From hyper-grace to healing vibrations: how the NAR is leading charismatics astray.

*Longer article*

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” (Psalm 143:10)

At Prophecy Today UK, we believe that the Pentecostal movement of the early 20^th Century and the charismatic renewal movement of the 1960s and 70s were moves of God to equip his people with a greater understanding and appreciation of the Holy Spirit. We have often said that this equipping was intended for a specific purpose: to prepare the Church for effective witness in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, during which time the global population has boomed and the religious map has changed dramatically.

However, we recognise the danger of such moves of God being hijacked and corrupted by human sin and satanic deception, and that this danger is no less today than it was in the days of the early Church. Then, the infiltration of the new-born Christian community by false teachers and false prophets led Paul and the other Apostles to speak often and passionately about the importance of guarding against deception.

It is in this context, and with regard for recent concerns surrounding David Hathaway’s January prayer day at Wembley Arena, that we feel a broader statement (perhaps the first of several) is also necessary on a particular movement infiltrating the Western charismatic Church.

We believe that this cluster of ministries, teachings, practices and attitudes, often referred to through the short-hand phrase ‘the New Apostolic Reformation’ or ‘NAR’, has the potential to steer charismatics completely off course. But what is the NAR, and how can we combat its teachings with biblical truth?

A Brief History

The NAR is today’s expression of the same teachings that birthed the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s, the subsequent ‘Manifest Sons of God’ movement, the Kansas City Prophets, the Toronto Blessing (1994 on), events at Brownsville/Pensacola (1995-2000) and the Lakeland Florida ‘outpouring’ (2008).

During the mid-1990s, Dr Clifford Hill together with several other British church leaders joined to sound the alarm about events in Toronto, the outcome of which was the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’, serialised in 2018 on Prophecy Today UK.¹ But though the alarm was sounded, the NAR movement has since only grown in reach and influence. Through the 2000s and 2010s, teachings that were once the domain of fringe itinerant revivalists filtered into the mainstream charismatic world.

The NAR today encompasses a loose collection of charismatic ministries, leaders and teachings without a central organising body or statement of beliefs, and defying traditional denominational categories. Many within it do not recognise the term ‘NAR’, though it was coined by one of the movement’s core founders, C. Peter Wagner.² It has also been termed ‘network Christianity’³ because of its nebulous, relational nature.

Today, NAR power-houses include Bill and Beni Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California (formerly AOG, now independent), Hillsong Church in Australia (also formerly AOG, now independent), Catch the Fire in Toronto (formerly Toronto Airport Vineyard, now independent), Heidi Baker’s Iris Ministries and Rick Joyner’s Morningstar Ministries, amongst many others. You will find songs, teachings, books and events connected with these and other NAR ministries being promoted in most charismatic churches in Britain, at inter-denominational conferences, in Christian bookshops and on Christian TV and radio.

This ‘networking’ has been accomplished through a combination of music, literature, sympathetic publishing houses and media platforms,⁴ training programmes, social media use and platform-sharing/collaborations with well-respected ministries and leaders. The NAR now also has its own Bible ‘translation’ to boot.⁵

The global reach of this movement and the endurance of its core beliefs through time seem all the more insidious because of its lack of official organisation, prompting many to see a spiritual driving force behind it. So, what exactly do NAR proponents believe?

What are NAR Beliefs?

In many ways, the NAR borrows from biblical Christianity and most within the movement would still accept the basic tenets of the Gospel. It is evangelistic and charismatic; it believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It also usually takes a conservative stance on moral issues, values prophecy, promotes social action and can encourage support for Israel. However, there are important aspects of the NAR which are inescapably unbiblical, which pollute and redirect genuinely-felt love for God.

Indeed, while we are not disputing the sincerity of ordinary believers caught up in the NAR movement, we believe that, followed thoroughly and consistently, it promotes ‘a different Jesus, a different spirit and a different Gospel’ (2 Cor 11:4).

The US General Council of the Assemblies of God wrote in their official denunciation of the Latter Rain Movement in 1949 that its theology “claims prerogatives to human agency which belong only to Christ”.⁶ This remains a good summary of the NAR movement today which, though now evolved beyond these roots, still bears similar hallmarks.

In short, the NAR movement encourages believers to claim for themselves things that belong only to our sovereign God and remain His to bestow as He wills: things such as power and authority, control and dominion, supernatural ability, blessing and success, health and prosperity. It is a Christianity that doesn’t know when or where to stop: an over-zealous movement of theological and spiritual excess characterised by a lack of biblical checks and balances.

With the caveat that the NAR is a loose movement that encompasses a lot of internal variation, and to which proponents may only subscribe partially or inconsistently, core NAR beliefs include:

1. The leadership of modern-day ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’
   
2. Dominionism: the teaching that ahead of Jesus’ return, the Church will become all-powerful on earth and make it ready for the Lord⁷
   
3. The belief that unlimited divine power and blessing is available to believers to equip them for this task
   
4. An over-emphasis on the supernatural and extra-biblical revelation
   
5. An over-emphasis on power and human agency
   

In the remainder of this article, I will take these five NAR creeds and discuss briefly why each is attractive, deceptive and contrary to Scripture.

1. The leadership of modern-day ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’

The NAR movement distorts Ephesians 2:20 to claim that God is raising up end times ‘super-apostles’ and prophets – equal to or greater than the original Apostles commissioned by Christ - who will lead the Church to this-worldly victory. The appeal of strong, charismatic leadership in an increasingly uncertain world, particularly to young people, should not be underestimated.

While Christians disagree about whether the biblical offices of Apostle and Prophet are still current today, what is certain is that an elitist movement of self-appointed, celebrity leaders claiming divine authority is thoroughly dangerous, as well as antithetical to Scripture.⁸ The cult-like focus on personality in the NAR has led some believers to travel the world in order to sit under the teaching of specific people, desperate to receive some personal blessing and accepting their words unquestioningly.

The highly concentrated power of this relatively small group of men and women – now commanding global influence and millions of dollars every year, while being treated as infallible superstars - can easily be (and has been) abused, as with the well-documented examples of Paul Cain and, more recently, Todd Bentley. Both of these men fell from grace spectacularly but were quickly ‘restored’ with a conspicuous absence of deep grieving and true repentance.

All this is a world away from the New Testament ekklesia, the community of faith built on one name alone: that of Jesus Christ. The original Apostles were team-playing ambassadors of the Gospel who placed high premiums on humility and servant leadership, not self-promotion and gaining a following (e.g. 1 Cor 3:4; 15:9). Their teaching emphasised the importance of weighing and testing all things (e.g. 1 Thess 5:21) and watching keenly for false teachers and prophets, as Jesus commanded (Matt 7:15-20). Those in positions of leadership knew they would be held to a higher standard because of their greater influence (James 3:1).

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. Though I am less than the least of all the saints…” Apostle Paul, Ephesians 3:7-8

“He must become greater; I must become less…the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.” John the Baptist, John 3:30-31

2. Dominionism: the teaching that ahead of Jesus’ return, the Church will become all-powerful on earth and make it ready for the Lord

Popular within the NAR movement are teachings like the Seven Mountain Mandate (the idea that Christians are supposed to take over the ‘seven mountains’ of culture in order to transform the world) and the concept of ‘bringing heaven to earth’, reclaiming society and Creation for the Kingdom.⁹

The biblical hope that believers will become bearers of light and blessing to their communities and nations through the transformative power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, and the understandable desire for revival, are extrapolated to such a degree that the responsibility for establishing a physical Kingdom of God on earth is transferred from Christ onto the shoulders of the Church.

The goal of re-establishing Christendom has obvious appeal to Christians in the West, who have hitherto watched their nations despise God and spin into terminal decline. But dig a little deeper and NAR Dominionism usurps Christ’s Lordship, wresting from him the mandate to redeem, restore and judge.

Indeed, the ‘Kingdom Now’ culture promises the victory of Christ’s return and the blessings of Heaven to believers in this life, creating false expectations that ‘things can only get better’ and that the next big revival is just around the corner. This stops people from truly seeking the Lord and understanding his purposes. It also blinds them to vast swathes of Scripture which speak of dreadful days of deception and persecution ahead of the Lord’s return.

When difficult times do come, or when wild predictions of revival don’t come true, expectations are disappointed and believers can be driven either into denial, or away from faith altogether.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” Jesus, Matthew 24:12-13

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:20

3. The belief that unlimited divine power and blessing is available to believers to equip them for this task

Taking its cue from the Manifest Sons of God movement, NAR teachers emphasise that as God’s children destined to do great things in the world, believers can claim in faith lives of abundant blessing, health, supernatural power and infinite grace from God.¹⁰ Some, notoriously, have even argued that believers are ‘little gods’ who can attain to divinity and physical immortality.¹¹

The fleshly appeal of such promises of abundance is obvious (cf. Genesis 3:5). Deceptively, they take truths about the love, goodness, grace and blessing of God and blow them out of all proportion, well beyond scriptural boundaries. The life of faith is reworked around pursuing and ‘claiming’ this promised abundance, more than around growing in maturity and holiness. As such, NAR teaching de-emphasises concepts like discipline, judgment, sin and human weakness. It blurs the fundamental differences between God and humanity, exalting believers far above their given place.

Believers are told that illness and suffering are always consequences either of a lack of faith or of spiritual attack (rather than for any other reasons) while concepts such as repentance and denying one’s flesh are side-lined, as are scriptural injunctions to admonish, discern and warn.

The result is an entitled, spoilt Church culture – congruent with the consumeristic West at large. The NAR is known for its insatiable cry of ‘more!’

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus, Matthew 16:24

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

4. Strong emphasis on the supernatural and extra-biblical revelation

The NAR movement puts a premium emphasis on an experiential relationship with God, including miraculous healings, the imparting of spiritual gifts/anointing through the laying on of hands, tangible experiences of God’s glory, words of knowledge, angelic visitations, supernatural manifestations and miscellaneous signs and wonders (notorious examples of the latter include the appearance of gold dust, gold teeth and feathers).

Biblical accounts of Jesus and the Apostles speak of miracles which are rarely seen in today’s unbelieving, hyper-materialist West. Ordinary Christians are understandably hungry for the supernatural – not only for proof of God’s existence but in order to ‘walk as Jesus walked’. However, this biblical desire for authentic New Testament Christianity is taken too far by the NAR, with cries of ‘relationship not religion’ quickly becoming a reaction against all forms of biblical authority, order and structure (save for the authority of the ‘anointed’ apostles and prophets!) and a privileging instead of the spontaneous, the ‘reckless’, even the ‘out of control’.

Such a postmodern theology of experience fits right in with millennials, but comes with a low regard for Scripture and the basic tenets of the Gospel, as somehow insufficient. Instead, a gnostic pursuit of the spiritual and of ‘new’ knowledge opens believers up to spiritual influences and grand prophetic claims that are simply not of God. In the name of faith, discernment is abandoned and thinking is suspended.

Unsurprisingly, the NAR movement has been marked from the start by strange manifestations, esoteric experiences and an abundance of provably false ‘prophetic’ words – all encouraged by a church culture predisposed to unquestioning acceptance, with criticism shut down as ‘judgmentalism’.

“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.” Apostle John, 1 John 4:1

“…there has emerged a famine of the Word of God…[which] has left large numbers of Christians without the capacity to judge for themselves from Scripture whether a thing is from God or not. They are defenceless from error, both in the form of doctrine and practice…” Peter Fenwick¹²

5. Therefore, given the above, the NAR places a strong emphasis on power and human agency

NAR-influenced church culture today emphasises the spiritual ‘authority’ of believers and NAR teaching often purports to help people ‘trigger’, ‘activate’ or ‘awaken’ blessing, revival and supernatural experience. NAR language is suffused with authoritative terminology such as ‘releasing’, ‘imparting’, ‘anointing’, ‘activating’, ‘breaking’, ‘declaring’ and ‘pronouncing’.

Being clear on the nature and limits of our authority in Christ is vital if we are to avoid usurping his role and claiming power for ourselves that is not ours to claim. In the NAR, this desire to wield spiritual power sometimes fosters a militant emphasis on spiritual warfare, particularly the practice of ‘taking’ territories for the Kingdom in prayer by engaging with territorial demonic spirits.¹³ Faithful proclamation of the Gospel is superseded by a dangerous desire to engage with spiritual principalities, while a concern to deal with sin is replaced by a pre-occupation with enemy activity.

