A “world-view” is an arrangement of ideas in and through which a person interprets and judges reality. It is a background “script” that undergirds consciously or unconsciously, more or less consistently, a person’s thoughts and actions. In the jargon of biblical/theological studies there is a long German word heilsgeschichte (holy history), meaning roughly “salvation history.” Salvation history is the series of events and truths that portray God’s redemptive plan across the ages, a worldview focused specifically on the elements of salvation. From it is drawn the church’s historical teaching about salvation. It is broad in its scope, usually beginning with creation and the fall and moving on through the incarnation of Christ, His substitutionary death for human sin, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the founding of the church by the apostles, the second coming of Jesus, the final resurrection and judgment, and the final state of glory. But beware.

In recent decades a radically different script of salvation, a different worldview, has entered the church. It is called the Dominion Mandate. Unfortunately, it is rarely recognized as being outside the boundaries of orthodox belief. It has many things in common with traditional Christianity, but its underlying heilsgeschichte is fundamentally different. It is a rival salvation history, which promotes a false gospel. The current evangelical culture of downplaying theology in favor of pragmatic strategies is a main reason why this alien salvation history is often undetected when it creeps, or strides boldly, into the church.

The Dominion teachers have a unique and consistent theological viewpoint which underlies and undergirds all they do, and an unwritten standard by which they interpret and judge everything. Prayer walking, spiritual mapping and whole-city reaching and transformation efforts are connected to the heresy of restored offices of apostle and prophet. This teaching is a mutant form of the Latter Rain, a radical fringe movement of Pentecostalism that flourished at mid-20th century and then went underground for a period of time. It then resurfaced unrecognized in the Charismatic Renewal, and now comprises all independent churches organized under a top-down pyramid structure known now as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

Although Dominion participants often have their own ministries and don’t always identify with the NAR they are linked together and know and recognize each other as comrades in the Dominion Mandate. They all know each other and recognize that they are part of an large extended family. They draw support from one another to develop dominion strategies. They all zealously propagate the new “revelations” of their leaders, the apostles and prophets, and recognize fellow apostles (whether publicly named or not) who exercise authority among themselves. They religiously believe God has reserved all of this for the very last days of the church age. [2]

Robert M. Bowman Jr. has given us a condensed summary of the Kingdom/Dominionist ideology.

“In the very beginning God created the universe and populated it with spirits (or angels) who lived in perfect obedience to Him. However, a third of these angels, led by Lucifer, rebelled against God’s authority, becoming demons. The angelic rebellion occurred in a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The result was that the earth, which was the headquarters of the demonic Evil Empire, was brought into chaos. In order to win back unchallenged dominion over the universe, God introduced into the earth, Man, a race of creatures which God intended to become a resistance movement that would conquer the Devil’s home planet and thus lead the way in taking back dominion over the entire universe. Man was to be a race of little gods exercising authority, thus overwhelming the devil’s forces.

Unfortunately the father of this race (Adam) was tricked by the devil into forfeiting Man’s place in this plan and actually brought God’s first plan to naught. God was then forced to come up with plan B to take back dominion. His solution: to introduce into this fallen race a man in whom the divine nature dwelled fully, who would become the prototype of a new race of human beings in which the original godhood of Adam was restored. This divine Man was Jesus, a perfect manifestation of God the Father and the “first fruit” of the incarnation of God.

This race of little gods who are spiritually united with Christ as members of His body is the church, constituting collectively with Him the complete incarnation, a corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, which together will overcome the devil and restore God’s dominion unchallenged on the earth. Ultimate victory over the devil, then depends finally upon the church accepting the calling to be little gods.It further depends on the church submitting to the restored apostles through whom God is seeking to mobilize the church into a unified army prepared to take dominion back from the devil.” [3]

After Adam had given it away, God didn’t have any more authority, according to this heretical teaching. This “false identity” teaching suggests that Jesus was taken to Hell after his death. Here Jesus was not only tormented by Satan, but he became a sinner. (Further study: The Born-Again Jesus of the Word-Faith Movement) But this caused Him to be born-again and he was raised to life as the first born-again man becoming a prototype or pattern son for all believers. Believers, according to this worldview, are meant to partake of the same power and authority as Jesus. But the church, like Adam, has botched the plan because of its unbelief and ignorance. Finally now, at the end of the age, in the time of the purported “Latter Rain” (since the 50’s), the church has been given new “prophets” and “apostles” to lead a united church to establish God’s lost rule, i.e. dominion, in the earth. Using spiritual warfare techniques, newly revealed to chief apostle of the NAR, C. Peter Wagner, [4] the church will take whole cities and nations for God, and will at long last take control of the heavenlies, having cast Satan down.

