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Articles for the Benefit of Members and Ex-Members of the WCG

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53
A Message to the WCG
Part 3

This publication is a message of spiritual redirection for members and ex-members of the WCG. It was first written in 1992, revised in 1994 and also in 1998. It is also available in print from the address at the end.


How God Works

Comment: "While there is a great deal in what you are doing at Midnight Ministries with which I can wholeheartedly agree, I do have some fundamental disagreements with certain positions you take. Your booklets are excellent, but one of them I personally (my own opinion and not necessarily right I freely acknowledge) cannot agree with at all. I am referring to the 'Elijah' booklet. I just do not see the work of Elijah being as you see it.

"I do not doubt your sincerity in any way, but I do have grave reservations about what I have seen and heard on the videos you kindly sent us (recordings of healing evangelists Dave Duell, Morris Cerullo and Benny Hinn). I have heard mentioned many false [to him] doctrines…

"I have to ask myself, if these men are all being used by Almighty God, then why are they in such abject ignorance of His Word and His Truth? I think very carefully about the whole scenario and do not want to be guilty of committing something very close to the unpardonable sin by condemning these men in case I am mistaken and it is the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them.

"However, I also remember the warnings in the New Testament about not being deceived and led astray by people coming in the name of Jesus Christ and showing great signs and wonders – Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22; II Thes 2… etc.

"The work you are doing in reaching out to these men, I commend and applaud and hope and pray like you that they will respond. You have placed before them the truth concerning the law of God. Now if these men have the Holy Spirit they will be led to understand, wouldn't you agree? The ball is now firmly in their court, so for myself I stand back and await the outcome…

"…One question to finish. I have looked for the expression "slain in the Spirit" in the concordance and am unable to find any reference. If I have overlooked something please give me a reference to consult in the Word of God.

"Does God heal? YES. Can God heal? YES. Is it His will to heal? YES. Is he using Morris Cerullo, Dave Duell, Benny Hinn, etc? I HAVE GRAVE DOUBTS" (emphasis his).

Reply: It is difficult for some Sabbatarians to understand how it is that God works with other non-Sabbatarian Christians and Christian ministers. I am aware of the warnings to beware of false prophets and false teachers that you gave in your letter (Deut 13:1-4; Is 8:20; Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22). Not only am I aware, but I could name several of such evilly-motivated individuals, whose fruits testify against them, in the Worldwide Church of God.

In context, those verses are describing individuals whose intent is to get people to stray away from God or from Christ. None of those whom I have introduced to you are necessarily false prophets or false teachers in the way the Bible is describing such. They may have misunderstandings or hold some wrong concepts, but that does not make them tools of the devil. We all hold wrong concepts to one extent or another. They – like us – have all been affected by the wrong teachings which have come from Satan, but that does not make those people of Satan in spirit or attitude.


A Question Of The Heart

We have all been deceived in some ways by Satan, and we all have some misunderstandings. But that does not make us 'false' in the way the Bible is using the term in Matthew 7:15. If we are doing what we think is right before God, as long as we do so from a right motive of the heart, God accepts us. The critical factor is motive.

All Christians hold inaccuracies about aspects of biblical understanding, but Worldwiders have had more serious flaws in their thinking. They have swallowed the church's heresy about God's government in the church, which claimed that the men who led the church were the Government of God in the Church!

In the sixties and seventies we believed that HWA was infallible, whenever he made doctrinal decrees for the church. We believed he had sole right of spiritual leadership under God, and that no other person in the church had the right to contest that concept, or to contest his authority or 'superior' spiritual wisdom.

That was a satanic concept! It was BLASPHEMOUS! He was misguided; and so were we to place so much confidence in a man! Was he a false prophet? Many outside the organisation thought so. The criterion of assessment is that of a person's personal 'fruits' (Matt 12:33; 7:16-20; Gal 5:22,23). For the paucity of evidence of good fruits of the Holy Spirit in HWA's life, and because of evidence of ulterior motives, he could be regarded as a false 'prophet'. [Details are documented in Ambassador Reports available from PO Box 60068, Pasadena, CA 91116, USA.]

He made predictions which didn't come true, based on wrong interpretation of biblical prophecy. Did that make him a false prophet?

