5 COUNTERFEITS TO LOOK FOR RIGHT NOW.
There are counterfeits parading as the real deal out there and what’s crazy is that every one of these also showed up in the book of Acts! You ready?
CONSUMER CHRISTIANITY
Christians trying to buy a spiritual gift or anointing by attending an event or proximity without being devoted to a set apart lifestyle. Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 wanted what the apostles carried without the surrender that came with it and he'd already amazed Samaria for years with power from the wrong source. This is where false deliverance, false signs and wonders, false discernment, and spiritual talk live. It can look like the real thing but it’s counterfeit power.
FAKE GOSPELS
Look for the gospels built around self and where the gospel is twisted to accommodate lifestyles contrary to the Word of God, and even endorse divination and deception. Elymas (also called a sorcerer) in Acts 13, positioned himself next to a person with power to pervert and twist for his own benefit. Any gospel that makes you the center, serves your comfort, and never costs you anything isn't the gospel—it's a counterfeit built around self. Or worse, it's manipulation, which is witchcraft.
DIVINATION PRETENDING TO BE THE VOICE OF GOD
Divination tries to sound holy, prophetic, and anointed but it's rooted in the demonic. It will parade as the real thing in accuracy (knowledge), but it’s got bad fruit. It likes to flock around the real thing and hijack meetings by being loud and disruptive. The slave girl from Acts 16 followed Paul for days shouting true words from a false source until he shut her up. There are many claiming to hear God but some are drinking from the cup of the enemy and pouring out poison.
INFLUENCER CHRISTIANITY – USING SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE WITHOUT THE LIFESTYLE
A real danger is talk without power and Christian language without the lifestyle and we are seeing that everywhere right now. It’s where people are trying to be influencers, using the name of Jesus as clickbait without true relationship with God. They say all the right words but there's no authority from the secret place. The sons of Sceva in Acts 19 used the name of Jesus like a formula and got beat up for it. You can’t borrow authority – you have to develop it.
MOVES OF GOD THAT POINT TO MAN/IDOLISE CELEBRITY CHRISTIANS
There is a rise of movements based around personalities and celebrities instead of God, and we should be able to see it a mile way. How? It looks like obsessive and creepy level “honor” that actually robs honor from God. In Acts 12, Herod allowed the people to call him a god and he died for it. When a move of God starts orbiting around an apostle or leader, the glory has been hijacked and you may just have a sorcerer at the root keeping people mesmerized by false signs and wonders. God shares His glory with no man.