In Matthew 24 and Mark 13, one of the main warnings our Lord Jesus gave us, His Church, is to not allow any man to deceive us. Jesus said that in His answer to His disciples asking what would be the SIGN of His coming and of the end of the world. That means Lord Jesus was pointing to this deception for the END, leading all the way up to His future return to gather His Church.
What were the SIGNS Jesus gave there that will cause 'deception' in the last days? Let's list them...
1.
Matt 24:5
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am Christ"; and shall deceive many.
KJV
Those are about the "many antichrists" that Apostle John mentioned in 1 John 2:18. And there have been many already in world history that have claimed they were Christ. But that is not the actual coming Antichrist for the end.
2.
Matt 24:11
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
KJV
Those are different than the ones before claiming to be Jesus Christ. These are crept in unawares in the Church that teach false doctrine. Apostle Paul warned about these who preach "another Jesus" per 2 Corinthians 11, and Paul was afraid for His Christian brethren that they might believe those false ones, and receive "another spirit" and thus not remain a spiritual "chaste virgin" waiting on Jesus to come.
3.
Matt 24:17-20
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
KJV
Within that, in red, Lord Jesus gives a warning against deception to the coming Antichrist/false-Messiah and Satan's angels. The SEALS of Revelation 6 Jesus gave align with these SIGNS of the end He gave in His Olivet discourse. On the 6th SEAL, stars of heaven fall to earth as a fig tree casts her "untimely figs". Per the middle east fig horticulture, there is an EARLY FIG that grows in the WINTER and falls off in the spring. Lord Jesus uses that as a spiritual metaphor for the time of His coming, because spiritually, the TRUE HARVEST TIME when Jesus comes to gather His Church will be in symbolic SUMMER, not symbolic "winter".
Thus the above Scripture in red is a warning against deception to the first supernatural Messiah that comes first before Lord Jesus does. Jesus pulls from Isaiah 54 about the "Blessed are the barren..." parable, which is about spiritual worship. The symbolic 'barren', meaning their spiritual wombs remain barren waiting on Jesus to come, is about the Church remaining faithful spiritual chaste virgins waiting on Jesus. But instead those who are "with child, and to them that give suck in those days", are about the deceived who do not wait for Jesus to come, but fall away to the fake-Christ, the "man of sin" that comes first.
4.
Matt 24:23-26
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, "Lo, here is Christ, or there"; believe it not.
24 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.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, "Behold, He is in the desert"; go not forth: "behold, He is in the secret chambers"; believe it not.
KJV
Note how verse 23 & 26 are in the singular tense. Jesus warns that if the deceived come up to you and say things like, "Lo, here is Christ, or there", to not believe it. That is about the deceived proclaiming that Jesus has returned.
The KJV phrase "false Christs" is thus meant as singular about the coming Antichrist, a pseudo-Christ per Greek pseudochristos. Dr. James Strong in his Strong's Exhaustive Concordance caught this mistake and defined pseudochristos to mean 'a spurious Messiah", singular. Per the Greek 'christos' means Christ, singular. It's not like our English where plurality is shown with an 's' on the end of the word. Greek 'christoi' is plural. Some Greek texts have christoi instead, but Dr. Strong used the Greek text that had pseudochristos.
That coming pseudo-Christ will work great signs and wonders that IF... it were possible, would deceive even Christ's "very elect". By that Lord Jesus reveals the grand deception for the end of this world.
5.
Matt 24:28
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
KJV
Lord Jesus gave the above in relation to the deception by those first ones TAKEN per what He said at the end of Luke 17. You likely won't understand the above until you read and understand that latter part of Luke 17 and His answer to His disciple's question about where those first ones taken would be taken to. Jesus mentions this topic in the Matthew 24:40-41 verses also, but not in the detail of Luke 17.
Lord Jesus' answer in Luke 17:37 was to wheresoever the "body" is, that's where the eagles will be gathered together. The above verse is a repeat of that answer, except He used the idea of a DEAD CARCASE instead of body, which definitely points to those TAKEN being taken by Satan's host, the fowls that are gathered together. In short, those in Christ DO NOT WANT TO BE THE FIRST ONE 'TAKEN'. I know the pre-trib rapture theory teaches that we do, but that is simply false.
6.
Matt 24:48-51
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, "My lord delayeth his coming";
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
KJV
Jesus issued a warning to the deceived of His servants that do not 'watch' those SIGNS of the end He gave there leading up to His future coming. If they instead remain spiritually asleep and spiritually drunken in the night, when He does come and finds they have fallen away to worship that coming pseudo-Christ that comes first, those servants will be cast among the hypocrites, which is about being cast to the "outer darkness" outside the gates of the holy city (See Rev.22:14-15).