Whatever he, or anyone else, says, has to be weighed according to the Word of God. Just because a man has some points of understanding wrong, does that mean all he teaches is wrong? No. Having some misunderstandings, does not make a person a false prophet. One can have a good heart – a right motive – and yet be deceived on some points of truth. Coming into the truth is a gradual process, as God leads us by His Spirit.

All human beings – even God's ministers and prophets – are subject to error. However, error alone does not always imply they are intrinsically evil and therefore false 'prophets'. Humans are prone to fallibility and presumption, but being a "ravening wolf", about which Christ forewarned us in Matthew 7:15, is something very different.

Isaiah prophesied the following about those God uses: "Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not" (Is 42:19-20, KJV).

God's servants do not have perfect understanding. None of us do. We are all learning. You do not have all truth and full comprehension of how God works. Nor do I. Nor does Morris Cerullo, nor Reinhard Bonnke. But if we are seeking to obey and follow God as we know how, according to our understanding, we are accepted by God. God looks on the heart, not on the head. Just because we understand some aspects of Truth which other Christians do not, does not make them 'false' and us 'true'. They may possess some spiritual proclivities and understanding which we do not.

The criterion which God tells us to look to in order to test the spirits (I Jn 4:1), to discern, is not the belief or the understanding of the individual. It is the 'fruit' – the evidence of their innermost motives of the heart. "Ye shall know them by their fruits…" (Matt 7:16 KJV). "Either make the tree good and the fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit" (Matt 12:33 KJV). "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of his heart the mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:44-45, KJV).

The fruits we are commanded to look at are those which the spirits produce. Are they fruits listed in Galatians 5:22-24 – fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, helping, giving, self-sacrifice, caring? Or are they self-elevation, pride, covetousness, greed, envy, resentment, back-biting, prejudice, strife, selfishness, self-will, animosity, disregard for others?

Are they positive, or are they negative? Discerning the spirits is that 'simple'! We don't have to analyse every nuance of doctrine to see whether an individual is guided by the Holy Spirit or not. 'Technical' doctrine is not the indicator.


Why God Permits Ignorance

God is the one who opens minds to His truth. If He chooses to keep some ignorant of certain understanding, that is His prerogative. He has a purpose in permitting the 'scales' to remain over the eyes of certain Christians. It is up to Him when He opens the minds of all believers to all His truth. For purposes which involve the maintenance of humility, and the accomplishment of His purpose, He has decreed partial understanding for all up until the end, "that He might have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32).

If an individual has all truth, the tendency will be for him to become puffed up and vain, and a useless vessel as far as God is concerned. Those whom God can use most effectively are those who have the deepest humility. That quality has been absent in large measure from the leadership of the Worldwide Church of God. It is also absent from the leadership of the Philadelphia Church of God and some other Sabbatarians who are proud of the knowledge they have. They often seem to think that they are exclusively favoured by God and better than those who don't have such understanding. The arrogance in assuming that they represent the only ones through whom God is working on this earth today is repugnant to God. It has distanced them from Him.

God says, "…to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Is 66:2 KJV). "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, WITH HIM ALSO THAT IS OF A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE SPIRIT…" (Is 57:15, KJV). It doesn't say He dwells with those who have the greatest understanding of biblical knowledge. Quite often, greater understanding produces vanity, greater complacency and Laodicean inertness.

Sometimes God, in His wisdom, allows misunderstandings to remain for the sake of the working out of His purpose. One such misunderstanding about hell remains in the minds of those God is using at this time to spearhead the work of preaching the Gospel to this world. Some have a wrong concept of an ever-burning hell in which the unrepentant wicked will go in the future, if they do not repent now, before Christ's return. This generates a burning zeal in these evangelists to spread the message of the saving power of Jesus Christ while they have the opportunity. They fear to fail while they have the chance to reach those who could be saved, such is the depth of their love for humanity! In ironic contrast, those of us who understand that this is not the only day of salvation, can tend to become complacent, rest on our 'laurels', and do little to spread the Gospel. Where are our 'good works' in that regard? Are we hiding them under a bushel? (Luke 11:33.)

