Jesus spoke
far ahead of his time relating to us what
life would just prior to his coming. He says
in Matt. 24:37-38: “But as the days of
Noah were, so also will the coming of the
Son of Man be. “For as in the days before
the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered the ark,” (Gen.6-7).
The earth being flooded? Certainly no one
outside the Church believes this, since this
would prove evolution is false.
Life will be
normal until… It will occur during a time
of prosperity when people are buying,
selling, marrying, planting, and harvesting.
This has to occur before the tribulation
since the earth will be devastated by the
judgments and wrath of God during the
tribulation period. For example, Almost all
the grass and trees will be destroyed and
almost all the water will be turned to
'blood' (undrinkable) Those will NOT be
normal times. They ate, drank, married right
up until the time Noah entered the ark. Then
the destruction of the flood suddenly came
and they were destroyed. In Noah’s day
there was plenty of warning, but no
preparedness. Why? Because they didn't heed
him, they mocked. Most of the Church has
become indifferent about the second coming
replacing it with Church triumphalism,
making his kingdom on earth, but the bible
clearly states the earth will be just like
Noah's day, which is not a pretty scene.
It says they
will be marrying and given in marriage.
Today we see people being married and
divorced multiple times. Mal. 2:16 “For
the LORD God of Israel says that He hates
divorce, for it covers one's garment with
violence,” This has attributed to our
societies breakdown, no commitment, no love.
Gen. 6:11-12
“The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with violence. So
God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their
way on the earth.” Today
we live in a world constantly threatened by
terrorism, in our cities we have hate
crimes, drive by shootings, mothers killing
their own infant children, parents killing
their children, children killing parents,
inhuman behavior is becoming the
norm, we have run
amuck having no restraints. Why?
Because there is no law, no real
accountability, it’s lawlessness. The more
tolerance today the less morals we
have. There is a relationship between the
two, no standard and anything goes. In
Israel’s apostasy at the end of the Book
of judges reads just as our society today,
“everyone did what was right in their own
eyes.” People go to suicide because
they have no hope. Euthanasia is becoming an
accepted alternative. Light is called
darkness and darkness is light. In Satanism
up is down, and down is up. It will be a
time unlike any other where lawlessness will
be the way people live. We already see this
occurring. Terrorism, hate crimes our
behavior has no restraints, lawlessness is
increasingly becoming the norm of society.
The President's sex scandal had no affect on
his popularity, people don't care, they are
in no position to point fingers for that
would make them guilty as well.
Joel 3:19
“Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a
desolate wilderness, because of violence
against the people of Judah, for they have
shed innocent blood in their land. Jer 22:17
“Yet your eyes and your heart are for
nothing but your covetousness, for shedding
innocent blood, and practicing oppression
and violence.” Innocent blood can be those
of age and those without ever seeing the
outside of the womb.50 million babies are
aborted worldwide each year. That is 137,000
lives ended each day this is genocide. The
land is defiled by blood. Perilous times are
upon us, but without the Bible one can
barely recognize this fact. Alcohol kills
65,000 people a year, 22,000 on the highway.
Without hope we turn to anything that will
ease our pain only to find that it hastens
our death.
In 1993,
William Bennett released his Index of
Leading Cultural Indicators. His evaluation
of the problem in the past was “Over the
years teachers have been asked to identify
the top problems in America's public
schools. In 1940 teachers identified talking
out of turn; chewing gum; making noise;
running in halls; cutting in line; dress
code infractions; and littering. When
teachers were asked the same question in
1990, it was a completely different
assessment they identified drug abuse;
alcohol abuse; suicide; rape; pregnancy;
robbery; and assault.” In the last several
years we can also add terroristic
threatening, mass murder.
Littleton,
Colorado, is not the first place where
troubled teenagers took guns to school and
unleashed a deadly attack on their teachers
and classmates. It certainly will not be the
last. Twice in 1997 in Pearl, Mississippi,
and Paducah, Kentucky. It happened three
times in 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas; and
Springfield, Oregon. Edinboro, Pennsylvania
Reports of
copycat attacks were many afterwards and in
Canada it actually occurred. People are
turning to violence to vent their personal
frustrations. 300 hundred children murder
their parents each year.
We are
called the culture of death not a good label
for the generation at the end of the
greatest technological time we have ever
lived in (Wall Street Journal 4/22). In
1996, 9,390 people were killed in gun
related murders.
