My dear readers,

Signs BEFORE the Second Coming of Christ (3):

“False Christs and False Prophets will Arise”

False christs and false prophets have existed since the time of the fall of man. For example, when a person calls himself a believer but lives the life of carnality, he presents to the world that Christ is carnal. That professing Christian is a walking testimony of a false Christ. This is also true of false prophets who speak of future events that are untrue. When Jeremiah preached that the captivity of Judah would last 70 years, a false prophet named Hananiah prophesied that it would last only two years. Jeremiah 28:1-4: “And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD'S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” This is to be expected as the devil knows how powerful the testimony of Christ and the Word of God is!

However, to have a preponderance of false christs and false prophets doing “great signs and wonders” (Matt 24:24) was something never seen before in the entire Old Testament or the early days of the church. But the Lord prophesied 2,000 years ago that these false christs and false prophets would come. They will dominate the world especially the world of Christianity! Matthew 24:23-27: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 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. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” [Emphasis added] Their claims and deception will be so potent that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. Thank God that it is not possible. John Calvin aptly observed, “This was added for the purpose of exciting alarm, that believers may be more careful to be on their guard; for when such unbounded freedom of action is allowed to false prophets, and when they are permitted to exert such powers of deceiving, those who are careless and inattentive would easily be entangled by their snares.”

The Charismatic movement describes themselves as the “Signs and Wonders Movement”. They boast of signs and miracles including raising the dead. Their ministry is well known throughout the world as a movement of tongues speakers and miracle workers. This movement was non-existent from the birth of the local church witness in Acts 2 until the turn of the 20^th century. The year was 1906 when a girl named Agnes Osman claimed to speak in tongues. This led to a breakout experience at Azusa Street in Los Angeles. The Pentecostal movement was born. This movement grew across America. But the movement was not welcome by the fundamentalists at the time. However, after the Second World War and with the invention of television, the movement’s influence swept across the USA and the rest of the world. Ministers of the gospel from other denominations began experiencing the “gifts” of the Pentecostal movement. Dennis Bennett, an Episcopalian pastor of Van Nuys, California claimed to speak in tongues in 1960.

More of such experiences cropped up all over USA. They were known as followers of the Neo-Pentecostal movement since they refused to join the Pentecostal movement but held on to their respective denominations. They did not like to be called neo-Pentecostalists as they came from Baptist, Presbyterian and Brethren churches, like Bennett who came from the Episcopalian denomination. They reasoned that since they practised these grace gifts like speaking in tongues, they could call themselves “Charismatics” since the Greek word for “grace” is “charis.” From this point onwards the term “Charismatic movement” took the Christian world by storm. The Charismatic movement has outperformed the Pentecostal movement in that they are more well-known and are larger in numbers than their predecessor. According to a statistic by Pew Research Centre in 2011, Pentecostals and Charismatics together number 584,080,000 [https://www.pewforum.org /2011/12/19/global-christianity-movements-and-denominations/]

Their churches are called mega churches because their weekly attendance numbers in the tens of thousands. It is a phenomenon never seen before throughout the history of the church. Their growth has been exponential and has outstripped normal denominational churches like the Baptists, Presbyterians and even the Methodists and the Anglicans. According to World Atlas, the estimated number of Anglicans worldwide is about 85 million [https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-largest-anglican-populations.html]. The Anglican denomination began in the 16^th century and the Charismatic movement began in the 20^th century. It is a difference of 400 years and yet the Charismatic movement is about 7 times larger. This is the movement of the false christs and false prophets that Jesus Christ prophesied would come before His return.

The Greek word for “great” is “mega.” This is the mega signs and wonders movement of the end times. Measure their doctrines against the Word of God and one can easily find that they are totally unbiblical. They present a gospel that cannot save. Their gospel is a health and wealth gospel that makes merchandise of their followers. They are wells without water and rain clouds that bring lightning and thunder but no rain. God describes them very accurately in 2 Peter 2:1-3: “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. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And 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.”

By their emphasis on health and wealth they have deceived millions into thinking that they are saved and going to heaven but, sadly, they are still heading towards hell. There is no change in their nature; like a dog turning to its own vomit again, they are still carnal because they believe in the health and wealth gospel of the Charismatics. 2 Peter 2:17-22 warns: “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”