The teaching of the WCG and that of the PCG indoctrinates people into thinking that there is only one way of approaching God – their way, the Sabbatarian way. If you don't think as 'we' think, pray as 'we' pray, believe as 'we' believe, do things the way 'we' do, then you are not being led by God – so they would claim. That is the implication and implanted reasoning of their cultish philosophy. It is not only BLASPHEMOUS, but also has disastrous, far-reaching consequences. It produces a very stand-offish, prejudicial, judgemental stance towards other Christians and those still of the world. It can cause spiritual victimisation of weaker members who need nourishment, not condemnation. It causes those so brain-washed to look down on others who have a different understanding, and prevents us learning from them where they have correct points of biblical understanding or practice. Indeed, so evil is this approach that members of the WCG and other similar groups have a wholesale distrust of the spiritual gifts in the 'charismatic' churches. This prejudice has led to spiritual impoverishment and inroads of the devil in many Sabbatarian organisations.


Spiritual Gifts Quenched

Speaking in 'tongues' – a spiritual gift given through the Holy Spirit – has been condemned and quenched in the WCG and other allied ritualistic groups! First Thessalonians 5:19-20 has something serious to say about that! We are warned not to quench the Spirit and not to despise prophesying. Prophesying was ignored in the WCG, against the inspired instruction of the apostle Paul: "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues" (I Cor 14:39, KJV).

Where are these evidences of the Holy Spirit in the WCG, PCG, CGI, and other similar groups? They are evident in great measure in many other Christians whom the WCG has inadvertently condemned over the years, but they are not encouraged or even permitted development by the WCG leadership, or Gerald Flurry, or William Dankenbring and other ritualistic church leaders. I would like to be proven wrong, so I challenge anyone to prove that such is not the case.

We should desire spiritual gifts, especially to prophesy (I Cor 14:1). That is not talking about comprehending prophecy in the Bible. It is describing being used as a vehicle through which God can speak words of encouragement to others (I Cor 14:21). As we become sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can allow the Holy Spirit to lead our thinking and our speech. When the occasion arises, the Holy Spirit will speak through us to impart words of knowledge or wisdom to others (I Cor 12:8). God inspires those words for others' benefit.

The WCG leadership claimed prophesying was only for the 'hierarchy' of the church. Rubbish!! What ignorance or arrogance!! That's not what God inspired the apostle Paul to write in the New Testament (I Cor 14:5; 12:11). If any received the gift of 'tongues' in the WCG (for them a very rare event anyway), they were told to keep it quiet and even to stop doing so! The Holy Spirit was not given freedom of expression. That damnable approach flew in the face of the teachings expounded by Paul in I Corinthians, "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God… howbeit IN THE SPIRIT he speaketh mysteries" (I Cor 14:2). Paul urged the whole church to speak in tongues and to prophesy (v 5).

Since being expelled from the church, our family has benefited very much from the spiritual freedom we have had. As a result, we have all been given varying spiritual gifts. Our three children all pray in tongues and, as appropriate, give messages in tongues in our meetings, which are also interpreted by another present. These are supernatural gifts that were widely evident in the early Church – even among the 'carnal' Corinthians – and which Paul encouraged all to develop for their communal good.

The cult we have been a part of urge no such thing! They urge the opposite! They expect the members to sit and listen to the appointed 'minister', and are seldom permitted to take an active part in services, certainly not in the exercise of the spiritual gifts. That is satanic! The excessive human control of the leadership has quenched the flow of the Holy Spirit amongst the membership.

I often wonder whether the majority in the WCG, CGI, PCG and other off-shoot groups have gone beyond the clammed up Laodicean condition mentioned in Revelation 3 and into the pitiful state of Sardis, who is on the brink of spiritual death, as a result of quenching the lead of the Holy Spirit.

Those organisations must face a time of proving. If they are to survive, they must make radical alterations in their ceremony to permit the free working of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual enrichment of the members. They must radically reappraise their form of worship. They need to vigorously purge out the dross in their ministry, who have all too often been fed by the flock (instead of serving it), and have lived off the fat (Ezek 34:3-5). As products of the same wrong system, we have to dramatically re-appraise our approach and concepts also so we can come into line with the spirituality of God's word.