“Apostle” Ed Silvoso has said:

“The church has now been placed potentially in control of the heavenly places once ruled by the prince of the power of the air. But this reconstituted church must engage and defeat the enemy and retake the heavenlies in the name of her Lord.” [5]

This Dominion mythology is totally at odds with biblical teaching.

1. Dominion teaching paints a false view of Adam and his fall. It pictures him as a god who lost his godhood when Satan tricked him.

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches Adam fell into sin by rebellion and this resulted in judgment and death for him and his posterity. (Romans 5:12f).

2. Dominion teachers assert that by Adam’s failure God lost His legal authority over the earth to Satan.

However, multiple texts in Scripture show God has ongoing control over his creation. Job 37:15, Matt. 10:29, Daniel 4:17. Jesus has authority in earth and heaven (Matt. 28:18).

3. Dominion teachers view man as an extension of the incarnation of Jesus.

But there is no biblical teaching that Jesus is a ‘pattern son.’ (or that individual believers are “little gods”) Christ indwells His church through the Holy Spirit. (i.e. the church is not Jesus, the Head)

4. Dominion mythology teaches that the church has been given authority to invade and conquer the heavenly places.

But there is no biblical warrant for this fairy tale.

This constitutes the basis of Dominion mythology and it is the master plan behind all Dominion teaching and practices. [6] This mythology is constantly being refreshed by new and absurd “revelations”. But these wild revelations still fall and remain within the dominion mythology.

Endnotes:
1. Mark Pfeifer, “Theology of Reclaiming 7 Mountains: The Dominion Process,” http://www.reclaim7mountains.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=41538&columnid=4347
2. The extensive historical documentation on the points made in this paragraph, and the one above, can be found in Al Dager’s excellent book VENGEANCE IS OURS: THE CHURCH IN DOMINION (Sword, 1990), available here: http://home.etcable.net/hestervanboven/Books.htm
3. Robert M Bowman Jr., “The Gospel According to Paulk – A critque of Kindom Theology,” The Christian Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1998, p. 8. Quotation reformatted for blog use.
4. To see an example of C. Peter Wagner’s teaching on this topic, see the lead quotation at the top of this Herescope post: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/07/cultural-mandate.html
5. Ed Silvoso “That None Should Perish” audio cassette, 1982.
6. See more quotations illustrating this mythology at http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com and also see: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/premilpostmil.html

The Truth of False Teachings

For more about the “whistle blowing” ministry of 4 Truth Ministry, please see our About page as well as our False Movements page which lays out several false teachings/teachers found within evangelicalism.

Another great “whistle blowing” ministry is Christian Research Network.

In a short article in Christianity Today (July 13, 1998), Chuck Lowe asks the question “Do Demons Have Zip Codes?” Chuck Lowe, the author of the book “Territorial Spirits and Evangelism” notes that exorcism of ‘territorial spirits’ is a growing practice around the globe, including among evangelicals in America.

We have now arrived at the point where many evangelicals wouldn’t think of preaching the gospel in a new locality without first confronting local, territorial spirits. John Dawson asserts: “We must overcome the enemy before employing other methods of ministry.” (Dawson, “Engaging the Enemy: How to Fight and Defeat Territorial Spirits,” Regal Books, 1991). This smacks of an animistic worldview in giving names to spirits in certain localities.

Charles Kraft, a fellow missiologist with C. Peter Wagner at Fuller Seminary, submits that we must learn from pre-rational cultures regarding the naming of spirits. The fact is, however, that identifying and naming regional demons finds no support from scripture whatsoever. In response, Kraft declares: …”we contend that ideas and/or practices may be scriptural as long as they are not condemned by scripture”… This means we have arrived at the point that the scripture is inspired not only for what it says but for what it does not say.

In this issue of Plumbline, I will include a short article that summarizes the teaching of geographical spiritual warfare: a concise summary that provides a comprehensive view of this subject. Following this article, I will summarize the historical milieu from which these practices have evolved. C. Peter Wagner, as well as others, did not cut the current warfare worldview from new cloth.

