CHAPTER INDEX
Facing
The Truth About America
Introduction
In the first two parts of this series we
examined the "new paradigm" shift that has taken place in many
Charismatic/Pentecostal/Evangelical churches over the last 20 years as the result
of their embracing the current so-called "revival". We also examined
the new priesthood of restored apostles and prophets who are even now
attempting to take control of the Church.
In Part Three of the series we intended
to expose the faulty foundation today's "Spiritual Warfare" movement
is built on. Unfortunately, before we could complete this third installment the
terrorist attacks on
The terrorist attacks and the resulting
War On Terrorism have produced an unusual emphasis on
religion in this country. Americans have been called upon by political
leaders to pray both individually and together for the nation and the war
effort. Government and religion have been joined together and the call to bow
before a politically constructed "god" has begun. The line between
secular
The vast majority of Christians view this
new emphasis on religion and prayer as a positive development. But when you
realize what has been happening inside the Church for the last few decades, you
will understand it's not really a good thing after all. The spirit of
Antichrist has been flooding our churches and posing as the Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately, most of today's Christians cannot tell the difference between
the two.
The spirit of Antichrist not only promotes
a false unity among Christians, it promotes a false unity between Christianity
and other religions. It is constantly working (both inside and outside the
Church) to bring people of all faiths and all religious views together under a
single religious umbrella in order to worship the global deity of tolerance and
unity. It tries to convince God's people that it doesn't matter who we
pray with, just as long as we get together with other people to pray.
Moreover, this spirit has the power to
make us feel good when we pray indiscriminately with other people. In fact, the
less careful we are about who we pray with, the better it makes us feel.
It promotes the "god-as-you-perceive-him-to-be" mentality, and that
mentality has taken complete control of this nation. Indeed, the spirit of
Antichrist has manifested itself boldly through our current President.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, Mr.
Bush not only asked "people of faith" to go to their individual
houses of worship to pray for the nation, he called on them to come together
and pray. A multitude of inter-faith meetings, worship services and
memorial services were organized by local and state government agencies,
several of which were held in big churches or sports stadiums and nationally
televised.
Interesting enough, nobody heard a peep
from the ACLU, which is always the first organization to cry "separation
of church and state" when the government promotes Christianity in any way.
Looks like separation of church and state only applies when the subject is the Christian
Church. Looks like separation of church and state doesn't apply when it's the Global
"People of faith" is the new political
term for anyone who is religious. Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Roman
Catholics are all referred to today as people of faith. It also means people
who are inclusive. It means people who don't go around saying theirs is
the only way, or that theirs is the only true religion. In reality the term
means everyone in the world who is religious except genuine Christians, for
true Christianity is exclusive—it's the only way to salvation. This
other (darker) meaning of the term will become more and more obvious as the
days go by.
At a December 5th Town Hall
Meeting in
I wonder how many "Christians"
at that meeting or watching it on TV really understood the implication of the
President's remarks. I wonder how many could see past the end of their noses
far enough to realize we are being set up for persecution by this kind of talk.
The religious climate in this nation has
shifted dramatically for the worse, yet how many of God's people realize it?
From now on, anybody who says their religious views are the only right views,
or that their religion is the only true religion, will be viewed as religious
extremists. As soon as Fundamentalist Muslims have been taken care of,
the attention will turn to Fundamentalist Christians.
The attack on Jerry Falwell
should have been a wake-up call to any Christian with an ounce of spiritual
discernment. Mr. Falwell had the temerity to suggest
(publicly) that the terrorist attacks were God's judgment on our
The majority of Americans not only refuse
to consider the possibility that God would judge this nation for its sin, they are ready to crucify anyone who suggests such a
thing! The public outcry against this man was so great he had to go on national
TV and apologize for even thinking such a horrible (un-American) thought. If he
would not have recanted, his entire religious empire would have gone up in
smoke in a matter of months.
Regardless of his many faults and bad
doctrine, no normal mind could ever equate the deeds of Mr. Falwell
with the deeds of Osama bin Laden. No honest person
could ever accuse him of being part of the ultra-liberal, left-wing,
anti-America crowd. Yet with one voice the media, local and national
politicians, and many religious leaders made precisely these kinds of
equations.
You could almost hear Satan laughing as
this well-known representative of Fundamental Christianity publicly denied the
God of Scripture and bowed to the global deity of unity and tolerance.
Friends, the day has arrived when following the true God is being called
religious extremism. The day has come when sincere devotion to the Lord Jesus
Christ is being called religious intolerance. Right now it's considered
"unpatriotic" to say Christianity is the only true religion. When
faced with the God of the Bible, the world is still saying: "Away with
him! Away with him"!—and so is
Only the spirit of Antichrist would say
that in order to be a good American we must enter into spiritual union
(fellowship) with Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Roman Catholics.
There's a big difference between tolerating a person who follows
another religion and embracing the religion that person is following.
You don't have to accept false religions as a valid way to salvation in order
to tolerate them or the people who follow them. Religious tolerance has nothing
to do with spiritual fellowship or with making every religion of equal value
before God. Yet President Bush has done all he can to blur the line between
these two concepts.
It seems that the integrity and morality
of Mr. Bush has been such a stark contrast to the villainy and
debauchery of Mr. Clinton, he has been able to sell himself to
Not only is Mr. Bush not a genuine
believer, right now he is functioning as Antichrist's puppet and mouthpiece. As
a mater of fact, right now he is the most spiritually dangerous man on the
planet, for in the name of political Conservatism and under the banner of
Christianity he has single-handedly done more to promote global religion than
all his predecessors put together!
Thanks to Mr. Bush, global religious unity
is on the verge of being completed. Thanks to him, religious classifications
are shifting from specific belief systems (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or
Muslim) to categories of tolerant and intolerant. He is
personally leading the charge to corral all Americans into the "tolerant"
camp by pressuring us to follow a politically constructed deity who saves
everyone and fellowships with everyone, regardless of what they believe or how
they live. All who refuse to bow to this new god will be lumped together and
viewed as part of the intolerant camp.
Those who have eyes to see realize that
Between this new atmosphere of
religious/political unity and the delusion being propagated by today's restored
apostles and prophets, the bulk of the Church in
Brother
Daniel
Beast
Worship
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Revelation 13:1-4 & 11-14
In the book of Revelation, one of the main
things John is shown is a Satanic copy of the Trinity. The dragon is Satan himself,
who parallels the Father. The first beast that comes up out of the sea is
Antichrist, who parallels the Son. The second beast that comes up out of the
earth is the False Prophet (Rev. 19:20), who parallels the Holy Spirit.
Just as the Father has given
the Son His power and authority, so we see Satan giving the first beast
(Antichrist) his power and authority.
Just as the Son had a deadly wound on
Next we have a counterfeit of the Holy
Spirit. Just as one of the tasks of the Spirit is to cause men to serve and
glorify Jesus, so the task of the second beast (False Prophet) is to cause men
to serve and glorify the first beast (Antichrist). Just as another task of the
Spirit is to bring forth the image of Christ in the earth, so another
task of the False Prophet is to bring forth the "image" of Antichrist
in the earth.
One thing we must understand about these
beasts is that they are first and foremost evil spirits. They manifest
themselves in various ways, but they are primarily demon spirits. The first
spirit comes up through the sea (the mass of humanity) and produces secular
The first beast is a government that all the world wonders after and worships. They are awed by
this government. They think it is the greatest thing in the world. They put
their complete trust in it. The question is: why do they wonder after this
government? Why do they worship it? They worship it because politically and
militarily it is the strongest government on earth. No other government can
challenge it. This is why they say: "Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"
The second beast is a religious system
that deceives more thoroughly those who are already following the first beast.
It seems that the second beast knows the world is following the first beast
primarily because of its natural (military, political) might, and that's not
good enough. The second beast comes to add a supernatural dimension to this
worship. As a representative of the first beast, he makes fire fall from heaven
in the sight of men.
From that point on, the people worship the
first beast as a god because they realize it possess
real supernatural power. This shift brings about the need for a more portable
representation of the beast government. So the second beast instructs the
people to make an "image" of the first beast.
Our purpose here is not to try and
interpret the book of Revelation, but to point out certain aspects which
directly relate to current events. Right now we are witnessing a foretaste in
When it comes to this kind of a situation
we expect the unsaved to be deceived, for they do not have the Spirit of God,
and only the Spirit of God can keep an individual out of religious
delusion—especially in this hour. However, we don't expect God's people to be
deceived so easily, yet they have been.
Though many preachers say
"We were birthed to be a reflection of the freedom and
liberty found only in Christ Jesus...a force to maintain world peace. America
has a destiny in God as one who fights for the disenfranchised with the
economic might of our wealth and resources. That mantle rests upon us
and the whole world watches to see what we will do and how we will react. If
our financial system comes down the needy peoples of the earth will be
without an advocate and the financial systems in other nations will be
shaken and swept into the
Our very freedom handicaps us in fending off terrorist attacks because we are an open society. Fear and paranoia can cause us to shut down and no longer be the gatekeeper nation we were created to be...The Lord wants to deliver this nation by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit through His church and with a president on bended knees...His decisions in the upcoming days and years will affect not only the future of this nation but also the global purposes of God in the end times."
"
October 2001
Notice the presupposition in this message.
"We have been given an allotment of redeemed time. With the election of George Bush as our president, there has been given to us an allotment of time through which we can see kingdom purposes established in our nation and in the earth. (See Eph. 5:15-16). The enemy is doing all that he can to undermine this divine opportunity...All that was unleashed in our nation on September 11, and the days that have followed, has been to pre-empt the birthing of God’s purposes in our nation"
"A Space Of Redeemed Time"
November 2001
Mr. Davis says that because of the
election of George Bush, God has provided us with some extra time to "see kingdom
purposes established in our nation and in the earth". Because the enemy
knows how central America is to establishing God's
purposes in the earth, he tried to "pre-empt the birthing" of those
purposes through the September terrorist attacks.
It's the same wherever you turn. All these
"restored" apostles and prophets are saying the same thing. The more
you read (or hear) their prophetic babble, the more you realize they think God
is going to use
Another self-proclaimed prophet is Kim
Clement. He has given one of the most outlandish words of them all in a message
titled: "The United States Shall See A Christmas Like
No Other Christmas It Has Ever Had!" Mr. Clement says:
“The
Why? Because this nation will rejoice because of the victory they have attained. And God says, I will make you wealthy because there will be a surrender of oil. There will be oil that will be given to you because agreements will take place, says the Lord. And I will cause there to be an economic revival that will begin next year and shall carry you through to the year 2005. NASDAQ, NASDAQ where are you? For God says, I shall raise you up. And you shall be victorious because this nation is mine says the Lord.”
Here is yet another revival minister
caught up in beast worship. He says that because this nation belongs to the
Lord, we will see a great economic revival, we will be given oil, and we will
see more salvations and deliverances this Christmas (2001) than has ever taken
place in the history of Christmas. It's
hard to believe people actually take this man seriously but they do. Mr.
Clement seems to have forgotten that the nation of
"...this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, [but] speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits."
Isaiah 30:9-10
Another minister people take seriously is
Francis Frangipane. In one message he gives a short history on how
"Throughout the long and terrible drama of the Cold War, no
one really thought that God actually loved the Russian peoples and desired to
liberate them from tyranny. Christian writers, prophets and theologians wrote
volumes about the end of the world, each predicting with finality that godless
Let me also remind you, beloved, that there was nothing overtly
spiritual about
Just as Nazism, Japanese Imperialism and Soviet communism were
totalitarian governments bent on world domination, so is Islam. Before the
Soviets fell, what they called "glasnost" began softening their
society. Glasnost meant "openness." This is what God used
"The Muslim World Shall Hear The Gospel"
Notice that Mr. Frangipane didn't just say
God used
Neither is there any room in Mr.
