A supply preacher arrived early one Sunday at the town where he was preaching. He sat down at the local donut shop, opened up his Bible and started going over his sermon notes.

A man sitting down the counter from the preacher noticed what he was doing and asked, “Are you a preacher or something?”

“Yes, I preach at the church down the street,” he replied.

The man at the counter got excited and said, “Hey, you know what, I’m a member of that church!”

The church was small, and the preacher had been there long enough to know all the regulars, so he said, “I’ve been preaching there for about three months and I’ve never seen you there.”

The man looked at the preacher and replied, “I said I was a member of that church. I never said that I was fanatical about it!”

Satan is a master at deceiving people. He convinces many people that they have a sincere faith in Jesus Christ when in fact they do not. It is important that each professing Christian examine his or her heart to make sure that they have a genuine, saving faith.

“Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”—Matthew 7:21.