Counterfeit Christianity

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. At the outset of this message this morning, I would like to begin by reading Matthew 13, several verses in several different places. I think I'll break in. There's a parable in Matthew 13. I would like to draw something from this parable at the outset of this message. [00:00:39] Matthew 13, verse 24, and this is Jesus speaking. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, [00:01:10] Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat from them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. [00:01:47] Now, I think I'm going to jump down and read the explanation for this parable as well. Following this, I'd like to jump down to verse 37 then and read to 43. The explanation, the disciples wanted to know what Jesus was saying here. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. The fuel is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. [00:02:21] The enemy that sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father [00:02:55] who hath ears to hear let him hear and I think when he says that at the end of a parable or at the end of what he's saying He's simply saying, take notice. This is what's going to happen. Now, I'd like to notice the wheat and the tares this morning. I wasn't aware of this, but in studying for this message, I read the Amplified, and in the Amplified, if you have an Amplified Bible, the tares are called something else. [00:03:29] I think they call it Darnell. I don't have, I'm not sure about that. But what it is, what it was, was weeds resembling wheat. And he's talking, remember he's talking about the wheat. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time, I'd just like to stir our mind a little bit this morning. I'd like for us to think this morning, are we the wheat or the tares? Are we wheat or are we tares? [00:03:59] And I've titled this message, Counterfeit Christianity. That's a rather negative title. But I'd like to look at counterfeit Christianity. I certainly don't think that this parable is condoning that we tolerate openly counterfeit Christianity in our congregations, in our churches. But in any case, this parable would point out that there is a day of judgment coming And God will take care of counterfeit Christianity [00:04:32] It will not make it to heaven God will deal with it in a decisive way And I'd like for us to think about what is counterfeit Christianity this morning Where am I at personally? Am I one of God's children? Would God recognize me? You know, we hear this sometimes and it's sobering. We say, I know God, but does God know me? Does he recognize me as his child? [00:05:04] Are we a thief or a robber trying to get in the wrong way? Do we have an attitude that what I do is not my brother's business under that veneer of Christianity? You know, I don't know what you think about when I, or what you thought about when I mentioned the word counterfeit, but instantly my mind goes to money. It's a real problem today. Counterfeit money, the counterfeiters are so good that you can't hardly see it. [00:05:36] It looks just the same. It's so identical that it could pass through my hands and I wouldn't see it. I wouldn't notice it. Like money, counterfeit Christianity is sometimes the same way, unfortunately. Not always. Sometimes there are some signs, some signals, but sometimes it's just like money. And you know, the same thing that the experts use to weed out the counterfeit money, Money, in a sense, we use to notice counterfeit Christianity in my life and in each other's lives. [00:06:14] When the experts look at that counterfeit money, they hold it up to a strong light, and they look at it very closely. Isn't that what we do when we look at our own lives? We hold it up to the strong light of God's Word. And it is only when we hold up, when I hold up my life to God's Word and look at it very closely that I can identify if I'm for real or counterfeit. Again, when we talk about something counterfeit, it's supposed to look like the real thing, but it's just not quite the real thing. [00:06:54] And it's sobering to think about that. Some years ago, I don't know if any of you remember this, but some years ago here, probably four or five years ago, there was quite a bit of talk here, maybe even a topic on it. What is it for a real Christian? And this came back to me, and I don't remember much of what was said except the title. But as I was studying, I thought about this, and it seems to me that if we're going to make it to the inside the pearly gates, we're going to have to constantly keep that in mind. [00:07:30] What is a for real Christian? Who am I? Am I for real or counterfeit? Now, we've read some scripture. I would like to, I don't know if this is a, this is not a disclaimer to what I'm about to say. Hypocrisy and being a counterfeit Christian is nauseating to the nostrils of God. It's a stench to God. And I believe, if I think it's true, I think we can honestly say that every church has to deal, every human being has to deal with this issue. [00:08:09] Am I committed? Am I willing to go wherever and do whatever God asks of me? But as I was studying for this, I came across some pretty, well I came