He's the real thing

In the early days of the church, just as now, there were people who used Christianity for profit. When Paul and his workers were in Philippi, they encountered such a scheme. Acts 16:16ff tells about it.

“Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.”

This is one story that I wish I could have been there. For one thing, how did Paul know? The words she said were true, as far as they went. Did she look like a fortune-teller? Was she known in the community? Was it something in her tone of voice? Was she sarcastic? What clued Paul in that this person was a fake, even driven by evil spirits?

Sometimes a Christian just knows. The Spirit of God communes with our spirit when we pray, seek the Lord’s guidance, need comfort, and to remind us of truth that we have learned. Why not tell us if someone is operating from false pretenses?

My questions raise more questions. Sometimes Christians are totally fooled. Today’s false teachers can be even open and bold with their desire for money and still some of God’s children fall for their schemes. How does that happen?

A discerning man from a church we used to attend in southern California told us the story that now is commonly told in Christian circles. He was at the Franklin mint looking at a wall covered in phony money. He asked the ‘tour guide’ how the authorities could tell the difference between what looked very authentic and the real money. How much time did they spend studying the bills on this wall?

The guide told him, “We do not study counterfeit money. We study the real thing, and when someone tries to pass phoney bills, we can spot them instantly.”

Paul knew the real thing. Later in this chapter he said to a man seeking salvation, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

It is one thing to “proclaim the way of salvation” and another to proclaim Jesus. All false teachers offer a way to be saved, but Jesus Himself said, “I am the way . . . no one comes to the Father but by me.”

All a person needs to do is study Jesus. By doing that, it is not that difficult to see why He is the way, the real thing. Nothing else compares to Him.