Study Lesson 2
Many Will Mislead And Deceive Many
Sept. 22, 2021
Scripture To Consider:
“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Take heed [beware] that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will deceive [mislead] many.’” Matthew 24.4-5
A Few Words Of Warning:
Will We Be Among The Many Deceived
The teaching found in Matthew 24 is in response to the end time questions asked of Jesus by His disciples. In verses 3-14 of Matthew 24, Jesus focused on end time events as they relate to all nations of the world. In verses 15-28 He spoke of future end time events taking place in and around Jerusalem. In verses 29-36 Jesus gave more end time warnings again to all nations. In verses 37-44 it is believed by many that Jesus was revealing future end time events relating to the true Christ centered Christian church. And finally, in verses 45-51 of Matthew 24, Jesus gave one final end time warning to all nations.
To all nations of all generations, Jesus warns them and us by proclaiming, “Take heed [be warned] that no one deceives [misleads] you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive [mislead] many.” Many down through the centuries have followed in Jesus’ footsteps, spiritually speaking, and have faithfully warned that the end times will be times of great world-wide deception. Many have likewise warned of the end time appearances of false Christs, false prophets, false messiahs, and false self-proclaimed religious leaders deceiving or misleading many.
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for us as true Christians living in these soon to be troubled times, to clearly understand what exactly Jesus is affirming when He declared, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive [mislead] many.”
The general teaching of this Scripture warning has been and remains to be that Jesus is warning of many self-proclaimed false Christs who will appear in the last days. But of all of the billions of people who have lived upon planet earth since Jesus spoke these words, only a few handfuls of disillusioned individuals have actually claimed to be Christ. If all of them were listed it would not equal many in comparison to the billions upon billions who have lived, died, and remain alive on planet earth.
Something To Consider:
Are Misleading Messages Already Misleading Many
What then was Jesus proclaiming when He exclaimed, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive [mislead] many.” Many have come in Christ’s name and in the name of Christianity, claiming or agreeing that Jesus was and is the Christ, just as Peter did when asked by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter’s response was as millions since, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And it is many of those millions coming in Christ’s name claiming to be Christians that Jesus is warning all nations about in our Scripture to consider. “Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Therefore, Jesus warns us to take heed, to be warned, to beware, and to be proactive in not being deceived or misled by those coming in Christ’s name, but who are proclaiming man-made false doctrines, false and deceptive theories, and unscriptural false teachings. Jesus warns us not to become spiritually enslaved to the counterfeit messages of health, wealth, prosperity, and positive thinking that is sweeping over the shores of this once upon a time in the past Christian nation.
The apostle Paul, writing in Romans 7.24, spoke the truth when he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from the body of this death?” Paul understood man’s sinful nature. Paul also understood man’s willingness to yield to fleshly lusts, physical desires, and human prideful passions. These many counterfeit messages being charismatically presented within the so-called church of America, greatly appeal to our fleshly appetites. And therefore, Jesus warned the end time generation, by stating first and foremost, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name…and they will deceive many.”
Something More To Consider:
Have End Time Counterfeit Messages Already Come
In the midst of all the evil deception and misleading false teaching and counterfeit messages, that have and will continue to increase, especially in these last days, our encouraging mandate from Jesus remains, “Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, Jude, and John, all warn of future end time deception. The New Testament warns us in no less than forty such texts concerning the coming of great deception, false prophets, false teachers, and their evil misleading and misdirecting messages that appeal primarily to our sinful nature and humanistic itching ears. Therefore, have end time counterfeit messages already come and infiltrated the church? The answer is a resounding yes!
Paul warned young Timothy and all in every generation since who have spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit of God is speaking to the true church in every age. In 1 Timothy 4.1-2, Paul revealed, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times [end times] some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving [seducing spirits of deception] and doctrines of demons [counterfeit messages], speaking lies in hypocrisy [acted upon deception], having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
The end time deceiving counterfeit messages will be so approvingly welcomed by many and received by most, that these counterfeit evil influencing messages will spread throughout the so-called church as if wind swept California wild fires; unstoppable, but by God’s intervention. And because these counterfeit messages continually feed the flesh of mankind, the spirits of many will spiritually decease, according to Jesus, due to malnutrition and spiritual starvation, creating a great departing from the true faith found within the pages of sacred Scripture.
In upcoming lessons we will discuss further this future coming end time departure or falling away from the faith of biblical Christianity. For now let us focus our undivided attention on our heeding the written warnings of Jesus. Let us heed His cautioning us concerning the coming misleading and deceiving messages to be proclaimed as truth by religious wolf-like leaders in sheep’s clothing. Let us be fully aware of the many that will come and have already come in the name of Jesus and of Christianity as if they are under His rule and authority.
Jesus declared in John 8.31-32, “If you abide [continue] in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Are we listening to deceptive and misleading messages? Are we truly continuing in the Word of God? Are we listening and reading the divine truth of the Word of God or are we spiritually enslaved unknowingly to a counterfeit deceptive and misleading message sanctioned by Satan and his ambassadors of deception? Jesus has warned us in His Word. “Take heed that no one deceives [misleads] you.”
A Few Final Words:
Have Many Already Deceptively Come In The Name Of Jesus
According to Jesus, many will come and are coming in His name. According to Jesus, many will claim and are claiming that Jesus is the Christ. And according to Jesus, these same many, will deceive and are deceiving many. Therefore, the deception forewarned of by Jesus and the deception being perpetrated is proof that even though these many pretend to come in Jesus’ name as believing Christian leaders, they are but ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Though these many claim Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the ultimate outcome of their false teaching is purely deceptive. Therefore, according to Jesus, we are to take heed, to beware, and to be warned in advance. As the apostle Paul warned concerning the last days, that some shall depart from the faith, and it will be because, and is even now because, many will listen and heed the false teaching of seducing spirits and demonic demons.
And if we refuse to hear and to heed the truth of the words of Jesus, that He is coming again immediately after the tribulation of end times, then we will not be prepared to endure to the end. If we are not prepared then we may be among those who choose to depart from their faith in Christ because of their having believed the false teaching of false doctrines such as the pre-tribulation rapture or once saved always saved and other damnable heresies falsely preached in order to keep the pews filled and the financial coffers of the so-called church also filled.
Rather than giving heed to the Word of God, many in the end times, will be swallowed up by the prevailing winds of false doctrine and false teaching. How shameful for so many to be so unfamiliar with the truths of Scripture. How sad that so many have so little knowledge of the revealed truth of the Word of God, that they are either deceived by false self-serving false prophets, or worse, they themselves are guilty of being false prophets or end time false teachers. May God have mercy upon the true church by granting His much needed Holy Spirit and spiritual gift of discernment!
How glorious it is, that Jesus, being fully aware of the behind the scenes end time religious tactic of great deception, presented and promoted by Satan, has warned everyone in every generation since, by uttering these very first words of warning in Matthew 24.4; “Take heed [beware] that no one deceives [misleads] you.” And so these lessons of end time importance are dedicated to further warning the all of which God the Father desires not to perish, but rather to come to repentance and the saving knowledge of His dear Son Jesus Christ.
And in doing so, thereby many more of the faithful few may personally experience the entering in through the straight and narrow but most rewarding gate of God’s Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we ask that You not allow us to be among the many who will be deceived or who are already deceived. We also pray for Your divine protection from the many misleading and deceptive messages that are misleading many. Place within us Lord a desire to seek first Your kingdom, and Your righteousness, and the truth of Your Word, and Jesus’ words concerning end time events and their biblical sequence. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 