False "Christs"

June 12, 2021

For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

~Matthew 24:5~

We can look through God's word and notice many warnings of deception leading to apostasy. Apostasy occurs when one abandons or renounces a religious or political belief. We cannot fall away from something we were never involved in to begin with. We must first make ourselves involved. I have heard this belief that once you believe you are "set for life." This most definitely can be the case if we are to keep our vow; "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24)

It is our job to follow Him to the end, it is not Jesus' job to make sure we are keeping our vow. It's ours to keep. Many have fallen away from the faith, many have publicly stated they no longer are christians or believe in God. This does most certainly happen. Different senarios cause different ways of apostasy. We cannot pretend to know why there were ones to choose this path, for only God knows the hearts of men. If I had to guess some possible examples; It could be a tragedy that they blamed on God. It could be they began to live a sin filled life that took them so far away from the Lord they may have decided they were done with christianity all together. It could be they were led astray by someone else. These are the types that Jesus warns us about in this verse. There are people out there who call themselves christians when really they are not actually following Him rather using it as a ploy to pull people away from Him. Satan has workers too. As christians we are considered "little christs," we obey, we worship, we serve and we are proud of our God. For those who desire the opposite are indeed the opposite. If they purposely are deceiving to turn many away from their faith, they are in fact antichrist. This is just truth my friends. You can be curious without being antichrist of course, you can respect people in their religious beliefs without blaspheming God, for I once lived this life myself. However, when we are calling ourself christians while leading others astray, we are in fact believed to be a "false Christ." As true disciples we are joint heirs, we are One with the Lord. This is why I believe the Lord worded this verse in such a way that claims many will "come in His name saying I am the Christ." Many do claim to be one thing to tell others what they want to hear. This is how our enemy works, he lies to deceive. He tricks. He plots schemes. He is evil. We have been warned of this and the Lord does not take this lightly. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4‭-‬6)

In these times we live in we can be sure that this is happening already. Many have grown cold, many do fall and many do deceive. If we openly turn our backs on Jesus, we are crucifying Him a second time and this seems to be worse then never believing in the first place. Jesus wants us to be alert, aware and focused on Him. He wants faithful children to continue enduring till the end so that we may not fall into traps of false doctrines and demonic activity; "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."

(I Timothy 4:1)

There are many evil sources that we cannot see or that we may think to be "harmless," that are placed strategically to take us away from our faith. It is a fight, but it is a fight well worth winning everytime. Let us not take our guard down. Let us keep our shield held high so that those who call themselves "Christ," will not cause us to be led astray. This is the importance of not following people. I was never one to "go along with the crowd," or care what others thought of me. It takes perseverance and patience to trust in God. As we cannot see Him daily with our physical eyes like we can see people, He rewards and He judges much greater then any person could. Our fear should be only in Him; "For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God." (Ecclesiastes 5:7)

Satan can tempt us with dreams, shiny things, money and acceptance by others. Our question is, will these things lead us on the path of righteousness? God can give and God can take away. Let us truely be careful who we give our time to, what advice we take and what path we go down. We must always ask Holy Spirit for consistent guidance so we may not make the wrong step and be led by one of the enemy's "false christs." Deception can be quick or it can be slowly drawn out. We must listen to Jesus and stay awake in these times. Any moment of weakness is an opportunity for the devil to strike, dont let him! He already lost this battle, we are here to claim it each day and plant our flags. Take heed my friends, there are ones who want to make you truely fall away and Jesus is telling you to listen to Him and Him alone. If we hear teaching from another, let us always take it to the Lord in prayer. If we get offered a path to take that may seem beneficial to the Kingdom, lets take it to the Lord in prayer. If we get asked for help in a particular point of ministry, lets take it to the Lord in prayer. Big or small; we must first ask the Lord if it is what He wants us to do or listen to; "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (I John 4:1)

Sometimes it may sound oh so good and be the complete opposite of what God wants you in; "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light."

(II Corinthians 11:14)

We must pray for the discernment of God. He will help us, but we must go to Him. If we try to figure things out on our own we will surely stumble for our flesh can so easily deceive us too. Jesus loves us so dearly that He warned us of this very moment that we are living in. Are we truely going to follow Him to the end?

Prayer:

Lord God, I am thankful for Your steadfast love that came and warned us of times present. I am grateful for Holy Spirit which nudges me on what is truth and what is error. Help my cup to remain full by You so that I may never become deceived. Each day I pray for discernment, wisdom and knowledge from above. It is the only way I can remain faithful to You and not be led astray. For I know Your word and I meditate on it day and night. I know my enemy is a liar and looks forward to attempting to come at me from all angles. I vow to keep my shield of faith up and my sword at my side. I know You will fight with me, Jesus and I have nothing to fear. If there is an area I am stumbling in, if I am following someone I should not or if I am learning from a doctrine presented by demons Lord take me away quickly and efficiently. For I want to serve nobody but You. Your Name is highly exalted and rewarding to me. It is in that Name that I receive great strength and alertness to know the difference between people for You and people against You. I pray more lost souls to come after You in faith, in Your Name I pray this. Jesus Christ, the Truth. Amen.