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Beware of false prophets and false christs!
When Jesus Christ warns you about something, you better make notice. He knew well in advance that the Devil would do everything that he can to stop the spreading of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. But sometimes instead of stopping the preaching of Gospel, the Devil he will simply try to corrupt it or make sure a corrupted gospel is preached. And for this he will send false gospels to counter the true Gospel. Many false teachers and cults have done Satan’s work to that effect. But nothing beats his use of false christs and false prophets to advance deception in the world.
If you read the following Gospel verses which were all spoken by Jesus himself he clearly warned us about false christs and false prophets you will understand the serious warning he gave us. Here we go:
And he said, Take heed that you be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go not therefore after them. (Luke 21:8)
And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. (Mark 13:21-23)
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15)
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 them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.…. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (Matthew 24: 3-5, 11)
Christians getting deceived
Someone might wonder, that how it possible for the Christians who are the elect mentioned in Mark 13:21-23 to get deceived even after Jesus has warned us about it? This can be answered by saying that some Christians try to confirm the truth by emotions, signs and wonders instead of the written Word of God. They act like skeptics who will only believe when a miracle is given on demand. Skepticism is not the same as genuine biblical discernment.
So the Evil One tries to give them a false miracle at the hands of his workers on earth. This means that if prosperity, healing or some special favor is granted to a person, that person blindly accepts that it’s of Godly origin instead of checking if all this is consistent with the teachings of the Bible. These workers of iniquity usually use half-truths to deceive people. They may even use Bible verses to make their false claims. Some Christians have got deceived in to wrong doing just because they were given some Bible verses which were interpreted in the wrong way. A lot of people want to influence their preachers into preaching what they want to hear and if that doesn’t work then they leave the preacher. In fact a prophecy in 2 Timothy 4:3 says that; For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.
Are false prophets and false christs working for the Devil?
It’s rare for a false christ or false prophet to say that they are working for the Devil. They will usually claim they are divinely inspired instead. These are highly deceived hypocrites who feel that they speak the truth even though their actions project falsehood. They do not care about the truth as their focus is on getting admiration from their followers. They may have had spiritual experiences which they assumed are from God but in reality it was only evil spirits promising them fame or riches or both in exchange for promoting demonic doctrines. It Satan who controls them though they may not be aware of that.
Is there a difference between false christs and false prophets?
False christs are and false prophets are not the same thing. Though rarely a false prophet will deceitfully project himself as the Messiah too. You need to be able to understand the difference between false prophets and false christs.
False christs will desire worship and adoration from everyone they come in contact with. They claim to be incarnations of Jesus Christ but might also add the claim that they are gods of other religions. Some won’t call themselves as Jesus but rather call themselves as The Messiah or the savior of the world. It doesn’t matter what type of lies they speak as their main purpose remains their own worship. I’ve found a list of people who claimed to be Jesus, which is listed on Wikipedia. I’ll make a mention of some of them here:
- Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India was a Mohammedan who believed himself to be a likeness of Jesus and formed the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. His claims to be the Messiah and prophet sent by God were so outrageous that even mainstream Islamic people consider him a heretic and persecute his followers. (People who claim to be Jesus may even turn up from other religions)
- Jim Jones claimed to be Jesus Christ and gained followers to eventually form his own cult. His last vile dead was to commit suicide after leading some of his followers in to a mass murder suicide at Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978. (False christs may lead their followers to suicide!)
- Marshall Applewhite was another who claimed to be Jesus. He founded the infamous Heaven’s Gate cult and led his followers to commit mass suicide and he too died along with them. (I was really shocked when this came in the news way back in 1997)
Now false prophets themselves do not desire worship but they try to mislead people from obedience and/or worship of the true Lord God. Sometimes they do not say to worship a false god but simply teach disobedience to God in subtle ways. They may use religious words to deceive gullible people. They will promise riches, protection etc if you follow their teachings but in the end it’s just a convenient trip to damnation. They will speak positivity instead of repentance to people who are not in line with the teachings of the Gospel, so those people remain in their sins. Don’t be surprised if they use miracles to make their point. You have been warned! Here’s a few Bible verses about them:
But there were also lying Prophets among the people, as there shall be lying teachers also among you, those who bring destructive heresies and deny the Lord who bought them, while bringing upon themselves speedy destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)
What should be our response to false prophets and false christs?
