You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘contemplative spirituality’ category.
This was taken from the International House of Prayer’s website.
*****
4/18/11 update
I see that the link below has been broken and that IHOP has pulled this information from their site. If another link can be found I will post it. Please know that this was copied word for word from their site.
*****
| Contemplative Prayer—–Communing with the Holy Spirit who lives within you
I. Know He Lives Inside of You
II. Pray the Scripture
The goal is to search for the Spirit of Jesus in the Word and have depth, not necessarily length, in understanding the passage. Jesus is the Word (John 1) and we want to know Him, the Truth. In Him is life; it is His Spirit who gives life. The words of Scripture are Spirit and they are life (John 6:63). The entrance of the Word gives light and life (Psalm 119:130). As the Word of God enters your heart, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal body (Romans 8:11). Make sure you are searching for the Spirit of Jesus, not just searching for knowledge. Just pray the Scriptures. In simple terms, prayer is turning your heart toward God. In John 5:39, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You do not have His Word abiding in you … you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” Method #1 Choose a short phrase in Scripture. Begin slowly praying the Scripture in silence. Focus your prayer toward the Spirit who lives inside you (John 7:38). Remain on the phrase as long as you feel the Lord’s presence on it. Then move with Him, slowly praying through the passage phrase by phrase. Method #2
Choose a short story in Scripture. Read through the story several times silently. Close your eyes and acknowledge the Spirit who lives in you. Use your imagination to imagine yourself as one of the story characters or as an onlooker. Play out the story in your mind applying all five of your senses. Method #3
We call this “Beholding the Spirit Within.” The goal is to search for and feel God’s presence inside you, not necessarily to gain more understanding in God’s Word as with the first two methods. Begin by gently praying a short passage of Scripture in silence while focusing on the indwelling Spirit. The Scripture is used to quiet the clamoring of your soul and draw you to God. It is the connection point, the springboard into the spiritual realm. Once you feel God’s presence, focus on it in a concentrated way. You will be able to notice His presence now; He has always been there, but now your attention is on Him within you. The outward senses are quiet and your surface thoughts are gone. You are beginning to be consumed by the Spirit. In this time, feel the freedom to stay quiet. Silently ask the Spirit to show you a vision, or slowly and silently say to Him, “I love You. I love You. I love You.” Overcoming Distractions
Your mind will have to be trained in practical ways to not wander and think on other things. To overcome a wandering mind, simply begin thinking on the Scripture you have been meditating on, and focus your prayer to the Spirit within you. The Lord sees your heart as it searches for Him, and He is smiling upon you. You may become sleepy during prayer. To overcome, sit up straight instead of slouching and do not lie down. You can also begin speaking the Scripture you are meditating on under your breath until you feel the drowsiness subside, then return to the silent prayer. Diligence in Prayer
In time these methods of praying will become easy. You will find the Spirit who lives in you if you search for Him with all your heart, but it will require time and your whole heart. Keys to Progress
Humility-the high and lofty One dwells with the lowly in heart (Isaiah 57) Disciplined life of prayer, fasting, giving and loving your enemies (Matthew 6) Total abandonment in love to Jesus and loving nothing of this life (Matthew 7:14) |
The New Age and Christianity
“Occultism has always involved
three techniques for changing and creating reality:
thinking, speaking, and visualizing.”
(Dave Hunt – Occult Invasion)
* * * *
three techniques for changing and creating reality:
thinking, speaking, and visualizing.”
(Dave Hunt – Occult Invasion)
* * * *
“…imaging and visualization are increasingly appearing as Christian meditation, “mind-stretchers,” or a consciousness-awakening experience in Christian workshops, and you’d better believe that visualization as a cultivated exercise comes with all sorts of metaphysical and spiritual baggage in tow.”
— Visualization and Imaging, Jon Trott****
“It’s not difficult to trace the practice of meditative imaging and visualization back to the mystics.”— Visualization and Imaging, Jon Trott****Jon Trott is correct here. If anyone has started to indulge themselves into meditative practices, just ask them what books they are reading.
Christians are being duped into mysticism because a sentence has the word Jesus in it or there is a phrase of scripture.
The well-known catholic mystics are Brennan Manning, Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Thomas Merton, and Matthew Fox. If these authors are in your library then you know that you are entering a mystical realm that will only draw you AWAY from Jesus Christ. They want you to focus on a centering prayer which will invite a feeling of divinity within yourself. This is the lie, that you are divine. You may not think that this is where they are leading you, but this is what Eve thought when the serpent suggested, that “You will be like God.” Watch out for the new charismatic coined term of DNA which actually means “Divine Nature Activated”
Contemplative prayer sounds so biblical, but it is a dangerous occult method of contacting the spirit world, which is off-limits to the Christian. Visualization is a technique that speeds up the process of reaching into another dimension to either experience visions or transport oneself.
Christian beware, the wolves are telling you that you are divine and holy. What does the Bible say?
Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”
So why should we center ourselves on our own heart looking for our divinity? We shouldn’t.
Instead…..we can have righteousness through faith….
Romans 3:21
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known to which the Law, and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
These phrases from the IHOP article bother me.
“Make sure you are searching for the spirit of Jesus.”
Jesus wasn’t and is not a spirit. He came to earth as fully man and fully God, but He never came as a spirit. But those who meditate using TM methods often contact a spirit guide named “Jesus”. This is deceiving spirit because Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father.
“Play out the story…apply all five senses”
This is an exercise in guided imagery. Read what Dave Hunt says about this:
“Visualization and Guided Imagery have long been recognized by sorcerers of all kinds as the most powerful and effective methodology for contacting the spirit world in order to acquire supernatural power, knowledge and healing. Such methods are neither taught or practiced in the Bible as helps to faith or prayer.” (The Seduction of Christianity)
Yet here we see it openly being taught and embraced.
“Begin by gently praying a short passage of Scripture in silence while focusing on the indwelling Spirit.”
How can you do these two things simultaneously? Actually the Scripture becomes meaningless as one focuses on something else entirely.
“The springboard into the spiritual realm.”
What is the springboard?…it is the silence, the quiet. They are trying to fool you into thinking it is the scripture, but this is not the case here. The silence is a void used in eastern meditation to stop you from thinking or concentrating. So now what spiritual realm have you just entered? You have entered a void. It is this void that allows you to enter a spiritual realm that is forbidden in the Bible. This is the realm where the white light enters, and if you know your Bible, then you know that this is Satan. He comes with joy and peace and fills you with ecstasy. If he came any other way he would be instantly rejected.
“Your surface thoughts are gone”.
The Bible never tell us to quit thinking or to empty our minds. In fact we are told the quite the opposite.
1 Peter 5:8
“Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.”
“Ask the spirit to show you a vision.”
This is exactly how those involved in TM ask to be shown their demonic spirit guides. Exactly. This is so dangerous……
The section describing how to overcome distractions is the same method chanters use when meditating. If they actually have…a thought…oh no…start the chant again to empty the mind.
Anyone who does not see the eastern mysticism in this occult prayer method…does not want to see. Even a cursory study of meditation easily shows the parallels but people aren’t listening, or they don’t care, or maybe they hate to admit they have been deceived. This pride is fateful. It is eternal. It keeps you in touch with the New-Age Jesus, (who does not exist) and separates you from the true Jesus Christ in the Bible.
“It is not an advanced spiritual state, but one that is primitive and regressive, and consequentially results in bondage to spiritistic powers.” ( Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs) Ankerberg and Weldon pg. 238
How is it that the church has fallen into such a sad state of affairs? It is simple. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not being preached anymore. Without repentance, without turning away from sin, without faith, there is no conversion.
The unconverted are hungry for God because they have no way to be sanctified. So in order to hear from God, in order to fill the void, they need to resort to false fire. Gnostic strange fire. This spiritual false fire replaces a true move of God which would cause conviction and make us fall on our faces and weep. We would weep because when the holiness of God shines His light on our sin, magnifying our true nature, it is unbearable. This in turn causes us to hate our sin, and search the Word for how live a holy life pleasing to the Lord.
