How to Spot a Counterfeit - Part 1

Combating Counterfeits

Illustration from Pawn Stars - Fake Items for Sale

Family Heirlooms, Football, Revolutionary Musket, News Paper from 1912 sinking of titanic

Handmade 11th century scotish knives passed down for generations - fake

Football signed by the 1985 Chicago Bears offense - fake

Revolutionary War Musket passed down through family - just a movie prop

News paper from 1912 featuring the sinking of the titanic - printed at home and died with tea

“How old do you think it really is then?” “About as old as the movie with Leo DiCaprio”

Did You know?

2% chance you’ve held or spent a counterfeit bill this year - over a lifetime you’re basically guaranteed

The FBI and Secret Service have branches devoted to stopping counterfeit money printers.

Up to 20% of art in most major museums is likely fake

Interpol reported 19,000 archeological artifacts and other works of art sold to museums were recovered or determined to be forgeries or fakes just last year alone.

Maybe you remember 10 years ago when Hobby Lobby was wrapped up in a smuggling scandal. The Green family, who are evangelical Christians, own Hobby Lobby. They also oversee the Museum of the Bible in DC. In 2009 they accidentally imported several fake or stolen items from the holy land to put in the museum. They were fined millions of dollars for not checking their sources basically.

Combating Counterfeits in Church

When you’re not careful it’s easy to end up getting duped. That’s why governments and industries spend hundreds of Millions of dollars combating the counterfeiting industry every year.

We can all collectively see how important it is to verify if the bills in our pockets are real. If the art in the museum is real. If the “Priceless family heirloom” is real. If they thing we’re buying at store is genuine or fake.

We don’t want to be fooled or swindled

So then why is the church, as a whole, so comfortable embracing false teachers, false doctrines, fake christians and half-truths without blinking and eye.

2020 State of Theology Study by Ligonier Ministries

Top 3 Worst Offenders -

#3 “Everyone sins a little, but people are good by nature.” 46% of evangelicals agree with this statement.

#2 “God accepts the worship of all religions including Christianity, Judaism & Islam” 42% of evangelicals agree with this.

#1 (And of particular interest to our study of John 6) “Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God.” 30% of evangelicals agree with this statement.

We seem to be collectively aware of the reality that where there is something valuable there will always be someone willing to sell us a fake at half price.

So it must be that we hold the value of the gospel and the truth of scripture is such low esteem that we don’t feel the need to be discerning about what we believe and who we trust.

How else do we understand the decline in biblical literacy with the rise in popularity of prosperity gospel and word of faith teaching in America?

Evangelical Christians, like us, seem to know less of the Bible than ever and believe more and more of the unbiblical trash that false teachers like Osteen and Furtick promote every week.

Church, we are being fooled every day my culture and media conventional wisdom. For some reason as long as it feels Christian enough, or “Jesus-y” enough or innocent enough we will buy into it!

We don’t care if it’s Catholicism or Mormonism or Nationalism or Marxism because we don’t know the difference because we don’t know Jesus because we don’t know what God’s word says! So we’ll believe anything.

Counterfeits in John 6

This is the main concern of John’s gospel and John 6 in particular - what we believe. Because we can’t just believe anything church.

At the core of this study is the We MUST believe in Christ, the God-Man, as He is presented to us in the scriptures.

Review

Last week we continued our study of John 6

Series titled “To whom shall we go?”

I want to do a short review each week because really, John 6 is one unit

it’s one moving piece that shouldn’t be separated.

Especially from verse 22 on because this one long sermon from Jesus on who He is and how we should respond to Him.

Best way to teach this is go for like 6 hours straight - while I know you guys are

Starting at the beginning of John 6, the crowds are a main part of the story

Crowd following Jesus is growing exponentially because of Jesus’s miracles

Reaches a peak right after feeding 5000

People come from all over Galilee looking for Jesus

Jesus gives what we call the bread of life discourse

John 6:35, 51 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall not thirst… I am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus declares that he has come, not to rule on a throne, but to die! And that his death with be key to eternal life for His followers.