Going by the above verses against false prophets and false christs, here’s what you can do:
- You need to say a NO to them.
- You don’t need to follow them or go after them.
- You need to reject their teachings.
There are more Bible verses on what should be our response to such people, though these verse may even have a wider application. Here we go:
- Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment (John 7:24)
- Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11) (Please do the exposing part very carefully as cults are dangerous)
- See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
- But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)
- As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Timothy 5:20)
- Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.(2 Timothy 3:5)
- If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting (2 John 1:10) (teaching here means the Gospel)
A few videos exposing false christs:
The Illuminati Plan to Fake the Return of Jesus
Australian Man claims to Be Jesus Christ The Messiah living in Australia
Siberia – Cult Leader Thinks He’s Jesus (Documentary Exclusive)
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Ignorance is NOT bliss
‘Ignorance is bliss’ is an often used proverb in the world. However, ignorance in reality is NOT bliss.
Ignorance of natural things can be hazardous at times. Like if you don’t know the effects of chloroform, you wouldn’t be alert and end up sniffing it and may lose consciousness therefore. Again its like thinking a large brown bear is as fun and nice as those that come in cartoons, while in reality such bears can be really aggressive if provoked the wrong away.
Ignorance in relationships with others is not good either. For instance not knowing about what the neighbors dislike and then you end up getting the police at your doorstep for playing your favorite music on the highest volume, thanks to the neighbors complaints. Or not knowing that certain words that you casually use in one culture is considered racially or politically offensive in another, this can get you in trouble with people of other cultures.
Ignorance of spiritual things is the worst type of ignorance. This ignorance especially is strong when there is ignorance of scriptures. I mean we know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God but what matters then is do we really know what its speaks about? To know what it speaks about, firstly you need to read it for yourself. Secondly, you need to pray and reflect on the scriptures, so that you can get the right understanding of the scriptures. Finally, you need to put the scriptures to practice in your walk with the Lord Jesus. I’ve read the Bible completely from the beginning to the end and when I connected the dots, I realized that it speaks of Christ all the way.
Jesus said to the Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:39 and 46)
Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ (St. Jerome)
Your salvation is at stake when you don’t know the scriptures. You might feel that you are doing alright when in fact spiritually you are in deception.
If you trust yourself to walk in the light of your own conscience, uninstructed or little instructed by the Word of God, you will end up doing things that you are deeply and sincerely convinced are right. But they may be terribly hurtful and destructive within the Church. (Ray C. Stedman)
The Bible is one of the most widely read and published book in the world but many people are still ignorant. This is because they don’t really get what it means and there is a reason to this. The reason is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:4 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 image of God.
You might wonder why there are some people who were once God-loving Christians, no longer believe in Christ. Some of them now believe that he doesn’t exist. Some other ex-Christians have departed from the faith and instead follow some other religion. I too had questions as to why people back away from Christianity all of a sudden, though later I realized that it’s not really all that sudden.
I got my answer in the following scriptures.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons
Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
Matthew 24:11-13 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
The above scriptures show one thing, that the workers of deception will even lead astray some of those who have faith in Christ. So one thing that is necessary to avoid such deception is to be well versed with what the Bible says not just about such deceivers but also about the saving nature of Jesus. If you know how to live in true wisdom it will be very hard for anyone to deceive you.
Here are a few scriptures you can reflect on:
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Ephesians 3:3-5 How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
John 20:31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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Disciples of hope 