relentless attacks against the Bible throughout the ages. He does not want people to regard the Bible as the inerrant, inspired and literal Word of God, because those who do are not open to other convictions and will not become his followers as a result.
The attacks launched against the Bible by deceived theologians are endless. They allege that the Bible is simply a compilation of books regarding religious and moral matters, conceived by human authors, and not God’s word to humankind. They regard it as predominantly of a mythological nature and therefore not historically authentic. Most of the biblical accounts are belittled as myths, including the creation account and the description of Satan’s kingdom in the air.
Many of the statements on the person and attributes of Jesus Christ are described as mere speculation or wishful thinking, e.g. the ‘unscientific’ supposition of the virgin birth of Jesus, the belief that He is God, that He was resurrected from the dead, ascended to heaven and will return bodily to the earth. Biblical prophecies pertaining to the end-times and the second coming of Christ are not interpreted literally or understood in a futuristic sense, but regarded as historical (preteristic), symbolical and allegorical descriptions with minimal value.
The implication of the sustained campaign of subversion against the Bible is that the statements which fundamental Christians accept as literal and unchangeable truths are actually all lies. As far as the henchmen of Satan are concerned there is no Triune God because according to them, Jesus was no more than an ordinary prophet and therefore not God; the crucifixion of Christ was simply a political act without any spiritual significance; there is no heaven, hell or devil; there will not be an Antichrist, a great tribulation or a literal battle of Armageddon; the Lord will not physically intervene to remove believers before the time of judgement; and there will not be a thousand-year reign of peace or a final judgement.
We have reached the point at which deceived theologians are discrediting and rejecting these biblical truths on a large scale. This has provided access for the propagation of an unbiblical worldview in which Satan’s false kingdom is gaining credibility. The truth of divine revelations has been replaced by the lies of Satan’s kingdom which are based upon imposture. Even more so than during the time of Isaiah, we are living in a religious environment which encourages people to backslide from the Lord, eventually deny Him and abandon the truth of His Word:
“Our sins testify against us… in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter” (Isa. 59:12-14).
However, the lie is not always easy to discern because Satan is offering his alternate kingdom to people in the name of God and also in the name of Christ (cf. Matt. 24:4-5). That kingdom will be multireligious as the followers of all religions will worship the Christ of the new world order and follow him as their conqueror and prince of peace (Rev. 6:2; 13:3-4). These lies have already been so strongly established in the traditional Christian world, that the time for the planned revelation of Satan’s kingdom must be very near.
As the Bible loses credibility among apostates from the Christian faith, the doctrines and holy books of the non-Christian religions are gaining recognition and adherents. Various multireligious textbooks published in South Africa and which are also used for the training of teachers, give enthusiastic approval to the positive value of the non-Christian faiths.
It is alleged that Westerners have lost their spirituality due to the immense impact of materialism on their lives. As a solution to this problem, Christians are encouraged to adopt mystical techniques such as transcendental meditation from Eastern religions, e.g. Buddhism and Hinduism, in an effort to enrich themselves spiritually. The opinion is held that we can learn much from them on the nature of religion. For instance, the collective consciousness of the San (Bushmen) and their ecological relationship with nature can be embraced and utilised to great benefit.
In the light of these postmodern reforms, traditional Christianity is regarded as narrow-minded, judgemental and out of step with reality. Consequently, it is now presented as being composed of lies and half-truths. However, that which the Bible exposes as lies and camouflaged Satanism, e.g. idolatry (cf. 1 Cor. 10:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-18), have suddenly become acceptable practices and are regarded as discoveries of new truths.
A very important objective in Satan’s strategy for a takeover is the deconstruction of the biblical image of Jesus Christ. In the process, Jesus is rendered another Jesus to enable the Antichrist to come in His name. It is evident from this approach that the devil is not out to destroy religion, but to change it in such a way that he and the Antichrist can be worshipped by all people. That will indeed happen: “And all the world marvelled and followed the beast. So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast?” (Rev. 13:3-4).
Evangelical Christians do not participate in deconstructing the image of Jesus, as that would amount to a rejection of the Bible and the misrepresentation of Christ. They are aware of the dangers of denying or changing God’s Word. However, nominal, ecumenically-minded Christians who have been deceived by the devil, fully support the transformation of the biblical Jesus into the multireligious Jesus of the new world order, who will be accepted and worshipped by the followers of all religions.
