There is an important truth to be shared with the many that have fallen for false signs, miracles, and wonders of today.  Do you remember who it was that warned you to watch at all times, to test all spirits, to identify good and evil?  How many people even think about the tests provided to us in the Bible when they find themselves thinking, ‘is it a miracle’?  God told man through the prophets these days would come, and Christ repeated the warnings when He was here and told us to watch at all times and test everything against the Word.  We all need to remind each other of this fact as we walk around today and try to determine if what we see or hear about is from God, or from those unclean spirits mentioned of often in the Bible.  Things are intense today and prophecies are coming to pass.  It is like a snowball rolling downhill; picking up speed and mass the closer it gets to the bottom.  

I have seen many shows and read numerous articles about some of these false signs of the past few centuries and it’s time to tackle them head on with the Bible at my side.  Regardless of where you stand, at least read this entire article to educate yourself so you can be better prepared for the days ahead.  Nothing I will be providing is from my own imagination.  I take it all directly from the Bible, so if you follow Christ, you can feel safe in knowing I only listen to Him as well.  Since this topic is so widespread, I think we need to narrow down the examples for simplicities sake.  The important thing is to learn how to test things, not for me to spell out everything that requires tests and what I feel are the results.  Let’s deal with the issues of the worship of the Mother Mary (Madonna), the visions of Mary with her instructions for mankind, and this Da Vinci Code and bloodline theory.  I’ll work on these three specifically and I think you will have the tools to go forward and look at things in a clearer sense based solely on the Word of God.  For anyone that has read my book, I will be following the same structure.  I will provide a handful of resources; however, with the internet today there are numerous other resources to be found with a variety of views.  Feel free to dig for yourself for more information if you do not feel comfortable with what I have provided for you.  Let us start with some scripture relevant to what I have been saying.  All scripture quotes are copied from www.bibleontheweb.com, Revised Standard Version.  It is simply easier than typing it all myself.

1 Peter 5:8   Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15   For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

2 Thessalonians 2:9   The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders

Before we dig into each example specifically, I believe it is important to identify what God tells us.  He not only shows us what these forces will be like, He provides the tests we can use to reveal them for what they are – false, unclean spirits.  Don’t forget how much information and knowledge these spirits have and the powers they possess as they work with Satan to fool mankind and win the ultimate battle.  They are smarter than you and I and have more knowledge with them – but we have the best thing of all, the Holy Spirit inside us who tells us the truth.  We can see the lies and deceit clearly with the Holy Spirit, but we still have to be careful not to be deceived.  Satan was removed from heaven and given dominion over the earth and immediate heaven until the day of God’s judgment.  So he is down here now playing all kinds of tricks on us, and he knows as well as we do what day it is.   

Ezekiel 28:15-17   You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.  In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.  Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.

Luke 10:18   And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4   And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God

Let us assume the reader is in agreement with me on the fact there are good and evil spirits in the world.  These spirits have been around for ages and have watched mankind grow throughout the years and have helped in small ways to push us along.  Satan knows the day is coming and sees the signs of today to know his day of reckoning is close.  So these spirits, the evil ones, have been working with Satan to prepare things for the final battle.  Satan has a plan to try and beat God.  Not that he will, but he is attempting to.  As I was doing the research into these different false miracles and signs I found many “great minds” mentioning contact with spirits, visions, and dreams before the innovation or prophetic knowledge.  How do we protect against the forces out there whose intentions are evil?  God already knew these encounters would take place and provided the direction on how to guard ourselves.  This is just a sampling of what the Bible has provided.   

Jeremiah 29:8-9  For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the LORD.

Matthew 24:3-5   As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray.  For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21  Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast to what is good

     We have all been told these spirits are out there and they will work harder as the latter days approach to deceive man.  Now that we know we should test the spirits because there are unclean, evil spirits as well as those from God, the next issue is how.  How do we test spirits?  Searching scripture can provide these answers and I will make it easier on the reader by providing three very important scripture quotes.   

1 John 4:1-3  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.

2 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

1 Corinthians 12:3  Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.

So there are a few things we can do.  If you actually are provided the opportunity in life to be speaking with a spirit, just ask them to confess Jesus.  If the spirit can not confess Jesus, they are not from God.  I realize this may seem simple, or maybe a bit out there, but sometimes the truth is more unbelievable than fiction.  Let me explain what I mean.  I have a friend, you will hear about him later when I do an article on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Check out Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 2 and 12 for starters to learn about the gifts from the Holy Spirit.  So, this friend has the gift of distinguishing between spirits.  This friend has actually proven that not all spirits can confess Jesus is Lord, therefore, providing proof of this test.  I realize it sounds crazy, but again, you either believe or not.  Interesting, I wonder if John Edwards ever asks the spirits he speaks with if Jesus is Lord and if so, what answers he would receive.  I sidetracked, sorry.  So we have information now about the spirits that are out there, and the guidance by God on how to test these spirits to protect against evil.  Now, why don’t we put this to practice with the examples this article started with.  