Without discernment, these kinds of attitudes can worsen the ‘name it and claim it’ culture described previously and lead to all sorts of self-interested, unwise actions. Bethel Church in California provides plentiful examples of such behaviour: e.g. pacing around Temple Mount declaring ‘victory’ over the enemy, praying for a friend who fell down a cliff instead of calling the emergency services, and trying to stop the California fires by prophesying rain and commanding the wind.

We are not in any way denying the possibility of Holy Spirit-inspired declarations, or divinely-prompted acts of faith, or the power of intercessory prayer. However, NAR teaching wrests these things away from God and puts them solely in the hands of humans, as if the Holy Spirit is a force that man can learn to wield and bend to his will. This unhealthy attitude towards control, combined with the aforementioned preoccupation with the supernatural, opens a door for the New Age.

New Age terminology like ‘shifts’, ‘alignment’ and ‘destiny’ are common within the NAR, as are hypnotic music and mystical practices borrowed from the occult. One well-known example is The Physics of Heaven, a 2012 book by authors including Kansas City Prophets Bob Jones and Larry Randolph, with contributions from widely-followed NAR personalities Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton.

The book purports to ‘reclaim’ practices from the New Age like vibrations, healing energies, ‘dolphin therapy’ and ‘quantum mysticism’ to reveal secrets about how to achieve ‘personal transcendence’.¹⁴

“Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone.” Acts 19:18-19

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Jesus, Matthew 7:21-23

Conclusions

The above overview is not comprehensive, as anyone who has looked into these matters will know. However, it is intended to clarify Prophecy Today’s position on this movement. Our assessment is that it ducks and weaves through biblical Christianity, blending truth with dangerous distortions and downright falsities.

It is thus a prime example of a movement of ‘mixture’. Nobody is saying that NAR teachers don’t ever say anything true or worthwhile – that’s precisely the point. They sometimes do. It is extremely difficult to critique their material without appearing uncharitable towards the truth contained within it. More discerning Christians have therefore tended to be divided by the influence of the NAR - some see the good and are unwilling to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Others reject it completely as outright deception (2 Cor 11:4). Many are simply fearful of speaking out against a movement that may include things ‘of God’, in case they accidentally blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

As I said at the start of this article, we are not disputing the sincerity of believers caught up in the NAR movement. However, broadly speaking, when NAR teaching and culture is held up to the light of Scripture, it fails virtually every single test. The problem is that it has intermingled with and now suffuses mainstream charismatic Christianity in Britain, which is one reason why so many faithful charismatics find themselves unable to find a sound church fellowship.

The growth of the NAR must be weighed before the Lord, especially in the light of scriptures forecasting deception during the times of the end. I do not believe, however, that ‘retreat’ is the only option left for faithful believers. A systematic critique is desperately needed and we must search the scriptures carefully to find out the truth, and be ready to defend it, contending earnestly for the faith (Jude 3). If the NAR really is as deceptive as it appears, the future of the Western Church and its witness may just hang in the balance.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy is particularly pertinent for us today:

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Our thanks to the many readers who have raised this issue with us.

References

1 Click here to read our serialised version, which provides a useful history of the whole movement.

2 Wagner, CP, 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal, CA, p18.

3 See Christerson, B and Flory, R, 2017. The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape. OUP USA.

4 E.g. Destiny Image, Charisma Media, God TV and TBN.

5 The ‘Passion Translation’, though it is really a paraphrase. Read critiques here and here and note its NAR connections here.

6 See chapter by David Forbes in Blessing the Church?

7 There are other streams of Dominionist theology that transcend charismatic circles. Not all have the same perspective on the end times.

8 Some, like Bill Johnson, do not claim these things overtly. But neither does he stop people from claiming them for him.

9 This end goal of subduing the whole earth can precipitate some strange alliances, at great doctrinal cost.

10 This overlaps considerably with the ‘Word of Faith’ movement/the idea of ‘positive confession’ and has synergy with the prosperity gospel, also secular psychology.

11 This is a misappropriation of Psalm 82:6/John 10:34 and stems especially from Manifest Sons of God teaching. It can shade into New Age assertions about ‘the divine within’ and be coupled with a down-playing of Christ as the first of many sons, or as a human endowed with divine power, rather than THE only begotten Son of God, fully human but also fully divine.

12 Blessing the Church? p50.

13 We are not saying that prayer is not important or spiritually significant, nor that believers cannot be led by God to pray strategically – but this must be led by God and not assumed.

14 Bethel Church in California recently hit the news for supporting the use of Christianised tarot cards as a form of outreach, and are known for the practice of ‘grave-soaking’: visiting the graves of Christian heroes and physically trying to ‘soak up’ some of the ‘anointing’.

Simon Pease reviews ‘Kundalini Warning’ by Andrew Strom (2015, Revival School Publications).

Our series ends with a final look at the future of the charismatic movement.

This article is part of a series. Please see the base of the page for more details.

Looking Ahead

If the charismatic movement is to fulfil the purposes of God there has to be, first of all, a recognition that things have gone radically wrong and of the reasons why this has happened. There has to be not merely a superficial repentance but a radical turning away from the world and returning to God.

The Bible has to be restored to its central place in the Church with serious study of the word of God given great importance - not only among leaders and preachers of the word, but in the lives of all believers. If this does not take place, there will be serious consequences for the whole Church in the Western nations. The likely consequences may be summarised under four headings.

Disintegration

The charismatic movement is likely to disintegrate and fragment into numerous small groups with different beliefs and emphases. As the movement becomes largely discredited, many people will leave charismatic churches and revert to traditional evangelicalism or other traditions or even leave the Church altogether.

Experientialism

If the present obsession with experience continues, the charismatic movement will produce a new wave of excitement every few years just has it did through the 1980s and 1990s. With the abandonment of the Bible as the sole criterion of truth, each new wave takes the charismatic movement farther away from New Testament Christianity.

The danger becomes increased of a drift into the New Age Movement or to becoming cults. Both of these aberrations are basically experiential.

Timing

The fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the 20^th Century that has resulted first in the Pentecostal movement and secondly in the charismatic movement has been part of the deliberate plan and purpose of God for these times; empowering his Church for the demands of the coming days. God has not left us without an understanding of his plans.

If the charismatic movement is to fulfil the purposes of God there has to be a radical turning away from the world and returning to him.

For a number of years, he has been speaking to us about shaking the nations but we have not listened with understanding, neither have we been content to allow him to work out his purposes and to await his timing. Instead of waiting for God to do the work of revival in the nation, we have rushed ahead. Like the Children of Israel in the wilderness when Moses was up the mountain, we have made our own golden calf which we have worshipped in the charismatic churches.

By the beginning of 1995 the shaking of the nations had reached the point where the conditions for revival were falling into place. This was certainly true in Britain where a combination of deep social malaise, economic problems and political uncertainty combined to shake the confidence of the nation. Even the monarchy, heart of the British establishment, appeared deeply wounded by its 'annus horribilis'.

The charismatic movement had been raised by God for just such a time as this. Instead of witnessing to the nation, however, the charismatic churches turned in upon themselves, enjoying their golden calf, but thereby rendering themselves incapable of bringing the word of God to the nation with power and authority.

These social conditions in the nation which are favourable to the Gospel are unlikely to last long and the window of opportunity will close. Days of darkness are likely to follow with the enemies of the Gospel multiplying and the Church growing weaker. The visitation of God will have been missed, as it was in New Testament times. It was this that caused Jesus to weep over the city of Jerusalem saying,

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes...your enemies will build an embankment against you...They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God's coming to you. (Luke 19:41-44)

A Stumbling Block

Missing the timing of God does not necessarily mean that his purposes will be blocked. The sovereignty of God ensures that he will carry out his purposes even if his people are unfaithful. He will work out his plans another way. In the time of Jeremiah, he had to abandon Judah, allowing Jerusalem and the Temple to be destroyed because of the wickedness and unresponsiveness of his people despite all the warnings that he sent to them.

The purposes of God, however, cannot be thwarted. The sovereignty of God ensures that he can fulfil his plans by other means. As John the Baptist declared, “I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Luke 3:8).

The social conditions in the nation which are favourable to the Gospel are unlikely to last long and the window of opportunity will close.

If there is no repentance among charismatics and no radical renewing of the Western Church, God is able to fulfil his purposes by other means. It may be that he will bypass the Church and bring salvation to the nation some other way. Indeed, it may well happen that God will allow the Western Church to disintegrate. As the Church in the West dies so he will raise up the Church in the East and in the poorer nations to be his servants and to bring the message of salvation to the world. This would be completely in line with the ways of God in Scripture and a fulfilment of the vision Mary saw after her visit to Elizabeth when she looked forward to the birth of the Saviour singing,

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant...He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:46-53)

Conclusion

It would not be right to end on a negative note, although I would not wish to lessen the impact of the solemn warnings given in these last articles. But our God is merciful and loving, very ready to forgive and to restore those who turn to him in penitence.

It is the earnest hope of the writers of Blessing the Church? that our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those with leadership responsibilities within the churches, will respond to the things we have written by examining their teaching and practices in the light of Scripture. We appeal to the whole Church, and especially those in the charismatic sector, to make a fresh commitment to the study of the word of God.

We believe there is a pressing need for the study of biblical eschatology to counter the many false teachings which abound today. It is essential that Christians should know what the Bible says about the Second Coming of Christ and the conditions leading up to the Parousia.

We therefore appeal to all preachers to undertake systematic expository preaching of the word of God. We believe that expounding the scriptures will undoubtedly lay a good foundation for spiritual revival in the nation, but it will also guard the Church against error in days where there is a great onslaught on the truth. If believers are well-grounded in the word, they will not be deceived by false teachers and prophets however attractively their message is packaged and presented.

We appeal also to all believers to turn again to the Bible and study the word. When we do so we find our love for God grows and so too does our commitment to the Lord Jesus and to the work of the Kingdom.

To those who, having read this series, are concerned about their own spiritual life if they have been exposed to non-biblical teaching and practices, we would counsel against anxiety. Our God is a loving Father who sees the heart rather than the outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7). He knows the secrets of our hearts and he guards those who sincerely love him and who truly seek him. His solemn promise is "‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you’, declares the Lord” (Jer 29:13-14).

We appeal to all believers to turn again to the Bible and study the word.

Those who have been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus are part of his flock whom he, as the Good Shepherd, guards and constantly watches over for good. Even when we foolishly or inadvertently go astray he is not quick to condemn, but rather he is quick to reach out to redeem, and lovingly to restore to a right relationship with himself and with the Father.

Making mistakes, repenting and returning to experiencing the loving forgiveness of our Father are all part of growing in maturity for the believer. There is no-one who never makes mistakes. We all go astray from time to time, but our God remains faithful, even when we are unfaithful. He has called us his children, sons of the living God, and the Father has fulfilled his promise to send 'the Counsellor' to be with us forever - 'the Spirit of truth' (John 14:16-17). Jesus promised that “the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit...will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you…Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:26-27).

Jesus' own testimony was that he only did those things which he heard from the Father (John 5:19). He said, “By myself I can do nothing” (John 5:30). It is this attitude of total dependence upon the Father that the whole Church urgently needs to learn, so that we neither lag behind nor run ahead of his purposes. If we turn to the left or to the right we hear his voice saying “This is the way, walk in it” (Isa 30:21).

When we study the word of God we learn his ways. He sometimes has to bring a loving rebuke to us, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river” (Isa 48:17-18).

Yet he also promises full restoration to those who humbly return to him. "’Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed’, says the Lord who has compassion on you” (Isa 54:10).

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

Conclusions (Pt 1 of 2): is the charismatic movement a move of God?

This article is part of a series. Please see the base of the page for more details.

A Move of God?

Having reached this point in the review of the development of the charismatic movement we may return to the question posed much earlier in the series: is the charismatic movement a move of God? Was it initiated by the Lord Jesus? Despite all the strange aberrations we have noted, I would still want to affirm very positively its divine origins. I could not deny the work of the Holy Spirit in my own life or in the many hundreds of churches of which I have personal experience.

Through what we call the charismatic movement, the Holy Spirit has brought new life, joy, liberty and a more intimate personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and the Father into the lives of millions of believers. This has to be the work of God. It is certainly not anything that satan would want to do.

The fact that the charismatic movement had no clear-cut beginning causes me to doubt that God has moved in a series of 'waves' at different points during the 20^th Century. I see a continuous process in the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the century. On the first day of 1900, Charles Parnham's students began speaking in tongues, this was followed in 1906 by the stirring events in Azusa Street resulting in the formation of Pentecostal assemblies.

