"For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Christ, and will deceive many." —Matthew 24:5
"He replied: Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, I am he, and, The time is near. Do not follow them." —Luke 21:8
Jesus of Nazareth was the true and only Christ, the
anointed one, the Messiah, and our Lord and Savior. Jesus is The Way, the
Truth and Life. There never has been and never will be any other Christ,
Teacher, Lord, Savior, or form of Consciousness whereby our eternal souls
might be saved. However, just as the Bible prophesied, there have been - and
will continue to be - an ever increasing number of powerful and alluring false
christs as we draw closer to the appearance of the ultimate false Christ, the
Antichrist. More deceiving spirits will arrive on the scene as we near the
rapture of the Church, and the seven-year tribulation that will precede the
return of Jesus to set up his millennial kingdom.
Mark 13:6; 21-22...
Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. At
that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there
he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. So
be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
MAITREYA
People who believe Maitreya is the Great Teacher also believe that Buddha, Messiah, Krishna, and the various other future teachers taught by the religions of the world, are different names for the same individual, that being Maitreya. They believe he is on the world scene now and is waiting for the appropriate time to reveal himself and lead the world in a global evolution of our collective consciousness. They believe that Maitreya will inspire humanity to see itself as one family, and usher in a new civilization of sharing, economic and social justice, and global cooperation. 1
According to Share International's website on Maitreya, this world teacher does not intend to build a new religion, but rather to teach humanity “the art of self-realization”. Much like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, he intends to deceive millions by convincing them that they are gods themselves.
2nd Corinthians 11:3,4; 13-15...
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
In recent years, information about Maitreya’s emergence has come primarily from Benjamin Crème. Crème, a British artist and long-time student of esoteric philosophy, is the mouthpiece for the self-appointed Christ Maitreya, and has taken on the task of preparing the planet for his arrival. He got his start in speaking for false christs by studying the teachings of Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, and more recently Alice A. Bailey, a channeler of several demons, or as Crème would call them, ‘Masters of Wisdom’. Masters, according to those who channel them and share their ‘wisdom’ with the world, are a group of perfected individuals who are the custodians of the Divine Plan for the planet.
1st Timothy 4:1...
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."
In 1959 Crème claimed to have been personally contacted by one of these Masters and was told that Maitreya, or the World Teacher, would return in about 20 years. Crème was to have a big role to play in the introduction of the coming ‘World Teacher’ to a skeptical planet. Since 1975, Crème has lectured throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and the US, and has been on more than 300 radio and television programs proclaiming the news that the 'Great Teacher', that every religion of the world has been waiting for, is on the scene and will soon make an appearance on what he calls the ‘Day of Declaration’. Not only do Crème and his followers claim Maitreya is the long awaited Buddha, Mahdi, Muslim Messiah, and Krishna, but he boldly claims Maitreya is the prophesied Christ of the Bible whom the Christians are waiting for!
According to Crème, Maitreya descended in July 1977 from an ancient retreat in the Himalayas and took up residence in the Indian-Pakistani community in London, where he has been living and working as an ordinary man, his Christ status known only to a few select people. The plan is for Maitreya to emerge gradually into public view so as not to infringe on humanity’s free will. He’s more likely waiting until he won’t be laughed out of town for publicly announcing that he is the fulfillment of every religion in the world and is here to save humanity. His presence, however ridiculous it might seem, however, shouldn’t be taken lightly, as tempting as it is. His followers have deceived many, and the Bible tells us that these false christs will have powers, to be sure. Even the devil comes as an angel of light and so too will his servants.
Crème credits the presence of the ‘energies of Maitreya' in the world for the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the rapprochement between East and West, and the worldwide focus on preserving the environment. This is a pretty influential guy for someone no one has even heard of.
The Bible tells us that in the end-times these false christs will perform great signs and wonders that will deceive many.
Matthew 24:11...
"...and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
Matthew 24:24...
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible."
According to the Share International website, Maitreya has been busy fulfilling these Bible prophesies and living up to Satan’s plan for his false prophets. Those who have denied Christ run the risk of having their hearts hardened to the truth and opening themselves up to this powerful deception. When the final battle between good and evil is fought and won by our Lord Jesus Christ before he establishes His Kingdom, they will find themselves on the wrong side of the battle. Unless they hear the truth and accept Christ first, it will be too late.
2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12...