When Matthew
Shepard who was a homosexual was murder in
Wyoming last year it was called a hate
crime. The shootings last month at a Jewish
community center in California, the media
and politicians condemned it calling this
kind of violence “hate crimes,” And
rightly so.
In 1997 when
14-year-old Michael Carneal shot and killed
three students praying at Paducah high
school in Kentucky to the April murders of
Christian students at Columbine High School
in Colorado, to the recent Texas church
shootings, at Wedgwood Baptist Church in
Fort Worth we do not hear on the TV networks
about anyone being anti-Christian. But a
very clear and obvious disturbing pattern is
surfacing.
Its not a
coincidence that in the recent school
tragedy we find Klebold and Harris were
influenced by Marilyn Manson a self
proclaimed anti-christ whose concerts have
nazi symbols. The murderers were Adolf
Hitler lovers, and God haters. It was mostly
Christians hunted down by those under the
satanic influence What most do not know
because of no press reports is that 8 out of
13 children killed were Christians. They
were all known as evangelical Christians, is
it coincidence? While the enemy made a
tragedy out of this God turned it around for
his good and many hundreds if not thousands
were saved from the gospel being proclaimed.
May they rest in peace knowing that they did
not die in vain.
Lk. 17:28 He
writes that it in “Likewise as it was also
in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted, they
built; v.29 “but on the day that Lot went
out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone
from heaven and What were the days of Lot
like that needed this kind of judgement?
Gen. 13:13
“But the men of Sodom were exceedingly
wicked and sinful against the LORD.” In
the days of Lot the people gave themselves
over to blatant sexual sin. They were
homosexuals and adulterers and engaged in
any thing their wicked heart desired.
Lawlessness abounded, everyone did whatever
they felt like from their own evil heart. It
became a normal thing in their cities to
live in this manner.
Historically
the source of violence comes from one that
was once close to God, Lucifer. Ezekiel
28:16, “In the abundance of your trade you
were filled with violence, and you
sinned.” This verse speaks of Satan who
was then cast as a profane thing from the
mount of God. He was “filled with
violence” Whereas before he was perfect in
all his ways until sin was found in him, the
sin of pride. Violence is the physical
exhibition of pride. Ps 73:6 Therefore pride
serves as their necklace; violence covers
them like a garment. “One can recognize
that we are a society that is self dependant
and self engrossed pride is expressed
through violence. Our society has reached
the time that can be ripe for judgment. Prov
4:17-19 For they eat the bread of
wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the just is like the shining
sun, that shines ever brighter unto the
perfect day. The way of the wicked is like
darkness; they do not know what makes them
stumble.” We have the fruits of our labors
today from sowing seeds of discord for
years. Prov 21:7 “The violence of the
wicked will destroy them, because they
refuse to do justice.”
The
spiritual war has been on the increase as
Satan's hosts find their expression through
ungodly people to do violence working
through the sons of disobedience. While God
wants to bring order and life, Satan comes
to steal away any good thing. What does God
say about violence? Psalms 11:5, “The LORD
tests the righteous and the wicked, and his
soul hates him that loves violence.” It
also says “all those who love death hate
me. “
Our video
arcades are filled with entertaining games
with death-themes. Our movies are filled
with violence as well as the TV. Now
legislation is sought but is too little and
too late? Prov.10:11The mouth of the
righteous is a well of life, but violence
covers the mouth of the wicked.” Hollywood
needs to take some of the blame for
promoting violence and promiscuity but we
need to take responsibility as well. Because
we did not speak out and declare Gods
standard and his judgement on those who
fight against it. Prov. 24:2 For their heart
devises violence, and their lips talk of
troublemaking. “Its good business to
promote exciting films with murder and sex
and violence in them for entertainment. But
now it has influenced our lifestyle, the
enemy of our souls has come to cash in the
chips and the cost is high, the lives of the
next generation.
Our youth
today does not have to fear going to war on
foreign soil as we did. Instead car
accidents, suicide, and homicide, drive by
shootings all happen right in front of our
face. We can thank our western education of
science, telling our children they are
accidents of nature from the process of
evolution. Without God there is no hope or
purpose, we become empty souls in a hollow
shell. Humanism has failed miserably as we
see post-Christian America going to the
pits. No hope, why live, the only
alternative is death and killing. Prov.