The fact that the charismatic movement had no clear-cut beginning causes me to doubt that God has moved in a series of 'waves' at different points during the 20^th Century.

Gradually throughout the century the recognition of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit has spread across the world. This has brought spiritual awakening in lands where the Gospel had never previously been heard, with vast numbers of new-born believers. It has also brought spiritual renewal in nations that had had the Gospel for centuries and where the Church had become largely inactive due to the onslaught of secularisation.

It was clearly God's intention to reap a mighty harvest during this century in lands which had never before been reached by the Gospel and it was also clearly his intention to renew the flagging belief and spiritual power of the Church where institutionalism and traditionalism had sapped its strength. What we see as fresh 'waves' of the Spirit have in fact been part of the on-going work of the Spirit of God working out his purposes and preparing a great company of believers to withstand the stormy days that lie ahead.

Using Human Strength

The great failing of the charismatic movement has not been in a lack of enthusiasm but in taking over the work of God and trying to do that work in our own strength. It is recorded that Frank Bartlemann, the Azusa Street leader, said that within a few years of the 1906 experience the flesh had taken over from the Spirit. This is really what also happened to the charismatic movement in the latter part of the 20^th Century. Paul's warning to the church in Galatia needs to be heeded today, “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal 3:3).

There are many indications that we have done something similar to the offence caused by Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, who put unauthorised fire ('strange fire' AV) in their censers which they then offered before the Lord with disastrous results (Lev 10:1). When we do such things we are showing a lack of trust in the Lord. We are trying to force the pace and direct the work of God.

Once we begin to move in the flesh and not under the direction and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we open the door to all kinds of alien influences as well as to the things of the flesh such as pride and arrogance. When we take over the work of God we are, in fact, rebelling against him and we grieve the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 63:10 speaks of the terrible consequences of such action, “In his love and mercy he redeemed them...Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.”

This needs to be taken as a serious warning by all who are part of the charismatic movement. If we seriously step outside the will of the Lord he is against us, not for us. It is essential that we should understand both the will of God and his ways because all the evidence points to the fact that the world is moving closer and closer into days of international turmoil and conflict. The moral and spiritual plight of the nations, especially in the West, is desperate.

If we seriously step outside the will of the Lord he is against us, not for us.

But God is actually using this social situation to prepare the way for the Gospel. Never has there been a greater need for the Word of God to be clearly heard among the nations. Never has there been a greater need for the establishment of biblical principles as the guidelines for healthy living, both for individuals and at a corporate level. Yet the influence of the Church in the western nations has never been so weak.

In Britain the Church is under continuous attack from the media who delight to scorn the Gospel and seize every opportunity to mock the faith. The Church of England, as the established Church, holds a unique position which is rapidly being eroded by unbelief and by spiritual and moral corruption from within.

It was obvious to all those who were aware of the tactics of the enemy that as soon as the issue of women priests was over, the next battle would be over the acceptance of homosexual priests, both men and women. When that battle is over the way will be prepared for the ultimate onslaught on biblical belief from the multi-faith lobby.

Battle for the Bible

As Peter Fenwick has rightly said earlier in this series, the real battle today is a battle for the Bible; it is a battle for the soul of Britain. Alongside the battle within the Church and the attacks of a secular media, there is the growing power of Islam. The Muslims are determined to make Britain the first Islamic state in Europe. By the mid-1990s, they had been planting mosques in all the towns and cities of Britain at the rate of one per month for a decade.

During the 1990s Britain celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the war in Europe. That was a battle for physical survival. The battle today is for spiritual survival. The Holy Spirit whom God began to pour out upon all believers on the Day of Pentecost is still active in the world today. As the battle against the enemies of the Gospel intensifies there is a new urgency that the Church should recognise the nature of the battle and understand the reasons why Jesus, shortly before his ascension, told the disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:4-8).

Jesus knew that without the power of the Holy Spirit his followers would not be able to withstand the attacks of the enemy. They had to learn not to rush out in human enthusiasm or to seek after exciting signs and wonders, but faithfully to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus, declaring the way of salvation to all those around them and trusting the Lord of the harvest to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit and enlarge his Kingdom until the Day of the Lord dawned.

Where Tomorrow?

We began this series by saying that the charismatic movement had reached a point beyond crisis and was already beginning to crumble. In Britain by the mid-1990s there was a significant number of ministers who had once exercised charismatic ministries but who later repudiated that term.

There were thousands of church members who left charismatic churches because they had been sickened by the behaviour of leaders who, under the influence of Toronto, each time they began to read Scripture or preach the Word became doubled up as with stomach cramp and fell to the ground in a helpless heap. They were sickened by being told that uncontrollable laughter, barking, roaring, mooing, crowing like a cockerel, shouting, screaming, vomiting, pogo dancing and shadow boxing were all signs of the activity of the Holy Spirit.

They remembered that these same leaders who encouraged these things were saying, only a few years ago, that such activities were clear evidence of the presence of demonic spirits and required deliverance. They had been saddened to see the Holy Spirit ridiculed in TV programmes and tabloid press reports by displays of bizarre activity. They had been dismayed to see the name of the Lord Jesus mocked in the media through the activities of some charismatics.

Jesus knew that without the power of the Holy Spirit his followers would not be able to withstand the attacks of the enemy.

There are those who, like the authors of this book, still hold fast to their belief in the charismata. They believe that the Holy Spirit is present and active among believers today as he was in the days of the early Church and that the gifts of the Spirit are available to all believers. They nevertheless believe that it is high time to ask some fundamental questions concerning our response to the work of the Spirit among us in the British charismatic movement.

If, as we believe, it was God's purpose to renew the Church and revive the nation, has that purpose been achieved? There is no evidence to suggest that the spiritual life of the whole Church has been revitalised and neither is there any evidence of moral or spiritual revival in the nation. Indeed, the moral and spiritual life of both Church and nation are infinitely worse. Scandals concerning adultery, homosexuality and child abuse are regularly revealed and that's only within the Church! In the nation all these things occur plus violence, murder and all kinds of corruption.

So what has gone wrong? The plain and simple answer is that we have turned our back upon the word of God. We have neglected to study the word, we have relegated it to a secondary place in the life of the Church and we have substituted experience, false prophecies, strange revelations, our own opinions and teachings. We have thereby abandoned the truth for the myths and fantasies and teachings of men.

Since 1990, we have been reaping the inevitable reward of the tares that have been sown among us. Although many people are still enjoying the exciting experiences of the latest waves of charismatic chaos, I believe the outlook for the future of the charismatic movement is bleak; the writing is already upon the wall.

1990: A Turning Point

I believe future Church historians will see 1990 as the major turning point in the apostatising of the charismatic movement. This was the time when all the strange, unbiblical teachings which had been current among Pentecostal/charismatics since the Latter Rain Revival of the 1940s were gathered into a complete package and swallowed uncritically by the Church in Britain.

Foremost in the body of this teaching was the expectation of a great revival brought about by signs and wonders. There is no scriptural foundation for such a belief. Indeed, Jesus did not use signs and wonders to astound the crowds and draw them into Kingdom. Quite the reverse, he instructed people whom he had healed to keep quiet about it, not to 'noise it abroad'.

God's purpose to renew the Church and revive the nation has not been achieved because we have turned our backs on the word of God.

The New Testament teaches that signs and wonders follow the preaching of the Word, but once we start making the miraculous the chief object of desire - once we start running after signs and wonders - we take the focus away from the centrality of the word of God and the glorifying of the Lord Jesus.

A major problem for us in the West has been the amazing growth of the Church in the poor, non-industrialised nations of the world. In these days of easy travel and rapid communications, many church leaders have been to the poorer nations and seen at first-hand what is happening. They have returned with accounts of multitudes being saved at great open-air meetings with amazing miracles - the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking and even the dead being raised.

I myself have seen evidence of all these things in my preaching travels across Africa, China, South East Asia and other parts of the world. I too have brought these stories back and used them to make Westerners jealous by saying that the same things could and should be happening here. These stories have fuelled the longing for revival.

What has happened in Britain has also happened in other Western nations; the deep desire for revival has caused us to run ahead of the timing of the Lord. God has been telling us for many years that he is 'shaking the nations' and that his purpose is to turn the hearts of men and women away from their trust in material things, which is idolatry, to seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

In the highly secularised, materialistic Western industrialised nations, our whole culture revolves around the acquisition of wealth and the accumulation of material possessions. These things largely determine our position in society and they therefore have a far greater influence upon our values and our minds etc than most of us realise. It is almost impossible to divorce ourselves from the culture of the society in which we live.

A Culture of Idolatry

There is no place in our culture for the God of the Bible; the God who demands our total loyalty and our absolute trust. Western culture is a culture of idolatry and we are adherents, willingly or unwillingly, of that culture. There will be no revival until that idolatrous mindset is broken in the servants of God.

That is why revivals and great spiritual awakenings have always occurred among the poor and the underprivileged - from the days of the early Church to the impoverished nations of today. Soon after the Day of Pentecost, as revival swept through the city of Jerusalem, the rich and the powerful noted with scorn that the apostles were unlearned men, they “realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Western culture is a culture of idolatry: there is no place in it for the God of the Bible.

The same is true of those who came to Christ in the Wesleyan revival, of the blacks and poor whites who flocked to Azusa Street in 1906 and of the revival that swept through the Welsh mining communities in the same decade.

In the rich Western nations evangelicals have become obsessed with revival and the desire to reproduce what is happening in the poorer nations. What we fail to realise is the vast cultural difference. We cannot compensate for this simply by greater enthusiasm or by turning up the volume of our praise and worship, or even by more earnest intercession. Even confession, repentance, weeping and crying out to God at our meetings will not provide the quick-fix answer for which we are looking and which our quick-fix culture moulds our mindset to expect.

The Key to Revival

The key to revival is in Philippians 3:7-10 where Paul describes how he has renounced the world for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord. He considers all worldly values as rubbish so that he may gain not the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or supernatural power to confound unbelievers, but simply that he may “gain Christ and be found in him”. He says, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” In case anyone should interpret this to mean an exciting experience of having the power to raise the dead, Paul's next words should be noted! He adds, “and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

The way to life is through death; death to self and the renunciation of the world. There is no other way for the Church in the Western nations to see revival. It may be part of God's plan to allow the Church in the rich industrial nations to die in order to raise a new and purified Church.

The great spiritual awakenings in the poorer nations are not being seen in the West because we are unwilling to meet the cost. We want the excitement of revival without paying the price of the pain and suffering and travail that goes with it. In the poorer nations the great spiritual awakenings are occurring because the Gospel of salvation is being preached, the good news that Christ died for our sins. Multitudes are being saved and the signs and wonders follow. This has been the pattern in past revivals.

But in the Western charismatic churches we are not motivated by the desire to save multitudes going to hell but to have the multitudes come and join us in the excitement of a spiritual spectacular! If they won't come and join us, then we'll have it on our own! Furthermore, if God won't do it for us, then we'll do it ourselves!

This is the tragedy of the Western charismatic movement. We are children of the world rather than the children of God. Our lifestyle is very little different from our unbelieving neighbours; our values are similar to theirs; we read the same newspapers, watch the same TV programmes, follow the same fashions in clothes, food and music; even our charismatic worship sometimes sounds more like a pop concert. We justify this by saying that it helps modern people to feel comfortable and at home in our midst; in other words, that they haven't had to leave the world in order to come into the Church! How different from New Testament teaching! How different from the teaching of the Reformers and the great revivalist preachers.

The great spiritual awakenings in the poorer nations are not being seen in the West because we are unwilling to meet the cost.

The Church in the poor non-industrialised nations is presently thriving and expanding rapidly but there is great danger of spiritual pollution from the West. In these days of worldwide travel and communications the materialistic values of the West may be easily transmitted, especially in the context of the Western nations' economic power and dominance.

Here is a parable. In the early 1980s a West African preacher of extraordinary gifting arose out of a background of grinding poverty. He had an anointed ministry of evangelism and began drawing crowds of up to half a million at his rallies. Thousands responded to the Gospel, giving their lives to Christ, and as they did so there were miraculous healings and many other signs and wonders which were reported in the secular press.

