THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT (part 3)

 

 

E.N. Gross, in his book ‘Miracles, Demons and Spiritual Warfare’, says: "The Charismatic movement now embraces Roman Catholics with a total openness. Basic differences of doctrine no longer seem to matter. Huge Charismatic meetings feature Protestant and Roman Catholic speakers as if there were no difference between them. ‘Tongues’, ‘prophecies’, ‘healings’, abound in such meetings--all with loud united shouts of ‘amen’ and ‘praise Jesus’" (p. 160). Another discerning writer has made the following important observation: "There is a burning need to demonstrate the startling fact that the Charismatic religion of today is not the Christianity of the Bible. There is an analogy here with Roman Catholicism, in the sense that it has enough in common with true Christianity to render it an air of biblical respectability to the untaught and unstable; but once a little research is carried out into its theology and practice, the differences between it and the breadth of biblical truth gape like yawning chasms".

 

If it is the Holy Spirit doling out these experiences to Roman Catholics, how then are we to explain the fact that these people are not being led out of Romanism and renouncing her blasphemous teachings but are becoming more firmly entrenched in her heretical doctrines and practices? They are not being brought out of the miry pit but are being pushed further down into it! They are not only not being told of their error, but what’s worse, the signs and experiences are confirming to them that their beliefs are right and that their doctrine and gospel is nothing but the truth of God. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and our Lord Jesus further states that: "...when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth..." (Jn. 16:13). He would not confirm and establish Roman Catholics, nor anyone else for that matter, in their error. He would not leave any of God’s elect comfortable with anything that is dishonoring to God, including gospels which do not identify the true God, but would lead them out of their error and into the truth of God. The Holy Spirit does not play games with people, He does not deceive people by dispensing experiences which please the heart and body but do nothing for the soul. To walk in error is to live in darkness and lead a life of vanity, for it is unprofitable. The principal work of the Holy Spirit is to lead all of God’s people to God’s truth. The spirit which is guiding the Roman Catholics and Charismatics and filling their lives with experiences, can hardly be accused of giving even a cursory glance to doctrinal matters, but allows both Roman Catholic and Charismatic alike to continue thinking that the darkness they walk in is light.

 

But wait. We need to ask ourselves a very important question at this point: ‘How then can the spirit which is active in both the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements be the Holy Spirit of God when this same spirit, it is agreed, is active amongst Roman Catholics and is leading Charismatics not to point out the flawed doctrines of Roman Catholicism, not to evangelize them, but into an experience-based unity with Roman Catholics and even Mormons through the Promise Keepers movement? If the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements are of God, and in light of the fact that Roman Catholicism is a promulgator of false and misleading doctrines concerning the Lord God, how could they possibly even want to have unity with people who are the carriers and messengers of her appalling doctrines? Scripture puts it this way: "Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?...wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord..." (2 Cor. 6:14,16). The word of God says here that the Christian is not to join himself to those who do not believe the Gospel. They are not to be united in religious fellowship, for there can be no true fellowship between that which is righteous and that which is unrighteous. The charismatics reveal themselves to be anything but Christians by their all too ready and willing approach to unite with Roman Catholics. Scripture says there can be no communion, no intermingling, between light and darkness. According to the Word of God, the only unity that can exist is that between light and light or darkness with darkness. NEVER CAN THERE BE A UNION BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS. The Roman Catholic Church and the Charismatic movement are either both light, or they are both darkness. They cannot be both. And since those involved with both groups do not consider either one darkness, we must assume that both organizations consider each other to be light. But how can this be, when large and contradictory doctrinal differences exist between the two and neither one preaches the Gospel? The only right conclusion that can be reached is that both these colossal religious empires are nothing at all but darkness, hence the passionate and very comfortable union that exists between the two. Far from advocating unity between those who believe the truth and those who do not, God states clearly that His people are to come out of, they are to separate themselves from, those who do not believe His Gospel, and have no religious fellowship with those who adhere to doctrines of darkness: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine (the doctrine of Christ), receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2 Jn. 10,11). The reality of the situation is that the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement’s zeal in joining with Romanism shows, in no uncertain way, that they themselves do not know the truth, they do not preach THE Gospel, and so cannot recognize the profound evil of the doctrines that Romanism, not to mention that of their own movements, promote. They cannot discern the fact that so many of Romanism’s practices are, far from being Christian, a blatantly blasphemous continuation of pagan rites and God-dishonoring ceremonies and man-made traditions. If there is one thing the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements lack, it is the spiritual discernment which comes from being a true Gospel believing born again Christian. These movements are steeped in ignorance and immaturity, and the fervor shown by them in joining hands with just about any as long as they are enjoying the same experiences, is proof positive that they have NOT the Holy Spirit in them.

 

Jesus Christ said that the Holy Spirit, Whom He called ‘the Spirit of Truth’ three times in the Gospel of John, would guide God’s people into all truth. Evidently, the spirit at work in both the Charismatic movement and the Roman Catholic Church CANNOT be the Holy Spirit, for this counterfeit is not guiding people into all truth, but is leading them to believe in false and contradictory gospels, encouraging fellowship with error and leading people into a false unity: a unity made up of a perverted idea of love and unbiblical experiences rather than the biblical unity that has always been based on what God says the truth is. According to this, those involved in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements cannot be of God for they are not being led to His truth, because the spirit that guides them is as ignorant of it as they are!! It is not only blind men who lead the blind, but blind spirits who lead men into a deeper, darker and ever increasing fog of spiritual darkness. The only time the Holy Spirit is present in a Charismatic, Pentecostal or Roman Catholic person’s life is when He is leading them OUT of those movements and into God’s glorious truth.