Frangipane's vision for the final, world-wide beast government so clearly
described by John in the book of Revelation. He is not expecting the emergence
of a global government so evil it will make Hitler and Stalin look like boy
scouts, for you see, in order for such a government to emerge, one of two things
would first have to happen to America: (1) we would have to rise up and fight
such a government—in which case we would lose—or (2) we would have to become an
integral part of that government. In either case, there goes God's plan for
In another message he talks about Tom DeLay's new resolution establishing a National Day Of
Repentance for America's leaders, which at the time of his (Frangipane's)
writing was about to be passed. The goal of the resolution was to
"...permit Members and Senators to come together voluntarily in private
fellowship within the House Chamber to seek repentance and reconciliation for
our nation". Mr. Delay went on to say that what he is seeking is "an
open climate of communal prayer and repentance." Pastor Frangipane
goes on to explain that:
"This was the second attempt to pass this resolution. The first, which was initiated in mid summer of 2001, did not pass, primarily because it was written from a Judeo-Christian perspective. In light of the events of September 11, however, it was brought forth again, this time with somewhat expanded or inclusive language."
"A Day Hidden By God In His Heart"
When questioned about the changes, Mr. DeLay said the inclusive language in this latest version
was "tailored to accommodate the specific faiths of every Member." He
also said the new version is "ecumenical in substance and universal in its
aspiration". He further stated that everyone can embrace the purpose of
the proposal because it "makes way for all faiths".
In other words, the bill was shot down the
first time because it presupposed Christianity to be the only proper
framework in which to have a "communal" repentance and reconciliation
meeting. It was assumed that the Congressmen would be repenting to the Christian
God. The revised bill was passed only because the meeting will no longer be
specifically Christian.
The new version is inclusive; meaning, it
establishes an inter-faith framework for communal repentance and
reconciliation. Congressmen of all religions can come and pray to whatever god
they choose, right along side of the Christians.
Of course this makes the bill as worthless
as the paper upon which it is written. If Congressmen of all faiths come together
to repent to their various deities, not only will they all be repenting for
different things, the Christians in that meeting will be opening themselves up
to the spirit of Antichrist. But this doesn't seem to bother Mr. Frangipane. He
is convinced that this is a sign
"Because of the change in the language of the resolution, some in the Christian community have actually taken offense...we received several angry or 'very concerned' emails, warning that this announcement was the beginning of the 'one world religion' to be led by the Antichrist...However, Congressman DeLay was not attempting to credential [validate] all faiths, but to invite them. No one is asking us as Christians to renounce Jesus Christ simply because people from different religions are invited to join in repentance and reconciliation."
A Day Hidden By God In His Heart
Mr. Frangipane tries to calm the fears of
those who sense something is terribly wrong in all this by saying that nobody
is asking these Christian Congressmen to "renounce Jesus Christ" in
order to take part in the event. Well now, isn't that comforting! Christian
Congressmen don't have to renounce Jesus in order to take part in this meeting, they just have to enter into spiritual union
(communal prayer and repentance) with Roman Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and
Buddhists. They don't have to deny Christ, they just
have to fellowship with Antichrist. What could possibly be wrong with
that?
Like the rest of those in the New
Charismatic Priesthood, Mr. Frangipane does not believe the Word of God. He
quotes from it, he preaches from it, he expounds on it, but he doesn't really
believe it. He only believes those parts that fit his particular end-time view.
As for the rest, he explains it away.
One of the portions of Scripture he refuses to believe (or obey) is the apostle John's admonition to avoid those who preach false
doctrine or another gospel.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
II . John 1:10-11
If the apostle John told us not to eat (i.e.,
fellowship) with deluded fellow Christians, or even wish them God speed, how
much more should we not do these things with Roman Catholics and Hindus
and Buddhists and Muslims! Can't you just see the apostle John getting together
with the Pharisees in
Can you imagine
Another thing Mr. Frangipane doesn't pay
any attention to is John's prediction that a world-wide kingdom, under the
leadership of Antichrist, will be established before Jesus physically
returns. He has no time to worry about such old-order ideas as the emergence of
a global government that's given the authority (by God) to overcome the saints.
Still another thing he doesn't believe is
the apostle Paul's prediction that at the end of this
age there would be a great "falling away" of Christians from the
faith. This is not going to be a falling away of nominal or cultural
Christians, or people who only think they are saved when in fact they
aren't. Paul predicted a massive defection of born-again believers from the
faith.
If everything is so wonderful like Mr.
Frangipane wants us to believe; if
Friends, it's everywhere you turn! The
apostasy is the current revival. The apostasy is the New Apostolic Reformation.
The apostasy is this "paradigm shift" away from a Biblical view of
the end-time. It's the shift away from a Biblical view of the Church and its
role in this world. It's the new revelation that says we should use prayer and
other spiritual warfare methods to invade and conquer the nations for Christ
and establish the
Speaking of apostasy, we must not forget
to mention Peter Wagner's message to the Church, titled: "Open Memorandum
Addressing The Twin Towers War." Mr.
Wagner, who humbly refers to himself as Presiding Apostle over the
International Coalition of Apostles, penned the memorandum 2 days after the
terrorist attacks. A few pertinent excerpts from the message are as follows:
"We must keep in mind that the true nature of the twin
towers war is freedom versus tyranny. This is true also in the invisible war
which God expects the church to fight...If freedom does not unify us and cause
us to declare war, both in the invisible world and the visible world, tyranny
can prevail, and that is not God’s will. If our government leaders,
good-hearted as they might be, are to implement God’s purposes here on earth,
the church must be equally ready to move into a wartime mode and go on the
offensive in the invisible world. It
goes without saying that a first priority of warfare is to know your enemy. Don
Hinton’s word on September 11 was: 'Spiritually, we are being baited to rise up
in racism again'...The danger now is to consider Islam in general and
Arabs in particular the enemy. The twin towers war is not a
Christian jihad. In the 1990s the church officially repented of the
Crusades, especially through the Reconciliation Walk. We must not revert to
a crusade mentality...Muslims must have as much freedom to worship in their
mosques as Christians have in their churches or Jews in their synagogues.
Notice Mr. Wagner's first assumption—it's
not God's will that tyranny prevail. Like the rest of his fellow apostles, he
doesn't really believe the Scripture. He ignores John's warning about a tyrannical
global government that is to be established on this planet before Jesus
returns. These "Prophetic Elders" who are supposed to be on the
cutting edge of all things spiritual just don't get it! They can't believe God
would allow tyranny to prevail for a season at the end of this age. They will
never see that this is His will, that this is His plan.
Next he says that if
Next he informs us that the Islamic
religion and American Muslims are not our enemies, tyranny is. Maybe if he
lived in a Muslim country for a few years he would leave his world of illusions
and come back down to earth. Go tell the Christians who are at this moment
rotting in Muslim jails that Islam is not their enemy. Go tell the relatives of
Christian martyrs who have been cut in pieces, who have been skinned alive, who
have been slowly and methodically burned to death, who have been strangled and
decapitated by Muslim madmen that Islam is not their enemy.
Tell those who watched American Muslims
dancing in the streets of
He also says the Church has
"officially" repented of the Crusades through its Reconciliation Walk,
so we must not revert to a crusade mentality and turn this present conflict
into a Christian Jihad against Muslims. We mentioned this Walk in the last part
of the series. From 1995 to 1998, Christians walked from
This is yet another example of how these
people ignore the plain teaching of the Scripture. First of all, the Bible
tells us that in this present age the only kind of peace that will be
established in that area of the world will be a false peace agreement between
The fact that Wagner thinks we can repent
for the sins of the dead reveals his true condition. Whenever we start doing
anything with regards to the dead we are stepping right into the occult—and
that is exactly what Satan wants—for once you get involved in the things of the
occult the curse of God does come upon your life.
It is an indictment against the whole
Church that Wagner and his Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders are slowly
becoming the Papal Voice of Christianity. We refused to boot these
heretics out of our midst when they first reared their ugly heads, so now we
have to contend with their bizarre doctrines and pompous claims of authority
over us. In any case, many Christian ministers today—especially those in the
New Charismatic Priesthood—are involved in beast worship, and they are leading
their sheep into that worship.
Empowering The Beast
The city of
Thus goes the story in Mr. Wagner's book,
Breaking Strongholds In Your City; pp. 190-192.
Welcome to today's new spiritual warfare—warfare gone wacky. The Biblical
concept of withstanding the devices of the enemy in our own personal lives is
now passé. Today's Christians are "taking cities for God" through
spiritual mapping, apostolic declarations, warfare prayer and the remission of
corporate sin through identificational repentance.
In order to understand what Satan is doing
right now, we need to see the big picture when it comes to the current revival
and Pope Wagner's International Coalition of Apostles. The ultimate aim of all
these people is to take control of the entire
planet—its physical land, its people, everything.
"Today’s praying church is rising up in militant force to possess the promised land of our nations."
"Possessing The Gates Of The Enemy"
Cindy Jacobs, p.15
"There is no reason why we, the Church, should concede one square inch of this planet to the government of territorial spirits. This is our planet."
"Taking Our Cities For God"
John Dawson, p.158
"All spiritual warfare is waged over one essential question:
who will control reality on earth - heaven or hell?...We
must see that our prayers, attitudes and agreement with God are an integral
part of establishing the reality of the
"The Three Battlegrounds"
Francis Frangipane, p.86
Mr. Wagner and his followers are not the least bit shy about what they are trying to do.
Ministers involved in this counterfeit revival all say the same thing—God has
given them a mandate to establish His kingdom...now. The means of conquest are
the new spiritual warfare methods they are being taught by direct revelation
from the spirit realm. Since they realize the
"Hebrews 2:5 reveals to us that the world to come will no longer be under subjection to angels but will be under subjection to redeemed men and women who will reign with Christ. We are at present in training for reigning...These structures [territorial principalities] will be refurbished with a whole new personnel. The final overthrow of Satan’s rebellious colonial government by the central government of God is preceded by the faith-sons of Abraham bringing blessing to all the families of earth. This demands territorial claims and advance through the earth...
Eventually, this resistance movement can produce sufficient numbers of trained personnel to take over the authority and administration of the colony from Satan and his angels, giving the least amount of disturbance to the heavenly structural powers...until such a network of resistance against Satan is found all over the earth, the second coming of our Lord is held up and his total reign restrained."
"Territorial Spirits"
Wagner/Foster, p.X
The sad thing about all of this is that
these people are partially right. It is God’s ultimate intention
to cast down the principalities and fallen angels who currently rule in the heavenlies. It is His ultimate intention to give
those thrones to the body of Christ, and we will rule the nations with Jesus.
Also, right now we are in training (but not the kind of training these
people are involved in) for that day. However, they are partially wrong as
well—and the parts they have wrong turn their entire program into a Satanic counterfeit.
Mr. Foster correctly states that the world
to come "will be under subjection to redeemed men and women who will reign
with Christ". But he incorrectly states that the world to come can be
achieved in this present age. He says that until the "resistance
(i.e., spiritual warfare) movement" produces enough "trained
personnel" in the earth to depose these territorial principalities, the
second coming of Jesus will be "held up" (delayed). In other words,
Jesus cannot return until we have dethroned Satan from the heavenlies
and established the
This idea of dislodging and replacing
heavenly rulers appears in many handbooks on spiritual warfare. The process is
accomplished first by spiritual mapping, which consists of learning the names
of the territorial spirits through direct supernatural revelation, and also
intense historical research of the area. After they are satisfied they have
compiled the proper amount of information they "bind" the spirits and
cast them out of the area. In many parts of the warfare movement it is believed
they must also release what is called "redemptive gifts" over the
cleansed territory in order to fill the void left by the spirits. These gifts
are basically good angels or powers.
Spiritual Warfare proponents assume that
when enough earthly territory has been taken for Christ, Satan's kingdom
will collapse. This will usher in a global revival and lead to a brand new era
of righteousness and peace with the Church ruling the world.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child...And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:7-9, 13 & 17
As we said, revivalists do not believe the
Word of God. They pick and choose what they want from the Scripture and ignore
the rest. The Word says that when Satan and his angels are cast out of their
heavenly places, the result on earth is not peace, but a reign of
terror; not universal righteousness, but universal rebellion. The Scripture
also tells us who it is that will finally dislodge Satan and his angels from
their allotted "territory"—and it won't be Wagner's International
Coalition of Apostles! It will be "Michael and his angels".