Theologians who hold this opinion, regard the biblical account of Jesus as God, the Son of God and the only Saviour of the world, as being false. They refer to Him as the cultic Jesus or the Jesus of faith. Because the biblical Jesus is unacceptable to them, they are replacing Him with the “historical Jesus”, who according to their view, was simply an ordinary prophet. This approach enables them to relegate Jesus to the same level as the prophets of other faiths, e.g. Buddha, Krishna and Mohammed.
Religious leaders in the non-Christian faiths followed suit and devised theories which either allow for the close association of the historical Jesus with their own religions or even render him inherently part of their faith. Some of these leaders state explicitly that the world messiah, who is expected shortly, will fulfil multiple roles by being Christ to the Christians, Krishna to the Hindus, the fifth Buddha to the Buddhists, and the Imam Mahdi to Islam. He will therefore be the cosmic Messiah, or the Messiah of all faiths. According to the Bible he will be the Antichrist.
The important question, therefore, is not so much whether Christians in the traditional Christian world accept or reject Jesus, but rather which Jesus they accept and follow. It is either the Son of God who is the only Saviour of the world (Acts 4:12), or it is the interfaith messiah who will deceive all religions to accept and proclaim his false gospel (Rev. 17:3-6). The true Christ will be the King in God’s revealed kingdom (Rev. 19:11-16), while the false Christ (the Antichrist) will be the king who will rule over Satan’s kingdom of darkness (Rev. 13:2).
It is obvious that Satan’s lies are increasingly gaining the upper hand in large segments of the Christian church, thus rendering them forerunners of his false Christ.
Satan is not only intent on making the Antichrist acceptable to the world as Christ and eventually also as God (2 Thess. 2:4), but he himself wishes to be worshipped and honoured as God. Consequently, in his strategy for taking over the world he does not only conduct a campaign against the biblical Jesus but also against the idea of a Triune God. A God who revealed Himself to the world only through His Son, thereby excluding all other faiths, is not acceptable to the devil. For that reason not only does he render Jesus the cosmic Christ of all faiths, but also presents God as the universal God of all faiths. Satan himself fulfils this role as he is the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).
Any person who proclaims that all faiths worship the same God, has become a victim of Satan’s deception and therefore also a follower of this false god. The world at large has already been deceived into rejecting the Triune God of the Bible and to bow down before the satanic triumvirate – the God of this age, the cosmic Christ and the false prophet.
The Lord Jesus said: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Because of this very clear statement Satan is specifically intent on keeping people from being born again and thereby becoming members of God’s kingdom. If he succeeds in preventing the rebirth of people by offering them false foundations such as baptismal regeneration and salvation by means of good works, he will ensure his continued influence over them in the kingdom of darkness. Satan appears to them in the image of an angel of light so as to blind them to the truth and justify them in their unsaved condition.
Many people are intent on seeking an ecstatic spiritual experience through which they can declare themselves as having been born again. Satan gladly obliges in satisfying this need by providing experiences such as “slaying in the spirit” in which people fall into a trance and do strange things like laughing uncontrollably and uttering animal sounds. But this experience does not lead to conviction of sin and true repentance. Nevertheless, when these people rise from the floor, they regard themselves as having been born again by the Spirit of God allegedly having fallen upon them.
Mystical experiences, or trance states, can also be induced by listening to certain kinds of music, by singing specific songs loudly and repeatedly, by practising transcendental meditation in which certain key words (mantras) are continuously repeated, and also by using mind expanding drugs. People who undergo these experiences can come under the influence of Satan’s deceiving spirits (1 Tim. 4:1) and thereby become prepared for his kingdom.
Satan casts a dark shadow of doubt over the narrow way which leads to heaven (cf. Matt. 7:14). He does not want people to follow this road because those who do belong to the Lord. It is far more difficult for Satan to deceive such people as many of them have a good knowledge of Scripture and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit; because of that, they are outspoken adversaries of the kingdom of darkness.
True believers have strived hard to gain access through the narrow gate of rebirth to the way which leads to heaven (Luke 13:24). They believe in the biblical Jesus (not the historical Jesus who is regarded as being simply a prophet) and confess the saving power of His death on the cross. They also believe that He is the only way to heaven and that all people outside of Him are lost (John 14:6; 1 John 5:12). They are therefore fundamental believers.