If we think our biblical understanding is always right and always superior to that of other Christians, we are of Laodicea, who is blind to her inadequacies, and satisfied with her spiritual state. She thinks she is spiritually superior to others, and her exclusiveness and prejudice further traps her in her ignorance and blindness! We must not compare ourselves with others in this regard. We must compare ourselves with the living Word of God. Then we won't feel so great.


The Miracles Are From God!

To come to the issue of miracles performed in other Christian groups, Jesus said. "…there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me" (Mark 9:39, KJV). "For HE THAT IS NOT AGAINST US IS ON OUR PART" (v 40, KJV). This in itself ought to be sufficient evidence to doubters that there is not merely one organisation responsible for doing God's Work. It is also proof that we should anticipate miracles to be an integral part of the impact of spreading the Gospel message.

Jesus promised that "THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE; in my name shall they CAST OUT DEVILS; THEY SHALL SPEAK WITH NEW TONGUES;… THEY SHALL LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, AND THEY SHALL RECOVER" (Mark 16:17-18).

The evidence of these things is not to be seen in the WCG. Where also is such evidence in the seventh-day groups? They ought to be leading the way, if they have superior spirituality to other 'less informed' Christians.

Morris Cerullo, Benny Hinn, Reinhard Bonnke, Dave Duell and many other men of God can point to a wealth of miraculous testimony to accompany their work of preaching the Gospel. And that, despite their misunderstanding of some points of doctrine from God's Word. The reason is simple – THEY BELIEVE! They believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to perform such miracles, so their 'simple' faith takes God at His word, and the evidence comes. They believe because they have a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They walk and talk with Him personally. Do you?

In the context of performing miracles, it is important to note what Mark recorded of Jesus' words. "No-one who does a miracle in My name can in the next moment speak anything bad about Me" (Mark 9:39). If miracles are performed in the name of Jesus Christ, you can rest assured the devil has not done them! The devil does not perform miracles in Jesus' name. He might perform some deceptive tricks and miracles for his own glory, but certainly not for the glory of the One he resents!

What Satan does is perform "lying wonders" (II Thes 2:9). He has power to do miraculous things, but in all instances they are never for the benefit of people. They are performed to deceive, to hinder and harm, or merely to entertain (Rev 13:14; 16:14; 19:20). Moreover, these miracles are NEVER DONE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. All bona fide miracles performed in the name of Jesus are miracles of God.


Beware Arrogant Exclusivism

Where are the workers of miracles in the Church? (I Cor 12:29.) It ought to be a little more obvious by now that these men whom I have mentioned can also be part of the Body of Christ. It's just that we don't all see eye to eye on all doctrine at this present time (Is 52:8). Why should that be a big deal? Can we not exhibit tolerance of others' views even though we do not subscribe to those views ourselves? Can we not recognise their good works, despite their imperfect understanding? We must be careful not to allow the devil in our minds to accuse and condemn others whom God is using – a mistake the disciples also made when they were still 'green' (Mark 9:38).

Unfortunately, the teaching of the WCG and most of its off-shoots allows the devil into the thinking of the membership by instilling intolerance, prejudice, bigotry, religious 'superiority', arrogance, and even hostility! "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not so to be" (Jas 3:10, KJV).

The WCG prided itself for years that it was the only church on the face of the earth which was preaching the true Gospel to the world. What arrogance! What presumptuousness! Nor was it true. I don't think they would claim to be so blatantly exclusive today, but old concepts die hard, and the administration has done little to counteract the thinking in the minds of members that they are the one true Church. Many members are still infected with that exclusivist lie from bygone days. That highly prejudiced approach towards others still lingers on in varying degrees in the minds of members and ex-members. I'm afraid both William Dankenbring and Gerald Flurry are tarred with the same brush. If they think they are the only ones God can use to reach this world with the Gospel of the saving power of Jesus, they are severely underestimating God's capabilities! They are pathetically deceived!

