Don’t Eat Ducks in That Pond

On a cold day this fall, I suddenly heard the honking of geese. They were flying in a southern direction- obviously heading for a warmer place to spend the winter. Earlier I had noticed a group of ducks floating on a body of water. I was not sure if they were local ducks or if they too were just passing through, but the water that they were floating on was a sewage lagoon.
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I must admit that I was a little grossed out, but for someone who did not know what sort of pond it was, the scene could have looked peaceful and even pleasant. There were beautiful trees and lush grass surrounding the pond and the ducks looked quite healthy and happy.
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That scene got me to thinking about how things are not always how they seem. The scripture actually warns us about those who seem good but are actually evil. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (NKJV)
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Satan and his ministers do not always look like a murky sewage lagoon. Instead they might look more like a peaceful pond. They might even say a lot of things that sound good on the surface.
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Satan’s messengers try to look like spokesmen for Jesus Christ, and Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light. Let us not forget that the true light of the world is Jesus Christ. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12 NKJV)
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Before the apostle Paul warned about the Satan and his ministers in 2 Corinthians 11, he warned, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NKJV)
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Today even some church leaders are saying that there are many ways to God, but Jesus Himself was very clear when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)
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When someone pretends to be a spokesman for Christ and says that there is a different way to God, they are giving a different gospel and are thus ministering for Satan rather than for the truth. They are like the stinky sewage pond that may look good on the outside but is a mess within.
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Jesus is the only way to eternal life. "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12 NKJV). We should not expect the false teachers who give another gospel to have horns and a pointed tail. We should not even expect that they will look ugly and menacing, but we should be able to compare what they say to what the Bible teaches.
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I would not want to eat a duck that had been swimming on the sewage pond, and I would not want to follow a false teacher no matter how good they looked or sounded.
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