Through the devil’s endeavours, the narrow way of the true life of faith has increasingly been given a bad name. True believers are accused of having a negative and judgemental attitude because they supposedly give others the impression that only they are right and all the others are wrong. They are portrayed as loveless people worshipping a loveless God, who condemns the majority of people who are not Christians, to the everlasting lake of fire.
There are numerous well-known preachers who hold the view that fundamental Christians pose a great threat to the emerging church of the 21st century because these true believers strongly insist on upholding biblical principles. These Christians resist the ecumenical movement and undermine the forging of unitary ties between the various Christian churches, while they also strongly condemn any ties with the non-Christian religions.
Because of these factors the narrow way of Christian fundamentalism is rejected. Continued deception has resulted in more and more people becoming negatively inclined towards evangelicalism, which also accounts for their increasing acceptance of the false gospel of Satan’s kingdom throughout the world.
The discrediting of the narrow way to heaven opens the door which leads to the acceptance of the majority’s broad way in which everything and everybody is permissible. This is the multireligious way in which people approach the universal God of all faiths through different mediators. This has resulted in various multireligious movements being established throughout the world in which members of all faiths congenially collaborate with one another.
This is the way of harmony and world peace upon which all people can become one through compromise and adaptation to their new spiritual environment. The devil is the only winner in this situation since all the spiritually lost people are falsely justified and praised. They are fellow builders of a modern tower of Babel and they will all inherit Satan’s kingdom when the Antichrist is revealed after the rapture (Rev. 17:3-6).
However, these deceived people’s hour of glory will be short-lived. When the Antichrist declares himself to be God in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, all his followers will be forced to worship him unconditionally as God. All forms of religion will then be declared redundant and abolished. Those who refuse to comply with the demands of the Antichrist will be executed (Rev. 13:15; 17:16).
Intensified efforts are made by Satan’s kingdom to sever all contact between people and the true God. Not only are Christians being kept too busy to pray, but the very nature of prayer is becoming distorted. This is achieved by teaching people how to substitute prayer with transcendental meditation, which is an exercise in mystical contemplation through descending to the so-called deeper, creative levels of one’s right-brain. A single word or short sentence is repeated over and over until the person enters a hypnotic or trance state which is referred to as an altered state of consciousness.
In this state of mind and spirit the person who meditates becomes aware of the god within him, he sees the world in a new light in which everything converges into a harmonious unity, he experiences peace in his heart while fully relaxing, and he also finds solutions to all his problems. In actual fact he is practising Eastern meditation in which a person empties his mind of all thoughts, and thereby opens it up to influence by occult spiritual powers. This provides precisely the type of channel which the devil needs to communicate with people and to instil a consciousness of his new world order in them.
The multiple religious influences which Satan imposes upon modern humanity is causing Christianity to lose its unique character and will eventually diminish itself into simply being one of many communication channels with God. Ecumenical Christians associate with other faiths in accordance with the deceptive premise that God has revealed Himself to humanity through all faiths and cultures.
When that happens, a common belief in the Triune God no longer unites people, but rather a belief in the universal God of all faiths does. That is not the God of the Bible, but the false god of this world who blinds the minds of people so that they cannot know, worship or follow the God of the Bible (2 Cor. 4:4). When that happens, the time for the revelation of Satan’s kingdom has drawn nigh.
The devil has a specific strategy for deceiving Israel as God’s people. He knows that the spiritually restored Israel is destined to play an important role in the kingdom of God during the Millennium. It is consequently a highly prioritised strategy of the devil to subject the entire Israel to the authority of the false Messiah, thereby ensuring that they will be fully under his control. Almost 2000 years ago, the true Messiah issued a warning to Israel that they would conclude a covenant with the false Messiah (John 5:43).
The prophet Daniel also indicated that Israel would conclude a covenant with the Antichrist for one year-week of seven years (Dan. 9:27). As part of this covenant they will be granted the right to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. However, that temple will be specifically for the world Messiah, i.e. the common Messiah of all faiths.
To the utter amazement of many people, this antichristian and interfaith approach has already taken root in Israel. A modern Sanhedrin was established in October 2004, and they follow a multireligious approach founded on scriptures such as Isaiah 56:7: “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” This statement is erroneously interpreted in a multireligious way with the purpose of also giving recognition to the non-Biblical faiths. There is a Jewish website which promotes the view of “God’s holy mountain” for all faiths, i.e. www.godsholymountain.org/.
Biblical prophecies indicate that the Third Temple, which will be built in Jerusalem, will be the temple of the false Messiah. In this way he will try to ensure that the Jews do not accept the once for all sacrifice of the true Messiah on the cross. Furthermore, he will use this temple to declare himself to be God in the Holy of holies (2 Thess. 2:4; Dan. 11:31; Matt. 24:15-21). When that happens, the temple of God will have become the temple of Satan.
Based on all these developments we know that the coming of the false Messiah is at hand. It may happen at any time.
Information regarding the future revelation of Satan’s kingdom on earth is given by false prophets. They present it as if it were God’s kingdom in which people of all faiths will live together in peace and prosperity. They reject all biblical warnings about an end-time tribulation under the dictatorship of the Antichrist, and for that reason all biblical prophecies are distorted, spiritualised, ignored or merely regarded as irrelevant. According to them, the only acceptable information on what the future holds for us comes from major contemporary prophets who try to create the impression that they are speaking on behalf of God. Their predictions include mighty revivals, good times, and a peaceful world empire – but rule out tribulation, judgements or suffering.
According to the Bible, Satan knows that Christ will return to the earth to destroy His enemies, save the remnant in Israel, and then establish His kingdom on earth with Jerusalem as capital. In an all-out effort to avert this turn of events he will, before the second coming of Christ, establish his own government on earth under the leadership of the Antichrist. The devil’s plan of a kingdom here and now, before the coming of Christ as King, has become so firmly entrenched in theological thinking across the globe that most of the leading Christian churches are actively supporting and promoting this idea. The strong humanistic and multireligious nature of this kingdom will render proof of its unbiblical and satanic character.
Preparations for this kingdom are in such an advanced stage in current world history, that an interfaith messiah stands a very good chance of being universally accepted, followed and even worshipped (Rev. 13:3-4). When this kingdom has been well established, the Antichrist will instigate his followers to fight against the true Christ on the day of His second coming in an effort to kill Him. They will know that Christ will return to earth at the end of that particular year-week to destroy the Antichrist and his world empire, therefore they will mobilise an international force to fight against Him (Rev. 19:19).
However, it will be a day of great tragedy for this multinational force when they try to fight against the One who has all power in heaven and on earth (Rev. 19:20-21; Zech. 14:12-13; Joel 3:2; Isa. 13:9-13).
The Lord has promised to remove His bridal congregation form this world before the advent of the coming time of judgement (Luke 21:36; John 14:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). The true believers are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and their presence on earth withholds the revelation of the Antichrist and the institution of his satanic world empire (2 Thess. 2:6-8).
When the evangelical Christians suddenly disappear, the Antichrist will be revealed as a false prince of peace in the name of Christ, and also in the names of the other messiahs of the world religions. He will slander and scorn the evangelical Christians who have disappeared, by alleging that they had promoted hatred and conflict through their refusal to enter into brotherly relations with members of other faiths. They will be branded as stubborn rebels, and many diverse theories will be extended to portray their disappearance as a necessary divine act, to remove evil and to allow unity and peace to prevail on earth.
The promise of the rapture will, therefore, be changed in such a way by the enemies of God that it will not be seen as the catching away of true believers but as the supernatural removal of the fundamentalist troublemakers. They will be regarded as stumbling-blocks in the transition to a new dispensation, and that will be seen as justification for the act of removing them.
Satan’s thirteen-point plan is composed of religious lies which are used as propaganda for the revelation of his kingdom. These lies are successfully proclaimed by his large number of collaborators, since public support is vital for the implementation of his plan to take over the world.
The first half of the Antichrist’s rule will be predominantly characterised by deception. During this phase he will voluntarily be recognised and worshipped by virtually all people. It will only be towards the middle of the tribulation when opposition against him will be mounting, and that will induce him to institute the most severe military dictatorship in the entire history of humanity. The Lord Jesus describes it as a great tribulation such as there has never been since the beginning of the world, and that it will bring humanity to the very edge of total annihilation (Matt. 24:21-22). Only then will Christ intervene at His second coming to save a remnant of Israel and the nations (Matt. 24:29-30).
The Lord Jesus offers good advice to those who live in a time such as this: “Take heed that no one deceives you…” (Matt. 24:4). Abide in Christ, abide in His Word, walk in the Spirit, resist the present evil world and put on the full armour of God so that you may remain standing against the wiles of the devil. The Saviour has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).