 

Disciples of both groups, some of whom may be elect and who will therefore eventually come out of their error and into the Gospel of Christ, need to be made aware of the fact that doctrine cannot be laid aside because of an overwhelming desire to unite at any cost. This does not honor God, it is not something which is God-authored. To lay doctrine aside is to ignore what God has said and replacing it with what is perceived to be what God is doing. But the principal way to discern whether it is God at work is to focus on what is being taught. If it is the Gospel it is of God, but if it is not the Gospel, then whatever occurs, however stupendous the works, signs, miracles or whatever, IT CANNOT BE GOD! Doctrine distinguishes, doctrine identifies, the god/God one worships. Doctrine is like a spiritual X-ray which either identifies the true God or a false one. Doctrine is that which teaches a person the details of the god/God it promotes. This desire for unity at all costs, especially at the expense of doctrinal truth, is not supported by Scripture. It is anti-scripture because it ignores the truth and replaces it with good feelings. It transports people from spiritual reality to sensual illusion. True biblical unity, the kind of unity that God Almighty is the Author of, is and can only ever be, based on sincerity and truth!!! "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood..." (Josh. 24:14). Any other kind of ‘unity’ is not merely a poor substitute initiated by man, it is a dangerous one. True unity is bound by sincerity AND truth. False, or counterfeit, unity is bound by sincerity and anything but truth! Those who have no love of the truth—real truth, not merely what a person perceives to be truth— will perish (see 2 Thess. 2:10). The true followers of God not only continued in prayer and mutual kindness and love with one another, but "...in the apostles’ doctrine..." (Acts 2:42), and in no other. To be a Christian is to believe the truth and reject all that opposes and contradicts it. The true Christian, rather than joining with those who abide in false doctrines, remaining ignorant or still worse, silent about them, is commanded to avoid such people and not to fellowship with them at all, for what fellowship can light have with darkness? In being commanded that they not fellowship with those who abide in error it is patently obvious that the true Christian can discern the error of false christians and the truth of God. True Christians do not mix with error but have the discernment to recognise it and avoid all those involved with it. Just as God has divided the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4), so too, He has divided, or separated, His people from those who are not His people. Let darkness abide with darkness, for light never has, it never shall, and it will never want to! Paul states clearly in Romans 16:17,18: "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple". Do not join with those who have a different doctrine but AVOID THEM, for those that hold dear false doctrine, who have embraced a counterfeit gospel, do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ!!! Paul the apostle spoke to the Galatians about their days as lost people before they knew and loved the Gospel of God, in the following way: "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods" (Gal. 4:8 cf. Matt. 7:23; Rom. 10:14). Before one knows the Lord, before one trusts in the true Christ, before one is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, one does not know, and therefore does not serve and consequently does not experience, God. Paul speaks of it only being possible to trust Christ "...AFTER that ye heard the word of truth, THE GOSPEL of your salvation..." (Eph. 1:13). Neither Roman Catholics, Charismatics or Pentecostals are profiting one iota from their union, for the spirit which guides them has not lead them, nor is he leading them, into truth. He is not revealing to them the Gospel of Almighty God and cannot therefore be the Holy Spirit of God, Who does not lead His people to believe in differing gospels but in the only Gospel that God testifies to and saves by.

 

The sight of the Charismatic movement and the Roman Catholic Church merging ever closer by the minute and, though disagreeing on certain doctrinal issues, warmly welcoming the dark spirit which is leading them deeper into ecumenical matrimony, demonstrates that it is indeed one and the same spirit at work in them both, but that it is NOT the Holy Spirit. The fact that both groups are leading people into error and a false gospel clearly demonstrates that these blind movements are being led by a blind spirit which is not nor ever has been the Holy Spirit of God, but a foul counterfeit. A counterfeit which is expert in titillating and soothing the senses of man and which relishes the opportunity to feed his insatiable urge to see and feel and experience and unite. The Lord Jesus spoke of just such a generation in Matthew 12:39: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign..." A unity in the name of God which is not centred on the truth of God, the Gospel of God, is an obscenity!! Rather than joining such people to God, this unity is further separating them from God! To have a man-forced unity now based on experiences, rather than await the true unity which only Jesus Christ can bring, is truly the work of an evil and adulterous generation, inspired and led by the Devil himself.

 

