END TIME KOOKS

One way to detect a false teacher is this obsession with signs and wonders.  False teachers always seem to manifest what I call a spiritual treasure map, or decoding secret messages.  Jesus says they center on specifics that not all men can know, but they think they know. 

They give us specific signs as to the who, where, and when of Jesus. 

1.      They claim to know where Jesus is and will be (Matthew 24:23, 26).

'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!''Look, he is in the wilderness, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,  So false teachers claim to know who Jesus is in a way that we cannot know.  And they claim to know where He will be in the wilderness, or in the inner rooms.  In Scripture, the desert is often seen as a place of special, divine revelation-Jesus in wilderness, Paul in Arabia.  “Inner rooms” are seen as a meeting place where the excitement of the Spirit comes-Pentecost.  It is like playing hide and seek with Jesus.  Jesus is only for the select few that know where to find him. 

2.      They claim to know when Jesus will come (Luke 21:8).

Luke’s version adds that a false teacher will be obsessed with when the Messiah will come And he said, "See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.

So the false prophets make specific assertions-they will have particular information that the rest of us lack.  Spiritual decoders; spiritual treasure map; like sorcerers in the Lord of the rings, fortune tellers, witch of Endor-inside track information. 

Be careful when you hear people getting so specific about Jesus and His return that you are left with the feeling that they and they alone have an inside track with God.  So one of the criteria that you should use in determining false teachers is ask this question.  Is it up to this teacher to provide me with special revelation?  Do I depend on this teacher as a spiritual decoder of truth?  This is exactly where the false teacher wants to be as the only spiritual person able to communicate special signs like where the Messiah is and who He is. 

B.      They center on the spectacular (Matthew 24:23-26)

Jesus declares that another feature of false prophets is their ability to do the spectacular which has a persuasive affect on their onlookers.  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders,

So we learn that false teachers are specific in their talking, and spectacular in their doing.  They do many “great signs and wonders”.  But that isn’t the telltale sign of authenticity is it? 

Earlier in Matthew 7, we have some self-righteous imposters standing before Jesus the Judge at judgment day, and they profess, “Lord, Lord” and then they give their claim, “in your name we have prophesied, and in your name we have cast out demons, and in your name we have done many miracles”.  Yet Jesus rejects them.  Signs and wonders is not the final test for authenticity. 

In fact, in Matthew’s gospel the word doing ‘wonders’ is never attributed to Jesus nor His disciples.  And when Jesus does signs it is due to people’s unbelief in Him.  People don’t believe Him, so they demand a sign of Him, and when He gives them a sign they still won’t believe-like the resurrection.  In fact, many times Jesus tells people to keep quiet after He does a miracle.  Unlike Jesus, false teachers do many signs and wonders to be seen by men.  Egyptian magicians/Simon the magician and others.

Jesus told the sign seekers in Luke 17:20, the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed.  But brothers and sisters, if you looked at the landscape with sign seekers today, you would think Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about.  

And this is one reason why false teachers are so dangerous.  It would be one thing if only one came on the scene and committed their atrocities on the church.  Then the church could band together and purge them out.  But one of the dangers of false teachers is that they are in every age, in every walk of religious life.  Jesus warns us that false teachers will not be dying on the vine, they will abundantly fruitful-many (4)…many (11) and will lead astray if possible even the elect (24).  With the elect, we see the pull of false teaching in the case of Peter and Barnabas in Galatians 2. 

Jesus, for His part, always centers on clarity and Himself (Matthew 24:27-28).  If Jesus centers on Himself and the clear, we are wise to do the same.