Look-Alike Christs

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)

We have been taught to expect the antichrist to be a person whose very existence openly stands against Christ. We have been taught to expect the antichrist to openly teach against everything that Christ teaches. But I do not think this is the true picture.

It may be in the transmission of the teaching through the various languages that the concept may have changed as the study of his operations show us someone who is not really standing openly against Christ.

You see the devil has been beaten by Christ since the beginning and is not harboring any ideas of turning the tide at any time. In fact the Bible portrays him as a person who knows that his time is short (Revelation 12: 12). This is because he clearly knows his end. He therefore changes his game plan from fighting Christ to fighting those who worship Him by diverting that worship if he can, a thing he has tried since time immemorial. This he will do not to raise his army but to increase the crowd that will join him in hell as he knows God enough to realize that anyone who does not worship God actually belongs to him whoever he thinks he worships.

The antichrist is therefore a counterfeit Christ, just like we have counterfeit currency and gold. And this might be the reason he may have been involved in the corruption of the Bible so that we are unable to know what to expect when he appears. Or maybe the translators themselves thought to point more clearly what the antichrist represented so as to accurately help us appreciate that he will be against Christ.

His operations will be so alike the real Christ’s that it will be near impossible to tell them apart. The difference will be so slight so that only a few will be in a position to notice. Or do we not see that they will be so alike that even the elect will barely escape the deception.

How will they escape? I am sure you are wondering. I believe they simply walk with the real Christ so closely that they will be able to recognize His voice however noisy the din is. Remember Elijah in 1 Kings 19: 11, 12?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27)

They will hear His voice however alike another shepherd looks like their shepherd. You see looks can be deceiving.

But hearing that voice does not come that easily. I believe the first thing that this sheep will need to do is establish early enough who this shepherd is and choose to follow Him unwaveringly. He must enthrone Christ in His heart as Lord and King. By that I mean that he must have decided that Christ is the only voice worth hearing and the only One with any order worth obeying. He must establish in his heart that Christ issues orders and not suggestions or even instructions. Then the voice will come not as a choice but a craving for the next order to obey. Prayer will stop being a request transaction but a reporting for duty to our commander.

Then, and only then will we be able to train our ears to identify that voice clearly enough as to distinguish it from similar or familiar voices.

In these end times miracles are not constrained to Christ and His church. This is what the Bible teaches. Even prophecy is not the preserve of Christ’s servants. The signs we were promised can also be seen with the antichrist as we see in the scriptures.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Revelation 13:13 – 15)

We see that even the raising of the dead is among the miracles the antichrist will be able to perform. This makes it plain that miracles and signs are clearly not the things that will be able to point only to the reality or activity of Christ.

We therefore need to establish what it is that will help us distinguish between Christ and the antchrist. This is because the outward indicators have no capacity to help us accurately do so.

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (1Samuel 16:7)

We must therefore be sensitive enough to get deeper than the visible to tell them apart. But even more is that we must develop a consistent habit of not only craving but pursuing and dwelling in His presence.

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

We must desire to hear that voice to the extent that other voices, even the voice of reason, become irrelevant to our ears. We must crave to obey Him even when it is foolhardy even to us to do so. We must value His voice above any other voice. It is then we will be able to clearly know when our Shepherd is talking.

I will give a case in point. There is this TV pastor whose sermons are packed very nicely. His doctrine is not at fault. His scripture application is excellent. His sermons are very transformational as one listens to him.

Yet I was wondering that after listening to those excellent sermons I felt no tug toward the transformational even though at face value they really were powerful sermons. It disturbed me for years even after I had stopped listening to them. I tried many times to read his many books but my hands were unable to pick even one on display to look at. Incidentally there are many such telepastors/ evangelists I have had that experience repeated. It was surprising as normally I read a lot.

Years later a friend shows me a DVD with the same preacher making a pitch for a pyramid scheme that God had expressly ordered me not to join. He is a very senior leader in the same from what he was saying. Of course they are veiled as multi level marketing schemes though I really do not know the difference. Then it connected! He was operating with a different spirit. His sermons, though spiritually and scripturally sound did not come from my Shepherd!