God’s Holy Word states that the Christian’s walk is one of faith, not of sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Their path is illuminated by the word of God and leads to Him. It is not some dark and dingy weed infested track that leads away from God. God has chosen to speak to His people in these last days through His Incarnate Word (Heb. 1:1,2), not through signs and wonders. The signs and wonders of the Bible were used to make it clear that what was being taught was the very truth of God. The signs and wonders are no longer necessary as the Authority, the Word of God, has been established. It is in the Holy Scriptures where you will find true experience with God, not in some flesh-pleasing titillation manufactured by the mind or by some unclean spirit, which leads to error. The Christian’s life begins with the Gospel. No one ever became a Christian whilst in ignorance of the Gospel, which testifies to the real God. Every Christian is born of the Gospel of God and no other. No believer starts his Christian life believing any other gospel but God’s Gospel, for the faith he is given by God believes no other Gospel but the Gospel of God. Before one is led to truth, one resides in error. Every Christian believes the same Gospel. Not a gospel which merely names the name of Christ, but the Gospel of God which testifies of the one, true Christ—Who He is and what He has done and for whom He has done it. The Gospel which honors Christ and does not spread lies about Him. No matter the quantity or quality of one’s experiences, no matter how sincere a person may be, there can be no salvation for those who do not hold to, and abide in, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul stated in his letter to the Galatians that no matter what experience, even if it was an angel from heaven presenting itself to them, who brought with him another gospel which differed from the one Paul had been given by God and had relayed to them, they were to consider that one accursed of God rather than a magnifier of His Word: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8). If even an angel, not a counterfeit mind you, but a real angel from God’s heaven, were to come to a man, he should not be overawed and immediately presume that all the angel would cause him to experience and all that the angel would say to him was truth. The thing that made all the difference, that thing which matters most of all is not that an angel appeared before you, but ‘did the angel preach God’s Gospel?’ The fatal mistake that all Charismatics make is in allowing themselves to be overawed by experiences whilst paying scant regard to what is being taught. IF IT IS NOT GOD’S GOSPEL BEING TAUGHT, THEN TO HELL WITH THE EXPERIENCES!!! If even an angel’s gospel is not God’s Gospel, it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the angel is accursed and not at all of God. Now, if even an angel is to be considered accursed of God if he brings with him another gospel, how much more a movement filled with people who do nothing but promote another gospel, who have placed their trust in another god? People who believe, as well as those who teach, false gospels, the Scriptures say, have not God: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, HATH NOT GOD. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, HE hath both the Father and the Son" (2 Jn. 9). Doctrine determines deity. False doctrine teaches false deities and only the true Gospel teaches and reveals the true and only Deity!

 

In John’s first Letter, chapter 4 and verse 1, we see the Holy Spirit’s instruction to "...believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world". A vast number of professing christians today do not adhere to this Godly edict. They do not question, they do not make inquiry, but merely accept that if an experience is real and reaps seemingly beneficial results, it must be of God, especially if it has occurred in a religious environment. This gives credibility in their minds to whatever ‘church’ one has had the experience in and the teachings that ‘church’ promotes. "This must be from God and the people promoting it must be of God, because what I have experienced has helped me ‘get closer to God" is the flawed logic of such ‘thinkers’. But if it is not the Gospel of God that is being taught, how then can it be the true God Whom they are getting close to? People who think like this have only a superficial understanding of reality. They are pragmatists in that if they experience something that makes them feel good, they conclude that it must be good and therefore, to the religiously inclined, of God. They never stop to think that this is exactly how the followers of other religions of the world think. Hindus and Mormons and Muslims and Buddhists all believe that their positive experiences are further confirmation that they have the true God! But the Scriptures teach that right doctrine is the confirming sign that one is of God and has God (see 2 Jn. 9). Everyone has ‘positive’ experiences during the course of their religious lives, but none of these experiences are on what the true Christian bases the fact that he has the true God. The true Christian lives by faith, not by feeling. It matters not if one has a lifetime of positive experiences, for if the doctrine is wrong, if the gospel is not God’s Gospel, then it cannot be God Whom you follow, it cannot be God Whom you worship and it cannot be God Who is providing the experiences.

 

The exuberant, albeit infantile, ‘reasoning’ adopted by the Charismatics is: "If Roman Catholics are having the same experiences as we are, then praise God! God must be blessing the Roman Catholics!! See, they must be true Christians and their teachings mustn’t be all that bad because God is blessing them with the Holy Spirit. Doctrine must not really matter after all, but it is the condition of the heart that is all important". Such people fail to realise that Scripture calls the heart of man "...deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked..." (Jer. 17:9). The person who thinks this way never stops for a moment to consider the possibility that God couldn’t possibly be behind all this activity, for the Roman Catholics believe lies and teach heresies and follow a Church which declares accursed those who believe that salvation is by faith alone, by grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone. The Roman Catholic Council of Trent, whose declarations were all confirmed by Vatican Council II, declared: "If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than faith in the Divine compassion forgiving our sins for the sake of Christ, or that this faith alone is that by which we are justified, let him be anathema (accursed)". How could any true Christian, upon learning this fact about Rome, possibly believe that the Holy Spirit is blessing that establishment, and how could they stand and remain side-by-side, arms interlocked, with people who belong to such an organization who are obviously led and fed by a lying spirit, an unholy spirit rather than the Holy Spirit of God? Furthermore, how could they honestly consider the Charismatic or Pentecostal movements as being of God when the spirit guiding these movements is leading them directly into an unashamed and unrepentant union with the mother of all spiritual and doctrinal harlots: the Roman Catholic Church! The Charismatics’ ongoing union with Roman Catholics reveals that they are as ignorant of the true God and His Gospel as is the Roman Catholic. GET OUT of the Roman Catholic Church; GET OUT of the Charismatic movement; GET OUT of the Pentecostal movement and get into "...the General Assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven..." (Heb. 12:23), who all believe in the only Gospel God has ever spoken, and repent of ever believing that any other gospel could save.