When the Word of God is not enough, when it is not sufficient, the alternative is deception.
Bud Press just sent out this new information and I am flabbergasted. Where will this end? How far will the extreme prophetic go? Oh Lord come quickly!
This last video leaves absolutely no doubt the nature of this dancing. Listen for these phrases:
“Kundalini Dance”
“Running the Power back to ourselves”
“Altered states through repetitive rhythms”
There is nothing Christian about Ekstasis worship. It is paganism all the way through. Do not be deceived.
A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you
Unbiblical Teachings on Prayer and Experiencing God
How Mysticism Misleads Christians
by Bob DeWaay
To a Christian, praying to God is privilege, a blessing, and a Biblically defined responsibility. We are called to pray. But a genre of literature exists that I call “prayer secrets.” Practitioners claim to have discovered new avenues of prayer that can create power, excitement, success, and even new revelations from God. These “prayer secrets” add unbiblical practices and claims to prayer in the hope of spicing up the topic to make it more interesting. And this is not a new development; mystical practices have been brought into the church under the guise of prayer since medieval times.
However, since these teachings change in form and packaging, I will review three books about prayer and “experiencing God” subjectively. What they have in common is a form of pietism that promises better things than to go before the throne of grace to find help in time of need, as well as other basic Biblical teachings on prayer.
Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby
Blackaby’s book, co-authored by Claude King, promises readers that they can come to know God by experience and come to know God’s will beyond what is revealed in Scripture, thereby living out a life full of adventure.1 Blackaby promises his readers that they will, among other things, learn to hear God speaking to them and learn to identify God’s activities.2 He promises to alleviate their problem of being frustrated with their Christian experience.
Experiencing God does start out with some basic facts about the gospel and has a place for people to check to indicate that they have made a “decision for Jesus.” I am glad he told his readers about such things as sin and repentance but am disappointed in the “make a decision for Jesus” approach. We have addressed that elsewhere.3 But having checked the appropriate box, the reader is quickly ushered into the realm of subjectivity that permeates Blackaby’s approach from beginning to end. For example, we are urged to evaluate our “present experience with God.”4 However, I have known people who are totally deceived and in bondage to false doctrine who are very excited about their experience with God, so such evaluation doesn’t do much good. For example, I once met a pastor who just returned from the Toronto laughing revival and was so very excited because he had seen “God” cause people to bark like dogs and quack like ducks. That is just one example why what one thinks about his own “experience with God” is immaterial. What we need to know are the terms God has laid down for knowing Him and walking faithfully with Him.
In Blackaby’s theology, the importance of God’s self-revelation through the Scriptures is de-emphasized while personal experience is given priority. He writes, “We come to know God as we experience Him. God reveals Himself through our experience of Him at work in our lives.”5 I am not disputing that God is at work in our lives if we have truly been converted. But, like other subjectivists, Blackaby de-emphasizes specific revelation (Scripture) and puts unwarranted emphasis on general revelation (what can be observed in the created order). Our personal, spiritual experiences are unreliable. People observing general revelation and interpreting their own spiritual experiences in light of it have created the host of the world’s false religions.
For example, Blackaby writes, “Find out what the Master is doing—then that is what you need to be doing.”6 Here he suggests that by observing what is around us and studying human history we can determine God’s will. He further suggests that God reveals His will by some process in history—that He hasn’t revealed it once for all. But this subjective approach cannot reveal God’s moral law which is His revealed will. Someone’s estimate of “what God is doing” is likely to be based on their own prejudices and inclinations. Let’s look at another example. Consider a person who believes the social gospel. If they see a situation where social services are being provided, they will conclude that they are witnessing “what God is doing.” In the previous example of the laughing revival, that pastor was a charismatic. His thinking led him to believe that anything that appears to have a supernatural cause done in the context of a Christian meeting must be “what God is doing.” So he saw people behaving oddly in such a context and joined it so as to participate in God’s activities. Subjective evaluations can lead to falsely attributing things to God that in fact are not from God.
God’s providence unfolding in history is what we actually observe. But providence contains good and evil. We cannot know what God’s revealed will is by observing providence. We can only know His will through inerrant, infallible, special revelation—Scripture. Even our dreams and inner impressions are part of providence and they too are a mixture of good and evil (and indifferent). They do not reveal what God is doing or His will for our lives.
Blackaby fails to distinguish these categories, and thus uses stories of God revealing things to prophets and apostles in the Bible to suggest that these experiences should be normative for us. For example he includes a section about Moses, not to prove that Moses was an authoritative spokesperson for God, but to prove that God expects all of us to gain revelation like Moses did. This is false, and we have shown it to be false in a recent article. In the Moses section of his book Blackaby writes, “His desire is to get us from where we are to where He is working. When God reveals to you where He is working, that becomes His invitation to join Him.”8
Such a search for “where God is working” makes no sense. God is working always everywhere as He holds all things together by “the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). Blackaby’s concept “where God is working” is vague. Is he talking about geography? God’s revealed will is to preach the gospel to all people everywhere. God works through the gospel to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and to convert those who will be saved. There is no place off-limits, and this great work of God is not limited by geography. Blackaby’s kind of thinking causes people get on airplanes scurrying to the latest hot “revival.” But how do they know God wants them in Pensacola, for example, chasing a spiritual experience rather than preaching the gospel where they live? The simple answer: they don’t.
Blackaby’s book is filled with claims that we all need personal revelations from God, that these are binding upon us, and that if we do not gain these “words from God” we are going to fail God and live frustrated and empty lives. He claims that we are to obey these words seemingly without question: “When you do what He tells you, no matter how insensible it may seem, God accomplishes what He purposed through you. Not only do you experience God’s power and presence, but so do those who observe what you are doing.”9 This is simply wrong and is a version of works righteousness.
All that I can possibly know as God’s binding, authoritative will is what God TOLD me (Scripture) not what God “tells” me (subjective ideas that may or may not be from God). It is abusive to bind people to non-authoritative, fallible words (even insensible ones) and tell them that obeying such words is the key to God’s presence in their lives. This, in my opinion, is an attack against the gospel. We have the promise of God’s presence because of what He did for us through the cross, not because we have become mystics following ideas that enter our minds which we decided might be from Him. But Blackaby reiterates, “Obey whatever God tells you to do.”10 So, on that point I think I’ll choose to follow his advice based on what I know God has told me in the Scriptures. I know God told me not to listen to people who teach false doctrine; I am going to obey that and not listen to Blackaby.
Beyond promoting these personal revelations as laws to be obeyed (as if they were God’s revealed moral law), he further claims they are also infallible: “When we come to God to know what He is about to do where we are, we also come with the assurance that what God indicates He is about to do is certain to come to pass.”11 This is another problem, because the only things certain to come to pass are those God has predicted in Scripture. Personal revelations that we think might be from God are not certainly from God [we can’t be sure they are] and they will not “certainly come to pass.” Blackaby calls this type of word “revelation”: “When He opens your spiritual eyes to see where He as at work, that revelation is your invitation to join Him.”12 Subjective impressions are now to be considered revelation? This approach could lead to every imaginable error.
Blackaby makes personal revelations not only binding (they must be obeyed) and infallible (certain), but he also declares that they are necessary for everyone’s spiritual well-being: “If the Christian does not know when God is speaking, he is in trouble at the heart of his Christian life!” Furthermore, he says, “If you have been given a word from God, you must continue in that direction until it comes to pass (even twenty f13ive years like Abraham).” That means that if someone should get one of these “words from God” and if it actually was not from God, he would be obligated to follow whatever foolhardy, insensible path the “word” led him down. Such teaching, in my opinion, is foolish and abusive to the flock.