After the attacks on
"As I have prayed about the horrible, tragic events that
took place in our nation on Tuesday, I sense that they are a warning of the
type of thing that will become more common if this war is not won by the
prayers of the saints in the spiritual realm. I have spoken with several of
the other prophets in the 'Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders' and they
are in agreement that this is a 'wake up call' to our nation and especially
to the Church. If the Church in
"Wake Up Call to
Bill Hammond
"We continue to pray that you have strength and boldness from the throne room. This is not a time to shrink back, but stay bold in prayer. The headlines have said “A New Kind of War.” Remember, for any earthly authority to have the anointing to overcome the enemy, God’s people must be paving the way for that. You are key in God’s Kingdom at this time...Prophetic declaration is very important to change the atmosphere of the heavenlies."
"Ten Prayer Points for Now"
Chuck Pierce
"Like everyone else, I’ve been processing this tragic and sobering event. What a time this is in history as we all reflect and ask the Lord how to make sense of this horrendous catastrophe...In writing this prophetic word, it is a call to heighten our awareness that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against evil powers, principalities and the forces of darkness....The boundaries of our nation and cities must be secured by the intercessory prayers of the church...Our government must make its plans for justice but the battle is primarily spiritual warfare engaged in the heavenly realms. This was an international, governmental confrontation between the forces of two kingdoms over the souls of men and women.
Radical intercessors that carry governmental weight have been
assigned to the White House and governmental offices. Their prayers are
releasing the arsenal of heaven, the blueprint plans from the throne room
and activating the angelic host to fight and hold the land over
"
Jill Austin
"There are some serious events set in motion at this very
hour. It could be in two weeks. It could be in a month. It could be maybe a
little longer period of time. It depends on how we can ward this off. It
depends a lot on sending troops into
"Message in
Paul Cain -
"It is time for the apostolic leaders of nations to rise up and proclaim into the heavenlies of the nations where they have apostolic voice and authority to speak and legislate in the heavenlies."
Tommi
Femrite
Quoted in Peter Wagner's "Open Memorandum"
"We are no longer to ask God to do what he put us here to do. Rather, it is a time to make clear declarations that will change the atmosphere of our nation."
Marty Cassady
Quoted in Peter Wagner's "Open Memorandum"
Notice how everything depends on us? If we
pray and treat the situation right, we can ward off more attacks. If we don't
win this war in the heavenly realm,
Supposedly the War On
Terrorism is really a spiritual war being waged in the heavenly realms by
mighty prayer warriors. Radical intercessors have been assigned to the White
House and other government offices and the prayers of these warriors are
releasing the arsenal of heaven, the blueprint plans from the throne room and
the angelic host to fight and hold the land over
"The enemy has embarked on a multilevel war plan, designed to cause Americans to live their lives in growing despair. Each succeeding attack will be designed to cause even deeper psychological damage. The Lord showed me that it is an ingenious plan and it will work, unless we take seriously the scriptural principles found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: 'If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land'...
In addition, we must follow the example of the prophet Daniel who took on the priestly function of intercession as a mediator between God and mankind. He identified with the people in his nation and offered prayer on their behalf. As he humbly repented for the sins of his nation and asked for God's forgiveness, Daniel looked to God for the nation's only hope (Daniel 9)."
"The Lord Showed Me The Enemy's Plan Will Work Unless..."
John Paul Jackson
Mr. Jackson is yet another prophet in the
New Charismatic Priesthood. His statement warrants a closer examination. He
says the enemy has embarked on a plan designed to cause us to live our lives in
growing despair and that each succeeding attack will cause even deeper
psychological damage. He says God showed him that this plan will work
unless we do two things. First, we must take seriously the Scripture principle
in II. Chronicles 7:14—"If my people, which are called by my name, shall
humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land."
Ever since the terrorist attacks, this
verse has probably been quoted by every single pastor in the nation. You can't
watch a Christian TV show or listen to a Christian Radio program without
hearing it. You can't read a "prayer sheet" or a "ministry report"
or a new book without seeing it quoted. Of course it's not the constant
repetition of a Bible verse that's so annoying, it's
the constant misapplication of that verse that's annoying. The context
of the passage is set during a revival among the Israelites in Solomon's day.
The temple had been completed and the dedication was in process. The whole
nation had come to the dedication and God had met them in a wonderful way. Yet
in the middle of all the festivities the Lord speaks and says:
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
II. Chronicles
Exactly who is God talking to in this
passage? He's talking to His people, the children of
Has God ever given the
Since the Church has not been given a
physical land in this age, you cannot say "their land" represents
earthly territory. The land cannot represent the nations we live in because the
nations are not ours—at least not in this age. The point is not so much to
explain what the land does represent, but rather, what it does not represent—it
does not represent literal nations.
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
I. Thessalonians 4:4
As far as we understand, the land we must
possess, the land God will "heal" as we walk before Him in
repentance, is our own vessels, our own souls. But even if this view is
incorrect, even if the land actually represents something else, there is one
thing you can be sure of—it doesn't represent the nations in which we live.
Those who teach that God is obliged to bless and protect a nation if the
Church in that nation will repent and turn from their sins are distorting the
Scripture. The whole concept is false. The only nation God binds Himself to
bless as a result of obedience is His nation—the body of Christ.
The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
NIV Ezekiel 14:12-14
Not only do revivalists misapply the
passage in Second Chronicles chapter seven, they ignore the above
passage, which is just as relevant (if not more so) to today's situation. Thus
you have another example of the way these people approach God's Word. They pick
and choose what they want to hear. They pick and choose what they will accept
and what they will not accept.
The second thing Mr. Jackson says we must do if we want to foil the enemy's plan is follow the example of the prophet Daniel, who "humbly repented for the sins of his nation and asked for God's forgiveness". Here Mr. Jackson is referring to the new warfare doctrine of identificational repentance. Since we intend to examine this blasphemous teaching in a later chapter, we won't spend too much time on it here.
Briefly, it's the idea that Christians
should confess or repent for the sins of both past and present generations in
our nation so God may forgive all the curses that those sins have brought upon
us. In short, we are to assume the role of Jesus and reconcile our
country and its people to God. This is what Mr. Jackson is referring to when he
says Daniel "took on the priestly function of intercession as a mediator
between God and mankind".
I don't know what books Mr. Jackson has
been reading, but the Scripture says the Lord Jesus is the only mediator
between God and mankind (
"This is a time for apostolic declarations. The church is in a position now, characterized by the active and accepted roles of apostles, prophets, and intercessors, that it has not experienced in 1800 years...
We must keep in mind that there are two important and interconnecting worlds, the visible world or the natural world and the invisible world or the spiritual world. God has established governments to set policies and execute strategies in the visible world. He has established the church to do likewise in the invisible world...It is our responsibility, as church leaders, to use the authority that God has delegated to us to conquer the invisible forces of darkness that, for a brief moment earlier this week, gained the upper hand...
This is no time for a Christian anti-war movement. It is time to
go to battle in the invisible world. Jesus delegated us the authority to go on the
offensive against the demonic forces of darkness on every level. He
said, 'Behold, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy' (Lk.
"Open Memorandum"
Peter Wagner
Once again, we can't forget to include the
wisdom of the Church's Presiding Apostle regarding all of this. Right
away you notice that in Mr. Wagner's view, the Church has finally accepted the active
roles of apostles and prophets and intercessors. If this be true, the Church is
indeed lost, for Satan is leading all these people around by the nose.
He correctly states that the visible
(natural) world and the invisible (spiritual) world are connected, and that God
has established natural governments to set policies and execute strategies in
the visible world. He then says God has established the Church to "do
likewise" in the invisible world. What is Mr. Wagner basing this opinion
on? Who says the job of the Church is to "set policies" and
"execute strategies" in the invisible world?
According to him, the Bible says so. He
quotes Luke
Here we have a perfect example of handling
the Word of God deceitfully. When Jesus said: "I give you authority over
all the power of the enemy" He was not telling the disciples to set
policies and execute strategies in the heavenlies, or
to bind territorial spirits, or to establish His earthly kingdom for Him. The
purpose of that power was two-fold: (1) to preserve and protect them
from the schemes and attacks of the enemy, and (2) to demonstrate the power of
the gospel they were preaching. The authority they received from the Lord was
not limited in power but it was limited in scope. They had authority
over "all" the power of the enemy within certain spiritual
boundaries—and those boundaries had to do with individual protection and
individual deliverance.
Jesus didn't give them power and authority
to go out and conquer cities and nations for Him. This is obvious by what He
said when He sent them out locally, and again when He sent them out into the
world.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,
when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for
the
Matthew 10:14-16
When He sent them throughout the
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:15-16
The same was true when He sent them into the
world. Their responsibility toward the unsaved was simply to preach and
demonstrate the gospel. Whether the person who heard that message responded or
not was his/her choice. There was no instruction to stay on in an area until
everyone got saved, no command to bind the principalities over the area so
people would respond. Notice also that
Mr. Wagner quotes the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter three in order to
validate his ideas. A review of what Paul said in its context will show that
his intended meaning is a far cry from Wagner's interpretation.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you‑ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
First of all, the subject of this entire
chapter is the "mystery of Christ"—a mystery that has to do with the
"dispensation of grace". This mystery was not made known unto the
sons of men in other ages. But in the dispensation of grace it was made known
to Paul by direct supernatural revelation. After telling the reader
there is this thing called the mystery of Christ, and that it was revealed to
him directly by God, he then explains what this mystery is:
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
The "mystery of Christ" is that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs with the Jews, that they should be part of
the same body (
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:1-11
Paul says the mystery of Christ—that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs with the Jews and be part of the same body—which had
been hidden in God from the beginning of the world, has now been revealed in
order to demonstrate God's "manifold wisdom" to the powers of heaven.
It's clear from the context that the thing which is being made known to all these principalities is the wisdom of God with regards to His plan of redemption and its flawless execution. The way that wisdom is being made known to these powers is by the complete unveiling of that plan, especially as it relates to the joining together of Jews and Gentiles in Christ. The agency through which the wisdom of that plan is being shown is the Church.
There is no basis in this passage for the
idea that the Church is to make God's wisdom known to principalities by binding
them and taking over their territory. Nor is there any justification for
thinking Paul was telling us we should "make declarations" and
"set policies" and "execute strategies" in the heavenlies.
Everywhere you turn, revivalists are
saying the same thing—it's time for the Church to rise up and carry out a
global overthrow of Satan. But God is saying something very different. God is
saying it's time to stop listening to "unstable" people who
"wrest" (twist, pervert) the scriptures to "their own
destruction" (II. Pet. 3:16). For Satan is using them to seduce the entire Church
and involve it in beast worship.
To get an idea of how the False Prophet
will be able to move through religious people (including Christians) to empower
the coming Beast government, consider the following report from Colonel Doug
Lee, USARC Command Chaplain. He recounted a meeting that took place between Mr.
Bush and some Christian ministers after the terrorist attack. One of those
ministers was Max Lucado, who described the meeting
to Chaplain Lee, who then related the story at a conference at Lake Hamilton
Bible Camp. The message was transcribed and included in the Bible Camp's
November/December newsletter:
"As the ministers sat down to lunch and waited for
President Bush to appear, Max said that he was expecting the President to walk
in the room looking tired, serious and depressed. When the President came in,
Max said he looked totally the opposite of tired; he was energetic, joyful,
and very focused on his talk with the ministers.
Max asked President Bush how he could seem so calm and peaceful in the midst of
all the tragedy. The President's reply was, 'I'm feeling stronger now than
I've ever been in my life. And the reason is because every person in
"A Prayer Request For President George Bush"
Voices From His Excellent Glory
Mr. Bush said he is feeling stronger now
than ever before in his life, and he attributes this strength to the power
he feels when he is on his knees praying. The implication is that this power is
supernatural, and that it is coming from the prayers of Americans (Hindus,
Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics and Christians) who are praying for him.
