Counterfeits
William J. Seymour

Sermon · 3 min read· 1906 · Accessible

Counterfeits

Portrait of William J. Seymour William J. Seymour

In brief

Wherever the real work of God appears, Seymour warns, the counterfeit appears too, as with Ananias and Sapphira and Pharaoh's magicians. He tells how imitations of the baptism and of tongues were exposed in the Azusa meetings, and how the Holy Spirit's power swallows up the counterfeit as Aaron's rod swallowed the magicians' rods. From The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles), December 1906.

God has told us in His precious word that we should know a tree by its fruit. Wherever we find the real, we find the counterfeit also. But praise God for the real. We find in the time of Peter, when men and women were receiving the power of the Holy Ghost, the counterfeit appeared in Ananias and Sapphira. But God's power was mightier than all the forces of hell, so their sin found them out. Be careful, dear loved ones, for your sin will surely find you out. "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

In our meetings, we have had people to come and claim that they had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but when they were put to the test by the Holy Spirit, they were found wanting. So they got down and got saved and sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues by the Holy Spirit. And again people have imitated the gift of tongues, but how quickly the Holy Spirit would reveal to every one of the true children that had the Pentecostal baptism, and put a heavy rebuke upon the counterfeit, in tongues, until the counterfeits were silenced and condemned. God's promises are true and sure.

People are trying to imitate the work of the Holy Ghost these days, just as they did when the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh in Ex. 7:8, and gave him a miracle or sign to show before Pharaoh, that when Aaron should cast his rod before Pharaoh, it should become a serpent. So when Pharaoh saw that Aaron's rod had become a serpent, he called for his wise men and the counterfeit sorcerers and magicians of Egypt. They also did in like manner with their enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. So the power of the Holy Ghost in God's people today condemns and swallows up the counterfeit. It digs up and exposes all the power of Satan—Christian Science, Theosophy, and Spiritualism—all are uncovered before the Son of God. Glory to God.

Spiritualists have come to our meetings and had the demons cast out of them and have been saved and sanctified. Christian Scientists have come to the meetings and had the Christian Science demons cast out of them and have accepted the blood. Every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.

People have come to this place full of demons and God has cast them out, and they have gone out crying with loud voices. Then when all the demons were cast out, they got saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Ghost, clothed in their right minds and filled with glory and power.

Dear loved ones; it is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." These were Jesus’ departing words. May you tarry until you receive your personal Pentecost. Amen.

Public domain. Source text from the original edition.

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MLA
Seymour, William J. “Counterfeits.” Sermon, 1906. Ochorus, https://ochorus.com/sermons/counterfeits/.
Chicago
Seymour, William J. “Counterfeits.” Sermon, 1906. Ochorus. https://ochorus.com/sermons/counterfeits/.
Chicago footnote
William J. Seymour, “Counterfeits,” sermon, 1906, Ochorus, https://ochorus.com/sermons/counterfeits/.
BibTeX
@misc{seymour1906counterfeits, author = {Seymour, William J.}, title = {{Counterfeits}}, year = {1906}, howpublished = {Sermon, 1906}, publisher = {Ochorus}, url = {https://ochorus.com/sermons/counterfeits/} }