Watch Out for Deceivers

April 26, 2015 Background Scripture: 1 John 5:6 – 12, 18 – 20; 2 John Lesson Passage: 2 John The most popular currency in the world is still the American “greenback”. More specifically, the $100 bill is the most counterfeited currency in circulation. While American Express, Visa, and Mastercard debate which card is accepted and recognized the most all over the world, all of them together take a backseat to the $100 bill. It is for this reason and others that the United States Treasury spends a lot of money on designing the $100 bill to be difficult to counterfeit. That bill has undergone many changes over the past thirty years attempting to stay ahead of the technology used for reproducing documents. Merchants who receive paper currency will often use special pens to mark them; they will examine the external markings on them, and even hold them up to the light to inspect the watermark and internal ribbon within them. All of this is done to verify that the money that has been received is genuine. Money is not the only thing subject to be counterfeited in the world. We must also watch out for those who claim to be sent from God to give us instructions. Just as counterfeiting money has been around for thousands of years, spiritual deceivers are not a new problem either. Since the dawning of the Christian Church, there have been demonic spirits sent into the world to deceive and lead astray the elect of God. John wrote his second letter to warn Christians of the deceivers that were already in the world in the first century church. Those deceivers are antichrists. They profess many things but they deny that Jesus came in the flesh. Although some may be hidden from our casual view, some are obvious and quite outspoken. Some declare money to be the beginning and end of all that is important. Their message is unashamedly a message of prosperity. Many continue to fall victim to this senseless charade because of their greed. I don’t believe Jesus wants all Christians to live in poverty but neither do I believe that Jesus suffered and died on Calvary so that his followers can all become millionaires and live in this world like there is no life after death. Christianity is much bigger than planting a seed offering of money and hoping to reap a bounty in return. The apostles’ message constantly reminded Christians of the mandate to walk in love as proof of our salvation and spiritual maturity. For Christ’s sake many became poor that the gospel message might reach the ends of the earth. Today, many Christians would rather stay in one place and have the ends of the earth brought to us with the deeds already in our name. Christianity is not about looking out for number one and every man for himself. That is a spirit of greed sown by the enemy to kill the witness of the church and shut down Jesus’ plan of evangelism. Jesus was all about lost souls and healing the broken hearted not exploiting the weak for monetary gain. Christians must take up our responsibility to try the spirit to be sure it is of God. When we encounter those who are not of God because they lack the Spirit of Christ, then we should reject that spirit as a spirit of antichrist. Watch out for deceivers. Robert C. Hudson March 12, 2015