Anything that is popular is going to be copied. If it is passed off as an original, the term "counterfeit" is used. It seems that those who are in the more deprived areas of the world are the most susceptible to counterfeiting, but in reality, all of us can be suckers.

Several years ago my buddy Frank Tasker got into autograph collecting. He had a little extra money, and he was busy with a new job, so instead of going to the ballpark to get the signatures of stars, he decided to bid for them on the auction website, ebay. He had collected twenty or thirty autographs, some costing as much as a hundred bucks, only to find out that many were counterfeit. Some he knew were fake, others he couldn’t tell. (He knew that his Ernie Banks was real because it had that little curlicue on the end.) He was really disappointed, and has decided to never seek another celebrity autograph.

So I was surprised the other day when I got a call from him. It seems his daughter, Amy, had a pen-pal in China. This pen-pal wrote to say that the fifth Harry Potter book was on sale in China, and that they were almost sold out. For $100 she could send Amy 10 copies, and she could "clean-up" selling these advanced copies to her friends. When Frank got involved, things got out of hand. He sent $200 for 20 copies, and the package arrived yesterday. That was the same day that the news came out on the radio. There is no 5^th Harry Potter book out yet. Somebody got fooled, somebody got embarrassed.

As people who want to go to heaven, we must be careful of counterfeit gospels. Paul rebuked the Galatian churches: "I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6-7). A gospel that has been changed is not the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is worthless to us in our attempts to please God and go to heaven.

Jesus told of efforts to counterfeit his work. "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray" (Matt. 24:5). And Paul weighs in again: "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).

The devil’s stock and trade is deception. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof" (John 8:44). Not only is Satan a liar, he is the father of all liars. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15). And even the servants of the devil are often deceived. "But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:13).

Can we be fooled in religion? Do all ministers, preachers, elders, and spiritual leaders tell the truth? The answer, as we can see from these passages, is NO. The question arises, how can we know what is right in religion? Is there some way of distinguishing between the counterfeit and the genuine? Is there a standard by which we may measure the value and truth of the teachings of someone?

"Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). The Jews of the Berean synagogue were complimented because they did not accept the things the apostles taught simply on the basis that they claimed to be apostles. The things that were taught were measured against the scriptures to see if they were the same. This verse is an indication of what our standard is to be. It is to be the scriptures, the inspired word of God.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. … We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:1-6). John warns against counterfeits, and he says the way to determine who is counterfeit is to compare what he says to what John and the apostles say. Of course we cannot know what the apostles said until we read what they wrote, and that is found in the Bible. The Bible is the standard.

"Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). How many passages in the Bible tell us that God’s will is to be found in its pages? How can we know religious truth? God’s word is a revelation of his mind. It is his message to us. It is the ultimate bestowal of truth. It confirms the word of the faithful, it shows the lies of counterfeit.

Poor Frank. He had been suckered into buying all those books only to find out they are worthless. "But wait a minute," I told him. "Because they come from China and are in the news, doesn't that give them some value?"

He told me, "We had a yard sale. We took them to the used book store. We even had them appraised. Goodwill wouldn’t take them. They are worthless! We figured that since we had wasted all that money, maybe we ought to read the book, and get at least that much out of it. So when we opened the box, we saw they weren’t even good for that."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Think about it, Dave," he laughed. "Where were they going to sell these books?"

I answered, "China, of course. Oooooh …" I sighed knowingly.