The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet 1563 1 John kc 7-1

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Are you familiar with the prophecy Jesus Christ gave concerning the last days in which He said positively, without a doubt, that MANY would come in His name, saying that He is Jesus Christ, and they would deceive MANY?

It was the very first thing Jesus told His disciples after they ask Him what signs they should look for just preceding His return.

It was a strong Warning against deception!

Matthew 24:4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

So according to the Word of God, in the last days MANY shall come claiming to be Christ's representatives, His ministers and teachers and they will say, "Yep, Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
He was that One who came in the flesh!"

The problem is that Jesus Christ said these false teachers will deceive MANY (the majority of) Christians, except He doesn't really specify here how to determine whether or not you are one of the victims of their deceit!

Not to worry!

John is going to explain that to us in this 4th chapter of 1st John.

But first, stop and "Take Heed" for a moment and think logically about this deception!

Do you believe Jesus Christ is telling the truth and that He is not a liar?

If so, then you must stop and consider what He said about these last days regarding Christianity, i.e. that there would be MANY false Christian representatives deceiving MANY people.

Soooo... WHERE ARE THEY?

Do you know?

What if you asked every Christian minister or preacher in this nation if he or she is a false prophet!

How many will say, "Well, yes, I am a false prophet!

Thanks for asking!"

Come on, Christian. Get real!

It seems in this nation that anyone who wants to can turn his or her collar around backwards or any group can simply call themselves or their church system "Christian" and somehow that makes it so, i.e. JUST LIKE THAT people believe they ARE CHRISTIAN.

Does a name or a label make it so?

Simply because they come in Christ's name does that make them Christian and what they say the truth?

Though our people often mean well, they can be so gullible and "sottish" at times.

For example, a group of ruthless international bankers can form a privately owned banking system and put our people in bondage to the tune of 6 trillion dollars while calling themselves the "Federal Reserve Banks".

People then just automatically assume that because "Federal" is in their name, they are part of our Federal Government when in fact they are NOT!

Another group can call itself the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and many people will think they stand to preserve our American civil liberties, when in fact they are anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-civil liberties and their sole purpose as evidenced by their actions (the fruit they bear) is to tear down and destroy our American civil liberties.

Arggghhh!

Notice a few verses later in Matthew 24 that Jesus makes these statements.

Matthew 24:11
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
That's right!

Many false prophets will be teaching a false Christianity, which is actually what you now see in "churchianity", which is denomination after denomination of man made religions, documented by the fact that they follow after the "traditions of men".

Yet they ALL claim to be Christian.

Notice Jesus also said in verse 12 that the love of many, the true brotherly love John and Christ told us to have, shall turn cold.

So here is the Big Question:

"How do you KNOW if a prophet, which means a teacher or minister, is or is not of God?"
Dear Christians, this pastor likes to teach and not preach, but the hour is late and you better know the answer to this question or you are in big, big trouble!

Fortunately, because He loves us so much, our Father has given us His Word and the answers to all our questions are contained therein.

In fact this 4th chapter of 1st John concerns those two statements we just read in Matthew 24:11-12.

John is going to tell us how to discern between the True Prophets, those who teach the Truth, and the False Prophets, those who teach Error, and how to ensure we have that "love" which sets God's children apart from the world.

In other words, John is going to show us how to discern between "the spirit of truth" and "the spirit of error" (see vs. 6).

We need therefore to pay very close attention!

Don't miss our following pamphlets from 1 John chapter 4!

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


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