Jesus Gives Further Warnings about False Christs

Jesus talked about deceptive people who claim to be the Christ in verses 4-5 of Matthew 24. Then he talked about many other topics which ended up circling around to talk about "false Christs" again in verses 23-28:

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many…" 

"At that time if anyone say to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. 

"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather" (Matthew 24:4-5 and 23-28, NIV 1985).

Again, Jesus warns us that many people will claim to be him or will claim to speak for him but they are not and do not. (Tweet that!) 

If you hear someone say "Here he is!" or "There he is!" you don't need to believe them or even wonder if they might be right because when Jesus comes, when you see him, there will be no doubt it is him! You will recognize him immediately! (Tweet that!) 

When Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were watching. They saw him go! And his last spoken words were about the "End Times" we are talking about right here and of his second coming. Here is what he said:

Then they gathered around him and asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:6-11).

"In the same way you saw him go!" He went up in a cloud where all could see him. He will come again in the same way. (Tweet that!) 

Matthew recorded that Jesus' return would be visible like lightning in the east is visible in the west. Matthew said it would be like vultures circling overhead – you simply know that's where a carcass lies because that's what vultures do.

So if you hear anyone saying Jesus has arrived and is in the desert, don't go out there to look for him. It's not him. And if someone tells you he is hiding in an inner room somewhere, don't believe it. That's a lie. When Jesus comes, he won't hide. He will want everyone to see him and know him.

But you don't have to wait to know him. You can know him now. And then you won't be deceived by people claiming to see him or know where he is because you will recognize him when he comes.

Jesus also said these false Christs and false prophets would perform "great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible."

In our current age of movies with special effects that can make it look like anything can happen, and of machines like airplanes, space shuttles, computers, cells phones, and tablet computers that can seemingly do just about anything, I wonder what these "great signs and miracles" will look like. What will these people do that will so wow us that many will be deceived? It's hard to know at this point, but it is enough to know about it. Then we'll recognize it when we see it.

And one more point: in verse 25 of Matthew 24 Jesus says, "See, I have told you ahead of time." Jesus foretells what will happen – this is prophecy – so that when it happens we can know God is behind it, this is not a surprise to Him, and He has everything under control. (Tweet that!) 

For more on why God gives us prophecies see the related articles below.

When we know Jesus, we can trust him, whatever comes our way, and so we do not need to be afraid.

Related Articles:

• April 24, 2014: Why Did God Give Us Prophecies? Part 1
• April 26, 2014: Why Did God Give Us Prophecies? Part 2