across some stories that jolted me a little bit. And I would say this, even though the church at times, even though there's hypocrisy around us, Even though there's some counterfeit Christianity among us, there's never an excuse to withdraw completely from a church or a group of people. [00:08:43] There are groups that say, I'll never belong to a church. If that's the way, if they operate like that, if one of their members treats me like that, I won't belong to that group. But friends, that's an excuse to withdraw. It's not an excuse. It's never right to use that as a crutch to hold back from serving God. We are accountable to God And it has been said here That it takes a very small person [00:09:14] To hide behind a hypocrite And I think that's true That's true Now, having said that I'd like to read some more in Matthew 7 And this is a familiar account Matthew 7 And again, talking about Judgment Day And the end of the age Matthew 7, 13, begin reading verse 13 [00:09:44] Why don't we stand to read this passage Enter ye in at the straight gate For wide is the gate and broad is the way That leadeth to destruction And many there be which go in thereat Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way Which leadeth unto life And few there be that find it Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? [00:10:17] Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? [00:10:52] And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity This is one of the most sobering passages in the Bible And the first several verses plant a picture in our mind of what the broad way and the narrow way are And the difference that there should be in our lives [00:11:25] But the thing that weighs down on me so much is, have we made the narrow way so broad that it's hard to distinguish in our minds who is on the narrow way and who is on the broad way? We get so used to the dark that it doesn't seem dark anymore, as Vance Habner says. But let it be clear this morning that if we are on the narrow way, it's noticeable. We have gone a different way. It should be noticeable. [00:11:58] And he speaks, he addresses different things here in this chapter. In verse 15, verses 15 to 20, he's speaking about wolves in sheep's clothing. And probably he's speaking to the Pharisees because this is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. I think scripture is up to date and he's speaking to me today. I don't think it was for back then only. And then he instructs us to be fruit inspectors. By their fruit you shall know them. [00:12:30] By the fruit that I bear, not only you, but God knows which kingdom I belong to. We are so worried. And you know, we should have. We should have concern about what our brothers and sisters think of my life. We should have concern. We shouldn't be careless about it, but God is a fruit inspector as well, and he sees into our hearts. Didn't we just study the verse this morning about being open before God? [00:13:06] There is no secret in this room this morning. There is nothing hidden in this room. And all that we did last week and up to this point is open. It's wide open. You may hide it from me, I might hide it from you, but it's wide open. And that can, it can be comfortable knowing that we've taken care of everything to this point, but we can also squirm under the microscope of God. Let's make sure that we understand that God knows what's going on. [00:13:39] And then in verse 21 he says this, Not all who have said Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm just human enough that probably one of the reasons that I came to this, this was on my mind is in the last six months, eight months, in sitting and listening to people speak about issues that they're facing And expounding on their lives and how things are going, I've noticed, and especially in church work, I've noticed that people come in the door and they look just like me. [00:14:22] They look, they appear just like normal church people. But it doesn't take long until you understand what's going on in here, if you're listening. And one of the most sobering things that you can hear is when people get in there and they start tearing down their brother or their sister. And they say, but he did this to me and so I'm doing this. [00:14:54] My friends, that's not what God is asking of us. If we are not counterfeit, if we are for real, we don't do that. There is a certain something, there is a certain behavior that God expects of us if we are born again Christians on the way to heaven. And I've heard people give testimony. May I say that could make glass eyes weep, but turn around and tear down, destroy. Let's be careful. Let's be very careful. [00:15:27] God knows my heart and your heart this morning. You know, these words are very sobering to me. And I have no idea, I don't think, I don't like to preach or think about percentage of who will be in heaven in a group. But it just, this verse just shows me that not everybody is going to make it, that professes to be in tune with the Lord. Not everybody is going to be, not everybody is going to enter heaven. [00:16:02] Let's be very careful. You know, I've wondered, what will it be like? We're talking about a day like we've never experienced before. And