 

Those people who refuse the truth have no love of the truth. They all claim to love the truth but have no discernment of the truth! They claim to love the truth but when presented with it, they reject it as the truth! Their heads are buried in the sands of error. Their ears and eyes and mouth are all clogged by the grains of falsity. They can neither hear, see or speak the truth of God. "The true Holy Spirit’s voice is unheard in the unity uproar emanating from the ‘spirit experience’." What is truly curious is the fact that "Never in all the flourishing maze of charismatic literary works, do the writers ever stop to examine the spirit experience as the apostle wrote: ‘...believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world’ (1 Jn. 4:1)." Not one book has ever been published by the Charismatic movement which examines and exposes the counterfeit prophets and signs that would come in the last days. You see, they could never produce such a work, for if they did present a proper study of today’s perversion of the genuine biblical gifts, they would be exposing their own movement. So loud the silence...

 

It is clear that the same spirit working within the Charismatic movement, and whom Charismatics have trusted in for decades, has lead them into fellowship with another domain of darkness. But if it is leading them deeper into spiritual darkness, how could it have EVER been the Holy Spirit that they have followed? What a deception has befallen those who are still so convinced that what they are experiencing is the great move of God in these last days! This same spirit is not guiding Roman Catholics into all truth by charismatic experiences, but deeper into the heresies of Romanism. Both peoples are grossly deceived to the point they are quite delusional in thinking that what they are experiencing is from God and that they themselves are of God. Now, to call anyone deceived does not mean that we have reduced our argument to a personal level, that we are taking a personal swipe at them. We say these people are deceived because we love God and we want to see truth prosper in their hearts. We want to preach the Gospel to them and see them enjoying the real truth of God, and not the many counterfeit gospels of these last days. We are tired of seeing people deceived by the counterfeit forms of Christianity that exist in our day, which have no doctrinal substance but only subjective experiences to offer their followers, and wish only to present the facts to all so that all will have a proper understanding of the Word of God. We are also very concerned over the fact that the Holy name of God continues to be aligned with the lying wonders and false gospels of erroneous groups such as the Charismatic movement and Roman Catholicism, and that the world continues to associate God with the spiritually psychotic world of experiences and false teachings that spew forth from the Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

 

Again, the spirit behind these groups is not the Holy Spirit of God but is the unholy spirit of Satan. It is God’s Spirit Who guides His people to the truth, and it is Satan’s foul spirit that guides people into false gospels and causes them to ignore doctrinal discrepancies by distracting them through sensual experiences. God’s elect need to, and will, come out of the Roman Catholic Church and the Charismatic movement, according to Revelation 18:4, "...that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues". Proverbs 19:27 states: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge". Any of God’s elect in these movements need to hear the Gospel and believe it, and remove themselves from the experiences they have undergone, and repent of the doctrines and false gospel they have believed and for ever having thought that whilst believing such lies they were Christians. Believe AND repent, is the Scriptural cry. The line has been clearly marked out. Will you continue to follow the spirit which is at work in the Charismatic movement and the Roman Catholic Church or will you give truth a chance, will you listen to the Gospel and follow the Holy Spirit Who has led many out of these groups and guided them into all truth? We exhort Roman Catholics and Charismatics alike to remove their Roman Catholic/Charismatic tinted glasses and study the Word of God objectively, and enjoy the ultimate experience: the TRUTH!

 

It is important to remember that people need to be very careful before they start making allegations that people such as this author are biased against the Charismatics; that we have some hidden agenda – to oppose the Charismatic movement at all costs, by hook or by crook; that hatred towards those involved in the majority groups of professing christendom, and not love for God and His truth, is the motivating factor that drives us. That, my friends, is the form of judging that the Bible warns against. We are not to judge the motives of men, but it is imperative that we judge—put to the test—their teachings and what they claim is of God, for the Bible directs us to do so. This, of course, includes the proper biblical testing of what this author has written. You’ll note that throughout this book, we have not once judged a person’s motives. We have in fact mentioned the sincerity of many who are involved in the Charismatic movement. We say nothing against the people, but only point out the errors of the establishment they have chosen to follow and the false gospel which they embrace, and the fact that Scripture pronounces such people accursed because they do not believe the Gospel of the grace of God. If you cannot stomach that, my friends, if you cannot stand the examination by Scripture of the teachings and practices of a man or movement you follow, if you cannot abide the possibility that you are wrong and that the gospel you follow is a false one that has never saved anyone, and that you are currently in a lost state, then you are amongst the saddest of all people. You have an idol in your life. Fear is your taskmaster and you have yet to be made free by the truth of God. We do not say these things to put you down but in an effort to lift you up by making you aware of things you are currently ignorant of and that you might turn to the true Gospel and believe it. Those who are not of the truth attack the truth, as did Saul the Pharisee, all the while thinking that they are the ones who have the truth. But when Paul was made free by the truth he embraced it, and turned his back on all that he was and knew. ‘Hang the consequences’ was his attitude, for Paul could now see that all that matters in this life is the truth of God (see Phil. 3). Incidentally, the Bible teaches that the Christian is to judge all things by the standard of the written Word of God. Paul said: "...he that is spiritual judgeth all things..." (1Cor. 2:15 cf. Rom. 6:17).

 

 

PROPHECIES, HEALINGS, TONGUES AND THE SLAYING...

