#1 False Gifting that Satan Uses in Church

In 1 Corinthians 12, we are introduced to the concept of the gifts of the Spirit, and in Ephesians 4, we are told that Jesus gives these gifts to the church.

And Galatians 5:22 introduces us to the supernatural character traits that are developed through a life of intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

However, one pattern we see throughout history is that Satan always attempts to counterfeit and pervert everything good that God has created. One of these areas of distortion that many believers have never considered is how Satan attempts to counterfeit the gifts of the Spirit. Believe it or not, there is an inverted and distorted counterfeit for each of the gifts of the Spirit. Here’s the thing about a counterfeit: it always looks like the real deal, but it’s not real and doesn’t have value. There are operations of the antichrist spirit that are at work in the church, and the number-one gift that I see distorted, per- verted, and twisted is the gift of discernment.

I’ve been pastoring for over 14 years, and it’s interesting. I am always getting dreams and prophetic warnings from all over the nation. Sometimes these dreams are in these manilla envelopes and sent to me first class, certified mail, with tracking. So my team has to sign for these dreams. Most of the time, I have yet to learn who these people are sending me their dreams. They don’t come with any endorsements, references, or bios. These dream parcels are big! These big fatty word documents are so large that they can’t be stapled together.

There is usually a common thread that ties all these dreams together; nine times out of ten, when I begin reading these dreams, I find they are full of warnings and accusations. It might be against me, our church, the government, or another leader in the body of Christ. If I didn’t have a true gift of discernment and a healthy relationship with Jesus, I might believe the warnings in these dreams. If I choose to accept them, at this point, I am choosing to allow the seed of subversion to enter my heart.

Yes, you guessed it—if you honor a false prophet, you get an impartation from a false prophet. If I chose to do this, all of a sudden, I would have an impartation of the counterfeit gift of discernment, which is the spirit of suspicion. Now I would begin to see myself, my team, my church, and other leaders differently. I may not be able to trust leaders in my network. The fruit of this “discerning dream” or warning dream won’t be my fruitfulness and sharpening of kingdom effectiveness, but rather a closed heart and a closed mind.

Counterfeit discernment is the demonic spirit of suspicion and is Satan’s number-one counterfeit gift at work within the church.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16 ESV). Paul is telling the church of Corinth to stop applying their worldly filters and suspicious judgment against each other and start seeing each other from the Father’s perspective. You are a new creation because the old you is dead. You are a new you, a reconciled you.

The true spirit of discernment can see the truth through the filter of the blood of Jesus. It discerns the good when nobody else can. It sees the seed of light when the darkness blinds everybody else. True discernment is Barnabas genuinely seeing the converted Paul and vouching for him when the church wanted to reject him because they discerned him to be an imposter.

Much emphasis is placed on seeing in the spirit and hearing the voice of the Lord, but more emphasis is needed on smelling in the spirit. We need the spiritual gift of smell restored to the church. The ability to discern what is worthy of being eaten versus what should be thrown out because the charismatic church keeps eating the wrong stuff these days.

While on Patmos, John heard a loud voice that sounded like a song of triumph.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters has been thrown down [at last], he who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10 AMP).

Here we see Satan is referred to as the Master Blogger of the second heaven. He writes articles against all the Lord’s beloved every day and night. True stories. Scandals of their past. Insights into the fleshly nature of God’s beloved. Satan has tricked the church into thinking that this counterfeit discernment will pre- serve the church of the last days. The lie of the enemy is this: “Your fear is protecting you.”

The truth is that the enemy is a liar. You are not safer because you are afraid. Fear doesn’t make you wise; it makes you stupid. In Matthew 1:19, Joseph became worried because the potential scandal of being married to a pregnant “virgin” was more than he could handle. You can bet that the enemy did his best to bring an accusation against Mary to Joseph.

And Joseph became terrified and almost made a foolish decision, but God subdued Joseph’s fear with a dream. The dream righteously judged Joseph’s fear and brought him the peace and courage he needed to be the husband Mary needed and the father that Jesus would need.

Fear will compromise you by filtering what you see, turning shadows into monsters and molehills into mountains. Fear will assure you that it is wisdom and is here to help you, protect you, and sustain you. Fear tries to convince you that survival is the win, but merely surviving is no different than slowly dying. The work of the devious enemy did not deceive Jesus but He countered the enemy’s work with life. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 ESV).

Jesus modeled the abundant life by living a fear-free life. Never once did He live in fear of the enemy, and He never feared losing His life. Jesus wasn’t interested in surviving and was never afraid of anyone taking His life. Nobody could take His life because He had already given His life.

Jesus never walked in suspicion, for His heart was open to the compromised, the sinner, and even the liar. As seen in the story of the woman at the well, a woman who thought she could theologically maneuver around Jesus’ discernment, yet He picked up on what was going on. His discernment didn’t lead to rejection but rather interrupted the pattern to get past her defenses, which worked. She opened her heart to Him, but in reality Jesus knew the secrets and compromises of her heart, yet He loved her and received her despite her brokenness and sinfulness. We have so much to learn from Jesus.

Suspicion is not discernment; it’s demonic, leading to rejection and isolation, which is fear-based and poisons our dreams, prophetic words, and decisions.

Leaders who constantly trigger suspicion and fill people’s hearts with fear are a major red flag. You do not need to fear deception, demons, or even false prophets. True discernment drives out all fear and gives you the courage to connect with others in love and grace.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18 ESV). True discernment has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the character and nature of God as a good and faithful shepherd.

We don’t fear wolves, we don’t fear principalities and powers, and we don’t fear man—we fear God!