nobody has from the beginning of from creation until now. But when Judgment Day arrives, I've wondered, what would I say if all my friends, my family would leave me and I would be left standing here having to answer for something that I didn't take care of? [00:16:35] What would we say? Would there be anything to say? Would we say, but I always took my family to church, I supported the Christian day school, I did this or I did that, I went to Bible school. What would we say? What is going to be the discourse? And maybe there is not going to be any discourse. You know, this was a soul-searching message for me. [00:17:07] We can be at church on time. We can look just right. We can be just right in our constituency, in our church. But we can also be an angry father. We can be a father that disciplines his children because I don't want to look bad. instead of the father that has a heart for his sons or daughters. And I realize this, there is nothing like a fence rider in a church. [00:17:40] We're either inside the kingdom or we're outside. We can try ever so hard to look right and to walk on the edge, but we're either on the inside or on the outside. We're either saved or awfully lost. There is no getting away with a half-hearted commitment. And I'm sure that we've all heard this before, but it bears repeating again and again. And it is a temptation of man, it is, I find this in myself, that it is a temptation to be exactly right in one area of my life. [00:18:19] to be scripturally sound, to know what to say, and then use that to stand behind that in another area of my life and allow other things. But I hold this up. But I've done this. James 2.10 says this, For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all. It takes the grace of God. I understand that. We don't, we're not born to be perfect, but God is able to keep us there. [00:18:54] And I know this has been said before here. You know, the devil doesn't care if you go to church. Go. He understands well that you can go to church and still be a half-hearted, half-committed Christian. But what really separates the believer, what really irritates the devil, I believe, is when we with an honest heart say, Search me, O God, and see if there's a wicked way in me. [00:19:25] I'm not quoting it word for word. When we get to the point where we say, I'm done following him. Whatever it takes, the song we sang, wherever it takes me, that's where the devil really tries to get in and destroy. That's where he really has a problem with the commitment. Now, I'd like to notice just several things quickly here. Counterfeit Christianity produces things. [00:19:58] And I don't, I'm not going to have an exhaustive list, put it that way. But there are some things that happen when we allow that to continue in our lives. When there's areas that aren't taken care of. One of the things that happens in counterfeit Christianity, and you notice it, it shows up, I think, is that counterfeit Christianity produces powerless Christianity. [00:20:31] We can, I've noticed that there are people that, and I've used this term, maybe we should explain this. What do we mean by powerless Christianity? I think it's simply a profession of faith or of being a believer, but we're unable to be victorious in our lives. We just simply can't seem to overcome. Maybe we have a sharp tongue or whatever. You fill in the blank. But the thing is, let's remember this. [00:21:04] God can take that tongue and use it for his glory if we give it all to him. But powerless Christianity, if we are saved or we profess to be saved, If we are saved, there's a change of allegiance, a going a different way, a change of course in life. Powerless Christianity is only a profession of salvation experience, but a bent toward the old life. And I don't know what you notice in your own life or what seems to come out in your own experience, [00:21:42] But I've noticed this, and I've said this, and I don't apologize for it. There are certain places that I can't go because of where I've been. And when we make a change, when we commit our lives to Christ, I think the devil tries to get in where we failed before. Where we have already failed, we are much weaker than in it. You know, we all have different struggles. [00:22:15] But in that way, he can get us crippled and powerless to move ahead in our lives, in our walk with him. I think it was Andrew Murray that has, I'm not sure where this quote comes from, but I think it was him. And I'm not quoting him word for word because I couldn't find it again. But he said something like this, it is the temptation of mankind to try to experience the blessings of God while at the same time having, enjoying the pleasures of the world or something like to that effect. [00:22:56] And I think that's very true. But in a nutshell, that is powerless Christianity. We're still trying to enjoy what the world has for us. You know, we want to sit in the pew and look just right and enjoy the blessing of being with the family of God. And it is a blessing. Praise God we belong. We can belong. But if we still have a heart that's bent towards the world, it'll never work. It's powerless. [00:23:29] It's, at this stage, powerless Christianity. Words fly in