How is one man, who does not expound the name of Jesus, going to achieve the globe-girdling task of preaching this Gospel to the whole world for a witness? For a start, where are the miracles which authenticate the Gospel, and which bear WITNESS to the POWER OF THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST? Where is the message of DELIVERANCE? Deliverance from demonic control; deliverance from sickness; deliverance from sin and from death; deliverance from spiritual poverty; deliverance from every imaginable evil, through the name of Jesus Christ?

The work of the WCG, CGI, PCG, or any other exclusivist group cannot possibly be the work of the end-time Elijah. How is one small, limited group, without miracle-working faith, capable of all this? How can they turn the hearts of the fathers to the children? How can they reach into every corner of the world? The work of the 'Elijah' is not the work of a mere man. The end-time work is the work of the Holy Spirit – a mighty work of miraculous POWER, bearing testimony to the undeniable supremacy of the living Jesus Christ!! It brings a foretaste of God's power soon to be spectacularly revealed to the world!

I do not mean to be disparaging of any man's sincere efforts. Of course, any can have their part to play in this work of the Holy Spirit, but one man or one group alone is not the 'Elijah'. If you wanted to try and single out one man on whom you could pin this 'tag', the prize ought to go to someone like Derek Prince. (Not that any man should receive this 'tag'.)

More than 50 years ago, he received a supernatural personal visitation similar to that which the apostle Paul experienced. Through that spectacular experience with Jesus he was converted, and ever since he has followed Christ's call to publish and preach the Gospel throughout the world. As of writing, in 1992, Today With Derek Prince, a 15-minute radio Bible teaching, goes out on 63 daily broadcasts throughout 30 states of the USA, including 13 major metropolitan areas; as well as 2 daily broadcasts in Canada; 2 in Puerto Rico; 42 other daily English broadcasts to Europe and Western Russia, Britain and Ireland, South and Central America, the Middle East, Southwest Africa (Namibia – 13 stations), Central South Africa and Swaziland, India and Pakistan. In New Zealand he has daily broadcasts on 10 stations reaching most of New Zealand, 2 in Australia, as well as a broadcast in both English and Tongan in Tonga.

To continue, Derek Prince under his Chinese name "Ye Gwang Ming" ("Clear Light"), makes 6 daily radio Bible broadcasts in the following five Chinese languages: Mandarin, Amoy, Cantonese, Shanghaiese, and Swatow. His follow-up of 140 cassette messages contain extensive Bible teaching, not solely in Chinese languages, not to mention a myriad of books (including a Bible study course) in Chinese, Russian, Latvian, Spanish, English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

His self-study Bible course is available in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, and Urdu. Translations are in progress in Burmese, French, Hebrew, Iban, Malay, Russian, Spanish, Tongan, as well as 11 African languages (Afrikaans, Chichewa, Efik, Hausa, Lunda, Shona, Sotho, Swahili, Tswanu, Yoruba, Zulu).

His foundation series of teaching material is printed in the following languages: Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Swedish, Telugu, and Tongan. Translations are in progress into Afrikaans, Amharic, Burmese, Endebele, German, Hindi, Japanese, Malayalam, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Twi.

Out of his more than 30 books about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, at least 5 are available in each of the following languages: Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lugandan, Polish, Portuguese, Pushtoo, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Tongan, Ukrainian, Urdu.

If any man should 'take the biscuit' for being the 'Elijah', surely Derek Prince has good enough qualifications!? No one with true objectivity could claim that Derek Prince does not have a Gospel-preaching commission direct from our Saviour. His work goes from strength to strength! He preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of how Christ has died to pay the penalty of all our sins and made available to us complete deliverance from every type of bondage caused by sin, through the power of Jesus' life within us. And also, his 'fruits' are good! There is evidence of the spirituality of God's love. Yet, despite God's guidance, not all he preaches is identical to our biblical understanding. Why doesn't God give all believers the same understanding at the same time?

Maybe it is time for us to reflect upon the words of Isaiah 55:8. What may seem so illogical or irrational to us is often not viewed the same way by God. Obviously God does not consider it important for the time being, for all truth to be revealed to all Christians. For His purpose of preaching the Gospel to the world as a witness about Jesus Christ, we can only conclude that God has made available what He has considered necessary for the majority until now. God has all wisdom. We don't.

Who has understood the mind of the Lord? (Rom 11:34.)