God physically appeared to Abraham many times as “the angel of the Lord.” Abraham received special revelations. We don’t. We do not have the same certainty that our subjective impressions are “the word of the Lord.” Amazingly, Blackaby sees the problem with his approach but still presses on with it: “If you have not been given a word from God yet you say you have, you stand in judgment as a false prophet . . . [cites Deut. 18:21-22].”14 EXACTLY! That is the very claim I made in the last issue of CIC.15 If these personal words from God are taken as binding, and we speak them to ourselves and they are not totally accurate, we have become false prophets to our own selves. Blackaby evidently agrees, yet he pushes on.
The flaws of Blackaby’s subjectivism are rather obvious when you examine his claims objectively. God’s revealed will is not found by subjective experiences, but in Scripture. Looking around in the world hoping to discover “where God is working” is impossible since God is always working everywhere as He providentially brings history along toward His ultimate purposes. We will be fooled by our own prejudices because we think “God working” must look something like whatever our religious inclinations tell us it will look like. Furthermore, he has elevated fallible words that may or may not be from God to the level of infallible Scripture and elevated every believer to the status of Moses and Abraham as recipients of special revelation. Following his approach is not how we “experience God.” We cannot not know if we are experiencing God in any way other than to come to Him on His own terms, by faith. When we do, we are assured that God is with us no matter what experiences we have.
Body Prayer by Doug Pagitt
Doug Pagitt,Emergent Church leader, wrote a book (coauthored by Kathryn Prill) that claims that using various body postures can bring people closer to God and deepen one’s life of prayer.16 Here is an example of some of the claims of this book:
Engaging the body in acts of being present with God, including certain ceremonial practices, opens us up to God in new ways. People of faith in ancient times understood that such physical acts and practices as rest and worship, dietary restrictions, and mandated fabric in their wardrobes were of great value to their faith and life.17
The problem is that the Bible says that these types of practices are of NO value:
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using)– in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. (Colossians 2:20-23)
Furthermore, creating dietary restrictions for religious reasons is called a “doctrine of demons” (1Timothy 4:1-5).
Pagitt claims that we can connect with God through body prayers. He calls his approach a “deeper” form of prayer: “This book is meant to be a companion and a guide into deeper forms of prayer; this book is not a specific prescription of how prayer must be done.” I appreciate that he does not claim that these postures are mandatory. But that introduces an important question—if his postures are not mandated by Scripture (and they are not) how can they be “deeper” than the sort of prayer the Bible does teach? Such claims are the problem with all the “prayer secrets” books. Why is praying to God in the manner taught in Scripture so inadequa18te that people need to discover new practices that are superior to those Jesus and His apostles taught? Would God withhold something so good and important to all but those spiritual innovators who discover the secret? The Bible says, “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2Peter 1:3). God did not forget to reveal to the Biblical writers key practices we need.
Pagitt teaches the same “breath prayers” that we have discussed in other articles:
As you begin to pray, close your eyes. Then inhale and exhale with deep breaths. Put your hands in a comfortable position—consider turning both hands palms up. Notice the tension in your head … and let it go as you take in a deep breath … and then exhale. Notice the tension in your shoulders and let it go, again by breathing in and then out. Notice the tension in your stomach and let it go. Move down your body doing the same.19
Concentrating on one’s breath is a way to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Jesus told us to ask the Father in His name, which we can do when fully conscious and requires no prior stress relief practice.
Some of the postures are similar in that they seem more like a technique for self awareness. One is pressing fingertips together: “There is a theory that pressing each fingertip to its corresponding fingertip activates a certain portion of our brain. Also, it is one of the gentlest ways to feel our own pulse.” Doing some of these practices is even confused with reconciliation which one comes through the finished work of Christ received by faith:
Start in a sitting position. Then use your arms to push your body up so you are standing. Inhale deeply through your mouth. Let your shoulders fall, release any stress in the top of your legs, and let your hips fall forward. Feel pressure on the bottom of your feet—and in that space alone. Keep breathing deeply. Allow the deep breaths to prepare you and arm you for the work of reconciliation.21
Reconciliation does not happen through some physical process, but through Christ’s blood atonement which we have received by faith (Romans 5:9-11).
It is not surprising, given the theology of the Emergent Church, that Pagitt’s approach is infused with theological immanence at the expense of transcendence. He writes, “So we extend to the rest of the world this hope: that good will be saved and increased and that God’s dreams will be done on earth as they are in heaven.”22 Pagitt claims that we are co-re-creators of the world: “God is never finished with creation, and God is never finished with us. We are constantly being re-created, and we are invited to join God as co-re-creators of the world.”23 There is no cataclysmic, future judgment of the cosmos in the theology of most Emergent Church leaders. Rather God is working in the world to transform it into a better place through the processes of history.
Pagitt’s terminology reflects a rather panentheistic worldview that is infused with God in some not totally explained way:
There is a rhythm to life. We find it in the ocean tides, in the rising and setting of the sun, in the beating of our hearts. And there is a rhythm of God—a rhythm that encompasses life, both the life we can readily see and the unseen life of the spirit. The rhythm of God beckons us, guide us, and dwells in us.24
This highly immanent theology implies that God is in the creation to be discovered, and not as the transcendent One who can only be known by His self-revelation in the authoritative Scriptures and in Christ who came in the flesh and ascended into heaven. Pagitt says, “As those who are created in the image of God, we are endowed with this rhythm.”25 Since all human beings are created in God’s image this is a universal statement, not limited to those who have been converted through the gospel. He continues, “We can find it [the rhythm of God] step into it, and live in it. This is the kingdom of God — to live in sync with the rhythm of God.”26
Sadly, the processes of “body prayer” described in this book reflect a theology that is gleaned not from authoritative Scripture but from creative efforts to create a version of prayer that is in keeping with the sensibilities of the postmodern culture. Key ideas that the Bible teaches about prayer (coming to God on His terms, grace for sinners, how we have access to God only because of the blood atonement, that God hears Christians who ask according to His will, etc.) are missing from this book. The techniques and teachings found in the book are not taught in the Bible. So the bigger question is whether God has spoken and revealed how we can come to Him or whether the means of access to God are discovered in the creation. Pagitt and his co-author leave us searching for the “rhythm of God” in the creation by means God has not ordained.
Prayer Quest by Dee Duke
The subtitle to this book is “Breaking through to your God-given dreams and destiny.” Duke speaks of our dreams and God’s dreams throughout his book. In the Bible God gave dreams to certain people. Those dreams, if interpreted by an infallible prophet, revealed God’s will and God plans. In the Bible, the dreams were from God, but they were not God’s dreams. They were the dreams of the people who dreamt them (for example Nebuchadnezzar’s in Daniel 2). Here we have to add a point of clarification: Only the dreams that are interpreted in the Bible by God’s prophets and spokespersons can be considered to authoritatively reveal God’s will.
The term “dream” in English can mean “hope for an ideal future,” as in, “I have a dream.” This denotes the hope for some better state of affairs that may or may not come into existence. Duke, in his book, is clearly not using the term in the Biblical sense as a dream a person has that has been interpreted by an authoritative prophet. Instead he says, “He calls us now to dream His dreams, to ask Him daily to display His power.”27 Duke is speaking of a hoped for future when he uses the term “dream”:
Welcome to the reality where dreams come true! God has a dream, and it is certain to happen just as He imagines it. He has placed the stamp of His image on our souls, so that we also dream great dreams. As we learn to passionately share and enjoy God’s dreams, we will see Him work in amazing ways . . .”28
This statement involves some serious category problems. Supposedly God’s dream is His imagination about the future. We (all humans evidently because all humans are created in God’s image) can dream like God. Either this is anthropomorphism run amok or some seriously bad theology. God is the one who says this about Himself: “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9, 10). God does not dream, He decrees. God calls things into being and works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). He doesn’t imagine a potential future that may or may not happen.
