Shanna Campos
General Sunday School Coordinator
Although the enemy can appear to imitate God’s power, the difference between his power and God’s is as simple as one word: AUTHORITY. God grants His divine authority to those vessels who treasure His truth.
Consider the account of Acts 13:6-12, detailing one of Saul and Barnabas’ first missionary journeys.
They went to Paphos, where the area’s deputy was waiting eagerly to hear the Word of God. But a Jewish man named Barjesus, whom the Bible calls a “sorcerer” and a “false prophet,” lived there. This man was a descendent of God’s peculiar treasure (His people who had taken a covenant at Mount Sinai to walk in His laws). What a contradiction! A Jewish sorcerer; mixing the law of God with the works of darkness. It is no surprise that his other name, Elymas, means “corrupter.” This false prophet withstood Saul and Barnabas purely to “turn away the deputy from the faith.” Whatever he hoped to gain from being connected to the deputy, these men of God stood in the way. But it was not simply these men of God who stood in the way. It was the authority of God working through them that would expose and expel Satan—and he could do nothing to stop the advancement of the kingdom of God.
It was this same authority that moved Saul to look Bar-jesus in the eyes and say, “…O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10). The Holy Ghost, through the apostle Paul, then “set his eyes on him.” Satan was marked and the apostle did not back down. What looked like a Jew on the outside was revealed to be full of “subtility” and “mischief.” He was a “child of the devil” and an “enemy of all righteousness” who perverted (misrepresented) the right ways of the Lord. And what was the result of God asserting His authority and defining His territory?
But this was only a part of Satan’s defeat. Verse 12 says, “Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.” Praise God, the deputy (whom Barjesus had tried to sway away from accepting the Word of God) believed when he saw what took place. But what astonished him was the “doctrine of the Lord.” This is a powerful example of God’s power, authority, wonders, and Word working together to truly convert a heart. There is one more thing that made the difference, mentioned in the beginning of Acts 13, in verses 1-4: “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.”
There are some key phrases in this passage of Scripture: “they ministered to the Lord,” “fasted,” “the Holy Ghost said,” “I have called them,” and “being sent forth by the Holy Ghost.” All of this happened before they left for the mission field. These men left Antioch with a commission given directly from the Holy Ghost and, therefore, would be operating under the approval and authority of God as they ministered. The moment Saul encountered this corrupter, the Holy Ghost anointed him to overthrow the enemy’s dominion because Saul was a man already called and sent under God’s authority.
Satan has no desire for anyone to receive God’s Word, and you can rest assured that everything he does will be laced with manipulation to steer the outcome in his favor. The Holy Ghost never uses enchantments, sorcery, magic, or manipulation to convince anyone; those are works of darkness. The Spirit of the “Father of lights” will always work with truth and light to bring illumination through the Word of God; that is exactly what happened in this case.
The counterfeit can easily be obtained anywhere and without any need for consecration or real sacrifice. “Counterfeit” does not imply that something does not exist but, rather, that it is not genuine or “all that it claims to be.” Counterfeit money indeed exists and anyone who produces it is going to prison. Similarly, in a spiritual sense, there’s a counterfeit that exists, and those who produce it, use it, or entertain it, and don’t repent of it, are imprisoned by it and will eventually spend eternity in hell. But the genuine power of God and His truth will always lead to everlasting life.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-8, Paul said: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”
At the core of the counterfeit, “form of godliness” (v. 5), you will find “resist[ing] the truth” and “corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” “Reprobate concerning the faith” means rejected or unapproved. God will not grant His authority to anyone of whom He does not approve. But God’s Word tells us how to be approved of Him: “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” (Deut. 10:12, 13). How do we have His authority? Fear Him and keep His commandments—obey His truth.
Consider that Paul described Jannes and Jambres, along with those who would resist the truth, as “lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, highminded.” As well we have noted Elymas (who withstood Paul and Barnabas). His other name, we learned, was Bar-jesus, which means “son of salvation” (a counterfeit), as well as “son of pride.” Isn’t it typical for those who are counterfeit to operate through arrogance and pride to bring recognition and fame to themselves? Whereas, those who truly have God’s authority have no need to boast about it because the God who gave it speaks for Himself every time.
Anytime Satan wants to assert his authority, he will use an imitation. It does not always come in supernatural form—he imitates the truth with lies, he imitates concern with worry and fear, he imitates peace with comfort, he imitates divine wisdom with human logic, and he imitates many other things. But whatever counterfeit he presents in his attempts to make us believe he owns territory in The Church of God, Christ, who holds the scepter of His kingdom, will stand His ground