Friends, the power he is tapping into, the power that is giving
him this extra-ordinary stamina, is not the power of God. It's the power of
false religion (yes, false religions have spiritual power). President Bush is receiving
spiritual strength from the prayers of people who are following false
religions, and America's Christian leaders (God help us!) are thanking
the Lord for it! This is a small example of what will soon be happening
globally. When it happens, deceived American Christians will be doing the same
thing then that they are doing now—they will help the False Prophet
empower the Beast.
Facing The Truth About
"All the
world continues to benefit from this faith [Islam] and its achievements. Ramadan
and the upcoming holiday season are a good time for people of different
faiths to learn more about each other. And the more we learn, the more
we find that many commitments are broadly shared. We share a commitment to
family, to protect and love our children. We share a belief in God's justice,
and man's moral responsibility. And we share the same hope for a future of
peace. We have much in common and much to learn from one another."
George W. Bush, 11/19/01
White House Ramadan Diner
Right now there is a massive gap between what the majority of American Christians think is happening in this nation, and what is actually happening. The contrast between the Church's wishful thinking and cold-blooded reality is demonstrated by the above graphic and quote. The graphic conveys the idea that the September 11 tragedy has brought America to her knees and to a place of repentance. The quote shows the actual direction the leader of this nation is taking us—toward the merging of all religions based on the lowest common denominators. Mr. Bush says that all religions share a commitment to family, a commitment to protect and love our children, a belief in God's justice, a belief in man's moral responsibility, and a hope for a future of peace.
President Bush certainly doesn't realize
he is being used by Satan. He believes he is a Christian. He reads his Bible,
prays for guidance and acknowledges God. When he asks Muslims to pray to Allah,
Hindus to pray to
It would come as a shock to him (and to
most other Americans as well), to know that this kind of religious pluralism didn't
exist in the minds of the founders of this nation. They left England because
they were not free to follow Jesus according to the Scripture. They did not
come to these shores with the intention of creating a nation that encouraged
the worship of all gods. They came here to create a nation where people
could freely worship the only true God, Jesus Christ. When they spoke about
"religious freedom" they were talking about the freedom to follow
Jesus according to our own conscience, as opposed to being forced to follow the
regulations of a state religion that named the name of Christ (like England
had). They were not talking about the freedom to worship any god we choose,
including Satan himself!
If you want to see how far we have drifted
from the intentions of our founding fathers, consider that today the
"church of Satan" is an officially recognized, tax-exempt religious
institution. At the beginning of this nation's history such a thing would not
have been possible. People were burned at the stake and drowned at the very
suspicion of being involved in witchcraft!
While it's true, the founders of our
country made sure no "state religion" would ever be imposed upon its
citizens, they also made sure the nation's laws and institutions—which were its
very foundation—were based on Christian principles and ideals. When America was
established, homosexuality was not an "alternative lifestyle," it was
a crime because lawmakers and judges recognized that it is a sin against God.
Abortion was not a woman's "choice," it was a crime because the
leaders of the nation knew it was murder—and murder is a sin against God.
The foundation of this nation was never
secular Democracy. It was the Christian ideals, principles and morality that was built into our peculiar form of government. It has taken
many years and a fanatical effort on the part of American humanists,
homosexuals and various other God-haters to completely extract Christianity
from those laws and institutions, but they've done it.
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Psalms 11:2-3
The Psalmist said the righteous can do
nothing once the "foundations be destroyed,"
and we need to wake up to the fact that the foundations of this nation have
been destroyed. They haven't just been tarnished or scratched or chipped or
broken, they have been smashed into little bitty pieces—and it didn't
happen overnight. It has taken more than 70 years to extract Christianity from
the laws and institutions of this land.
So here we are at the beginning of 2002;
and after years of hearing humanists cry "separation of church and
state," after years of Christians being hauled into court and sued for the
least little thing by the ACLU, after years of Hollywood stereotyping us as
self-righteous prudes and dunces, after years of allowing homosexuals to take
over the schools and many government positions, all of a sudden,
government-endorsed religion is the in thing. All of a sudden, it's cool
for Congressmen and Governors and Mayors to talk about "God" and
"faith" and "prayer"—and like ostriches with their heads
stuck in the sand, Christians say: "Hallelujah! Our nation is finally
turning back to God."
Excuse me but this nation is not returning
to God folks! It's turning to Satan and Antichrist just as fast as it can.
After years of running after materialism and coming up empty, unsaved Americans
are getting hooked on all kinds of spirituality that has nothing to do with the
Christian God. Even the kids are turning to Satan. We've got an entire
generation that is addicted to the witchcraft of Harry Potter. Even Christian
kids are drinking this poison!
We have never witnessed such spiritual
confusion among God's people as we see today. I have been surveying the various
interpretations of current events and have yet to find a single soul who
understands what is happening.
Most ministers see the terrorist attacks
as a good thing because they assume the outcome of it will be positive. They
think the tragedy will produce genuine repentance among religious and political
leaders, which will turn the nation back to God and save us from destruction.
Of course most of the sheep are blindly following the shepherds, who are
basically preaching "peace and safety" (under the guise of a coming
revival).
On the other side of the pendulum is a
small minority of ministers who see the recent attacks as the beginning of the
end for America. They assume the judgment people have been predicting for lo
these many years has finally begun and that it will not stop until America has
been destroyed.
Somewhere in between these two extremes
are people like David Wilkerson, who says America is under God's judgment, but
it will only be partially destroyed. He predicts that America will not only
survive the present judgment, but will rebuild and become great again. In an
attempt to substantiate their positive outlook, some who hold this view are
even distributing copies of a vision George Washington had, in which he saw
America's partial destruction and subsequent rebuilding.
But regardless of how these leaders view
the recent events in regards to God's judgment, all of them interpret judgment
the same way. They see it as material destruction. Military attacks, all-out
war, famine, plagues, out-of-control weather, complete financial collapse—these
are the things they are defining as God's judgment.
Virtually all the statements we have heard
or read concerning God's judgment on America are based on the assumption that
material destruction is the worst kind of judgment God could ever visit upon a
nation. However, this assumption is dead wrong. Material destruction is not the
worst kind of destruction God can visit upon a nation. Rather, the worst kind
of judgment God can visit on a nation is spiritual destruction—and
that's exactly what's happening right now to our nation. God has already judged
America. He has turned us completely over to Satan and his purposes.
We do not say this
because we hate America or because we want to see harm come to it. We are not
"left-wing" or "anti-American" in the political sense. We
say it because it is the truth, and our first allegiance must be to God and His
truth. Without a doubt, America was the greatest nation ever founded. It has
done more good for the world than any other nation in modern history, maybe in
all of history. While we love what America was and what it once
stood for, and while we appreciate the measure of liberty still available to
us, the fact is, the America we loved is dead and gone. It will never be
restored because its foundations have been completely destroyed.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luke 12:48
Then began he to upbraid the cities
wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto
thee, Chorazin! woe unto
thee,
Matthew 11:20-24
Jesus said: "unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall much be required".
He also said that if the Old Testament cities of Tyre,
Sidon and Sodom had been exposed to the same degree
of spiritual light that the New Testament cities of Chorazin,
Bethsaida and Capernaum had been exposed to, they
would have repented and not suffered destruction. Consequently, their
punishment will be more "tolerable" in the Day of Judgment.
Here Jesus is explaining an important
kingdom law. The more spiritual light we possess, the harsher our punishment
will be if we reject that light. It is an undeniable fact that our nation has
had the greatest light of any nation in the history of mankind. Consequently,
we have committed the greatest sin of any nation by turning our backs on
that kind of light. In the eyes of God this nation is worse than Old
Testament Israel; it is worse than Nazi Germany; it is worse than Communist
China because none of these nations have ever possessed the kind of spiritual
light and life we did. That may be a hard pill to swallow for most people but it's true.
Because we have turned our backs on the
greatest degree of spiritual light ever given to a nation, our punishment is
the most terrible of all—we have become the main vehicle for spreading the
greatest darkness this world has ever known. Satan is using America like a
helpless puppet to establish the woman in Revelation 17 and the beast that
carries her.
The vast
majority of Christians in this country are incapable of understanding or facing
this horrible reality because they are living in the flesh, and their flesh
craves all the things our wealthy Democracy provides. They love this country
above God and are therefore blind to the fact that
At this point in time, natural destruction
would actually be a blessing. It would be an act of great mercy if God would
allow this country to be destroyed, for we cannot and will not repent—ever. We
will only become more and more vile. If America is permitted to continue on its
present course, it will not only have to answer for its own national sins, it
will have to answer for the eternal damnation of billions and billions of
people in other nations who are blindly following us into Antichrist's global
religion.
There is no hope of redemption for America
as a nation. It has gone past the point of no return. It has already
been judged. The sentence has already been passed in the court of Heaven
and that sentence is now being carried out. Christians in this nation
can pray till their tongues drop out, it won't change a thing. Nothing can
alter the Divine decree. Moreover, it's too late for many in the Church
as well. The same Antichrist spirit that has conquered the nation has also
conquered many of the churches in the nation. God has already judged
these churches and has given them over completely to the "strong
delusion" Paul spoke of in Thessalonians. Those under this kind of
judgment have crossed the line and are past help.
Even so, there are still many individuals
in this land who are not yet past help. The Spirit of God is still calling
people to salvation. He is still baptizing people in the Spirit. He is still
delivering people from sin and spiritual deception, and He is still calling
people to the High Calling.
God can do a million different things all
at once, and He can do them all perfectly. Today He is doing many things among
many different kinds of people. But He also has the ability to focus on a
particular truth or aspect of His plan at certain times and right now He is
trying to get American Christians to see the truth about their nation so they
will not participate in the beast worship that is beginning to rise up.
He is trying to get us to face the truth
about our nation so we will stop wasting our time praying for a national
revival or a political reconstruction back to our former glory. Friends, these
things just aren't going to happen. Not only is it too late with regards to the
timing of God's plan, it's too late because the
We need a fresh reminder that some things
just don't depend on us. There are certain parts of God's plan that will
come to pass just the way He intended, regardless of whether we agree with it
or not, regardless of whether we accept it or pray against it, regardless of
whether we even understand it or not. When we arrive at one of those aspects it
is a total waste of time and energy to try and go against what He is allowing
to come to pass.
Ten-million Christians can congregate on
top of a mountain and pray non-stop until doomsday, it won't change God's mind
when it comes to certain things. Pope Wagner and his International Coalition of
Apostles can bind territorial spirits and declare revival into the heavens till
they pass out from exhaustion, just like the prophets of Baal did when facing
Elijah, it won't move God to go against His own plan or time-table.
The Lord has allowed things to work out
this way. He didn't make
Co-Laborers With God
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
I. Corinthians 3:8-9
The apostle Paul said that he and his
fellow workers were "laborers together with God" in the spread of the
gospel. They were co-laborers with God. When you study the life of Paul you
will see that after being called as an apostle to the Gentiles, he didn't sit
down and develop a complex missionary "strategy" for evangelizing the
world and then go out and execute that plan. The way he co-labored with the
Spirit was by allowing God to lead him on a daily basis. God told him
which town to go to and how long to stay there.
The same principle applies to every child
of God. We are co-laborers with God in both our individual transformation (into
His image) and in any ministry we may fulfill to those around us. Our God has
His own strategy for making us what we were destined to become. He also has His
own strategy when it comes to His overall plan of redemption. Moreover, He laid
out His entire plan before the foundation of the world. He alone knows what
needs to be done, where, when, and by whom. Our responsibility as co-laborers
with Him is the same as Paul's—we must let God lead us on a daily basis.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isaiah 14:12-14
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
II. Thessalonians 2:3-4
Both the Old and the New Testaments
declare that Satan has a Messianic complex. He not only wants to have the
worship that is due to God alone, he actually wants to be God. At
present he is busy taking his seat in the
This very attitude is at the heart of the
current revival, and in particular, Pope Wagner's Apostolic Reformation.
These people no longer view themselves as co-laborers with God. Rather, they
assume God has turned His entire program over to them to execute. Just listen
to how they describe themselves. They are going to set the Church in divine
order (i.e., bring it under their authority). They are going to bring the
Church to perfection. They are going to produce the great end-time revival.
They are going to possess the promised land of the nations. They are going to
take all earthly territory for Christ. They are going to usher in the
Since entering the post-September era the
boasting has shifted to other things. Now they are going to hold back any further
judgment. They are going to ward off more attacks. They are going to win the
War On Terror for the
Those who listen to this rubbish may think
they are hearing deep truths and revelations, but the only thing God hears in
all this is: "I will ascend, I will exalt my throne above the stars, I will be like the most High". When we look at these
apostles and prophets and "Generals of Intercession" we see world
famous ministers, but God sees a group of people who have let Antichrist take
his seat in them and demonstrate to them that he is God
One of the reasons so many people get
lured into this new kind of spiritual warfare is because it is presented as an
evangelistic tool for carrying out the Great Commission. As soon as a person
becomes a Christian and starts attending a church, the first thing he or
she learns is that it is our job as believers to evangelize the entire world before
Jesus comes. After hearing this mantra week in and week out, after living under
the constant strain of always having to give more and do more because the job
just isn't getting done quick enough, after years of trying to carry a
responsibility which belongs to God alone, the sheep are ready to adopt any new
idea or strategy that comes down the pike—regardless of how illogical or
unscriptural it may be—just as long as it looks like it will help them get the
job done. Also, since they are just tiny little gears on a monstrous, complex,
religious machine, they usually don't grasp the deeper implications of these
strategies. They are looking at isolated problems and isolated results.
This is not the case with Pope Wagner's
apostate priesthood. They see the big picture. They have a definite master plan
for establishing what they think will be the
People who think these apostles and
prophets are harmless religious zealots who are just playing church a little
differently than everyone else are badly mistaken. These folks are sharp. They
are highly educated in both the ways of the Religious System and the ways of
the world. They apply all the latest social skills, the latest business
techniques, and the latest methods of psychological manipulation in their
efforts to raise an army of warriors that will carry out their orders without
question. In addition, they are being inspired and led by a real supernatural
being who can make fire fall from heaven on their
behalf.
These folks have complete confidence in
what they are doing. They speak with authority about how God is leading them.
They don't just think or hope they are doing exactly what the Lord wants, they know they are doing what He wants. They
have no doubt that once they get the Church to a place of "unity"
(under their headship of course!) and have us all implementing their new
warfare strategies, they will succeed in taking the nations for Christ.
With a real plan to change the world and
establish God's kingdom, a rock-solid assurance that it will eventually be
carried out, and a supernatural power (anointing) that supports it, the average
Christian is no match for them when they run across their path. This new
paradigm is a powerful religious force. It's like a spiritual tornado that
sucks up everything in its path.
The idea that we must evangelize the world
before Jesus can return is a false doctrine, but it's not new. Mr. Wagner
didn't invent it, he's just taking full advantage of its universal acceptance
among Christians. People have been promoting this error for centuries. Two
examples out of the many that could be provided are D.L. Moody and A.T.
Pearson—who were genuine (yet somewhat confused) ministers of God. Near the end
of the 1800's, these two men put forth the challenge to evangelize the entire
world by the year 1900. They called on church people, and especially the
youth on college campuses, to sacrifice their lives in order to fulfill the
Great Commission by the end of the century.
In 1882, Mr. Moody spoke about world
evangelism at
By the 1890's, the Student Volunteer
Movement (SVM) had developed as the forerunner for other well-organized groups
such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and
the Student Mission Association. The leaders of the SVM had as their
slogan: "The evangelization of the world in this generation."
The fact that people thought (and still
think) it's possible to win the whole world to Christ at all—let alone that it
can be done in their generation—reveals the depth of spiritual pride and
arrogance we humans are susceptible to. This same attitude has been adopted by
every youth mission organization since then. Each new generation of young
people think they will be the ones who will finally fulfill the Great
Commission.
Just who do we think we are? Jesus Christ
was God in the flesh. He came to earth and walked the length and breath of one
puny little nation in the
The New Testament apostles were filled
with the Spirit of God, anointed, and displayed awesome miraculous power, yet
they only managed to convert a small portion of the population of that same
nation. And we have the audacity to go around boasting that we are going
to "evangelize the world" by this or that date? Friends, this isn't
faith, it's the epitome of spiritual pride. Those caught up in this arrogance
need to do some serious repenting before the Lord (that is, if they can
still find a place of repentance).
Well, someone might say, the nation of
Jesus' instruction to go and preach the
gospel to "every creature" (Mark
Jesus didn't call the disciples together
and say: "Ok guys, every single person on the planet has
to hear the gospel, and that's your job. So put your heads together and come up
with a plan to evangelize the world, then go out and implement it. I'll bless
and prosper whatever plan you come up with, and just as soon as it has been
carried out I'll be able to come back to earth. But until then I'm trapped in
Heaven so get busy."
The apostles were led by the Spirit, just
like Paul was. They were co-laborers with God, just like Paul was. They didn't
concoct their own plan to evangelize the world and they didn't sit around
fretting about those they could never reach. By faith they went where God
directed them to go and they preached to those He directed them to preach to.
This whole idea that our duty as Christians
is to evangelize the world before Jesus can return is a false doctrine that
comes from a religious demon who wants to take the responsibility that is God's
alone. When you start off with a wrong goal, then spend decades formulating
ideas and strategies on how to fulfill that goal, then
construct multi-million dollar organizations made up of hundreds of millions of
people in order to implement those ideas, what can you expect to have in the
end but a delusion far worse than the original error?
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20
Just 5 inches off the mark at
It all starts with the idea of
"winning the world for Christ"—a seemingly noble but totally
unscriptural goal. Then, as the years roll by, things proceed from bad to
worse, until we are now at the point where a huge portion of today's Church
thinks the preceding passage means we are supposed to spiritually invade
and conquer the nations of the earth (using various warfare methods) and
make all the "people-groups" within them Christian.
Long before today's counterfeit revival
began, long before Wagner's apostate priesthood started forming, there existed
vast denominational super-structures dedicated to world evangelization. These
organizations were doomed to fail because they were birthed out of the pride
and arrogance of man's evil heart. More importantly, they were ripe for the next
level of deception, which took place when men like Wagner, John Wimber, George Otis Jr., Ed Silvoso,
and numerous other World Evangelism gurus began their rise to power.
Right now, many churches who do not
immediately identify themselves as part of the "revival" are
nonetheless adopting certain Third Wave Spiritual Warfare concepts in order to
affect their immediate area for Christ. They have not yet adopted the mind-set
that says we need to "take the whole world and establish the kingdom for
Christ," but they have adopted the mind-set that says we need to
"take our city" for Christ. Others have gone a step further and are
seeking to "take our country" for Christ. But regardless of the depth
to which a church has involved itself in this new type of spiritual warfare,
they are coming under the power of Antichrist, for that is where all of
this new teaching originates.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:21-23
God's people need a fresh revelation of the
majesty of the Lord. We need a fresh understanding that being a co-laborer with
God does not make us God. We have been deceived into looking at our own glory,
at our own "wonderful works". We need to get back to the reality that
we are to co-labor with God as servants, not as earthly (religious)
princes. The apostle Paul, who had more spiritual life and authority than all
of today's apostles and prophets put together, repeatedly called himself a slave
of Jesus Christ. The word "servant" in the KJV is the Greek word,
"doulos" (doo'‑los)"
and it means slave.
If we will keep ourselves in a place of
lowliness and true humility in this present age, we will be exalted in the next
one. But if we succumb to the spirit that is behind today's counterfeit
revival, if we rise up like Satan and start trying to play God, if we start
seeking earthly glory, we will be disgraced and humiliated before all creation
when we stand before the Lord on Judgment Day.
Counterfeit Evangelism
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.
Matthew 24:24-25
Jesus clearly warned that in the last
days, religious deception would be so powerful, even the very elect could be
seduced if they were not on guard. In order for a deception to be that
dangerous it would have to have all the earmarks of a true work of God. It
would come in the name of Jesus, it would have a great deal of Biblical truth,
it would affirm the gospel, it would be a good work, and it would be
accompanied by signs and wonders.
Since evangelism is the one good work that
virtually all Christians can agree upon, it has the potential of becoming the
most unifying force in the Church. It is also the perfect "Trojan
Horse" in Satan's bid to overthrow the Church. This is why every one of
these new spiritual warfare teachings are initially
presented as an evangelistic tool.
Why are Christians binding and casting out
territorial spirits? They are doing this so the cities and nations that were
under the power of those spirits and lived in darkness as a result, can now
hear the gospel. Why do they practice identificational
repentance for people-groups, cities and entire nations? They do it so all the
curses which have come upon those groups, cities and nations as the result of unrepented sin will be neutralized and the people will be
set free to hear the gospel.
Why are Christians making prophetic and
apostolic "declarations" into the spirit realm? Why are they trying
to "legislate" into the heavenlies? They
are doing it to change the "spiritual atmosphere" over a city or a
nation from one that resists the gospel to one that becomes receptive to it.
That's what the "March For Jesus" events are
all about—though a lot of folks involved in these marches are not aware of it.
This is what "The Gathering of the Nations" events are all about.
These rallies are meant to move God to take authority over the demonic forces
of any nation in which a Gathering is held.
Once people embrace these new teachings
and methods of warfare (and the seducing spirits that go with them), once they
have become comfortable practicing them, it's easier to move to the next level
of deception. It's not that big a jump from thinking you can use these
techniques to take a city or a nation to thinking you can use
them to take all cities and all nations. The idea that we can
eventually conquer the whole planet through spiritual warfare slowly begins to
permeate the person's vision and before you know it you've joined Satan's
counterfeit army. Before you know it you're following all the latest directives
from the "Generals" of Wagner's apostate priesthood.
Evangelism, of course, is a legitimate
endeavor for believers. It is the spread of the gospel in order to bring souls
into the
However, there are modern variations of Biblical
evangelism which are in fact Satanic counterfeits. The
main counterfeit strains are: (1) Power Evangelism, (2) Prayer Evangelism, (3)
Warfare Evangelism, and (4) Evangelization.
Power Evangelism
The concept of "Power
Evangelism" came from John Wimber, one of the
founders of the Vineyard Movement. Mr. Wimber was
distressed at the failure of missionary work and the stagnate condition of the
Church in the West. He noticed that the populations in
He found that Eastern people approach life
in general, and religion in particular, from an almost
entirely experiential approach, as opposed to the people of the West,
who use an almost exclusively rational approach. He then attributed this
Eastern approach to the success of missions and the common manifestation of
miracles. He returned home and started calling for the entire Church to abandon
it's rationalistic, objective way of relating to God's
truth.
Wimber went on to create a whole theology around the
relationship between spiritual power and evangelism, which became known as
Power Evangelism. In 1978 he left the
Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth to become pastor of
what is now called the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Anaheim, California. It
was in this environment that he first tested his theories.
In 1986 he wrote his book, Power
Evangelism. In it he calls the old-fashioned way of evangelism
"Program Evangelism" because the gospel is presented from a Western
world view. According to Wimber, Program Evangelism
is an anemic way to bring people to Christ. However, what Power Evangelism
offers in exchange for our rational Western view is not (as he claims) a more
spiritual world view, but an Eastern world view. All he did was inject Eastern mysticism into Western Christianity. The
techniques of healing he promoted are highly syncretistic. This can be seen in
his books, tapes and seminars. In them he views inner healing, healing of
memories, modern psychology, self forgiveness and visualization as equally
valid to Scriptural paths of healing.
As a matter of fact, in the Appendix to Power
Evangelism he seeks to establish that signs and wonders have appeared
throughout Church history. He cites a catalogue of individuals and movements,
both orthodox and heretical, as evidence. Included in these examples are Hilarion (a fourth century hermit), Augustine, Pope Gregory
I (The Great), Francis of Assisi, The Waldenes (who
opposed the Pope and were persecuted by the Dominicans), Vincent Ferrer (who was himself a Dominican), Martin Luther,
Ignatius Loyola founder of the Jesuits), John Wesley, and the Jausenists (a Catholic sect).
In another booklet published by The
Vineyard, he adds the Shakers (a cult that demanded celibacy), Edward Irving
(discredited leader of the Irvingite sect in 19th
century
"In the Catholic Church for over a 1,200 year period people were healed as a result of touching the relics of the saints. We Protestants have difficulty with that...but we healers shouldn't because there's nothing theologically out of line with that."
Healing Seminar
Three tapes, 1981, Tape #1
You have to be pretty far gone to believe there is "nothing theologically out of line" with touching the relics of dead saints for healing! According to Mr. Wimber, Power Evangelism is a presentation of the gospel that is rational, but which transcends the rational. It is evangelism preceded and undergirded by supernatural demonstrations of God's power. The results of this kind of evangelism are superior to old-fashioned evangelism. He says:
"When first-century Christians came to a new town, signs and wonders followed...Signs and wonders resulted in dramatic church growth. They were the catalyst for evangelism."
Power Evangelism, p. 107
At first glance this sounds true, but it's
only partially true. Partial truth is one of Satan's most effective weapons
against the believer, for partial truth is error. Mr. Wimber
seems to have forgotten a few other pertinent facts. First of all, supernatural
power is more than external, visible miracles on the body. According to
the Scripture, the power of the Holy Spirit is also manifest in the
gospel itself, which Paul says is "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16). It is also
manifested in the Cross, which Paul says is "the power of God" to
those who are saved (I. Cor.
1:18). Paul also says "faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom.
10:17).
What Mr. Wimber
and his followers never seemed to understand is that the Scripture contains
real power because it is the Word of the Living God. It's not just another
book; it's not just a compilation of stories about Israel and the Church. When
that Word is preached with the presence and by the anointing of
the One who wrote it, you don't need a bunch of external, physical manifestations
or healings to produce faith. Faith comes from what is heard, and what
is heard comes by speaking the Word.
The reason the Church in the West is stagnate and deceived, the reason it does not experience
more of God's (true) miraculous power, is simply because we have abandoned
God's Word. In its place we are preaching the religious traditions and opinions
of man, as well as the doctrines of demons.
Secondly, according to Jesus, signs and
wonders cannot be looked to for verification of truth in the last days because
counterfeit Christs and prophets will arise and show
supernatural signs and wonders in His name that are so great, even the
very elect will be deceived if they are not on constant guard. Though most Christians
are well aware of this warning, no one ever seems to think it could apply to their
particular situation. What? Do we think Jesus was just referring to Mormons and
Moonies? The deceptions He was referring to are going to take place inside
the established Church!
Thirdly, the "signs and wonders"
that accompanied the ministry of Jesus and the disciples had nothing to do with
today's manifestations. Where in the New Testament do you find Jesus zapping
people who are then thrown across the room? Where in the New Testament do you
find the disciples praying for people who then start barking and roaring and
slithering on the ground like snakes? Where do you find people laughing
uncontrollably, having spiritual labor pains, running wildly like crazed idiots,
falling down in drunken stupors, being glued to the floor, going into trances
for days and weeks at a time, running around waving imaginary swords, etc, etc.
None of this garbage is found in Scripture, and Wimber
knew this very well. He admitted that:
"There is no place in the Bible where people were lined up and Jesus or Paul or anyone else went along and bopped them on the head and watched them go down, one after another, and somebody else ran along behind. Can you picture Peter and James -- "Hold it, hold it, hold it!" -- running along behind trying to catch them? And so the model that we're seeing, either on stage or on television, is totally different from anything that's in Scripture."
"Spiritual Phenomena" - Part 1
Anaheim Vineyard - 1981 Audiotape
However, the fact that everything that was
happening around him was unscriptural didn't phase him
because he had already made the shift from Western rationalism to Eastern
mysticism. He had already become convinced that the experiential approach was
the way to validate truth. Speaking again of the strange manifestations taking
place around him, he said:
"There's nothing in Scripture that supports these kinds of phenomena that I can see, and I can't think of anything throughout the church age that would...So I feel no obligation to try to explain it. It's just phenomena. It's just people responding to God."
Quoted In "Holy Laughter"
By: Albert James Dager, 1996
This is a mystical approach to spiritual
realities. Even though Jesus rebuked those who sought after miraculous signs,
even though He warned us not to look for these kinds of signs to validate truth
in the last days, Wimber's Vineyard Movement has not
only flourished, it has managed to infiltrate the majority of churches in this
nation to one degree or another—and it's being billed as a revival to boot!
Today's Christians have turned away from
the internal power of holiness that comes from embracing the Cross and
living a crucified life. As a result (or more properly, as a judgment against
them), God has allowed them to be deceived and to develop an insatiable
appetite for the external power of sensuality that comes upon the
physical body. It is not the Spirit of God, but another spirit being felt by
them in their meetings, and the unsaved who stumble into their churches are
being introduced to another Jesus. Like the Pharisees of Israel, revivalists
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, they make him
"twofold more the child of hell" than themselves!
Between the constant down playing of head
knowledge and theology, and the constant looking for physical manifestations,
and the confusion which comes from thinking every approach to healing is
equally valid—up to and including touching Roman Catholic relics!—all the
necessary groundwork for the Church's embrace of Mysticism was laid. Far
from being a Christian revival, what so many churches are experiencing today is
an invasion of religious powers from the East.
Prayer Evangelism
The term "Prayer Evangelism"
comes from Edgardo Silvoso,
who helped launch the Lighthouse movement in the late 80's. This movement
represents a major coalition of evangelization ministries and projects which
effectively link Mr. Wagner's Apostolic Reformation and Mr. Wimber's
Signs and Wonders movement to World Evangelization movements. Using computer
technology and the Internet, as well as conventional methods, thousands of
organizations, churches and many denominations have come together in a united
effort to "win the world for Christ".
Lighthouses promotional literature says:
"What is a Lighthouse of Prayer? It's an individual or a family that commits to be a beacon of hope in their neighborhood, school or workplace. They pray for others, care for them by meeting their felt needs, and eventually share the Gospel in an appropriate and loving way. In the words of internationally recognized prayer evangelism author and speaker Rev Ed Silvoso, it's 'Telling God about your neighbors BEFORE telling your neighbors about God.' It's simple and it works!"
Mr. Silvoso does
not advocate going out onto the streets to preach the gospel, nor does he
promote evangelistic events. All of this is much too offensive in his view and
merely puts people off. Instead, groups of people meet in their homes and tell
God about their neighbor's needs for 15 weeks. Then they go inform the people
that they are being prayed for.
Mr. Silvoso
explained his basic view of this kind of evangelism in an interview given to
Noel Stanton, senior pastor of the Jesus Fellowship, for a magazine called
"Jesus Life." The magazine posted the following extract:
"Noel: What is prayer evangelism?
Ed: Prayer evangelism is basically the implementation of 1 Timothy 1:15 to 2:8. In 1 Tim
Jesus Life Magazine
http://www.jesus.org.uk/es.html
Here we see that Prayer Evangelism is
based on two basic errors: (1) that everybody in the world is going to be
saved, and (2) if we pray hard enough, or long enough, or in a certain way,
results are guaranteed. God is forced to make the people we are praying for,
Christians.
Though Scripture teaches us to pray
always, the function of that prayer is to help mold us to the will of God, not
the other way around. The Lord's prayer is the
paramount example of this. Mr. Silvoso however, seems
to believe that there is something pragmatically functional about the timing
of prayer—as if the fact that you tell God about your neighbor before you
witness to him will insure the success of your endeavor.
This kind of prayer is used like some kind
of magical formula by Silvoso and his followers and
has nothing to do with the reason for, or the function of, Biblical prayer. As
unscriptural as it is, this view of prayer is very common among the New
Charismatic Priesthood. They all push a kind of prayer that
not only isn't to be found in Scripture, but which requires you to do
things that would never otherwise occur to you. These include:
1.
Describing what you ask for in as much detail as possible.
2. Clearly
identifying the "targets" of your prayer (names and addresses are
best).
3. Placing yourself in close proximity to your targets (prayer walking), or using as detailed a map as possible (spiritual mapping).
4.
Praying the exact same thing simultaneously with as many people as humanly
possible. (This seems to be the new definition of intercessory prayer.)
5.
Praying in opposition to territorial spirits (it helps to identify them and command
them by name), claiming specific territory (it helps to physically be there, or
at least have a detailed map), and asking for a "window" or
"gate" to be opened.
6.
Praying from high places (hills, prayer towers, the roofs of tall buildings,
mountains—Yonggi Cho has
his own
7.
Praying from the geographic center or the four corners (the furthermost compass
points) of municipalities, states or provinces, nations, and continents.
8.
Arranging with others to pray the same thing around the clock.
9.
Claiming the answer you want, before seeing any results.
Probably the scariest thing Lighthouse
people are told to do (from the perspective of one who is opposed to all this
rubbish) is to maintain a detailed written record of their prayers,
including their neighbors' names, addresses, personal problems, felt needs and
current belief-systems. They are further encouraged to e-mail, fax or mail a
copy of this record on a regular basis to the
The Lighthouse handbook suggests that
after telling God about your neighbor for 15 weeks, you don't present them with
the gospel yourself, but invite them to events where they will hear the gospel.
Only when it is safe to talk face to face about theological issues will the
gospel be mentioned. Even then it will be a watered-down, people-friendly
version that avoids the hard truths of sin and repentance, for in most of their
literature they advise people not to use such offensive terms as: gospel,
born-again, saved, sin, conviction or salvation.
Rather than preaching the gospel, which
Mr. Silvoso says is "offensive" to people,
the idea is to come alongside them in their situations and provide for
them by finding out about their needs and showing them the power of God in
answered prayer for those needs. Does this approach work? Sure it does. People
love to be made the center of attention. They are more than willing to have you
pick up their children from school, do their shopping for them, or visit them
in the hospital. But are genuine conversions taking place? No!
Caring for people is good, but not if it's
bribery to accept the gospel. The old missionaries to
The reason Mr. Silvoso
will not tell the unsaved they are unsaved is because he is ashamed of the
gospel. He cannot bear the reproach of the Cross. He knows that when he tells
people they are sinners who are lost and on their way to eternal damnation, and
that the only way to escape that fate is to admit what they are and repent,
they will tell him to get lost. The only "gospel" Americans will
listen to these days is a counterfeit one that requires neither an admission of
guilt as a worthless sinner, or the need for true repentance.
Warfare Evangelism
Warfare Evangelism is based on C. Peter
Wagner's teachings about territorial spirits. First you bind and cast out the
principality that has control of a certain area, then
the gospel can be presented in that area without hindrance. Mr. Wagner teaches
that there are three levels of spiritual warfare: 1. Ground Level:
person-to-person, praying for each other's personal needs. 2. Occult Level:
this deals with demonic forces released through activities related to Satanism,
witchcraft, astrology, Freemasonry and various other forms of structured
occultism. 3. Strategic-Level: the binding and bringing down of
spiritual principalities and powers which rule over cities and governments.
Mr. Wagner's strategic-level intercession
involves prophetic acts, spiritual mapping, warfare prayer, tearing down
strongholds and identificational repentance
(remitting the sins of people-groups and nations). Explanations of these
rituals, along with other methods, such as praise marches, prayer walks, prayer
journeys and prayer expeditions, are found in all his books.
One of those books—Engaging the Enemy—was
the premiere textbook of the Spiritual Warfare movement for years. Written by
himself and 17 contributing authors (including Jack Hayford,
Anne Giminez, Larry Lea and Paul Yonggi
Cho), it is a compendium of what these ministers
teach about strategic-level warfare. In the chapter titled, How To Fight and Defeat Territorial Spirits, Wagner speaks
about spying out the land:
Spying out the land is essential when warring for a city...Christians should walk or drive every major freeway, avenue, and road of their cities, praying and coming against demonic strongholds over every neighborhood...Even if you don't see instant results, keep the trumpets blowing...Always remember, God is not slack concerning His promise; the walls will come down!"
