Satan is a Counterfeit to the Holy Spirit, Ep 2-14
Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to be discussing counterfeits to the Holy Spirit. We are going to discuss this in a broad sense because there are so many elements, but you will have a strong understanding of how Satan counterfeits and leads believers astray if they are not able to discern Truth from Lies.
To start off let’s examine what a counterfeit is, what is the definition. A counterfeit is something made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud.
I would say the Holy Spirit is something valuable and important to us as believers. Anything that has an intent to deceive or defraud is not the Truth and therefore a lie and Jesus tells us Satan is the Father of lies. We talked about that last week and it can be found in John 8:44.
The number of ways Satan counterfeits the Holy Spirit is seemingly endless because the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives is endless. What Satan cannot do, however, is offer us anything truthful, anything fulfilling, anything to live for because He himself has none of those things. How can He offer what he does not have. Jesus on the other hand has all of those things and more but if we don’t truly know Him and have a relationship with Him, Satan can lead us to a place where we begin to have mixed motivations and compromise our values.
Satan’s goal is to counterfeit the Truth so it can be watered down and twisted. The more often this is done, the less we notice and our whole foundation in Jesus erodes. We will sing worship songs that have no worship and quote scripture that’s not actual scripture in ignorance because Truth is absent.
Paul was continually dealing with counterfeits in his ministry. Here is what he says to the Romans, this is Romans 1:18-27
Warnings Against Denying the Son
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Let’s talk about this for a minute, everyone today is talking about the end of the world and the antichrist, but Paul is using the term to identify the demonic influence that is present with these men. A spirit of antichrist originates within the body of Christ, Christ must have a place first for the antichrist to have an existence.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[e] 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
We know Satan is the father of lies, satan knows the Truth that Jesus is the Messiah, but seeks to lead you astray and separate you in your relationship with Jesus. This is very common in the church today and it is how the Muslim religion has been able to become the fastest growing religion.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Paul acknowledges that at that time, he was dealing with counterfeits within the church. These counterfeits were leading early Christians astray, same as it happening today. It is happening in our pulpits by leaders who are teaching a false doctrine. Well get into that in a little bit.
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 11: 1-15, and see what Paul has to say about what was happening in first century Corinth.
Paul and the False Apostles
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
Paul is telling them that they are not correctly discerning the Holy Spirit and what they know to be the truth from Satan coming with lies to deceive them with a false doctrine and a spirit other than the Holy Spirit.
5 I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”
Paul was using this term, super apostle sarcastically and then goes on to show the dichotomy between himself as a humble servant and his message and what these Judaizers were offering a “better brand” of Christianity than the truth of the gospel Paul taught them.
I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. 7 Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Paul is talking about the judgment that will take place against these men for their antichrist behavior. This antichrist behavior is a part of our culture today and that is among believers as well. When we begin to evaluate churches for their amenities and not the message, we have a problem. When we are more concerned with How we want people to see us versus how we want God to see us, we have a problem. When we are more focused on self-love vs god’s love we have a problem.
I hear Paul talking about these “super apostles” and when I compare it to what our world is like today, I would compare it to these mega churches we have. If it is a mega church that is truly preaching the Word and the message of salvation through the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us, then that is not a super apostle. It’s when we have the Joel Osteen, sorry of you are a fan, but the Joel Osteen’s of the world are robbing Christianity of the truth of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Participating in that church is participating in culture not relationship and that is the spirit of the antichrist moving in the church today. His father was not like that, but unfortunately Joel does not preach a bible-based message but a cultural feel-good message that is a counterfeit to what Jesus told us when He walked this earth. It is our responsibility as believers to discern truth from lies. We will be held accountable for what we believe, what we say, how we influence others and the way we lived our lives for the kingdom or not.
I heard a statistic the other day. A survey was done that was anonymous, but it was only done with pastors. Now this is not bash pastor’s week, but this is make sure you are being led by a bible based pastor week, year, life. Anyhow, the survey was pretty long but one of the questions was how much time do you spend everyday in prayer. Do you want to take a guess at the answer? I’ll tell you…it was 3 minutes. Yes, 3 minutes.
Look, if you want to make sure you are not putting yourself in a position to follow a counterfeit to the Holy Spirit, we need to be able to discern the Holy Spirit from Satan. We need to be able to open our Bible and read it for ourselves, consistently. Develop that discernment. We should be praying and developing our relationship with the Lord to help us with discernment. Likewise, we should make sure we are led by a pastor that has that same desire to pray and develop their relationship with the Lord. No one is above being influenced by Satan. We need to know Jesus so well, we could never mistake one for the other.
I hope this has been helpful to you. If you know anyone who is experiencing any of the issues, please share this podcast. Addressing these demonic influences and getting them out of our lives is life changing if we are willing.
As always let’s recap Top Show Points:
· Counterfeits to the Holy Spirit
· The definition: A counterfeit is something made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud.
· The number of ways Satan counterfeits the Holy Spirit is seemingly endless because the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives is endless.
· Satan’s goal is to counterfeit the Truth so it can be watered down and twisted.
· Paul was continually dealing with counterfeits in his ministry. Here is what he says to the Romans, this is Romans 1:18-27
· 2 Corinthians 11: 1-15, Paul dealing with Super apostles in Corinth. This antichrist behavior is a part of our culture today and that is among believers as well.
· Modern day “super apostles” and it is our responsibility as believers to discern truth from lies. We will be held accountable for what we believe, what we say, how we influence others and the way we lived our lives for the kingdom or not.
· To make sure you are not putting yourself in a position to follow a counterfeit to the Holy Spirit, we need to be able to discern the Holy Spirit from Satan. We need to be able to open our Bible and read it for ourselves, consistently. Develop that discernment.
· We need to know Jesus so well, we could never mistake one for the other.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
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I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!
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