The Word of God warns us plainly and repeatedly that in the last days, thedays in which we now live, many false Christs would appear, that many wouldclaim to be Christ who are impostors, false Christs, and deceivers, and thatmany false prophets would arise pointing us to these false Christs, saying, "Lo,here is Christ, or there." As you care for your soul, as you care forthe souls of your family, as you care for the souls of perishing men and women,and as you care for the truth of God and the glory of God, I urge you to giveearnest heed to the words of the Son of God in Matthew 24:4-5, 21-24.

"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name,saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many...For then shall be greattribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no,nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should noflesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then ifany man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. Forthere shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signsand wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the veryelect."

The plain fact is, there are many false Christs, many antichrists, by whomthe souls of men are deceived and damned. I want to be as charitable, kind, andgracious as I can; but charity, kindness, and grace will not allow me to besilent while immortal souls are deceived and God's glory is trampled beneath thefeet of men. If you trust a false Christ you cannot be saved any more thanyou could be saved by trusting a tadpole. We are called of God to trust,love, follow, and obey the true Christ and him only. Salvation is promised tonone but those who trust the true Christ. Therefore, we are warned in our textto Take heed that no man deceive you." We must take heed to theteachings of Holy Scripture, lest we be deceived by some false Christ.

We know about the Christ of the liberals. He was a social do-gooder."Of course," we are told, "he is not God." The virgin birth,the incarnation, the resurrection, are all things that must be understoodallegorically. In fact, the Christ of the liberals is considered by many to be aman of very questionable moral character. Any who are deceived by liberaltheology and the Christ of the liberals are willingly deceived. We are notdeceived by the Christ of the liberals. Only a prating fool would pretend to bea Christian while teaching what liberals do concerning Christ. The Christ of theliberals is a false Christ. All who trust the Christ of the liberals are lost.

We also know about the Christ of the various cults. He isrepresented to us as a good man, a prophet, a teacher of morality, the first andgreatest creation of God, or even a sort of secondary god. But the Christ of thecults is never represented as the true and eternal God. Their Christ receiveshis existence from another god, one who is greater than he is. This, ofcourse, is not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by him. The Christof the cults is a false Christ. All who trust the Christ of the cults are lost.

We know about the Christ of Roman Catholicism. The papists professthat Jesus Christ is God, that he came into the world as a man, that he sufferedthe wrath of God as a substitute for sinners, that he died, was buried, roseagain the third day, ascended back to heaven, and that he is coming again. Butthe Christ of Romanism is not a complete Savior. The Christ of Rome cannot savesinners without their own good works, the intercessions of priests, and thesacraments of the church. The Christ of Rome is not the Christ of the Bible. Weare not deceived by him. Though many are damned by the darkness of RomanCatholic idolatry, that is not a danger and deception by which any who readthese lines are likely to be deceived. The Christ of the papists, we know, is afalse Christ. All who trust the Christ of Rome are lost.

However, there is a false Christ much more dangerous than the antichrists ofthe liberals, the cults, and the papists. There is a false Christ by whom thesouls of men have been deceived for years, by whom millions are being deceivedtoday. In fact, I am compelled to say, the vast majority of those who professfaith in Christ are followers of this false Christ who will ultimately lead themto eternal ruin. This Christ, this antichrist, is such a dangerous and deceptiveChrist, that our Lord tells us he would deceive the very elect, were it notimpossible for God's elect to be deceived (Matt.24:24). He must be identified.The Christ I speak of is the Christ of Arminian, freewill, works religion.

Few think that I am uncharitable when I denounce the false Christs ofliberals, cults, and papists as antichrists and warn men that following thosefalse Christs will result in everlasting damnation. Yet, whenever I boldlyassert that the Christ of Arminian, freewill, works religion is a false Christand that all who trust him are lost, I am castigated as an evil man. Be that asit may, as a watchman upon the walls of Zion, I am responsible to warn you ofthe danger of this antichrist.

The Christ of Arminian, freewill, works religion is extremely dangerousbecause in many ways he appears to be the true Christ. The freewillers andworkmongers of this age tell us that Christ is the true God, in every way equalwith the Father and the Holy Spirit. They even assert that he saves by gracealone, without the works of man. They insist vehemently that good works play nopart in their salvation. The devotees of this Christ will have nothing to dowith the Christ of the liberals, the cults, or the papists. But "takeheed that no man deceive you!" Do not be fooled. The Christ ofArminian, freewill, works religion is not the Christ of the Bible. He is a falseChrist. All who trust this false Christ are lost, too.

Be sure you understand the issue. The issue is not what orhow much does a person have to know to be saved. The issue is who.Who must I know? The answer to that question is plainly stated in John17:3. We must know the true God and the true Christ. Let me make fivecomparisons of the false Christ of modern religion, the Christ of Arminian,freewill, works religion, with the Christ of the Bible. When you have consideredthese five comparisons in the light of Holy Scripture, I have no doubt that youwill see the obvious distinctions between The False Christs and the True.

