How Do You Know if a Sign or Wonder Is False?

Tom: Thanks, Gary. You’re listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a program in which we encourage everyone who desires to know God’s truth to look to God’s Word for all that is essential for salvation and living one’s life in a way that is pleasing to Him.

If you’re a first-time listener, or you haven’t been checking in with us for a while, in this segment of our program we’re going through Dave Hunt’s book Countdown to the Second Coming, and there’s an outside chance we’ll finish chapter 4 today.

Dave: That would be amazing, Tom, but let’s give it a try.

Tom: Okay. Well, that’s what we do, Dave. We keep trying here. (Laughing) Okay. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned that a major sign of His return would be religious deception.

Dave: In fact, Tom, that is the first sign that He gives.

Tom: Well, I’ll quote from Matthew:24:4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
See All..., which talks about watch out, take heed, lest you be deceived.

Dave: That’s the first thing He says.

Tom: Right.

Dave: And there are a lot of books written and sermons preached about the signs of the last days: Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilence, famines, and so forth. But the very first thing He warned about…

Tom: And then it’s followed by, “Many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. And that’s Matthew:24:4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
See All...—that’s the one we started with—and verse 11 and verse 24.

Dave: Mm-hmm. So, Tom, not only is this the first sign that Jesus gives, but He emphasizes it three times. It must be important.

Tom: Dave, we can get a sense of false prophets. There are always people spouting off about this and that. But it’s a little more difficult to understand the idea of a false Christ. Where could we look for a false Christ today?

Dave: Well, Paul also warned about a false Jesus, a false Christ, another Jesus, another Christ, and there are positive confession teachers today who claim that they are Christ and that they can do everything Jesus did—that they’re just like Jesus on this earth. But Morris Cerullo goes maybe a little bit farther. He says, “When you look at me, you’re not looking at Morris Cerullo; you’re looking at God!” Wow! What blasphemy. But this is part of the last days deception that Jesus warned about. Now, interestingly, He tells us exactly what will be involved. He says there will be false signs and wonders, v. 24: “There shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.”

And this is really fulfilled in our day. We have—the main thing that some of these people emphasize is signs and wonders. You remember when we wrote Seduction of Christianity?

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: Oral Roberts, in reaction to that, formed an organization called Charismatic Bible Ministries. And they all signed an agreement that they wouldn’t correct one another. You remember that?

They have an annual conference there in Tulsa, and over the platform it says, “Love and Unity through Signs and Wonders.” This is their big emphasis. Well, Jesus warned about that in Matthew:7:22-23 [22] 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? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
See All...: He said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, haven’t we prophesied in your name? In your name we cast out devils, in your name we did mighty works. And I will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye workers of iniquity.” Solemn words from Christ, who said, “I know my sheep, and are known of mine.” So if He never knew them, they were never His sheep.

And then, we could go to Paul—you know, he says the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2, he says: “Beware. Don’t be deceived, because there’s going to be a great religious deception that will arise.” And in 2 Timothy:3:8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
See All..., Paul says: “As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”

Now, Jannes and Jambres were the magicians, sorcerers, in Pharaoh’s court. They didn’t resist Moses and Aaron by atheistic arguments: “Oh, there’s no such thing as miracles.” No, they duplicated by the power of Satan what Moses and Aaron were doing by the power of God, up to a point—as far as God allowed them.

So I think Paul is warning us very clearly, “You know—do you want to know the opposition to the truth in the last days? It’s not primarily skeptical or atheistic university professors, and so forth. It will be inside the church, and it will be through false signs and wonders—men claiming to do miracles in ‘my name.’” And Jesus said—and they said it—“in your name,” and yet it will be not of God but by the power of Satan. Now, that’s a solemn thought, Tom, but it’s in the Word of God, and I’m not going to try to name those who would seem to fit into that category, but I think there are many today.

Tom: And growing, Dave. When the scripture says that “if possible,” in Matthew 24: “If possible, even the elect could be deceived.” Now, Dave, when we’re looking at signs and wonders, we see people supposedly doing these things, especially drawing our attention to them, like Benny Hinn, for example. But these are—somebody could easily be skeptical about that, although a lot of people are drawn into it, or are convinced by it. When the signs and wonders increase, when they are stunning, for example, is that an application of this verse: “If possible, even the elect….” How do you understand that, Dave?

Dave: Well, I don’t think the elect could ultimately be deceived. But it will be so astounding that if possible, even the elect would be deceived. Now, we’re talking about false prophets and false signs and wonders. Now, let’s put the two together. You mentioned Benny Hinn. My wife and I were in South Africa. Benny Hinn had a big crusade, and in the midst of the meeting, a man fell out of his chair, collapsed onto the floor in the aisle. They carried him out, and Benny Hinn told the audience, “Don’t be concerned. God has just told me that he’s going to be okay.” In fact, he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

In Switzerland, Benny Hinn prophesied over a man of many more years of powerful ministry that God had for him, and so forth. Three days later, he died.

