“They said Jesus Christ will come back. I believe it is him, he is back. This man is Jesus Christ,” said the lady who was being interviewed by a journalist on a TV show.

How I wished I could have been there just to read to her certain scriptures from the Bible! Perhaps she would have changed her mind about her assumption.

Matthew 24:23 tells us “…If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ’ or ‘there he is!’ do not believe it.’”

As human beings we can easily be swept up with the crowd when it comes to popular ideas and hearsay. Just before the turn of the millennium, some people believed the world was going to end in the year 2000. Early that year, there were reports of people selling everything they had, and spending all their money, because they believed the world was going to end.

During this year (2011) there was a well circulated prediction by a “prophet” who declared that the world was going to end on a certain date. When interviewed after the fateful day passed and the world was still spinning, he claimed he miscalculated the dates.

“No one knows about that day and hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). Do some Christians forget that scripture when they hear predictions of the end of the world?

It’s not only the false predictions that people fall for, there are false prophets preaching false gospels. In the province of Gauteng in South Africa, where I work and live, there is a huge increase in the number of “miracle performing” churches. I have spoken to some people who actually admit to paying for their “healing.”

The lady I quoted at the beginning of the article was a member of a church whose pastor‘s behaviour has people questioning whether he is a real prophet or a false prophet. Still, the people go there in huge numbers. Some of these “prophets” praise or promote their own names, and not the name of Jesus. One such pastor even replaces Jesus’ name with his own when he sings common worship choruses! Paul warned the Ephesians: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20: 29,30).

Some preach more about money and getting rich than about salvation. Their message is “give more, so that God can bless you with even more in return.”

These “prophets” claim to heal all kinds of diseases and disabilities. They also claim to get rid of demons and perform a lot of questionable “miracles.” But Jesus himself told us clearly, “…false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect, if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). The Apostle John, many years later, warned the early Christians not to “believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1 NLT).

Fashionable churches

Some of these churches are like fashion trends. I have heard some teens say they are going to a new church because the one they have been attending is now out of fashion!

The Apostle Paul said, “The time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4: 3 NLT).

As Christians we need to keep close to God and his word. Jesus told his disciples to be “dressed and ready for service” (Luke 12:35). What God wants us to do now, is to “be about our Father’s business,” living and sharing the gospel with others. Like the master in the parable, he will reward us when he returns to find us faithfully carrying out his instructions.

Jesus’ coming will not be in secret. Everyone alive at that time will see it, as we are told in Isaiah 40:5: “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

No one will need to tell anyone else where Jesus is. He will not be hiding somewhere or wandering out in the desert. “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27).