SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE MISLEADS YOU

By Akin Ojumu | Originally Published on August 19, 2021

Toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives when His disciples came to Him privately with a question that had evidently been weighing on their minds.

They wanted to know what lay ahead. So, they asked Him:

Matthew 24:3

“Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

What Jesus said next is remarkably illuminating.

Considering the world in which we now live—and considering what has happened to much of the professing Church—the very first warning Christ gave should arrest our attention.

Jesus did not begin with earthquakes. He did not begin with famine. He did not begin with pestilence. He did not even begin with war.

He began with deception.

Matthew records His words:

Matthew 24:4–8 

“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will mislead many people. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.’”

Notice the progression.

DECEPTION

Matthew 24:4–5

“See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name...and they will mislead many people.”

This is not merely a warning about inaccurate information in the ordinary sense. Jesus was warning specifically about spiritual deception—false messiahs, false religious claims, counterfeit saviors, fraudulent teachers, and people who would invoke His name while leading others away from His truth.

Before He spoke about collapsing nations, Jesus warned about corrupted truth. Before He mentioned physical catastrophe, He warned about spiritual seduction. The first danger was not merely what would happen around the disciples. It was what people would be persuaded to believe.

WAR

Matthew 24:6–7

“And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars...For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”

Conflict would characterize the age. Nations would clash. Kingdoms would rise against kingdoms. Reports of war would travel ahead of armies. Fear would spread. Political instability would shake societies.

Yet Jesus specifically warned:

“See that you are not alarmed...but that is not yet the end.”

War is terrible, but every war is not Armageddon. Every international crisis is not proof that Christ will return next Tuesday.

Jesus warned His disciples against both deception and hysteria.

FAMINE

Matthew 24:7

“...and there will be famines...”

War destabilizes societies. Political upheaval destroys economies. Agricultural failure devastates populations. Scarcity follows disorder. Human beings who imagine themselves masters of civilization repeatedly discover just how fragile civilization really is.

EARTHQUAKES AND CALAMITY

Jesus continued:

“...and earthquakes in various places.”

The created order itself groans. Human history is not marching serenely toward some secular utopia in which technological advancement finally rescues mankind from mortality, suffering, disaster, and judgment.

Creation remains subjected to futility. Disaster remains. Death remains. The grave remains. And all the ingenuity of fallen man has yet to manufacture immortality.

MATTHEW 24 AND REVELATION 6

There is also a striking thematic parallel between Matthew 24 and the opening of the seals in Revelation 6.

Revelation presents the famous four horsemen: conquest, war, famine, and death.

Matthew 24 presents deception and false claimants, followed by war, famine, and widespread calamity.

The correspondence should at least make us pay attention.

But of everything Jesus could have said first, His opening command was:

“See to it that no one misleads you.”

That warning should thunder in the ears of the modern Church. Because ours is an age drowning in deception. Not merely political deception. Not merely media propaganda. Not merely internet hoaxes.

The far more dangerous deception is the religious variety—the kind that comes carrying a Bible, wearing clerical clothing, standing behind a pulpit, invoking the name of Jesus, and demanding that no one ask questions.

It is deception baptized in Christian vocabulary.

False prophets assure people that God told them what He never said. Self-appointed apostles announce revelations Heaven never gave. 

Prosperity merchants promise riches Christ never promised. Celebrity preachers advertise supernatural powers they cannot demonstrate. 

Spiritual entrepreneurs turn Christianity into motivational therapy, wealth seminars, miracle exhibitions, prophetic entertainment, and personality cults.

And millions swallow it whole.

Jesus said:

“See to it that no one misleads you.”

Yet deception has become one of the largest industries in contemporary Christianity.

The astonishing thing is that many people who are obsessed with earthquakes, wars, red heifers, blood moons, Israel, Iran, Middle East, computer chips, artificial intelligence, and whatever happens to be trending in the prophecy industry appear strangely unconcerned about the very first danger Jesus mentioned:

Being deceived.

They can identify every supposed sign of the Antichrist but cannot recognize a false teacher standing behind their own pulpit. They can calculate prophetic timelines but cannot interpret Scripture in context.

They can tell you what some preacher dreamed last Tuesday but cannot tell you what Paul wrote in Romans. They fear the mark of the beast while happily surrendering their minds to religious charlatans.

