There shall arise False Christs, and False Prophets – To whom are you listening? Mat 7:15 cautions: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”. This warning is especially serious as we are now living in the end times. In Mat 24:4 Jesus cautions, “Take heed that no man deceive you”, and then He informs us three times in the rest of the chapter that this period of time will be characterized by an intense amount of spiritual deception, as stated in Mat 24:24–25: “… there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”. This deception is carried out by Satan and his “false prophets” and is described throughout the Bible. Mat 24 highlights this worldwide apostasy and the impact of this global deceit, in verses 4–5, 11, and 23–25: “… many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many”. 1 Pet 5:8 alerts us to Satan’s tactics that have been honed by use throughout the history of the world: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”. Satan comes as an “angel of light”, in other words, Satan comes trying to look like Christ, who is the true light of the world. Satan comes with false gospels. He tries to get as close to the truth as possible, but there are lies mixed with the truth. We see in the parable of the wheat and the tares, how Satan creeps in and sows tares among those who are in that physical body, the church. Likewise, he also employs those who masquerade as God’s servants, who have never experienced true salvation, whom God has not called, who are “transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ”. They are emissaries of Satan, “deceitful workers”, deceived into thinking they are working for God.
Mat 24:4–5 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Mat 24:23–25 “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before.”
2 Cor 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
2 Pet 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”
The Working of Satan with all Power and Signs and Lying Wonders – The Scripture makes clear that these are signs of a false gospel and a great delusion. God gave all supernatural healings, miracles, signs, wonders, and tongues to prove that those who were speaking for God in the Bible were truly from God (Hebrews 1:1–2; 2:3–4, 2 Cor 12:12, Acts 2:22). Also he taught invisible heavenly spiritual truths of God through these visible signs. When God finished writing the Bible He withdrew those supernatural manifestations. Those who claim to practice these alleged supernatural wonders are deluded. As we have seen, 1 Pet 5:8 highlights the Satan’s masterminding deceit as he is both a destroyer as well as a deceiver (John 8:44). It is helpful to note that Satan is busier than ever during our day as he is ruling in all apostate churches and denominations according to 2 The 2:34, “Who [Satan] opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”. Satan was spiritually “bound” at the Cross and through out the New Testament “Church Age” [ typified by figurative “thousand years”] and is now released for a “little season” to deceive the nations – but his doom is sealed. Notice “the lie” is contrasted with “the truth” in 2 The 2:9–12 and that those who “perish” have not received “the love of the truth” – God and His Word are Characterized by Truth. What is even more frightening is that God “shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”. 2 Tim 3:8 states “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith”. Jannes and Jambres [It appears that the names are of Egyptian origin, leading to speculation that they were the “magicians” spoken of in Exodus chapters 7–9], Elymas the sorcerer (in Acts 13:8) and Alexander the coppersmith (in 2 Tim 4:15), who resisted the truth of God along with a host of false prophets and teachers (named and unnamed) in both the Old and New Testaments. God’s judgments upon the Israelites with the “spirit of deep sleep” according to Isa 29:10 and the “spirit of slumber” in Rom 11:8 are parallel to the “strong delusion” in 2 The 2:11–12, which refers to God’s judgment upon the apostate institutional churches and denominations who do not have the authority of the God’s Word, the Bible. Eventually, all the unsaved will end up in the Lake of Fire, along with Satan and all his demons, according to Rev 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever”.
Acts 2:22 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:”
2 Cor 12:12 “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”
Heb 2:3–4 “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”
Matt 24:24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
2 The 2:3–4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [Satan]; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
2 The 2:8–12 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Rev 19:20 “And the beast [Satan] was taken, and with him the false prophet [Satan’s ministers] that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
