COUNTERFEIT?
Don Hawley
Yesterday I went to my bank and asked for several one hundred dollar bills. I watched as the teller counted them out, but it wasn't until I got home that I discovered one of them was counterfeit! What really amazed me was that anyone would be so foolish as to try to pass such an obvious fake. It stood out from the genuine bills as clearly as would a Disneyland Dollar. My eyes were greatly offended; I was not comfortable with this crude claim to authenticity. I wondered how the experts at the bank could have been so easily hoodwinked.
I decided I could have come up with a better bogus bill right in my own garage. It had the general appearance of US folding money; the color was a familiar green, and the size was right. But that's where all similarity ended. When I held the bill up to the light I could spot a hologram, the engraving of Independence Hall was actually improved, the numbers utilized a more modern type style, and the left-hand seal had been altered. Worst of all, the counterfeiter had executed a much better portrait of Benjamin Franklin, and his visage was nearly twice the size it should have been. The portrait wasn't even centered properly; it was slightly off to the left. Almost everything about this reserve note made me uneasy; I decided I liked the original much better. Like most people, I am naturally resistant to change.
Fortunately, before dashing back to the bank to complain, I remembered reading something about our money being redesigned. Gradually I realized that even though this bill looks so different, it truly is genuine. Already I'm beginning to see that the new is a great improvement over the old. I'm going to like this new currency!
GOD IS DOING A NEW THING
When I first heard about the worldwide renewal now sweeping the world, I was offended. It was so different from the way I expected the Holy Spirit to move among men. The manifestations particularly were way outside my comfort zone. I almost declared it a counterfeit movement, because God was doing a new thing so foreign to what I had been used to. Some of us have been so long in the valley of dry bones, that anything even remotely alive looks scary.
Fortunately, I had read in the Book of Acts something Peter said about God moving in a new way just prior to our Lord's return. And the book itself is filled with amazing signs and wonders. It was because of the power of Pentecost, and the ensuing early rain, that Acts quickly became one of my favorite portions of Scripture. I longed for God to move in power once again.
Or at least I did until he actually began to move. Then my old change-resistant nature roused itself and I began to suspect a counterfeit revival. I'm so thankful that instead of dismissing the matter out of hand,I decided to follow the Lord's instructions and test the spirits for myself. I went to Toronto, Canada, and stayed for several days. I came home permanently changed, and convinced that the last great outpouring of the Holy Spirit is already underway. The harvest is ready, and the Kingdom of Glory is at hand. I've had all I want of this present world, and I say "Come, Lord Jesus.!"
Have you been tempted to label the present worldwide renewal simply a counterfeit? Without testing the spirits as the Lord has commanded? Are you judging by the Word, or what you feel comfortable with? Have the accusations of the "experts" influenced you greatly? Does God have to have your stamp of approval before moving in sovereign grace? Pray about this matter earnestly; there could be eternal consequences.
God sometimes offends the mind to reveal the heart.