Love to hear from and know who is listening
Let me tell you a story about what happened to Joyce and I the other day. We were walking across the parking lot at Wal-Mart and I looked down and saw a $100 dollar bill. I thought to myself this must be my lucky day! But when I held it in my hand for a while the print didn't seem to be exactly right. Then after I held it a while longer I noticed the ink was starting to come off on my hands. That is when I realized it was a counterfeit. You know that so disgusted Joyce and I with money and turned us off so much that we went immediately to the bank and withdrew all our money. We took out our savings, absolutely every penny we had! Then we went out in the back yard put all our money in the fire pit and we had a bonfire. We burned it all, we said that does it, we are finished with money! Do you believe my story? I hope not! Unfortunately this is the way the world approaches Christians. They see someone that is a counterfeit Christian. Someone that lives one way on Sunday and another way the rest of the week and they say, “that does it for me! No more Christianity for me.” I am here to tell you that it is the counterfeit that proves the value of the real. Men don't counterfeit gum wrappers. They counterfeit $100 dollar bills. Why, because the $100 dollar bill has real value and the gum wrapper has no value. So it is the counterfeit that proves the value of the real thing.
2 Peter 2: 1-2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
During the early days of the church there was false prophets, counterfeit Christians. They were merchandisers, peddling their counterfeit version of the truth. Many people followed their depraved version of the truth. They were counterfeit Christians. We face the same thing in our churches today as they did in early days of the church. There are hypocrites in every age and every profession. Some doctors are quacks, but you don't stop going to the doctors when your sick. Some lawyers are shysters, but if you need legal advice you will still seek out a good lawyer. Some money is counterfeit but you don't throw away that which is real. Don't let some hypocrite, some counterfeit Christian keep you from knowing Jesus. It would be ridiculous for you to say, “well I am not going to church anymore because there is some hypocrites there.” When I hear someone say this my response is; the church is a not a shrine for the saint's, it is a hospital for sinners. I am sorry to tell you this, but my church is filled with hypocrites. Even one of the 12 apostles was a hypocrite. My friends I would rather spend a few years with some hypocrites in church that spend eternity with all of them in Hell!
Federal agents don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the counterfeit money they recognize it. There is a clear parallel here to spiritual discernment. Just as the feds are responsible for recognizing counterfeit money, in the same way I am responsible for the bible teachings I accept and later share with others. It is my responsibility before God to inspect every teaching that comes my way. I should test each teaching that is presented to me, refusing to accept any that go against the plain teaching of Scripture.
1 Thessalonians 5: 19-22 NIV Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject
