David Noakes concludes his chapter.
Having provided his own personal testimony about the Toronto phenomenon, David finishes his chapter with some scriptural teaching on discernment.
This article is part of a series. Please see the base of the page for more information.
The Need for Repentance
Reflection upon the history of the charismatic renewal movement as I have experienced it leads me to the conclusion that we began well, but that increasingly we have departed from the purposes of God.
We have done this as a result of having moved progressively farther from an adherence to his word, a process which accelerated alarmingly during the 1980s and 1990s. I believe we are in imminent danger, if the trend is not checked, of reaching a point where we can no longer be said to care about biblical truth, but only about enticing experiences.1
Repentance is urgently needed in order that God should not finally give us up to the delusion which we seem to desire more than the truth of the word.
The triumphalist teachings of Dominion theology lead inevitably to a post-millennialist view of eschatology; and with this comes also a rejection of the consistent testimony of Scripture concerning God's intention to fulfil all his stated purposes for the nation of Israel. To deny those purposes and to declare the Church to have replaced the descendants of Jacob as the inheritor of all the covenant promises of God makes out his word to be a lie and distorts its testimony.
This issue is of fundamental importance. Taking his farewell of the elders of the Ephesian church, Paul declared, “I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:26-27, NASB).
The charismatic renewal movement began well, but increasingly has departed from the purposes of God.
We can only have a right understanding of the will and purpose of God for the Church in the days in which we live if we accept as truth the whole of the revelation contained in Scripture, but a false hope of revival and rulership here and now has been substituted for the true biblical hope of the Second Coming of Jesus and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.
Unbiblical doctrine gives rise to unbiblical expectations and opens the door to increasing error and deception.
Spiritual Discernment
What could and should have saved us from getting to the position we have now reached? I have no doubt in my own mind that the phenomenon of the 'Toronto Blessing' constitutes the next experience of a floodtide of deception such as I was shown at the time of the Kansas City Prophets. What will come next? We are in increasing danger.
We would not have fallen prey to the confusion brought into the Church by successive waves of deception if we had known and applied the principles of spiritual discernment given to us in the pages of Scripture. We have already referred to the test as to whether spiritual activity conforms to God's ways as revealed in the Bible.
When in Toronto, I heard given consistently from the public platform the injunction that people should not feel the need to weigh and test anything that was happening: that it was all from God, who was present in such a powerful way that satan could not gain access. People should therefore 'open up their minds, put down their defences and go with the flow'.
Not only is this utter folly; it is also plain disobedience to the Lord - clearly contradicting the command contained in his word. satan is the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2, RSV) and we can never safely assume on this earth that he is denied access. Therefore, the Church is instructed in all gatherings, particularly where spiritual manifestations are taking place, to be alert and on guard: “Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thess 5:19-22, emphasis added).
What exactly are we testing? Our principal concern is to test the source of origin from which the spiritual activity is proceeding, be it prophecy, tongues, healing, or whatever. Our principal question is: what manner of spirit is operating behind and inspiring this activity? Is it the Holy Spirit? If so, all is well; but if not, we must be on guard and refuse to accept the activity as valid.
We would not have fallen prey to the confusion of successive waves of deception if we had known and applied the principles of spiritual discernment given us in Scripture.
An obvious and immediate test is that of the word of God. Does the utterance, or teaching, or activity conform to the revelation of Scripture? If not, we may dismiss it at once.
We are also commanded to test the spirits and not to be so gullible as to believe that every spirit is from God (1 John 4:1). How may we do this?
Acknowledgment of Jesus
1 John 4:2-3: If a spirit does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh it is not from God, but is the spirit of the antichrist.
Learn to Recognise
1 John 2:20-21, 26-27: “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth...I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit just as it has taught you, remain in him.”
Every believer who has received the Holy Spirit has this anointing from the Lord. It has the effect upon us that our own spirits have the capacity to recognise what is true, genuinely from the Lord, and what is not. As Jesus said (John 10:3-5), his sheep know his voice and can distinguish it from a stranger's voice.
Unfortunately, very few believers have been taught to recognise and to respond to the witness of their own spirits within them. Most of us will probably have experienced the sense of the inward lifting or rising of our spirit when something is genuinely from the Lord; and conversely the sense of deadness or heaviness, or even alarm-bells, when the source is not from God.
However, many believers tend to ignore or quench that inner witness, often because they rely on leadership to do all the discerning; or because they think that a trusted minister cannot get it wrong, so their own discernment must be at fault. Anybody can be in error, and we should never take anything for granted.
It is for all Christians to take heed of the inner witness with which the Lord has supplied us; and if we do so, it leads to the safety of the whole Body. This inner witness is often the first indication we receive in any particular situation of whether the Holy Spirit is active, or perhaps simply a human spirit operating in the flesh, or sometimes a demonic spirit. It is of great importance.
It is for all Christians to take heed of the inner witness with which the Lord has supplied us.
Distinguish Between Spirits
1 Corinthians 12:10: The Holy Spirit manifests through believers “the ability to distinguish between spirits”. This is the witness given directly from the Holy Spirit through one or more believers to enable us to identify the spirits operating in a situation, to receive the awareness of what manner of spirit is active.
If it is not from God, then it may be, for example, a lying spirit, an unclean spirit, a seducing spirit, a spirit of pride, or greed, or whatever else may be at work. Through this gift the Holy Spirit reveals to God's people the exact type of demonic activity which is opposing them.
The operation of this gift is of vital importance in any situation of supernatural spiritual activity. Any believer may be used by the Holy Spirit in this way and it is a great mistake to rely solely on the leaders, or for leaders to seek to keep all matters of discernment within their own hands.
Put to the Test
1 Corinthians 14:29: Where prophecy in particular is concerned there must be a careful weighing of what is said. Of all spiritual manifestations, prophecy is potentially both the most valuable and also the most dangerous, because of its great capacity either to edify or to mislead those who hear and receive it as being a direct communication of the mind of God.
The same root word is used as in 1 Corinthians 12:10 - the Greek verb diakrino, meaning 'to distinguish, to make a separation' between true and false. When prophecy is weighed, both the content of what is spoken and the spirit responsible for inspiring the utterance should be put to the test of both the witness of the Holy Spirit and the inner witness of the spirits of those who are present.
Practise Discernment
Finally, we should take notice of Hebrews 5:14: “...solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil”.
Again the verb diakrino is used. God wants all believers to come to maturity, and continual alertness to distinguish what is of God from what is not is a hallmark of a mature believer. Practising discernment in the ways which the Bible reveals should be a way of life for a Christian.
Of all spiritual manifestations, prophecy is potentially both the most valuable and also the most dangerous, because of its great capacity either to edify or mislead.
If these ways of discernment had been taught and practised within the charismatic churches in the way which the Bible instructs and encourages, much deception and difficulty could have been avoided. The hour is late and deception has made deep inroads, but my plea is that we might embrace repentance in these areas while there is yet time.
If we return wholeheartedly to the word of God as final and unquestioned authority in all matters; if we embrace the biblical teaching concerning the nation of Israel; and if we become diligent to distinguish the genuine activity of the Holy Spirit from all other manifestations, then surely the Lord will deliver us from error, and instead of the Ishmael which we have produced, will bring forth for us the Isaac of his original purpose.
Next week: We move on to the final chapter of Blessing the Church?, written by Dr Clifford Hill: ‘Here Today, Where Tomorrow?’
Notes
1 Please note that the original time of writing was 1995.
Series Information
This article is part of a series, re-publishing the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’, an analysis of the ‘Toronto Blessing’ and a wider critique of the charismatic movement in the late 20th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.
