Deception (Part 12) - Methods of Deception (Part E) - Catholic Miracles

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11. Deception is sometimes accomplished by lying signs, wonders, and miracles (2Th 2:9; Rev 13:13-15; Rev 19:20). A. Lying adj. - 1. Of a person, his lips, etc.: That tells lies. 2. Of impersonal things: Untruthful, mendacious; hence, deceitful, false. i. The signs and wonders done by Satan and his devils are deceitful and false. ii. Therefore, they are not truly miracles, but they appear to be. B. These lying miracles will become more prevalent as we get closer to the end of time (Rev 16:14). C. Satan can do lying miracles that mimic God's miracles (Pharaoh's magicians) (Exo 7:10-12). C. These false miracles keep people in bondage to the lies of Satan. D. The numerous Catholic so-called miracles are examples of this. i. The miracle of the sun in Fatima, Portugal. a. "The Miracle of the Sun is an alleged miraculous event witnessed by as many as 100,000 people on 13 October 1917 in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal. Those in attendance had assembled to observe what the Portuguese secular newspapers had been ridiculing for months as the absurd claim of three shepherd children that a miracle was going to occur at high-noon in the Cova da Iria on October 13, 1917. According to many witness statements, after a downfall of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disk in the sky. It was said to be significantly less bright than normal, and cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the shadows on the landscape, the people, and the surrounding clouds. The sun was then reported to have careened towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, frightening some of those present who thought it meant the end of the world. Some witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became “suddenly and completely dry.”" (Top 10 Astonishing Miracles of the Catholic Church, www.catholicsay.com) b. "The miracle was attributed by believers to Our Lady of Fátima, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young shepherd children in 1917, as having been predicted by the three children on 13 July, 19 August, and 13 September 1917. The children reported that the Lady had promised them that she would on 13 October reveal her identity to them and provide a miracle “so that all may believe.”" (Ibid) ii. Therese Neumann (1896-1962) a. "Therese Neumann was a German Catholic mystic and stigmatic. On March 10, 1918, Therese Neumann was partially paralyzed after falling off a stool while attending to a fire in her uncle’s barn. She sustained more falls and injuries during this period. After one particular fall in 1919, she lost much of her eyesight. Therese reported that her eyesight was fully restored on April 29, 1923 — the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified (the first step to sainthood) in Rome. She said that on March 5, 1926, the first Friday of Lent, a wound had appeared slightly above her heart, but that she had kept this secret. However, she did report a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles. On Easter Sunday, she claimed a vision of the resurrection of Christ. For several consecutive Fridays after that, she stated she was experiencing the Passion of Christ, supposedly suffering in her own body along with all his historic agonies. She especially suffered the Passion on Good Fridays each year. By November 5, 1926, she displayed nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders (most of which are visible in the image above). According to several sources these wounds never healed or became infected and were found on her body at death. From the years of 1922 until her death in 1962, Therese Neumann said she had consumed no food other than The Holy Eucharist, and to have drunk no water from 1926 until her death. In July 1927 a medical doctor and four Franciscan nurses kept a watch on her 24 hours a day for a two-week period. They confirmed that she had consumed nothing except for one consecrated sacred Host a day, and had suffered no ill effects, loss of weight, or dehydration." (Ibid) iii. Incorruptible Bodies a. "Incorruptibility is the name given to the situation in which a dead person does not decay after death. The orthodox church considers it essential in considering a person for canonization as a saint, and the Roman Catholic Church considers it as a sign of sainthood but not a necessity. Additionally, the Catholic Church believes that a body is not deemed incorruptible if it has undergone an embalming process or other means of preserving the dead, or if it has become stiff, as do all normal corpses, even when the best preservation techniques are used. Incorruptible saints remain completely flexible as if they were only sleeping. Incorruptible bodies are often said to have the Odour of Sanctity, exuding a sweet aroma. Over the years there have been hundreds of Saints whose bodies have been found to be incorrupt – some many hundreds of years after their death. In the image above we see St Bernadette as she appears today – 129 years after her death." (Ibid) iv. The Miracle of Lanciano 700AD a. "In the city of Lanciano, Italy, around A.D. 700, a Basilian monk-priest was assigned to celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice in the Latin Rite in the small Church of St. Legontian. Usually celebrating in the Greek Rite and using leavened bread and having been taught that unleavened bread was invalid matter for the Holy Sacrifice he was disturbed to be constrained to use unleavened bread and had trouble believing that the miracle of transubstantiation would take place with unleavened bread. During the Mass, when he said the words of consecration, he saw the bread change into live flesh and the wine change into live blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. Various ecclesiastical investigations have been conducted upon the miracle, and the evidence of the miracle remains in Lanciano to this day. In 1970-71, Professors from the University of Siena conducted a scientific investigation into the miracle. They concluded that the flesh and blood are human flesh and blood. The Flesh is a heart complete in its essential structure. The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood type, AB, which is also the same blood type found on the Shroud of Turin and all other Eucharistic Miracles. The Host-Flesh, which is the same size as the large Host used today in the Latin Church, is fibrous and light brown in color, and becomes rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood consists of five coagulated globules and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre." (Ibid) v. Padre Pio (St Pio of Pietrelcina) 1887-1968 a. "Francesco Forgione, later known as Padre Pio, canonized as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, was an Italian Roman Catholic Capuchin priest who is now venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He was given the name Pio when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, and was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his stigmata. Based on Padre Pio’s correspondence, even early in his priesthood