“But there was a certain man, called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one’’ Acts 8:9(KJV)
In our pursuit of the kingdom, one thing we must watch is deception, this is prevalent in this end time. Jesus warned, ‘’let no man deceive you’’. The power of deception is rooted in the fact that the fake looks very much like the real that if one lacks discernment, one can fall victim of deception. In this record, Simon used sorcery to deceive and bewitch the people of Samaria claiming that he was a great man. Simon had great spiritual influence because the people saw him as a great man of God. They accorded him so much respect as a great prophet of God.
We have a similar account in Paphos, a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus or Elymas who sought to turn away the deputy from the faith. Sorcerers prevent the right ways of the Lord. They usually have access to the spirit world through sorcery, divination and familiar spirit, giving the people the impression that they speak for God, as prophets. People looking for spiritual explanations to issues of life or solution to life’s problems often fall victim to these perverts. (ACTS 13:6-13).
The place of true Prophets cannot be ignored, despised or neglected in the Christian faith but the office of the prophets in the New Testament church must be well understood to avoid deception in these last days.
With the increasing wave and explosion of the prophetic in today’s ministry, especially in Africa, there is an urgent need to know the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament Prophets. It should be made clear that every believer in the New Testament is a Priest, a King and a Prophet, all have direct access to God; and the leading of the Holy Spirit(1 John 2:20&27)
A notable characteristic of these sorcerers who go in the guise of Prophets is their love for money, greed, arrogance, immoral lifestyle, money, and manipulative tendencies. They project self instead of Christ. They merely use Christ as cover up to create the impression that they are of God. We should not be so desperate for spiritual solutions to our problems as to ignore scriptural guidance and the Holy Spirit’s leading “for as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit, not prophets is to be consulted for guidance. Some people are ready to sell their soul to Satan for spiritual power because of unhealthy competition and wrong criteria for measuring success in today ministry. Don’t fall victim to this dangerous trend.
PRAYER: God, help me to rightly discern in Jesus name.
Rev. Vincent Diolu