How to identify spiritual scammers

Read Colossians 2:18–19 “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.”

Introduction

I want to share a story when I got scammed.

In the early 2010s, I was in high school and was collecting and reselling popular sneakers such as Jordans.

Today, people use GOAT and Stockx, but back then eBay was the most used market.

And I had almost 100 reviews on my ebay account, letting you know how active I was on selling there.

But I wasn’t only selling, I also bought.

And I found amazing deals on eBay before, but one day, something else happened.

I ordered these bred 4s, which are black and red Jordan 4s, very popular.

And back then, Jordans did not have Nike Air on the back but the regular jumpman logo, so if a Jordan had a Nike Air on the back, it would show that it would have been from early 2000s or even earlier years.

And those were more valuable and sought after.

And I found these bred 4s, with the nike air on the back, for a really good price, and I bought ‘em.

When I got ‘em, I wore them, feeling very happy and proud about myself!

But for some reason, as I wore them, I had a feeling that something was off.

So I checked with online pictures of genuine bred 4s with Nike Air, and I realized that the one I had lacked a hump on the back of the shoe, whereas the real ones had the hump.

And I realized I got scammed.

Thankfully I filed a claim with eBay, and got my money back.

But I was fooled, other than that small detail, they were legit.

Now, you may not know anything about sneakers, but I’m sure that everyone in here has had a scam call, text, or email, right?

Did you know that in 2021, scam calls cost Americans $30 billion dollars?

And what came to my mind was, ‘poor old ladies’.

But shockingly, 2 out of 3 people aged between 18-34, got scammed, that’s 62%.

Whereas, those who were 55+ and older, only 55% of them fell to scam calls.

Meaning that the younger you are, the more likely you are to fall victim to a scam call, email, or text.

Scammers are everywhere, but did you know there are also spiritual scam artists?

Spiritual scam callers?

In fact, you might have fallen for a spiritual scam call and you didn’t even know it!

That’s why we need to know how to tell what is a spiritual scam call.

When we get a scam call, we know its fake because of the robotic voice right?

Or when we get a scam text or email, its from some random number or email address rather than the official email that they say they’re emailing from.

Those are the signs we look for when we watch out for scammers.

But today, I want to teach you the signs of spiritual scammers.

Which is what our sermon title is today, How to identify spiritual scammers.

1. Everything they teach is made-up (v.18)

We see this in v.18 where Paul writes, let no one cheat you of your reward.

This is the spiritual scammers motive.

They aim to cheat you of your reward.

You guys may have not seen much boxing, but one of the biggest problems in boxing is the judging.

There have been countless matches where another fighter has clearly won and then the judges give the victory to the other boxer.

Even when the other fighter statistically has out punched the other.

This has led to so many upsets and outrages by the crowd, that many people call boxing rigged.

Even I believe that some of these matches are rigged, so that the fighter who really won, loses his reward and gets it stolen from him by the other fighter.

And this is exactly what spiritual scammers want to do to you.

They want to lead away people who are not yet Christians into losing the reward that Jesus Christ won for them on the cross.

And they want to lead away people who are already Christians, who already have their reward in Christ, to hurt their testimony in the short time we have left in this world.

To stumble them and confuse them and make them less effective for christ.

To try and make the biggest upset over Christ’s victory.

But Paul says don’t let this happen.

Let no one cheat you of your reward, Paul says.

So he begins to give us clues to identify, how to tell if someone is a spiritual scammer.

First Paul describes them as, taking delight in false humility.

ESV gives another translation, Col 2:18

Colossians 2:18 (ESV)

insisting on asceticism

Now you may not know what asceticism is, but here’s a tip, it’s related to the word aesthetic.

And many of you guys today, use aesthetic, like, ‘that’s so aesthetic’ to describe something that looks nice.

Which by the way, is just wrong english, but that’s another sermon.

But asceticism, also refers to appearances.

What Paul is saying is that the false teachers, practice asceticism, which is a way of living based on looking good in front of others.

And it’s not by their drip.

It’s by being legalistic, not eating certain foods or drinking certain drinks, and strictly following special days, which is what we learned last week.

They want to appear, ‘holier than thou’.

And it’s a false humility.

