Judge not lest you be judged – should we criticise anointed men of God?

Good video by John McArthur and good article from: http://imspeakingtruth.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/judge-not/ -

In the video, John McArthur succinctly exegetes the foundation of Matthew 7, especially in light of how “judge not lest you be judged” gets hurled around (almost like an expletive) in response to the light of truth shining on any darkness. 

As I’ve stated on many occasions, I blog in defense of the faith. I have no personal agenda – except to proclaim and defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ…even if when the Gospel is hijacked by perpetrators within the church.

 Look at the scriptural reference in context:

1“^(A)Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

 2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and ^(B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

 3“Why do you ^(C)look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

 4“^(D)Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?

 5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Too me, the text clearly forbids hypocrisy. It is hypocritical for someone to condemn adultery if they’re tipping out on their spouse at the same time. Likewise, it’s hypocritical to claim the name of the Lord, yet live and teach the complete contrary.

2 Timothy 3:16 affirms the authority of God’s Word – and it’s proper use.

As long as the Word of God is used to refute false teachers and their false doctrine, then the only judgement going on is from God to His enemies.

Touch not my anointed – prophetic art re new apostles and prophets

Picture Credit (http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/gag.jpg)

Prophetic Art re Todd Bentley’s Lakeland Outpouring Healing Revival

A Picture speaks a Thousand Words…..

Picture Credit (http://www.armchairgeneral.com/wordpress/wp-content/moviereviews/troy/07_MR_11_d_C81_4.jpg)

The Lakeland Outpouring is a winnowing field – a prophetic word

I agree with this article containing a prophetic word by Bryan Hupperts, and am particularly struck by the poisoned river element as it echoes what I have seen in visions on the current apostasy. This post is courtesy of: http://theredskywarning.blogspot.com/2008/05/lakeland-outpouring-is-winnowing-field.html   Thank you Bryan, and thank you for your courage.

“In early 1991 I was listening to a tape by Paul Cain describing how God changed his body chemistry so he would not desire women. Most took this as a call to celibacy. I was disturbed by his phrasing and began to pray over what he said and finally got a definite warning from the Holy Spirit: This man is unclean. Stay away form him.

With my Foursquare/Vineyard background, you can imagine how well this went over with pastors and saints who wondered why I refused to jump into “the river.” I was put out of ministry, given the left foot of fellowship on several occasions for touching God’s Anointed. My motives and character were continually attacked. Finally, Paul was outed as an alcoholic and homosexual. God’s warning came true.

In 1999 I was given a vision of a flowing river. Upstream, many prophets were urinating and defecating into this river and the unsuspecting saints down the way were dipping their silver cups of salvation into this river and gagging on the disgusting human waste and impurities.

The pastor of the inde charismatic church I attended at the time ripped me to shreds, slandered me, and so on. He and his associate had a gift for planting rumors some of which shadow me even today. At the time, I didn’t make the connection but this local church had the word River in their title and I think they may have taken it personally. Yes, they were a “river” church, too. Take a hard look at the state of the prostituted prophetic movement. Even their leaders will admit that most of what is called prophetic ministry simply isn’t. I believe this word has come true.

Before the outbreak of the Iraq war, based on things the Holy Spirit had warned me about, I wrote Pres Bush an open letter warning him of the debacle to come. I quoted news headlines 2 and 3 years before they were written and pleaded with him not to take this foolish course of action. You can imagine how the republican saints in my church came unglued. People were screaming at me, calling me a liberal and a traitor. Still, every word came true.

I write these things because there are many false prophets in the world. Kim Clement is a great example. False word after false word, and the hits just keep coming. Yet, like dogs to their vomit (yes, that’s in Proverbs) saints keep running back to him (and others like him) for “words from the Lord.” Further, they regularly reviling those of us with accurate prophetic track records. I was grieved over this for years until the Holy Spirit whispered, “It’s because they do not love the Truth.” If they truly loved the Truth they would love those who share the Truth as well as the God of Truth.

That was eye-opening.

I was visited by God powerfully during a Rodney Howard Brown meeting in the 90s. God did a work in me that remains. I saw others in the same meetings get weirder and weirder until they are no longer orthodox Christians. It’s all angels and jewels and gold dust. One wind of doctrine after the next. Spiritually seems to be measured in how bizarre you can behave.

I suspect what is happening is that God is giving people their hearts desire – whatever that desire is. If they seek for God with all of their heart, it is God they get. If it is something else they desire, they are getting that, too. It is a scary reality that God promises to give those who do not love the Truth over to delusion so that they will believe lies! See 2 Thessalonians 2:11

I believe the Lakeland Outpouring is a winnowing field, a place of separation between wheat and chaff, the sheep and the goats. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

If there is no sound doctrine, there is no love of the Truth. I believe the wheat is being separated to be gathered into the Father’s barns while the chaff is being separated and gathered together to be burned in the unquenchable fire.

