God is not mocked and will not be mocked. Those faking Christianity will be made known to all the world when the Lord returns. Do not be cast into the lake of fire at that great day of the Lord but in this salvation hour, while the gospel trumpet still sounds, repent of your sins, and cry out to the merciful God. He will have mercy!

Since the earliest days of the church there have been those who desire to look like Christians but in their hearts have no faith in Jesus Christ.

We may not know all the reasons that Judas followed the Lord for three years before betraying him and committing suicide but clearly he wanted to look like a true disciple of Christ (Matthew 27:3-5). Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9-25) desired to look like a Christian because he desired the power that the apostles possessed by the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, Saul wanted to look properly religious by offering sacrifices but he would not obey the Lord. Israel would often practice syncretism, blending the worship of God with the worship of idols. Some have come into the church for the sole purpose of deceiving with an appearance only Christianity (Matthew 24:24). Paul makes a case for the Corinthians to, “have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart” (II Cor. 5:12b).

Through Christ’s teaching on the foolish virgins, He is highlighting that in the kingdom of Heaven there are those who look just like the wise virgins but have not been born again of the Spirit. Their outward lives may have looked at times like the lives of wise virgins. They sometimes behaved like the wise virgins. Perhaps from human vantage points the foolish virgins were even thought of as wise virgins. But when the Lord returned they were revealed to be who they truly were, foolish virgins with no part in the Bridegroom and no place at the marriage supper of the lamb.

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