13:12 “Hope deferred maketh the heart
sick.”
Prov. 26:12
“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.”
Jer. 18:12
“And they said, There is no hope: but we
will walk after our own devices, and we will
every one do the imagination of his evil
heart.” This is where we are today our own
devices forsaking our maker who is
desperately interested in becoming part of
our lives to guide us. God asks in Ps.2:1-4
“Why do the nations rage, and the people
plot a vain thing? The rulers of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the LORD and against His
Anointed, saying, “Let us break their
bonds in pieces and cast away their cords
from us.”
The storm
clouds gathering closed in the distance.
We're beginning to see the days of Noah
again when men’s hearts and the earth will
be continually filled with violence. We all
have Violence in the heart apart from the
new birth. Only the Gospel of Christ will be
the modern ark of safety. It needs to be
proclaimed clearly and loudly, we may be
close to the end of Noah’s 120 years. Job
27:8-9 For what is the hope of the
hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God
taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry
when trouble cometh upon him?
Now we are
confronted with an age of terrorism that is
not isolated but sweeping the planet. In the
name of God those who practicing their
religion zealously see it as their duty to
rid the world of those who they view as not
pleasing God by the use of force. It’s in
Israel, Africa and in America and it will
spread elsewhere , because evil when it is
not contained or reduced by an equal force
will spread like a fire. We live under a
nuclear Damocles more than ever before
except now it is not the head nations but
third world countries.
Its time to
pray- Psalm 147:11
“The LORD
taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in
those that hope in his mercy.”
May we cry
out for mercy on our nation, may we ask for
forgiveness for our waywardness, and return
to our first love of God, that our prayers
may be answered from heaven. Return to God
that He may return his mercy to us.
Many
will come in My name
How did
Jesus describe the time of the end would be
like, and are we living in the time he spoke
of?
Matt. 24:3-
5 “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to Him privately, saying,
“Tell us, when will these things be? And
what will be the sign of Your coming, and of
the end of the age? “And Jesus answered
and said to them: “Take heed that no one
deceives you. Jesus answered by first saying
“beware, watch out for deception.” He
repeated this warning three times in His
Matthew 24 discourse. This is not something
that will only concern Israel, but will be a
worldwide concern at the end. This becomes
the most important sign of the end.
Deception
comes in various packages. Some are as
innocuous as getting ones focus off the
issue at hand. For example The Evangelical
Environmental Network believes we are to
save our environment just like we do people,
the gospel is applied to all of creation. In
there statement of faith they make the point
we are to worship only the Creator - never
His creation. Nearly 500 Christian leaders
have signed EEN's Evangelical
Declaration on the Care of Creation
<http://www.creationcare.org/Resources/Declaration/declaration.html>.
This seems to be a growing trend of wanting
to save the worlds eco system along with the
Christian message. This has been the new age
message all along and is now being adopted
by evangelistic churches and organizations.
There is the Eco-Justice Working Group under
the National Council of Churches, which has
all kinds of churches and organizations
signed to work for a better environment.
Today a good
portion of the church have become busy
uniting with those who disbelieve to make a
more pleasant world where we can all live in
peace. So we have numerous people from
churches working on peace efforts with other
religions.
The World
Congress of Faiths believes that
understanding between people of different
religions is important for good community
relations, for moral and spiritual renewal
and for world peace.
Many of the globalist environmentalist organizations that call themselves “interfaith,” are not only dismissing the Gospel, they are actively promoting the eastern mystical religions among Christians. Within this framework there are those who claim Christianity that want to change the Christ of the Christians Matthew Fox states “ Perhaps a new (The Coming of the Cosmic Christ by Matthew Fox, 1988)
California Bishop Swing decided to bring together people of different religions and spiritual traditions, The united Religions Initiative (URI) is said to be a growing global community dedicated to promoting enduring daily interfaith cooperation, they seek to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. titled Sourcebook of World Religions: An Interfaith Guide to Religion and Spirituality is available from New World Library
URI
has been approved as a Non-Governmental
Organization associated with the United
Nations!
The
United Religions Initiative also works with
UNESCO, along with them we have the world
council of churches, and the world
parliament of religions.