Concerning us, the only thing we know about what God “dreams” (using Duke’s terminology) is what is revealed in Scripture. Our own dreams about what we would like the future to bring are not going to make God do anything. Duke says, “This book is intended to help you learn to walk so intimately with God that you will see Him fulfill His dreams in and through you.” This brings us back to the typical “prayer secret” genre of Christian writing. Supposedly there is some key to “intimacy with God” that is not based on the once-for-all finished work of Christ, not based on availing ourselves of the means of grace by faith, but based on our own level of personal piety and the use of practices not revealed in the Bible.29
Duke asks his readers, “Do you feel as though you’ve given up on dreams you had when your faith was new?” The implication is that our “dreams” (i.e., hopes for an ideal or optimal future) somehow authoritatively reveal God’s will and that we must make these come to pass by some process. But our ideas about what we hope life will be like are nothing more than ideas and may have nothing to do with God’s purposes. Our dreams are part of providence, but providence contains good and evil. Duke is treating personal imaginations about the future as if they were infallible guidance to be nurtured and followed. But personal dreams are not God’s moral law.
Here is a further definition of what Duke means by “dream,”
A dream is a desire felt so strongly that we think and meditate on it constantly until we see it in our mind as clearly as if it were reality. A dream believes that what is desired will happen; it is accomplished by anticipation and positive expectation. People who dream tend to be upbeat and enthusiastic.30
This is a very much the type of mind over matter thinking that has enjoyed popularity in self-help circles.
He gives people some practical guidance on releasing their “imagination” in prayer: “Envision yourself embarking on a day trip into the presence of God. . . . Envision yourself approaching God in His glory.”31 This is strikingly similar to guided imagery. He gives more examples of how to manage your dream time with God, including making lists of dream notes. This is a journey into the subjective realm under the guise of “prayer.”
Much bad teaching comes into the church by route of mysticism, subjectivism, and having faulty theological categories. In previous articles I carefully defined categories to help my readers avoid these pitfalls. Risking redundancy, I must again assert that there is God’s revealed will in Scripture as well as God’s providential will (containing good and evil) that is revealed as history unfolds. Though Duke wants us to dream God’s dreams about the future, he admits that these dreams we might have come from various sources. He lists thoughts from God, your own thoughts, thoughts from the world, and thoughts from Satan. His readers are supposed to sort through their dream notes to find ones that they think are from God. But how? God’s future providen32tial will is not revealed and cannot be known until it unfolds in history. Our dreams about the future cannot be determined to be from God by any means available to us because they are not revealed in Scripture.
Duke reveals his lack of Biblical understanding when he cites the scripture, “My sheep know my voice,” as proof that we can figure out which of our dreams is God’s voice. That passage in John 10 is about those whom the Father has given to the Son and who consequently will respond to the gospel and follow Christ, not about listening to various subjective voices in our heads and trying to figure out which one sounds the most like Christ.
There is no need to belabor how bad this book is theologically. It starts from a series of faulty premises and bad theology and builds from there a concept of prayer that is not taught in the Bible. The term “dream” as he uses it is basically the idea of one’s imagination. The Bible tells us about those who speak in this manner: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord’”. (Jeremiah 23:16).
That a publishing house like Navpress produced this book shows how little discernment there is in the evangelical movement these days.
Conclusion
God has not left us to fish around in the world of spirits and subjective experiences to know Him and speak to Him. God send His Son, who pre-existed as God and with God, to be born of a virgin and live in history in the flesh. The apostles heard Him, touched Him and saw Him (see 1John 1:1-3). He died for sins on the cross, shedding His blood to avert God’s wrath against our sin. He was bodily raised on the third day and He bodily ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. Before He left He promised His followers that they could ask the Father anything in His name. He inspired eyewitnesses to write His inerrant words so that we would know the truth from Him. The Bible promises us that He hears us. It doesn’t give us a set of techniques to hear inner voices and call these techniques “prayer.”
The mystics are confident that their extra-biblical techniques and extra-biblical experiences are certainly from God and are making more pious Christians than those of us who only have prayer as taught in the Bible and the Word of God to go by. Having discovered the secrets to increased piety and “intimacy with God,” they write books so that others can become similarly “enlightened” and be saved from their “ordinary” Christian lives. Dear readers, they are selling you a bill of goods. They are not infallible apostles and prophets, they do not speak authoritatively for God, their theology is unbiblical, and their practices are not ordained by God. I have touched on three examples of this approach but there have been literally thousands of them in church history. The simple application is this: do not listen to them. They can only deceive you; they cannot make you more holy or pleasing to God. Only the finished work of Christ and His ordained means of grace can do that.
Find more of Bob DeWaay here:
Confusion on the Davidic Tabernacle
Submitted by Craig “Lee” Dorsheimer
The current issue [July 2008] of Charisma Magazine contains an article by Mike Bickle, president and director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, MO, titled The Tabernacle of David. This piece is essentially a word for word reprint of a 2000 article of the same name. The only difference is that the original added an introductory sentence referencing an article from the previous month. Here’s the original article from the Charisma archives:
http://charismamag.com/index.php/columns/265-passion-for-jesus/507-enjoyable-prayer
Compare the original to the current piece:
http://charismamag.com/index.php/charisma-channels/prayer/18744
Given that the deletion of this prefatory comment is an obvious revision, it is curious that some of the errors in this article as pointed out on The International House of Prayers’ “Affirmations and Denials” tab are still there. Is Mike Bickle aware that this article, which he corrects in part on his website, is uncorrected at Charisma? Is Charisma aware of Bickle’s correction?
The original article and its current version point to the fallacy upon which the whole teaching is based and IHOP’s 24 hour worship is practiced. The faulty premise comes from an incorrect exegesis of Acts 15:16-17 and an incorrect assumption about the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant. First, the Acts misinterpretation:
“I came across this secret when I was studying the tabernacle of David (see Acts 15:16-17), the perfect model of a 24-hour-a-day prayer and worship ministry. King David assigned musicians and singers, whom he had trained in the prophetic spirit (see 1 Chr. 25:1-3), to worship God continuously before the ark.”[1]
Here are the Acts 15:16-17 verses:
16 ‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
Says the LORD who does all these things.’ [NKJV]
Put in the context of the whole of Acts chapter 15 we see Paul, Barnabas and Peter explaining why the Gentiles did not need to conform to the Mosaic ritual of circumcision and to Mosaic Law. Verses 16 and 17 are James answer to the Judiazers using words from the prophet Amos. The ‘tabernacle’ which had ‘fallen down’ was the Davidic dynasty/lineage fulfilled in Jesus. In Jesus, Gentiles, not just Jews, would be saved. This passage speaks nothing about David’s make-shift Tabernacle housing the Ark of the Covenant [1 Chronicles 15:1 and 16:1]. Bickle’s error in the original article was clarified on the IHOP “Affirmations and Denials” page shown here:
http://www.ihop.org/Articles/1000050149/International_House_of/About_Us/Our_Beliefs/Affirmations_and_Denials.aspx
Following is the complete statement:
The Tabernacle of David
WE AFFIRM
the Holy Spirit is orchestrating a global worship and prayer movement that will operate in great authority (Luke 18:7–8; Matthew 21:13; Revelation 5:8, 8:3–5, 22:17; Isaiah 62:6–7; Joel 2:12–17 and 32). This prayer movement will operate in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David.
WE DENY the restoration of the tabernacle of David is the same as the end-time prayer movement.
Explanation: In the days of King David, he established a tabernacle that had singers and musicians who ministered to the Lord day and night. Today, the prayer movement is in the spirit of David’s Tabernacle. This means that the prayer movement will have some components of the Tabernacle of David, specifically pertaining to singers and musicians.
The promise of the restoration of the tabernacle of David refers to the governmental restoration of David’s international rule as part of the restoration of national Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.
WE DENY the restoration of the tabernacle of David is the same as the end-time prayer movement.
Explanation: In the days of King David, he established a tabernacle that had singers and musicians who ministered to the Lord day and night. Today, the prayer movement is in the spirit of David’s Tabernacle. This means that the prayer movement will have some components of the Tabernacle of David, specifically pertaining to singers and musicians.
