How to Spot a Spiritual Counterfeit

Dr. Jeff Schreve: The devil has released sharks into the waters, and they are out to steal and kill and destroy. We must beware, we must be wise, and we must be on guard. They are pastors of churches. They are professors in seminaries. They teach Sunday school classes. They are deacons in churches. They are in positions of authority, yet they are sharks in the water, and they try and destroy the Gospel. So, you have to have your antennae up, otherwise you're going to get eaten up. And there are some things to look for. If you care about yourself, if you care about your loved ones, your church, about your children, then you're going to want to listen closely to what God has to say to us all on From His Heart today. Pastor Jeff Schreve is in his study of the book of Jude, and today's message is called "Sharks in the Water, Part 2."
Larry Nobles: These are the imposters who are aptly described as sharks in the water of the churches, and how they devour churches one person at a time through devilish manipulation and false doctrine. The book of Jude is a short, one-chapter letter in the New Testament written by Jude, a servant of Jesus and a brother of James, to warn believers against these false teachers and how to fight them. If you miss any of these timely lessons from the series Face-Off, then you can listen again anytime at FromHisHeart.org. Click the listen link. Now let's continue with the message, "Sharks in the Water."
Dr. Jeff Schreve: Now here's our question: how can you and I recognize the sharks in the water? I want you to see with me three telltale signs that you can recognize the devil's sharks in the waters of the church. First sign: the devil's sharks try to tear up the way of the Lord. Just like a shark would, just rip everything apart. He tries to tear up the straight way of the Lord. Paul said in Acts chapter 13, as he was preaching the Gospel, there was a magician there. His name was Elymas, and he was opposing Paul and opposing his teaching. Paul turned on him, and Paul said to him, "You son of the devil, you who desire to create havoc." He said, "You never cease to make crooked the straight paths of the Lord." That's exactly what the devil does. He uses people to do it, but he never ceases to tear up the way of the Lord, to make crooked the way of the Lord, to blow up the bridge that every person must cross—the bridge between sinful man and holy God. The devil is constantly working on that. So His sharks, His apostates, His emissaries, people that He uses and puts in places of influence and leadership in the church—how can you recognize them? Well, they try and do that too. They try and tear up the way of the Lord. Not only does he try to tear up the way of the Lord, the devil's sharks try to hide their true colors. Look at verses 12 and 13. He says, "These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever." He gives six vivid pictures of these guys. He says that they are hidden reefs. How important is it to know when you are manning a ship and captaining a ship? How important is it to know where the reefs are? Super important. And you know, a reef that's underneath the water is a hidden reef. You can't see it. You better be really careful that you know where it is or that you're on guard for where a reef is as you're captaining a ship. Beware. Be on guard. How can you tell? You know, when you're in the water, I was watching on YouTube an actual shark attack. This wasn't Jaws. This was an actual attack that somebody caught on camera. This guy was going surfing, and he was in the water, probably up to his waist. All of a sudden, as he goes out, you see him start punching at the water. His wife's like, "What are you doing?" And then he begins to scream, and then he makes his way back in. Well, a shark had bitten him on his side, and he was bleeding. He was freaked out. He was in shock. And you know, you never saw it. I watched the whole video. You never once saw the shark. He's hidden underneath the water. I didn't hear any of the Jaws theme music. It wasn't there because that's not how he comes. And if that's the way the devil came, then it would be easy. But the devil is sly. Genesis chapter 3, verse 1: "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." And the devil is so slick and he's so sly and he comes like a hidden reef. You don't know he's there until boom, he gets you. So you have to have your antennae up, otherwise you're going to get eaten up. And there are some things to look for. Number one, be on the lookout for selfishness and greed. Selfishness and greed are going to be in the heart of the apostate. "These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves." The New Living Translation translates that "caring for themselves" this