Let me start out saying i believe in a full gospel! And I wholly embrace the Power of God message and i believe in a signs and wonders Gospel that saves, heals, delivers. Indeed deliverance is the childrens bread! therefore i believe in the finger of God to drive out evil spirits and let the prisoners go free. My position is: if God said it in his word then that settles it i believe it. In fact i believe it all, i embrace it all, and i recieve it all! And i reject outright the doctrine of cessationism.
God forbid that "I" or anyone "else" for that matter should get in God's way - or oppose a genuine work of God.
But now for the flip side! i also believe there is counterfeit and i believe there is the false supernatural and i believe that lying wonders and signs can be in our midst and I believe there is bogus and i believe there is that which masquerades itself as the true.
NOW THE CHURCH HAS NEVER HAD A PROBLEM BELIEVING IN THE FALSE SUPERNATURAL PER SE! however, in the past we have quarantined or assigned anything false to the occult or to withces they sneak into meetings trying to resist the meet.
As for false prophets well they were usually associated with cult figures or the waco and Guyanna incidents...
Everything else was consigned to the occult or the (too hard basket) failing that the devil got blamed for everything.
And For anyone to suggest even remotely that something wasnt quite right (within) the church was to risk being marginalized or charged with conspiracy theories. Worse sometimes you were laughed to scorn and mocked deridingly.
But things have changed markedly and the dynamic has changed considerbaly from those earlier days of both the seventies and eighties. When i was young boy growing up in the evangelical church we had film nights which covered the occult, backward masking and UFO phenomena sightings! This was our understanding of the false supernatural and we believed it appertained primarily - to the (without) of the church. and as i said before occassionally witches would sneek into the back rows and attempt to withstand the meeting. But that was as far as we thought it could come - (within).
But as i said times have changed and the admonition by the apostle peter now resonates with much greater meaning: when he said "the false prophets were among the people" Yes peter said They were among God's people (the Jews) they werent in saudi arabia or assyria or even downtown eygpt land! but (smack bang in the middle) of God's people. (2nd peter 2) in other words they were operational from within.
But to raise any alarm or sound trumpets today is to be called a pharisee or risk touching the man of God! worse some say you have commited blasphemy of the holy ghost - all for raising questions or having some suspicions.
But despite these counter threats to "back off" many have remained unafraid and undetered to sound alarms and sirens! To red flag something as it were - if it were "off"
As i said before but it bears repeating if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...its a duck!
And as spritual people we thus compare "spiritual things with spiritual things" this is our calling brethren. We compare apples with apples - and not apples with oranges.
We must measure everthing by the standard of God's Word!
This is the acid or litmus test by which we approve things.
I have always believed and held the position of - and make no apolgies for it (Btw) that as Spiritual people of God we MUST "discern the dreams, prove the prophesies, verify the visions, and test the Spirits" Because as John so rightly said "many false prophets are gone out in the world"
Further the apostle admonishes to prove all things:
And hold fast to that which is Good:
In fact: Paul told the Jews in Romans chapter two that they did well in that they " approved things which were excellent"
NO: not everything think that glitters is Gold and there is such a thing as "Pirae gold or fool's gold" which can have the appearance of real gold but upon closer inspection. It is seen as false! An imitation of the real thing.
Now i grew up in "Pentecostal churches" and i firmly believe in genuine valid experiences which demonstrate the power of God. There is are no issues there! I concur with paul that the kingdom of God is not in word only, but in power.
In fact the jews of olden time grew up as little children hearing about the great signs and wonders that the Lord did in Egypt and of the great plagues he sent upon the land of coshen and how God wonderfully dealt with the Jewish fathers in sending them a deliver by the name of Moses. Indeed The Divine supernatural power of God was nothing unusual to the Jews (of Old).
And This awesome display of God's power continued to shew itself at sundry times down through the generations and dispensational times. Yes right on through to the day of pentecost and beyond. With the ACTS of the apostles more than proving that God had NOT taken away his gifts and his wonders from operation! Yes right on up until this present hour we have witnessed the gifts of the Holy spirit at work amongst his people - the church.
So just to re-iterate that i personally believe LOCK-STOCK-AND BARREL ...IN ALL OF THE GIFTS AND MIRACLES THAT ARE TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE AND THAT THEY ARE READILY AVAILABLE TO THE CHURCH - FOR THIS PRESENT HOUR.
But again just to balance the spiritual equation you would have to be very naieve and ignorant not to accept that the devil also wars from (within) and not just from (without)
So in these latter times of doctrines of devils and decieving spirits we need to have discernment! And we need that discernment sharpened! In fact sharpened by God's pencil sharpener of discernment.
As we are living in a time when people who go to "church" want to have an "experience" they want to quote "feel God" They want to come away from nearly every service having had an "encounter"
In fact: A lot of the demonstrations that now place during a service can be traced back to men that frequently made the remark " there has got to be more to christianity, than just this" (unquote)
Mmm.
Be careful what you ask for!
However, some believe the passage that "God would not give a scorpion for an egg" is somehow there immunity to all counterfeit and deception.
If that were even remotely true contextually speaking: then why would Christ say beware of men! and beware of wolves (false prophets) who come dressed to you in sheeps clothing?
Why would paul inform the Galations of perverted gospels and of certain men who had crept in?
And i seem to recall at this juncture an incident in the book of Acts where Paul spoke of a certain false prophet who did not cease to pervert the right ways of God.
It Can happen! and it can happen in our times!
But as i said before to suggest anything was up with the present day church and present day experiencial christianity was to risk being black-balled and marginalized
So you kept quiet and you said nothing!
And many that had questions and doubts were often too afraid to discuss those doubts and questions. And they were told if they said anything - they were in effect opposing the move of God and risked "touching God's anointed"
So the consequence was the following: A whole host and mariad of experiences was on demonstration to behold - and served up on our tables.
(In a manner of speaking)
This is wide and varied in its manifestation and there is no way you could cover it in a single sitting or posting:
But just to name a few: "falling under the power (slain in the Spirit) laughing uncontrollable in public, rolling on the floor, twitching, jerking, shaking, convulsing, chopping the air in windmill mock imitation form, barking, growling, animal noises, strange noises, creepy noises, deep sleeps, unconscious states and semi conscious states, frozen bodily states. Uncontrollable muscle spasms and convulsing, people suddenly losing there balance and falling hard on the floor! Furthermore the recipients of the slain in the spirit experience often make startling claims of visiting heaven and visiting the throne and of seeing angels and flying through the air and appearing through walls and of over hearing conversations between people through those walls! others claim to supernaturally be lifted up into the Air and of leaving there bodies to visit other places and countries.
In fact one man who is a leading figure on television and radio and has a wide circulation of dvd's and other resource materials claims to have experienced some of the above incredible things! and is utterly convinced these occurences are - from God!
So as i said before its not wether weird manifestations happen! or the false supernatural is possible or counterfeit can creep in? its happening now and before our very eyes and under our noses
Hence the understatement: we need discernment! Would have to be the proverbial understatement of the century beloved. but to sum we find ourselves living in times when all kinds of incredible testimonies abound, fantastic stories heard, startling claims made! But how much if any of it...should we embrace? Indeed some feel compelled to experience all that god has for them. Still others do it from peer pressure - whilst others think they are missing out and so throw caution to the wind! But when its all said and done...the Individual must get themselves to a place whereby they can distinguish truth from error, right from wrong, the spirit from that which is flesh!!!