I could tell you of other instances—in the little town of Bend that we live in, Tom, a dear lady went to the Benny Hinn crusade at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. She was a long-time supporter, but she didn’t have much money—maybe it was like the widow’s mite that the Lord commended. She saw a line standing there. She got in line to get into the arena, and when she got to the door, no! Her name wasn’t on the donor’s list. She hadn’t given enough money! So she had to go to another door. Well, she went up, finally—she got up on the stage during the meeting, and Benny knocked her down, you know, supposedly the power of God. She fell down, but then Benny knocks a huge man down on top of her, broke her hip! She—this is someone from our own town here. She’s crying out in pain, and they do nothing for her. Her hip was broken. She had to go to the hospital, and so forth.

I remember watching Benny on TBN with Paul and Jan sitting there, and he’s telling how he knocked this guy down with the power of God supposedly, and his toupee flew off. The man got it and put it back on a little bit askew, and got up, and Benny said, “I knocked him down five times, just to see the wig fly off!” And Paul and Jan are laughing uproariously, as is Benny. I don’t believe that the Holy Spirit knocks people down in order to see their toupee or their wig fly off so you can laugh about it.

Now there is some power operating there, and I’m sorry, but Benny is so popular that I almost dare not say this, because then these people will turn me off! But let’s just examine what Christ said. Let’s examine what is going on, and see the lifestyle that these people live, and so forth.

But mainly, it’s like Jannes and Jambres. And they are opposing the truth through false signs and wonders, and it is a tragedy today. But this was the first sign that Jesus gave of the nearness of His return.

Tom: Dave, I want to go back to Matthew:7:22-23 [22] 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? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
See All.... This is an incredibly sobering verse: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Wow! These are people who are offering, as you say here, they are offering their works—this is a works-salvation—not just the supposed signs and miracles, and so forth, but this is offering Jesus something other than their faith—their trust in Him.

Dave: Well, they’re pointing to their signs and wonders as the evidence, as the evidence that they belong to Him. Well, what is the evidence that we belong to Christ? What they should have said was, “Lord, you made a promise. You said ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ I have relied upon your promise. I have simply trusted you.”

But, Tom, you say it’s a very solemn scripture, and indeed it is. Because notice the ones that the Lord focuses on. He’s not saying, “Well, many people will try to get to heaven by their good works.” Now that is a problem, and that’s part of this. But these are people who must have been Christian leaders! They must have been in positions of authority—high profile. They were showing signs and wonders and people were accepting them as this.

Tom, when you think about that, and not a few but many—this is a great movement that will lead people astray.

Tom: Dave, we’ve said this in the last few programs—we’ve been pointing to an increase, a conditioning, in preparation for mankind to receive the Antichrist. So the signs and wonders are going to become more powerful. What’s the verse with regard to the “man of lawlessness”? He’s going to be with every kind of lying sign and wonder.

Dave: Yeah, “Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose working is after the power of Satan with all signs and wonders—lying signs and wonders and all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and those who receive not the love of the truth…”—that’s solemn, Tom.

Tom: So, “a love of the truth.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” A love of Him, and wanting Him more than we want some things that—not just tickling our ears, I think it’s going to go way past that, but the very things that we’d say, “Wow! Look at that! This has got to be God! It can’t be anybody else.”

Dave: Yeah, Tom, I remember seeing—well, actually on a video—this was Richard Roberts at Robert Tilton’s Word of Faith World Outreach Center in Dallas—it’s no longer there, now. He had to go underground. But anyway, I remember Richard Roberts having everybody stand up and “repeat after me: ‘When you see a miracle, you know it’s God.’” Well, that was a setup for exactly what Paul and Christ are warning us about. Tom, we’ve seen it in our day. You remember the Toronto Blessing. You remember Brownsville Assembly of God.

Tom: You could throw Rodney Howard Brown into that mix, too.

Dave: And people coming by the thousands from all over the world, pursuing—what? Pursuing truth? No, pursuing signs and wonders. Wanting to see more miracles. I watched so many tapes from the Brownsville Assembly of God in…

Tom: Yeah, their services—main services…

Dave: Right. And I didn’t hear the gospel. I didn’t hear the truth. But I saw people shaking and falling over, and Tom, I’m not trying to be critical, but I think we’d better pay attention to what the Bible says and that people went there and the testimonies you heard—I heard testimony after testimony about how “I began to shake…” and there was a pastor and his wife who wrote a letter after they came from, I think, Minnesota or somewhere, and they said, “Oh, wow! What a blessing! You know, all the way home…we were staying in a motel and we just couldn’t stop laughing. We were afraid the people next door would think we’re crazy.”