BUT Nobody wants to hear this - that’s not the messiah they want

Eternal life? How about RIGHT NOW Jesus? How about you save us from the Romans Jesus? How about you save us from poverty Jesus? Why does Eternal Life matter if I’m starving Jesus?

All these people who have been following Jesus are starting to question if Jesus’s message is getting in the way of all the cool things he can do.

Start to think - Who does this guy think he is??

“Is this not Jesus whose father and mother we know”

God. He thinks he is God.

Everything in John 6 culminates in a short back and forth between Jesus and Peter (who is speaking for ALL the disciples)

Paraphrase John 6:66-69

Most of the people who have been following Jesus begin to disperse and he turns to the twelve as asks

“Do you want to go away as well?”

Peter responds, speaking for the group of them, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jn 6:68–69.

This is such an important statement because this is where EVERY person who wishes to be saved MUST end up. On their face before Jesus, worshiping him and proclaiming Him to be Lord.

Counterfeit’s Among Us

But as much as John 6 works towards Peter’s statement of faith it also culminates in the final two verses...

Jesus says, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.”

It would be easy to read Jesus’s placement of this prophecy as simple foreshadowing of a good story teller. But this is no fiction we’re reading. Jesus is intentional here.

Directly after Peter’s names Jesus as his Lord and God Jesus reminds us that even among the 12 most privileged and blessed men to walk this earth, the disciples, there was one, Judas, who walked with Christ and then turned his back on Him.

It’s baked right into the very first followers of Jesus - that among us there are counterfeit disciples who will fall away.

Jesus’s comment here regarding Judas should linger with us because it reveals so much in just a few words.

Shows us the point of Jesus’s sermon on the bread of life is to help us determine if we are followers of Christ or not by giving us the most foundational marker of a genuine follower - belief that Jesus is God.

This passage in John - All of chapter 6 - is a “You’re in or you’re out” moment for the followers of Jesus. It’s that gut check we talked about the first week.

Jesus’s intent with the sermon he preaches starting in verse 22 is that His genuine followers would be separated from the counterfeit ones.

Peter’s confession is one of belief - faith that Jesus is who he claims to be. GOD!

Jesus then set’s Judas up as the prototypical, the very first kind of counterfeit disciple - one who has proximity to Jesus but does not believe. One who sees, and perhaps understands, even agrees with Jesus but does not believe.

This begs so many questions - what is true belief, how do I know if I really believe Jesus, how do I know my faith in Jesus is saving faith and not counterfeit faith, etc. I want us to look at all of these.

But today let’s look at our text and begin to explore the simple question - What is the difference between a genuine and counterfeit follower of Jesus?

Let’s jump in… Read text

Following and Finding Jesus

The Other Side of the Sea

John set’s up the scene for us

All of the crowd that was with Jesus as the feeding of the 5000 had noticed before they left that Jesus and the disciples had not left together:

Jesus dismissed them and went up the mountain to pray

The Disciples got into the only boat there rowed out

They fully expected to find Jesus the next day back where they had left him.

Not only the crowds from the feeding but more people from other cities around the Sea of Galilee were coming too see if Jesus would continue this all you can eat buffet from yesterday.

We see that not only are people walking in from Capernaum but taking boats up the western shore of the sea of Galilee

Jesus’s acclaim is reaching a peak. The feeding miracle really struck a chord with these folks.

Following Jesus (v. 22-24)

When the new bigger crowd goes back to the place where Jesus performed the miracle feeding - he’s not there. The disciples are not there either.

So they form this floating armada of boats filled with people looking for Jesus

They head back to Capernaum because this is Jesus’s home base. At least some of the people there in the crowd would have seen or heard of Jesus frequently teaching in the synagogue there so it’s a likely place to start.