The promise of the restoration of the tabernacle of David refers to the governmental restoration of David’s international rule as part of the restoration of national Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.
The context of Amos 9:11–12 is the governmental rule of Jesus over all the nations from Jerusalem.
In Acts 15:13–18, James referred to Amos 9:11 declaring that Gentiles should be accepted into the predominantly Jewish Body of Christ, without needing to convert to Judaism. The apostles understood that in the End Times, God would re-establish the Messianic kingdom over all the nations. God has just visited the Gentiles with salvation at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10). This was in agreement with Old Testament prophecy. James quoted Amos to prove that many Gentiles will be saved in context to the restoration of the Davidic dynastic reign. This restoration will of course include David’s heart for worship and prayer. Though Amos 9:11 is not prophesying primarily about 24/7 intercessory worship, it will be a foundational reality in the release of Jesus’ worldwide rule over the nations. The prophetic word given to Mike Bickle in May 1983 was that “God would release 24 hour-a-day prayer in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David.” In other words, it would involve prophetic singers and musicians. Worship and intercession is not in itself the actual restoration of David’s tabernacle![2]
The last three paragraphs above go about clarifying/correcting the Acts and Amos passages cited in the original article. For sake of comparison with the Acts verses and completeness, here are the Amos 9:11-12 verses which were paraphrased a bit by James in Acts:
11 “On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up it ruins,
And rebuild is as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the LORD who does this thing. [Amos 9:11-12 NKJV]
While Bickle corrects these verses [although verse 11 is also considered Messianic – as in Jesus’ first coming], he takes a bit of license with the last few sentences of the last paragraph. How does he know that ‘24/7 intercessory worship’ as exemplified in King David’s reign during the time he had the Ark in Jerusalem will be a ‘reality’ in Jesus’ millennial reign? Given that this whole Tabernacle of David prophecy comes from a ‘prophetic word’ from Bob Jones, how can anyone be sure based on Jones’ own assertion that New Testament prophecies will be about 2/3rds right at best? And, when Bickle states that Amos 9:11 does not ‘primarily’ speak about ‘24/7 intercessory worship’ he is again taking license as this verse says nothing about full time worship – or any kind of worship.
It’s interesting to note that this same faulty exegesis regarding Acts 15:16-17 is found quite a bit on the internet. Just do a web search for “tabernacle of david” and see how many sites come up with this same error.
Now, moving on to the unveiling of the Ark: Bickle asserts that David’s Tabernacle did not have a veil concealing the Ark of the Covenant from view.
“In David’s tabernacle there was no veil to keep the people from seeing the glory of God.”[3]
He goes on to explain how the Davidic worshipers were in effect a ‘human veil’ over the Ark. He cites a number of scripture references [1 Chronicles 6:31-33; 15:16-22; 23:4-6; 25:7] yet none specifically state that there was no covering in front of or over the Ark. Two of these passages actually conflict Bickle’s assertion especially the 6:31-32 verses:
31 These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. 32 They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them. [1 Chronicles 6:31-32 NKJV emphasis mine]
This position of an unveiled Ark is not supported in scripture. This would be contrary to the example provided by Moses whose Tabernacle had an inner room termed the ‘Most Holy Place’ housing the Ark with a thick curtain/veil separating this room from the rest of the structure [Exodus 25 – 27]. Besides 1 Chronicles 6:31-32; 23:4, here are the only two Biblical passages directly referencing David’s make-shift Tabernacle dwelling itself:
1 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. [1 Chronicles 15:1 / 2 Samuel 6:17 NKJV]
1 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. [1 Chronicles 16:1 NKJV]
[As an aside: it’s interesting to note that the Hebrew transliterated word for both ‘tent’ and ‘tabernacle’ in these Chronicles passages are both ‘‘ohel;’ whereas, the word for ‘tabernacle’ in Exodus 26:1, the Mosaic Tabernacle, is ‘mishkan’ in the Hebrew thereby illustrating the difference between the two. Additionally, the transliterated word for ‘tabernacle’ in the Amos verse is ‘cukkah.’ All three are different!]
In addition, even an unveiling of the Ark during transportation was apparently forbidden as per instructions Moses gave in Numbers 4:4-6:
4 “This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to the most holy things: 5 When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue; and they shall insert its poles. [NKJV]
Therefore, we cannot assume the Ark in the Davidic Tabernacle was somehow left open, unveiled for all to see. Since only the Levitical High Priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place/Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement, how could we assume the Ark was left in open view? In addition, in light of the fact that with Jesus’ atoning death on the cross the curtain of the temple was torn thereby signifying that we may now enter the Holy of Holies/Most Holy Place directly [Mark 15:38; Hebrews 9:8-10:12; 10:19-20], why would we assume that the Ark was ever previously in plain sight?
Furthermore – and most importantly – why would we want to resurrect an Old Testament pre-Messianic era practice? With Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are now the temple with the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
Now, I’m not opposed to corporate prayer. I’m not opposed to 24/7 prayer. But, the ToD is promoting just another ritual. We have enough of those already.
Going back to the “Affirmations and Denials” page, the “WE AFFIRM” section uses a bit of scripture to support the ToD stance. However, the references do not support the assertion that the Holy Spirit is ‘orchestrating a global worship and prayer movement that will operate in great authority.’ Nor do they support anything about a ‘spirit’ of operating in the ToD.
There’s also some confusion – at least to this reader – with the wording in this section. Starting from the very top in the “WE AFFIRM” section it is clear Bickle is speaking of a prayer movement which will be in the ‘spirit’ of the Tabernacle of David. And, the restoration of the ToD is not the same as the end-time prayer movement according to the “WE DENY” section. Does this mean Bickle’s ToD is not an end-time prayer movement but a prayer movement not specifically related to end-times instead; or, does it mean that it’s not the same as the restoration of the Tabernacle of David which refers to the nation Israel’s reestablishment in the Millennial Kingdom? Looking at the last paragraph of the Charisma article, Bickle refers to the ToD as end-time worship.
Is there significance in identifying it as NOT an end-times prayer movement as opposed to simply a prayer movement?
The bottom line is there is no Biblical support for Bickle’s Tabernacle of David. The initial scriptural basis used for it in Acts 15 has been clarified and denied as being improper exegesis. But, what about the current piece in Charisma which is at odds with the “Affirmations and Denials” of the ToD on the IHOP site? Could the initial attempt to line up this practice to the Word of God have been instead a matter of eisegesis – looking for Biblical texts to support a ‘prophetic word’ of Bob Jones?
Further, the assertion that the Ark was unveiled for all to worship in front of is Biblically unsupportable as well. In fact, it’s easy to refute Biblically. So, where’s the justification for the ToD?
[1] Mike Bickle, “The Tabernacle of David,” Charisma Magazine July 2008 <http://charismamag.com/index.php/charisma-channels/prayer/18744
2 Mike Bickle, “The Tabernacle of David,” Affirmations and Denials, International House of Prayer , http://www.ihop.org/Articles/1000050149/International_House_of/About_Us/Our_Beliefs/Affirmations_and_Denials.aspx
3 Charisma Magazine
True or False?
1. It is easy to identify false teachers.
Matthew 7:15
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
~~~~
2. False teachers hate money.
Titus 1:11
They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
~~~~
3. The people will not want to listen to the false prophets.
Isaiah 30:9-10
These are rebellious people, deceitful children,children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers “See no more visions!” and to the prophets “Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
~~~~
4. We have to sort the counterfeits working right along side of us.
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’
~~~~
5. We are told that the false teachers will be destroyed.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves.
~~~~
6. Those who teach false doctrine, we are to receive into our homes.
2 John 1:10-11
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
~~~~
7. Many in the church will accept false teachings in rebellion of God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
~~~~
8. Stay close to those who are teaching false doctrine to correct them.
Romans 16:17
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
~~~~
9. Many will seek teachings that will satisfy fleshy desires.
2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
~~~~
10. The gate to heaven is wide and inclusive.
Matthew 7:14
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
~~~~
11. We are warned that many will be deceived in the end-times.
Matthew 24:11
And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
~~~~
12. There will be false teachers who will proclaim to be Christians.
Titus 1:16
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
~~~~
13. We can reprove and rebuke the false teachers.
2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
~~~~
14. Error can be prevented by listening those who interpret dreams.
Matthew 22:29
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
~~~
15. False teachers will be hard to find within our own churches.
Acts 20:30
Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
~~~~
16. As time goes on we should see increasing peace and strive for this at all costs.
Matthew 24:6-7
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
~~~~
17. False teachers will use flattery to deceive those who are easy targets.
Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
~~~~
18. Only those professing truth will be able to perform great miracles to convince the people of their words.
Matthew 24:24
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible.
