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As he moves with carefully studied studied gestures his speech mingles irony an d bravado. A watch set with diamonds adorns his wrist, he travels from place to place in luxurious vehicles, and he lives in a $7 million mansion. He says he is the Christ reincarnate. When journalist ask why he uses expensive clothing if Jesus walked on the earth with an old tunic and a pair of worn sandals, he replies: "in my first coming I was here to suffer and die. Now I have come back to reign."
Born in Puerto Rico, Jose Luis Miranda has two tattoos with the numbers 666 on his forearm. He claims to both Christ and the antichrist because he teaches a different message from the one proclaimed by the suffering Jesus. "Now," according to Miranda "he is a king reincarnate and victorious."
And he's not the only one. In a house in Boqueirao, Curitina, in Brazil, a curtain opens and there appears decked out in a white tunic and red cape, with a crown of thorns on his and a wooden scepter in jis left hand, the former vegetable salesman Luri Thais, 49. He sits on a throne and declares in cathedral tones: "I am Inri Christ, the son of God, the reincarnation of Jesus, the way, the truth and the life."
For a number of years this" Inri Christ" has been touring the world. Expelled from England, he went to France. During the past few years he has set up a headquarters in Brasilia.
Meanwhile, in a remote corner of Siberia, in a little village called "The House of the Dawn," a gentleman with a white tunic long brown hair, and a timid enigmatic smile says he is the Christ, who has comeback to save humanity. He doesn't tell this to everyone---only to his disciples. But there are thousands of them, and they worship him as a true god. They believe he is reincarnation of Jesus Christ. His birth name is Sergei Torop, a former Russian soldier. He calls himself Vissarion and says he is "the giver of new life."
Kevin Sullivan, a journalist from the United States, published in the Washington Post an interview with a number of Vissarion's disciples. What they told Sullivan surprised him. Lula Derbina, for example, was a translator for the International Red Cross, and she had found Vissarions what she had been looking for all her life. "I fully believe he is Jesus Christ. I know that as surely as I know I am breathing," she stated.
Galina Osphepkova, 54, was recently divorced and the mother of two children when someone showed her a video. In it she heard Vissarion mentioned that he had returned to Earth because people had forgotten the words and teaching he left 2,000 years ago. "I felt my heart pounding and I knew: "This is true.' He really is the one. He is the second incarnation of Christ."
Jesus mentioned false christs as a sign of His return to Earth, but it seems clear that He was not referring only to the ones I had just mentioned, or to the dozens of others who will certainly continue to do so in the future. He also said there would be false prophets---people who believe that God has sent them to offer instant solutions to our problems. They make promises of miraculous healing and financial prosperity. Many of them claim that the blessings are reserved for people who have "faith" measured by the amount of money they send in. Such "prophets" have proliferated during the past few years, with learned how to use radio, television, and other media to reach the masses. Some of them have built extensive financial empires.
They support their arguments by "testimonies" of people who claim they have had miracles performed for them. They even quote the Bible to affirm that "no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him". here's what Jesus said about them: "Not everyone who says to ME, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that they, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'''.
How could people who work miracles and do wonderful things in the name of Jesus not have His approval? The answer is in the text: They never did the will of the Father. Instead they acted according to their own way of doing and seeing things.
In a way, all such false prophets and people who say they are the Christ are a fulfillment of prophecy, but the matter goes beyond delude people or those who take advantage of and benefit from the credulity and fanaticism of others. When Jesus spoke of false christ He said that they would "show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect". The elect those who have accepted God's invitation to turn aside from lying and deception, from all that is false and live only by the truth---would not easily deceived by a miraculous healing or believe simply because someone says they are the reincarnation of Jesus.
If even enlightened people can be deceived it is because the matter is much more serious that we may have thought. The key word here is "deceived". According to Jesus, during the last days there will be a deception so clever, so powerful, that it will sweep away millions. Who will be behind this deception and how will it come about? The Bible gives us the answer.
In the Book of Revelation we find that the father of lies, the master of deception in the last days, will be the same one who in the beginning swept away a third of the angels with his seductions and lies. The apostles John saw this in vision: "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him".