Be careful what you love for God will answer you according to all that is truly in your heart. Ezekiel 14:7 “‘When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling-block before his face and then goes to a prophet to enquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself.”

Unless you love the Truth, God will give you over to the idols of your heart.”

IS IT SAFE TO ASSUME THAT EVERY HEALING, MIRACLE AND REVIVAL IS FROM GOD?

“IS IT SAFE TO ASSUME THAT EVERY HEALING, MIRACLE AND REVIVAL IS FROM GOD?

Some cautionary warnings from the Bible:
(Jesus) “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.” – Mark Chapter 13 verses 22-23

(Jesus) “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles. Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers.” – Matthew Chapter 7 verses 21 to 23.

As we have seen, Jesus himself warned us that there would be counterfeits in the last days. Even to the extent that some people may even do miracles and cast out demons, yet Jesus will one day say to some of these workers of wonders: “Away from me, I never knew you”. He even calls them “evildoers”.

2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 verses 9 to 12 says this: “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

Paul’s First Letter to Timothy, Chapter 4 verse 1 warns: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

Every Christian therefore needs to on their guard – to love the truth and avoid deception.

Based on what Jesus himself said, we can expect to see the deception in the guise of “true Christian works” and what appear to be genuine miracles and healings. Why? Well, if Satan came to us looking like his true self, none of us would ever fall for it. For example, who has ever counterfeited a £9 note? No-one! For precisely the reason that a counterfeit needs to look like the real thing. Consequently he will, as the Bible says, “come as an angel of light” to avoid detection. Remember, the Bible warns us that Satan is a liar, a deceiver and a murderer.

Even on close inspection it may look like the real thing. Bear in mind that when Moses went to Pharaoh on God’s behalf and did miracles before Pharaoh, many of God’s miracles performed by Moses were also duplicated by Pharaoh’s own spiritual leaders. Satan has no difficulty in doing miraculous works, healings and even calling down fire from the sky.

However, it may be that the healings that appear to be taking place are ocurring by genuine Holy Spirit power. Some have reported that Todd Bentley did receive from God a genuine gift of healing some years ago. The Bible does make clear, however, that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans Chapter 11 verse 29). This is usually interpreted as meaning that, if God gives you a spiritual gift, he does not normally remove it from you at a later date. The ongoing presence of the gift in someone’s life, therefore, does not mean that all aspects of that person’s life and ministry are beyond reproach.

I recently recorded almost 3 hours of Lakeland broadcast on the God TV channel. The most frequently used words by Todd Bentley during that time were:

BAM!
FIRE
ANOINTING
IMPARTATION
MIRACLES
HEALING

During the 3 hour period he never opened a Bible, preached or mentioned any scripures whatsoever. The words HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REPENTANCE, OBEDIENCE were never mentioned at any time during the broadcast At no time was any caution given about the importance of BIBLICAL DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS, with a view to avoidance of deception.

Towards the latter part of the evening he mentioned SALVATION and invited non-Christians up to the platform “to receive Jesus”. He said: “you need to be born again. I’m going to pray for you to be saved. If you want Jesus, ask “come into my heart and forgive me my sins”. I’m not going to preach for 45 minutes for you to be saved. I’m going to pray for you to receive Jesus. He then prayed for, and laid hands on, each person who had come forward. All fell to the floor.

He never gave any of these unbelievers a chance to pray themselves. He never explained who Jesus was, or what he had done on the cross. He never explained what sin was, nor God’s view of sin. Repentance and its meaning was never mentioned. The whole section devoted to the lost lasted no more than 5 or 6 minutes, then he reverted to talking about “the anointing”, “impartation” and “miracles of healing”. CONCLUSION: At no point was the true, Biblical Gospel ever preached (See What Is The Gospel? for an explanation of the true Biblical Gospel).One other very worrying statement I heard him make that evening was this: “I used to feel the anointing in my hand; now I feel it in my spine.” His mention of the spine rang bells in my memory, so I did a search on Google and found that the KUNDALINI (demonic) snake/serpent spirit is acknowledged by KUNDALINI devotees as taking up residence in the spine. Given that the main emphasis of Todd’s ministry at Lakeland is the impartation of “the fire” to other countries, churches and ministries around the world, makes this “impartation” aspect one of great concern, lest another spirit is involved.”

Article by Brian Johnson,  founder of http://www.newchristian.org.uk

http://www.newchristian.org.uk/lakeland.html