"Engaging the Enemy", p.98
The issue is not so much whether or not
spiritual principalities exist, for the Bible clearly says they do. The issue
is whether or not we need to attack them and dethrone them before people
can respond to the gospel. There is no Scriptural support for any of this
nonsense. Nowhere in the Bible are these things taught, nor will you find
anyone in Scripture practicing them.
Though Wagner freely admits these warfare
rituals "were virtually unknown to the majority of Christians before the
1990's" (p. 21), he is a pragmatist like his now-deceased
comrade, John Wimber. He goes for whatever will work.
It doesn't really matter to him whether the thing that is working is Scriptural
or not, just as long as it produces results. In another books he says:
"... we ought to see clearly that the end does justify the means. What else possible could justify the means? If the method I am using accomplishes the goal I am aiming at, it is for that reason a good method. If, on the other hand, my method is not accomplishing the goal, how can I be justified in continuing to use it?"
"Your Church Can Grow", p.137
Another issue is the hypocrisy and
premeditated deceitfulness of the people who spread these errors. After
admitting that their teachings are new revelations that the Church has never
heard of until the 1990's, they turn around and try to present them as Biblical
doctrines! In the forward to Engaging The Enemy,
John Dawson says:
"Very little is revealed about specific territorial spirits
in the Bible, and that’s no accident. Daniel mentions the prince of
After admitting that he did not have much
from the Bible to propound these new ideas, Mr. Dawson contrives to invent some
supporting scripture by inferring that the "beasts" Paul fought at
Of course there has been some disagreement
between scholars as to whether Paul meant literal beasts (as when
criminals were thrown to the lions as punishment), or just violent people who
were acting like murderous beasts in their attempt to kill him (as was the case
with Demetrius the silver smith). However, there is absolutely no justification
to say these beasts were invisible spirits, for whatever they were, they could
have killed Paul had he not been protected by the Lord. To imply these beasts
were territorial principalities is to intentionally ignore the sense of what
was written.
Mr. Dawson also wrote chapter 17 of the
book—Seventh Time Around—in which he uses the story of the conquest of
Jericho by the Israelites as a good example for
understanding the nature and responsibilities of spiritual warfare. He
says: "The fact that they had to march in silence is probably a clue to
the nature of the unseen realm over
Here is a wild speculation without a shred
of Scriptural evidence to support it. The fact is, the
Israelites’ march around the city of
"Revelation 12 relates one of the fiercest episodes of spiritual warfare imaginable. Michael and his angels are fighting against the dragon, and his angels. Michael wins ’by the blood of the Lamb’ (Rev. 12:10)."
If you read the entire passage you will
find that nothing is mentioned about how Michael and his angels overcame
the Dragon and his angels. It simply says there was war between the two angelic
hosts and Michael won. It does not say (as Wagner asserts) that Michael won
"by the blood of the Lamb". The ones who overcame the Dragon by the
blood of the Lamb were the brethren. Another example of wresting the
Scriptures by the same author concerns the release of Paul and Silas from
prison:
"What did Paul and Silas do? They praised God! ‘At
What is Mr. Wagner implying here? He is implying
that Paul and Silas knew about the spiritual weapon of praise and
determined beforehand that this was what was needed to affect their
deliverance. After applying this "secret" warfare formula, lo and
behold, an earthquake came and set them free. There is a big difference between
the real reason Paul and Silas did what they did, and the reason Wagner says
they did it. Paul and Silas simply did what they were moved to do by
God. They were not operating on some spiritual principle of strategic-level warfare.
None of these rituals have come from the
Scripture, and many of them directly contradict it. The revelation on how to
conduct territorial warfare is being given to these leaders by direct
supernatural revelation. The fact of the matter is that they are either
communicating with the Spirit of God (in which case He is contradicting His own
Word), or they are communicating with another spirit. Those who follow these
revelations, knowing they are not supported by the Scripture and in fact
contradict the Scripture, deserve to be deceived.
Evangelization
Evangelization is the term used by Global
Mission Organizations to gain the support of churches throughout the world. To
the average Christian there is no distinction between evangelism and evangelization.
But to the leaders of world mission organizations there is. Essentially, that
distinction is that evangelism involves the saving of individual souls,
while evangelization means the saving of whole nations or people-groups
spiritually and temporally through political and social action. Evangelization
views social and political action as equal elements with the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
In an interview just prior to the
first International Congress on World Evangelization, Bishop A. Jack Dam of the
Anglican Church in
"
"
1987, p.13
The "whole task" Mr. Dam refers
to is social and political action to right the wrongs of the world.
Evangelization includes evangelism, but not exclusively, and not primarily.
When it does promote evangelism, it only promotes it in terms that can be
understood within the cultural context of those people-groups.
Evangelization is not so much concerned with winning souls, but with
maintaining a Christian presence among the world's
unredeemed. Thus, Jesuit missions of the Roman Catholic Church are given equal
standing with Evangelical Christian missions as valid expressions of
evangelization.
Affirming that the task of world
evangelization involves not only the preaching of the gospel, but social and
political action to right the wrongs in the world, Billy Graham, Honorary
Chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, summed it up this
way:
"Since the Lausanne Congress in 1974, Christians increasingly have been called upon to provide leadership in areas where they were a small minority or almost did not exist before. Evangelism has taken on a new meaning. It is a time of great opportunity, but also a time of great responsibility. We are stewards of our Christian heritage. We must evangelize at all costs where there is yet time. World problems of poverty, overpopulation and the threat of nuclear war mount by the hour. The world is in desperate need of the gospel, now."
"The
Billy Graham, p.25
If we start from a wrong premise, we are
sure to arrive at a wrong conclusion. In this case, Mr. Graham, stating that
evangelism has "taken on a new meaning," infers that we have a
mandate to infuse into our evangelistic efforts certain actions designed
to stem the tide of human suffering. But human suffering is part and parcel of
the fall of man. God uses and even causes human suffering in
order to accomplish His act of redemption.
Does this mean that we should ignore those
in need? Of course not. But while we may help individuals
in need, we have not received a mandate to eradicate poverty from the earth,
any more than we have received a mandate to solve the problem of overpopulation
or the proliferation of nuclear weapons. These are personal agendas being
foisted upon God's people by social activists whose main interest is taking
dominion over the planet. Mr. Wagner calls social and political action
"the cultural mandate" of the gospel:
"The cultural mandate, which some refer to as Christian social responsibility goes as far back as the Garden of Eden. After God created Adam and Eve, He said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing...Both the cultural mandate and the evangelistic mandate are essential parts of biblical mission, in my opinion. Neither is optional. There is a growing consensus on this point in Evangelical circles."
"On The Cutting Edge
of
C. Peter Wagner, pp. D 45-46
Mankind is in dominion over the
earth. He always has been and always will be. But Wagner makes the assumption
that God's instruction to Adam and Eve has not been accomplished because Christians
are not in dominion over the earth. The
"cultural mandate," then, is the need for Christians to take dominion
over the earth, primarily by means of social and political action, but also
through evangelism. Of course, by the time they finally do get around to
evangelizing people the message they present is worthless because it must be
presented through a framework called "contextualization".
The whole idea behind contextualization is that the Scripture must be
made conformable to the particular culture. It must be approached with the person's cultural context
in mind so as not to offend them by pushing our Western culture on them. The
greatest evil (according to these people) is taking Western culture along with
the gospel.
Speaking at an InterVarsity
Fellowship's "Urbana Missions Conference" in February, 1997, Ralph
Winter, who heads the U.S. Center for World Missions, stressed the need
to "de-Westernize" the gospel. According to him, the primary task of
Western missionaries should be to allow other cultures to develop their own distinct
kind of Christianity. He says: "If they are reading the Bible, they
will even out and become orthodox; the Bible will correct them better than
foreign missionaries."
Well, if this be true, then why do cults
from Roman Catholicism to Mormonism to Jehovah's Witnesses—and even the
Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon—remain
entrenched in damnable heresies in spite of their strong use of the Bible?
The truth is that without proper guidance,
error will result in any cultural context, Western included. In the case of
allowing people in heathen, animistic cultures to place the Scriptures within
their own context, the errors could be particularly evil. It would lead
to a mishmash of religious confusion. People might accept Christ, but still go
to their Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. They might be Muslims and pray
toward
The Gospel does not present a
Western cultural milieu. It stands alone as God's Word, made alive by the Holy
Spirit. The need for contextualization is a myth promoted by Western religious
leaders who, in their own right, detest Western culture for its perceived
exploitation of the poor. It fits into the liberal, socialist agenda which
hates everything Western.
A good example of contextualization today
is the approach several mission organizations (including YWAM) are currently
adopting in areas where Christianity is unwelcome. A March 24, 2000, Charisma News Service
report said some missionaries who are making converts are allowing them to
"hold on to many of their traditional religious beliefs and
practices" so as to refrain from offending others within their
culture.
The article noted that: "Messianic
Muslims (sic!) who continue to read the Koran, visit
the mosque and say their daily prayers, but also accept Christ as their Savior,
are the products of the strategy which is being tried in several
countries." One particular church planter in
According to the Charisma report, the
church planter said these Messianic Muslims also meet, "according to
mosque traditions in a style that would horrify many Western Christians."
Yet he claimed that this method is Biblical because in the early church at
He did note that other issues still need
to be addressed, such as Mohammed's place in the life of the new Messianic
Muslim believer. The report added that: "YWAM is also adopting the
approach in
This new approach—where missionaries let
converts continue in their pagan beliefs and practices—is not only contrary
to Scripture, it's a mirror image of the practices of
Those caught up in this error seem to
ignore the fact that believers from virtually every culture throughout the
centuries never had the gospel contextualized for them, yet they believed
through the proclamation of God's Word. Just as Mr. Wimber's
theory that the gospel is ineffective without signs and wonders is
debunked by the history of true evangelism, so the theory of contextualization
is debunked by the history of true evangelism.
The true gospel is offensive to every
culture of man. It was even offensive to the Hebrew culture, which should have
been ready to receive it with gladness. It is offensive to all cultures because
all cultures contain things which the gospel condemns as evil and wicked.
Indeed, the majority of cultures are based on some kind of false
religion or religious superstition. One of the very purposes of the gospel is
to deliver individuals from their pagan cultures.
The true gospel is also offensive to most
people. That's why so few surrender to it. When you've got hundreds of
thousands of people and whole nations accepting the gospel, you can be sure
it's not the real gospel they are accepting. This is the ultimate reality these
ministers, groups and mission organizations simply cannot face. They totally
ignore what the Scripture says about the end-times and retreat into a world of
religious fantasy where they can keep inventing new strategies to win the world
for Christ.
It's doubtful that any sizable
fellowship in this country has managed to remain untouched or uncontaminated by
the false gospel and false Christ presented by these four types of evangelism.
The list of churches, individual ministries, organizations and denominations
who are involved in one or more of these polluted streams is mind-boggling.
If what is happening right now were not
such a catastrophe, it would be quite humorous. While Christians run around
claiming they have kicked Satan out of this city and that nation, while they
proclaim we are on the verge of the great end-time revival, while they boast
about how weak Satan is and how much authority they have, while they say the
collapse of his entire kingdom is just around the corner, he is manipulating
them and using them like feeble pawns to build Religious Babylon!
In order to stay uncontaminated by (or get
delivered from) all this delusion, we have to be completely delivered from a
couple of fundamental doctrinal errors. The first error is the notion that the
whole world will one day be won to Christ, and that it is our job to
bring this about.
The second error is that every nation as
we now know them must hear and/or accept the gospel before Jesus can return. Friends, the world has already been evangelized. What
people are attempting to do today is re-evangelize it because they are
ignorant of world history as it relates to Christianity. Those who study world
history from a Christian perspective know that the nations have already heard
the gospel at one time or another. The problem is not that they never heard, the problem is that after hearing, they have rejected it.
For example,
The third error is that there will be a
great revival at the end of this age. This whole idea is diametrically opposed
to the teaching of the New Testament. The only kind of revival Jesus and His
apostles predict for the last days is a Satanic
revival of mysticism and/or false spirituality. That revival is here! It has
already taken hold of the entire world and it is now in the process of
overcoming the whole organized Church.