They don’t KNOW Jesus is there, remember, they didn’t get to see what we saw in 16-22 when Jesus walked out to the disciples on the water

It’s pretty clear from the trouble these people are going to that they are intent on finding Jesus. They are tracking this guy all over Galilee. Why?

First - we have to assume their motivations have not changed since the previous day where John tells us in 6:2 that they wanted to see signs and wonders.

They wanted to be healed of their diseases

Now that they know Jesus can create food from nothing they want to eat as well.

Second - they are beginning to think that Jesus is the messiah - or at least they like the idea of Jesus as the messiah because he’s got the gift of healing and can feed everyone

We saw last week in v. 14 that in their hearts they were desiring to make him a king. This is because they thought that if they made Jesus king then he would complete the trifecta

to heal them, to feed them, and to get rid of the Romans

Third - it would be easy to assume here that because of the amazing things they have already seen Jesus do that they are following Jesus because they want to be his follower, to obey him and worship him simply because they desire to be with him.

But like we have already seen, this is just not the case. If you rightly perceive Jesus for who he is, that is God - then you don’t follow him around looking a handout - you fall at his feet in worship.

These folks have the appearance of being Jesus’s followers but they are really interested in what Jesus can do for them.

Their seeking and following is self-interested at it’s core

Finding Jesus (v. 25-28)

When the crowds catch up to Jesus in Capernaum they are curious as to how he got there ahead of them. “When did you come here?” They’re confused.

If he had walked there they would have seen him pass by sometime in the night or morning.

They knew the disciples had taken the only boat and left him behind - so he couldn’t have ridden in the boat.

The disciples are probably listening in like, “Boy have we got a story for you!”

“When did you come here?” is a revealing first question from the crowds.

The Greek construction here is more akin to the question “Where have you been??”

There’s a bit of impatience in it - “Hey man. We were looking for you. We’re hungry and sick. Help us!”

There’s a bit of expectation in it -

Because Jesus CAN do miracles, that’s the main thing he should be about.

The peoples expectation is that Jesus, if he is the Messiah, is most interested in meeting their physical needs.

There’s NO Worship in it -

These people are concerned with Jesus’s location

We need to be where Jesus is. Why? That’s where the stuff is.

Do you ever need something from someone but you haven’t talked to them in a while? So you reach out with a text or a call and try to shoot the breeze for a bit before you get to the real thing you wanted to talk to them about.

That’s rhetorical. I know you have. I have (never with any of you of course) ;)

That’s seems a little bit like what’s going on here - it’s like a stall question to get the conversation going so they can get to the real question

Which we see in verse 28 - but let’s look at Jesus’s response first

Food that Endures (v. 27)

So far, Jesus has been really patient with the crowds. He’s fed them and healed them and even though they’re in it for themselves he has not withheld himself from them. But Jesus makes a shift here in the form of rebuke.

The people’s fanaticism, to pursue him around the lake like this, was based on nothing but their shameless desire for bread and Jesus calls them on it.

They don’t want Jesus. They want the to gorge themselves on food again

In fact, the word Jesus uses for “ate your fill” is chortadzo - it’s a term used for livestock when they are fattened up.

These people ate to their hearts content and completely missed the point of Jesus’s miracle. So he rebukes them.

Jesus says “You are so concerned with where your next meal is coming from you don’t even notice your own spiritual poverty.”

These folks had a real battle to survive like we’ve never known. Even those of us who live paycheck to paycheck don’t know the struggle of having to work TODAY for what you’re going to eat TOMORROW.

But Jesus doesn’t give them a pass and so that should concern us even more greatly.

Jesus rebukes this crowd saying you’re working for the wrong food. You’re concerned with the wrong kind of poverty.

What good is a full pantry, what good is a fat bank account if you’re dead in your sins?!?!

Some of us need to hear that message this morning church - that the bread your are working for so desperately is NOT the bread you need!