~~~~
19. False doctrine planted by false teachers will be someday be rooted up by God.
Matthew 15:13-14
He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
~~~~
20. Those teaching heresy will appear gentle as doves but will be ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:15
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
~~~~
21. The world will have to be “taken” and Christianized before Jesus Christ can return.
Luke 18:8
I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
~~~~
22. New revelations take precedence over scripture.
Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
~~~~
22. Everyone who publicly calls on the name of Jesus is saved.
Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
~~~~
23. Those who preach, heal, perform miracles, and cast out demons, have to be people of God.
Matthew 7:22-23
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
~~~~
24. False teachers promise material blessings for those who give abundantly to their ministries.
2 Peter 2:3
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
~~~~
25. There will be false prophets and teachers who will deny Christ.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves.
~~~~
26. Bible study is a good way to protect yourself from false doctrine.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
~~~~
27. There are other true gospels besides the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Galations 1:9
As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
~~~~
28. False healers will not be able to perform miracles.
Deuteronomy 13:1-2
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,”
~~~~
29. We are not allowed to judge the teachings of others.
Matthew 7:1
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Matthew 7:2
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:3
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Matthew 7:4
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye
Matthew 7:5
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
~~~~
30. False teachers do not want to be unpopular and warn you about your backsliding.
Revelation 3:16
So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
~~~~
31. Preaching good works, gives all the glory to man instead of God.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.
~~~~
32. Once you hear and understand the gospel you will never turn away from the truth.
Galations 1:6
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-
~~~
33. Using seeker-friendly and worldly entertaining methods is a good way to bring people into the church.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
~~~~
34. Those who say there are many ways to God are false teachers.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
~~~~
35. It is okay for evangelists of the Word to have many worldly extravagant luxuries.
1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
~~~~
36. True teachers need to study many types of books to be well-rounded in their education.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
~~~~
37. Men who perform miracles, and promote their visions of angels must be empowered by God.
2 Corinthians 11:13
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:15
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
~~~~
38. We are instructed to be grounded in the Word of God, so that we can immediately recognize a false teaching.
Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
~~~~
39. False teachers say that Jesus Christ is just a myth.
2 John 1:7
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
~~~~
40. You can be like God.
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
~~~~
41. God is doing a new thing.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
~~~~
42. As time goes on there will those who will leave the faith by believing the doctrine of devils.
1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
~~~~
43. We need to point out error to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1Timothy 4:6
If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
~~~~
44. Those claiming to speak for God, but do not, will not pay the consequences.
Deuteronomy 18:20
But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.
~~~~
45. There is something we can do when we suspect a false spirit in a false prophets.
1 John 4: 1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
~~~~
46. Jesus told us to abide in His word so that we would know the truth.
John 8:31-32
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”“See, I have told you ahead of time.”
Matthew 24:25
“See, I have told you ahead of time.”
1. F
2. F
3. F
4. F
5. T
6. F
7. T
8. F
9. T
10. F
11. T
12. T
13. T
14. F
15. F
16. F
17. T
18. F
19. T
20. F
21. F
22. F
23. F
24. T
25. T
26. T
27. F
28. F
29. F
30. T
31. T
32. F
33. F
34. T
35. F
36. F
37. F
38. T
39. F
40. F
41. F
42. T
43. T
44. F
45. T
46. T
The Baptism, or Fullness of the Spirit
Counterfeit
Counterfeit workings of evil spirits may accompany a true reception of the Fullness of the Holy Spirit, if the believer “lets go” his mind into “blankness,” and yields his body up passively to supernatural power. As a “blank mind” and “passive body” is contrary to the condition for use required by the Holy Spirit….The abstract result is great “manifestations” with little real fruit…a spirit of division from others, instead of unity.
True
An influx of the Spirit of God into the human spirit, which liberates the spirit from the soul, (Hebrews 4:12) so as to become a pliable organ or channel for the outflow of the Spirit through the believer, manifested in witness to Christ and in aggressive prayer service against the powers of darkness….Its special mark and result is known in power to witness for Christ, and in conviction of sin in others, and their turning to God.
There is but one reception of the Holy Spirit: with many succeeding experiences, developments, or new crises, resultant on fresh acts of faith, or apprehension of truth; various believers having varied degrees of the same filling of the Spirit, according to individual conditions. The enduement of power for service is often a definite experience in many lives.
****************
The Presence of God
Counterfeit
The counterfeit of the Presence of God is mainly felt upon the body, and by the physical senses, in conscious “fire,” “thrills,” etc. The counterfeit of the “Presence in the atmosphere is felt by the senses of the body, as “breath,” “wind,” etc., while the mind is passive or inactive. The person affected by this counterfeit “presence” will be moved almost automatically to actions he would not perform of his own will, and with all his faculties in operation. He may not even remember what he has done when under the “power” of this “presence,” just as a sleep-walker knows nothing of his actions when in that state….
True
Known in of by the human spirit, through the Holy Spirit. When He fills the atmosphere of a room the spirit of man is conscious of it, not his senses. The faculties of those present are alert and clear and they retain freedom of action. The spirit is made tender (Psalms 34:18), and the will pliable to the will of God. All the actions of a person moved by the true and pure Presence of God are in accord with highest ideal harmony and grace
*********************
Consciousness of God
Counterfeit
“Consciousness” of “God” in bodily sensations, which feed the “flesh” and overpower the true spirit-sense.
True
Felt in the spirit, and not by the physical senses.
*********************
Surrender to God
Counterfeit
Passive yielding of spirit, soul and body to supernatural power, to be moved automatically, in passive, blind obedience, apart from the use of volition of mind. Evil spirits desire “control” of a man, and his passive submission to them.
True
Of spirit, soul and body, is simple yielding or committal to Him of the whole man, to do His will and be at His service, God asks the full co-operation of the man in the intelligent use of all his faculties. (Romans 6:13)
************************
Waiting on God
Counterfeit
A “waiting” for the Spirit to come,” in hours of prayer, which brings those who “wait” into passivity, which at last reaches a point of “seance” conditions, followed by an influx of lying spirits in manifestations.
True
The Spirit in restful co-operation with the Holy Spirit, waiting on God’s time to act, and a waiting for Him to fulfill His promises. The true waiting upon God can be co-existent with the keenest activity of mind and service.
***********************
God Speaking
Counterfeit
Evil spirits speaking, either puffing up, accusing, condemning or confusing the person, so that he is bewildered or distracted and cannot exercise his reason or judgment….
True
Through His Word, by His Spirit, in the spirit and conscience of the man, illuminating the mind to understand the will of the Lord.
************************
Divine Guidance
Counterfeit
Satanic guidance by supernatural voices, visions, leadings, drawings, are all dependent upon the passivity of the mind and reason, and take place in the sense-realm as a counterfeit of the true in the spirit.
True
Through the spirit and the mind; i.e., “drawing” in spirit, light in the mind: spirit and mind brought into one accord in harmony with the principles of the Word of God. (Ephesians 1:17, Philippians 1:9-11)
*********************
Fire from God
Counterfeit
“Fire” caused by evil spirits is generally a glow in the body, which the believer thinks is a manifestation of “God” in “possession” of the body, but afterwards results in darkness, dullness and weakness with no reasonable cause; or else it continues deceiving the believer into counterfeit experiences.