 

A very quick, effective and simple method, or test if you will, of discovering—if one is not yet fully convinced—whether the Charismatic movement is of God or not, apart from a scriptural examination of the gospel it teaches, is to scrutinise its claims to the miraculous. Now, the good deeds of the movement, the missions it conducts throughout the world and related works, are really no evidence to prove that its origin is of God, or that it is preaching the Gospel of God, for numerous other erroneous groups such as Freemasonry and cults like the Roman Catholic Church, Mormons and the J.W.’s, have covered the globe with ‘good works’ and yet we know this is no evidence that any of these groups, and all that occurs within them, is of God. It is interesting that so many happily, and without protest, judge overtly non-Christian organizations such as the J.W.’s and Mormons by the doctrines they teach, but the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements are said to be of God because of the experiences people are enjoying and how loudly the name of Jesus is praised. If their doctrines are scrutinized, those performing the examination are accused of not being loving and of causing disunity.

 

The Charismatic movement claims that it is the Holy Spirit of God Who works through it and supplies the ‘prophetic’ words and miraculous works that its leaders and followers utter and perform. Also claimed are the many instances of the casting out of demons, of healings, and the much treasured and sought after gift of ‘speaking in tongues’. To say that all such instances are in reality not occurring, but are merely a case of mass hypnosis or a result of psychological manipulation, is to speak as a fool. No one can deny that, whether by the power of suggestion or by supernatural forces, something is definitely happening in the Charismatic movement. The question we need to ask ourselves is: ‘Is it actually God who is responsible for all this activity?’ A resounding NO can be our only conclusion after we have examined closely, in light of God’s Word of Truth, the claims, and in particular, the types of manifestations occurring today within the Charismatic movement.

 

PROPHECY - A prophet of God, as may be observed in both Old and New Testaments, was a man chosen by God to be His mouthpiece. The words that a true prophet spoke were God’s very own words; they were true and pure and without error. When a prophet spoke in the Scriptures, his words were preceded by the term, "Thus saith the Lord" (1 Sam. 10:18; 1 Kings 14:7; Isa. 66:12; Jer. 5:14; Ezek. 13:3). When a prophet of God spoke, it was in reality the Lord speaking and not the mere words of a man. The prophet was God’s spokesman in that he would not utter his own words but the very words of God, and so it was guaranteed that his words were infallible. When a prophet of God spoke, he was not moved by his own heart but by inspiration of the Holy Sprit (Acts 11:27,28; 21:11). The things that a prophet of God uttered always came to pass, down to the very last and finest detail. The prophecies were as accurate and precise as anything God had ever said, for they were His words and not man’s words. They were 100% accurate 100% of the time. They had to be, for anyone claiming to be a prophet of God who proceeded to speak forth prediction which was found to be faulty, even in the smallest detail, was to be stoned to death. No God-fearing man would ever dare proclaim himself to be a ‘prophet of God’ if he was not 100% certain it was in fact God who had called him and given him the words to speak (see Deut. 12, 13 & 18). I dare say, there would be substantially fewer men eager to promote themselves as the Lord’s prophets today were this law still in effect!

 

The prophecies we see emanating from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, from leaders such as David Wilkerson and from Faith movement identities such as Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard-Browne and Benny Hinn, and which may be heard on most Sunday’s in Charismatic churches for example, are very unlike the prophecies found in the New Testament. The main reason being, that not all the prophecies of these so-called prophets come true. They are riddled with error, inaccuracies and imperfections, showing conclusively that the words being uttered by these so-called, self-appointed and self-proclaimed ‘prophets’, are not God’s words at all and that these men cannot therefore be God’s prophets. This is confirmed by the fact that none of them preach God’s Gospel. Now, these facts cannot and must not be overlooked if we are to consider ourselves serious students of the Bible and objective examiners of the Charismatic movement’s claims. So many today claim a love for the truth but refuse to examine the people or movements they follow for fear of committing the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So many today claim to love the truth but when they are presented with the genuine article, recognize it as anything but the truth and want nothing to do with it, and cast a wary eye on those who teach it. The only time they ever stumble at believing something is when they are presented with the truth. Then suddenly they become examiners and testers of what they are hearing, and with an incorrect method of examination they rule the teaching false. They never see the errors of their own ways, their own beliefs, but only those which they perceive exist in those who have the real truth.

 

Today’s prophets of God, or secondary prophets, as they are termed, do not claim Word authority for their message from God. That is, these individuals claim to speak God’s inspired Word yet curiously do not declare it to be without error! Amazingly, they openly admit that their prophecies from God contain some element of error! And even more incredibly, that which would once have brought about the stoning to death of professing prophets—any admission of error in their prophecies—is now seen as adding credibility, honesty and even validity to a man’s claims to be a prophet of God! The so-called prophecies of such charlatans, it is said, are to be accepted as a mixed-phenomenon where the human spirit with all it’s imperfection combines with God’s Holy Spirit in all His perfection. They claim that in our era, due to man’s weakness, as opposed to that of the Bible prophets, this kind of prophesying is imperfect. They tell us that their prophecy truly reveals something from the Lord but does not have the infallibility of Scripture! But surely, if it is something coming from the Lord, it MUST HAVE the same infallibility of Scripture, for Scripture is of the Lord! The Bible states that "...the truths which the prophets communicated were not originated by themselves; were not of their own suggestion or invention; were not their own opinions, but were of higher origin, and were imparted by God..." The proof of this was always seen in their infallibility! The apostle Peter states clearly that no true prophecy could contain any error whatsoever: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:20, 21). The context of these two verses is highlighted by the very next verse which states "But there were false prophets also among the people..." (2 Pet. 2:1). False prophets were obviously not holy men of God and consequently were not moved by the Holy Spirit at all, but by their own hearts. Their so called prophecies were inspired by the will of man and not the Holy Spirit of God. How could anyone moved by the Holy Spirit to speak forth the words of God possibly speak any error? And how could such words be any less infallible as those which God had previously spoken such as those recorded in the Scriptures? The Bible certainly contains no evidence of any of God’s prophets uttering anything less than the perfect word of God, whereas the Charismatic movement is literally running over with such ‘prophets’!

