Satan's Counterfeiting Work Isn't Good Enough

Solid Rock - Sinking Sand series continues - PART 1 Chapter 13

Satan Cannot Counterfeit Well But He Can Sure Confuse

　1 Corinthians 14:33

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,

as in all churches of the saints."

The Book of Mormon’s attempts, to make historical claims about America, have all been rejected by serious investigators since not even one shred of archeological evidence or primary source testimony has ever been put forth to validate it. The real Holy Scriptures refer to these false writings as "cunningly devised fables". (2 Peter 1:16) These Satanic counterfeits have no corroboration and validation of authenticity.

Satan knows this reality. He knows he cannot destroy God’s words so he has to discredit them by doubt or confusion through his manipulation to bring about the many corrupt alternatives. He must sow his errors and alterations like tares sowed among wheat. If our mortal enemy can keep man from focusing on the truth in its purity, he believes he has delayed his own inevitable doom and hurt God in the process.

The changes he has caused have often led men astray, denying them clear view of the correct way of salvation or other essential truths such as the nature and identity of Jesus Christ. The landscape of confusion with all of the hundreds and hundreds of "bibles" is like a maze of mirrors, difficult to find your way through until the light is shed on the right path.

Satan also knows that if he can foster the existence of many competing bibles (in any given language); having variations of the words (and more important, the meaning!), then man will spend time comparing and criticizing these texts to determine which is closer to the real intent of meaning to the original inspired writing rather than simply keeping God’s word with a firm desire to believe and obey them completely and correctly.

Man, in his sinful fleshly tendencies, will be tempted to choose the variant reading that suits his particular bias or predisposition concerning doctrine, to support his beliefs or preferences. My various articles demonstrate clearly how this affects various church groups of different persuasions.

Moreover, the distraction itself of sorting through all these many different bible versions for comparison is tantamount to a scavenger hunt for the "truth" that men deem will suit their needs best. This process makes us the "critics" and "judges" of God’s words rather than the Holy Scriptures (that are indeed the LORD’s very pure words) being our critic and judge.

Satan uses men to communicate his lies and to distort, twist and change God’s word to suit his evil plans and false teachings. He goes to great lengths to create competing false religious writings even fabricating false visions and mystic "revelations". These are doctrines of devils as the LORD warned us about. They are often communicated in the context of a powerful spiritual experience. We need to discern the difference between these deceptive encounters with the evil spirit realm and real encounters by God’s chosen servants with the one, true LORD God, Jehovah. I choose to trust the Apostle Paul and his encounter recorded in the Scriptures on the road to Damascus where he sees and hears the resurrected LORD Jesus Christ reveal himself as God (Jehovah) of the Old Testament, the very God that Paul worshipped! He then calls Saul to service and changes his name to Paul. Conversely, I choose to reject the highly questionable and suspect "visions" of Joseph Smith that actually contradict God’s revealed truths in pure bibles.

We are to try the spirits according to God’s own words. 1 John 4:1 states:

 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

The more subtle problem that is hard to detect and expose is the false doctrine that slowly creeps into the text of "bibles" that are used within many of our local churches. These corrupted doctrines undermine the true glorious gospel and actually support false teachings concerning the foundational truths of the one true faith. This is apostasy; a departure from truth, just as the LORD predicted would happen. Even during the lifetime of Peter and Paul, we see this tendency to depart from the truth. Certain corrupt bibles were already in existence. Today there are many more and they are spreading like a wild fire. They are bringing us to the last days of the great apostasy (falling away from truth) that we now can witness up close and personal.

Just prior to the LORD’s return at the catching away of his church and bride (true believers), we can see clearly in II Thessalonians 2 that there will be a "falling away" before the "man of sin" and "son of perdition" is revealed.

The word perdition means:

Loss of the soul; eternal damnation.

Hell: "Him the Almighty Power/Hurl'd headlong... /To bottomless perdition, there to dwell" (John Milton).

Archaic.

Utter ruin.

This son of perdition will be a child of the devil, Lucifer-Satan, who will possess this "man of sin" and both will ultimately experience utter ruin, the loss of their souls to eternal damnation in the lake of fire – their final place to dwell under God’s holy wrath and judgment. Sadly, all who continue in...and remain in sin ...and reject God’s love gift of Jesus’ sacrifice, will also go into perdition. This is also called the second death, a fate worse than death in our present world.

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 3

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" (Emphasis mine)

Perdition also relates closely to another rarely used word today but very powerful in meaning: Pernicious

Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly: a pernicious virus.

Causing great harm; destructive: pernicious rumors.

Archaic.

Evil; wicked.