Soon some Westerners got to hear of his ministry and took him on a tour around the rich nations. They poured money into his lap. They taught him the 'prosperity gospel' by which they lived and convinced him that God wanted him rich as a sign to the poor Africans among whom he ministered. He built a great church building; he also built himself a fine home and rode around in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes. He became a great man in his community but he lost his anointing. His ministry of evangelism disappeared.

Next week: Likely consequences if the true and full word of God is not restored to the charismatic movement. Our final article in the series.

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

How the Kansas City Prophets impacted Britain.

This article is part of a series. Please see the base of the page for more details.

Church Leaders’ Support

Reference was made last week to the fact that a number of British church leaders rushed into print with a public statement issued in July 1990 supporting the Kansas City Fellowship ministry. The statement was issued from Holy Trinity, Brompton by Sandy Millar, probably in response to the articles in Prophecy Today which urged leaders to be on their guard and to test all these spiritual phenomena according to principles laid down in the New Testament. The statement gave unreserved support to the Kansas City Prophets.

We believe they are true servants of God, men of sound character, humility and evident integrity...We have no doubt about the validity of their ministry... and encourage as many as possible to attend the conferences to be held in Edinburgh, Harrogate and London in the autumn of this year, at which they will be ministering.¹

The signatories included Gerald Coates (Pioneer), Graham Cray (St Michael-le-Belfry), Roger Forster (Ichthus), Lynn Green (YWAM), David McInnes (St Aldate’s, Oxford), Sandy Millar (Holy Trinity, Brompton), John Mumford (South West London Vineyard), David Pytches, Brian Skinner, Teddy Saunders, Barry Kissel (St Andrew's, Chorleywood), Terry Virgo (New Frontiers International), Ann Watson (widow of David Watson), Rick Williams (Riverside Vineyard, Teddington).

All had been 'ministered' to by the Kansas City Fellowship team. This was acknowledged in the statement they issued. The fact that they stated that they believed a man such as Bob Jones to be a 'true servant of God' and a man of 'sound character' is evidence of the extent to which they were deceived.

It was the practice of the prophets led by Cain and Jones to give encouraging messages, supposedly from God, with promises of amazing power and greatly-expanded ministry. They were told they would be speaking to multitudes, seeing miracles, witnessing to kings and presidents and enjoying tremendous blessings. These prophecies resulted in bringing the recipients under the controlling spirit operated by/operating through the 'prophet'.

It was the practice of the prophets led by Cain and Jones to give encouraging messages, supposedly from God, with promises of amazing power and greatly-expanded ministry.

There are always serious consequences of believing false prophecy. It has a polluting effect upon the spiritual life of those who receive it. At best it is taking an alien influence into your life; at worst it is actually receiving an alien spirit. I have personal knowledge of several British church leaders who received false prophecies from Cain and Jones, believed them and then strove to fulfil them. The 'prophecy' thus exercised a controlling influence over the life of the recipient.

The 'use of prophetic gifting for controlling purposes' was tenth in the list of 15 errors acknowledged by Kansas City Fellowship in May 1990,² but there is no evidence that they had abandoned the practice two months later (July 1990). The support of senior British church leaders was essential if John Wimber was to see the fulfilment of those things which the 'prophets' had predicted. He fully expected a mighty revival to break out in London in October 1990. This had been prophesied by Cain whom he believed 'never got it wrong'.

They had foretold the great revival would be accompanied by an explosion of signs and wonders, leading to the submission of church leaders to Wimber's apostolic authority. He would also be given divine power over the enemies of the Gospel to deal summarily with them in the same way as Peter dealt with Ananias and Sapphira. As the revival spread across the UK into continental Europe, Wimber and his 'apostolic team' would assume governmental control of the nations.

All this had been prophesied by Cain and Jones and embraced by Wimber. It is doubtful if many of the British leaders knew of Wimber's expectations, but their willing compliance played an important part in preparing the way for the October meetings. The prophecies of a great revival were repeated from many pulpits and anticipation was high.

Promises of Supernatural Power

The commendation of senior church leaders, plus considerable publicity promising an exciting message and signs and wonders, brought large crowds to the public meetings in Harrogate, Edinburgh and London in October 1990. Prominent British church leaders had endorsed this ministry, so the people lapped it up. Not being trained theologians, they looked to their pastors, ministers and priests to say whether or not the ministry was biblically respectable and should be heeded. Their ministers themselves were enthusiastically endorsing this new ministry and the message, so the people followed their leaders.

The amazing promises given at the Wimber meetings filled the people with excitement and anticipation. The teaching was a heady mixture drawn from bits of all the strange teachings that had run through the charismatic movement since the middle of the 20^th Century: Latter Rain, Manifest Sons, Positive Confession, Signs and Wonders, Power Healing, Power Evangelism, Spiritual Warfare, New Breed and Joel's Army - to mention just a few. Elements of all these teachings came together in 1990 and were injected into the British Church with great hype and all the charisma of American glamour ministries.

The amazing promises given at the Wimber meetings filled the people with excitement and anticipation.

These strange teachings had been steadfastly resisted by most faithful preachers and Bible teachers in Britain for many years. But this latest onslaught was led by a man who was an excellent communicator, who appeared friendly, laidback and trustworthy. He was a man who had been recommended by David Watson and a number of prominent Anglicans as well as denominational and house-church leaders. He came with a popular message attractively presented. This heady cocktail was drunk by leaders, pastors and elders in many of the British evangelical churches, especially those in the charismatic sector.

The mainline churches in Britain were particularly vulnerable due to the years of decline. In fact, the whole nation was labouring under a cloud of status deprivation from loss of empire and world prestige. Here was a message of hope. Here was a message of power to the powerless. Here was a message of light and life to scatter the darkness of moribund inactivity.

But the promises were false. This was partially acknowledged by John Wimber at Holy Trinity, Brompton in June 1991 and again at the New Wine conference in August 1995. What has never been recognised, however, is the extent to which these promises were rooted in false teaching.

Expectations of the End Times

The foundation of this teaching lay in the belief that in the last days there would be a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit empowering the saints to perform great signs and wonders.

Some of this teaching was based upon prophetic revelation which Bob Jones claimed to have been given by the Holy Spirit. He said that the 'last generation' would be those born since 1973 and that they would be an elect company of believers of the seed of the apostles. They would be 'omega children'. Jesus was the 'Alpha' and they are the 'Omega'. Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom, and the elect company of omega believers would complete the work and establish a glorious Church on earth reigning over the nations.³

This teaching, which was given by both Jones and Cain, became the basis of the Vineyard/Kansas City Fellowship revivalist preaching. But it has no biblical foundation. The Bible declares Jesus to be both 'Alpha and Omega' (Rev 21:6). New Testament eschatology says that Jesus will come again to complete the work of the Kingdom. The Father will not take this away from his Son and entrust it to human hands.

There is a great need today to study what the Bible actually says about the Kingdom of God and the Second Coming of Christ. This may, in fact, provide the key to bringing the charismatic movement back onto a firm biblical basis. In Matthew 24 Jesus gave a series of signs of the end of the age - none of which promised supernatural power to believers.

Jesus warned those who are his followers to be alert to resist deception; to expect false christs, apostasy and false prophets.

He warned those who are his followers to be alert to resist deception; to expect false christs, wars and rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes, persecution, apostasy, betrayal, false prophets, the increase of wickedness and a lack of love within the Church. He nevertheless promised that the “Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world” (v14).

The only prediction of supernatural power was in an additional warning about deception!

For false christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. (v24)

This is not the only warning in the New Testament concerning deception in the last days. Paul spoke of a time of great lawlessness which, he said, “will be in accordance with the work of satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9); and writing to Timothy he warned, “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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim 4:3-4).

These warnings, and a number of others, are in the New Testament for our own protection so that we will be alert to the intentions of the enemy to deceive, and to the strategy which may be employed. This is where a knowledge of the Bible is essential. When we move away from Scripture and invent doctrine, however attractive, we are in grave danger of deception. Once we are loosed from the word of God we are adrift on the high seas like a rudderless ship in a storm.

Non-Biblical Teaching

The injection into the British church in 1990 of a package of non-biblical teaching promising supernatural power, signs and wonders and imminent revival, marked a milestone in the apostatising of the charismatic movement in Britain.

The way had been prepared for this by a gradual and almost imperceptible down-grading of the Bible from its place of centrality within the Protestant tradition. This could be seen in the increasing separation between the reading and exposition of the word of God, and the exercise of spiritual gifts. Jesus was perfectly clear in stating that signs and wonders would follow the preaching of the word. This is what happens in the poorer non-industrial nations, where multitudes have been coming to Christ throughout the second half of the 20^th Century.

At large gatherings where the word of God is proclaimed, while the preacher is still speaking miraculous healings occur, many are born again and the signs and wonders of the presence of God through the work of the Holy Spirit are evident.⁴

In charismatic churches in the western nations, by contrast, we have developed the practice of separating word and Spirit. When we reach the end of our act of worship, or service, where there has been singing, prayer and the exposition of the word, then we clear away the chairs or invite people forward saying 'Now we'll have a time of ministry!' Over the years these so called 'ministry times' have gone from the simple praying for the sick to the performance of all kinds of bizarre manifestations as we have moved farther and farther away from a biblical centre.

In charismatic churches in the western nations, by contrast, we have developed the practice of separating word and Spirit.

Peter Fenwick, earlier in this series, has shown how the path to the Kansas City Fellowship 1990 package had been well prepared by Restorationist teaching, at least in the house-church streams. The new factor was the open door into the mainline churches which enabled their teaching to sweep right through the denominations. This was very largely due to John Wimber's acceptability, which in turn, had been due to David Watson's influence and subsequently to the support of several influential Anglican clergy.

A number of prominent charismatic leaders also embraced the false teachings presented in 1990. They were on an escalator from which there was no turning back and which it was not easy to jump off without risking personal injury. Their reputations were at stake and they had taken false promises into their spiritual lives. Many of them also took into their teaching and preaching the false expectations of a great revival. Churches such as St Andrew's, Chorleywood gave great prominence to preparing the congregation for revival and for the expected inflow of large numbers of new believers. But the revival did not happen.

On to the Toronto Blessing

By 1994 it was becoming difficult to sustain the enthusiasm of the people and to stave off massive disillusionment. The credibility of leaders was on the line. The Toronto Blessing arrived just in time to provide a new wave of excitement. With its coming, many leaders cut down or even abandoned the preaching of the word in order to get into the 'ministry time' as quickly as possible.

Thus the move of many charismatic churches into experience-centred phenomena took another leap forward. But the way had been prepared by 25 years of neglect of the Bible and a lack of biblical scholarship among charismatic leaders, which left an open door for the Toronto Blessing.

The eagerness with which Toronto was embraced is an indication of a deep spiritual hunger and a longing for God to 'rend the heavens and come down' and bring a mighty revival to transform the decaying life of the Western nations. But even this longing for revival is a reflection of the values of the world where the whole of our society is looking for 'quick fix' solutions to all our problems.

In the Church we are not prepared for the cost of obeying the 'Great Commission' and “making disciples, teaching them to obey” everything the Lord has taught us (Matt 28:19-20). Instead, we look for supernatural power to create an instant, ready-made reproduction model.

It is this human longing for revival that opened the way for many of the strange things which have become associated with the charismatic churches over the years. This eagerness to see the reign of God on earth and to promote the work of the Kingdom is surely good. But in the Western nations, generally, the Bible has been abandoned. Humanistic and New Age teachings have been widely embraced in an increasingly secularised, post-Christian society and the churches, especially charismatic, have been influenced more then we realise.

The eagerness with which Toronto was embraced is an indication of a deep spiritual hunger for God to 'rend the heavens and come down' and bring mighty revival.

Many evangelicals, especially those who have embraced the charismata, have tended to follow the world in neglecting the systematic study of the Bible and whole-hearted commitment to its teaching and living according to its moral and spiritual precepts. We have elevated spiritual excitement to new heights leaving the door open for non-biblical teaching and lax standards of personal and corporate morality.

Of course this is a generalisation and we would not wish to imply that there are no faithful evangelicals who love the word of God and live godly lives. Neither would we wish to imply that none of those in churches affected by the Toronto Blessing have been blessed by God. As others have clearly stated earlier in this series, God will always honour those who come to him with clean hands and a pure heart, or with humility and repentance. God longs to bless his children and those who come in sincerity will not go away empty-handed.

I personally know many believers who have been blessed by attending 'Toronto' meetings. But this is evidence of the faithfulness of our God, who loves to bless his children. It is certainly not an endorsement of the Toronto Blessing. God does not initiate things which are contrary to his own word in Scripture.