Indeed, some of the early church fathers tried to reconstruct demonic hierarchies and the medieval church attempted to do the same. The current ‘pop deliverance’ practices, however, do not stem from the early church fathers or from the rank superstitious practices of the medieval church. Rather, C. Peter Wagner and others have simply organized and given a modern military expression to ideas that were birthed fifty years ago. The current literature regarding territorial spiritual warfare evangelism is large, consequently at this point, David Dunlop’s concise article will be helpful to us.

 

JUST THE FACTS…

about Territorial Spirits and Spiritual Warfare

By David Dunlop

– Definition –

This doctrine called “Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare” (SLSVV) is a popular charismatic method of casting out demons from geographical locations or territories. It identifies three levels of demonic control on earth. Firstly, are “Ground-Level” demons, which possess people. Secondly, “Occult-Level” demons empower witches, shamans, magicians. Finally, “Strategic-Level” demons which are the most powerful of the three, are said to rule over certain regions or territories. Their main purpose is to hinder people from coming to Christ.

– Proponents –

C. Peter Wagner (Engaging the Enemy, How to Fight and Defeat Territorial Spirits) of Fuller Seminary School of World Missions; John Dawson (Taking our Cities for Christ) of Youth With a Mission; Frank Peretti (This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness).

– History –

In the early 1990’s, there were a number of city-wide gospel campaigns in Latin America. Some of the evangelists attributed their success to days spent wrestling in prayer against the powers of darkness. Author Frank Peretti stirred the imagination of believers with his two early books: This Present Darkness (1986) and Piercing the Darkness (1989). These fictional books demonstrated in graphic and sensational detail the battle of believers with territorial spirits. In the early 1990’s, Charismatic leader C. Peter Wagner linked himself with the movement and has been its most vocal spokesman and most prolific writer. The movement has been tremendously successful in making inroads into the evangelical church. A number of evangelical organizations, such as Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Bill Bright’s Campus Crusade for Christ, currently practice its techniques and are supportive of the goals of SLSW.

– Theological Support –

Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare leader C. Peter Wagner has attributed astonishing claims to the use of Spiritual warfare claiming:

10 million Japanese will come to Christ by the year 2000; it helped to bring down the Berlin Wall and opened Albania to the gospel; it deposed dictator Manuel Noriega; it lowered the crime rate in Los Angeles and broke the power of demons over Japan (Breaking Strongholds in Your City, 1993, P. 25).

By what means do proponents of SLSW go about breaking territorial dominion? There are a number of detailed steps required. Firstly, seek the name of the ruling spirit and identify its territory. Secondly, seek the function of demons in a particular area. Thirdly, if demons occupy a neighborhood, then a “Prayer Walk” is required. If the demon controls a city, then a “Praise March ” is necessary. If a demon exercises power over a region, then a “Prayer Expedition”: is demanded, and if a demon rules in a nation then a “Prayer journey” should be carried out. “Spiritual Mapping” is the process of discovering the exact location of the demon’s domain. “Identification Repentance” is the practice of discovering the sin and guilt which give the demon a foothold in an area and repenting of that sin to break the grip of demons in an area. Peter Wagner explains:

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: How to Fight and Defeat Territorial Spirits – C. Peter Wagner, Ventura, Ca; Regal, P. 98).

The most commonly cited proof of text is Daniel 10:13, 20, which is the battle between the prince of Persia and Michael the archangel. The prince of Persia is said to be an example of a Territorial Spirit which can be defeated through the techniques of SLSW. C. Peter Wagner writes, “This story leaves no doubt that territorial spirits greatly influence human life in all its sociopolitical aspects” (Warfare Prayer, Ventura: Regal 1992, p. 66).

– Biblical Support Against –

However, Daniel 10 does not argue for the detailed and sensational practices of SLSW. It must be pointed out that:

1. The battle was fought in heaven and not on earth.
2. The battle did not involve any human: rather two angels and one demon.
3. The battle was directed by God in heaven and by Michael, not by men on earth.
4. Daniel was not asked to bind a demon.
5. Daniel was not even asked to pray.

Scripture implies that Satan’s minions are highly organized (Ephesians 6:12), but nowhere does the Bible say that Satan has assigned them to every geopolitical unit. Nowhere does the Bible give an example of a believer rebuking or confronting geographical demons. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are to command demons to give up territory.