True
It is a purifying through suffering or a consuming zeal in spirit, which deepens into white heat intensity to do will and work of God, which no trials or opposition can quench. Fire from God is spiritual not literal, and therefore falls upon the spirit, not the body.
*************************
Trusting God
Counterfeit
Trusting evil spirits comes about through trusting blindly some supernatural words, or revelations, supposed to be from God, which produces a forced “faith,” or faith beyond the believer’s true measure, the result being actions which lead into paths of trial never planned by God.
True
A true faith given of God in the spirit, having its origin in Him, without effort reckoning upon Him to fulfill His written Word. Co-existing with the full use of every faculty in intelligent action. “Faith is a fruit of the spirit and cannot be forced. (Galatians 5:22, 2 Corinthians 13)
***************************
Notes
Without exception the manifestations of the Holy Spirit is marked by (a) a Christ-like Spirit of love, (b) soberness of spirit vision, (c) keenness of vision, (d) deep humility of heart and meekness of spirit, with lion-courage against sin and Satan, and (e) clearness of the mental faculties with a “sound mind.”
Taken from War on the Saints by
Jessie Penn-Lewis
Justin Peters was at the revival and in a wheelchair himself. Hear his account of the healings at this so-called revival, and about the people who were walking in the “sauce”.
Part One
Part Two
A man does just does not have enough faith to walk from his wheelchair. Justin also speaks about the importance of music at these gatherings and the key role it plays on the audience.
Justin who has cerebral palsy, praises God for His providence of removing him from the WOF movement, and thanks God for the gift of his disease which keeps him dependant on the Lord. What an amazing person…. this Justin Peters. Praise God for the burden he carries for the deceptions we are seeing today and for his courage to tell us about it.
War on the Saints – Manifestations
When I was sixteen and in Youth Group at church, our leader decided that it would be a great idea to visit other churches and attend their worship service. Our first and only visit would be to a Southern Baptist church in Seattle. I lived in Bellevue at the time, a predominately middle-class white community.
On that particular Sunday morning in the year 1969, we all piled into a couple of cars and headed for Seattle. I remember we all sat in the very back row of the church. Now the service started and the music impressed us. We were used to the typical hymns and this music didn’t sound like anything we had heard before, and it was great.
Of course this was before total pandemonium broke out. The singing got louder and louder and then wilder. Before we knew it…people were rolling in the aisles, legs and arms were flailing, there were loud cries and anguished shouts. People were laying everywhere, shaking, jerking and wailing.
Ushers then came out but now they were dressed as nurses. In white uniforms. People who could not get up were carried out on stretchers. I do not really recall how long this went on. I do remember looking over at our youth group leader and noticing how white his face looked.
When the service was over, (there was no sermon) I remember filing out and shaking the pastors hand, with him thanking us for coming. What a silent ride home. We never discussed what we had seen at this church. To this day I wonder what my friends in youth group told their parents.
I knew that this was not of God and that what we had seen….was demonic. This was my first discernment. It was not until 2004, 35 years later, that I found out about the Toronto Blessing, and Brownsville, Pensacola manifestations. Watching video clips from these services mirrored exactly what I saw so many years ago.
This is from War on the Saints:
MIXED MANIFESTATIONS
The majority of those present may have no idea of the mixture which has crept in. Some fall upon the ground unable to bear the strained emotion, or effect upon the mind; and some are thrown down by some supernatural power; others cry out in ecstasy; the speaker leaves the platform, passes by a young man, who becomes conscious of a feeling of intoxication upon him, which does not leave his senses for some time. Others laugh with the exuberance of the intoxicating joy. Some have had real spiritual help and blessing through the Word of God being expounded ere this climax came, and during the pure outflow of the Holy Spirit; consequently they accept these strange workings as from God, because in the first stage of the meeting, their needs have been truly met by Him; and they cannot discern the two separate “manifestations” coming through the same channel! If they doubt the latter part of the meeting, they fear they are untrue to their inner conviction that the earlier part was “of God.” Others are conscious that the “manifestations” are contrary to their spiritual vision, and judgment; but on account of the blessing of the earlier part they stifle their doubts, and say “We cannot understand the ‘physical’ manifestations, but we must not expect to understand all that God does. We only know that the wonderful outpouring of truth and love and light at the beginning of the meeting was from God, and met our need. No one can mistake the sincerity, the pure motive of the speaker . . therefore, although I cannot understand, or say I ‘like’ the physical manifestations, yet–it must be all of God . . “
TRUE AND COUNTERFEIT ACCEPTED TOGETHER
Briefly put, this is a glimpse into the mixed “manifestations” which have come upon the Church of God, since the Revival in Wales; for, almost without exception, in every land where revival has since broken forth, within a very brief period of time the counterfeit stream has mingled with the true; and almost without exception, true and false have been accepted together, because of the workers being ignorant of the possibility of concurrent streams; or else have been rejected together by those who could not detect the one from the other; or it has been believed that there was no “true” at all, because the majority of believers fail to understand that there can be mixed workings of the (1) Divine and Satanic, (2) Divine and human, (3) Satanic and human, (4) soul and spirit, (5) soul and body, (6) body and spirit; the three latter in the way of feelings and consciousness, and the three former in the way of source and power.
There must be more than one quantity to make a mixture; at least two. The devil mixes his lies with the truth, for he must use a truth to carry his lies. The believer must therefore discriminate, and judge all things. He must be able to see so much to be impure, and so much that he can accept. Satan is a “mixer.” If in anything he finds ninety-nine percent pure, he tries to insert one percent of his poisonous stream, and this grows, if undetected, until the proportions are reversed. Where there is mixture acknowledged to be in meetings where supernatural manifestations take place, if believers are unable to discriminate, they should keep away from these “mixtures” until they are able to discern.
In accepting the counterfeits of Satan, the believer thinks, and believes, he is complying with Divine conditions in order to ascend to a higher life; whereas he complies with conditions for Satanic workings in his life, and thereby descends into a pit of deception and suffering, with his spirit and motive pure.
Ppg. 98-100
I have never found out, even though I have been researching how the false manifestations were transferred or originated in this Seattle church.The transfer of the “anointing” from HTB ( Holy Trinity Brompton) to Toronto (the Toronto Blessing), then onto Pensacola, is well documented. If you take a look at this chart you will see some interesting and well-known names.
Here is the main link
The Holy Spirit cannot be passed from one person into another. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13, each virgin had a lamp which represents the profession of Christianity. It is the oil that gives off the light though. The oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. When the virgins slept because of their long wait for the bridegroom, five of them had not prepared themselves. When the midnight cry came, the virgins awoke and started to trim their lamps, but alas, five had no oil. They asked the five virgins for some of their oil, but they said. “No, go and buy some for yourselves.” This oil is not transferable. One cannot borrow the Holy Spirit from another person. Neither can it be “transferred”, “imparted” or “passed on.”
It was too late for these foolish virgins, for when they returned the door was shut.
“Sir! Sir! Open the door for us.”
“I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.”
War on the Saints – Lying Spirits
I once read a book in which the author consistently said, “The Lord told me”. This was repeated so often I began to doubt that everything this author said was indeed from the Lord.
I have a reason to question his oft quoted assertion. I too can say “The Lord told me”, ” I heard”, “I sensed.” Come to find out, even though I was aware of lying spirits, I still listened to them, thinking that I could always tell the difference. I was wrong.
Not too long ago I read an e-book from a man who was featured on a blog, The Sign of Jonah. His story was fascinating and it was evident that he thought he truly was in the will of God, but certain aspects of his story began to reveal that he was deceived. He told of how he was always hearing from God. God was being rather specific with this man. Apparently this man went through his day, constantly being directed as to what to wear, what to eat, and when to make a left turn. He saw red dragons on all supposedly “evil” sites that needed to be “taken” for the Lord. It became apparent that this man was totally deceived and was not listening to God but had given his ear over to the lying spirits.