I. The Christ of modern, freewill, works religion loves everyone in theuniverse and wants to save them. We are told that Christ loves all menalike, desires the salvation of all men alike, and is gracious to all men alike.That makes the love, will, and grace of Christ helpless and useless. But thatlanguage cannot be applied to the Christ of the Bible. The true Christ,the Christ of the Bible, the saving Christ loves his people, wills and prays forthe salvation of his people, and is gracious to his people, the peopleunconditionally chosen unto salvation from eternity, whom he came to save (Ps.5:5; 7:11; 11:5; Matt. 1:21; 11:27; John 10:16; John 17:9-10; Acts 13:48; Rom.9:21-24; Eph. 1:3-6).

II. The Christ of modern, freewill, works religion tries to saveeveryone. We are told that he offers salvation to every sinner and doeseverything he can to save them all; but that his offer is rejected and his workis frustrated by the will of those who refuse to come to him and be saved. TheChrist of the Bible does not merely offer salvation. He performs it! Graceis not an offer. It is an operation! The Son of God effectually calls to himselfall his elect, his sheep, and sovereignly works salvation in them by theirresistible power and grace of his Holy Spirit. Not one of them will be lost.Is this, or is it not the teaching of Holy Scripture? (Psa. 65:4; 110:3;Isa. 55:11; John 5:21; 6:37-40; 10:3, 25-30; 17:2; Phil. 2:13)

III. The false Christ of Arminianism cannot regenerate and save anyonewho does not first choose to be saved by him. We are told that man has afreewill, but that Christ's will is bound by and must wait upon man's willbecause it would not be right for him to violate man's will! The true,saving Christ does violate man's imaginary freewill; and I am verythankful that he does. Had he not violated my freewill, I would be lost or inhell now! The same is true of you. He sovereignly regenerates and saves everychosen, redeemed sinner. His operations of grace are totally independent of thewill and choice of the sinner. Apart from his work of grace in us, spirituallydead sinners never would or could believe on him and come to him in faith. Faithis not our contribution to the work of salvation. Our faith in him is theresult, not the cause of God's saving operations. "Let God be true, butevery man a liar" (John 3:3-7; 6:44, 65; 15:16; Acts 11:18; Rom. 2:4;9:16; Eph. 2:1-4, 8-10; Phil. 1:6, 29; Col. 2:12; Heb. 12:2).

IV. The false Christ of modern, Arminian, freewill, works, man-centeredreligion died on the cross for everyone in the world, to make it possible foreveryone in the world to be saved, but actually secured no one's salvation byhis death. We are told that Christ by his death made it possible forall men to be redeemed, justified, and saved, but that his death has no efficacyand saving power for anyone until they believe on him. Thus, we are informedthat the Son of God died in vain for all who perish in unbelief. Though he triedto save them, he failed! The Christ of God is not a frustrated failure!He died for God's elect and effectually put away our sins by the sacrifice ofhimself. Having satisfied the justice of God for us, he obtained eternalsalvation for us. We were and are forever pardoned, justified, and sanctified byhis blood (Isa. 42:4; 53:8; Matt. 20:28; John 10:14-15, 26; Acts 20:28; Rom.5:9-10; Eph. 5:25; Heb. 9:12; 10:10-14; I Peter 3:18; Rev. 5:9-10).

V. The false Christ of Arminianism loses many who have been savedby him because they do not hang on, hold out, or persevere to the end. Amongthe heretical Baptists of our day, some do grant that the sinner has what hascome to be called "eternal security." But it is not security basedupon the will, work, and purpose of God in Christ. It is not security based uponthe blood of Christ, or the operations of his Spirit. According to thefreewiller, all these things are done for all people alike. So their doctrine of"eternal security" is a declaration of security based upon the choiceand will of man, not the choice and will of God. The true Christ, thesaving Christ, the Christ of the Bible preserves his chosen, redeemed, calledones by his almighty grace, so that they cannot fall away and perish at last. Weare kept in life, grace, and faith by the immutability of his will, the power ofhis blood, the efficacy of his grace, the seal of his Spirit, and the perfectionof his intercession (Mal.3:6; John 5:24; 10:26-29; Rom.8:28-39; I Pet.1:2-5;Jude 24-25).

At first glance, the Christ of modern, Arminian, freewill, works religionmay seem to closely resemble the true Christ, the Christ of Scripture. But hedoes not. The one is a false Christ, antichrist. The other is true, the Christof God. One is weak and helpless, waiting upon and bowing to the will of man.The other is the sovereign Lord, who wills what he pleases and does what hewill! The one is supposed to be able to save with your cooperation. The other isable to save without any cooperation on your part. His salvation produces yourcooperation!

Those who believe on and serve the false Christ of freewill, works religiondo not believe on and serve the Christ of the Bible. They are deceived. They arelost. And they shall forever perish under the wrath of God, unless they come toknow and trust the Christ of God, who saves his people from their sins byhimself. We must, as we fear God and care for the souls of men, have nofellowship with and give no credibility to Arminian, freewill, works religion(II Cor. 6:14-7:1; Rev. 18:4). We must, in these days of darkness, deception,and delusion, proclaim the Christ of God in all his saving fullness, grace, andglory. He alone is able to save (Rom. 1:15-17). Let us ever adore, praise, andextol the Lord Jesus Christ alone and completely as our g