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Some of these signs and wonders detailed on the internet and in the Share International magazine, border on the ridiculous. Others should be a sign to believers that the time of the lawless one is drawing near. Indeed we should be looking up. Some of the more ridiculous claims to miraculous signs consist of cross impressions showing up on windows, patterns in the seeds of vegetables or fruits, or bleeding statues. When asked, the representatives of Maitreya are all too eager to say, “yes this is the energy of Maitreya you are witnessing”. In fact they will take credit for just about anything they are asked about, including UFO’s and aliens. Some of the more dramatic signs and wonders include Maitreya appearing miraculously to a group of thousands in Kenya and other orthodox religious groups throughout the world, where he is reported to create pools of healing water that draw millions of people. Just as the Bible prophesies, followers of Maitreya predict that these signs will increase as the day draws closer for Maitreya to announce himself to the world.
They also predict that “as soon as possible, Maitreya will demonstrate his true identity”1 on what they call the “Day of Declaration”. Apparently, in response to a growing demand from the public, Maitreya will be invited to speak to the entire world via the linked television satellite networks. You can bet he won’t be the only one we’ll hear making these claims. It’s unlikely Maitreya is waiting around to become the fulfillment of the prophesied Antichrist, but only time will tell. Perhaps he’s the false prophet in the making, or will work to bring about the one-world religion of the end times. One thing is for certain, what he speaks is in the spirit of antichrist and he is a danger to the souls of those he deceives.
LUCIS TRUST
Another group that is anxiously awaiting the coming of Antichrist, whom they call the Christ, is the Lucis (Lucifer) Trust. The Lucis Trust is a non-profit organization closely associated with the United Nations that works as the legal and financial agent for a number of globalist organizations. The Trust also manages the revolving Tibetan Book Fund for the perpetuation of the teachings of the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul and Alice A. Bailey.2
One such organization that is financed by Lucis Trust is World Goodwill. World Goodwill teaches of the coming reappearance of the Christ and a time of preparation not only for a new civilization and culture in a new world order, but also for the coming of a new spiritual dispensation.3
Similar to the followers of Maitreya (in fact they sometimes refer to him as that), they predict the appearance of a great teacher and spiritual leader, the Christ, that will fulfill the prophecies of every faith, including Christians. They follow the New Age philosophy that a new age is dawning, or as the Aquarian Age Community and Benjamin Crème would say, we are evolving spiritually to a higher plane of consciousness.
The goal of Goodwill is to re-educate all of us in preparation for this Teacher's emergence on the scene. Their website states that preparation is needed to introduce new values for living, new standards of behavior, new attitudes of non-separateness and cooperation (interfaith movement), leading to right human relations and world at peace. You can be sure these new standards and values will not be compatible with those of Bible-believing Christians, nor will those Christian values be tolerated (all in the interest of tolerance of course).
AQUARIAN AGE COMMUNITY
The Aquarian Age Community website reads like a New Age handbook and would undoubtedly put most “unenlightened” people to sleep faster than a book written by Alice A. Bailey herself. There is much about the oneness of life, the divine potential of the individual, the destiny of the collective, and a need to be resurrected from the matter in which we are encased.
Their goals are very similar to other groups, as is to be expected from a group that has the same union boss (Satan). They are preparing the way for the "Christed One", or the "Great Teacher", and the unveiling of the Spiritual Mysteries (mystery Babylon). They promote the evolution of human consciousness and are active in the work of the United Nations as a participating NGO (non-governmental organization). Their connection to the UN is made obvious by the similarities in language between the two groups (UN spiritual groups and the AAC). Most of the spiritual groups that meet at the UN speak their own language and the AAC specializes in it. At a Roundtable Meeting in New York City, the AAC opened their meeting with a speech on the “fiery and potent energies of the constellation Aries and the Forces of Restoration and Spirit of Resurrection”. The message was that the Great Teacher they await will bring “a vortex of planetary and cosmic energy that will be available to those who can respond to it”. What?
The AAC website also teaches that this future age that will be ushered in by the "Great Teacher" will help us to realize our spiritual destinies. They preach the age-old deception that we are all really gods ourselves.4 Through evolution we will finally realize what Satan tried to convince Eve of in the beginning - the same lie that led to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. They refer to this as the “birth of the Christ nature within the cave of the human heart”.
The AAC also openly admits that their way is the occult way and they seek to unlock the pagan mysteries of ancient days. These are the same mysteries that are prophesied in Revelation. Mystery Babylon will ride in on the Beast during the tribulation and these mysteries represent the global religion that will deceive millions before Christ returns.
Revelation 17:4-6...
"The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus."
