When the disciples asked Jesus what would be the mark of the end times, He replied by first warning them to beware of deception. Mark 13:3-6, Mat 24:3-5. Take heed that no man deceives you, for many will come saying, I am Christ, and then deceive you. So we see here the first thing that the deceiver will do is to say that Jesus is Christ, or messiah, and it is only then that he will be able to deceive disciples.
Deceivers will need to first acknowledge Jesus as the Christ who came to save us to gain the hearts of the people. When the believers here see him acknowledging Jesus, they will then open their hearts, and then afterwards they will secretly bring damnable heresies and will mislead many. 2 Pet 2:1, Jude 1:4
Mat 24:11-13 tell us that false prophets will arise and deceive many and iniquity will abound and the love of many will grow cold. We see here that one mark of a false prophet is that through his preaching, it will lead to his listeners taking sin lightly, continue to increase living in sin and thus quenching the love that God had lit in the disciples. Loving God with all our hearts, soul, strength and mind and our neighbour as ourselves will not be his emphasis.
Peter says in 2Pet 2:2,3,14 that they teach there is nothing wrong with sexual immorality, AND IN THEIR GREED, THEY WILL EXPLOIT YOU TO GET HOLD OF YOUR MONEY, their eyes are full of adultery and their HEARTS ARE TRAINED IN GREED, and in verse 19 they PROMISE FREEDOM, while they themselves are slaves of corruption.
Jude 1:8 says that they claim authority from their dreams but they live immoral lives, defy and reject authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. Vs 11, they follow Cain who killed his brother, for he was jealous, and BALAAM, THEY DECEIVE PEOPLE FOR MONEY, vs 16 says that they are complainers and grumblers, LIVING ONLY TO SATISFY THEIR DESIRES AND FLATTER (praising people insincerely) TO GAIN ADVANTAGE.
The other thing we are told in Mat 24:24 that they will perform great sign and wonders. It is unfortunate that many get deceived into believing that someone is a servant of God because he performs signs and wonders. Vs 25 says, BEHOLD, I HAVE WARNED YOU IN ADVANCE. I wish Christians take this warning, not to follow miracles.
Jesus in Mat 7:16-23 that it is by their fruits that we shall know them. A good tree t brings good fruits and a bad tree bring forth bad fruits. If the results of listening of a preacher instead of you becoming holy and drawing closer to God Rom 6:22, Eph 5:9, Gal 5:22-24, you become enslaved t sin and your bodily desires, that is a false prophet even if he/she performs miracles. Your love for God and joy for serving Him, and putting to death the desires of the flesh should be continuing to increase, as well as love for your neighbors especially those who do you harm.
He continues to say that not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord will inherit the kingdom of God. He many will say they prophesied and did miracles in his name but he will deny them because they lived in sin.
we therefore see that someone prophesying and performing miracles in the name of Jesus will not be important in the last day, but the important question in that day what was my and your attitude to sin.
Let us therefore not get side-tracked to what will be important in the last day, OUR ATTITUDE TO SIN.
DO NOT BE DECEIVED, I HAVE WARNED YOU IN ADVANCE
You are blessed to be a blessing
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