In
their preamble they state we unite to build
cultures of peace and justice. We unite to
heal and protect the Earth.
A
Call for Evangelical Renewal Chicago
Declaration II In 1973 a group of
evangelical Christians gathered in Chicago
to offer a declaration of social concern.
They state, “We dream of a Church that
leads in caring for creation and calls
Christians to serve as faithful partners of
God in renewing and sustaining God's
handiwork. These organizations foster the
view that all religions (in which they
include Christianity) share the same God and
are one in their ultimate ambitions.
What
we are seeing is “ecumenism”
transitioning to the “interfaithism.”
This is part of the deception Jesus warned
of.
However
there is a greater mobilization taking place
within the churches walls. Within the
Matt.24 construct Jesus goes on to say,
“For many will come in My name, saying, 'I
am the Christ,' and will deceive many.”
Not a few, but many. His discourse in Mt.24
helps us have insight to the spiritual state
of the world prior to His return. They will
not come in the name of Buddha, not
Mohammed, not Bahá’u’lláh etc.. Why?
Because it is Jesus’ name that is the name
above all names in this age and in the age
to come. It is His name they will claim when
they try to deceive, and it is a wake up
call for the Church. For Jesus warned at the
end, half the virgins would fall asleep and
have no oil to give them light. If your not
awake seeing the deception sweeping the
world, nor standing against it, you may be
one of the virgins that fall’s asleep.
If the very
first thing he warns the disciples about is
deception, how much more should we be on
guard almost 2,000 years later just before
His coming! This word for deception is an
interesting one; it refers to when the one
sheep wanders astray from the fold or from
the truth into error. We are living in days
he warned of almost 2,000 years ago, a time
of spiritual deception. Personally being
involved in cult and religion evangelism I
have never seen before what is happening
today.
I wish I
could say it is the cults that are the
problem but it is not. Don’t get me wrong
they are a huge issue and we need to know
about them. People do leave the Church
because of their persuasive lies. For
example the Mormons have 11 and a half
million members now and the Jehovah’s
Witnesses have reached 14 million. But
it’s not from the outside that brings the
most danger to our house, our family and
church, but what’s on the inside.
I'm not
laying down any new doctrine or trying to be
provocative. I'm just speaking my conviction
from the Word of God; we have missed an
important point to the “false Christs”
of today.
Let me ask
you are we still sitting waiting for this
prophecy to be fulfilled? Are we still
waiting for a single “false Messiah” or
a number of such characters to appear on the
public scene first? This may be a dangerous
position to take if we exclude the Church
from deception, I think many of us have
missed the main meaning of this particular
passage, Jesus is not warning the world, but
the Church. “Many will come in My
name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will
deceive many.” Many, not a few, and it
becomes obvious they must have a platform
inside the church to do this.
For someone
to be called the Messiah is nothing new.
However history shows that no one had
claimed to be Christ before Jesus’ time.
There were warrior type messiahs who tried
to liberate the Jewish people before Jesus
that were executed by the Romans, but none
claimed to be the Christ. Christ is an
exclusive Jewish term found in the Holy
Scriptures, not in other religions. But many
have adopted its terminology ignoring its
exclusive meaning of being only one of a
kind. God’s “only begotten son” is the
Only Christ.
In Acts
5:34-40 Gamaliel recalls Theudas who
gathered 400 people and proclaimed himself
as the Messiah, but was killed and his
followers scattered. At the time of the
census, during Jesus’ birth, Judas of
Galilee had met the same fate. Even after
Jesus in 130 A.D., Bar Cochba was a messiah
who led a revolt in Rome at the time of
Hadrian and was killed. Rabbi Akiba was also
proclaimed as Messiah; his revolt was filled
with bloodshed and failed. Then there was
Moses of Crete who was to part the waters
like the Red Sea; he jumped in and drowned
along with the rest of his followers who
could not swim. In 720 A.D. Abu Isa from
Baghdad became famous for being the only
messianic coward on record. The list grows
more sordid as history progresses. In 1750
Jacob Frank announced his Messiahship and
had Leib Krysa, a self- proclaimed prophet,
act as John the Baptist and announced Frank
as Christ in Poland. Jacob Frank replaced
Jesus in the Trinity as the Son of God and
was quickly put in chains by the Roman
Catholic poles, only to be set free by the
Greek Orthodox Russians. He later lived his
life in extravagance and he and his
followers vanished from the scene. Ten years
later Baal Shem Tov, meaning “master of
the name” entered his claim to fame. He is
reputed to be the founder of early Chasidim.
