Matthew 24:23-28
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 “Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
These are words we must hold on to. This is heavenly advice we must follow. Jesus, for the most of this passage, is talking about His return and those who falsely claim His return. Yet in verse 28 we find a peculiar saying. Jesus mentioned that it will even be possible to mislead the elect, meaning those who are saved, during this period of time when false prophets and Christs will arise. In 28 I believe He is mentioning that those who are apt to be mislead will be mislead. Those who are selfish and instead of following God’s leading follow their own will be tricked into believing these false prophets.
It’s scary to think that there will be wonders and signs that mislead believers, however, it isn’t unbelievable. We read the bible and don’t believe in God’s signs and wonders today. We shrug it off as something of the past. We say we believe because our Christian faith dictates we must believe what the bible says, but I don’t think we fully believe everything the bible tells us. So when we start to see the signs and wonders of the bible right before our eyes, we will begin to be amazed and drawn in. The sad thing is if we really do believe what the bible says, we would be seeing these things already as God sees them. Or maybe we do believe these parts of the bible but tend to shy away from things like, “love your enemies” and “father will be separated from child” because they are too difficult for us to bear. What I am getting at is that if we do not stay true to what God has revealed to us in His Word, we will be easily deceived when this day comes.
Are you a vulture? Are you selfish and only chasing after what you think is good and neglecting everything else? Are you only wanting your ears tickled with doctrine as Paul warned us against in 2 Timothy 4?
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
We must be wary, brothers and sisters, of our spiritual enemy who is constantly working to deceive us and pull us away with half truths and false doctrine. Jesus told us clearly so that we would not doubt and we would know the truth when the enemy starts filling our heads with doubt and lies. Let us not be concerned with “getting ours” because Jesus told us that He is already preparing a place for us beyond our wildest imaginations. Let us instead stand firm in our faith of the truth He has revealed to us so that when this day comes, we know what to expect and will not be deceived.
