They Say “I AM”

My research has brought me to a point where the full
implication of Paul’s words are surprisingly real. I believe
the Bible contains an important signal that the changes of
times and seasons may indeed be at hand. In Matthew 24:3-5,
Jesus spoke these revealing words to His disciples
concerning the signs of His coming and the end of the world
(age):

“…as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples
came unto Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall
these things be? and what shall be the sign [indication]
of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?’ And
Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Take heed that no man
deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I
am Christ; and shall deceive many.’

A basic tenet of New Age thinking is that of the Master
Jesus. Adherents to this idea believe that during the
unrecorded period of His life, Jesus traveled to various
occult centers and Mystery Schools in such places as Tibet,
India, Persia, and Egypt where He learned the metaphysical
secrets of the ages. Thus, they claim He spent seventeen
years of travel on a pilgrimage of higher consciousness.
According to this theory Jesus of Nazareth became the Master
Jesus, one who has gained mastery over the physical world by
becoming one with his higher self.

You will recall that one of the terms that New Agers
regularly use for the higher self is the Christ
consciousness. To them, Christ is not a person, but a
state-of-being. Excerpts from the following New Age sources
explain it this way:

“Jesus Christ educated His followers to discern the real
man. He taught that there is a power in man that gives
him authority over the things of the world. This
principle is the higher self, the spiritual man, the
Christ.”1

“The Christ Consciousness or Christ Principle represents
the idea of a Saviour, but not, as taught in orthodox
religions, a physical, material person. Jesus became the
Saviour as He rose to the heights of His inner powers
and became a True Son of God…. In other words, when Jesus,
the man, was ready, the Christ Principle or Consciousness
took over and predominated.“2

After reading innumerable such statements in New Age
material, I decided to take a closer look at Matthew 24:5.
What I found astounded me. The Greek word for many in this
verse is polus which means a very great or sore number, as
in millions and millions. A term derived from this word is
hoi polloi, which translates the masses. The Greek words for
shall come in my name means they shall come claiming to
represent what He represents by using His name or authority.
Therefore, Matthew 24:5 is saying that a very great number
of people shall come claiming to represent what He
represents, but are in fact, deceiving people. In light of
come in my name, consider the following remarks taken
from a variety of New Age sources:

“Jesus was an historical person, a human
being; Christ, the Christos. is an eternal transpersonal
condition of being. Jesus did not say that this higher state
of consciousness realized in him was his alone for all time.
Nor did he call us to worship him. Rather, he called us to
follow him, to follow in his steps, to learn from him, from
his example.“3

“Jesus was one soul who reached the
state of Christ consciousness, there have been many others.
He symbolized the blueprint we must follow…. The way is
open to everyone to become a Christ by achieving the Christ
Consciousness through walking the same path He walked. He
simply and beautifully demonstrated the pattern.”4

“The significance of incarnation and resurrection is not that
Jesus was a human like us but rather that we are gods like
him–or at least have the potential to be. The significance
of Jesus is not as a vehicle of salvation but as a model of
perfection.”5

“Jesus was aware of himself as a finished specimen of the new
humanity which is to come–the new humanity which is to
inherit the earth, establish the Kingdom, usher in the New
Age.”6

This view, then, is that Jesus is a model of what the New
Age or Aquarian person is to become. I would say these
statements can be called coming in His name or
claiming to represent what He represents.