There was, nevertheless, cause for concern regarding this wave of excitement which swept through the charismatic churches in 1994 and 1995. It did not bring revival; neither would it even prepare the way for revival. It proved to be yet another blind alley that actually led the Church away from fulfilling the purposes of God.

There is also cause for concern that, as the charismatic movement has increasingly embraced the experiential, the way has been opened for even more bizarre behavioural phenomena and the embracing of heretical New Age-type teachings and practices. As the years have passed since the Toronto Blessing, what other waves have been introduced – and what does the future hold?

Next week: Our penultimate instalment in this series.

References

1 Published in Renewal, October 1990.

2 Published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6 No 5, September 1990.

3 Vineyard School of Prophecy, Bob Jones, op cit. p 1.

4 See Prophecy Today Vol 1 No 3 July 1985.

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series. 

We embark upon the final chapter: 'Here Today, Where Tomorrow?'

This article is part of a series – please see the base of the page for more information.

Here Today, Where Tomorrow?

The 20^th Century will surely go down in history as the century of the Holy Spirit, both due to the amazing worldwide expansion of the Pentecostal movement from the beginning of the century and the charismatic renewal which has swept across the world in the second half of the century. But will it be seen as the pure work of God, representing a turning point in world history? Or will it be seen as a missed opportunity, a work of God spoiled by human hands?

It was often a cry of the prophets of Israel that the nation had moved outside the blessing. The people had deviated from the path set before them by God. They had neglected his word, spurned his law and disobeyed his commands. Therefore, the nation was experiencing judgment rather than blessing. They had brought upon themselves the antithesis of blessing clearly foreseen by Moses in the warnings given, “If you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country…” (Deut 28:15-16).

The biblical record of God's relationship with Israel shows that it was always God's delight to bless his people. This is his intention today just as it was when he called Israel to be his people through whom he could reveal himself to the world and establish them as his servant: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isa 49:6).

The 'Great Commission' given by Jesus to his disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations reaffirmed God's intention (Matt 28:19). His promise to send the Holy Spirit was to enable the Church to carry out his command: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The 20^th Century will surely go down in history as the century of the Holy Spirit…but will it be seen as a pure work of God?

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church at the beginning of the 20^th Century, which resulted in the worldwide Pentecostal movement, is a significant milestone enabling us to understand how God is working out his purposes in our times. As the Church has progressed, two things have happened of immense significance.

• The first is that the worldwide Church has grown at a phenomenal rate. The majority of this growth has been in the poorer non-industrial nations. David Barrett in the Encyclopaedia of World Religions records that in 1900 only 17% of Christians were in the non-western nations. By 1988 this had risen to 53% and he estimated that by the year 2000 this would rise to 61% with only 32% in the rich western nations.¹
  
• The second significant fact is that the Holy Spirit has been renewing and revitalising the life of the traditional churches in the western world. This did not begin to happen until the second half of the twentieth century.²
  

It surely cannot be a mere coincidence that throughout this century a combination of disturbing and destructive social, economic and political forces moved with increasing velocity across the world. It was a century of revolution, of war, terrorism and violence, as well as a century of incredible social and technological change which responsible for almost unbelievable upheavals in every continent and in almost every nation: China, Russia, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, every part of Africa, eastern Europe. The political upheavals which have shaken these nations have been matched by the revolutionary social forces that have swept away the foundations of social stability in most of the western nations.³

There are strong links between these events and the kind of eschatological scenario described in Scripture. Jesus gave a number of specific signs which would mark the nearness of his own Second Coming. They are to be found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. There are additionally many passages both in the New Testament and in the Old Testament prophets that set the scene for the prelude of the 'Day of the Lord' when he will come to judge the nations.

It is not our purpose to elaborate that theme here, but it is relevant to note that world events towards the end of the second millennium began to become increasingly like the biblical eschatological scenario. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:10 that it is God's intention to use the Church to reveal himself to the whole universe. It is his purpose to prepare a holy people, a people who love him and trust him and who are empowered by the Holy Spirit to declare his word to the nations.

The Holy Spirit is given to the Church to enable the Church to be the Prophet to the world, prepare the way of the Lord and preach the Gospel of salvation with power and authority.

The Holy Spirit is given to the Church for just this purpose, to enable the Church to be the Prophet to the world, to prepare the way of the Lord and to preach the Gospel of salvation with power and authority, with signs and wonders following. But God can only use a purified people. When his people depart from his ways and run after the values of the world, he withdraws his blessing and eventually removes his presence, leaving them unprotected from the onslaught of the enemy.

There are many indications that this is what we have been seeing in the western nations and also in western churches. We urgently need to learn the lessons recorded in the Old Testament.

Blessing and Judgment

The history of Israel follows a constant cycle of blessing and judgment corresponding to the spiritual health of the nation, as measured by the plumb-line of the people's faithfulness to the word of God. Whenever God blessed the nation and a time of peace and prosperity was being enjoyed, it was not long before the people became unfaithful and turned away from God. Then things began to go wrong because the Lord gradually withdrew his blessing and the cover of his protection. Hosea has a telling passage which describes this process. He records what is essentially a lament of the Lord:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt; you shall acknowledge no God but me, no Saviour except me. I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. (Hosea 13:4-5)

Hosea was writing shortly before the fall of Samaria and the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and their exile in Assyria. He rightly interpreted the warning signs as things began to go wrong. He knew that the final tragedy would follow the withdrawal of the protecting hand of God when he finally turned his back upon his people leaving them exposed to their enemies. Ezekiel saw this in a vision of the Spirit of God leaving the temple in Jerusalem. He saw the word ichabod - 'Glory departed' - over the city.

Thus blessing and judgment were always part of Israel's experience and are written across every page of her history. They illustrate important spiritual principles which are valid for all time for those who would be the people of God and who desire to experience his blessing.

When we turn away from the word of God, embracing false teaching and false prophecy, the consequences for the whole nation are serious and may even be disastrous, as in the history of Israel. False teaching and prophecy pollute the spiritual life of the Church, distort our discernment and fail to give moral and spiritual correction to the nation. The political, economic and social life of the nation becomes corrupted and standards fall. The ways of God revealed in the Bible also teach us that God holds his servants, particularly the religious leaders, responsible for the state of the nation.

The British Situation

In Britain through the 1990s, we suffered from the consequences of false prophecy given very publicly by the Kansas City Prophets in 1990. Reference has already been made to this in previous instalments in this series, but it is of sufficient importance to warrant further consideration since this marked a major turning point in the history and direction of the charismatic movement in Britain.

Bob Jones, Paul Cain and John Paul Jackson all proclaimed that a mighty revival would be experienced in Britain in 1990, saying that it would spread across England into Scotland and then across the North Sea and throughout Europe. Paul Cain was even more explicit, stating that the revival would begin in London in October 1990 when John Wimber was due to lead a mission at the Docklands Conference Centre, East London.⁴

False teaching and prophecy pollute the spiritual life of the Church, distort our discernment and fail to give moral and spiritual correction to the nation.

Just as Hananiah's false prophecy (Jer 28) came as a welcome relief from the stern message which Jeremiah had been preaching for a number of years, so this promise of revival came as sweet, enchanting music to the ears of many faithful believers who were longing for revival and had been interceding earnestly for many years. But they were misled. It was a false prophecy. I said so publicly six months before the October conference.5 I had personal contact with all three men, including face-to-face discussions. But the bandwagon was already rolling with, what was by British standards, extraordinary hype.

Tens of thousands flocked to hear these men with a popular message as they travelled across the country touring the provinces before their big London event. By the time of the Docklands Conference expectations were running high and before the end of the week they reached fever pitch, with John Wimber commanding the Holy Spirit to come down. But God did not come upon his people in power like a mighty rushing wind as at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit does not obey the commands of men!

There were many signs that Britain was not yet ready for revival. For a number of years, it had been apparent that God was shaking the nations in order to shake the confidence of mankind in material things and cause the nations to turn to him, the living God, to heed his word and to walk in the paths of righteousness. Then in due time the blessing of God would be poured out upon nations that turned to him. The Scripture underlying this hope was:

In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I win shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory’, says the LORD Almighty. (Haggai 2:6-7)

1990 was too soon for a great revival. The boom years of the 1980s had to be followed by the bust years of the 1990s. The pride and complacency engendered by the success of the greedy acquisitive policies of the 1980s had to be broken. The corruption that accompanied the greed in the commercial and financial institutions had to be exposed. It can now be plainly seen that the seed sown in the 1980s reaped a bitter harvest in the 1990s. But this was all part of God's intention to allow evil to reap its own reward and to bring about a humbling of powerful leaders in the political and business life of the nation.

The exposure of greed and corruption in the 1990s – and since - brought about dramatic revelations much capitalised on by the media, always hungry for sensation. The revelations have included abhorrent sexual activities by politicians and celebrities, failures of banking institutions, financial scandals, huge wage inequalities and impunity enjoyed by many in the corporate and finance sectors.

This has all been part of the shaking of the nation to prepare the way for the Gospel, in just the same way as a farmer prepares the ground to receive the seed so that it may take root and bear fruit, giving an abundant harvest.

Prophecy plays an important part in the preparation for the word of God by giving the spiritual interpretation of physical events. There are numerous examples of this in Scripture, such as Jeremiah's explanation for the withholding of the spring rains (Jer 3:3), and the powerful explanation given by Amos of drought, blight, plagues and other disasters (Amos 4:6-12).

Prophecy plays an important part in the preparation for the word of God by giving the spiritual interpretation of physical events.

It has always been God's intention that his Church should be the Prophet to the nation, declaring his unchangeable word in a changing world and making it applicable to each generation so that the will and purposes of God can be readily understood.

It is the responsibility of those who exercise a prophetic ministry to be the eyes and ears of the Church, to interpret events in accordance with principles laid down in Scripture so that the whole Church can carry out its prophetic function in the nation, turning the people back to God when they have gone astray and leading the nation into the paths of righteousness where the blessing of God will be experienced.

It was for this reason that the Holy Spirit was poured out afresh in the 20^th Century and that New Testament ministries were restored.

Next week: Dr Hill's summation about the Kansas City Prophets.

References

1 Quoted in Rich Christians, Poor Christians by Monica Hill (London, Marshall Pickering 1989), p2. For 2018 figures, click here.

2 Ibid, p60f.

3 See Shaking the Nations by Clifford Hill (Eastbourne, Kingsway, 1995).

4 Reported by Rick Williams at a clergy conference in St Andrew's Chorleywood, 7 March 1990, transcription of tape.

5 Prophecy Today, Vol 6 No 4, July/August 1990.

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

David Noakes’s own visit to Toronto in 1994.

David Noakes continues his personal account of witnessing the Toronto ‘experience’.

This week’s re-printed excerpt includes a NEW additional note from the author on the practice of laying on hands.

My Toronto Experience

The phenomenon of Kansas City did recede, although it left behind a lot of confusion and unresolved issues, and I thought little about the beach picture (outlined last week) again for some years.

Then, in the early months of 1994, we began to hear of the amazing things which were being reported from Toronto. As the reports continued to flow in, I was being urged by many people to visit and experience what was happening there. Having no great desire to go and with a busy schedule, I resisted the idea for several months, but finally I was convinced that the Lord was requiring me to make the trip and I went to Toronto for a week's visit.

I arrived in Toronto on Friday 14 October, 1994 and attended meetings in the concluding days of the large 'Catch the Fire' conference which had been taking place during that week. These meetings took place in a large auditorium of a local hotel, which was capable of containing, I would guess, some two to three thousand people.

During the times of worship, I felt as if I were in a rock concert. The level of noise was deafening to the point of being physically painful and oppressive, and brought an increasing sense of unreality. This, together with the insistent rhythmic beat of the drums and of the bass guitar tends to induce a state bordering on hypnosis in susceptible people and creates a spiritual atmosphere in which I would say without hesitation that the demonic can thrive.

During these times of worship, many people began to exhibit jerking bodily movements which were unnatural. Some of these people appeared to be in a state of trance. From a number of years' experience of deliverance ministry, I would identify a good deal of what I saw as proceeding from demonic spirits associated with occult practices, particularly voodoo.

I was urged by many people to visit Toronto and resisted the idea for several months, but finally I was convinced that the Lord was requiring me to make the trip.