 

Popular charismatic identities, Dennis and Rita Bennett, have commented, "A man may be strongly used in the prophetic office, and yet may be completely wrong from time to time" (‘The Holy Spirit and You’, p. 106). Not partially wrong mind you but completely wrong!! What new novelty is this that a prophet of God can NOW not only be recognized as one who unerringly speaks forth truth but one whose predictions are from time to time COMPLETELY WRONG!!! Put simply, the claim is this: God inspires the message, but it is not 100% true and is not equal with Scripture! What is even more outrageous in light of all this is the fact that many times, these secondary prophets have the utter audacity to preface their so-called messages from God with the phrase, ‘Thus saith the Lord’, thus directly attributing error to God! Another charismatic, Wayne Grudem, author of ‘The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today’, believes that prophets today speak messages revealed to them supernaturally from God. Yet he believes these messages may not always be completely accurate. What then is the difference between such men and those professional tele-psychics who claim to be hearing messages from dearly departed loved ones, but who often provide spurious information? Unfortunately, Mr. Grudem never answers the obvious question his position raises: How can any message revealed by God contain even a trace of error? IF IT IS FROM GOD THEN IT MUST BE OF GOD AND MUST THEREFORE BY DEFINITION BE FREE FROM ERROR. False prophecy, by definition, CANNOT be from God. (To learn more about false prophets and the true, ask for the author’s book, ‘Energy of Deceit’.) Those so-called ‘prophets’ whose messages contained any error at all are described clearly in the Scriptures: "Then the Lord said unto me, ‘The prophets prophesy lies in My name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." (Jer. 14:14). Here we see that God calls so-called prophecies which do not come to pass, or contain any error at all, LIES!! Now how are you going to recognize prophets who speak lies in God’s name? Obviously by the error, inaccuracies and imperfections their ‘prophecies’ contain. True prophecy was always fulfilled. This is because it was always without error and supernaturally inspired by God. It was God speaking. Though God has used imperfect and fallible men to mediate His message, He has never failed to deliver it intact and without error. Otherwise, even God’s prophecies would not be immune to error and therefore would be no different to those imaginations of men. God’s Word and Will would be subject to man’s imperfect and sinful state. Everything would then be at the mercy of man’s sinfulness and not at all influenced by, or subject to, the will of an Almighty God. How ridiculous! But if this were so, then how do Charismatics explain the fact that all of Scripture is without error and that it records not one instance of a prophet of God uttering one single thing that did not come to pass entirely as prophesied? There is only one kind of genuine prophecy, and that is the true prophecy that is without error and totally inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is God’s Words that are being breathed out. They are the words that come to us by God’s mouth: "...prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21). Obviously, this verse teaches that the complete fulfilment of that which a prophet from God spoke was due to the fact that he spoke as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. There has yet to be found a scripture which says that in the last days, true prophets of God would be any different.

 

There is only ONE other kind of prophecy according to Scripture, and that is the false kind. The kind that does not come true, or only partially comes true, or only on occasion comes to pass. Anyone can make a series of predictions and have some of them come true. No doubt even some of the horoscopes in the daily papers achieve some level of accuracy some of the time, or they would not be so avidly read by millions the world over. This is precisely how we are to distinguish the true from the false when it comes to prophecy. The false prophet speaks his own words, which are unreliable; the true prophet speaks forth God’s Words, which ALWAYS come to pass ALL OF THE TIME IN THEIR ENTIRETY! Prophecies like this have only one source: God. Jeremiah 23:16 says, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, listen not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord." God does not deal in a mixture of the false and true. There is no darkness in Him. God is Light. God is Truth. Light is a pure thing, as is truth. They are not mixed with anything else, but are perfect. Such is God, and such is His Word, even when uttered by imperfect men. Prophecies from God are no different to the Word of God, and both are defined and recognized by the fact that neither contain any error whatsoever. One of the reasons it is so difficult for people to be convinced that the one they are listening to is, in reality, a false prophet, is the fact that the person claims to be a Christian and is always lauding and praising ‘God’. What a person, especially a Charismatic person, needs to get over is the fact that false christians don’t often appear as false christians, but look like the real thing. They must learn to put personalities aside and the dangerous practice of judging by appearance and all apparent sincere claims to being Christian, and objectively examine what the person is teaching and/or ‘prophesying’, and cease taking people at face value. How can anyone, in these last days especially, risk taking anyone at face value without a thorough examination of what they believe or teach, when Scripture clearly warns of wolves who would appear as sheep?

 

The Charismatic prophets of today are obscure in their declarations. Their prophecies are, for the most part, very general in content, unlike the prophecies of the Bible, which were characterized and distinguished by the high level of detail they contained and their 100% fulfillment. Many so-called ‘prophets’ in Charismatic assemblies today use King James English so that their proclamations will sound more authentic and authoritative. Nevertheless, not all of today’s ‘prophecies’ come true. Some only partially come to pass, and some not at all, whilst others are completely opposite to that which ends up occurring! They are no different to the worthless dribble that many deluded people pay attention to in the daily horoscopes that appear in many newspapers and weekly magazines, or from the mouths of mediums and gypsies alike. And yet millions of people continue to pay attention to such verbal diarrhoea!!

