For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 24:24 NIV

The above quote from Matthew 24 is one that we must take extremely seriously, it is also one that has, can and will cause great offense among believers. It will cause division among believers and cause some believers to draw accurate conclusions and others to draw extreme conclusions that contain some truth but aren’t entirely accurate.

Satan is devious, consider these biblical truths about him:

• He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44).
• He appears as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
• He is “a deceiver” (Revelation 12:9).

Do not ever make the mistake of underestimating him! Satan has over 6,000 years of experience fighting against God and His elect, how many years do you have under your belt opposing him? Certainly, we are powerless against him in our flesh.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NIV

What are our weapons against Satan?

• The Word of God
• The Holy Spirit
• Obedience

Note the last one, obedience, there’s no point in the first two if we don’t have the third.

In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was tempted by Satan and addressed his attacks by means of the Word of God. This wasn’t just quoting the scripture at Satan, scripture isn’t some magical incantation, it is by OBEDIENCE to what the scripture says that we defeat Satan:

[8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [9] “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” [10] Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Matthew 4:8-10 NIV

Satan tempted Jesus in verses 8 & 9 by showing Him something he said he would give him (verse 8) and then stating his terms and conditions (verse 9). Jesus then countered by a two-step process: Recalling the command in scripture AND obeying the command in scripture. Effectively “Scripture says I must not do what you suggest AND I WILL NOT do what you suggest!”.

How often do we know what we are or are not to do but still disobey and then wonder how we fell into Satan’s trap?

Now, back to our opening verse from Matthew 24:24. Deceiving the elect isn’t just about obvious acts of defiance, it’s about Satan’s counterfeits also. The obvious acts of defiance are easy to spot, but the counterfeits are not so easy. What attributes can we expect from counterfeits that are “deceiving even the elect”:

• They look like Godly things but aren’t Godly things.
• They look very Spiritual with a capital “S”, but are spiritual with a small “s”. They aren’t Godly Spiritual, they are demonically spiritual.
• They deceive the elect because they make them think they are doing God’s work, when they aren’t.

Before you reel back in shock at these attributes, maybe even starting to question what I’m teaching here, remember the exact wording of Matthew 24:24, “…and perform GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS to DECEIVE, if possible, even the ELECT“.

Don’t get discouraged at this! I can’t say this strongly enough!

I hate this.

I hate to think of believers being deceived.

I hate to think of unbelievers being steered away from the truth by deception.

But there is a defense.

Let’s go back to the weapons of our warfare: God’s Word, God’s Spirit & Obedience.

Let’s also go back to Jesus teaching on spotting counterfeit prophets:

[15] “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. [16] By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:15-20 NIV

Don’t just look at the fruit of a false prophet’s ministry, or you will be deceived. As I said earlier, “they will look like Godly things but aren’t Godly things”, if you go by their healings and casting out of demons alone then you will be deceived. Remember, these “Godly looking” signs and wonders are how they falsely authenticate themselves. There is another fruit you must check, the fruit of how they live their lives.

One lesson we can learn from the Apostles and Jesus earthly ministry is that they could only operate in their Spiritual gifts by being committed to being Spirit-Led. Jesus and the Apostles didn’t choose when they would heal someone, for example, they did so when the Spirit led them to do so.

Take Acts 3:1-10, Peter’s healing of the lame beggar at the temple gate called “Beautiful”, this was the gate that the Jews entered the temple by and the text says that the beggar was put there every day to beg. Let me ask you this, how many times do you think Jesus walked right past this man? How many times did Peter walk right past this man? In Acts 3 we see Peter heal the beggar, a wondrous sign that brought people running to them so that Peter could preach to them. This was all done under the leading of the Spirit, God’s plan in God’s timing.

When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

Acts 3:12 NIV

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

John 5:19 NIV

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:

Acts 15:28 NIV

Jesus, in His earthly ministry, and the Apostles did nothing Spiritual without the leading of the Holy Spirit. Being committed to being Spirit-Led was mandatory for operating in the Spiritual gifts that the Spirit had distributed to them as He determined.

So, back to examining the fruit of how a false prophet lives their life.

If a person is dedicated to being Spirit-Led, how can they then live like the world when most aren’t looking? Isn’t that a gross contradiction? A believer operating in his or her God given Spiritual gifts cannot do so without being dedicated to being Spirit-Led.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 NIV

Jesus said that it was expedient that He go away (John 16:7), because until He did the helper (the Holy Spirit) could not come. By Jesus leaving so that the Holy Spirit could come, Jesus became personally available to all true believers by our having access to the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

And here is where I’m going to upset some people with scriptural truth:

Someone who operates in spiritual gifts at their own decision to do so is not acting in God given gifts.

Someone who operates in spiritual gifts yet lives like the world is not Spirit-Led and is not acting in God given gifts.

Someone who justifies spiritual things by their interpretation of a scripture, when that interpretation is in conflict with other scripture, is not interpreting scripture correctly.

This is going to lose me friends, but I love these friends too much to sit back and watch them being deceived.

God will give you discernment of these things, as you mature in Christ, via His Holy Spirit. But, He must also train you to be sensitive to this discernment. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself dismissing a judgement of something or someone, thinking it was just you, and then at a later date see God pointing back to the discernment and telling you that you need to learn to trust Him.

God must ultimately teach you, others can point you in the right direction, but God must be your teacher.