II Peter 2: 1 - 3

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." Emphasis mine

Here we see without any debate, damnation applied to false teachers guilty of heresies, corrupting God’s words, covetous, using feigned words and making merchandise of the people that follow them. It sounds a lot like some of today’s prominent spiritual teachers some of whom are in media based "ministries". They have deadly and destructive (pernicious) ways, of deceiving and being deceived themselves. Because of their horrific sin, the way of truth is evil spoken of.

Another interesting word with rich meaning is used in this text – feigned as in "feigned words".

It means:

To give a false appearance of: feign sleep.

To represent falsely; pretend to: feign authorship of a novel.

To imitate so as to deceive: feign another's voice.

To fabricate: feigned an excuse.

Archaic.

To invent or imagine.

v. intr.

To pretend; dissemble.

II Thessalonians 2: 1 - 4

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (Emphasis mine)

"Let no man deceive you"…

I don’t want anyone’s "spin" placed on God’s words. I don’t want them to be (in any way, shape or form!) diminished, truncated, summarized, amplified, restored or expanded by a man. I have become wary even of commentaries; to consider carefully the writer and his background and to weigh the teachings against God’s own words.

Satan has a field day the moment men believe they can help God out by clarifying or restating in their words what they think God intended to say and therefore in their "informed opinion" what the scriptures really mean. That’s when the "spin" starts to work its deadly harm. We must admit that we are so malleable. We can be molded and manipulated by Satan so easily if we are not walking humbly and circumspectly with the LORD according to his words with clear guidance from the Holy Spirit.

During the LORD Jesus’ earthly ministry there was a dramatic moment when the Apostle Peter was making a tremendous profession of insight and revelation of truth that was given him directly from the Father in heaven about the identity of the LORD Jesus Christ. Peter proclaimed, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The LORD Jesus stated that Peter had been blessed with this insight and then said "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:17)

Just a few verses later, Peter is speaking again but this time Satan is behind the words and the LORD Jesus looks right past Peter and speaks directly to Satan himself – "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

I encourage you to read the entire text found in Matthew 16 (and Mark 8)! We can in one moment be used by the LORD to speak blessing and the next moment, by Satan, for his deception and guile! One moment we can be speaking sublime revealed truth and in only minutes later we can be found speaking the will of our enemy, the devil. If we are not careful to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and keep them by the grace and mercy of God from the influence of the devil, we will fall into Satan’s many traps of deception.

The responsibility of ministering the word is a very sober and grave one. The LORD’s own approved and ordained preaching and teaching must be through a man who is Spirit filled, anointed, specifically chosen and commissioned by God alone…a faithful man of God…this is the only permission we have for working with the words of the living and true God beyond simply quoting the Holy Scriptures themselves. And even in this activity of expounding and teaching God’s words, there had better be a prayerful guarding of the lips, thoughts, heart and mind (intellect, reason) in the handling of such a sacred responsibility. We must pray using the example of King David’s prayer in Psalm 19. The last few verses are particularly pertinent to our discussion:

Please first as you read this text, make a mental note that the word "them" is referring to the words of the LORD, specifically his law, his testimony, his statutes, his commandments and his judgments. Please keep this fixed in the forefront of your mind as you read the following verses:

Psalm 19: 11 - 14

"Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." (Emphasis mine)

As such, any godly preacher or teacher must stand solely on the pure, preserved, holy and perfect words of God himself! And of utmost important, he must be a saved man! Notice how David confessed the LORD as his redeemer!

I don’t want opinions, commentaries and the filtering effect of sin tainted human "wisdom" either from an unsaved man or a saved man that is not walking in close fellowship with the LORD. There are many preachers and teachers living double lives. Some are frauds and unsaved. They pretend to be God’s man but are destitute of the truth. Others are saved but they are in rebellion in critical areas of their lives. Some are even double minded men as warned about in James 1. One minute they speak truth and the next minute they live like the devil. I know for I have been there and have repented of my willful, selfish and rebellious spirit and heart.

I don’t want church traditions that contradict or modify God’s words in any way. I don’t want some self professed Greek "scholar" with a couple years of seminary language studies spouting that "the real meaning from the Greek should be" thereby telling me what God meant. This is an insult to God, to the word of God, to the Spirit of God, to the sacred task of preaching and to the hearers.

Any explanation and interpretation must square with all of the Scriptures’ teachings and be faithful to protecting God’s intended meaning. This is indeed an exceptional and rare man to find in today’s world! And that man should welcome scrutiny and careful study of what they preach or teach for comparison to the pure words of God. Even the Apostle Paul encouraged and commended the Bereans for their "keeping" of God’s words in this same manner. They checked his doctrine against the authority of the word of God itself. (Acts 17)

This is how we prevent private interpretation entering our hearts and churches. Mature believers prayerfully build consensus together that they are walking in the truth based on the words of the LORD being taught them by the Holy Ghost. He confirms to us when we are rightly dividing or not. Conviction comes to us when we humble ourselves before him for answers to difficult areas of the scriptures. There are "seals" that need to be released and opened by the LORD on his words and their meaning. We must face squarely the reasons for our struggle with understanding portions of the scriptures. Are we responding to him properly after we get saved to see his word open up to us further?