Tom: Or they needed a designated driver because one of them was “drunk in the Spirit.” Wow!

Dave: Yes, sometimes they could hardly get a person back on the airplane to go back to England—that would be from Toronto—and this was what they were focusing on: Signs and Wonders. Exactly like these people in Matthew 7: “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do this? Didn’t we do that?” But it was all signs and wonders and miracles and casting out devils instead of saying, “Lord Jesus, you died for my sins on the Cross. You paid the penalty. And you promised that if I would believe in you—you said, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ And Lord, I simply believed your promise.”

But that’s a little bit boring, apparently, for some people, and we’ve got to have some kind of power. And that opens the door, sadly, for a delusion. And Paul warns, “Don’t let anyone deceive you. That day [that is, the last day] will not come except there come the apostasy.”

He didn’t say, “Except we see a last days great explosion of signs and wonders and great revival, and so forth.” He warns of apostasy, and, Tom, that doesn’t make me happy. Would God that we were living like the first-century church, but these are warnings from the Bible that we have to take seriously.

Tom: Dave, you refer back to the false prophets in the Old Testament. They were always crying, “Peace and safety! Peace and safety!” When Isaiah, Jeremiah, others, were saying “No. We have to submit to God here. We need to repent. You know, this is a doing of God. God is bringing judgment here.” And the same thing today. These so-called “prophets.” They’re talking about “no, a revival! Things are going to happen. Things are going to get exciting. God is pouring out His Spirit.”

Let me give you a quote from A.W. Tozer, which I think is so appropriate to this. He writes: “It is my considered opinion that under the present circumstances we do not want revival at all. A widespread revival of the kind of Christianity we know today in America might prove to be a moral tragedy from which we would not recover in a hundred years…” that is, if the Lord tarries.

Dave: Right.

Tom: But I think he’s right on the money there.

Dave: Well, Tom, the same thing happened in Israel. It’s amazing. You want to talk about signs and wonders! Nobody saw miracles like the Jews. The Red Sea opens up, you go through on dry land, your enemies are drowned in the Sea. God speaks with an audible voice from Mt Sinai. You promise to obey Him and don’t. You are led each day by a pillar of cloud and each night by a pillar of fire that shows you exactly where to camp, and so forth. You are fed with manna, miraculously, it comes from heaven every day. Your shoes, your sandals, your clothes do not wear out. Water out of a rock! And that rock apparently followed them, and here comes that rock again, and…Tom! You couldn’t have asked more miracles, and yet the Jews, according to Scripture—this is not anti-Semitism, these are Israeli prophets and the psalmists writing—were the most rebellious, disobedient people this world has ever seen. They are a picture to us of the fact that signs and wonders is not what is going to change our hearts. It can really intrigue you and lead you astray.

And I’m not against signs and wonders. I have seen God do miracles, incredible miracles, in my own life. I’ve take Bibles, for example, and other things behind the Iron Curtain in those days, and seen God blind the guards’ eyes. I’ve seen people healed instantly, okay? But we are warned about this.

And listen to what Peter said—in other words, we don’t go after signs and wonders. Someone has put it very well. He said, “You don’t seek the gifts. You seek the Giver.” And we want His truth because it’s the truth that sets us free. And if it is pleasing to God to heal us or to bring these miraculous events into our lives…. Tom, almost every time I get off an airplane, I say, “God, you did it again. I don’t know how you do it.” He puts me next to someone—it’s just incredible! Okay?

Tom: [Someone] who needs to hear what you have to say!

Dave: That’s right—who needs the gospel. But I don’t seek this. But listen to what Peter said: There were—you’re referring to the Jews now. There were false prophets who were saying “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. And Peter warned: “There were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you [speaking of the last days], who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of….” Tom, some of the antics of these people on TV, unsaved people ridicule this. And then, listen to this! What a prophecy: “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you.” I remember Avanzini offering…

Tom: John Avanzini on TBN…

Dave: Right. Right. Oh my… “Send a dollar a day,” or something—all kinds of promises of prosperity. Kenneth Copeland said he’s commissioned by God to preach the “gospel of prosperity.” It’s not in the Bible. Oral Roberts—I have a letter from Oral Roberts—he was up all night praying for me! Can you believe it? And God revealed 33 specific blessings God wanted to give me if I would of course “prime the pump” by sending in that seed-faith offering to Oral Roberts. But notice what he says, “They will make merchandise of you.” Make merchandise of you! I remember a man, very angry, very angry, who said, “My wife caused me to send in money to Oral Roberts and he promised her a healing. A year after she died, I got another letter from Oral Roberts saying God had just revealed to him that He was going to heal her.

Tom: Wow. As Tozer said, what we need is reformation, not revival. Especially looking at the condition of the church today.