'Slain' By The Holy Spirit

To come to your query about being 'slain in the Spirit'. This term is not specifically mentioned in the Bible because it was 'coined' by those to whom this phenomenon has become a common reality in this age.

There is one fairly obvious evidence of it in the Bible, and it is to be found in John 18:6. [More about this phenomenon is covered in MG2, A Message to Law-Keepers.] When the mob sent by the chief priests came to arrest Jesus, they came looking for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus went up to them and asked whom they were looking for. They replied, "Jesus of Nazareth", to which He retorted, "I am". Immediately He said that name, they fell backward to the ground. They were 'slain' by the power of the Holy Spirit, to use the modern parlance. The mob was strongly influenced by Satan, if not possessed by him, and the power of Satan is no match for the power of God.

In 'modern' evangelistic meetings held to glorify the name of God, and to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where the evangelist has been given a powerful 'anointing' of God, the power of the Holy Spirit available in his ministry is so great that frequently those who are strongly demon influenced (not necessarily possessed) collapse in the same way. Any who are not filled by the Holy Spirit to the same degree also are 'slain in the Spirit', as the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

Individuals who have never before surrendered their lives to God and whom God is calling, there and then come under the power of God in a very positive way. If they want to put their past lives behind them and live God's way (to the best of their understanding), God 'baptises' them in the Holy Spirit and they experience a change in their mental approach (a mental or spiritual 're-birth').

God does not always work this way. With some, the process of conversion or being 'born again' is a gradual process of submission. For others it is dramatic and sudden. God knows how to reach different individuals.

One apostle, Colin Urquhart, described his own dilemma over this very matter when it first happened in his meetings. While he was praying for people to be healed, or for them to receive the Holy Spirit, they would collapse. This disturbed him. Being close to God, and not having experienced this phenomenon before, he was concerned that it might not be pleasing to God.

While ministering in a church in Tasmania he prayed as usual before ministering personally to the people, "'Lord, I do not want to resist your purposes in any way; neither do I want to become involved in anything that is dishonouring to your name. I ask you not to allow anyone to fall down if this is not your purpose. But I submit my will to yours. If this is your purpose, please give me some undeniable evidence of that fact tonight'.

"Towards the end of the meeting a number of people came forward for healing. All, except for one man, fell to the floor when I prayed for them and he was so unsteady a chair had to be brought for him" (Faith for the Future, pp 70-72).

Colin said, "Alright, Lord; you win!"

Still puzzled by it all, a few days later he noticed one lady had lain on the floor long after the end of another service. He enquired of her, "What has the Lord been doing?"

"Showing me who is boss," was her simple reply.

Her pastor later told Colin that this woman had been a great concern to him because she had stubbornly refused to submit to God's authority in her life, and because of this she had not received the healing she needed. During the hour or so she had lain on the floor she had experienced a real encounter with the Lord who spoke directly to her about the root of her rebellion.

Colin concluded, "I could now see at least one good reason for this strange phenomenon" (Ibid. pg. 72).

God uses different avenues to reach people of different make-up. He uses this means of being slain in the Spirit as an initial experience to call or convert certain ones, just as He did the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. God will fill the person with His Spirit once that person has yielded their life to God in humble submission.

Worldwiders, unfortunately, are generally not open to receiving from God in this way. Because of their prejudice against supernatural phenomena, they are not receptive to the miraculous moving of God. You have to believe in order to receive.

Some dispute this phenomenon because of their preconceptions. They have been taught that the Holy Spirit is only given upon repentance first, then water baptism. "Only after one is baptised in water," some claim, "can one receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore being slain in the Spirit is bogus."

To insist, as the WCG has done, that water baptism is essential prior to receiving the Holy Spirit is too legalistic. God is not bound by His own rules. He gives the Holy Spirit when He wants to; He knows best. There is no need for such excessive human control. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be baptised, we should, following an expression of our desire to repent. But to insist that God doesn't give the Holy Spirit to any who have not been baptised is too legalistically rigid. The case of Cornelius alone (in Acts 10) ought to make us think again in this regard. God wants to give the Holy Spirit to any who ask Him for it, far more than we desire to provide good things for our children! (Luke 11:13.) And on many occasions He will do so. Then He expects them to get baptised as an outward sign of their inward change.