They may seem so righteous, and humble, but it’s really fake.

Because true righteous and humility is not based on your actions, but your heart, your attitude.

When people start praising you, do you immediately think, ‘I’m awesome’ or do you think, ‘it’s all God’.

Because that’s what these spiritual scammers are thinking when they show off their religious deeds.

As we learned last week, if someone tells you you need to follow these rules in order to go to heaven, you know they are scammers.

The next one Paul writes is, and worship of angels.

And this is interesting.

Because most of you are probably thinking, ‘who worships angels today?’

But it’s far more common than you think.

In Roman Catholicism, they bow down and pray to angels.

But none of us here are Catholic I think.

But what these spiritual scammers did, was invoke the protection of angels from evil.

It was part of their lifestyle to ward off evil, by calling upon angels.

And they would do this by wearing a necklace or amulet that symbolized the angel protecting them, or pay homage to statues of angels to garner their favor so that the angels would protect them.

They were so obsessive about doing this, that this behavior was basically equal to worshipping angels.

They would pray to angels, they would put all their trust in angels.

And believe it or not, this is very common today.

There are people even at church, who are obsessed with angels protecting them

They keep thinking about angels, and their personal guardian angel, and even have a name for their angel.

And look, I’m not saying angels don’t exisit.

The Bible teaches they clearly do and even serve us.

Hebrews 1:13–14 (NKJV)

But to which of the angels has He ever said:

“Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The writer of Hebrews, taught that angels serve Christians.

It’s true.

Could you have a personal guardian angel?

Possibly.

But the Bible, never teaches us to call out to them, or even think about them protecting us.

God may use angels to help us or protect us.

But the Bible teaches to call only upon the name of the Lord for help.

Psalm 18:6 (NKJV)

In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

The Psalm doesn’t say, I called upon an angel.

Or the angel heard my voice.

In fact it’s so foolish to think so highly of angels, when Scripture teaches that they are lower than us!

1 Corinthians 6:3 (NKJV)

Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

Paul teaches that in heaven, we will judge angels!

Because our incredible God has set angels lower than us!

So to put all our trust in them is so silly.

Now whether you make this mistake or not, I want to share something with you that I know you have heard from others.

How many of you have heard people say, when the something thing goes wrong repeatedly they will say, ‘it’s cursed’.

Like they’ll call the championship team of a sport cursed because they following years they seem to always disband or get injured.

And what’s really behind that, is the idea that everything has a spirit that is good or bad, and that they have to be appeased, or avoided and feared.

So what the spiritual scammers used angels as their way to be protected from evil spirits.

Students, don’t fall for this, ‘cursed’ saying.

Jesus Christ has all power and authority over all demons and spiritual forces in this world.

You don’t need to ask an angel to help you, wear some charm, or give up trying because it seems to keep failing.

You have Christ.

Ask Him for help, he’ll help you, and protect you.

Because this is a spiritual world, angels and demons do exisit, and only Christ can truly protect you.

The third description Paul gives is, intruding into things those things which he has not seen.

What these spiritual scammers were ranting about, was a secret and special way of entering heaven.

Another translation says, Col 2:18

Colossians 2:18 (ESV)

going on in detail about visions

They would claim to have visions.

They would have claimed to have seen things.

They claimed to have been to heaven.

And you need to be careful guys.

Because I hear even Christians talk about having gone to heaven.

That they went there in a dream or a vision.

That they were in a near death experience, and they were in heaven talking to God.

You have to be careful about that.

You need to be careful about relying on dreams, visions and experiences.

Even if you have experienced that yourself, how can you be certain that it wasn’t a delusion?

That it wasn’t fake?

Because the scammers will claim to have gone to heaven, when they’ve never actually been there.

John 3:13 (NKJV)

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Even the Apostle John says this.

Only Jesus has been to heaven.

So trust only in Jesus’ Word about how to go to heaven, and no one else.

Because He’s the only One who has actually been there!

All of this nonsense: the ascetic lifestyle, the reliance on angels, and the claim of going to heaven, all results in one toxic attitude: pride.

Paul writes, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.

Their minds are vain which means they have become meaningless.

It’s a bunch of nonsense and fluff in the head!

They’ve become puffed up meaning prideful!