I am sure you want me to elaborate on the pyramid scheme as I know many see no problem with them as they are avenues of making much money without sweat.

For years many friends had been asking me to join this MLM but I had not really felt the tug to do so due to my involvement in ministry, a thing they thought was the greatest asset in the same as I could market it in the process of ministry. That is actually their preference.

One day some friends invited me for a meeting without telling me what it was about. It was the training session for the MLM. The training was really good as I was almost convinced as most of the arguments I had about joining were explained away.

When I went home, God told me that I should not join it. Then He posed a question that really explained issues. What was the exit clause in that MLM? You see as His servant I was under His express orders. How could I exit the MLM if God ordered? You see when I wanted to join Bible school He just spoke and I was able to just stop the process that had started. When I was working He just spoke and I was able to leave work. When I operated a workshop He just spoke and I was able to leave it and have not been there for close to fifteen years (I left it just as it was, even with my tools). How would I leave this MLM once the money started flowing whether God spoke or not? How could I stop earning should God say so?

When I was later asked whether I had finally been convinced to join it and said that I would not it became the end of the story. I had answered only one yet none of the other people who had been pestering me over the years ever came to me again after I gave one a definite answer. The MLM is a spiritual structure with all members connected and receiving orders from a central spiritual centre. Since many pastors are in these pyramids to supplement their meager support and draw many of the people they lead into them, it is vitally important for each of us to connect to our Shepherd without the aid of intermediaries before identifying the under shepherds to submit to.

Why all this verbiage? It is because it is very important we listen keenly and constantly to Christ so that we can get clear directions from Him alone. The fact that the preacher agrees with your doctrine does not make him your brother. The fact that he preaches what you hold dear does not mean he is serving your King. He might just be a counterfeit preacher sent by the counterfeit christ.

It is only your close and submitted relationship to Christ that will make you attuned to his voice enough to filter out the rest. Do not be surprised if you learn that your favorite pastor or prophet is answerable to the counterfeit shepherd.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2Corinthians 11:14, 15)

I believe at this point that many preachers and pastors are in the employ of the counterfeit spirit. For your information I am not asking us to do any witch hunting. I am asking that we become so connected to Christ that we will know when a counterfeit spirit is in operation. I do not even think it is our business to expose them. Our responsibility is to help anyone who comes our way to connect to the Shepherd who is leading us. He has not called us to point out the fakes. He has called us to train people to really connect to the real just like bankers are trained only with legal tender.

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:29)

My responsibility is to point people to God and help them hear His voice with clarity. What the devil does or who he uses is none of my business. Whatever schemes he has do not concern me. My express order from the King is to help His people identify His voice as clearly as He means it. Whether the pastor is fake or not is really none of my problems as I do not know the kind of contract he signed with whoever his boss is. What I know is that I should know when he is using a voice that is different from the one my Shepherd uses. It is sin if I am not able to distinguish a good preacher from the one sent by my shepherd, and I do not say or imply that any boring preacher comes from Christ or otherwise just like we know that nutritious food is not necessarily appetizing. The point is that not all excellent sermons come from Christ or His servants. Or do we not remember Paul preaching Eutychus to death before raising him!

Is it possible to lose sensitivity to the voice of our original shepherd? I think it is highly probable. Judas is the clearest example. Even for those who may argue that it was prophesied I will mention King Saul, one person we see God grieving over that loss. The study of his life will show us the pitfalls we ought to avoid if we are to be continually able to accurately hear and identify the voice of our Shepherd.

Long ago there was this young man who was so daft that he went through primary school and was not even able to read. I do not know whether he had known how to write his name as he was several classes ahead of me. What I know is that he failed completely in the national exams and it was common knowledge to all, even us who were many classes below him.

Well, this same man accepted Christ and the transformation was so astounding that even skeptics acknowledged that it was Christ who had done it. Not only was he able to read but he was able to read the Kimeru Bible, a language that is difficult to most. Even in church not many can fluently read it. He eventually became a preacher and was very good at it. And God really used him.