way: "They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves." It's all about me. It's all about selfishness. And remember, they're like Balaam, so they're in it for the money. So it's all about greed. They take advantage of people and flatter people for the sake of gaining a profit. It's all about me. It's all about greed. Watch that person that has the attitude that it's all about me, it's all about what I want, it's all about what I think. Watch that person who, when the rubber meets the road, doesn't give a rip about the kingdom of God or the church of Jesus Christ. It becomes all about me. They'd just as soon torch the place if it came down to a showdown between themselves or the church, because they want to get what they want. And it's typically all focused in on money. So be on the lookout for selfishness and greed. Shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. You know what? That's so bad. This is why it's so bad. Do you remember when Jesus talked to Peter after He rose from the dead in John chapter 21? You have the story of Jesus meeting with Peter. "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" Do you remember what He said to Peter? He said, "Peter, do you love me? Feed my lambs. Shepherd my sheep. Feed my sheep." That's the job of a called man of God: to feed the sheep, to protect the sheep, to shepherd the sheep, to make sure when the people come to hear, they're hearing from God and they're getting fed. Shameless shepherds who care only for themselves—they don't feed the sheep, they don't care for the sheep, they don't shepherd the sheep. And when danger comes, what did Jesus say in John chapter 10? They high-tail it. When the wolf comes, they get out of there. Why? Because they're not a true shepherd. They're a hireling. They don't care. They only care about themselves. And that's so true of the apostates, the sharks in the water. So be on the lookout for that. Selfishness and greed. Secondly, be on the lookout for spiritual emptiness. Spiritual emptiness. He talks about that. "Clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted." In the first century and in the world in which these people lived, rain was hugely important. I mean, it is for us, and anybody that's a farmer will tell you rain is critical. If you don't have rain, you're dead meat. You can't grow things. And so when a cloud would come, the people would say, "Oh, there are clouds. Perhaps there's going to be rain." And these false teachers—they were clouds and they promised a lot, but they were clouds without water. There's no rain there. Peter says they are mists driven by a storm, but there's no substance there. They are autumn trees that should have fruit, but they don't have any fruit. They're fruitless. They're doubly dead, uprooted. They're trees that have no fruit, and then you look at the tree and say, "Well, no wonder. It's uprooted. It doesn't have any root." Now Jesus said this, and it's really interesting. Matthew chapter 7: "Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." Remember I told you the devil's smart. He doesn't come to you as a ravenous wolf. He comes to you as a sheep. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit." Sometimes you hear people say, "Well, you know, we're not supposed to judge. Don't judge. Jesus said, 'Judge not, lest you be judged.'" That's true. You're not the judge, I'm not the judge. God is the judge. But we are supposed to test. First John chapter 4, verse 1 says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, try the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." You have to be careful. You can't just look at every fish that has a fin and say, "Oh, that's just... I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You're not a shark. You're just a dolphin." "Oh, why are you eating my child?" Maybe I was wrong. You better test the spirits to see whether they are from God. And how do you do that? How do you test the spirits? You'll know them by their fruits. A good tree produces good fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. That's how you know them. Look at their lives. You'll know them by their fruits. There are lots of people that stand up to teach the Word of God, but their lives are a disaster. There is divorce and there is turmoil all in their life, and their family is a mess. What's the first requirement of being a pastor? One of the top requirements? Look to see how that person conducts his family. Because if you can't control your family and conduct your family in a godly way, you're not fit to be leading in the church of God. That's what the scripture says in 1 Timothy chapter 3. And so you look at the fruit in this person's life. Is there fruit, or is there just emptiness? Is there just nothing there?