Psalm 50:10-11

Jesus wants us to see that there is no resource in creation that he will not share with us if we just look to him as the source of it all! But we won’t will we?

Romans 1:22–25 ESV

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

We obsess of the created thing rather than the one who created everything. And though we stand here witnessing Christ in his glory we cannot see that our greatest need is not bread that perishes but bread that endures - the bread that Jesus gives us in His body on the cross.

Recognize your spiritual poverty today friends - Christ is here, pointing you away from the battle for bread and back to Himself.

Stop the rat race. Stop the grind. Stop the endless pursuit of what will not fill you up. I pray you begin to first seek Christ and his kingdom - then let Him supply you with what you need.

The Works of God (v.28-29)

What Must We Do?

The crowds, apparently sensing that Jesus isn’t going to oblige their desires for more food, jump straight to their real motivations with a second question - “How can we do the works of God, like you?”

This is kinda like saying, “Well fine. If you’re not going to do more miracles then tell us how you do them!”

We want the stuff. If you won’t give it to us then tell us how to get it ourselves.

You might remember when we started this study of John 6 we talked about how Israel was stuck in this religious system they had created

It was a system of doing good works to earn merit before God - the more outwardly obedient you were to their complex system of rules, the more righteous you would be. The more righteous the more respected.

They all bought into this. The leaders and experts used this system to enrich themselves and marginalize others.

Everyone was looking for a edge or a shortcut to game the system and climb the social ladder to reap the benefits.

Like good Israelites - they assumed that Jesus was able to do the things he was doing because He had access to some power from God. There was some secret to be had. In a last ditch effort to extract what they can from Jesus they ask, “How do you do it? We want the secret?”

They think there is some formula of rules to follow to get what Jesus has.

You Must Be Believing!

There is no secret though. Of all the things to ask - for the first time in history there is NO SECRET between God and man because God has become man and is standing right in front of these fools!

The people want to do the works that Jesus does but they cannot - they are God’s works. Jesus does them to show that HE IS GOD!

Jesus breaks the sad news to these folks, your system of self-righteousness is broken. There’s no work for you to do. There’s no work you CAN do. You’re hopeless and spiritually bankrupt. You’ve got nothing you can offer!!

You are lost. You are deceived. You are corrupt to the core. The only thing for you to do is to throw yourself at the mercy of God. How?

Believe - the only thing left for us to do friends, in the face of our utter inability to please God or to make our way back to him by effort or good behavior is to stop and believe. Believe what?

“In the one whom the father has sent - Jesus”

Jesus breaks it down very simply that if these people wish to have a transactional relationship with God then they’re out of luck. The father will not engage in a barter system with people who have nothing to barter with.

Application

We started this line of thinking last week when we introduced the concept of a Transaction Based relationship with God.

Transaction Based - The valuing God, His word, His church, His people - only for the benefit they provide

Can look Like:

Quid Pro Quo / Pay to Play - I obey, I check the boxes, the Lord blesses me sometimes

Ticket to Heaven

Fix it Felix - kids, marriage, finances, relationships - the bible is a tool to make me a better person

Purpose and Being - I get peace, purpose, belonging, sense of well being

There’s no love of God, no real spiritual fruit - just behavior change - no worship

Worship Based Relationship - opposite of transaction -

this is obedience and love for God in response to God’s character and mercy like we see in Christ on the cross and in the resurrection.

Building on this concept - how does this inform us about Genuine and Counterfeit Disciples?

Three Marks of A Counterfeit Disciple

1. A transaction based relationship with Jesus

The crowds ask two questions when they find Jesus - that prove they’re in this relationship for the benefits

When did you come here?

Which is really, where have you been?

How can we do the things you do?

If you won’t give us stuff, tell us how you do it and we’ll get it ourselves.

A genuine disciple of Jesus is a worshipper at the core - can you say that about yourself?

2. A Failure to recognize your own spiritual poverty

the main problem with the counterfeit disciples here in John 6 is that they don’t see their sin as their main problem.