he experienced less obvious indications of the visible stigmata for which he would later become famous. Though Padre Pio would have preferred to suffer in secret, by early 1919, news about the stigmatic friar began to spread in the secular world. Padre Pio’s wounds were examined by many people, including physicians. People who had started rebuilding their lives after World War I began to see in Padre Pio a symbol of hope. Those close to him attest that he began to manifest several spiritual gifts including the gifts of healing, bilocation, levitation, prophecy, miracles, extraordinary abstinence from both sleep and nourishment (One account states that Padre Agostino recorded one instance in which Padre Pio was able to subsist for at least 20 days at Verafeno on only the Eucharist without any other nourishment), the ability to read hearts, the gift of tongues, the gift of conversions, and the fragrance from his wounds." (Ibid) vi. Apparitions (appearances) of Mary a. There have been numerous alleged apparitions of the Catholic Virgin Mary over the centuries. b. "Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was an indigenous Mexican who reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531." (Ibid) c. "The famous case of Our Lady of Zeitoun took place in Zeitoun, Cairo, and contrary to the norm, the apparition was witnessed by millions of people over a period of 2 to 3 years [1968-1970]. The apparition was even caught on film (as seen in the photograph above)." (Ibid) vii. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) (the flying saint) a. "Joseph of Cupertino is an Italian saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation, and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping. In turn, he is recognized as the patron saint of air travellers, aviators, people with a mental handicap, and weak students. He was canonized in 1767. On October 4, 1630, the town of Cupertino held a procession on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. Joseph was assisting in the procession when he suddenly soared into the sky, where he remained hovering over the crowd. When he descended and realized what had happened, he became so embarrassed that he fled to his mother’s house and hid. This was the first of many flights, which soon earned him the nickname “The Flying Saint.” Joseph’s most famous flight allegedly occurred during a papal audience before Pope Urban VIII. When he bent down to kiss the Pope’s feet, he was suddenly filled with reverence for the Pope and was lifted up into the air. He experienced ecstasies and flights (witnessed by thousands) during his last mass which was on the Feast of the Assumption 1663." (Ibid) viii. Lourdes (1858) a. "The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes began on 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year old peasant girl from Lourdes admitted, when questioned by her mother, that she had seen a “lady” in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from the town, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearances of the “lady” took place on seventeen further occasions that year. During one of the apparitions, she was directed by the “lady” to dig near a rock and drink from the spring there. There was a small puddle of mud in the place but as Bernadette dug into it, a large spring appeared – this is the source of the water in the grotto to which millions of people flock for miraculous cures every year. The Lourdes Medical Bureau has declared 68 cases of inexplicable cures (out of thousands tested)." ix. Statue in Akita (1973-1975) a. In 1973, Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in Akita, Japan had visions of the Virgin Mary. On June 28, 1973, a cross-shaped wound appeared on the inside left hand of Sr. Agnes. It bled profusely and caused her much pain. On July 6, Sr. Agnes heard a voice coming from the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel where she was praying. The statue was carved from a single block of wood from a Katsura tree and is three feet tall. On the same day, a few of the sisters noticed drops of blood flowing from the statue’s right hand. The wound in the statue’s hand remained until September 29, when it disappeared. On September 29, the day the wound on the statue disappeared, the sisters noticed the statue had now begun to “sweat”, especially on the forehead and neck. Two years later on January 4, 1975, the statue of the Blessed Virgin began to weep. It continued to weep at intervals for the next 6 years and eight months. It wept on 101 occasions. Scientific analysis of blood and tears from the statute provided by Professor Sagisaka of the faculty of Legal Medicine of the University of Akita confirmed that the blood, tears, and perspiration are real human tears, sweat, and blood. They come from three blood groups: O, B, and AB. Sr. Agnes was also completely cured of total deafness. In June 1988, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) – head of the Office of Inquisition – judged the Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief." (Ibid) x. Some of these alleged miracles might be made up stories. xi. Some of them might be lying signs and wonders done by Satan to deceive and enslave the minds of millions. E. The alleged sign gifts of the Charismatic churches are examples of lying signs and wonders, such as their speaking in tongues, prophecies, casting out devils, and healings. F. At the end of time, the man of sin will be revealed (2Th 2:3 c/w 2Th 2:8). i. He will claim to be God and will be worshipped as God (2Th 2:4). ii. He will work false miracles by the power of Satan (2Th 2:9). iii. At that time God Himself will send strong delusion to those who love not the truth which will cause them to believe his lies (2Th 2:10-12) and his lying wonders. a. Millions of Catholics and Charismatics already believe in Satan's lying signs and wonders. b. It is not hard to image how the man of sin could deceive most of the world. G. It is critical to understand the nature of deception and the truth of scripture so that we will not be deceived by false miracles. i. True signs, wonders, miracles, tongues, and prophecy all ceased by the close of the 1st century. a. They were only given for a period of 40 years beginning with the first miracle of Christ and extending to approximately 70 AD (Mic 7:15 c/w Joh 2:11). b. They were given for the purpose of convincing the unbelieving Jews (Joh 4:48; 1Co 1:22) and confirming the word of God spoken by the apostles (Mar 16:20; Heb 2:3-4). (i) After 70 AD there were no more Jews to convince because Jerusalem had been destroyed and most of the Jews had been killed and the rest were carried captive into all nations (Luk 21:24). (ii) After 70 AD all of the New Testament was written with the possible exception of the book of Revelation. (iii) Therefore, there was no reason for the signs and wonders to continue. c. The gifts of tongues and prophecy ceased when the New Testament was completed (perfect) (1Co 13:8-10). ii. Therefore, any signs, wonders, tongues, prophecy, healings, etc. performed today are done so by the power of Satan, not God. Be not deceived by them. iii. See sermon series called "The Sign Gifts."