There were some women near to where I was standing whose bodily movements were unmistakably those of increasing sexual excitement, reaching a point at which they fell to the floor. All of this was perhaps hardly surprising in an atmosphere which was really not unlike that of a pop concert in which the fans get worked up to an increasing height of frenzy. What disturbed me most was not that satan was active - of course he always is - but the failure of leadership to distinguish between the spirits which were operating.

Particular Line of Teaching

The teaching which I encountered in Toronto was to the effect that because God is doing a work amongst his people, therefore everything which takes place is by definition an activity of the Holy Spirit and it is assumed that satan is inactive.

I have never encountered any form of teaching which is more dangerous or which could open the door so widely to deception and the undetected activity of a demonic spirit. To make such an assumption was a total abdication of one of the principal responsibilities of Christian leadership. The warnings in Scripture about deception were being completely ignored and such teaching flies in the face of scriptural commands that when any form of spiritual activity is seen to be taking place, it is to be weighed and tested and an assessment is to be made as to whether its origin is truly from God.

The teaching from Toronto, however, set aside the spiritual gift of distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor 12:10) and ignored the clear teaching of other scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 14:29 we are told that where prophecy is being spoken in the assembly of the church, we are to “weigh carefully what is said”. The words underlined are a translation of a Greek word which comes from exactly the same root as the word used in 1 Corinthians 12:10 for the discerning of, or distinguishing between, spirits.

The instruction of 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, again in the context of spiritual manifestations, is that we should “test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil”. Here the Greek word translated 'test' has the meaning of examining a thing, putting it to the test to determine whether or not it is genuine; and the identical word is found in 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” (emphasis mine).

The word of God warns us consistently never to accept spiritual manifestations as being from the Holy Spirit unless their source has been put to the test by the body of believers and discerned to be genuine.

The word of God warns us consistently never to accept spiritual manifestations as being from the Holy Spirit unless their source has been put to the test by the body of believers and discerned to be genuine.

It is the height of folly and irresponsibility to ignore such scriptures in days when not only the activity of God but also the activity of satan is becoming greater and more widespread. If we are to accept that in some particular situation such as this, it is in order for discernment to be discarded, where will such a teaching end? How are we to know where, if at all, we should draw the line?

The warnings of Scripture in, for example, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 and Revelation 13:13-14, are now coming all too close for comfort, and a Church which had not learned to distinguish between good and evil (Heb 5:14) will be a target for any kind of deception which begins to take place. I am concerned about the demonic activity which I saw taking place in some people in Toronto, but I am far more alarmed at the potential results of this particular line of teaching.

Laying On of Hands (see also NEW Author’s Note, base of article)

On a number of occasions since my visit to Toronto, believers have requested prayer at the conclusion of a meeting at which I have spoken. They have done so because they had previously submitted to laying on of hands in order to receive the 'Toronto Blessing', and had since felt unaccountably troubled in spirit in a way which had previously been foreign to them.

Every such person to whom I have ministered has shown evidence of being under demonic oppression and has received specific deliverance in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not of course to suggest that all those who have had contact with the Toronto Blessing have come into spiritual bondage; to jump to such a conclusion would be entirely unwarranted. What has seemed to me to be of considerable significance, however, is the repeated combination of two factors.

In every one of these cases, the person for whom I have been asked to pray had first received a spiritual impartation by means of the laying on of hands by another person who had themselves already received it; and secondly, had subsequently become disturbed in spirit in a way which they had not experienced before.

I believe these facts should draw our attention to an issue which is of greater importance than perhaps we have previously realised. A few days before I went to Toronto, I was waiting upon the Lord and was given a short word of encouragement and instruction. I wrote it down, and now quote a passage whose relevance has become increasingly apparent:

Do not accept the laying on of hands from anyone except those whom you know from experience to be trustworthy and to have my Spirit within them. To submit voluntarily to the laying on of hands is to submit to the spiritual power that is within a man. When this power is that of the Holy Spirit, then you will receive blessing through that which is good; but where it is not, evil can be transferred.

More recently my attention has been drawn to the lesson contained in Haggai 2:10-14. In it, two questions are posed. The first is whether if consecrated meat comes in contact with other food, the consecration is thereby transferred to the un-consecrated food; and the answer is that it is not. The second question is whether if a person who is ceremonially defiled through contact with a dead body touches food, that defilement is transferred to the food so that it also becomes defiled; the answer this time is affirmative.

It is the height of folly and irresponsibility to ignore such scriptures in days when not only the activity of God but also the activity of satan is becoming greater and more widespread.

The message is plain: spiritual consecration cannot be transferred by physical contact, as in the laying on of hands. If a man has received spiritual blessing, he cannot pass it on to another in this way (if he is spiritually undefiled and lays hands on another, the Holy Spirit may move directly upon that other person but where that is the case, there is no spiritual transference taking place between the persons themselves).

Spiritual defilement however, can be transferred from one to another through physical contact. It is well established, for example, that such a transference of spirits can take place through illicit sexual activity. If one man has come under the influence of an evil spirit, the influence can be transferred to another who submits voluntarily to the laying on of his hands.

We need to beware of careless practices and to exercise godly vigilance and caution. Paul warns: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure” (1 Tim 5:22). It is imperative for our safety that we take heed to the instructions of Scripture; they are given for the protection and wellbeing of the whole Body.

Misuse of the Word of God

While I was at Toronto, and even more in the months which followed, I had an increasing concern - to the point of considerable alarm - at the ways in which the word of God was now being mishandled by many leaders in the charismatic churches.

The misuse and distortion of Scripture in order to try to justify bizarre spiritual manifestations with some sort of theological explanation has been appalling; it has been as if attempts were being made to underpin a collapsing building with any piece of rubble which comes to hand.

The difficulty has been that the 'building' in question does not have any foundation in Scripture, however desperate the attempts to find one. At the Airport Vineyard Fellowship in Toronto, I heard the Pastor give a message in which he declared that Isaiah 25:6 was a description of what God was currently doing - God was in 'feasting mode'. Yet that Scripture had no possible relevance to any present situation; it is lifted straight out of the context of an apocalyptic passage relating to the events of the Day of the Lord and what will happen at the Second Coming of Christ.

Again, in the course of the same message, he made reference to the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, and declared that it teaches that God loves any opportunity to hold a party. Yet its emphasis is nothing of the sort, but rather the greatness of God's fatherly forgiveness and restoration of a repentant sinner.

The misuse and distortion of Scripture in order to try to justify bizarre spiritual manifestations with some sort of theological explanation has been appalling.

A further example of such extraordinary misuse of Scripture came when a prominent Anglican leader visited a church where I have a friend in leadership. His message consisted of encouragement to welcome unusual spiritual manifestations, including the making of animal noises, and it was based on one sentence taken out of Isaiah 28:21: “to do his work, his strange work”. These few words, again lifted out of context, were declared to justify the idea that the bizarre activities were a 'strange work' which God is doing in these days, and that they should therefore be accepted without further question.

But in the context, what is actually being described is a work of judgment and destruction by God against his own covenant people of Israel, and it is to him a 'strange work' and an 'alien task', because it is foreign and abhorrent to God's normal desire to bless his people and to act in mercy rather than in judgment. Theologically, therefore, the previous sort of teaching has no validity.

Drunk in the Spirit

The strange and un-coordinated behaviour of many who have been touched by the Toronto experience has frequently been described as being due to people being 'drunk in the Spirit'. I have myself for many years been familiar with the phenomenon of people who are receiving ministry from the Holy Spirit experiencing loss of bodily strength so as to be temporarily too weak to rise from their chair or from the floor; indeed, I also have had the same experience. Never before, however, have I seen the spectacle of people staggering about, slurring their speech and showing other characteristic signs normally associated with alcoholic intoxication.

The concept that a person can be 'drunk in the Spirit' is one of which Scripture knows nothing. Two passages have been used frequently to try to justify the idea, but they entirely fail to do so when subjected to proper interpretation.

In Acts 2:1-13, what is being described is the phenomenon, historically unprecedented and utterly amazing, of about 120 people suddenly beginning to declare the wonders of God in a host of different foreign languages. It was only those who mocked what was happening who suggested drunkenness as the cause, but the majority of the onlookers were simply described, understandably enough, as “amazed and perplexed”. There is no suggestion whatever of any behaviour which justified the description of physical drunkenness, and to try to read it into the text is to abuse the word of God. Is Peter's sermon that of a drunken man?

The second Scripture used in this context is Ephesians 5:18, but it says nothing whatever about being drunk in the Spirit. Indeed, coming at the end of a lengthy passage urging the believer to avoid ungodly behaviour, it would be astonishing if it did! The verse forbids being drunk (literally 'soaked') with wine, the evidence of which is debauched (literally 'unsaved') behaviour (v18). Instead, believers are to be filled with the Spirit.

Everywhere in Scripture, drunkenness is condemned as ungodly. How can we therefore accept that the Spirit of God would deliberately bring about in a believer the evidence of drunken behaviour?

The Greek verb used is pleroo, which had nothing to do with drunkenness, and the evidence of being in that condition is that they will produce psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (v19), thanksgiving to God (v20) and submission to one another out of reverence for Christ (v21), not slurred speech and drunken behaviour!

Everywhere in Scripture, drunkenness is condemned as ungodly. How can we therefore accept that the Spirit of God would deliberately bring about in a believer the evidence of drunken behaviour as if he were intoxicated with alcohol? The thing is utterly unthinkable, unless one discards the consistent teaching of the Word of God as irrelevant. Sadly, and most frightening of all, this is what some charismatic leaders are now beginning to do.

Extra-Biblical Experience

Animal noises, convulsions, bodily jerkings, loss of speech control and the like, are being described as 'extra-biblical' phenomena - which they certainly are. This feature of the activities should, however, put an immediate question mark over their authenticity; normally, unbiblical experience is found to emanate, not from the Holy Spirit, but from the realm of the demonic.

But among many leaders, no such questioning has taken place; but rather the reverse. It has even been suggested that the spiritual experiences and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit recorded in the pages of the New Testament were the experience of the Church in its infancy in those early days; but that now in our day the Church is being brought into maturity and we must therefore expect experiences from God which were unknown to the early Church and therefore not to be found in the Bible. We are consequently in uncharted waters, being led solely by the Spirit. This opens the Church to precisely the danger which Paul defines in Ephesians 4:14.

This sort of teaching, if pursued to its logical conclusion, is the height of dangerous folly. It is like saying that our maps are no longer of use to us because we have gone beyond their boundaries. We can no longer check our course, but must trust that any wind which happens to blow will take us in the right direction. We have discarded, however, all means of knowing either where the wind is coming from or the direction in which we are heading. In fact, we are drifting helplessly at the mercy of any force which may influence us.

A teaching which discards the Bible as the final authority for the validity of Christian experience is a teaching which emanates straight from the master of deception himself. It tears down the boundary walls which God has erected for the safety of his people, and it opens the door wide for the charismatic Church to join in an unwitting embrace with the New Age movement and all its occult activities.

A teaching which discards the Bible as the final authority for the validity of Christian experience is a teaching which emanates straight from the master of deception himself.

In the mid-90s, I even had reported to me instances of levitation occurring at Toronto-type meetings at a church in the north of England. Where will the line be drawn? On the basis of this sort of thinking and teaching, why should not telepathy or astral travel or any other occult practices be embraced under the deception that they are God's latest blessings to his maturing Church?

Unless there is repentance and a return to an acknowledgment of the supreme and ultimate authority of the word of God, the Church is being led into a place of great spiritual peril.

Next week: David concludes his chapter, looking at the need for repentance and discernment.

**NEW**

[Editor: Following some feedback that Blessing the Church? seems to advocate against the practice of laying on hands, we felt clarification was necessary and approached David for further comment. His response is below.]

Author’s Note

The issue which I was seeking to tackle [in Blessing the Church?] was the very important one of transference of spirits from one human being to another. 20 years ago this was a subject which hardly ever received any attention by bible teachers; but to those of us who had been brought into experience of deliverance ministry, it was realised to be an important factor in some cases where folk were being demonically troubled. Our brothers Edmund Heddle and John Fieldsend in particular highlighted its importance to me.

This significant issue was underlined in my own experience following my visit to Toronto in 1994; following that visit, I found myself being asked to pray after almost every meeting for believers who had sought to receive the ‘Toronto Blessing’ - and had subsequently found themselves in unexpected spiritual difficulties. In each such case, when I ministered to such people, they received specific deliverance from certain powerful demonic spirits which had not been troubling them previously.