Yes, Satan is a formidable adversary (1 Peter 5:8), yet the Lord Jesus Christ has already conquered him on the cross (Colossians 2:15) and will one day consign him to hell (Revelation 20:1-10). Jude 8-10 and 2 Peter 2:10-12 rebuke those who verbally abuse spirits. Indeed, we are called to turn them over to God. In the meantime, we are called to oppose Satan through our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:20-18) standing firm in the power of His might, and praying always with all prayer.

 

Comments

by Orrel Steinkamp

 

The Plumbline contends that the original seedbed of spiritual warfare evangelism can be found in the fertile soil of the Latter Rain. From this seed plot of 50 years ago, many hybrids and mutations have developed.

The Latter Rain originated in a series of revival meetings in 1948 at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battelford, Sask., Canada. By late 1949 the AOG, in the USA and Canada, declared this movement to be heretical and false.

– A Summary of Latter Rain Teaching –

1. The purpose of the church is to establish on the earth the kingdom of God. The reason the church has failed its mandate, is that early on it lost the offices of Apostle and prophets.

2. In the last days God will restore these offices to lead the church in an end time holy war and all evil will be defeated.

3. A worldwide revival will break out and the majority of the world will be won to Christ. Signs and wonders will include blessings upon those whom the apostles and prophets bless and cursing upon those whom they curse. Through intense worship and praise (Tabernacle of David) accompanied by prayer, fasting and spiritual warfare the church will defeat all demonic strongholds and territorial spirits upon the earth and in the heavenlies.

4. Some adherents of the Latter Rain (though by no means all) believe that the second coming of Jesus will occur with a spiritual experience of believers in which believers are incarnated into the body of Christ upon the earth. This body of Christ will rule the nations. Others in the movement saw the church taking dominion over the earth as a prelude to the return of Jesus from heaven to earth.

In response to the excesses of the LR in 1949, the 23rd General Council of the AOG passed a resolution expressing official disapproval of the LR teachings. The Latter Rain revival died in the early 1950’s, but its’ influence did not. When the Charismatic Renewal broke upon the scene in the 1960’s, some of the churches which had been influenced by the Latter Rain began to participate in the activity created by the new charismatics. The fact that these churches had Latter Rain roots was lost for the most part in the excitement created by the new revival. Most of the doctrines forged during the Latter Rain years were carried over in the new move. As a consequence, teachings from the 1948-1953 period were carried into the 1960’s and 1970’s.

While newcomers may not have known the common Latter Rain thread, those who had participated in the Latter Rain revival even as youngsters, recognized the common features. Some Latter Rain leaders moved into positions of prominence with their past roots forgotten (excerpted and adapted from “Kingdom Now,” Gordon Anderson, Paraclete, Summer 1990, Vol. 24, Number 3). In the mid 1980’s, a synthesis of various features of the Latter Rain teaching came to be known as Kingdom Now. It applied certain Latter Rain teachings around the concept of the “Kingdom.” Earl Paulk and his writings employed Latter Rain themes and constructed a “salvation history” for the Kingdom message. Robert M. Bowman Jr., in a Christian Research Journal article, (Vol. 10 No. 3, Winter/Spring 1999) attempted to summarize this Latter Rain teaching now being marketed as Kingdom Teaching.

According to Bishop Paulk and Kingdom Theology, in the very beginning God created the universe and populated it with spirits (or angels) who lived in perfect obedience to Him. However, a third of these angels, led by Lucifer, rebelled against God’s authority becoming demons and seized dominion over part (probably one-third, cf Rev. 8:12 “a third of the stars’ of the physical universe. This angelic rebelling occurred in a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The result was that the earth, which was the “capital city” or headquarters of this demonic Evil empire was brought into chaos and made formless and void (Genesis 1:2). In order to win back unchallenged dominion over the universe, God introduced into the earth Man, a race of creatures God intended to become a resistance movement in taking back dominion over the entire universe … Unfortunately, the father of this race, Adam, was tricked by the devil into forfeiting Man’s place in this plan …God was forced to come up with “Plan B” to take dominion over the earth. His solution was to introduce into this fallen race a man in whom the divine nature dwelled fully, who would become the prototype of a new race of human beings in which the original godhood of Adam was restored. This divine Man was Jesus Christ, a perfect manifestation of God the Father and the “first fruit” of the incarnation of God. This race of “little gods” who are spiritually united with Christ as members of His “body” is the church, constituting collectively with Him the complete incarnation, a corporate manifestation of God in the flesh which will win over the devil and restore God’s dominion unchallenged on the earth. Ultimate victory over the devil then depends upon the church accepting its calling to be little gods. It further depends on the church submitting to the fivefold ministry (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) through whom God is seeking to mobilize the church into a unified army prepared to take dominion back from the devil …

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this dominion mythology is Paulk’s acceptance of the “Latter Rain teaching called “Manifested Sons of God.” This is seen in a quote from Paulk: “Everything that Jesus Christ performed, His church must perform including challenging and overcoming death. Death, the last enemy must be conquered by the Bride of Christ.” (Paulk, “Held In The Heavens,” p. 66).