Paul explains this idea in 1 Corinthians 8:1

1 Corinthians 8:1 (NKJV)

Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

They are all selfish.

They have no love.

It’s all about them, and how smart they are.

They will use you for their own gain, which is what these cult leaders often do.

They use their followers for sex, money, and power.

This is how you can identify these spiritual scammers.

Everything they do is fake.

Everything they do is made-up.

Their the ones who created these ideas and fantasies.

None of it is from God.

So be cautious, because when you see all of these things in a person, promoting a fake religious lifestyle with rules, advocating for angel protection, and claiming to have a vision of going to heaven, it’s a red flag for you to avoid and hang up!

But there is one final way to identify them.

2. They are headless (v.19)

That’s what Paul writes in v.19, and not holding fast to the Head.

The head is the leader of a family or department.

And in Colossians, when Paul writes, head, he’s referring to Jesus Christ.

These scammers don’t rely on Jesus as their leader.

They’re like headless chickens, running around with no brain, senseless.

They’re their own leader.

They don’t submit to Christ, but themselves.

Even some Christians struggle with this.

When you refuse to obey God’s Word, you are rejecting His authority over your life.

And you also become a headless chicken.

Creating chaos, destruction, and pain in your life.

Don’t that.

Instead reconnect to the head.

Paul writes, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments.

Christ, and Christ alone is the head of the church.

Which means, not only is He the leader of the church, but He’s the very source of life for us.

When you stay connected to the Head, your life will be full of life again.

You will be blessed and things will begin to restore in your life.

You will be nourished.

And not just you, but your fellow Christians around you too.

That’s why Paul writes, knit together by joints and ligaments.

Together we are the body of Christ.

We need one another.

In highschool playing football, I tore my ACL.

Now, the knee has multiple ligaments, but when you tear just one, in this case the ACL the whole knee collapses.

My knee would buckle and collapse randomly when it was torn.

And it was a scary feeling.

And when the knee doesn’t work, the whole leg can’t move.

And when the leg can’t move, your entire body can’t move.

So students, realize that you all have special and unique gifts, that no one else has that you can use to help one another.

There are spiritual gifts that you have, that I don’t have, and vice versa, because God designed the church like a body, we need one another.

And what that also means is you need to be careful how you treat church.

When you leave a church, or don’t come you are depriving us from you.

How can a body function without an ACL?

How can a body function without an eye or heart?

As the body of Christ, when we are connected to head, we also have one more wonderful result: growth.

Paul write, grows with the increase that is from God.

Another translation says, Col 2:19

Colossians 2:19 (ESV)

grows with a growth that is from God.

Some of you guys might feel, ‘I’m not really growing, so am I really a Christian?’

And I want to encourage you guys, that growth comes from God.

When you are connected to the head, you will grow.

Some people may grow faster or slower than others.

But it doesn’t matter, because God is doing the growing.

If you feel discouraged because you are still struggling with lust, cursing, disobedience, a people pleaser I want to encourage you, that God is working in you.

1 Corinthians 3:7 (ESV)

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Paul is saying here that, Christ Jesus made Christians for good works, and that God has even already prepared beforehand, already pre-ordained the good works that you will do, and that you will walk in them.

So don’t be discouraged.

You guys are super young.

Don’t expect to be a mature Christian in his 40s or 50s right now.

Don’t worry about that, God will take care of it.

Put your hope in God to grow you.

Just focus on following Him today.

One step at a time.

But you see students, these spiritual scammers are headless.

They have no leader.

They have no life.

And they have no growth.

They still curse the same way in their 60s and 70s the way they did in their 20s.

They still have lust, anger, and pride for decades and have no victory in their life.

Because spiritual scammers are headless.

Gospel/conclusion

And if you are hearing this today, and you are also headless;

You have no authority, no life, or growth in your life.

I want to give you good news, that Jesus is offering to be your head.

The perfect, matchless, son of God, creator and ruler of the universe.

The creator and source of life itself.

He laid down His life and rose again so that if you put your faith in Him, you will be saved today.

No works, or becoming a good person required, because Jesus is the only good one, and perfect one, and He’s offering you His life as a free gift.

But if you reject Jesus as your head, you will remain headless, and die forever.

Let’s pray.