It was a matter of some perplexity for a time, however, that I was also being told by some who had been to similar ‘Toronto’-type meetings that they had received a genuine fresh experience of the Holy Spirit. This perplexity was finally resolved when I began to find that those people had been seeking the Lord for himself - and in his faithfulness, he had met with them by the Holy Spirit.

Those who were troubled, however, had attended with a different motive - not to seek the Lord for who he is, but wanting to receive the ‘Toronto Blessing’ because it was new, exciting and carried with it spectacular manifestations. The former group had met with the Lord, with good results; while the latter had received what they had gone for, which was actually demonic and brought harm to their spiritual lives, and also to many churches.

What I also found was that without exception, in my experience, those who had been affected by ungodly spirits had received an impartation of the ‘Blessing’ through the laying on of hands by another person who had already received it.

This drew my attention to the vital matter of what can occur through the laying on of hands - impartation of spirits from one to another. The Holy Spirit is not imparted from one human being to another, but is given to individuals by the sovereign act of God (e.g. Num 11:17, 25). In John 19:22, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said "Receive Holy Spirit". In Acts 8:17 and 19:6, we are told of the apostles laying hands on new believers, and the Holy Spirit came upon them - but there is no suggestion that the Holy Spirit was transferred from them to the believers; He came upon them in response to the action of the apostles, which is very different, being a sovereign work of God.

These verses attest to the transfer of the Holy Spirit to a person in response to a believer's obedience in laying on of hands. However, experience in ministry has shown over and over again that other spirits can transfer through physical contact to a person who is open to receive them. Illicit sexual intercourse is one outstanding example; but voluntary submitting to the laying on of hands is another easy means of physical transference of demonic spirits (it is important to emphasise that the person has to be willing and receptive. It cannot just happen simply by being in the company of someone who is demonised; we must be willing to receive from them).

When we allow a person to lay hands on us, we open ourselves to receive from them. There is danger in this if we don’t know the person. They may be harbouring one or more unclean spirits, and when we allow them to lay hands on us, these can and often do transfer to us if we are open and unguarded. For this reason, we should certainly not allow unknown people to minister directly to us. Scripture urges us to "guard our hearts with all diligence" (Prov 4:23).

I do hope this brief attempt to explain will prove to be of some help.

David Noakes, 12 April 2018

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 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

Clifford Hill continues to look at words of revival.

In this instalment of our series re-publishing Blessing the Church? (Hill et al, 1995), we continue to look at prophecies of revival that have been ubiquitous in the charismatic movement. Click here for previous instalments.

Prophecy in the Vineyard Movement

A significant element in the Vineyard/KCF ministry team which was developed in the late 1980s was the way in which the prophets confirmed one another's prophecies and added additional concepts which became incorporated into the body of teaching being given through the ministry.

Bob Jones, for example, confirmed Paul Cain's teaching on 'the new breed' and stated that this elite company of believers would eventually achieve divinity. He saw them,

…progressively going on in this righteousness until you take on the very divine nature of Christ himself and you begin to see Christ in the church. Christ won't come for the church until you see Christ in the church. Papa planted Jesus, he sowed him down here in this earth to have a whole nation of brothers and sisters that looked just like Jesus and he will have it.

My daddy's big enough to have his way and he's going to have him a nation of priests and kings. That's what his heart's desire is to have him a nation of sons and daughters that will talk to him just like his Son did. His son was an alpha son, your children are the omega sons and daughters.¹

Jones believed that the generation of children born since 1973 would form the final generation of believers whom God was preparing as the Bride of Christ to take control of the world and present the Kingdom to Christ on his return. Jones continued, “I do believe what he's beginning to do is a restoration of his very nature down here. Your children will cone behind you and they'll start on your level of righteousness and holiness and they'll take off from there."²

This, of course, is complete fantasy and a denial of the teaching of Jesus who said, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Our children cannot inherit our righteousness however much they may benefit from our love, our teaching, and our personal example.

The Vineyard/KCF prophets confirmed one another’s prophecies and added additional concepts – which became incorporated into the ministry’s body of teaching.

Jones went on to say that he had “a literal visitation from the Lord” and that Jesus told him a new version of Psalm 12:1, that it should read “Help, Lord, release the champions, the dread champions”. In the Bible, Psalm 12:1 reads “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men”.

Jones's version³ is completely different and has no other authority except his claim to have had a personal visitation and personal revelation from God. On the strength of that vision he built a whole doctrine which was accepted by John Wimber and incorporated into the Vineyard teaching. This became clear from Wimber's use of the concept.

Appealing to the British Church

In the leaflet advertising the October 1990 meetings there was a personal message from John Wimber who wrote, “God has given us a vision to see the body of Christ move from being an inactive audience to a Spirit-filled army”.⁴

This sounds wholly good and highly attractive to ministers who have seen very little growth in their churches, and to church members who long to break out from the cocoon of traditionalism that has characterised the Church in Britain for much of the 20^th Century. But Wimber continued, “In our opinion God is about to unloose a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit of an unprecedented magnitude...He is looking for individuals who will be ‘dread champions’ for his cause”.⁵

The significance of this phrase would have been lost on most of those who hurried to return their booking forms and registration fees. The phrase 'dread champions' was part of the teaching being given by Wimber, Cain and the Kansas City Prophets. It was linked with their teaching about 'a new breed' whom God was going to raise in the last generation before the Second Coming of Christ to evangelise the world and subdue the nations.

Peter Fenwick, in previous instalments of this study, has referred to one of the foundational teachings of the Restorationist movement being that evangelism would no longer be necessary because God was going to do it as a sovereign act. The respected and renewed Church would be so attractive that unbelievers would flock to it.

Wimber borrowed phrases from the Kansas City Prophets that showed his allegiance to their teachings.

This teaching was at the heart of the Wimber message in 1990. But by this time he had added a significant new dimension to 'restorationist' teaching. Wimber believed that signs and wonders performed by an elect company of leaders through a mighty impartation of supernatural power would sweep unbelievers into the Kingdom. In essence, this belief lay at the heart of his teaching on 'power evangelism'.

Confirming Each Other’s Words

A few months before they came to Britain that year, Paul Cain had been teaching at Anaheim with John Wimber, setting out his beliefs. He said that God was bringing to birth a new breed of Christians who would actually be the incarnate word of God and through them the Gospel of the Kingdom would be proclaimed, not simply by their words but by their lives. Cain said: “God's strange act is going to bring a new order of things and bring a new breed in and bring a transformation.”⁶

Amid much clapping, shouting, whistling and cheering he told the crowd,

There's going to be something in the wave of power and evangelism in these last days. Little children are going to lay their darling little hands on the sick and heal multitudes...We are going to be just like the Lord in that respect. They're going to say, 'Here comes that dreadful, fearful army of champions. Here comes those with a word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, the working of miracles, with a healing ministry, with the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, with the power to know what's going on behind the Iron Curtain.' You're going to really be a fearful group before this thing's all over with and I am resting in that.⁷

It is noticeable that Cain had picked up Jones's phrase about an 'army of champions'. This is another example of the prophets confirming each other's words. This is a highly dangerous practice which was roundly condemned by Jeremiah:

‘Is not my word like fire,' declares the LORD, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Therefore,' declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ‘Yes’, declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, "The LORD declares".' (Jer 23:29-31)

In ancient Israel the law required that the testimony of one witness should be confirmed by that of at least one other. If several prophets came declaring the same message it was regarded as divine confirmation.

The practice of prophets confirming each other’s words is highly dangerous and was roundly condemned by Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah's day the false prophets were picking up popular prophecies from each other saying that God would not allow Jerusalem to fall to the Babylonians, that the Egyptians would come to their aid and that no harm would come to the people. This encouraged them to continue living in the kind of idolatry and immorality described in Jeremiah 7:1-12 and it closed their minds to the warnings God was sending through the true prophets.

Bob Jones, Paul Cain, John Paul-Jackson, Jim Goll, Mike Bickle and Jack Deere (the Kansas City Fellowship School of Prophets) all confirmed each other's prophecies, adding bits out of their own imaginations. These all sounded good to the people so they were readily believed, even though they were contrary to Scripture. But the Word of God does not change: “How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?” (Jer 23:26).

Flights of Fantasy

Cain's prophecies were highly popular and the crowd got even more excited when he told them that God was about to give them this supernatural power which would transform their lives:

God is saying 'Arise and shine, for your light is come, behold the darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness, but the Lord will raise you up, the Lord will rise upon you and the nations will come to your light. You're going to shine, shine, shine! You're going to be the light of day and the light of life!...

God's going to have a whole company of people that are going to be like that and then the world will see the light and they are going to come to it, they are going to see it, all nations will come to your light and that's the way we are going to get world evangelisation.⁸

This teaching, which so excited the people, was utterly false, but John Wimber endorsed it so the people accepted it. They probably did not know the Bible well enough to know that it is Jesus who is the Light of Life and the words from Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” are part of a prophecy about the coming of Messiah.

Surely God will not share his glory with anyone else and nations will come to his light not to ours. It is surely a wicked deception to say “the nations will come to your light”! It is also interesting to see how Cain used prophecy to confirm the Latter Rain teaching that world evangelisation would result from the supernatural power which was going to be given to believers. This teaching was central to Wimber's message.

In Jeremiah’s day, false prophets were picking up popular prophecies from each other which worked to close the people’s minds to God’s true warnings.

In the same speech Paul Cain prophesied that the new breed would possess power to overcome the enemies of the Gospel and strike terror into them: “There's going to be an awesome, reverential fear and respect for the church because the church is going to regain her power, lose her restrictions, lose her weakness...you're going to be called upon by presidents and kings of nations, heads of state…"⁹

He then went on to say that believers would be given the power to strike dead those who opposed them, as happened to Ananias and Sapphira. He said that he knew two men who possessed this power, they were William Branham and Mordecai Hamm. He said, “If I had a hero, I think it would be William Branham or Mordecai Hamm.” He continued:

God is going to have his army and they are going to be a fearful bunch and they are going to go to every place on the face of the earth. All we have to do is see two people so anointed, two people here, two people there, two people over yonder and they will go forth and take that part of China, that part of Africa, that part of that island, or that whole island, or this nation or that nation, for one can set a thousand to flight and two can set ten thousand to flight.¹⁰

It is amazing what flights of fantasy people will absorb and actually believe if their respected leaders tell them it is true.

This is what has been happening in the charismatic movement, yet we scornfully dismissed the Hindu 'milk miracle' in September 1995. The Times reported that throughout Britain Hindus “gripped by a devotional frenzy” queued up at the local shrines to offer spoonfuls of milk to their gods. “It began with rumours on Thursday that the elephant-headed Gamesh idol in a New Delhi suburb had drunk half a cup of milk and within 24 hours millions of Hindus around the world seemed to have heard of the 'signal from the gods'" (The Times, 23 September 1995).

Some of the things we ask people to believe at charismatic celebrations are almost as unbelievable as the Hindu milk miracle. In the same speech as that reported above, amidst much cheering and clapping, Paul Cain promised:

You just wait until God does this strange act. Well, they'll fall all over you getting to God. All we have to do is seize what we are talking about tonight and they'll fall all over you getting to God! You are going to employ the tools of the trade after the impartation comes.¹¹

He went on to say that John Wimber was going to give that impartation: “When brother John Wimber stands here and gives that impartation, you're going to see more signs and wonders.”¹²

Teaching on Impartation

This teaching on 'impartation' is another doctrine which comes from the Latter Rain movement. Franklin Hall taught that he was given by God the power to impart immortality. He was giving this teaching in the early days of the Latter Rain movement in the 1940s but as recently as 1988, 40 years later, he was still giving the same teaching. He said at that time that at the moment he only had the power to give partial immortality from the feet up to the knees but gradually this would extend to the whole body.

It is amazing what flights of fantasy people will absorb and actually believe if their respected leaders tell them it is true.

This teaching on impartation has been picked up by others in the charismatic movement. For example, in the March 1995 newsletter sent out from Kingdom Faith Ministries by Colin Urquhart, he writes:

Dear friends, REVIVAL IS HERE! Praise God! The revival breakthrough has come to us at Kingdom Faith, by the grace of God. This month's tape tells you of the anointing that has caused this to happen. It is a word of personal testimony of what happened when Hector Gimenez was told by God to impart to me the same anointing that was on his own life.