Concluding Remarks

The linkage of aggressive territorial spiritual warfare and evangelism was first introduced at the Latter Rain revival. Perhaps the first actual expression of this teaching was reported in the April 1949 issue of the “Sharon Star,” the official publication of the Latter Rain. “Suddenly without warning a mighty wind swept through the building, Brother Crane was standing teaching the class when he was almost swept off his feet … This great demonstration was accompanied by a vision of the Manifest Sons of God in the last days of this dispensation. This mighty army was seen conquering all before it. Sickness and disease were vanishing and all evil spirits were scattered before the triumphant power of God’s people.” (George Hawtin, “Editorial, “Sharon Star, Dec.1948, p.p.2,3)

Today many people being introduced to territorial spiritual warfare evangelism have no knowledge of the genesis of these practices. Perhaps one of the most surprising examples of this is found in a letter addressed to me, from the leading proponent of territorial spiritual warfare, C. Peter Wagner. In response to an article of mine that Wagner found on the net, he wrote me a personal letter. The tone of the letter is very amiable and is a model of how we all should interact with Christians with whom we disagree. However, the startling revelation in the letter is that he admits to no knowledge, whatsoever, regarding the Latter Rain and its teaching. He states: “So I never even heard of the Latter Rain, Kingdom Now, Manifested Sons of God or any of those things…Now since I have become an advocate for contemporary apostles and prophets, all of these things have been coming up, but I haven’t had any historical hook to hang them on. I’ve asked Bill Hamon and he has tried to explain it to me, but I never really was able to make sense of it until I read your article.”

Bishop Bill Hamon is clearly one of the few living links with the Latter Rain. In his writings and especially his book, “The Eternal Church,” he clearly and accurately portrays the development of the Latter Rain from its beginning, in the late forties, to its current expression today. Reading Hamon’s book would give anyone all the information needed regarding this teaching.

Latter Rain teaching of territorial spiritual warfare has now become sufficiently disassociated from its historical links so that the spiritual warfare worldview is now becoming widely accepted. Frank Peretti’s novels “This Present Darkness” and “Piercing the Darkness” teach territorial spiritual warfare in sensational detail. Certain evangelists in Latin America attributed their success to spending days of wrestling with territorial demons.

Gregory Boyd of Open Theism fame (who would have no connection to Latter Rain themes) has written a book entitled “God at War.” But C. Peter Wagner makes a response in the “IVP Book Club Digest, December 10, 2001 regarding this book. “God at War raises the current discussion of spiritual warfare to a new and unanticipated level of scholarly investigation. I am ecstatic with the integrity with which Gregory Boyd develops his convincing argument for a biblical warfare worldview. This is an extremely important work for all who wish to advance God’s kingdom today.” Boyd and Wagner would have many differences, but both have ended up, for their own reasons, on the same square of a “warfare worldview.”

Indeed, the concept of warfare is found in both the Old and New Testaments. Nowhere is it suggested that believers must attack, bind and defeat named local spiritual entities as the indispensable means of evangelism. In contrast to the Qumran community (of Dead Sea Scrolls fame, whose liturgy included curses of Satan alongside praises to God), Jude 8-10 and 2 Peter 2:10 12 instructs believers not to bring “reviling accusations against the devil (NKJV). Satan is indeed a formidable adversary (1 Peter 5:8) yet Jesus conquered him on the cross (Col. 2:15) and will one day confine him in hell (Rev. 2:1 10). In the meantime we are called to oppose Satan, but not by identifying the names of his subordinates, reconstructing their hierarchy or mapping their supposed jurisdictions.

The famous spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 portrays spiritual warfare as the believer’s defensive stance rather than prescribing a strategy for attacking and binding specific demons. Indeed, Paul states that we wrestle against “principalities and powers in the heavenlies,” but how does Paul describe this wrestling? If Paul meant for believers to attack and destroy these heavenly adversaries, the inspired apostle would have indicated at that point in his writing that he practiced it and expected his churches to practice it in evangelism. But he did not. No! Indeed, as many exegetes have noted, Paul admonishes putting on the whole armor of God in order to “withstand in the evil day.”