Larry Nobles: We'll continue exploring this truth when Pastor Jeff returns in just a moment here on From His Heart. Today's lesson, "Sharks in the Water, Part 2," is from the series Face-Off, a study of the book of Jude. Perhaps you're listening to this broadcast today on radio or television, social media or online somewhere. We get a lot of responses from people around the world on how this ministry has impacted them. Recently we got an encouraging note from an obviously faithful listener. Her name is Stephanie and she wrote: "For over a decade I've been listening to you on radio and you always have just the right words at the right time for me. It's actually kind of weird how right on time you are with my struggles and God's provisions. It's always the message I need and you make the truth so clear to understand. God's timing really is impeccable. He has definitely used you in my life. Thank you, Pastor Jeff, and God bless your ministry. Keep them coming." What a gem of a letter that is, no doubt, because that is our goal. We exist to do just that, to bring clear teaching of God's Word so people can understand it, apply it to their lives and live out their faith so others will be drawn to Christ. When you support From His Heart, you are helping in that effort. And for your help this month of any amount, we'd like to say thank you by sending you the six-message series Faith Under Fire, a study of the book of Jude that we aired this month. You can request it on a USB flash drive, on CDs, you can watch it on DVDs, or in a media MP3 download. Just go to FromHisHeart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE and request Faith Under Fire when you make that gift today. And thank you, Stephanie, for encouraging all of us. God bless you.
Dr. Jeff Schreve: A question for you and for me as we look at ourselves: what kind of fruit is in your life? Galatians chapter 5 gives such a contrast about the deeds of the flesh: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, disputes, dissensions, factions, jealousy, outbursts of anger, carousing, drunkenness—all those kinds of things. Does that characterize your life? Or the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? What kind of fruit do you have in your life? An easy way to tell if I am really in the faith is to just look to see what you're producing. Because a good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. We lie to ourselves so much of the time. And we have all these deeds of the flesh and all this fruit that's just rotten, and we say, "Well, you know, deep down I'm a pretty good person." You're not. The reason that you have all this bad fruit in your life is because you've never been born again, and you're rotting from the inside out, and all you can produce is rotten fruit. Listen, a Christian doesn't always produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, but he does, or she does, some of the time. And if you never produce this, then it would stand to reason that you've never been saved. And you have gone the way of Cain, and you're trying to take fruit from somebody else's tree—good stuff—and stick it on your tree and say, "Hey, look at that." But you don't produce that stuff, and you know that you don't. The false teachers—they were spiritually empty. So look out for that. And look out for bitterness. These are grumblers, the scripture says in verse 16, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They grumble. That's the root word, "goggysmos," that I like so much. It means to murmur, to grumble. You're upset with God, and it says they find fault. They're complaining of their fate in life. They don't like where they are in life. Korah, who led the rebellion, was a Levite. He had a high position. The Levites took care of the temple of God and the tent. But he didn't like that. That wasn't big enough for him. He wanted to be the top dog. He wanted to be number one, just like Lucifer. It wasn't enough for him to lead the worship in heaven and have the worship go up through him to God. He wanted to be God. "I will be," he said, "like the Most High God." Are you discontented where you are? Are you somebody that's grumbling and griping and complaining about your lot in life and what has happened to you? That's exactly what the false teachers do. That's what the sharks do. They're bitter about life. They're bitter at God. And then be on the lookout lastly for sexual immorality. Peter, when he talks about the false teachers, he says they have eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin. Eyes full of adultery. You know what that means? That means every person that they see, they see an adulterous relationship, the potential of an adulterous relationship, having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin. Jude says they are faultfinders following after their own lusts. They always, almost without exception, have problems with sexual immorality. Remember, because they turn the grace of God into a license to sin. And with these people who were the incipient Gnostics, the heresy called Gnosticism, they said, "Hey, matter is evil, only the spirit is good, so it doesn't matter what you do with your body." And you can sin all you want, and that doesn't matter. And so there was all sorts of sexual immorality that would be introduced with their teaching. And what does the person that hears that kind of teaching—a lost person that hears that kind of teaching—they like it. Why did God tell His Old Testament people, "Do not mingle with the people of the land, with the Canaanites; drive them out"? Why? Because if you allow them to hang around with you, they're going to pull you down. You're not going to pull them up. And they were sexually immoral. And the way they worshipped is with temple prostitutes. And the Jews are like, "Wow." The Jewish men are like, "Wow, that's a neat way to do it. I kind of like that church." And it drew them like a magnet. And this kind of stuff draws people like a magnet—lost people—because it's like, "Hey, it doesn't matter. You can sin all you want to and it doesn't matter because we're all under grace." They turn the grace of God into licentiousness. You study about Jim Jones, who had Jonestown. He was an apostate. Started out, he looked like a Christian. You read his life and his preaching and everything sounded like he was a Christian. All of a sudden he drifts away. He wasn't really one of us. He drifted away. He became a sexual deviant. David Koresh—sexual deviant. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church—he created a religion that said you can have multiple wives, and he had about 30 of them. Two of them were 14. Sexually perverted. So they try and hide their true colors, but you and I need to be on the lookout. And lastly, the devil's sharks are destined for severe judgment. And about these, verse 14, Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and all of the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." The Lord is going to come. These sharks in the water—they're hidden reefs in your love feast, but they're not hidden to God. Because all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. God sees everything. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. God knows what you did last summer. He knows what you did 10 summers ago. He knows what you did every single day of your life. And God sees. And Peter said their judgment, although it seems like they're getting away with sin, they're not. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. God sees and God knows, and you mark it down: no one ever gets away with sin. You don't, I don't, they don't, Billy Graham doesn't—no one gets away with sin. Be sure your sin will find you out. And when the Lord comes—and He is going to come—He is going to execute judgment upon these. I believe this with all my heart: hell's hottest flame exists for those who take the good news of the grace of Jesus Christ and turn it around for personal gain, and pervert the way, and try and blow up the bridge. They're like spiritual terrorists. God sees all that, and God will respond to that when the time is right. We forget that we're dealing with God. We forget that you can't pull the wool over God's eyes. We forget that God is holy. We forget that it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 that the Lord is going to come back with His angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. That's going to happen one day. Be sure your sin will find you out. You say, "Man, this is scaring me to death. What do I do?" Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18: the Lord says, "Come now, and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Come now. Get your life right with God. I'm talking to some folks and, you know what? You're a shark in the water. You just don't have a position perhaps of spiritual authority. But maybe you're here and you've never been saved. Well, you're on the road to destruction. And if the Lord should come back today, you wouldn't be ready. You're just like these folks. You're on the road to perdition. "Come now," the Lord says, "and let us reason together." Come now. Let Me forgive you. Let Me cleanse you. Come My way. Reject the way of Cain, reject the way of Balaam, reject the way of Korah. Come My way and humble yourself and receive Me. Two questions as we close out today: are you practicing discernment? Are you testing the spirits to see whether they are of God? Are you taking the messages that I preach and checking them out to make sure this is right? It's good to do that. I want you to do that. I love it when someone says, "Hey Jeff, I checked you out. I checked out that Greek word you used; you were wrong." I don't really love that, but I like it when people check me out. That's a good thing to do. That's what they did to Paul. They received the word from Paul with great eagerness, Acts 17:11, and then they went home and examined the scriptures daily to see whether those things were so. We're supposed to do that and be discerning and test the spirits to see whether these people really are from God. So are you practicing discernment? Are you walking in the light? That's the best way to know. You walk with God and you walk in the light, you can sense—you have spiritual ears to hear. You can sense that there's something not right about this person or that person or the other person because somehow I hear "no, no" spiritually. Are you practicing discernment? And number two: are you sure you belong to Him? Are you sure you're His? Everything else we preach, everything else we say, it means nothing if you miss out on that. "Come now," Jesus says through His Word, "Come now and let us reason together."
Larry Nobles: If you're not sure, absolutely sure that you belong to Christ, you can do that today. Would you like to know how? Then we invite you to go to FromHisHeart.org and click the "Why Jesus" link, and you'll find a lot of materials there free for you to download and listen to and read from Pastor Jeff Schreve. It'll encourage you and get you started correctly on your path with Jesus. Now, if you are experiencing major struggles and troubles in your life, remember Psalm 46:1 where God assures us. He says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." What a wonderful verse to remember as you go through this week. Our time is gone for today. Thank you very much for joining us. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to be back on Friday when Pastor Jeff begins the last message in the Face-Off series. It's entitled "What to Do Until He Comes." That's on Friday. That's when we open up God's Word and learn from His heart.