Wednesday, July 22, 2009
An Epidemic Of False Christs
By Nathan Jones
When Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 of the signs of the end times that will mark the season of His return, the sign He mentioned more than any other would be an epidemic of false Christs. In Matthew 24:5 Jesus says, "For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many." Then in verse 11 He repeats it, "and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." Then in verse 24, He mentions it a third time, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible."
Today we are indeed in the midst of that epidemic of false Christs.
Lamb & Lion Ministries interviewed Bible prophecy expert and all-around nice guy Don Perkins, the founder and director of According to Prophecy Ministries in San Diego, California, about the modern-day fulfillment of the prophecies related to the growing number of false Christs.
Don was first asked if he, too, believed we are in the season that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24 — the season of the multiplications of false Christs. He concurred. He was then asked to give a brief overview of some specific false Christs that are on the scene today.
False Christs on the Scene Today
We've had quite a few. In the 1990s we had David Koresh. He actually claimed to be the Lamb of God. We've had Sun Myung Moon. He claims to be the new Christ and was coronated the Messiah in Washington D.C. in a public building there with congressmen and senators present. They actually put a crown on his head and declared him to be the Messiah.
It's amazing that in our time — the 21st Century — there are still people that will follow an individual who claims to be Jesus, or claims to be Christ. Jesus said that this would be an indicator of the end times. I meet people all the time who ask, "Who would follow a man today who would claim to be Christ?" Well, it's happening today! And there are many, many others.
There's one gentleman out of Russia, his name is Sergei, and he was an ex-traffic cop. And they call him the Vissarion Christ. People have left their jobs and their families to live in this big old commune. They actually call him a Christ, and people are following this guy.
We have a new guy today — Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda. He's from Puerto Rico. A lot of his followers are Hispanic. This man literally claims to be Jesus Christ. He denies sin. He denies the devil. And, his group teaches that when you join him it's ok to indulge in sin. This is a religion with no requirements except to believe in him. People are literally fighting each other to give him money. They were giving him mansions, cars and businesses. He's become a multimillionaire. He already has like twenty worship centers in the United States.
We are truly living in a time of deception. Jesus said in the last days there would be many who will claim to be Christ. We are truly living in that time, and again, what amazes me so much is the fact that in the 21st Century there are still people today that are gullible to follow a person who would claim to be Christ.
Another false Christ is Lord Maitreya, part of the Terror Center it's called. This was a group that actually taught in the early 1980s that this Christ was going to come on the scene. He was going to overshadow men and women. As a matter of fact, they did a full page ad in every newspaper all across the United States and around the world in the early 1980s claiming that the Christ was here. They have a lot of money.
A guy by the name of Benjamin Creme was his forerunner. This guy actually goes ahead of this Lord Maitreya. Now, this Lord Maitreya has never really actually appeared before a television camera, but they do show photos of him. As a matter of fact, on the website you can see pictures of him and what he supposedly looks like. But, this man claims to be the Christ of all Christs. And, he teaches that basically that every other religion, every other world teacher like Buddha — all of them — are under Christ, under him. He's the "Master Christ," if you want to call him that. He claims that every other Christ comes from him. And again, it puts him in the category of the false prophets.
Years ago he was based out of London. There has never been this overshadowing that he has promised — that he's going to overshadow the world, end world hunger and all those things.
I mean, all of these guys, they fall in that category that Jesus said is a false Christ. Now, a false Christ, the term Christ means the "Anointed One," and these people claim to be the "Anointed One" that's coming to cure all of man's ailments.
Just like Jesus said in Matthew 24 would happen — there are many false Christs today, and they are deceiving many.