brotherhoods. And it's awful when there's just no restraint. And there's, where love should reign, there's hate. there's envy and jealousy powerless Christianity no power to move forward let's take warning let's be very careful let's be careful [00:24:00] that we don't have a form of godliness but denying the power thereof I think I believe there's Paul writes this in Timothy 3.5 but at the end of a long list of things that come And I think we are in end times now. If you look at some of the disturbing news around us, and this is not a message to promote fear, but let's be careful. [00:24:36] Let's be careful. Another version of this says, 2 Timothy 3.5 says this, And will act as if they serve God, but will not have his power. You know what? If we allow counterfeit Christianity, if we tolerate counterfeit Christianity, we are left vulnerable and weak before the attacks of Satan. And we allow him to get in. There's another thing that happens when there's counterfeit Christianity, and that is, I think it produces apostasy in brotherhoods, in constituencies, in churches. [00:25:22] Paul writes again in 1 Timothy 4, 1 and 2, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. And I know that there are people that would take issue with me this morning saying that if you if you fall away, then you obviously have never been born again. But I don't think that's true. I think if there's counterfeit Christianity more times than not, there's probably been some type of change, but a falling back. [00:26:04] Now there are times when people kind of get swept up with their friends in making a commitment, and they were never really serious about it. I understand that. But let's look at this verse Expressly means clearly And to depart means to apostatize An apostasy, the way I understand it is A deliberate rejection of Christianity Deliberate rejection after profession of faith If I understand it right [00:26:35] I'd like to look at 1 Samuel chapter 8 In connection with apostasy and not sure what to read here. We know the story of King Saul and of Samuel. And I know this is maybe you say this is kind of in the Old Testament, not really relative for our day. But let's take a look at some of this. 1 Samuel chapter 8. [00:27:09] They were asking for a king. And I, well let me just, let me read here. Samuel's sons were not, were not very responsible and they wanted a king. Chapter 8 verse 4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel unto Ramah and said unto him, Behold thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us like the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. [00:27:42] And Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice, albeit yet protest solemnly unto them, [00:28:13] and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And it goes on to say what the king would do. But I noticed something in this passage. And in verse 19 and verse 20 of the same chapter it says this. again brings out the same thing nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said nay but we will have a king over us that we also may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us [00:28:43] and go out before us and fight our battles what I would like to point out here is the reasoning that goes on behind apostasy there's always a human reasoning that goes on When I refuse, when I reject God and His principles, and don't just take the word as it says, and I take my own reasoning, there's bound to be apostasy. There was a reasoning here. They said, we want to be like these nations around us. We want to be like them. [00:29:22] Now I think if you would have asked them, they would have said, and maybe I'm expounding a little bit too far, but they would have said, now we still want to be the children of Israel, we still want to be God's children, but we want to be like those around us. We want to do what they do. There was a reasoning going on here. There was a problem, and they were reasoning it out in their own way. Now what's it like today? Is there any human reasoning going on in our churches at any point in our day? [00:29:59] You know, the trap that we fall in so many times is this. Well now, this church over here doesn't like that. And I'm not finding fault with other churches this morning. But is God pleased when we start chipping a little off here and a little here? That's human reasoning. And if we go that road, I would just put this warning out. There have been people that have traveled down that road and you wouldn't recognize them today. [00:30:33] They started that human reasoning. Let's be very careful. But I believe that a born-again Christian, committed Christian, does not promote human reasoning. If I am where I should be, I'm willing to take God's word and follow wherever it takes me. Now, what happens when there's counterfeit Christianity allowed in a church? Maybe we've talked about that enough already. [00:31:04] We've talked about what it produces, but what happens? And it could be a number of things, but my mind went in this way, in this direction. When we allow, when I am counterfeit, not for real, it destroys the church from the inside out. and churches that have or tolerate or continue in that direction are in a defense mode instead