Before getting saved he was a hopeless sort of fellow. Things started looking up for him as he got married and generally started doing quite well in all areas. Then he lost touch with the shepherd and everything crumbled around him. He got into sin and his family broke up.

I could not believe that someone who had seen such evidence of God’s work in his life could backslide. I prayed that God would offer me an opportunity to challenge him to consider the relationship with Christ and one time we met.

I asked him what had happened for him to forget the goodness of Christ and he was speechless, I reminded him that Christ was waiting for him to return and he just babbled away. Recently I heard that he has died, and sadly without reconnecting to the Shepherd.

There are pastors who spoke and you could clearly hear God’s voice as they spoke yet later became more motivational than prophetic. There are some whose call to ministry can never compare to what they have become as ministry success overtook them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21 - 23)

Could it be that these started well with hearing and following the shepherd’s voice then later became experts at the doings of God that they thought they may not need that voice? May they have slowly, probably in their busyness, started hearing another shepherd and thought he was the original one as they did not have the time to assess as ministry was really consuming their time and effort? Or may they have simply been in the employ of the counterfeit shepherd while all of the time thinking that it was the right shepherd they were serving as they connected to the doings before connecting to the voice of the Shepherd thereby assuming that only the Shepherd could give the orders they were receiving?

It is clear that there are some who start with the right shepherd and end with the counterfeit from many scriptures we read.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6: 4 – 6)

These for me are people who have walked in the light of the Shepherd and lost His voice without realizing it. They have gotten used to the voice of the counterfeit shepherd and are confident that it is the true Shepherd speaking as nothing much has changed as far as the orders are concerned. He is still doing the same things and even the different things he is being ordered to do are only slightly different from the original Shepherd.

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee? (2Chronicles 18:23)

They therefore openly persecute those who can hear the Shepherd as they are serving another shepherd, yet thinking it is the one they had started with. Anyone who hears different must to them must be hearing spurious noises and needs serious correction. No wonder they will be shocked when the Shepherd says that He never knew them.

Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. (Jeremiah 28:10, 11)

Again we see the same situation being enacted. The prophet has lost the prophetic network without realizing it as he is still hearing some other voice very clearly and mistakes it with the original voice he used to hear. He therefore stands in direct opposition to God’s clear revelation and God is annoyed enough with him to kill him just two months later for misrepresenting Him.

It is a scary situation, I tell you. But I think these situations are minor compared to the times we are in. I can comfortably be preaching the gospel I have preached for generations without realizing that the paymaster has changed and thus the orders are only similar. I believe the camouflage of the antichrist is way beyond anything we have ever faced. Again I remind us that even the elect barely escape his snare. In fact Christ said that He will shorten those times so that the elect are not swallowed in that deception and the ensuing persecution, probably from those who did not notice that the shepherd had changed.

There is simply no excuse for serving God on cruise control. There is absolutely no reason why I should follow my spiritual leaders unquestionably. There is no reason why a prophet, however close they may appear to be to God, should determine my commitment to Christ. Christ never expected our commitment or relationship to Him to be through proxies. One clear purpose of the Holy Spirit is to ensure that we can have unfettered access to God and His will.

I am not discounting spiritual leaders as I am one. I am not trashing prophets as I also listen to them. In fact I was with one yesterday. I am not saying that God should only speak to you directly as I also hear God speak through others. What I am saying is that we should be so close to Christ that any voice that is not His will be noticeably different, and not simply because it doesn’t make sense because one clear indication that it is spurious may be the sense it makes to us. The counterfeit thrives on commonsense and popular acclaim. It is from the counterfeit spirit that we get universal suffrage.

We MUST, and I highlight must, know how to recognize the Shepherd’s voice clearly to escape the alluring voice of the imposter. Remember that his deadline draws close and he will therefore pull no stops to complete the assignment of misleading whoever is not sensitive enough to the voice of the true Shepherd.