The Perfect Disguise
When God starts moving and working in all areas of our lives, don’t be fooled in thinking that the enemy doesn’t notice.
· Expect a counter attack for every blessing
· Expect a test on your spiritual life
· Expect something to happen that will cause you to exercise your faith in a stronger way
The same goes for our church. When God starts blessing our faithfulness and work, the enemy is going to be “prowling” around trying to see what he can mess up.
· Not everyone who walks through those doors have this church in their best interest
· Not everyone who wants to become a member of this church wants to see it flourish
· Not everyone who sits on a pew inside these walls cares about our future – they just soon see us fall.
First of all, you have to realize Ephesians 6:10-12
“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. [11] Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
It’s not that these people come in with their own agendas against people in the church. They are being guided in a wrong direction by something stronger.
The battle is bigger than you or I.
The battle is bigger than Shipps Baptist Church.
The battle is far greater than what you can imagine.
Read Philippians 3:1-2
This scripture gives us a warning that we should watch out for those we let inside our congregation.
Paul, who was in prison at the time and noted as one of the most personal letters that he wrote, wrote this Philippian letter.
He gives us warning of the possible intrusion of people who do not have the same outlook as we do.
But notice first, the way he opened his letter in Chapter 3.
v.1 – “…rejoice in the Lord.”
No matter how difficult it may get…
No matter how close we have to watch people…
No matter how many times we might be let down…
Paul encourages us to “rejoice in the Lord.”
· It is He from whom all blessings flow…
· It is He who will help us with the following instructions…
· It is He who has sent the words through Paul for our learning…
Matthew Henry states:
The more we take of the comfort of our religion the more closely we shall cleave to it: the more we rejoice in Christ the more willing we shall be to do and suffer for him, and the less danger we shalt be in of being drawn away from him.
Nehemiah 8:10 – “The joy of the Lord is our strength”
But then he goes into a warning that is still relevant to us today.
You can never be too careful when you start experiencing growth in church. As new members and former members begin to be drawn to our fellowship, Paul says the following is a “safeguard” that bears repeating.
· He is referring to those who will enter our fellowship to do harm rather than to do well.
· He is talking about those who would rather cause confusion than conviction.
· Those who would rather fuss than fellowship
Paul describes them in three ways.
1. Beware of the dogs –
“The Perfect Disguise” – that of a puppy or dog.
They look innocent and loving!
When I thought about this illustration I couldn’t help to think of three things.
a. A dog can be loving one minute and turn on you the next.
You do something to scare that dog and he will begin showing his teeth like he is going to eat you alive.
That’s like some Christians. As long as you are petting them and scratching their bellies, they are fine. But start showing someone else a little attention and they become ferocious animals.
b. A dog is always happy in other people’s trash
You want to see a dog happy, you watch how they tear into the trash. Not only will they tear into it in search of good garbage but they also enjoy strewing it everywhere.
Some Christians are like that. When they feel threatened or left out, they seem to be happier while going through your trash (your past) and strewing it all over the place.
Dogs can’t help it; it’s just their nature. But it’s not the nature of people and it is something that must be stopped when you see them heading toward the garbage can.
The third thing that came to mind when thinking about these “dogs”:
c. They bark all the time
And 99.9% of the time it’s all bark and no bite. But they bark and bark and bark and bark… They never shut-up!
We have Christians who are caught up in things to where they feel they have to bark all the time. Some just want to stir up things while others just like to hear the sound of their voice.
1st Thessalonians 5:11 – “Encourage one another and build up one another…”
Ephesians 4:29
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment…”
Romans 14:19
“Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”
And in our text, Paul warns us: Beware of the dogs.
2. Beware of the evil workers –
When you talk about “The Perfect Disguise” this area is where you need to beware.
Two words here: “evil” and “workers”
When you start experiencing growth many church members become lax in their judgment of character. They almost become free willing in allowing whomever to come in and do whatever.
Paul here is warning us against that frame of thinking.
Not every person who comes in and wants to work has this church in his or her best interest. They have their own agendas.
They are motivated by the spirit of hate, hurt and other forces instead of working out of love for their brother.
That’s why when there is a job to do; we don’t need to just be passing the buck to someone new because they are young and energetic. Now, we have some great young Christians who are faithful to this church and are willing to do whatever. Thank God for them.
But I am talking about those who haven’t been proven yet. They talk a good game but what do they really want to accomplish?
Paul calls these people, evil workers.
Yes they work but they are evil and they are tearing churches a part everywhere they go.
They come in as a perfect disguise.
Turn to 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15
Satan is trying every way he can to tear a part everything that God’s people are doing. When we make progress he is going to have someone, somewhere ready to counter act what we are doing.
And the best place for him to do this work is from the inside.
Illus. - How did the Sept. 11th tragedy happened?
Al-Qaida was able to get their people inside the United States.
· They begin to live, play and train under our teachers.
· They ate at our restaurants.
· They visited our malls.
· They participated in our holidays.
· They became one of us.
They were able to build trust with those around them.
Paul says, “BEWARE of evil workers”.
· They talk a good talk
· They are willing to be your friend
· They will play the part
· Act as though they are interested in this church
· Be willing to do whatever to gain your trust
BEWARE! They are out there and they will do their best to get inside of our fellowship to knock us down.
So how will we know?
Matthew 12:33 – “…the tree is known by its fruit.”
Matthew 7:15
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
[16] You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? [17] Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
What will happen to these bad “trees”?
[19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
The perfect disguise: evil workers coming into our church pretending to be energetic workers for the church.
3. Beware of the false circumcision (concision)
Paul is encouraging these people to beware of those who come into share their false doctrines.
They are very sly in that they will take the basis of your belief and slightly change a word or two that will give it a whole new meaning. On the surface it may sound the same until you really dig deep into what they are saying.
Illus. – Mormons
The Mormon belief is that if you do not accept Christ and their belief, you will go to hell though they refer to it as three different levels. Now on the surface that sounds correct. But when you dig a little further into their religion, you’ll find that they believe the torment of hell is only temporary and that those who ask for forgiveness from hell will be able to get out.
In that case, no one will remain in hell. Who would not repent of their sins while sitting in this place of torment?
It’s just enough to sound correct, but a long ways off from being what the Bible teaches.
Notice:
1. You cannot beware of false doctrines without knowing what you believe…
2. You cannot beware of false doctrines without spending quality time in the Word…
You have to know what the bible says and what you believe. This can’t be just “I think so” but you have to nail down your fundamentals of faith.
The Perfect Disguise – they know how to get in and how to fit in.
Closing: There are many people who will come through the doors of our church and want to be a part of us. Paul gives us reasons on why we should not be in a hurry in putting them into leadership roles.
The advice of Paul is simple:
Watch! – See if they are dogs who are all bark
Listen! – Hear and know what they believe
BEWARE! – They are out there and they want in.