He was the first Messiah “wanna be”
actually to have miracles accredited to
himself.
Skipping
over several hundred years with numerous
prophets who predicted the end of the world,
we land in the year 1787 with mother Ann
Lee. She had a vision while in prison that
she was to restore true Christianity,
establishing a perfect society on earth. So
began the Shakers, who believed Mother Ann
Lee was the second coming on earth, and that
the kingdom was beginning with the Shaker
church.
Then there
was Bahá’u’lláh, who broke off from
Islam and founded the Bahá’í’s in the
1844. He called himself the “glory of
God;” after he died his followers said he
was the fulfillment of the second coming of
Christ. Believers of Bahá’u’lláh said,
“He is the Promised One of all Religions,
whose coming was foretold in all the sacred
Scriptures” (Welcome to the Bahá’í
House of Worship, p. 2). In our modern time
we are all familiar with two destructive men
who led many to their deaths and called
themselves Christ: David Koresh in 1994 and
Jim Jones of the People’s Temple in
Guyana, 1978. Their names have become
dreaded bywords in our time. In 1982
Benjamen Crème advertised in newspapers all
over the world that THE CHRIST was now here.
Crème claimed a Pakistani named Maitreya
was an ascended master and the Christ of our
age. And presented him as a teacher for
people of every religion and even no
religion.
In 1992 Revelation
Sung Myung Moon declared himself as the Lord
of the 2nd advent, the Messiah. Where Jesus
failed in his mission Reverend Moon was
supposed to succeed through his mission is
to bring an age of peace by his message of
families and marriage. Maitreya the new age
Christ says the Christ spirit is him; He is
the one that overshadowed Jesus at his
baptism. His solution is for everyone to do
service to humanity and usher in the age of
peace. We can see that there are not just a
few who call themselves Christ. On one
occasion Evangelist Morris Cerullo told his
audience “You’re not looking at Morris
Cerullo-you’re looking a t God; you’re
looking at God. You’re looking at
Jesus.” (Morris Cerullo, The Endtime
Manifestation of the Sons of God, (San
Diego: Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, n.d.),
audiotape 1, sides1 & 2. Popular healer
Benny Hinn stated “I am mashiach,” in
the Hebrew. I am a little messiah walking on
earth, in other words.... May I say it like
this? You are a little god on earth running
around (Praise-a-Thon TBN, Nov. 6 1990) But
he didn’t stop there he called us all the
same, “Christians are little messiahs.
Christians are little gods."
("Praise-a-thon (TBN),11/90, “Our
position in Christ,” tapeA031190-1)
There are
more people saying they’re Christ, the
Messiah today, than at any time in history.
This is going on inside and outside the
church. This is just the warm up for the
real thing that is soon to take place.
Matthew 24:5
Jesus said, “Many will come in my name.”
In Greek the phrase “ in my name” also
means His authority; they base their claims
and authority on the use of Jesus’ name.
In other words they claim their authority is
from God and Christ, that they were sent
from Him, they represent him or have a
special mission. So in this way Cult leaders
and new-age “messiahs” come “in My
Name”, but they do not necessarily have to
claim to be Jesus. Notice For many will
come in his name. they say they received
their authority from Christ, not from
Buddha, not Mohammed, not Baha’u’llah.
These religious leaders came in Christ’s
name. This would include Islam as they
believe Mohammed is the comforter Christ
sent and the last prophet equal to, or
greater than Jesus; Bahais believe
Baha’u’llah is the second coming of
Christ, and that he is the last prophet and
all should become Bahai.
This passage
does not just have the narrow meaning of
those claiming they are Jesus. This is not
the only thing Jesus meant. I think we have
missed an important point about the “false
Christs” Jesus warned of. Yes, there have
been many who said they were Jesus; but
there are also many false teachers today who
are a fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus
did not say they will only come in his name
but they will also be saying, 'I am the
Christ.” The Greek wording is “pseudochristos”
from two words “pseudes” (untrue,
erroneous, deceitful, wicked: false, liars)
and “christos” meaning anointed--
the anointed. These are false anointed
ones. They will say, “I am Christ, “Christed”(anointed),
just as Jesus was a man who was “christed,”
(anointed) which was a early heresy in the
Church by the Gnostics. The word Christ
means anointed (one). While it is in
reference to His person, it also has another
meaning. People will say, “I am anointed
too; they will claim to have power just like
Jesus. Jesus also said they will say
“Christ” (the anointing) is in the inner
rooms or out in the wilderness, meaning he
will be in different places all over the
world. Isn’t that exactly what we are
hearing today?
Christians
are to PRAY “in his Name,” they minister
“in his Name.” They preach and do good
works “in his Name” using His the
authority, power, strength, and teachings of
Jesus Christ are our reference point and
source for all we do. Nonetheless there was
never any apostle who called himself using
the term “anointed” for himself, yet
today we have a huge group saying this
today.
Jesus Christ
alone had the title “Christ” because He
is The Anointed One. God anointed Him
as Priest, Prophet and King. We have the
anointing but it certainly does not mean the
same thing as he being the anointed, the
messiah.
I Jn. 2:27:
“But the anointing which you have received
from Him abides in you, and you do not need
that anyone teach you; but as the same
anointing teaches you concerning all things,
and is true, and is not a lie, and just as
it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
Notice it was given; past tense, we received
it. In other words, (He) is implanted in us.
It’s not a matter of us getting more of
the Spirit, as much as it is giving more of
ourselves to him. As we surrender areas our
lives to Him so He is able to rule over and
control us, thus we are continually being
filled with the Spirit. Is the anointing
teaching you the truth and helping you
discern truth from error?
False
prophets had already begun inside the Church
after the last apostle. One of the more
influential was Montanus in Phrygeria in
Asia minor in the late 1st cent ...declared
the age of the Holy spirit had come and the
end of the world was soon coming. They
believed the prophetic revelation continued,
speaking in the first person of the
paraclete given by the prophetess Priscilla
and maximilla, He and his two prophetesses
went about prophesying in the name of the
Spirit, and foretelling the speedy second
coming of Christ.” Phrygeria was to be the
New Jerusalem. Joseph Smith said the
Independence, Miss. was to be the New
Jerusalem. There is a man on TV here in
Hawaii that says Makakilo will be the New
Jerusalem.
Matt.
24:23-25 "Then if anyone says to you,
'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do
not believe it. "For false Christ’s
and false prophets will rise and show great
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible,
even the elect. "See, I have told you
beforehand.”
Lets break
it down and see what he is saying here. They
will be accompanied by not just signs and
wonders, but GREAT signs and wonders. The
word for great is large, mighty, loud. The
purpose is to deceive and it has a target,
US, the elect.
The word for
“Signs” distinguishes them from others,
the great (greek- megas) great as in the
external form or appearance of things. In
particular, of space and its dimensions. In
this case used of things which overstep the
province of a created being, proud
(presumptuous) things, full of arrogance,
derogatory to the majesty of God.
The word
“possible: is dunatos; coming from the
root of dunamis meaning powerful or capable.
It has an ability because of its power,
strength to do something. That something is
to deceive even the elect.
So this
verse literally reads more accurately that
“false Christ’s and false prophets will
rise and convince by great signs and wonders
deceiving, among the elect. In other words
their target will be the elect to remove
them from the faith.
This great
deception that is to take place in the last
days was prophesied by the Lord to inform us
when we could know his coming is near. This
becomes a spiritual battle for the hearts
and minds of the world as well as the
church. Paul, Peter, John all wrote about
men with designs to deceive God’s people.
In almost every letter of the New Testament
we are admonished, warned about being
deceived in various ways. It’s not the
elect who will do all the signs and wonders.
We may do some, but Jesus is addressing a
group of people claiming to have power in an
unprecedented manner. It’s the elect who
are being tested by them to see who they
will be faithful to! This is stated by Jesus
Himself who said in v.4, “see to it no one
deceives you” and then describes the
various ways the deception will come.
There are
two elects in Scripture one is Israel the
other the church, it can also be used of
believers of any time.V.24 is telling us the
whole of the elect will not, cannot be
deceived. The elect used in this manner is
to the whole church, but this does not
exclude individual believers being deceived.
Because he said in the beginning of his
speech in Mt.24 v.4, “see to it no one
deceives you.”