 

Anyone can make predictions and achieve some level of success, and even, on occasion, pin-point accuracy. But what set apart a prophet of God from the false prophet was that ALL that issued forth from his mouth was accurate down to the finest detail. Of course this HAD to be the case, for the prophet was not speaking his own words but the very words of God Himself. Any error present was a sign that such a ‘prophet’ was not of God, and he was immediately to be stoned to death: "But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die....When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deut. 18:20,22 cf. Deut. 13:5).

 

HEALINGS - The principal characteristics that were synonymous with genuine and miraculous healings from God according to the Bible, was that when Jesus Christ or the apostles or the seventy spoke or laid hands on any, the person was ALWAYS healed, and their particular disease or demon DID NOT EVER return to them. As with genuine prophecy, true healings from God were 100% pure and free from any deficiency. These signs were the distinguishing marks that separated a true healing from God from the many false healings that occurred at the hands of pretenders and charlatans. All such healings attended the preaching of the Gospel and never false gospels. Any failure of success was proof positive that the signs were not coming from the true God, and that the gospel being preached was anything but the Gospel of God.

 

There was never such a thing as a partial healing, or one that took place gradually over several weeks, for this would not be demonstrative of a miracle having occurred. Nor was there ever an instance, as is so common today, where a person was healed, only to have the sickness return after a short while. Nor was there ever a case in Scripture where someone laid hands on a person, or spoke a word to them, and they were not healed. Many today, who are sincere in seeking healing, have someone pray over them and lay hands upon them and are then taught to ‘claim’ a healing from the Lord, despite the fact that nothing has occurred, nor does anything ever eventuate from the ‘healing’. Not once in all the pages of Scripture do we read of such utter lunacy.

 

In comparing true biblical healings with those occurring in the Charismatic churches of today, we see a vast difference. Some might say, ‘Yes, but that was Jesus’ or ‘They were the apostles and we’re not as great as they were’. But wait a minute. Jesus said that it was the Father in Him that performed the works (see Jn. 14:10); it was also by God’s power that the apostles were able to heal (see Acts 3:12,13), and so it stands to reason that anyone claiming to be a healer from God in our day must also be performing the healings through the power of God. What has the healer got to do with the success of a healing when it is God doing the healing? And don’t most of today’s so-called ‘healers’ say that their ‘healings’ are not being performed by them, but by God? Isn’t that what is being claimed by those in the Charismatic movement? Well then, why aren’t today’s healings identical to the type of healings found in the Bible? If it is the same God of the Bible performing the works, why the discrepancy? Charismatics are very fond of quoting Hebrews 13:8—a verse they actually misuse—which says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. If they insist that their healings are coming from God, they could not possibly use this verse to defend their claim, for it is obvious to all that the ‘healings’ occurring in the Charismatic movement are not the same as those found in the New Testament. And if they are not on a par with New Testament healings, they cannot be God’s healings. Where is the biblical evidence that today’s healings and prophecies are to be different to those found in the Bible? And again, what of Hebrews 13:8, which the Charismatics insist means that Jesus does the same things today that He did in the past, and in the same way??

 

The so-called charismatic healings of today are so unlike those found in the Bible as to clearly render them counterfeits. Today’s charismatic healings, as is the case with the ‘healings’ of secular faith healers and the faith healers, witch doctors and priestly healers of the world’s religions, are very different from the healings recorded for us in the Bible. These are the types of healings that the charismatic healings are identical to and indistinguishable from. They are not compatible with the healings of the Bible. They are not coming from God.

 

Again, today not every healing lasts. Not every person who is prayed over and who has hands laid upon them receives a healing. Some receive a partial healing only to see the disease return, and in some cases with increased severity. In such cases, the person’s faith, or lack of it, is blamed and it is never the fault of the ‘healer’. Many other reasons—or should we say excuses—are given to fill up the cracks, nay, chasms, in the multitude of cases when healing occurs partially or not at all, something that is a prominent feature of the Charismatic movement. Some would argue, "But what about the healings that do occur, where a person is cured and they remain cured of their ailment for the rest of their lives?" Again, we refer the reader to the fact that there are many such healings among pagan tribes, white witchcraft and new age cults of the world. They, too, experience sporadic success in their healings, but this does not mean that God is supporting their pagan teachings, and therefore that God is the one performing the healings. If none of their ‘healings’ worked, these religions would lose many, if not most, of their followers. The ‘healings’ that are occurring in religions and cults are nothing but deception. They appear to be real, but the people are simply being played for fools by demons who were allowed by God to bring about the symptoms of a disease or ailment and then simply removed them from such people, leaving them with an apparent healing but, unbeknownst to them, further entrenched in false gospels. Satan could not care less how much you ‘praise God’ or how moral a lifestyle you lead. As long as you hold to a false gospel, which teaches a false god, Satan is more than pleased for you to go on the way you are. What Satan wants is not to stop you leading a moral lifestyle, not even a religious lifestyle, but from hearing and believing the Gospel of God. Nothing pleases him more than deceiving a person, by false signs and lying wonders, into thinking they are Christian when they are not, or thinking they have the true God but do not. True Godly miracles and healings always and only accompanied the true preaching of His Word, and were never manifested in the midst of the promotion of false gospels and the like. What the Charismatic should be concentrating on is not whether out of 100 or 200 attempted healings a handful seem to produce results, but the fact that when 100 or 200 healings were attempted in the Bible, they ALL produced the desired result. 100% success and accuracy is the minimum requirement for a healing or prophecy to be of God. Any presence of hit-and-miss miracles etc., is evidence that God is not involved. Any absence of the Gospel of God is also evidence that God is not involved.

