Once upon a time, so I’ve been told and it may still be true today, people were taught to recognize counterfeit money by handling the real thing until they knew it so well, that a counterfeit bill in their hands was obvious. Now, they have these markers that they use on a bill to determine if it’s real or not. I don’t know if that has taken the place of learning the real thing, or if it’s just a quick way for those who haven’t the time to learn to recognize the real vs. the counterfeit.
It is very evident within the church today, that Satan is very active counterfeiting anything of God that has value. His will is to deceive as many as he can and will attempt to make his counterfeits look as close to the real as he is able. It works a lot. It deceives many. It also makes many hesitant to accept God’s gifts for fear of actually getting a counterfeit. And, those who are counterfeits, when they fall, it causes the skeptics to shake their heads, wag their fingers and say, “See! I knew it wasn’t real. I don’t want to go down that road.” So, Satan wins on many fronts by offering counterfeits to the real thing.
Scripture is also clear that in the last days, we will see many fake wonders and signs by which many will be deceived. It’s a warning we are wise to heed. But, I wonder, what is the best way to recognize a counterfeit? By deeply, fully, completely knowing the real thing. And, how can we know the real thing unless we handle it, touch it, experience it and grow comfortable using it? Can we truly, effectively know the real thing if we are afraid to “go down that road”? How will we recognize false tongues if we are skeptical of true tongues that the Spirit gives? How will we know, when we see signs and wonders, that they are of the deceiver, when we have not allowed the Spirit to manifest signs and wonders in our midst? How, pray tell, will we recognize false prophets if we rarely, if ever, see the true gifts of prophecy, words of wisdom, words of knowledge manifested in our services? I wonder if the very fear of being deceived which causes many to stand back and refuse God’s gifts will….dare I say this…..make their fear come true? Because in saying no to those gifts, refusing to handle them and experience them, they don’t learn to really know the real thing.
So often, too often in my opinion, we want to use a quick swipe-our own little marker you might say, to check for a counterfeit. Problem is, that quick swipe-my marker-is often my own perception of what God looks like. We must examine every thing in light of scripture. But, it must violate Scriptural principles, not principles man has made from their interpretation of scripture. Jesus did not violate any law, yet he violated many of the Pharisaical interpretations and applications of that law….and they didn’t recognize Him. When we validate our belief that someone is operating under a false spirit by claiming he/she has violated principles, those principles must come from Scripture-not our own personal interpretation which is often clouded by our experience. In Prince Caspian, part of the reason Peter refuses to believe Lucy is stated later when Lucy comes to wake them because Aslan is here.
“And why should Aslan be invisible to us? He never used to be. It’s not like him.”
Peter believed Aslan would show up in a certain manner. And, when Aslan didn’t reveal himself the way Peter believed he would, Peter refused to believe it was Aslan. We cannot make formulas of our interpretations of scripture, “It’s not like Him.”, we say. Just as God refused to be made into a form in the Old Testament, He refuses to be made into a formula today.
When a clerk uses a marker to determine if a bill is counterfeit, she is expecting to find a real bill. Too often, though, when believers use their quick swipe, they are expecting to find a counterfeit. And, many times that is the result of unbelief. Or a greater confidence in our view of God than of God Himself.
Do you want to be able to stand firm in the last days against imposters? Do you want to recognize false spirits, false prophets and deceitful words? Learn to know the real thing-experience Him, touch Him, converse with Him, feel Him-and you will know when there is an imposter. You simply won’t recognize the voice.