Enemies Of The Cross
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame‑‑who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
NKJV Philippians 3:17-20
The apostle Paul exhorted the believers at
When you really think about it, his
statement wouldn't make much sense if he was comparing believers to unbelievers,
for there was no danger of the brethren in
Paul said, I tell you "weeping"
that these people are enemies of the Cross. He was not weeping because they
were lost pagans who had never heard the gospel. He was weeping because they
had accepted the gospel, yet could not get their minds off of this
earthly life. They had embraced Christ Jesus as Savior and had become children
of God. Yet they had rejected the work of His Cross in their lives and were
headed for eternal destruction. It is a tragedy for any human being to end up
lost for eternity, but how much more of a tragedy is it for a child of God to
end up lost?
The work of the Cross is designed to do
much more than deliver us from alcohol and dope and a blatantly wicked lifestyle.
It is designed to pull us up out of this whole earthly realm of existence, into
a new kind of life. It's designed to change our "citizenship"
from earth to heaven. When we have allowed the Cross to do its work, when we
have risen above this earthly realm, we will "eagerly wait" for the
return of the Lord. We won't be pre-occupied with the things of this earth. We
will be minding "the things of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:5). Those who
refuse to allow the Lord to bring them to this place are enemies of the Cross
and are in great danger.
There is another way to become an enemy of
the Cross. In the preceding passage Paul was talking about people being enemies
of the work of the Cross in their own lives. We can also become an enemy
of the Cross by denying it's over-all sufficiency, or
its victory over sin, or its power over Satan.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:2-4
Paul said Christ will profit us nothing if
we seek to be justified by religious works (the law). Those seeking justification
through works are denying the sufficiency of the Cross. They are saying the
Cross is not enough to justify them. They are saying Jesus didn't pay the full
price for sin, so we have to pay the rest of the bill by performing
religious rituals, or doing good deeds, or obeying a certain set of laws.
This mind-set is behind the abomination of
the Catholic Mass and the reason every practicing Catholic is eternally
lost. Whenever a person goes to Mass and takes the Sacrament (bread and wine),
they are declaring publicly that the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus, 2000
years ago, is not sufficient to justify them. He must be re-crucified
every week through the
What many people in the Spiritual Warfare
Movement do not realize is that the insufficiency of the Cross is the
very basis of much of their teaching. This is especially true regarding the
doctrine of identificational repentance. The idea
behind this teaching is that God is grieved with people-groups, cities and
nations because of the evil they and/or their ancestors have committed, which
has never been repented of. This unrepented sin
prevents God from blessing those people-groups and nations because they remain
under His curse or judgment. As Christians, we should therefore confess and
repent for these unrepented sins so God may forgive
them and send His blessing. Supposedly we can apply the blood of Jesus to these
sins once we have repented for them. In short, we are to obtain
reconciliation for them.
This is a very serious matter for several
reasons. First of all, the people who are teaching this error are not just
putting it forward as their own idea or interpretation. They are telling God's
people this doctrine is taught in the Scripture, and that we are obligated
to obey it.
Secondly, and most importantly, this whole
idea is blasphemous, for it diminishes the power of the Cross by substituting
the endless religious works (repenting-confessing, repenting-confessing) of
fallen men for the finished work of the sinless Lamb of God.
When we identify with, confess, and repent
for the sins of people-groups, cities and nations (dead or living), we rob
the Lord Jesus of the salvation He purchased at Calvary, where He identified
with their sins to such an extent that those sins were laid on Him
and He bore them away altogether (John
1:29; Rom. 5: 8-10; I. John 2:2).
Thirdly, this error glorifies the power of
Satan. It says that his power over a people-group, city or nation is based on
the legal rights which come from the sin they have committed. As long as that
city or nation remains unsaved, it will have all kinds of curses on it which he
controls, and which locks God out of the picture. The only way these groups or
nations can ever respond to the gospel is if Christians confess and repent for
those sins. Supposedly this cancels out all the curses and breaks Satan's
monopoly over the group or nation so God can then start moving upon them. In
short, God's power is held hostage to the power of Satan until we give the Lord
a little help.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
NKJV II. Corinthians 5:17-19
The Scripture clearly teaches that because
of
While it is true, we can give Satan
certain rights in our personal lives if we listen to him and follow him, he has
absolutely no power to stop God from reaching out to a person anywhere on this
planet and drawing that person to Himself. Jesus took that power from Satan
when he spoiled him. Satan can no longer keep a soul from God’s grace except that
soul himself chooses not to accept it.
Fourthly, this teaching takes us back
under the Law by causing us to adopt Old Testament ways of thinking about
curses and judgement, and plunges people back into superstitious
ways of praying.
Nowhere in Scripture will you find the
Church confessing the sins of a region and obtaining reconciliation for those
sins before they could hear the gospel. Such an idea is diametrically opposed
to everything
Some who teach this error must realize the unbiblical ground
they are on, so they try to distinguish between personal sins and corporate
(national) sins. They say that
They twist the plain meaning of Jesus' words in Matthew
28:19, where he instructed the disciples to go and "teach all
nations," to mean that He wants us to reconcile them as a whole to God
(through our own religious works). They say we have the right (even the
obligation) to apply the blood of Jesus to national sins. They would have us
running around trying to reconcile the nations of
The New Testament does not teach that God
is trying to reconcile nations or people-groups to Himself.
Quite the contrary, Acts
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:9-10
The results of the disciples' efforts—as
well as the efforts of all believers who engage in Biblical evangelism—are seen
by the apostle John in the book of Revelation. He sees the Royal Priesthood
that God has formed "out of" every kindred and tongue and people and
nation.
Did the apostle Paul go and tell the nation
of
Some of these teachers say that when
Christians confess the sins of the country in which they live, this is only the
first step. First you must have an intercessor like Daniel who recognizes these
sins and prays for the nation. Then the whole Church must pray about these
sins. This is supposedly represented by Ezra leading the people in corporate
confession. The third and final step is when the public or secular officials
of that city or nation confess these same national sins. This then represents
true national repentance. They say this is exemplified by Nehemiah, who
supposedly represents the secular or governmental leadership.
One of the fundamental flaws of all this
teaching is that it does not make a difference between the world and the
Church. Old Testament
Hundreds of thousands
(maybe millions) of deluded Christians are running to and fro, repenting for
anything and everything under the sun.
British believers go to
Excuse me but I am not responsible for
what my ancestors did! It is one thing to acknowledge the wrongs that the
community or nation we live in has done in the past—there's nothing
unscriptural about that. There's nothing wrong with going to a Native and
acknowledging the horrible way many of them were treated by those who actually
perpetrated the acts. We could even let them know that we are sorry those
people did what they did. But to say we are as guilty as the ones who
committed the atrocities in the first place, just because they are our
ancestors, is stupidity indeed. Moreover, to think that we should
confess and remit those sins in order to lift all the curses and judgements that go with them, or in order to effect some
kind of spiritual reconciliation between us and those Natives, is the height of
religious confusion!
The people who teach this rubbish ignore
the truth that we have been born from above. We have been born of God
and our citizenship is now in heaven. We have been redeemed from sin and
are no longer of this world. In the deepest and truest sense, we are no longer
American, or German, or Australian, or Russian, or Irish, or Italian. We belong
to the
Satan already seeks to keep every
Christian from identifying with the new nature of Christ they have received. He
already seeks to keep their minds on earthly things. He seeks to keep us
focused on our old lives and desires, on our old natural family, on our old
genealogical ancestry, and on our old culture and nationality, for this keeps
us from becoming a "new creature". It stops the "old
things" from passing away. There could not be a more effective way to make
us enemies of the Cross than to keep us constantly identifying with the
sins of our forefathers, or the sins of our culture or the nations, or even our
own sins! Such a doctrine could only have come from the mind of Satan himself.
Since there isn't a shred of Scriptural support in the New Testament for this teaching—actually there are many verses that categorically deny it—those who propagate it have turned to the Old Testament for support. But even the Old Testament will not support this error because it kicks God off His throne and sets man there instead. No verse of Scripture (Old or New Testament) will ever support such an attempt to usurp God's place. Only Satan would be brazen enough to attempt such a thing. So these teachers are left with only one choice: they must twist and misrepresent God's Word.
One passage they twist is Exodus 10:16-18. They
say Moses interceded for Pharaoh, and therefore the Church should identify with
the sins of nations and repent on their behalf. But the only reason Moses
prayed to God for Pharaoh was because Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and asked
Moses to pray for him. That’s very different!
Moses was not repenting for the sins of an
unbeliever. More importantly, at that time Jesus had not yet been revealed as
the only Mediator between God and man, so it was natural that Pharaoh
should ask for Moses to pray for him, especially since Moses acted and spoke on
God’s behalf to people (Ex.4:16). This is not an example of identificational
repentance, and even if it were, they are still moving in the wrong covenant
if they continue to act as if Jesus hasn't come as our Savior and Mediator.
They do this also when they say Moses
received forgiveness for
Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the
greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven
this people, from
NKJV Numbers
Please notice that the Lord said He
would pardon them. God heard the plea of Moses and He granted his request.
Moses did not forgive them, nor did he redeem them. Neither did he receive
forgiveness from God for them and then pass that forgiveness on to them as if
he were some kind of deity.
Another passage they twist is the prayer
of Daniel in Daniel chapter nine. They say that because Daniel confessed the
sins of his nation, we should confess and repent for the sins of our
nation—that is, the nation we live in and outwardly belong to. This example
shows clearly the confusion that exists throughout the whole teaching.
Yes, Daniel prayed for his nation, the
nation of
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by
books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish
seventy years in the desolations of
Daniel 9:2-4
Moreover, Daniel's interceding has to do
with the covenant between God and His people, not the past (or present)
sins of unsaved nations.
In addition, there was a good reason why
Daniel started praying and fasting at that particular time. He didn't just get
religious one day and decide to become a great "intercessor" in the
Church. As he read the Scripture he saw there was a specific time frame
allotted for the punishment of
The people of the land [
Ezekiel 22:29-31
In the same way, they misrepresent Ezekiel
Nowhere in the Scripture will you find the
Lord’s people confessing or repenting for the sins of unbelievers (past
or present) in their villages, towns or countries in order to achieve some kind
of reconciliation for the land. Nowhere do the Lord’s people repent for
the sins of any previous generation of the Church. This is an
impossibility.
Only in one circumstance and during
a certain period of time did God expect
This whole identificational
repentance error is based on a few misapplied Old Testament verses,
particularly Leviticus 26:40—"If they shall confess their iniquity and the
iniquity of their fathers". The people who teach this doctrine have
taken one isolated circumstance, which had to do with a specific nation during
a specific period of time, and turned it into a universal spiritual warfare
principle that is to be practiced by all Christians everywhere.
In Leviticus chapter twenty six God
pronounces the judgements that He will bring on
This passage, along with
others in Deuteronomy and II.
Chronicles, foresees the need for
When
Before the Dispersion, if any King of
The need for
Friends, under the New Covenant, Christ’s
death at
The Cross is the power of God to salvation
to everyone who believes, and there is no need or requirement to go on
repenting for the sins of our fathers or the sins of the town or country we
live in after we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It is a denial of
the sufficiency of the Cross to say that the sin of our ancestors (and the
various curses and judgments that go with them) can touch us when we are in
Christ! As the apostle John said: "If the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed" (John
Moreover, God can do the same for any
individual in any country at any time. He doesn't need our help.
He doesn't need us to bind territorial spirits and cast them out of a locality
before He can reach people. He doesn't need us to confess and repent for the sins
of nations before He can reach the people in those nations. There is no
power in the universe that can stop the power of God from reaching out to
someone. Only the free will of man can tie God's hands—and they can only do
that with regards to their own personal destiny. Jesus will never make an
individual's eternal destiny dependent upon the religious efforts of other
men—especially the efforts of men who have been seduced by Antichrist!
To Be Continued