Beware the Counterfeiter – Part 1

David J. Mullins: Hey, podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. How do we discern whether a miracle is true or fake? When it comes to evaluating miracles, carefully examine, be on guard against counterfeit messages that come from counterfeit motives.
David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. We live in a world full of counterfeits, and Satan is a master at imitating the real work of God. So, how can we tell the difference between what is truly from God and what only appears to be? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress provides two tests to discern whether a miracle and its message are genuine. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we begin with today's message, I want you to imagine waking up tomorrow morning and your only decision is where to explore. Every meal is prepared for you, and outside your window, a new destination is waiting. For 10 days, that's exactly what life looks like on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. But this is so much more than a luxury experience. You'll be surrounded by fellow believers, discovering the very lands where your Christian faith was born, tracing the journeys of Paul across some of the most historically rich waters on Earth. Go ahead and stop by ptv.org to view the delightful itinerary and to reserve your spot. Well, not every miracle comes from God. That may surprise you, but it's true. We live in a world full of supernatural claims, signs, wonders, voices, and visions, and not all of them point to the God of the Bible. In fact, there's a counterfeit at work, an enemy who loves nothing more than to mimic the real thing and lead people astray. So, how do you tell the difference? That's exactly what we'll uncover today. Plus, I've developed this subject fully in my brand new book Divine Invasions. It'll give you the discernment you need to stand firm in a confusing age. I'm pleased to send this hardcover book Divine Invasions to your home when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Okay, let's get started with our next topic. This is message number six in the seven part series. I titled today's message Beware the Counterfeiter. I was recently talking with a friend of mine who leads a small group at another church, and he was telling me about a woman who attended his small group meetings. Her husband was not a Christian, and so he didn't come. She had two college age children who are away at school. One day, she received a very disturbing phone call informing her that her college age son had been found dead in the fraternity house he was staying in. He was the victim of a hazing incident that went wrong. She was so distraught over the loss of her son, and she went to different counselors and asking how she should cope, and they told her that her son wasn't really dead, that his spirit was still with her wherever she went. And she began to see images of her son. When she would have her coffee in the morning, he would appear, she said, in the breakfast nook. When she would walk outside, she would see his face in between the limbs of the tree, and so she asked my friend and their pastor what he thought, and they very gently and lovingly said, well, that's not what the Bible teaches. Second Corinthians 5:8 says that when a Christian dies, his or her spirit goes into the presence of Jesus. But one day, one day, we will see all of our loved ones who are believers again. Where she didn't accept that for her. She wanted to believe that she was able to see her son now. Now, some people say, well, what's the big deal about that? I mean, she finds a little comfort, even if it's an imaginary miracle, she finds comfort in it. What could be the harm in that? The harm is usually fake miracles are accompanied by fake messages. We know people who claim to have had a near death experience. They see a bright light, and even though they're not a Christian, they hear a voice that says you are welcome into heaven. It doesn't matter your religion. Everyone is welcome into heaven. That's a false miracle with a false message. How do we discern whether a miracle is true or fake? How do we determine if the message behind that miracle is right or wrong? That's what we're going to talk about today. We're in a series called Divine Invasions. We looked at the fact that God really does perform miracles. They're not relegated to a past stage and no longer existent. They happen now. And they don't just happen in third world countries. They happen right here where we are as well. We've talked about the various kind of miracles that God performs, but today we're going to talk about counterfeit miracles. The fact that there are counterfeit miracles shouldn't surprise us because there is a counterfeit God in this world. We know him as Satan. We 've talked about the reality of Satan in the past. We've seen that he has temporary power over this world. In John 12:31, Jesus referred to Satan as the ruler of this world. That's an amazing thing when you think about it. This world is being ruled right now by Satan, Jesus said. Paul said in Second Corinthians 4:4 that he is the God of this age. In Ephesians 2:2, Paul calls him the prince of the power of the air. He exerts tremendous influence over people, and yes, over nations. Much of what we're seen happening in the world right now, the worldwide conflict is the result of Satan's work. But we need to recognize where this conflict is coming from. It is from the prince of darkness. The devil is alive. He's present right here in this world. Somebody has described Satan as the ape of God. What do you mean that ape of God? It was simply this. He