Our salvation and new birth is the first way to open up God’s word to our "eyes" of spiritual understanding. Of course spiritual things cannot be discerned by the natural unsaved man. God says:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

I Corinthians 2:14

We must delight and meditate on God’s words. David has much to say about meditating:

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Psalm 1:2

False meditation that causes us to empty our mind of all thoughts is pagan and a tactic of devils designed to get us to open ourselves up to influences of these wicked fallen spirits that want to deceive us. When we meditate the right way; God’s way, we think thoughtfully on truth and consider it over and over in our minds and hearts asking for God’s wisdom to bring us his light. The Holy Ghost is there to guide us into all truth when we are humble and ready to receive it.

"Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." I Corinthians 2:13

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." John 16:13

There are other important factors to consider in the unsealing of God’s words to our hearts and minds. Consistent prayer over the scriptures and the conscientious focused reading of God’s words every day are essential. Study is hard work. A devotional reading of a verse or two in a quarterly is hardly a commitment to do the work. This would be like walking around the sofa and saying you just exercised and had a serious work-out. Now if you were a recovering paralysis victim perhaps that would be the case, but for most of us, it is just a simple case of laziness and a lack of real motivation.

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:6

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall

receive." Matthew 21:22

The above promises are tempered with the truth found in David’s testimony:

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18

We can expect nothing from the LORD if we are rebelling and harboring known sin. In fact, in this condition, Satan has opportunity to deceive us as we read the word because we are opening ourselves up to his attack by coddling sin. God will withhold spiritual insight and blessing from us for our stiff-necked spirit toward him. This is why it is so important that we understand an important purpose of the LORD’s table in remembering what he did for us at the cross for our salvation. We come to the table to partake of the bread and the cup in a humble spirit of confession claiming the promise of 1 John 1: 8 - 10.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." I John 1: 8 – 10

This has nothing to do with salvation from our sin but is for those who are already saved and in need of restoring the intimacy and fellowship with the LORD that we have allowed to be broken by our sins. We must quickly and frequently acknowledge and confess our sins. Notice the singular and plural usage of sin and sins in this passage. When we come to the table we should never think that we have not sinned in some area (even hidden to us) for we make God a liar and his word is not effective in our hearts and minds. This is how many believers at Corinth abused the LORD’s table and came to it in the wrong spirit causing harm to their own well being:

"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." I Corinthians 11: 27 - 32

When we have a humble heart of confession, admitting our failures, God is there to lift us up and restore fellowship that we might receive the grace needed to overcome the particular area of besetting sins. We then are able to receive the understanding and wisdom of the word of God that he wants to open up to us. Growing in the word is part of running the race that God has for us.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," Hebrews 12:1

Seeking and asking for specific answers and insights is another "seal opener".

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5

We must guard and protect God’s words, just like we would defend our own homes or our children to the death. We should regard God’s words as our most precious possession! Keeping God’s words is an equivalent action to fearing, honoring and just plain loving the LORD!

I John 14: 23 - 24

"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me." (Emphasis mine)

I want God to speak to me for himself through his words that I can both read for myself and hear preached or taught. Both must be done with humility, wisdom and fidelity to the truth; the very pure words that were given to holy men and prophets that the LORD himself chose; all of which (words, men and prophets) that can be tested, validated and proven beyond any reasonable doubt as trustworthy, reliable and faithful witnesses to the LORD’s revealed truth, even certified by God himself with many infallible proofs – supernatural acts or events that are undeniable facts of history, and beyond our ability to explain them in any other way then simply admitting in faith that "only God could have done this".

The greatest certification of the truth is the resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ, who declared he was, is and always will be "the way, the truth and the life." He further pronounced that "no man comes to the Father (in heaven) but by me." He made no allowance for inclusiveness by saying "a way" or allowing for a different meaning such as the "way shower" as some have tried to twist the meaning in their interpretation. The LORD Jesus is very exclusive in his meaning here. The only way to the Father, (the LORD God in heaven), is by him (Jesus Christ) and through him. The Son only can bring us to the Father!

Nineteen little one syllable words clearly sum it all up for us:

I John 5: 12

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

This simple sentence should prompt us to ask two key questions:

1) Who is the Son of God?

2) How can I have Him?

Both questions are answered fully and clearly in the Holy Scriptures.

I want life and I am sure you do too…so let’s continue to pursue God’s pure words of life and spirit.