Paul warns
about Jannes and Jambres, Pharaoh had his
magicians, resisting Moses by copying his
miracles. The false prophet and the
Anti-Christ will do the same by
counterfeiting the apostles and Jesus’
miracles. Jesus’ whole warning in Matthew
7:21 and Matthew 24 is about their ability
to produce miracles as their false
identification of representing him, when in
fact the true representation will be of the
mystery of lawlessness, of iniquity. This
will be found in the signs and wonders at
the end of time, as it reach’s its apex
from those who claim to “come in his
name.” These miracles and wonders have the
power in their manifestations as the
apostles, but they are sent to deceive us,
they lie. One can be awestruck by its
strength and unless they listen to the
doctrine being taught they will not
recognize what the source is. Many things
can seem good to human reasoning at first,
but when checked with the Word of God, are
found false. It appears that scripture makes
a direct correlation of false teaching and
false prophets that affect the Church in
losing its zeal for the truth and compassion
for people at the end of time, so the love
of many will grow cold.
I often hear
people say that the Devil can't heal He
comes only to kill steal and destroy, only
God can heal. There are also miracles and
wonders in the cults who deny the essentials
of the Bible. If these are from God it would
be inconsistent with his character to
authorize falsehood. Does he heal an
individual who denies sin, the need for
salvation by Christ by distorting the Gospel
and even deny who Christ is?
Can anyone
say the true God healed someone in the
Mormon Church or in some other cult? What
about the gurus who boast of healings and
great miracles? Certainly to hold the
position that only God heals is disastrous.
For there are counterfeits, and if they can
take place outside the Church they can also
take place inside as well. As Paul states in
2 Cor.11:14 they are false apostles, they
look like ministers of righteousness, they
can have holiness, they have power, but
their doctrine and focus is off. You will be
able to tell because they make followers
after themselves or their unique teaching
and more often than not money is involved.
Yes the
Devil comes to steal, kill and destroy,
mostly “the truth” (Mt.13 the seed).
Jesus said he was liar from the beginning
and there is no truth in him. But he
doesn’t do this by openly challenging or
trashing the Word but uses it and applies it
in a twisted way. He does not eliminate all
the truth but leaves just enough in it to
attract. However the purpose is to foster
pride and have the focus taken off Christ.
God’s truth is in his Word. A lie is not
the opposite of truth but is void of truth,
it replaces it by adding to the word or
changing its meaning so it becomes harmful
to those who eat it.
The fact is
Miracles are transpiring all over the world
in all different religions. many of these
miracles we see today have to do with
Idolatry and false worship in some way.
Apparitions giving new revelation, statues
moving eyes, crying, and bleeding. Could
something supernatural soon happen that will
propel us into a unity unprecedented in our
history? I believe it’s coming.
Not all who
do miracles in his name are following
Christ. We have the example of Judas who
cast out the demons and healed along with
the other eleven disciples; this needs to be
considered in the equation. This can be one
explanation for Matthew 7:21, where people
used the power of His name and got the same
results. But it was a matter of authority,
who was in charge. Jesus said they practiced
lawlessness. In other words He was not Lord
over their lives, but they used His name for
power exhibitions and anything their hearts
desired, they promoted their ministries by
his name (although many of their ministries
are named after themselves), it was about
them, not Jesus.
Who are
these people who claim to be representatives
of Christ? Jesus tells us very clearly
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? In
thy name 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” (Matthew 7:22-23). What a scary
thing to have said, those who thought they
were doing His work by displays of power and
offering it to the sheep. We are not immune
to deception and if you believe you are then
you may already be deceived. Jesus’ last
sermon started with, “see to it that no
one deceives you” as the theme for the
last days, we are in those days.
We are to
contend earnestly for the faith [Jude 3 We
are to consistently present the truth. That
means we will be constantly battling against
error.] Jude’s letter is polemic, in other
words it was to defend the faith from inside
the church instead of apologetic, defending
it to those of other religious and spiritual
beliefs. The Church is to be the pillar and
ground of truth. We have the message that
saves and it is to be continually proclaimed
as the great commission continues until the
end of time. What is the solution to all
this? Keep our focus on Jesus continue in
His Word, be watchful, continue to occupy
with His work until He comes. It’s going
to get radical brothers and sisters, but by
his grace and through His Spirit He will be
there for us all.