That is the irony.

A CHURCH THAT THINKS IT IS RICH

Perhaps nowhere is this deception more visible than in the contemporary Church's evaluation of itself.

Much of the Church looks at enormous auditoriums, overflowing crowds, television networks, private jets, multimillion-dollar ministries, celebrity pastors, impressive social-media numbers, and overflowing offering baskets and concludes:

Revival!

Heaven may have another diagnosis. And the words of Christ to Laodicea remain terrifyingly relevant:

Revelation 3:17

“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

That is one of the most frightening forms of spiritual deception imaginable.

To be dying while thinking you are thriving. To be poor while celebrating your riches. To be blind while boasting about your vision. To be naked while admiring your garments. 

To mistake crowds for discipleship. To mistake noise for revival. To mistake wealth for divine approval. To mistake charisma for character. To mistake supernatural claims for supernatural power. To mistake religious excitement for the work of the Holy Spirit.

A Church can have everything money can buy and lack everything Christ values.

COMFORT HAS MADE THE CHURCH FAT

The Church in many prosperous societies is not weak because it has endured too much persecution. In many places, it has become weak because it has enjoyed too little resistance.

Comfort has discipled us. Affluence has catechized us. Entertainment has trained our appetites. Consumerism has invaded our theology.

We have grown accustomed to Christianity without sacrifice, discipleship without self-denial, worship without reverence, preaching without doctrine, blessing without obedience, and salvation without repentance.

The result is a swollen but spiritually malnourished Church.

Big buildings. Big crowds. Big personalities. Big budgets. Big conferences. And increasingly small theology.

The modern Church often looks impressive precisely because we have adopted the world's definition of success. But Heaven does not count attendance the way Instagram counts followers.

THE WORLD IS EQUALLY DECEIVED

The secular world has its own intoxication.

Scientific progress accelerates. Technology advances. Artificial intelligence expands. Medicine improves. Markets rise. Human knowledge multiplies. And mankind congratulates itself.

We imagine that because we can manipulate genes, explore planets, build intelligent machines, and carry supercomputers in our pockets, we have somehow outgrown our need for God.

We have become technologically sophisticated while remaining morally fallen. 

Our machines have improved. Our hearts have not. We possess more information than any civilization in history and perhaps less wisdom than societies with a fraction of our knowledge.

Human beings still lie. Still murder. Still lust. Still covet. Still oppress. Still worship idols. Still die. 

Progress has not abolished sin. Technology has not conquered death. Science has not repealed judgment. And economic prosperity has never been evidence that mankind has made peace with God.

“THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH PAINS”

After speaking of deception, wars, famines, and earthquakes, Jesus said something else that modern prophecy sensationalists frequently forget:

“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.”

The beginning. Not the end. Birth pains intensify. They increase in severity. They move toward a climax.

Jesus was not inviting His disciples to indulge in speculative date-setting every time armies mobilized or the earth shook. He was preparing them to remain faithful in a world characterized by deception, conflict, suffering, and upheaval.

And His first command remains the most urgent:

“See to it that no one misleads you.”

That means the Christian response to the age in which we live must not be panic. It must be discernment.

Test the spirits. Test the prophets. Test the apostles. Test the miracle workers. Test the visions. Test the dreams. Test the prophecies. Test the sermons. Test the doctrines. Test the viral clips. Test the man behind the microphone. Test even the preacher who has “Daddy” attached to his name. 

And test everything by the written Word of God. 

Because one of the clearest characteristics Jesus gave of the age preceding His return is not merely that people would suffer. It is that many would be deceived.

And tragically, deception works best when the deceived person is absolutely convinced that he sees clearly.

The world may boast of its progress. The Church may boast of its prosperity. The preacher may boast of his anointing. The prophet may boast of his revelations. The apostle may boast of his power.

But Christ has already warned us: 

Do not be deceived.

Wars will come. Famines will come. Earthquakes will come. Death will come. And judgment will come.

But before all the prophetic charts, geopolitical speculation, and apocalyptic sensationalism, hear again the first words Jesus gave His disciples when they asked Him about the end of the age:

“See to it that no one misleads you.”

That warning is not obsolete. If anything, it has never sounded more urgent.