For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. And the Apostle Paul writes, "For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds. emphasis mine.
Now I will acknowledge that this single sentence from Matthew is taken out of context a bit, since it is in a passage in Matthew known as the "Eschatalogical Discourse" of Jesus, addressed to his disciples referencing the time during and following his resurrection when the old covenant with Israel shifts to the new covenant with the Church. But most Christians today, or at least a good percentage of the more conservative, Evangelical branch of the church that is married to extremist right wing politics, believe that it is applicable to the "end times".
I've observed people who are convinced they've seen an "omen" or a "great sign" when they really haven't but they are prone to believe it. When I was a kid visiting family in West Virginia, my grandmother and great aunt use to take me to a little church where my great aunt "prophesied" and where people picked up copperhead snakes as a "sign" of being filled by the spirit--it's mentioned in the last chapter of Mark's gospel. I've seen both of them leave the church with bleeding marks on their hands and arms from snake bites, obviously in pain but refusing to acknowledge it. There were people who died from this, though over time, they build up immunity to the venom and learn to suppress the pain. They claimed that it was "God's time" when someone died, that they didn't have enough faith. The "prophets" and "prophetesses" can talk the people into doing just about anything by claiming to speak in unknown tongues. They are literally "out of their mind." That's the only thing that can explain the Evangelical support and absolute loyalty of the MAGA mob for Trump, whose built his fame with a lifestyle doing things that are defiantly opposite of everything the Christian gospel teaches. They excuse it with the hypocritical statement, "I'm not electing a pastor in chief, I'm electing a commander in chief."
How can you trust anything they preach?
= new reply since forum marked as read