Counterfeits

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. (Mark 13:22)

Have you ever heard of counterfeit sin? Ever heard of a counterfeit illness? Have you come across counterfeit acting? What about a fake conman?

We do not counterfeit negative things. We do not counterfeit undesirable traits. We do not imitate non-existent things. We do not counterfeit negative and destructive things. We imitate useful, valuable and marketable things.

You will never see an imitation of a non-existent currency note. Should you see such a note you will know that someone was getting creative and not seeking to defraud. It is called ingenuity instead of deception. I can’t counterfeit a non-existent phone model or car. If you see a phone with my name on it I am sure you will be amazed that someone has made a new model as opposed to making the fake of a different one.

What am I aiming at? Any time you hear about a fake or counterfeit, it assures you that there must be a real or original that is being copied. It is an absolute impossibility to have a counterfeit of nothing.

We have seen a lot of demonstrations against the fake Gospel, fake pastors, fake Christians. Do we realize that this speaks of there being an original people are judging this fake by? Do we know this original? What do we judge the fake by?

Have you ever heard of a fake Muslim? Is there counterfeit Islam? Ever heard of fake Hinduism? Or fake Catholicism or cultism?

You see those faiths have two categories of practitioners; serious and casual. There are simply levels of commitment. And that is why the only places you will see them fighting amongst themselves is where they are the predominant faith. Otherwise they are united when they lack numbers and are so protective of each other. We will hear of extremists spoken negatively about though not disowned or hunted down because they are the ones who come closest to the ideals of that faith. That is the reason Osama was never betrayed by Muslims for the killings he perpetrated even against ‘moderate’ Muslims. He was the best of them. That is why Saddam was made a martyr by Muslims the world over yet they had denounced him for chemically decimating his opposition who were fellow Muslims because he was killed by a worse enemy, USA. That is why in Kenya Rogo and Makaburi were also treated the same when they were killed yet in their controversial lives and preaching were called extremists. Al Shabaab and Boko Haram are terrorist organizations yet they are vehemently defended when they are killed in response to their killing of multitudes.

Since I am known for being unashamedly controversial I will state the simple fact that Islam is of the devil and run by him. Though many common Muslims and Catholics innocently think they worship the same God other believers worship they will discover that as they ‘grow deeper’ in their faith they will be connected to the real ‘god’ they worship, who is the evil one. That is why killing and death will become more and more practiced the deeper their commitment grows. And it will become more apparent when one of their own becomes a Christian. Their treatments are very similar to someone who deserts their faith.

But I was talking about counterfeits. Why is it that Christianity is the only one which has fake practitioners? Why is it that Christianity is the only faith that those fakes cause irritation and anger to outsiders?

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

The world is looking for God’s solution to its chaos. There is just about enough revelation as to where that solution will come from. But one clear fact is that it will be completely different from the other solutions the world has since time immemorial been seeking. The divine element of this solution is the expectation that creates so much mystery. But it also makes it clear to all that it will be different from anything that has been tried. We do not know the nature of what God in His infinite nature has in store for us but we are sober enough to realize what it will not be like simply because it will be coming from God.

The Jews had the same problem with Christ because they thought that He will come with the sophistication that agrees with the infinite nature of the revealed nature of God to the point that the simplicity of the advent was scandalous. Though everything that Christ was and did tied with the scriptures they so highly valued in their studies so that they had a ready answer to any who requested to ask (like Herod in Matthew 2), they had brought it to the kind that they could understand and explain that they were unable to connect all that prophecy to the person who was fulfilling it on all fronts. And many times it was because He was overturning all their carefully worked out doctrines and traditions. Simply speaking Christ came not to save the Jew from social and political domination as they craved but from an even worse and oppressive domination of sin and death.

The effectiveness of Christian witness is the reason the enemy funds the counterfeiting of the same to confuse the masses. He knows no opposition is able to counter the genuineness of the transformation that the Gospel brings. There is nothing he can bring to argue away the kind of conversion the proclamation of the Gospel brings. There is no alternative he has to offer that would be more attractive than the Gospel. No persecution can counter the spread of the Gospel.

That is why he raises his servants to concentrate on counterfeiting the Gospel and its fruit. Then he at least could create a diversion, even if for some time. Then before the dust settles he will have worked out another strategy even as people concentrate on this exposure.