 

‘Not enough faith’ is perhaps the most often heard reason given for a failed attempt at healing. So many sincere people have become so disillusioned with ‘God’ because of their belief in the Charismatic movement’s false and blasphemous claims that her healers are operating under the power of God, and any healing that fails is the fault of the person and their lack of faith or some unconfessed sin. Conveniently, for the ‘healer’ and the movement he represents, this means that an unsuccessful healing is never the healer’s fault. No one can ever justly point a finger at him and so he remains untouchable, immune from any accusation of fraudulent activity. A high level of faith was not a prerequisite for healing in the Bible. One man, in Mark 9:24, asked the Lord, "...Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief". This man obviously had faith but he also had doubts, and yet the demon was cast out of his child (verse 25).

 

Others say that there was a time when even Jesus could not heal because of the people’s unbelief. Matthew 13:58 tells us, "And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief".This verse is not telling us that Jesus could not do any mighty works there, but that He did not do many mighty works there. The reason for this is revealed in the context of the passage whence this verse is found. "...it would have been useless to the great purposes of His mission to have worked miracles there. We are not to suppose that His power was limited by the belief, or unbelief of men. But they were so prejudiced, so set against Him, that they were not in a condition to judge of evidence, and to be convinced. They would have charged it to derangement, or sorcery or the agency of the Devil, compare John 10:20: ‘And many of them said, ‘He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye Him?’" These people also knew His family, and Jesus did say that a prophet was not without honour except in his own country (see Matt. 13:55-57). The people would not believe Jesus could do these things because He came from their midst. Familiarity breeds contempt.

 

Dear Charismatic, imagine you had been alive in the days of Jesus and had been an eye witness to His marvellous miracles and healings, and someone was to say to you one day that Jesus Christ was close by prophesying and performing healings, and upon inviting you to join them to go and see, you did so gladly. Only, not long after arriving at the scene you noticed something very strange. Unlike the healings and signs you had previously observed, you could see that on this occasion only some people were receiving healing when prayed for or when having hands laid on them and only some prophecies were coming true. Although the man performing these hit-and-miss signs certainly looked like Jesus and was not saying anything against God, you would have been right to flee that scene for you could clearly see that these signs were not like the signs you had previously witnessed the real Jesus perform. Today, a true Bible-believing Christian would also flee such a scene, for these would not be the signs of God Almighty, and the people performing these ‘signs’ would not be doing them in the power of God, for when the power of God was present everyone got healed, and every demon was expelled, and every prophecy came true, and every miracle worked. The charismatic today has been mesmerized, by a slick and fancy religious setting, into believing that the signs happening around them, whilst not being exactly the same as those in the Bible, actually are the same! That they are at once different and also the same. True Christians, who know what the true Gospel is, would also flee any scene where a preacher stood up and began to preach a different gospel to God’s saving Gospel. False signs and lying wonders, and not Godly ones, are what is happening in Charismatic churches today.

 

Today’s signs are not God’s signs. The fingerprints of Satan are all over these counterfeit signs, which are always accompanied by false gospels and which the Bible prophesied would be the signs synonymous with the last apostate days of this age (see Matt. 24:24). Why then do so many still flock to Charismatic meetings? Why then are so many people still involved in a movement that performs the same ‘hit and miss’ signs indiscernible from those that are occurring in any of the other false religions of the world? The main reason is that these ‘signs’ are being done in the name of Jesus Christ. His name is being lauded and He is being praised with rousing, emotion charged, music. And sadly, for so many, this is all they need to convince them that they are in a Christian environment. Have you, the Charismatic, ever stopped to think what a counterfeit christian assembly would do other than the very things occurring in your own ‘churches’? False christian groups don’t stand up in unison shouting, ‘Cursed be Christ’, for, rather than being counterfeit christians, they would obviously be antichristians. The wolf must not only say he is a sheep, he must also look and sound like a sheep!!

 

So many pastors, writers and preachers seem hesitant, even afraid, to call the proponents of these hit-and-miss signs pretenders and charlatans, false christians who know not the Gospel and therefore know not God. Now we are not saying that every self-proclaimed prophet and healer is intentionally defrauding people, but this does not deny the fact that they are all deceiving the people and leading them astray by their false teachings and lying wonders. These men who come in the Lord’s name and proclaim that ‘Jesus is Lord’ are exactly who Jesus and the writers of the New Testament warned would come and that the last days would see a veritable plague of false prophets, false christs, false signs and lying wonders, and according to Matthew 7, these signs and wonders would be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and would deceive many: "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt. 7:15); "For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matt. 24:5); "For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders..." (Matt. 24:24); "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:30). It is beyond irony that those who cannot see, who have no Gospel Light to guide them, have interpreted this monstrous mess as ‘revival’: the buzz word amongst Charismatics. It is a true proverb which states ‘those will never see who will not see’.