is simply mimicking the real God. He's trying to do what God does. He can't quite pull it off, but he wants to mimic God specifically. First of all, he's established his own throne to inspire worshippers. He wants people worshipping him instead of God. And so, he's established a throne to inspire his own worshippers. Secondly, Satan supports his own ministers. He has his own ministers, his own pastors. Now, when we think about ministers of Satan, we think of, you know, these kind of ghouls walking around in a black cape and drinks animal blood. That's not what a minister of Satan is. A minister of Satan very often appears very attractively, well dressed, well educated, very eloquent, leading a respectable church of a respectable denomination. But he's a false teacher, inspired by Satan. And that leads to the third goal of Satan, and that is to preach a false gospel. He has a gospel, but it 's a fake gospel. It's a false gospel. Turn back to Galatians 1 beginning with verse 6. Paul was writing to the church at Galatia. They were being invaded by false teachers. Now, these false teachers didn't deny the reality of Jesus or the death or even the resurrection of Jesus. They said, yes, we are saved by faith in Christ plus. There's always a plus to a false teacher. It's faith in Christ plus and they said circumcision, keeping the Jewish law, keeping the rituals of Judaism. If you want to be saved in eternity, you've got to trust in Christ, yes, plus you must do these additional things. Is that just a minor variation? Is it a minor variation when somebody preaches today to be saved, you must trust in Christ and be baptized and join the church and tithe and on and on and on and on. It's a fake gospel. And that's what Paul said in Galatians 1. Look at verse 6. I'm amazed, Galatians, that you are so quickly deserting God who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is not really another gospel, only that there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. This isn't a minor theological difference. This is a big deal, Paul said. This is a different fake gospel. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, let this person be accursed, anathema. Literally, let this person be damned. Anybody who distorts the gospel of Christ is a false teacher, and they deserve to be damned. And by the way, notice Paul says even if an angel comes to you and reveals this gospel to you, it's fake, and that person is to be damned. I don't think it's an accident that two of the most powerful fake religions in the world today, deceiving tens of millions of people and leading them to hell. I don't think it's an accident that they both both of these fake religions claim angelic inspiration. Think about the founder of Islam, Muhammad. Where did he get his fake message? He was out on the desert by himself in the 7th century when an angel, he said the angel Gabriel appeared to him and gave to him the contents of what we call the Quran today that inspires, among other things, followers of Islam to slay the infidels, to behead them, to extinguish the infidels. That would be you and the Jewish people. That is their fake gospel. They claim an angelic inspiration. Or think about Joseph Smith in the 19th century. Where did he get the tenants of Mormonism? Where did that come from? Joseph Smith said an angel, the angel Moroni. Sounds like moron, and they should be. The angel Moroni descended and gave him the gold tablets, and that's where Mormonism. Mormonism is not just a little twist, a little difference in traditional Christianity. It's another gospel, a completely another gospel with another Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible. Paul said, don't listen to it, even if an angel says he has given this revelation to you. The Bible says there is a false miracle worker. His name is Satan. So, how do we determine whether a miracle or the message behind that miracle is true or false? Were there two tests by which we judge every miracle and we judge every message? And we're going to get to that in just a moment. But before we get to those two tests, I think we all have to agree on what the standard for truth is. There is a gold standard for truth. How do you judge truth or error? Look, the gold standard for truth is not your experience. It's not your feeling, how you feel about something. It's not your experience. It's not your feeling. It's not the teachings of your favorite grandma, memo, what they said. What matters is what does the word of God say? The Bible is the gold standard for truth. Turn over to Acts 17 for just a moment. You see a great illustration of this. Remember Paul was on his second missionary journey with Silas, and they went to the village, the port city of Thessalonica. Many of us have been there before, and he started preaching in the Jewish synagogue. And what was the reaction? They hated what Paul was teaching. So, look at verse 10 of Acts 17. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. They knew if they left Paul there much longer, they were going to kill Paul for what he was saying. So, there's nothing wrong with running. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is run in order to preserve your life. Paul didn't have a death wish. He wanted to live as long as he could to preach the gospel. So, the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. And when they arrived, they also went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now, Berea was 45 miles to the southwest of Thessalonica. What kind of reaction did they get from the Bereans to the preaching of God's word? Well, it was as different from what happened in Thessalonica as a bowl of Brussels sprouts and a bowl of ice cream. It was all together different how they responded. They were noble minded, those in Thessalonica, for they received the word from Paul and Silas with great eagerness. They were excited by the message that the Messiah had come. They hadn't heard that before. They were Jews who were still awaiting the Messiah. They were thrilled to hear the Messiah had come. They received it with great eagerness, but they didn't accept it without testing it. They examined the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. In other words, they used the scripture as the test to whether the teaching of Paul and Silas was true, whether Messiah had really come. And that needs to be our standard as well. They searched the scripture. You know, in our church, we have a program called Bible Drill where we teach our children and teenagers how to find references in the Bible and how to memorize scripture. And you've seen them up here on the stage before doing it where they stand at attention, and the caller says attention, draw swords. They pull out their Bibles, and they give them a scripture reference to see how quickly they can find the reference. Well, these Bereans were experts not only in finding the scripture passage quickly, but knowing which scripture passage to go to. They knew the scriptures backward and forward, and we need to have that same experience. You know, right now we're involved in a building process. Does anybody need to tell you that? And you know, it's a little disruptive around here, but it 's great. We're finally making progress. We're building that historic sanctuary, and it will be in there, and it's going to be a great project. But as Ben and our staff were meeting together, we were talking about what should the emphasis be in our church since we're in a building project? Well, the staff has selected this phrase built on the Bible. I think it's a great phrase because it explains why God has blessed First Baptist Dallas. This church has always been founded on the Bible. And so, while we're building the physical structure of the church, we want to also remember that the real church is not brick and mortars. It's the people who occupy that building. And so, for a church to be built on the Bible means individual members must build their lives on the Bible. In fact, you find in First Peter 2 verses 4 and 5 these words, and coming to him, that is Jesus, as to a living stone which was rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also are living stones. You are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. Isn't that a great picture? We are the stones of the church. We are the bricks. We are the stones of the church. And if the real church, the invisible but real church is to be built on the Bible, then the individual Christians who make up that church must build their lives on the Bible. And that's what we're going to be talking about, how we as Christians build our individual lives because if your life and my life and everybody's life is built on the Bible, then our church is built on the Bible. Remember Jesus' words at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, he said, you've heard a lot of stuff. Just remember this, he said, everyone who hears my words and acts upon them. Not just hears, but acts. Everyone who hears my words and acts upon them is like the person who built his house on the rock. And the winds came and the rain descended and the storm burst against the house, but it did not fall. Why? Because it was founded on the rock. The rock. What is the rock? Jesus and his teaching. That's what Jesus was talking about. Do you want to have a life that stands no matter what comes against you? You build it on the word of Christ. To be built on the Bible means to make the Bible the final say in the choices we make. Let me be real specific with you. Maybe you're a single adult, and you want to be married more than anything in the world, and you found the right mister or miss to marry. But you find out that person is not a Christian. Do you go ahead with the marriage, or do you follow what God's word says? God says, don't be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. Or maybe you want to be a witness for Christ wherever you are in your school, in your workplace, but you're told by your teacher or your employer, you can't do that here. You can't mention the name of Christ. What do you do? Acts 5:29 says we must obey God rather than men. Do you make that choice? Maybe you're married, and you no longer feel what you used to feel for your mate, and you're contemplating a divorce. What do you do? If you build your life on the Bible, you obey God. God is the one who says, let no man tear asunder those whom God has joined together. To build your life on the Bible means to build your life on doing what God has said to do. And that has to be the gold standard we all agree on. How does it work itself out when it comes to miracles or any message behind a miracle? Notice there are two tests that we use to judge any miracle or the message behind the miracle. One is the miracles workers message. You know, anytime somebody performs a miracle or sometimes receives a miracle, they always have some message that they're peddling. So, examine what the message is behind the miracle. There are several errors that all false teachers, most false teachers follow after. First of all, false teachers don't confess Jesus Christ as the anointed one. They don't believe that Jesus is the Christ, that is the Messiah, the anointed one. You find this in First John 4:1. Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Look at verse 2. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus, you could translate that, that confesses Jesus is the Christ, Messiah has come from God. But every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. If you do not acknowledge Jesus is Messiah, you are denying number one that Jesus is the center of history. You're denying that everything before him pointed to him. Everything since Jesus has pointed back to Jesus, but he is the center of the universe. If you deny that Jesus is the Messiah, you deny that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises, the hundreds of promises about him in the Old Testament. And finally, if you deny Jesus is the Messiah, then you're denying that Jesus is God's unique provision for your salvation. Remember a few years ago, a famous pastor was on Cable News, and he was asked by the interviewer who was not a Christian. He asked this pastor, if you believe everything in the Bible, then do you teach that only those who trust in Christ are going to heaven, and everybody else is going to hell? And the minister hemmed and hawed and tried to not answer the question. And finally, all he could come up with was said, well, that's not my judgment to make. I can't judge who's going to heaven and to hell. Well, in one sense, he was correct. We can't make that judgment, but guess what? God has already made that judgment. He said it very clearly. He said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. One of my eight year old grandchildren said to me, Paul Paul, Jesus didn't say he was a way. He said he is the way. Jesus didn't say he was a life. He said he is the life. Jesus didn't say he was a truth. He said he was the truth. Now folks, if an eight year old can get it, anybody should be able to get it. Jesus said there is one way to heaven, and it is through him. And when we articulate that, we're not making our judgment. We're repeating the judgment God has already made. Secondly, false teachers don't confess Jesus as coming in the flesh. They don't believe in the incarnation, that it was God who came in the flesh. But in First John 4:2, John said, by this you shall know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. You know, people don't understand how essential the doctrine of the incarnation is. It's the greatest miracle of all, even more than the resurrection is God coming in flesh. C. S. Lewis wrote it this way, the central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. Every other miracle prepares for this, exhibits this, or results from this. The God who spoke the universe into existence stepped into human flesh to rescue you. That's the miracle everything else rests upon. And it's the very thing the counterfeit works so hard to deny. So, as you weigh every miracle that comes your way, ask the question we've learned today. Does it confess the real Jesus? That single test will guard your heart from deception. This is one of the seven topics I address in my brand new book. I wrote Divine Invasions because I'm convinced God hasn't stopped doing the impossible, and I want you to experience his power in your own life starting today. But even more than that, I want to bring this hope to people who desperately need it. Every single day, thanks to friends like you, Pathway to Victory enters homes where hope has died, homes where addiction has taken root, where marriages are hanging by a thread, where fear and despair have settled in like a thick fog. And through your partnership, God's word is invading those places with light and truth and hope. For those reasons and more, I'm going to send you Divine Invasions with my thanks for your generous gift today. My book will help you discover the miracle working power of our powerful God, and it will help us place that same hope in front of countless others. Because the word of God doesn't just change lives, it saves lives. And you make that possible. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I promise to keep preaching God's word boldly even when it isn't popular. But I simply can't do it without generous friends like you standing beside me. Thank you for joining this all out effort to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word. Here's David to tell you more.
David J. Mullins: You're invited to request a hardcover copy of Dr. Jeffress' brand new book Divine Invasions when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Just call 866-999-2965. Visit ptv.org or text PTV to 78800. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you in addition to the book this month's teaching series on audio and video disc along with the companion study guide. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609 Dallas, Texas 75222. That's PO Box 223609 Dallas, Texas 75222. I'm David J. Mullins inviting you back for part two of the message Beware the Counterfeiter. That's Tuesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in his word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go, don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. Now, you've heard me and Dr. Jeffress talk about this Bible conference at sea, and cabins, well, they're going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful Celebrity Infinity sailing round trip from Athens. Now, each day you'll gather for Bible teaching, worship, and fellowship, and then you'll step ashore to stand where Paul stood in Ephesus and walk the streets of Thessaloniki where his letters still speak to the church today. Nine unforgettable nights with more biblical destinations along the way. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus the joy of traveling with like minded believers. There's also an optional pre cruise extension in Athens. To book your spot, go to ptv.org.