Martin Frobisher returned to England from a voyage to find the North West Passage in 1576 with a cargo of this supposed 'gold mineral' - Pyrite.
Pyrite, is better known as "Fool's Gold". The term has come to denote any apparent treasure trove that turns out to be worthless. The first reference I can find is an apparently ironic use in a headline in The Atlanta Constitution, June 1888:
Fools' Gold
The Search for Captain Kidd's Buried Wealth...
A party of men digging in a Connecticut cave - ploughing up New Jersey ground in the fruitless search.
The Bible makes clear that this fallen world consists of "pyrite" believers as well:
Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
False Christians:
- Never truly learned/experienced who Jesus really is....
- Do not measure/evaluate their thoughts, words, & deeds against God's Word
- Do not imitate Jesus, our Master, of whom we should be modeling our lives in accordance to the pattern He set.
- Willingly accepts God's blessings but either reject or ignore His desires, will, hope, and expectations of them.
- “possess nothing of Christ except the title and appearance. They arrogantly glory in His holy name.” - John Calvin, A Little Book on the Christian Life.
True Christians, should take heart provided:
- they take God's Word as their guide
- they sincerely cultivate righteousness
- walk according to their capacity, in the ways of the Lord
- they persevere and make some progress
Additional Resources regarding True & False Christians:
- Video: True & False Conversion
- Video: Hells Best Kept Secret
- Sermon: How do I know that I'm a Christian?, by Ron Mioni
- Sermon: How then shall we live?, by Barry Parsons
- Free Online Book: The Almost Christian Discovered, or The False Professor Tried & Cast, by Rev. Matthew Mead
In the words of Matthew Mead himself:
“The righteous shall go to heaven through many sad fears of hell. The hypocrite shall go to hell through many fair hopes of heaven.“
“The saint may be cast down very near to hell, and yet shall never come there; and the hypocrite may be lifted up very near to heaven, and yet never come there. The saint may almost perish, and yet be saved eternally; the hypocrite may almost be saved, and vet perish finally. For the saint at worst is really a believer, and the hypocrite at best is really a sinner.”
So, how authentic is your faith?
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