The first topic was the worship of Mary, the Mother, and the Madonna.  I realize this is going to insult and upset many Catholics and other religious groups that worship Mary.  First, I want to say, I am doing what God instructed.  Second, I am sorry for upsetting anyone and please just try to keep an open mind until you hear all I have to say – you may find it enlightening.  I grew up a Catholic and I understand how confusing it can be when someone asks about worshipping Mary, or frustrating it can be when you are told you should not by outsiders.  I actually witnessed a very heated discussion once between a Catholic and a Christian about this topic.  Let’s just say the Catholic heard none of the information and walked away no wiser.  

Do not get me wrong, Mary was chosen by God for a purpose and had to be special to be chosen.  She carried our Savior, gave birth to Him, raised Him, was with Him when he died and was resurrected.  She certainly is special in her own right, but not someone we should idolize or create prayers to for salvation.  You will not find any statutes of Mary in my home, no Hail Mary coming from my mouth, nothing that is not located in the Bible will I worship or speak.  I now understand why the Catholic faith never felt like it fit me and I never felt a true connection with God.  Not until I grew up and decided to read the Bible myself and found Christ did it all click together and make sense and I actually felt the Holy Spirit in my life.  Then I was changed and became a new person.  The Bible was provided to mankind for a reason, it provides us with all we need to know to get back to the Father and our eternity with Him.  Christ gave us the only prayer we needed when the disciples asked how to pray to God, just read Matthew 6.  Christ also answered the unspoken question during His time on earth about worshipping Mary.  Again, go to scripture – try Matthew 12:49 for starters.  Now, if we were to worship her and pray to her and idolize her the way we see this happening today, why would Christ have spoken of His own mother in such a way?  Just as the angels in the Bible indicate, Revelation 22:9 tells us clearly from the mouth of the angel to worship God and God alone.  So if the Hail Mary did not come from the Bible, and the direction to worship Mary and create idols to her did not come from the Bible, then why are we doing it?  The reason people fall victim to deceitful lies and misguidance when they do not test as they were instructed by God.  Generation after generation has allowed this practice and it is now a solid part of some religions.  This does not make it right or from God.  I am not trying to be disrespectful to anyone, I am simply trying to do what I believe God wants and that is to teach people what the Bible actually is instructing and telling us and to test everything.  My concern is not if someone in this world will shun me, my concern is to hear “Well done good and faithful servant.”  Even Mary called herself the handmaid of Christ.  So, just to make sure I’m clear.  Surely, if Christ wanted us to worship Mary as we see many doing now He would have provided another prayer in Scripture besides the Our Father, or He would have referred to Mary differently during His time here on earth.  Not even after the Holy Spirit came and brought the truth to everyone’s hearts was there any instruction or guidance to worship anyone but God.  We are simply putting the words of 2 Timothy to work here by using scripture to find the truth.

Now we are on to the second example, which I believe just strengthens the facts I just made for my first example.  The second example to show you how to put tests to work is with the visions, messages, warnings, instructions from the visions of Mary.  Again, we are going to use scripture to find the truth regarding these visions to determine which are from God, if any.  Let’s use the Fatima visions specifically.  These visions started in May of 1917, but were rooted in mystical events which began in 1915.  Here is a link providing detailed information on these events, http://www.fatima.org.  As I was researching this issue it amazed me how clear it was these messages were not from God, and how often the simple truth of Jesus being the only way to the Father was never told.  Why would God send an angel and the vision of Mary and not indicate the one simple, clear truth – believe in Jesus.  God’s Word is divine and what He has given us in the Bible will take place as He has indicated.  No actions by man can change His plan.  The only option for man is to confess Christ for salvation.  Can anyone disagree with this?  So why, all throughout the messages from the “angel of peace” that came first and then the visions of Mary and her messages was it all about man doing or praying something and never about accepting Jesus.  Sure, Jesus was mentioned at points in the messages, but the goal of the messages was not to make it clear that Christ was that narrow road to the Father.  I will break up the messages to make it easier to understand what I am trying to convey.  Below is a direct quote from the information I read on the Fatima visions.  