They have a lot of problems - health issues, money problems, all the same problems we have today

Maybe more extreme or more urgent but no different. Same stuff you stress about is that same stuff humans have been stressing about for thousands of years.

Their main issue though is that in their hierarchy of needs, in their food pyramid of necessities - they understand their need for reconciliation with God as optional, last on a long list of other worldly needs…

Jesus, however, is saying the exact opposite - he says, “if you believe in me, you have everything. If you don’t you have nothing”

Paul reiterates this is 2 Cor 4

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:1 ESV

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Does your awareness of your sin drive you to Jesus? Are you conscious of your need for Christ’s mercy? Do you grieve your sin friends?

3. Being Interested in Jesus, Not Invested in Jesus

The difference in Following Jesus AROUND vs. Following Jesus ALONE

The crowds were following Jesus around - but they were doing so on their own terms, for their own physical needs.

We see Being interested in Jesus is not what saves you. The crowds here showed lots of interest but absolutely no faith, no belief that Jesus was God - that’s why they walk away in v. 65.

The difference in Finding Jesus vs. Being Founded on Jesus

The crowds found Jesus. They located him geographically, but they completely missed WHO he was and what he was doing!

If you’re here this morning, you’ve located Jesus. You are here in the presence of the Holy Spirit hearing the word of God proclaimed over you.

BUT!! if you’re not surrendered to Jesus as God and Lord of your whole life then I’m afraid you don’t get points for trying!

You must belong to Jesus, united to him through belief that He is God and He alone saves. That is the call of the gospel. Not to some ritualistic attendance or participation in Jesus-like things.

Are you interested in Jesus or invested in Jesus friends? Cus let me tell you, this is not a season of life to be on the fence about that. Right now, specifically at PSBC, this is an “in-or-out moment” like never before.

Choose to be here among us, to be invested in and to invest yourself in the mission of God to make disciples. Will you do that?

The difference in Doing the Work of God vs. Being the Work of God

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

We are often so distracted by getting the results that the Lord promises in our life (joy and satisfaction, peace, trust, healthy marriage, Godly children) that we try to bypass worship of God to get to them.

These are good things! But they are the result of worship and obedience, not some formula.

The Lord wants you to have good kids - as an extension of your worship of Christ!

The Lord wants you to be a good employee - as a testimony of your worship of Christ!

Example from my kids - “If you eat all your food and don’t get out of your seats I’ll make brownies”

I have never seen three kids become Pharisees faster! The slew of clarifying questions about the rules I had just made was astonishing.

My kids wanted to know exactly what rules to follow so that they could get the reward the desired.

That’s us church - looking for the formula to a better tomorrow - using Jesus to get there.

Reject that Church.

Being a true disciple is about belief and worship FIRST!

Conclusion

Jesus says in verse 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

Becoming a genuine disciple of Jesus is truly a work of God. And like the works of God in John 6, it’s a miracle, and should be quite unmistakable.

So We must show care in what we call genuine - from our worship to salvation to teaching to baptism

Being Discerning about Genuinely Following Jesus

Three Effects

1. How we think about membership

Who are we calling members of the body?

What standard are we holding one another to?

2. How We Disciple

Are we truly making disciples - genuine followers and worshipper of Jesus?

Or are we socializing, talking about shared interests, and calling it “discipleship” or “fellowship”

3. How We Evangelize

Are we even evangelizing because that has to happen first!

How many baptisms in the last three years? Are new members new converts or believers already just looking for a new church?

When we do evangelize - are we calling people to repentance and faith or asking them to join our fun little Christian club?

We must wrestle with these things church. We must make a commitment to be worshipers of Jesus individually. Then we must commit to this body, to be disciples and be making disciples - anything less is cheap, pawn shop, scrap yard Christianity - and I’m not interested in it. Jesus isn’t. And you shouldn’t be either.

Pray.