Satan is a master of mimic. We are told that he "comes as an angel of light." He is called the Deceiver and the Father of Lies and his work is evident everywhere you look.
What makes him so believable?
The best way to deceive is to make an imitation that closely mimics the real thing.
When Moses appeared before Pharaoh, demanding that his people be allowed to leave, God performed miracles using Moses' simple rod. The miracles should have been enough to WOW! the whole country. However, the Bible says that Pharaoh's magicians copied the acts with their "magic arts."
Imagine the confusion of those watching--especially Moses' fellow Israelites.
"Looks the same to us! Maybe they're ALL God's spokesmen."
"NO! Those magicians are faking it. Moses is probably faking it too. There are no real miracles."
Scripture states that at the close of this world's story, the evil Antichrist will rise to power. He is called Antichrist because of his great resemblance to the true Christ. He will be very convincing to the ones who don't know the real Jesus. If he had horns and a tail, no one would be fooled.
It is my personal belief that God is pouring out His spirit on His people in an unprecedented way, as He ushers in the end times. God is raising up for himself an army, empowered by their passion for Him and love for the world that He loves.
So we should not be surprised that Satan is equally engaged. We see his handiwork on the front page of every newspaper. False religions claim millions of new souls every week. Anti-God bias is sweeping through once-free nations. Sexual perversions of a kind not seen since Noah's day now hardly earn a second look.
Satan doesn't leave his destructive imitations outside the church doors either. Heresy--masquerading as love--is replacing Scriptural truth from more and more pulpits. God's supernatural gifts to believers are imitated by those who have no such gift, and maligned by those who see only the imitation.
But just because the magicians imitated Moses' miracles does not mean God did not perform them first. Just because Wacko Church of the Dubious Spirit adds speaking in tongues to their other bizarre rituals, does not mean there is no true gift of tongues for those filled with God's Holy Spirit.
Just because the sleazy snake oil preacher in Des Moines makes a circus out of his sleight-of-hand "healings", does not mean that the power of God is not healing the crippled, deaf, and cancer-ridden down in Peru.
Just because Rev. Sees-a-Lot claims he had a revelation from the Lord that the people of Ohio would send him $10 million, doesn't mean that the Lord never gives his people revelations.
Jesus said that the day is coming when He will appear with winnowing fork in hand to separate those who are His from those who pretend to be. He is not fooled at all by the imitations.
In the meantime, let's be very careful that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The fact that there are numerous false prophets around does not mean there are no real ones.
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