Prejudice Can Get In Our Way

Our background has left many of us with tragic scars. Scars in our thinking which have cauterised our minds to the immense love of God for all people. The one scripture which HWA seemed to purposely avoid preaching was John 3:16 – "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". It seems this embarrassed him to preach the same as everyone else. To emphasise belief in Jesus (as verses 17 and 18 do) seemed to be an admission of defeat for the concepts he espoused, one of which was that observance of the Sabbath is an essential requirement for salvation.

It is not – if God has not revealed it to a believer's mind. Faith in Jesus is the key to receiving God's grace for salvation and for healing. 'Works' come later, but 'works' do not qualify us for salvation at all. They are a reflection of our love for God. Many in the WCG, PCG and CGI do not recognise this biblical axiom.

The philosophy of the WCG has tended to reduce God's love to the level of human legalism, something for which the Pharisees were roundly condemned by Christ. This same dogma permeates all men's religions, whether it is the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholicism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism or whatever. It is not a part of true Christianity.

True Christianity is based on a reciprocal love. God showed His love for us first, in that He gave His only Son as a sacrifice that we might not die, but have eternal life (Jn 3:16). He did this while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). When we recognise our personal guilt in this regard and are broken in spirit, He can reach us and give us His Spirit. Then we can begin to live His way, according to the love which He has which cares for all humanity. This is not a legalistic, rigid, un-feeling ‘love’, which ritualistic Sabbatarians have too often witnessed. It is a love which flows from the depths of one's innermost being. That is the mind of God!

We can understand the mind of the Lord! But first we must shed wrong concepts.


Signs And Wonders

Finally, may I return to a point that we brought up at the outset – the subject of "signs and wonders". Some have been alarmed and unsure about them, not knowing how to tell whether they are from the power of the Holy Spirit, or from the devil.

Briefly, if you check what the devil's signs and wonders are in the biblical context, you will find that they were not miracles of healing the sick or deliverance from the power of demons, which are primary signs and wonders promised to those who faithfully proclaim the Gospel of Christ (Mark 16:17-18). They are something totally different, but not specified. Obviously they vary according to the situation.

In Deuteronomy 13:1-4, the 'sign' or 'wonder' was probably a portent predicted to come to pass, such as was given to the girls in Fatima, Portugal, prior to the visions of the so-called virgin Mary. [This is explained more fully in The Mystery of the Invisible, available from the address at the end.]

Deuteronomy 13:2 says the miraculous sign was given for the express purpose of deceiving and leading people away from worship of the true God, into idolatry.

The signs and wonders which are produced by the Holy Spirit according to the faith of believers in the ministries of Reinhard Bonnke, Morris Cerullo, Dave Duell, Benny Hinn, Colin Urquhart, or any Christian ministry (because all believers can receive the miraculous from God!), are not in that category. They are not performed for the purpose of deceiving, but for the purpose of glorifying the name of Jesus and delivering from sin and the devil, in the name of Jesus. We are told to look to the 'fruits' (Matt 12:33), not to judge by what might appear to be odd or unusual because we are not used to that sort of occurrence (Jn 7:24).

Miracles performed by Jesus are done in the name of Jesus. The devil's miracles are not done in that name. The devil is able to perform miracles of curiosity. But he is not able to perform a miracle of love; nor can he do any miracle in the name of Jesus Christ. He flees at the exercise of that authority!

It is not easy unlearning false concepts which we have had firmly implanted in our minds by men whose motive, whilst it may have been hard to know, had evil results. It is part of the bad fruit of a corrupt system of church government which exercised spiritual CONTROL of the membership and thwarted the development and free individual expression of spiritual gifts. Spiritual domination and control is not of God; it is satanic!

These are the evils from which we all have to extricate ourselves (Rev 18:4), in order to move into the fullness of all that God wants for us through Jesus Christ. Once we can do that, we can also be part of this great work of the 'Elijah', performing collectively far greater spiritual feats than Jesus performed while He was on this earth (Jn 14:12).

Malcolm B Heap

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