Counterfeit Christianity

ARE YOU FOR REAL?

EXPOSING COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIANITY

INTRODUCTION:

For every good thing that God gives us, satan attempts to create a counterfeit. God gave us music, and satan has created an industry that ruins the blessing of music. God gave us his word and satan tries to produce a counterfeit. God gives revelation and satan created false revelation. God gives, and satan attempts to counterfeit.

What is one thing we think about when we hear the word counterfeit? MONEY (Slide 1)

Do you know how bank tellers are able to identify counterfeit money? There are so many good counterfeit bills around today. It is impossible to keep up with the ways crooks are operating. It would not be productive, nor would it be efficient to study all the ways people counterfeit bills. The Best Way, and the Only Way to train tellers to identify counterfeits is to make them familiar with the real thing. The more they handle real money, the less likely a counterfeit will be accepted.

A good counterfeit bill will look like a genuine note and it will feel like a genuine note to MOST PEOPLE. But to those who are familiar with real currency, they can SEE the difference and they can FEEL the difference.

What I would like to talk to about this morning is counterfeit Christians. (Slide 2)

Just as satan has a counterfeit for nearly everything God has given us, he also has a counterfeit salvation that makes counterfeit Christians. What is a counterfeit Christian?

A counterfeit Christian is someone who looks saved, talks saved, acts saved, BUT IS NOT SAVED! They usually believe they are saved. Some know they are not saved but want to fit in with those who are.

They say the right things, wear the right clothes, hang out with the right people, some even pray and read their Bibles – EVERYDAY!

BUT they are lost and going to Hell!!!

THE QUESTION I ASK YOU THIS MORNING IS “ARE YOU FOR REAL?”

(Slide 3)

WE have more reality TV shows than we can even name. WE have Xtreme Makeover / Home Ed.; Bachelor / ette; Big Brother; Survivor; 2 Nanny Shows; Fear Factor! And many more. We are obsessed with seeing the truth, looking beyond the superficial and seeing what is REAL! Yet, these shows offer us only superficial and fabricated conditions and stories. THEY ARE NOT REAL!

Coca Cola used to advertise themselves as the REAL THING. Then a few years later they changed the whole formula for their product. Remember New Coke, and Coca Cola Classic? Apparently they aren’t The Real Thing!

What about you? Are You For Real? Let’s take just a few minutes this morning to look at one of Jesus parables.

THE WHEAT AND THE TARES: (slide 4)

MATTHEW 13:24-30

(Slide 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 =blank)

The SOWER The LORD

The SEED God’s CHILDREN

The ENEMY The DEVIL

The TARES FALSE PROFESSORS

The HARVESTERS The ANGELS

The FATE HEAVEN or HELL

According to this parable, Jesus says that there are false professors, or counterfeit Christians, in our midst. How can this be? And exactly what is a counterfeit Christian?

According to the parable the tares are sown by the enemy, satan. The tare is a weed that looks just like wheat to most people. It can be nearly impossible to tell them apart until harvest time. Although, they look like wheat, they are not. Although they are in a wheat field, they are not wheat. They are fakes.

So How Do You Tell The Difference? You Look Inside. (Slide 10)

The head on wheat contains grain. The weed does not. The weed is empty, providing no lasting benefit. You don’t make bread out of tares. AS a matter of fact, many scholars believe the tares to be poisonous weeds that look just like wheat. Imagine making your family a loaf of bread made of poisonous weeds!!

Tares the bearded darnel, mentioned only in Matt. 13:25-30. It is the Lolium temulentum, a species of rye-grass, the seeds of which are a strong soporific poison. It bears the closest resemblance to wheat till the ear appears, and only then the difference is discovered. It grows plentifully in Syria and Palestine. Source: Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary.

HARVEST TIME REVEALS ALL THINGS!

So, what does that mean to you and me? I mean, so what, if there were tares in the wheat? UNDERSTAND, that JESUS was trying to show us a very important lesson!

You can appear to be Christian and still be lost. You can think you are a Christian and still be lost. You can hang around and grow up with Christians and still be lost. You can look like a Christian and still be lost. You can talk, act, like a Christian, etc.