By Todd Strandberg

June 26, 2006
 

No Secret Knowledge

The electronic information age has been a huge blessing to mankind. It has allowed information to be transmitted at the speed of light. But one unfortunate consequence has come with our able to transmit data. We have no mechanism for ensuring the validity of the information we send to each other.

Falsehood has become so rampant, it is very hard to separate truth from fiction. As we get closer to the tribulation hour, the Bible warns that deception will only become all the more difficult to detect.

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat. 24:24).

I have found a general rule that can be applied to any new teaching that is supposedly of God. If a group claims a "new revelation" that is "exclusive" to its members, you can be almost certain that they are in error.

Everyone has heard the commandment by Jesus that we should love our enemies. No special revelation is required to understand this directive. The problem has always been in implementing truth. People fail to love their enemies because they choose to ignore the Bible’s guidance.

Because Rapture Ready has a strong connection to the pre-trib rapture, I get dozens of letters each week from people who try to argue that they have discovered a new angle on the timing of prophetic events. They believe they have secret knowledge that all the rest of mankind lacks. They are very proud that they are the sole revelators of a new truth.

It has been many years since someone has sent me a message that contained a truly unique twist on the rapture’s timing. The words and dates may vary, but the concept has always been presented by someone else. I would love to have an email database that would instantly allow me to show people how many other times someone has had the same "special revelation."

This past week, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by my house to tell me about their "one true path to God." As I thought of their view of prophecy, I realized they were a good example of people who are motivated by the idea that they have "secret knowledge."

Whenever I encounter a group whose members believe they are the only genuine faith, I inform them that about a thousand other groups in America have the same view.

I’m a great admirer of the work that Ray Comfort has been doing in the field of personal evangelism. It is easy to identify his material as legitimate by the fact that his organization does not claim to have an exclusive grasp of the truth. They base their tracts on the same Bible that most people have a copy of somewhere in their home.

There is nothing on Rapture Ready that is the result of "special revelation." Terry and I have the easiest jobs in the world. We just identify the problem and then locate the answer in the Word of God.

In our battle with the devil, it is important to know that he has no new strategies. His success stems from his mastery of the same old tricks. Satan may occasionally repackage them into new forms, but they are the same basic ploys he’s used from the beginning. Since the dawn of time, "secret knowledge" has been one of the devil's favorite lures.

God’s biblical truth does not change with the times. It is as rigid as the laws that govern the physical universe. Anyone thinking about promoting a new doctrine needs to be mindful of a warning contained in the last chapter of the Revelation:

"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" (Rev 22:18-19 KJV).
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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.