Our Lady indicated to us the specific root of all the troubles in the world, the one that causes world wars and such terrible suffering: sin. She then gave a solution, first to individual people, then to the Church’s leaders. God asks each one of us to stop offending Him. We must pray, especially the Rosary. By this frequent praying of the Rosary, we will get the graces we need to overcome sin. God wants us to have devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to work to spread this devotion throughout the world. Our Lady said, "My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God." If we wish to go to God, we have a sure way to Him through true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother.  http://www.fatima.org/essentials/message/genmsg.asp

The problem with this is strikingly clear to me, can you see the lies?  First, the one that causes the evil is sin – well, yes, but he has a name – Satan.  Satan is the “evil one” specifically identified in the Our Father prayer given by Christ.  Then we have the direction to pray, especially the Rosary – are you kidding me?  We pray what Christ told us to pray, the Our Father.  We overcome sin when we accept Christ as our Savior and receive the Holy Spirit.  It’s the Holy Spirit that helps us here on earth, not praying the Rosary.  Misguidance does not come from God!  God does not want us to spread devotion of Mary throughout the world; He wants us to spread the Gospel – the truth of Christ.  Can you see the lies here?  These visions are trying to take away the worship of Christ, trying to deceive people and take away their chance of salvation.  Just think of how many people have been lost because of these lies simply because they never tested or asked the question – Who is Lord and Savior!  

It gets even more frustrating the more you read the facts of these events.  To think, people today still go to this location and expect miracles and believe they are becoming closer with God.  Now, prophecy already tells us what is going to happen on earth, the wars, famine, pestilences; all the signs leading up to and including Christ’s triumphant return.  Why do these visions of Mary contradict God by leading man to believe their deeds could change the prophetic events told in the Bible?  Also, what good is any sacrifice when God’s one and only Son has already sacrificed Himself for us.  No other sacrifice is needed, scripture already tells us that.  But yet, we have this vision telling the children to sacrifice for the souls of sinners.  Again, deceitful unclean spirits are tricking people and without the Holy Spirit man falls for the lies.  I ask you, just read about these visions and ask God to give you the truth.  I believe you will be just as appalled as I am.  I can continue on and on with the discrepancies these messages have with scripture – like the quote “If my requests are granted . . . there will be peace.”  Nope!  God already warned us about this specific message, read 1 Thessalonians 5.  There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace returns.

So we have now gone through the first two examples, can you see additionally why worship of Mary is not something directed from God?  As a side note, there is also the issue of the crown on her head.  During the visions she appears with a crown.  I covered the issue of crowns in my book, Final Destination: Rest, in detail – no one gets crowns until Christ returns.  No crowns appear until Revelation 4:4.  Mary having a crown in all her visions is another indication it is a fake.  I don’t want to go off on any tangents, but if you read my book you will have plenty of information to show you what I mean about the importance of crowns and when they appear in scripture.  Just another way to use scripture to test what comes from God and what comes from evil spirits.  So we have direction to worship someone other than God, the Son.  We are told man’s deeds can negate God's judgment as it is told in the Word and we are directed to pray things not found in scripture.  The Our Father was the prayer given to man directly from the lips of our Savior!  No other prayer is needed, or He would have instructed us.  So you have been shown the discrepancies with scripture and the failure to indicate the only way to the Father - Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  

Moving on, we have the third example I mentioned in the beginning of this article, the Da Vinci Code.  It infuriates me that the Church leaders are not speaking out loudly about these false messages and misguidance of the flock.  Hollywood is going to be making a movie about this foolish theory, imagine the souls lost from the misguidance of these false signs/miracles!  I think the reader is getting a much better understanding of how to actually test things in this world to determine what is true, so I will try to keep this example short and sweet.  I researched more into this theory and there is really very little being used to prove the Da Vinci Code.  One small, unfinished, sentence in an uncannonized book stating Christ kissed Mary often on the . . .   Some painting with a hidden “V” which stands for the female and apparently Christ’s wife.  This imagined hidden bloodline, protected in France since the days of Christ.  So, we are to believe that Christ was married and Mary had conceived a child before Christ’s crucifixion.  I actually studied the writings being used to “prove” this theory and it is very interesting to note there are numerous indications about sex being a sin and the special blessing for those that keep themselves pure for God.  Now why would Christ not do the same thing?  He was here for a specific purpose and He knew this from a young age.  The Bible mentions Him in the temple preaching as a child, so He already had a connection to God at a young age before He became a man and was of the age to marry.  By this time, He was already clearly devoted to the Father and had no need of earthly pleasures.  Not only that, but in order to believe this foolish theory, we would have to believe that Christ’s death and spilling of His blood meant nothing.  What difference does it make if there is any bloodline on earth?  Is someone going to step up and do anything more than what Christ has already done for all mankind?  No, but I can see something playing out for the Antichrist in the years ahead.  There was no point for any children, there was no need for any bloodline to be protected through the past 2,000 years, and there is no need for anyone again because we have Christ.  Again, scripture gives us all the truth we need to determine if this theory is from God.  Clearly, it is not.  It is meant to demoralize and demean the Son of God, our Savior and is just the creation of Satan.  

I don’t really need to give this example much time or spell it out more than what I already have.  This entire theory is disrespectful to Christ and anyone that honors this with support through sales or seeing the movie they are making is slapping our Christ in the face!  Sorry, but God wants true believers.  He knew these lies would surface and confuse people and He warned us through scripture long ago.  Please, test, test, test.