What were the SIGNS Jesus gave there that will cause 'deception' in the last days? Let's list them...
1.
Matt 24:5
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am Christ"; and shall deceive many.
KJV
Those are about the "many antichrists" that Apostle John mentioned in 1 John 2:18. And there have been many already in world history that have claimed they were Christ. But that is not the actual coming Antichrist for the end.
2.
Matt 24:11
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
KJV
Those are different than the ones before claiming to be Jesus Christ. These are crept in unawares in the Church that teach false doctrine. Apostle Paul warned about these who preach "another Jesus" per 2 Corinthians 11, and Paul was afraid for His Christian brethren that they might believe those false ones, and receive "another spirit" and thus not remain a spiritual "chaste virgin" waiting on Jesus to come.
3.
Matt 24:17-20
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
KJV
Within that, in red, Lord Jesus gives a warning against deception to the coming Antichrist/false-Messiah and Satan's angels. The SEALS of Revelation 6 Jesus gave align with these SIGNS of the end He gave in His Olivet discourse. On the 6th SEAL, stars of heaven fall to earth as a fig tree casts her "untimely figs". Per the middle east fig horticulture, there is an EARLY FIG that grows in the WINTER and falls off in the spring. Lord Jesus uses that as a spiritual metaphor for the time of His coming, because spiritually, the TRUE HARVEST TIME when Jesus comes to gather His Church will be in symbolic SUMMER, not symbolic "winter".
Thus the above Scripture in red is a warning against deception to the first supernatural Messiah that comes first before Lord Jesus does. Jesus pulls from Isaiah 54 about the "Blessed are the barren..." parable, which is about spiritual worship. The symbolic 'barren', meaning their spiritual wombs remain barren waiting on Jesus to come, is about the Church remaining faithful spiritual chaste virgins waiting on Jesus. But instead those who are "with child, and to them that give suck in those days", are about the deceived who do not wait for Jesus to come, but fall away to the fake-Christ, the "man of sin" that comes first.
4.
Matt 24:23-26
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, "Lo, here is Christ, or there"; believe it not.
24 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.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, "Behold, He is in the desert"; go not forth: "behold, He is in the secret chambers"; believe it not.
KJV
Note how verse 23 & 26 are in the singular tense. Jesus warns that if the deceived come up to you and say things like, "Lo, here is Christ, or there", to not believe it. That is about the deceived proclaiming that Jesus has returned.
The KJV phrase "false Christs" is thus meant as singular about the coming Antichrist, a pseudo-Christ per Greek pseudochristos. Dr. James Strong in his Strong's Exhaustive Concordance caught this mistake and defined pseudochristos to mean 'a spurious Messiah", singular. Per the Greek 'christos' means Christ, singular. It's not like our English where plurality is shown with an 's' on the end of the word. Greek 'christoi' is plural. Some Greek texts have christoi instead, but Dr. Strong used the Greek text that had pseudochristos.
That coming pseudo-Christ will work great signs and wonders that IF... it were possible, would deceive even Christ's "very elect". By that Lord Jesus reveals the grand deception for the end of this world.
5.
Matt 24:28
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
KJV
Lord Jesus gave the above in relation to the deception by those first ones TAKEN per what He said at the end of Luke 17. You likely won't understand the above until you read and understand that latter part of Luke 17 and His answer to His disciple's question about where those first ones taken would be taken to. Jesus mentions this topic in the Matthew 24:40-41 verses also, but not in the detail of Luke 17.
Lord Jesus' answer in Luke 17:37 was to wheresoever the "body" is, that's where the eagles will be gathered together. The above verse is a repeat of that answer, except He used the idea of a DEAD CARCASE instead of body, which definitely points to those TAKEN being taken by Satan's host, the fowls that are gathered together. In short, those in Christ DO NOT WANT TO BE THE FIRST ONE 'TAKEN'. I know the pre-trib rapture theory teaches that we do, but that is simply false.
6.
Matt 24:48-51
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, "My lord delayeth his coming";
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
KJV
Jesus issued a warning to the deceived of His servants that do not 'watch' those SIGNS of the end He gave there leading up to His future coming. If they instead remain spiritually asleep and spiritually drunken in the night, when He does come and finds they have fallen away to worship that coming pseudo-Christ that comes first, those servants will be cast among the hypocrites, which is about being cast to the "outer darkness" outside the gates of the holy city (See Rev.22:14-15).
