How would a demon pray? The following devotional instruction, called "Jesus Is Lord," was channeled from a spirit guide to a New Age meditation group in Los Angeles:
"The spiritual aspirant on the lighted way meditates every morning for at least 10 minutes in his or her garden.... See your body, emotions, and mind filled with the golden light of Christ.... Enter into your garden. Look at the trees, flowers, and lake that you have. This is the space God created for you. Enjoy your space! Invite Jesus into your garden. ... Talk to Jesus. Speak to Him of your needs, ask Him anything your heart desires. Listen to Jesus. He will talk with you. This is the very beginning of a relationship with Christ that will take you into immortality."
This New Age "Jesus," channeled in the inner rooms of meditation chambers, is a counterfeit christ now fulfilling prophecy (see Matt. 24:24, 26). His neopagan devotional guide even invites meditators to thank the Father in Jesus' name that their names are in the book of life! The deception is fierce, but none need be fooled. One crucial omission betrays the demonic origin of this "Jesus." We will note it later after looking at two more counterfeit christs.
Paul the apostle warned the Corinthian church of "another Jesus": "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, ... or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it" (2 Cor. 11:3,4, NKJV).
Another "Jesus" and another gospel, destroying Christian faith! Long ago God created us in His image, and ever since we've been trying to redesign Him into ours. We've made ourselves a living graven image, a permissive Jesus. This counterfeit christ cruises around Palm Springs in a Rolls Royce, hobnobbing with televangelists who squander mil lions of widows' mites. He panders to the whims of his devoted celebrants, asking nothing but that they keep praising him, never doubting his ability to save them in their cherished sins.
This permissive Jesus can be kind or cruel, depending upon what is expected of him. Medieval clerics incinerated fellow Christians and then sang praises to the god who inspired their cruel crusades. In the American Civil War, Confederate general Stonewall Jackson devoutly worshiped a counterfeit christ who enslaved Black people. Hitler even preached about such a god, transforming devout Catholics and Lutherans into SS storm troopers. Soon the whole world will worship such a god, except for the saints, who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus [the real one]" (Rev. 14:12).
Unless we cherish God's commandments along with His gift at Calvary, the christ we worship is sure to be a counter feit. Repentance is not optional; it's a vital element of saving faith. Recently a friend argued with me that everyone will be saved who believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins, rose the third day, and ascended to heaven. I reminded him that even New Agers now have a Jesus who did all that and their false christ is channeled by a demon. I suggested that rejecting the biblical rev elation of Christ and His truth makes one a candidate for demonic possession. Some well-known American religious leaders considered themselves anointed by God through the gift of tongues, for example, but their lives bore the immoral fruit of another power in control.
Now we come to the third counterfeit christ, the legalistic Jesus. Paul was specifically warning about legalism when he mentioned "another Jesus" with "a different gospel" that "brings you into bondage" (2 Cor. 11:4, 20, NKJV). He explained: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them selves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11:13-15, NKJV).
Now, that's something to think about—a false gospel of legalism from servants of Satan who pose as ministers of righteousness!
So there we have our three counterfeit christs. All are a real and present danger within the ranks of Adventists. The legalistic Jesus has been with us for a long time and continues to do big business. He is particularly active in many independent ministries. At the other extreme, the permissive Jesus has seduced some Adventists who insist upon indulging and adorning themselves as they celebrate their salvation. Although genuine celebration worship has brought life and joy to many faithful and obedient members, a perversion of it has polluted Sabbath services in a few places. I warned in one of my books that some members may soon be dancing around a golden calf of Pentecostal fanaticism. That day is soon upon us. And now we have the mystical New Age Jesus, who is seeking to infiltrate sophisticated church centers through questionable meditation practices.
Those three counterfeit christs are destroying the souls of numerous Adventists. I promised at the beginning to discuss one crucial omission in the New Age Jesus. My friend Will Baron, author of Deceived by the New Age, belonged to a group of New Age meditators who received channeled instruction from their spirit guide to begin a saving relationship with Jesus. The devil actually told them to shun all sin and trust Christ's blood shed on the cross to forgive the past but not their present unworthiness. Do you see the deception? The Bible says we are "complete in Him" (Col. 2:10, NKJV), but the New Age counterfeit refuses any imputation of Christ's substitutionary accomplishments. This false christ will even concede forgiveness for past sins—but not for present shortcomings. Demon-possessed New Agers unceasingly pray to become worthy through the perfecting power of their indwelling "christ." Beware of their false gospel.