Now let us look at the second part of verse 5 in Matthew 24,
“saying I am Christ.” Again, we find a multitude of
statements such as the following:

“Every man is an individual Christ; this is the teaching
for the New Age. The experiences of contacting the
Christ Self and the subsequent vibrational lifting are
not to be reserved for a favored few. Every person in the
world, sooner or later, will receive this lifting action. No
one will be left out or left behind. Everyone will receive
the benefit of this step in human evolution.”
(emphasis mine)7


“Could it be that many Christians have been looking for
“the Christ” in all the wrong places? Could it be that
when Jesus said “no man knoweth the hour” of his
return, it was because the return of the Christ comes now,
within us, and is beyond space and time? Jesus may have been
hinting at this when he told us that the kingdom of God is
within you–not in some time, nor in some place, but within.
When we look within, through meditation and the expansion of
consciousness, we move beyond time, and meet face-to-face
with the Christ.”8

“The Christ is You. You are the one who is to come–each of
you. Each and every one of you!”9

“Christhood is not something to come
at a point in the future when you are more evolved.
Christhood is–right now! I am the Christ of God. You are
the Christ of God.”10

Even more specific evidence ties the New Age into Jesus’
prophecy. In Luke 21:7-8, we find the same discourse as in
Matthew 24:3-5. Again, note the warning:

And they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall these
things be? and what sign will there be when these things
shall come to pass? And he said, “Take heed that ye be
not deceived: for many shall come in My name, saying, I
am Christ; and the time draweth near; go ye not
therefore after them” (Luke 21:7-8).

Notice “Christ” is italicized in verse 8, meaning that it
was not in the original manuscript. The translators of the
King James Bible probably thought it awkward that it said,
“Many shall come saying, I am.” Probably for the sake of
clarity and to be consistent with Matthew 24, the
translators added the word “Christ.” It is very interesting
that New Agers refer to themselves (or their higher selves)
as the “I AM,” (one of the names of God). Note the
following:

“The first experience of unification with the Christ
consciousness may come with the initial crossing of the
psychic barrier and contact with the Christ Self or I AM
Self.”11

“This Inner Self is called by many names such as:
God-self, Higher-self, Christ Consciousness, I-AM,
Buddah Nature, and many others.”12

“This I AM is God … this I AM is
You…. Universe and Individual Consciousness…. God
knowing Itself as God, God knowing Itself as You, and You
knowing Yourself as God.”13

So what Jesus may have been saying is many shall be saying
“I AM.”

Because of these statements, I firmly believe what Jesus
Christ was prophesying in Matthew and Luke was the current
New Age movement when it reaches its full fruition
world-wide. He clearly stated that just before His physical
return a huge number of people will proclaim their own
personal divinity and that “many” (polus) will deceive — not
some, but “many.” There was a good reason for Him to preface
these prophesies with the warning, “Take heed that no man
deceive you.” These people will be offering a spiritual
message that will look, feel, and sound like it is of Jesus
Christ but is not. (from

For Many Shall Come in My Name, pp.151-1556)

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Notes:
1. Charles Fillmore, Metaphysical Bible Dictionary
(Unity Village, MO: Unity School of Christianity).
2. Donald H. Yott, Man and Metaphysics (New York, NY:
Sam Weiser, Inc., 1980), p. 73.
3. John White, “Jesus, Evolution, and the Future of
Humanity” (Science of Mind magazine, September 1981),
p. 15.
4. John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second
Coming (Wyoming, MI: Coptic Press, 1982), p. 49.
5. John White (Science of Mind magazine, October
1981), pp. 40-42.
6. John White, “Jesus, Evolution, and the Future of
Humanity,” op. cit, p. 15.
7. Armand Biteaux, The New Consciousness (Willits,
CA: Oliver Press, 1975), p. 128.
8. Gregory Barrette, “The Christ is Now” (Science of Mind,
March 1989), p. 17.
9. Life Times, Vol. 1, No.3, p. 91.
10. John Randolph Price, The Planetary Commission
(Austin, TX: Quaratus Books, 1984), pp. 143, 145.
11. Anne P. and Peter V. Meyer, Being a Christ (San
Diego: Dawning Pub., 1975), p. 49.
12. John Baughman, The New Age (Self-Published,
1977), p. 5.
13. John Randolph Price, The Planetary Commission,
op. cit. p. 98.

Related Information:

The Moses Code – Taking the Next Step Toward a World Wide
Awakening


Brennan Manning and Beatrice Bruteau’s “I AM”

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