The AAC article titled “The Restoration of the Mysteries” emphasizes the “important work to be done in familiarizing the general public with the nature of the Mysteries". They say these mysteries will be “restored through the Church and the Masonic Fraternity when those groups leave off being organizations with material purpose, and become organisms with living objectives”. From their own mouths, their goal is to change the Church and bring it into the fold of New Age thought and the interfaith movement that willingly abandons any claims to absolute truth. Sadly, in this increasingly secularly society, they have had success in doing just that. While an apostasy is prophesied to come before the rapture of Christ’s Church, this information should spur all of us to work harder toward informing our congregations and contending for our faith in the only savior that will save those lost in these false religions.
Their methods and plans for the future go further to expose just how far along they are in re-educating our children and re-engineering society. In “The Restoration of the Mysteries”, steps are laid out on how to prepare for “The Great Teacher”. First, they say, they must teach the law of evolution and its inevitable corollary, perfected men. You see, in order to accept the Anti-Christ and his self-proclaimed deity status, we must all be taught that such perfected people could exist. They also state that organizations like theirs and others mentioned in this article must be busily making the world aware that this teacher is coming. This means as Christians, we must also be busy letting people know he is coming – coming to deceive them, and we need to be able to show them this from the scriptures. Prophecy is a powerful witnessing tool.
Secondly, the AAC tells their followers all disciples waiting for their Teacher must be busy being peace activists and recruiting more loving souls to the cause of peace and harmony. We’ve seen this movement in force with the recent Iraq war. Dying and tortured Iraqis, WMD, or a psychotic ruler are not important. Only preparing for the ruler who will finesse his way to power through promises of global peace.
Thirdly, they believe work must be done to increase the signs and wonders that the Bible prophesies will indeed increase as the time of the end draws near. They encourage more work in healing, exorcising, curing mental and "astral" diseases, and demonstrating to the world that the ancient power to heal still lies in the hands of those who consistently follow the "Christ." They also hope to lead the way in the development of higher psychic powers and predict that many healers and miracle workers will come forward in the near future. If they only knew how right they are, and whose side they are on in this battle.
Many of these groups and followers of false christs will use Christian terminology and even quote from the Bible to support their beliefs. They usually do so while scoffing at Christians however, or qualifying their statements with claims that the Bible can’t be trusted. The Aquarian Age Community, for example, states the following:
Ever since He left the earth, as related with approximate accuracy in the Bible story (though with much error in detail) has He stayed with the sons of men; never has He really gone, but only in appearance, and in a physical body.
They will even speak of Christ and His Church. However, the Church they’re talking about is a very different one from the true Church. Take the following quote from their website for example: “When the few who are the true esoteric students of the world know the difference between etheric and astral forms, mental clairaudience and clairvoyance and their astral counterparts, and elementals of thought and elementals of nature, then will the Christ and His church have a real esoteric group on the physical plane and the outer organizations receive the needed stimulation.”4
They seek to deceive even the elect by using the very scriptures given us by our Lord while debunking them at the same time. Apparently, just like many false religions, the Bible is correct only when it can be twisted to fit their spirit evolution and oneness philosophy, but must have been mistranslated and filled with error since it exposes them for what they are when taken as a whole.
The AAC takes this criticism of Christianity one step further and actually blames it for stealing the sole of humanity and implanting fear and death. In the same paragraph that they make this statement about Christians they go on to say that as we evolve, we will realize we need not fear death any longer. Perhaps during the tribulation period, when Christians are persecuted for their faith, this line of thinking will be used to eliminate the 'soul-stealing', 'death-causing' Christians.
This kind of deception is where the danger lies, and this is why it is so important for Christians to know their Bibles and know what Christ has warned us about. Prophecy and Christ’s warnings to the church are very important and are too often ignored for the feel-good sermon or the Bible study that leaves everyone feeling happy or good about their lives. This is not to say we shouldn’t take encouragement from the scriptures. However, there needs to be a balance. People will only be able to reject this deception and Satan’s powerful lies if they know what they believe and have been warned about what is coming.
"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." — 1st John 2:22
FOOTNOTES :
1. “Who is Maitreya”, from Share International Website, http://www.shareintl.org/introduction/introduction1.htm
2. “Financing the Work of The Lucis Trust”, from the Lucis Trust website, http://www1.lucistrust.org/finance/info.shtml
3. “The Reappearance of the Christ”, from the World Goodwill website, http://www.lucistrust.org/goodwill/
4. “The World of the World Teacher – The True Aquarian”, from the Aquarian Age Community website, http://www.aquaac.org/about/teacher.html