When recently a charlatan of the pulpit was ‘exposed’ by the media I laughed when I saw the ire the Christians felt. Why did I laugh? This guy was a fake pastor and even knew it and confessed it. Imagine he even asked his congregation to allow him to steal a little from them. His was ministry only to the ignorant.

But there is another fact that people were ignorant about. Why does the media, run by the devil expose a fake pastor who is his errand boy? Why does a Muslim journalist get unfettered access to the same church to expose someone who for all pretenses could be a Muslim except for his trade? Why does a Muslim expose a fake pastor whose fakeness makes Islam genuine?

This fake pastor was a faithful servant of the devil and I am not ashamed to say that. Why does the devil expose his servant?

The reason is simple. The devil seeks to expand his influence.  A faithful servant is promoted. I believe this is what the expose’ did to him. It grew his influence as it promoted him.

And it did that even as it gave the devil some time to think of new war strategy, among them being inflaming the Muslims against Christians, all Christians because what he needs is any straw to hang on to fight. All Christians are fake is a very strong rallying point for the Muslims and the expose’ has provided adequate fodder for that. Then they will feel justified to kill any Christian because they are all fake.

That is just one weapon in his huge arsenal. But it is one weapon he has relied on since he fell from heaven.  Remember the magicians in Pharaoh’s employ counterfeiting Moses’ signs? Remember the false prophets in the lives of several kings whose business it was to counter the true prophets of God? Remember Elymas using witchcraft to counter the Gospel Paul preached? Remember the old prophet using prophecy to lure the fiery prophet from Judah to death?

Look at what we call Gospel music. The only thing giving it a semblance to the Gospel is sometimes a few lyrics mentioning Jesus in a song. Some have not even attempted to sneak in Jesus at all. They simply say that they are Gospel musicians with songs that many times are brewed in hell. Some are openly antichristian in the messages they proclaim. Some have a message that is so worldly that it takes immense stretching of imagination to convince us that it is Gospel. Some are peddlers of dance styles instead of wholesome doctrine. Some are more popular in liquor dens and discos than churches due to the demons they are able to infuse. And we are gullible enough to think that they are in our team.

Look at most of the preaching nowadays. You will need to seek very far to get a preacher who has Christ at the centre of his sermon. Most sermons place us at the dead centre of the message. And the more man centred a preacher is the more popular he becomes and the more goodies he accesses.

Preach against sin and you will have a difficult time. Not only might you preach for years without having your salary increasing but you may eventually fail to get a pulpit to occupy as your theology is not motivational enough to bring in the crowds with the subsequent offerings. Mention hell and you will be accused of using scare tactics to force people to get saved instead of pleading with them to pity Christ and get saved. Preach responsible Christian life and you will be scorned by your contemporaries for being demotivational.

All these are counterfeits. We have a salvation that is devoid of the cross and the blood Christ shed. We have a revival that has no mention of sin and holiness. We have discipleship that does not have anything to do with character or even sound doctrine. And we even have worship that has no place for our bowing, let alone falling prostrate before God as the Bible characters did.

The consumerism and greed preached on most pulpits is a counterfeit Gospel. The purpose that churches have even adopted as their identity is also a counterfeit simply because it makes the church and individual purpose of greater importance than God and His revelation. And we know that anything and anyone that takes precedence above Christ is of the devil; in other words, a counterfeit.

I need to state that the meaning of the word antichrist does not only mean against Christ. In the Bible it can mean a counterfeit Christ, someone who packages himself in such a way as to be confused with the real Christ. In our present context he may be called a Hollywood version of Christ, only that the motive is to divert the attention of the seekers away from the real Christ.

No wonder there is not much difference between the dress of the believers from the unbelievers. It is no wonder that marriage breakages are not much different between Christians and the others. It is no wonder that the corruption index is not much different between believers and the unbelievers. And it is no wonder that there is little difference between Christian and secular music and musicians.

We are feeding on the counterfeit Christ for the most part.

But I will also be on the devil’s payroll if I stopped at this point. I will simply be exposing the devil to create sensation and panic if I did not give God’s solution to this. I am reminded of a book released in the 80s about someone who was rescued from high service to Satan and especially the tactics they used to bring disorder to the churches as agents of the evil one.  These included pinching children to cry during services and many other stupid pranks. The agents were more or less glorified in their exposure. The end result was the raising of suspicion in the churches  and great alertness as to the existence of the agents to the point that genuine fellowship became impossible with new people.

