False Prophets and Christs vs. the Path to Life

David W Palmer

(Matthew 24:23–25 NKJV) “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. {24} For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. {25} See, I have told you beforehand.”

Jesus is again telling his apprentice leaders and us of the inevitability of negative things just prior to his return. In this case, he mentions “false christs” and “false prophets.” Thankfully, the Master had mentioned false prophets earlier and how to detect them:

(Matthew 7:15–20 NKJV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. {16} You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? {17} Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. {18} A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. {19} Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Jesus made it very clear in this passage that, even though we are not to judge people from our own intellect, we can and should assess their fruit. If they don’t have Jesus’s fruit—the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of Jesus’s own love, character, and ministry—growing in and through them, we don’t have to listen to them.

We note also that in Matthew 7, Jesus spoke of the false prophets and their fruit in a very specific context. This is the passage that precedes the verses we just read: 

(Matthew 7:12–14 DKJV) “Therefore, in everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them: for this is the objective of the law and the prophets. {13} Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are entering through it: {14} how narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way, which leads to life! And there are few who find it (the narrow gate).”

From this context—leading directly up to where Jesus first mentioned false prophets—they are people who point in a different direction to what the Lord said in this passage. That is to say, they don’t preach, teach, or practice: “In everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them.” In other words, they don’t enter by the “narrow gate,” or stay on the “constricted” path to life.

Without sowing love by doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, you cannot reap the fruit of love. It is basically as simple as that. You don’t have to judge another’s actions; you can simply observe their fruit. The fruit of the narrow gate and constricted path of perfect love is very obvious to others who are on it.

Jesus also said that false christs will rise. These are people who claim to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, but who are actually anointed by a different spirit. What we need to be acutely aware of is that their anointing also produces “great signs and wonders to deceive.”

So, the signs and wonders produced by the false anointing of false prophets and christs will be very convincing; Jesus said it is aimed at deceiving “if possible, even the elect.” However, we should not be surprised that a manifested spiritual power can change and/or disrupt the normal physical realm. After all, God, who is a Spirit, created every tangible part of the natural, physical universe. What’s more, we see that when the Holy Spirit was manifested on Jesus, the anointing was able to produce tangible miracles and healings; it calmed storms, and multiplied bread and fish. All of these involve a manifested spiritual being overriding the otherwise absolute laws of the physical realm.

Jesus says we are to expect those with demonic anointings to produce some signs and wonders; but he does warn us not to be deceived by them.