Note the one of the characteristics of this evil being is that he "deceives the whole world". Specializing in deception instead of the force, he convinces people and makes them want to follow him. They actually believe in what he teaches and are convinced that hes is right.
The strategy that he uses to persuade the multitudes to follow him voluntarily is one of the seduction and lies. Jesus described the deceiver as someone who "does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever hes speaks in a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies".
The last battle, the one that book of Revelation calls "Armageddon" and that will take place just before the return of Christ, will not be a conflict involving cannons or missiles. It will not be East and West, nor socialism against capitalism. The last battle of the ages will be between reality and fiction, between the truth and error, between good and evil. And its battlefield is the human heart.
The enemy is a liar by nature, and he will attempt to deceive as many as possible in the last days of history, including even the most cautious. To achieve this, of course, he will not come as he truly is. If he did that no one the enemy will camouflage himself. "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light". If he disguises himself as an "angel of light", that means he will be a spiritual, religious personality, a miracle worker. If not, he would never be able to trick so many people with hi clever schemes.
The apostle's Paul describes the way the deceiver will seek to achieve his goals: "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,... that you may not be quickly shaken.... Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes he seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being of God".
Here we have a vital key to understanding the matter. The apostle states that before the Lord Jesus returns to earth we will see this "apostasy" and the coming of the "man of sin". Who is the "man of sin" that refers to? What is the "apostasy" he is talking about and when it will happen?
Paul himself mentions other characteristics of the "man of sin". He says that he "opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship". But he exalts himself against God in a strange way. He "opposes" without opposing. Instead speaking against God, he disguises himself as God", The "man of sin" fights against God by pretending to be God. Multitudes believe him, follow him, and accept his teaching. But in doing so they naturally fall into apostasy---that is, rebellion against God.
Do you know of any religious power in our time that attributes to itself divine power? Have you ever seen a religious institution that pretends to have authority even to change what is written in the Word of God? That would be scary! The day that you witness human beings exalting themselves as God's exclusive representative, you can know that this is part of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
Jesus said that when the time of His return is near we will see "the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader understand)". The phrase "let the reader understand" is in the parenthesis, Not all will understand. It will depend on the attitude with which we search for the truth. God reveals Himself only to those who seek Him with sincerity and humility of heart.
And what is this "abomination of desolation" that the prophet Daniel talks about? To learn the answer we need to got to the book of Daniel in which we read about a religious power that "will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law". It says that this power "grew up to the host of heaven" and "even magnified itself to be equal with Commander of the host... and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper".
Notice that, at some point in history, this religious power would attempt to "make alterations in times and in law" and that it would "fling truth to the ground". Why such hatred for truth? Because behind this power is the father of lies. Truth and lies are like light and darkness--they don't belong together. The enemy of God would invent a false and deceitful law to get people's attention away from the true law. He would do all this using his weapons of choice; deception and seduction.
Deception is a key word for understanding Satan's plan. The dictionary says that it mean: "To give a lie the appearance of truth. To induce someone to believe and hold to be certain what is not". As a result, deception involves leaving someone into error, to direct them astray. In Matthew 24 Jesus repeats the warning against deception four times, saying that it will be the most powerful instruments of the enemy in the last days.
When I was a little boy, one day I ran away from home fear of being punished. I had done something wrong and knew that my Mother would be settling accounts with me soon. So I ran and ran and ran, believing that at the infinite point of the horizon I could hide from mistakes. Afraid to stop, I ran not knowing where I was going I simply ran.
The sun was setting over the wheat fields. The shadows of night mingled with my fears, imprisoning me. The distant call of the owls seemed like mocking laughter. Tired, cold, and hungry, I curled up under the eaves of an abandoned house, overcome by fatigue. I have no idea how long I slept. I only know that I woke up startled. A hand was gently brushing my face. It was my mother.
"It's OK, son", she whispered tenderly in my ears. "You ran to much. Now it's time to go back. Let's go home".
This is the most beautiful truth of all time. You, too, have run too much. You have suffered, you have wept. But Jesus says: "You've run enough, my child. Now it's time to go home. Come! I'll show you the way".
Will you accept His invitation?
The answers is your alone.
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