"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" (2 Thess:2:3)
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many ...." (Matt 24:11). "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" (Matt 24:24)
And Christ declares: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22, 23).
These apostates of whom Christ speaks did not lose their salvation, they were never "saved" to begin with ("I never knew you"). Yet they outwardly appeared to be high-profile Christian leaders apparently performing miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Christ. They didn't leave the church to become atheists or to join some non-Christian religion. They remained in the church. They even called Jesus Lord-but without really knowing Him. Tragically, they seemed to think that their ability to prophesy and to perform wonders proved that they belonged to Him. Clearly, doctrine is out and emotional experience is in; and the signs and wonders are so impressive that doctrine no longer matters.
It is certainly sobering that the signs and wonders these false professors are able to perform are apparently so impressive that even the very elect might be deceived by them were they not given discernment by the True Holy Spirit. We can only conclude that something more deceptive than mere trickery is involved. These wonder workers are backed by the power of Satan, whom they unwittingly serve in the name of the Lord.
Paul indicates as much when he gives us further insight into this great sign of the last days. After a solemn warning that in the last days "perilous [extremely dangerous] times shall come," Paul makes this remarkable statement: "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these [apostates] also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith" (2 Timothy 3:8).
Jannes and Jambres weren't skeptics or atheists, they were the magicians in Pharaoh's court who, through the power of Satan, duplicated (up to a point) the miracles God did through Moses and Aaron. Paul is telling us clearly that the last days opposition to the truth will not come so much from atheists on the outside of the church (though they are always there) but from those within who are reprobate concerning the faith, depraved men who corrupt the truth. And they do so by performing apparent miracles in Christ's name which (when more than mere trickery) are actually by the power of Satan. In that way they deceive and lead many astray not out of the church, but into false doctrine and thus a false hope within the church. Satan has no more effective tactic to damn souls!
An Inside Job!
Christ refers again to this falling away more subtly when He
raises the question, "When the Son of man
comes, shall He find faith on the earth?" (Luke
18:8)
There is Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, T.D. Jakes, and then there is Todd Bentley. All of these are examples of the great falling away.