This teaching on impartation is contrary to Scripture. As David Noakes will show in future instalments of this series, the teaching of Haggai 2 shows that we are able to pass on corruption, but not blessing. Blessing comes down directly from God. We can of course pray for God to bestow blessing upon someone, but we cannot impart that blessing ourselves. That authority is not given to us as human beings.

This is just one of the many aberrations and errant teachings that have got into the charismatic movement through false prophecy which then becomes incorporated into doctrine and forms part of a body of false teaching.

Next week: A summary of Latter Rain prophecies and some concluding thoughts for this chapter.

References

1 Paul Cain, speaking at 'School of Prophecy', Anaheim, California, USA, Vineyard Ministries International, November 1989; transcript of tapes published by Holly Assembly of God, Missouri. Session 7, Part II, p1.

2 Ibid p9.

3 Ibid p14.

4 Leaflet issued by Vintage Ministries, Edinburgh.

5 Ibid.

6 See note 1, p9.

7 Ibid p9.

8 Ibid p11.

9 Ibid p15.

10 Ibid p19.

11 Ibid p21.

12 Ibid p21.

Prophetic warnings given within the charismatic movement during the 1970s and '80s.

After last week’s study examining biblical definitions of prophecy and false prophecy, this week Clifford Hill turns to the kinds of prophetic words that came to define the charismatic movement in the latter part of the 20^th Century.

This article is part of a series, republishing the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’ (Hill et al). Click here for previous instalments.

Two Strands of Prophecy

An examination of prophecies coming out of the charismatic movement reveals two strands. On the one hand there have been prophecies giving warnings of difficult days and testing times.

Secondly, by contrast, there have been prophecies with promises of revival and restoration, predicting good times and days of prosperity.

We look this week at those prophesying testing times and the shaking of the nations.

Warnings

Some of the earliest prophecies giving warning of difficult days ahead were given in the mainline churches. The following, for example, was given in 1975 at an international conference of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Groups:

Because I love you, I want to show you what I am doing in the world today. I want to prepare you for what is to come. Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation…Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for my people will not be there. I want you to be prepared, my people, to know only me and to cleave to me and to have me in a deeper way than ever before. I will lead you into the desert…I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me.

A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my church, a time of glory is coming for my people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of my Spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat. I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen…And when you have nothing but me, you will have everything: lands, fields, homes, and brothers and sisters, and love and joy and peace more than ever before. Be ready, my people, I want to prepare you…¹

Prophecies coming out of the charismatic movement follow two strands: either giving warnings of difficult days or promising revival and prosperity.

Another prophecy, even more specific in its warnings of economic and social upheaval, came from Catholic charismatic renewal groups at a national meeting in the USA in January 1976:

Son of man, do you see that city going bankrupt? Are you willing to see all of your cities going bankrupt? Are you willing to see the bankruptcy of the whole economic system you rely upon now, so that all money is worthless and cannot support you?

Son of man, do you see the crime and lawlessness in your city streets, and towns, and institutions? Are you willing to see no law, no order, no protection for you except the protection which I myself will give you?

Son of man, do you see the country which you love? Are you willing to see no country, no country to call your own except those I give you as my body?

Son of man, do you see those churches you can go to so easily now? Are you ready to see them with bars across their doors? Are you ready to depend only on me and not on all the institutions of schools and parishes that you are working so hard to foster?

Son of man, I call you to be ready for that.

The structures are falling and changing. It is not for you to know the details now, but do not rely on them as you have been. I want you to trust one another, to build an interdependence that is based on my Spirit. This is an absolute necessity for those who would base their lives on me and not on the structures of a pagan world.²

There were many prophecies of a similar vein in the mid-1970s. One came from the USA and was addressed specifically to church leaders. It was given at an inter-denominational charismatic renewal conference which was attended by leaders of most of the mainline churches, including Pentecostals, but with the exception of the Assemblies of God. The prophecy was a strong word calling for repentance:

The Lord has a word to speak to the leaders of all the Christian churches. If you are a bishop or a superintendent or a supervisor or an overseer or the head of a Christian movement or organization, this word is for you. The Lord says:

You are all guilty in my eyes for the condition of my people, who are weak and divided and unprepared. I have set you in office over them, and you have not fulfilled that office as I would have it fulfilled, because you have not been the servants I would have called you to be.

This is a hard word, but I want you to hear it.

You have not come to me and made important in your lives and in your efforts those things which were most important to me; but instead you chose to put other things first. You have tolerated division among yourselves and grown used to it. You have not repented for it or fasted for it or sought me to bring it to an end. You have tolerated it, and you have increased it.

And you have not been my servants first of all in every case, but you have served other people ahead of me, and you have served your organization ahead of me. But I am God, and you are my servants. Why are you not serving me first of all?

I know your hearts, and I know that many of you love me, and I have compassion on you, for I have placed you in a very hard place. But I have placed you there, and I call you to account for it. Now humble yourselves before me and come to me repentant, in fasting, mourning, and weeping for the condition of my people…³

Some of the earliest prophecies giving warning of difficult days ahead were given in the mainline churches.

Another prophecy coming from within the mainline churches in the early days of the renewal movement was delivered in Canterbury Cathedral at an international Anglican conference on spiritual renewal in 1978. The message not only referred to things that were wrong within the Church but also gave an uplifting message of God's desire to restore and renew his Church.

Within this mighty edifice the stones cry out.
The stones beneath your feet cry out;
The stones beside you cry to heaven,
And these that soar to heaven cry out too.
The stones cry out - of glory and of shame.
They cry out - of time when cloud and fire
From God on high came down
And filled this place.
And some saw that and some saw not.
Some had their lives transformed;
Some went on and plodded on the way
And saw no vision of night or day,
To take them in the new and living way
Which called them on.
These stones cry out - have always cried
In thousand years of love, grace, power
And of the great consuming fire of God.
But I say to thee –
That I have greater things to make
Than this great building.
I have a living work to do
With stones that live
In infinite and gracious detail
In the quarry of my heart.
I look upon the stones that I have made,
And they are wayward stones.
From their surface chisel oft has glanced aside
And that which I did purpose has been marred;
And yet I stoop again with broken tool
To take the stone that I have made
And work again upon that stone,
That it may be as I have
Long desired that is should be...
And let these stones cry out
Of what the living stones must be...
That you may truly High exalt the Saviour's name.⁴

Ten years later also in Canterbury Cathedral, Patricia Higton gave a more specific warning that the desire for unity and good relationships with people of other faiths was leading the Church dangerously towards multi-faith worship.

I have been speaking to you of unity. And yes, you are beginning to understand that you must reflect my divine nature in its harmony. But I would say to you I am a God of creativity. The unity which I long to see amongst my children will be a diamond with many facets. Each facet will reflect something of my revelation but is of little worth unless part of the whole. So there must be a glad recognition that you belong together and need each other. But again I would warn you, my children, that my enemy is seeking to bring about a unity which is not based on my word. It will appear to have as its goal the peace of this world, but it is not centred on the cross of My Son.

I am warning you of these things for I would not have any of you deceived by wandering down the path of acceptance, leading to toleration of any form of worship which does not uphold my name and my word. The end of that path is that many will one day worship a Christ who is not my Son. The very stones of this building will witness this terrible thing, unless my church repents.⁵

This warning went unheeded and the prophecy was fulfilled the following year when a 'Festival of Faith and the Environment' was held at Canterbury Cathedral. People of all faiths and philosophies were invited to participate and were encouraged to join a 'pilgrimage' walk from temples and shrines of other faiths culminating in a multi-faith celebration in the Cathedral.

Other messages not only warned about what was wrong within the Church but also gave an uplifting message of God's desire to restore and renew it.

The multi-faith festival brought protests from evangelicals of all denominations. The protest within the CofE was led by Tony Higton, a leading Anglican charismatic, Director of ABWON (Action for Biblical Witness to Our Nation) founded in 1984. An open letter to the leadership of the Church of England opposing multi-faith worship was signed by over 2,000 clergy, which sent shock waves through the hierarchy, and the activities of Cathedral Deans who were arranging a number of multi-faith activities came to an abrupt stop. This is an indication of the power of prophetic witness to influence Church policy even in days when scant respect is paid to biblical correctness.

Five years prior to the Canterbury festival, a new magazine, Prophecy Today was launched in London by the ministry which I lead. From the beginning it carried an uncompromising biblically-based message. Its editorial policy statement reads:

It is published with the intention of conveying the word of God for our times to the people of God, and through them to the nations of the world.

We define prophecy as the forthtelling of the word of God. This was the task of the prophets in ancient Israel. It is the task of the church today…Christ wants his church to be a prophetic people proclaiming his word to his world. It was for this reason that the Holy Spirit was given to the New Testament community of believers.

We also believe that the present world situation is so serious that the very existence of mankind is under threat. In all the nations a spirit of violence and disorder appears to have been loosed that is disturbing family life, disrupting the community, overthrowing moral and social stability and threatening to lead to worldwide destruction. We believe that the root problems facing mankind are not simply economic, social or political, but spiritual, and that the Gospel is the only answer.

We note that in times of crisis in ancient Israel God used the prophets to alert people to danger and to correct their ways…so today we believe God is longing to use his church in this prophetic role in the world. The most urgent need for the nations is not to hear the opinions of men, but to hear the word of God. It is as a contribution towards the prophetic task that Prophecy Today is published.⁶

By the early 1990s Prophecy Today had reached a circulation in excess of 16,000 - the largest circulation of a Christian bi-monthly magazine in the UK. With each copy being read by an average of three persons this means that Prophecy Today was read by approximately 50,000 in the evangelical/charismatic churches. Typical of the warning note it sounded was the following prophecy:

The nation is sick and heading for massive disaster, but I hold my church primarily responsible for the moral and spiritual life of this nation. You are the watchmen of the nation and you have not been faithful upon the walls of the cities to discern the onslaught of the enemy or to blow the trumpet to warn the people of danger, so the enemy has been allowed to come in like a flood and pervade the land.

The land has been polluted by the shedding of innocent blood, by violence and pornography, by adultery and sodomy, by corruption and injustice, by greed and avarice, by oppression and unrighteousness, by lies and deceit, by witchcraft and idolatry and by a lack of compassion for the poor and powerless.

In the face of all this evil and corruption your voice is still not heard in the nation. The prophetic declaration of the word of God is not heard upon the lips of the leaders of the church. It is for this reason that the church languishes, its numbers are in decline, its finances are unhealthy and there is disunity, discord and a lack of vision.

Now is the time to repent. Now is the time to recognise your faithlessness and the way you have strayed from the paths of righteousness and failed to uphold my word in the nation. If you will now repent publicly of your own sinfulness and declare my word within the church and in the sight of the whole nation, the people will respond. If you refuse to hear this word and harden your hearts against me, you will bring upon yourselves terrible consequences as the days darken across the nations.⁷

Several prophecies that were influential in the charismatic movement were given at an international conference in Israel in April 1986. These were the first to give forewarning of the shaking of the nations, which would be accompanied by a worldwide harvest as the Church continued to expand rapidly in many nations.

The 1986 Carmel conference forewarned of the shaking of the nations, which would lead to worldwide harvest for the Church.

The shaking of the nations would be through both political and economic upheaval. One of the prophecies said that the great shaking was about to begin with the Soviet Union. Three weeks later the Chernobyl nuclear power station erupted which began the shaking of the USSR and led to its eventual demise. The following is a small part of one of the prophecies. It referred specifically to the downfall of Gorbachev and the collapse of the Communist empire:

I, only I, can overcome this evil regime. But through the prayers of my people I will break the power of this man. For this reason you should pray for your enemies. I will send a famine. It will bring the Kremlin to their knees and make them open to my word.⁸

Four years later this prophecy was fulfilled in the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. It was the famine caused by the Chernobyl meltdown which began the whole process.

Next week: Prophecies of revival and good times.

References

1 Published in New Covenant, February 1978. Charismatic Renewal Services, Ann Arbor, Michigan, p4.

2 Ibid, p5.

3 Ibid, p6.

4 I am indebted to Patricia Higton of Time Ministries International (Essex) for the record of this prophecy.

5 Ibid.

6 Prophecy Today, published by PWM Trust (Bedford). Published in each edition of Prophecy Today since March 1984.

7 Prophecy Today, Vol 10 No 4, July/Aug 94.

8 Prophecy Today, Vol 2 No 4, July/Aug 86.