Many false prophets deceiving many
It is amazing how man is so against God’s will – even when it is written in black and white. When Jesus would speak about the last days, and the signs to watch out for, the very first thing He said was:
See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many (Matthew 24:4, 5)
Note his words: first a warning against deception, then that the deceivers will come in His name, then the sort of claims that the deceivers would make: “I am christ”.
Many people are waiting for someone to come along and sneer at the name of Christ, and then they’ll say, “That’s a false prophet!”. But Jesus said otherwise. He said they would come in His name, preach in His name, pray in His name, work miracles in His name – AND THEY WOULD STILL BE FALSE!
He also said they would claim to be “christ”. The word “christ” means “anointed one”. Now think clearly about it: every Chris, Enoch, Matthew, and David are claiming to be anointed ones all over the place. Such a claim was not made by even those specially chosen by Jesus to lay the foundation of the Church. None of the apostles claimed to be “anointed ones”, though they had more right to the claim than anyone else!
Then in verse 11 of that same chapter, the Lord stated:
And many false prophets will rise and deceive many
Note the Lord’s words: “many false prophets”, “lead many astray”. These “many” false prophets will deceive many. This makes it clear that to many, these false prophets will be seen as true prophets.
Isn’t that what we see today: everyone claiming to be anointed and claiming to have been sent by the Lord, yet their teachings and practices consistently violate God’s word.
Jesus said that these false prophets would be many. Look around you today and see how we have pastors, prophets, evangelists, bishops, apostles and all sorts who fit this description. So many of them! And many people actually have been swayed by the sleight of hand.
Beloved, the false prophets Jesus warned about are not those blatant and grossly obvious people in the occult. According to the Lord, the ones to watch out for are wolves in sheep’s clothing – calling on the name of Jesus, yet are not His.
Yes; many deceived people will read this article and still go right on in their deception – for Scripture must be fulfilled. But Christ’s sheep hear His voice. They will turn from the darkness and draw into the light. For none of His will be lost.
Let him who has ears listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
