False Prophets and Christs vs. the Path to Life

David W Palmer

(Matthew 24:23–25 NKJV) “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. {24} For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. {25} See, I have told you beforehand.”

Jesus is again telling his apprentice leaders and us of the inevitability of negative things just prior to his return. In this case, he mentions “false christs” and “false prophets.” Thankfully, the Master had mentioned false prophets earlier and how to detect them:

(Matthew 7:15–20 NKJV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. {16} You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? {17} Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. {18} A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. {19} Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Jesus made it very clear in this passage that, even though we are not to judge people from our own intellect, we can and should assess their fruit. If they don’t have Jesus’s fruit—the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of Jesus’s own love, character, and ministry—growing in and through them, we don’t have to listen to them.

We note also that in Matthew 7, Jesus spoke of the false prophets and their fruit in a very specific context. This is the passage that precedes the verses we just read:

(Matthew 7:12–14 DKJV) “Therefore, in everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them: for this is the objective of the law and the prophets. {13} Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are entering through it: {14} how narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way, which leads to life! And there are few who find it (the narrow gate).”

From this context—leading directly up to where Jesus first mentioned false prophets—they are people who point in a different direction to what the Lord said in this passage. That is to say, they don’t preach, teach, or practice: “In everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them.” In other words, they don’t enter by the “narrow gate,” or stay on the “constricted” path to life.

Without sowing love by doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, you cannot reap the fruit of love. It is basically as simple as that. You don’t have to judge another’s actions; you can simply observe their fruit. The fruit of the narrow gate and constricted path of perfect love is very obvious to others who are on it.

Jesus also said that false christs will rise. These are people who claim to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, but who are actually anointed by a different spirit. What we need to be acutely aware of is that their anointing also produces “great signs and wonders to deceive.”

So, the signs and wonders produced by the false anointing of false prophets and christs will be very convincing; Jesus said it is aimed at deceiving “if possible, even the elect.” However, we should not be surprised that a manifested spiritual power can change and/or disrupt the normal physical realm. After all, God, who is a Spirit, created every tangible part of the natural, physical universe. What’s more, we see that when the Holy Spirit was manifested on Jesus, the anointing was able to produce tangible miracles and healings; it calmed storms, and multiplied bread and fish. All of these involve a manifested spiritual being overriding the otherwise absolute laws of the physical realm.

Jesus says we are to expect those with demonic anointings to produce some signs and wonders; but he does warn us not to be deceived by them. For example, when Moses confronted Pharaoh about releasing God’s people, the Egyptian magicians were able to produce some astounding signs and wonders. But thankfully, they were no match for what God could do through Moses and Aaron:

(Exodus 7:10–12 NKJV) So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. {11} But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. {12} For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

These Egyptian magicians were able to produce some impressive signs and wonders. The names of the Egyptian sorcerers were Jannes and Jambres. The Holy Spirit uses them to illustrate what the false teachers, prophets, and christs of our day will be like:

(2 Timothy 3:1–5, 8–9 NLT) You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. (2) For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. (3) They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. (4) They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. (5) They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! ... ( These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. (9) But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.

In Matthew 24, Jesus went on to say:

(Matthew 24:26–27 NKJV) “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. {27} For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Again, Jesus gives us very clear warnings and directions for how to stay out of deception. People will say, “Look, He is in the desert … He is in the inner rooms.” But Jesus tells us not to believe what they say, and not to follow them or their directions to find him:

(Luke 17:23 NKJV) “And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them.”

Remember, whether it’s someone who knocks at your door, and then tells you, “Read this book, then pray and ask God if it’s right …”; or if it’s someone saying, “Christ is in such and such a place; follow me,” do not do as they say. If you do, you will be submitting to them as lord and not Jesus. This leads to deception.

This is very very important: do not do what they say—even if their directions include “pray about it”; do only what Jesus says. If they do offer you their book to read, pray first about whether you should read it. This is what I did years ago; God answered very swiftly: “Burn it!” So again, if they say, “Read our book, and then pray and ask God if it’s the right way,” do not do it; it leads to deception.

If you begin to follow their directives, you will be hooking up to their spirit as lord. Once you’ve submitted to him, this deadly deceiver will step in to answer the prayer you pray—whether you believe you are praying to Jesus or not. Making Jesus Lord of your life is the only way to be saved and have him answer prayer. If you begin obeying another lord, where does that leave him? For example, would a spouse still cook meals or do things for a partner who just submitted himself or herself to another person? Remember, the only way Jesus can help in certain situations is that we obey him:

(Hebrews 5:9 NKJV) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

Remember, the fundamental Christian confession is: “Jesus is Lord!” This confession is essential for salvation:

(Romans 10:9 NLT) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Today, let’s heed Jesus’s warning; let’s refuse to believe or submit to those who try to lead us to false christs. Let’s also be alert to false prophets; Jesus said they would come. We all know that we can detect them by their fruit; but let’s be completely sure of what that fruit is. After all, he said that they would come in “sheep’s clothing.” In other words, they may be in church and acting like any other Christian, but inwardly they are “ravening wolves”—those with a huge appetite for killing and consuming genuine sheep, especially the lambs.

But let’s not apply Jesus’s warning by becoming suspicious, and by beginning to judge everyone around us. Jesus said that we need to be “as wise as serpents” while being as “harmless as doves” (Mat. 10:16 NKJV). Fruit is obvious; you will know by experience and by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit what fruit is coming from the right seeds—doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Meanwhile, I encourage you keep sowing the right seeds and stay on the only path to life. And be a wise but gentle fruit inspector.

(Matthew 10:16 NLT) “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.”