That is what I am doing. I am raising the alarm not to give us a weapon to fight the fake but to be the real worshippers as opposed to being or following the fake. God did not call me to only raise the alarm. He called me to show and lead His people to Himself. What the devil does is none of my business unless it comes between me and my commission. Then James 4: 7 is my solution.

What is the difference between the real and the counterfeit? That is the whole purpose of this post. There really is only one difference whatever you are looking at, from currency to cell phones to prophecy. The difference is character, the makeup. Unless you looked beyond sight you might never be able to know the difference.

You see the conman who was exposed by the media was in all pretences a successful pastor and prophet if one looked outwardly. He had a faithful congregation, a good location church, a good house and big car. He had radio and TV congregations which required money to run. He was married to a successful ‘Gospel’ musician. On the surface he was a minister of the Gospel.

And that is the way many ministers and musicians fare. They are very successful outwardly. And that is the purpose of counterfeits, to keep us content pursuing the wrong things for our spiritual health.

But I need to know that Christ knew and warned us about the fake when He walked amongst us.

So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13: 27 – 30)

Knowing the presence of the fake is not enough protection unless we are able to distinguish between it and the real.

Last week a conductor told some ladies that the note they had given him was fake. They gave him another one and asked for the fake one to return to the place they had withdrawn from. He said that their policy was not to give back the fake notes. That looked strange as I know that only banks will do that. But they insisted that they must be given back their money. We looked at the note and it had all the marks of a real currency note. The conductor was simply trying to use the ignorance of those ladies to steal from them.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (Matthew 7: 15 – 18)

Scripture is the litmus test we apply to everything to distinguish the source it feeds from. And I am talking about all scripture as opposed to the verse here and there that the counterfeit uses to deceive.

Let me give you an example. Some years ago a lady sang a song pray for your enemy which looks scriptural as that part comes from scripture. But sadly that was the only point it quoted scripture. The real meaning of the song was hate your enemy. You pray for him to live long enough to regret being on your wrong side or something like that.

The popularity of the pastor or preacher is not enough to gauge his fidelity to Christ. The devil can also raise a crowd and witches and wizards are evidence enough.  Even a big church structure is not indicative of God’s favor as there are temples dedicated to demons that are bigger and more expensive.  Having a history is also not enough, even if that history was known for its commitment to the truth of the Gospel because truth is not a straitjacket. It gives freedom to whoever chooses it. King Saul was faithful initially but lost it. So did Hezekiah, Uzziah, Solomon, Judas, Demas etc. The fact that my call was dramatic does not mean that I am still walking in it. I know people I could have given my life to defend some time ago who have become heretics after they became popular and accessed goodies from all over. They now cannot preach against sin for fear of offending their loyalists and supporters.

Scripture and only scripture is the real test we have to apply to know the true from the fake. And it has to be the complete scripture.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2Timothy 3: 16, 17)

Use the scriptures to judge everything from the character to the sermons to facebook and blog posts to relationships. That is how you will be able to clearly and faithfully serve God in the midst of all this corruption as you will be able to know those in your team and those from the opposing side.

Should I talk about prophecy? That is where the most fakes are. And they are bold because they think God has not given us a way to smoke them out. You see a prophet is someone who hears from God and how will someone know whether you are a fake or not?

Incidentally, as opposed to common thinking, only one inaccurate prophecy is enough to qualify a prophet as fake, which is totally opposed to how many people think. If I have given 1000 prophecies that were accurate and the 1001^st one is false, the Bible qualifies me as a false prophet.

When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:22)

Deuteronomy 13 also speaks of another test for a prophet, this time one who gives a true prophecy.

Many prophets build their ministries on the fulfillment of just one prophecy which may as well have been guesswork. Since they foretold something and it came to pass they think they qualify as prophets.

Why was God so stringent when He gave the standard for prophecy? The first thing I think about is that the devil will surely counterfeit it and hit and miss accuracy as he proceeds. Why were Paul and Silas beaten and jailed in Philippi (Acts 16)? They had exorcised a demon with prophetic tendencies. In fact the holder of the demon was very accurately ‘exposing’ Paul’s ministry.

We must know the scriptures. And there is no short cut about it. We must read the Bible consistently to know what it is that God expects of us in relation to the world and especially the spiritual one.

Are you following the true Gospel or the fake? Is your worship directed to God or self? Do you value the preaching of your favorite preacher above the undiluted intake of God’s word?

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (1Peter 2:2)

Are you living according to God’s word?