The Danger of False Christs
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Learning the ultimate danger of false christs is their deceptive but false gospel with no power to save.
Text: Luke 21:7-9
Date: 05/04/2025, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 191
Description:
As the end of Jesus' earthly ministry grows near, He turns His attention privately to His disciples and begins His last great eschatological discourse on End Things. When He is asked when the cataclysmic events surrounding the destruction of the Temple will take place, He does not respond directly to the question but rather warns His disciples not to be deceived by false christs. We will find this to be extremely significant as Jesus emphasizes that the greatest dangers the church will face will come from within. For the danger of false christs goes beyond false teaching and prophecy to the proclamation of a gospel that masquerades the truth, but cannot save anyone. We will realize that some false christs are obvious phonies while others are so subtle as to lead astray all but the most careful students of Scripture. After considering several examples, we will unmask the current focus on "experientialism" that is leading millions of people away from Scripture and the true Gospel. We will learn that the best way to identify false christs and false gospels is to be intimately acquainted with the true Christ and the true Gospel as they are presented to us in Scripture. Ultimately we will echo Jesus' simple but poignant warning-- "Do not go after them"!
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I. Introduction, Rev. 6:2.
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 21:7-9.
A. Context, Luke 13:35.
B. The devastating impact of false christs.
1. The eschatological question, vs. 7.
a. Setting up the discourse on "End Things".
i. Determining the audience, Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:3.
ii. Determining the location, Mark 13:3.
iii. Obscuring a major threshold, John 12:36-37; Matt. 24:1.
b. The prelude to prophecy, vs. 7b.
i. The address.
ii. Defining "these things".
1) "These things" in the "here and now", Luke 21:6.
2) "These things" in the "not yet", Luke 21:12,27,28.
iii. The question of "when".
1) A question unanswered, Matt. 24:36; Acts 1:6-7; Luke 12:35-37.
2) The eschatological framework.
a) The destruction of Jerusalem, Luke 19:43-44, 21:20; Dan. 26.
b) The Final Judgment.
iv. The question concerning "signs".
1) Defining a "sign".
2) The sovereign work of God, Luke 21:25-26.
2. Jesus' warning of false christs, vs. 8.
a. The warning to not be deceived.
i. The danger of spiritual deception.
ii. A tragic example.
iii. Misrepresenting and misinterpreting the signs.
b. A plethora of false christs.
i. Looking at the words.
1) In the name of Christ, Luke 19:10.
2) A claim of divinity.
ii. Looking at the offenders.
1) Those who claim to be the Messiah, Acts 5:36, 21:38.
2) Those who claim to be Jesus.
a) The arch heretic Simon Magus.
b) Some modern false christs.
3) Those who claim to offer salvation.
c. The warning to stand firm.
3. Identifying false christs, vs. 9.
a. The irony of end-time predictions, Matt. 24:36.
b. The natural activity of fallen humankind.
c. The end is not yet, 2Pet. 3:8.
III. Application
A. The secular false christs of the culture.
B. The false christ of Roman Catholicism.
C. The false christs of "experientialism".
IV. Conclusion, John 14:16,26, 15:26, 16:13-15.