of offense. [00:31:39] And there is immeasurable time spent, maybe I shouldn't say immeasurable, much energy is spent in trying to maintain what we have. And there is no energy left to go on the offense, to be out there witnessing, to draw your neighbors in. And may I say, church leadership gets tired. And beyond even that, church people get tired of trying to defend their position [00:32:10] when there's counterfeit Christianity. And finally, we lose out if it keeps going for too long. But we as God's people need to take care of our own lives before we can go on the offense or be out there in enemy territory trying to win souls. I think it's a tactic of Satan to try to get his people so tired in the fight, trying to maintain truth, that there's just no energy left. [00:32:45] And I think it's happening today. When we are trying to get in that sheepfold some other way, maybe our own way, our own mode of thinking, what we consider is truth, we are in essence like a leech sucking the lifeblood of the church away. I know those are some harsh words, but I think that's what God is saying. We hear sometimes this thing, it doesn't matter how I dress or appear, [00:33:18] but if we are in any way distracting from kingdom work, it does matter. It does matter, and it's very important. I've spoken about some different forms of counterfeit Christianity, I've touched or spoken about one already and that is that we can appear just right and that's true, that happens it happens among our plain people here [00:33:52] in fact, I came across this story and this individual was a bitter person towards Christianity He had a neighbor, he said, and I have no idea where he was from, what happened, but he said, they dressed just right, they had a polite smile, they waved, and they had everything just right, but they were our neighbors, and they did a shady deal. [00:34:24] You know what? God knows where we're at. Our neighbors know where we're at too. We can, let's be very careful. There is also this thing of living on the edge, just not quite supporting the work, also not quite being away from it. And I think, it seems to me that many times what we see, especially where I come from, We see a reaction to either side. [00:34:58] But I think the Lord would have us just commit ourselves to serving Him. Now what happens sometimes, those walking on the edge, and I hate to even go here, but I've noticed that sometimes there's that bent towards Bible study for my own justification. You know, it's so easy just to kind of pick out what I would like to hear or like to identify with and kind of hold everything else at arm's length. [00:35:34] But let's be careful. Let's take the whole thing together. Let's not take what looks good to me. Counterfeit Christianity destroys our witness. You know, when I profess to hold to a certain level of values, or my church, and it takes one person in a church to destroy a lot of good. Only one person. And it has been said that each one is as a link, we are only as strong as the weakest link of a chain. Remember that. [00:36:15] I'm not here trying to identify the weakest link, but let's be very careful. What I might say, what I might do, might affect what you can do in witnessing. I would just like to say this as kind of a closing statement. I don't know why, sometimes I don't know why I preach what I do. I have no idea. But this, as I was praying about this yesterday morning, I want us to understand that the passages that I read, we notice a God of wrath, a God that will take care of counterfeit Christianity. [00:36:59] And in the end, we won't make it if we're in that situation. But we have also, God is a loving God. And the penitent sinner that comes to Him, He welcomes with open arms. And I want us to remember that this morning. If we have failed, God is willing. God is able to take us back. As I was meditating yesterday morning, something just kind of struck me. [00:37:33] And I have felt the pain of seeing that people kind of walk away. You try, you put some effort in it, but there's just this cold shoulder, kind of walking away. And I thought to myself, how does God feel about that? You know, He sent His Son to die for us, and He put in all the effort, and He's waiting, He's seeking for us. [00:38:09] And when, you know, it might just be a little thing in your personal life, but if you walk away, you grieve the heart of God. We grieve the heart of God. You might grieve your fellow brother and sister in the church But there's nobody that's grieved like God is When we walk away from him If we have strayed If there is something that isn't made right Let's go back Let's take care of it [00:38:40] The day will come when there's no time to do that I would like to read in closing The last verse of our Sunday school lesson This, I think, is the heart of God. If we have strayed, there is one that has had all the infirmities that we do, and yet without sin. And he says this at the end of Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. [00:39:11] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I need grace, and I think all of us need grace, but we can't use grace for a crutch. We have to come to Him, but He's inviting us this morning. Let's kneel for prayer.