In the book “War of the Saints” it talks of counterfeit guidance.
“As Christ was a pattern or example for His followers, guidance or ‘leading’ in its perfect and true form is shown in His life, and believers can only expect the co-working of the Holy Spirit when they walk after the pattern of their Example. Out of line with the Pattern the cease to have the working of the Holy Spirit, and become open to the deceptive counterfeit workings of evil spirits.”
“If the believer ceases to use mind, reason, will and all his other faculties as a person, and depends upon voices, and impulses for guidance in every detail of life, he will be ‘led’ or guided by evil spirits, feigning to be God.”
“This is the time for which the deceiving spirits have been watching…he (man) is now watching for some other supernatural indication of the way to go, or the course to take….This is the moment of opportunity for a deceiving spirit to gain his faith and confidence: and so some word or words are whispered softly, that are exactly in accordance with the inward drawing that he has had….the soft whisper of the deceiving spirit is so delicate and gentle, that the believer listens to, and receives the words without question, and begins to obey this soft whisper, yielding more and more to it, without any thought of exercising mind, judgment, reason, or volition.”
“From this point deceiving spirits can increase their control, for the believer has begun the listening attitude…until he is always watching for an ‘inner voice,’ or a voice in the ear which is an exact counterfeit of the voice of God in the spirit; and thus the believer moves, and acts as a passive slave to ‘supernatural guidance.'”
ppg. 136-137
When I returned to the Lord some years back, I had a true spiritual awakening. Unfortunately, Satan was not going to give up without a fight. Every time I grew in the Lord, Satan provided opposition. I struggled to divide what was from the Lord and what was counterfeit.
God was so good to show me these things and to teach me through the Holy Spirit. All through this struggle I only wanted the truth and I prayed for answers.
Are you teachable? Do you really want the truth? This may seem like a silly question, but truly it is not, for you may say to yourself…of course I want the truth. Human nature is full of pride and what does pride do to man? It limits him. What does it limit? It limits admission.
Admission of being wrong.
Admission of being fallible.
Admission of weakness.
Admission of being deceived.
Why is this so hard? Losing face. What will others think? When we have been wrong the truth hurts. It pierces our pride, and when we are more concerned with what our fellow man thinks rather than what God thinks….we will fail every time.
It is because of this difficult admission of wrong thinking that we allow Satan to lead us into deception…no matter how many Bible verses we learn. We have to really believe and heed them. God’s Word is powerful if we actually use it and apply it to our lives. God’s Word can be poetic and inspiring but if it is left at that, using it only for its beauty we will forfeit its powerful instruction.
It is this power that keeps us teachable, humble, and open to the truth. Truth opposes lies – Satan’s lies. In these times Satan’s lies are growing more powerful because they cover-up and distort God’s written Word. When we as Christians listen to Satan’s lies, we will begin a journey into deception.
“It requires a very deep allegiance to the truth which God desires should reign in the inward parts of His children, for a believer to accept truth which cuts and humbles, as readily as he accepts that which is agreeable. The ‘undeceiving’ is painful to the feelings, and the discovery that he has been deceived is one of the keenest blows to a man who once thought that he was so ‘advanced,’ so ‘spiritual’ and so ‘infallible,’ in his certainty of obeying the Spirit of God.”
Pg. 181
So why is this deception so compelling, ever-growing, and filtering into the church? This has always been Satan’s plan. He is the deceiver of the whole earth. He is deceiving all into thinking that a new spiritual awakening is coming upon the earth. He is right, you know…there is a spiritual awakening but it has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.
“The world is now drawing nearer to the ‘time of the end,’ characterized by the deception depicted in the Apocalypse as being world-wide; when there will be deceptions of NATIONS, and individuals, on such a vast scale that the deceiver will practically have the whole earth under his control. ‘The whole world lieth in the evil one’ (1 John 19) said the Apostle, to whom was given the Revelation, describing the world as already lying deep in darkness through the deception of the evil one, and blindly led by him through vast evil spirit hosts under his control.”
Pg.10
When Satan was bombarding me with opposition and lies, I listened for awhile, but I always questioned, probed and prayed. Was I deceived? Yes, I was…but I was more interested in the truth, no matter what. If I had never acted on my doubts, who knows…I probably would be posting silly lies and prophecies that would sound just like false prophets, Kim Clement or Chuck Pierce.
I was listening to a tape this morning from a Discernment-Ministries conference I attended last year. Carolyn Schorle spoke of her deliverance from drugs prescribed to her when she was diagnosed as mentally-ill. She was taunted with the voices of demons and she battled her way out with scripture. She told us, read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. When you are done start over.
I beg of you….pray for the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God.
*************
“Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.”
Daniel 11:35
I am reposting this article by Tamara Hartzell. She has left us to be with the Lord. Her research is painstaking and excellent.
originally posted February 2008: by Tamara Hartzell
Are You “Being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked” to the New Age Ark of Oneness?
Not too long ago I read through Tamara Hartzell’s In the Name of Purpose: Sacrificing Truth on the Altar of Unity. What an amazing piece of research…. Now I have completed “Being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked” and found it also to be a great article. Tamara tells an interesting story which starts like this.
“As a child growing up in Fresno, my favorite attraction was Roeding Park with its Zoo and Storyland. As its name imples, Storyland is a play area for kids featuring explorative displays and audio recordings of different children’s stories, such as The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, and various others. A Noah’s Ark display has also been included that featured a walk-through Ark made into a Christian Chapel, complete with stained glass windows and pews.
This past spring I had the opportunity to revisit Roeding Park. At first, the Noah’s Ark display appeared unchanged. It still seemed to be the same Christian Chapel. However, as I entered the Ark/Chapel I stood stunned and in disbelief.” [1]
Sorry to leave the story hanging but I want you to read this article. I printed it out for my ever-growing collection, but here are some interesting excerpts:
Although humanity intends for its Ark of Oneness to bring the world love, peace, compassion, brotherhood, goodwill, sharing, beauty, justice, virtue, unity, service and elimination of global and planetary problems, humanity is ultimately being driven by the god of this world to a very specific destination (a destination that not every builder and would-be boarder of the Ark is necessarily aware of ahead of time). This Ark of oneness is the ultimate forbidden fruit. It is the no-holds-barred grand finale of the serpent’s seduction of humanity, which he began in the Garden of Eden.” [2]
“The new world and its Emerging One Church (one universal faith in “God” and in humanity) are emerging so rapidly now that it is simply too difficult, it not upright impossible, to keep up with the massive global shift taking place in both the world and today’s professing church.” [3]
“…humanity is becoming a swift learned of the ways and teachings of the New Spirituality and its Emerging One Church. When the time comes, those who are spiritual enough will, as one leave all separateness behind and follow the serpent’s Coming One (the New Age anti-Christ) right into his counterfeit kingdom of God…” [4]
“…a genuinely “Self-centered” humanity will be successfully incited by the dragon and his spirit realm to execute judgment upon all who are ‘guilty’ of the new world’s ‘worst’ hate crime–believing the truth given to us by God in His word.” …..”Yet in the upside-down New Spirituality of this upside-down new world, the ones who are deemed guilty of ‘self-centered’ ‘hate’ are those who lovingly alert others to God’s truth…” [5]
A friend from another Christian ministry…told me that 10-15 years ago, he never would have thought that he would live to see the day, that is now quickly approaching. It is extremely difficult at this point to keep up with all the organizations that are promoting unity for peace, love and goodwill of man. While these goals are good in themselves there is an undertow swirling meant to pull mankind down into a new world order. The world will go willingly.
We, as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, are not to be of this world. This new spirituality is not about Jesus Christ…it is about the false christs. It is a deception so well-planned that innocent people will be taken-in because they did not know the Word of God. Who are you following? Are you being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked?
I pray that you are not.
[1] page 5
[2] page 13
[3] page 47 [4] page 17 [5] page 19
DiscernIt 
Recent Comments