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presence. "The Jews answered him [Jesus], saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy and because you, being a man, make yourself God' " (John 10:33). 1) That Jesus wasn't God and just thought he was. That would make him a lunatic or a New Ager! This hardly deals with the facts. 2) That Jesus wasn't God and knew he wasn't. That would make him a liar, a notion which is also totally inconsistent with the facts. Lunatic? Liar? Or Lord? Which is it? And how can you tell? Not by miracles! They can be—in fact, are going to be—simulated, counterfeited, and replicated. As we saw in chapter 13 of this book, the last days of planet Earth will be characterized by supernatural signs and wonders performed by Satan and his minions. In fact, most of the miracles performed by God will be counterfeited by Satan and the forces of darkness. The healing and resurrection of the "Antichrist" are but a few of the miracles Satan will yet perform. This presents a problem. If Satan can duplicate the miracles of God, then "signs and wonders" cannot be used as the arbiter of truth. That is, we cannot determine whether someone or something is good or evil based on ability to perform "signs and wonders." So what can a person rely upon to determine truth from error? Jesus gives the key in his response to the Jewish leadership when they asked him for a sign to authenticate his messianic claim: "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" [a prophecy!' (Matthew 12:38). Jesus disparaged signs and wonders to authenticate his messianic claim. Why? Because signs and wonders will be counterfeited by the coming Antichrist. So instead of a sign to authenticate his messianic claim, Jesus gave them a prophecy. We see powerful examples of Satan's power in the Old Testament. In Egypt, for example, after Moses and Aaron turned their rod into a serpent, Pharaoh's magicians Jannes and Jambres turned their rods into serpents, too! "And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods" (Exodus 7: 10). 182 Their answer leaves no doubt that Jesus had continually professed his deity in their Claims by Jesus such as these leaves us only three possibilities: 3) That Jesus was who he said he was. That would make him Lord of the Universe.