In light of the “hosts of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places,” Paul instructs: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and have done all to stand, stand therefore.” (Ephesians 6:13,14a, NKJV). Among the spiritual weapons, the only possible offensive weapon is the “Sword of God’s word.” Even here, the word used for sword is “machaira” which was a short sword, more like a dagger that could be used for attack, but in context suggests personal defense.

The “demolishing strongholds” passage of 2 Cor. 10:4,5 is often used by writers of this movement. In the context “strongholds” are clearly “arguments and imaginations: that challenge the knowledge of God. The means of spiritual attack and advance in the NT is always the preaching and defense of the gospel message. If in the process of preaching there occur overt demonic hindrances, as in the case of Paul and the fortune telling slave girl in Philippi (Acts 16:17), then the demon should be encountered. But as with Paul it is then back to preaching and defending the gospel message.

Summary

Well it all started in Brother Crane’s classroom over 50 years ago, but after years of adaptation, it is now widely practiced without any apparent concern regarding its biblical validity. The sword of God’s Word is obviously more effective in evangelism than the spiritual war games of identifying, binding and destroying local demons. The sword of God’s Word is even “sharper than any two-edged sword.”

The coming year will surely present many challenges for Biblical integrity and discernment. May God enable us all to assess all things in the light of God’s recorded revelation in Scripture. May God give each of you a glorious Christmas in Him and may the new year, 2002, be filled with His presence, guidance, tidings and love.

ENDNOTES
1. David Dunlop, Just The Facts

The Truth of False Teachings

For more about the “whistle blowing” ministry of 4 Truth Ministry, please see our About page as well as our False Movements page which lays out several false teachings/teachers found within evangelicalism.

Another great “whistle blowing” ministry is Christian Research Network.

Peter Wagner is attempting to will into existence what he calls a “New Apostolic Reformation.” He tells us in a book he has edited called The New Apostolic Churches of the struggle he had with naming his new reformation:

“I needed a name…For a couple of years I experimented with ‘Post-denominationalism.’ The name I have settled on for the movement is the New Apostolic Reformation.” [1]

Donald Miller, a colleague of Wagner, calls this movement “The New Paradigm Churches.” [2] This is advertised as a reformation greater in scale than the reformation of the 1500’s. It is suggested that this “new reformation” is something entirely new. Wagner outlines his article with sections such as “new name”, “new authority structure”, “new ministry focus”, “new worship style”, “new prayer forms” etc. The centerpiece of this “New Apostolic Reformation” is the launching of new apostles and prophets.

The restoration of modern-day apostles and prophets is promoted in the book The Gift of Apostle by David Cannistraci. This book was offered to those attending a conference organized by Wagner called “Churches in the New Apostolic Paradigm.” Among the list of topics and presenters for the conference was Bill Hamon. (Can we really refer to the Bill Hamon’s teaching as new?) Bishop Hamon has been promoting restoration and Manifest Sons of God teaching for decades.

Can it be argued that this “New Reformation” is something that God has just recently dropped new from heaven like the baby Superman from Krypton? I suggest that there is nothing new here at all and for anyone willing to do the study they will find it a mere cutting-edge version of something at least 100 years old. G. Raymond Carlson, former General Superintendent of the AOG, had this to say regarding the new apostles and prophets:

“I saw it in the New Order of the Latter Rain in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Before that, it made its presence felt in the early days of the century among early Pentecostals.” [3]

The only thing new about this movement seems to be the new personalities who are promoting it and their creative marketing techniques. It is interesting that those promoting this end of the age global revival visualize and allegorize it as a “Mighty River.”

In the last Plumbline newsletter, I asked the question if the “River Boat Captains” knew the direction the current river is flowing. Now I would like to ask further questions. Do the gleeful riverboat passengers know where “the River” originated? Do they know that this river has been flowing for many years? Do they know the original channel that still determines where the River will eventually flow? We all know that the source and the course of a river determines its direction no matter how many tributaries may enter into it along the way. So it is with what is currently called the “River of’ Revival.” Provided people think logically, the underlying core paradigm will eventually play out according to the original vision much like the rules of chess determine what is a valid move, and what is not.

G. Raymond Carlson was right. This much publicized new paradigm can be traced to the Latter Rain movement of 40’s and early 50″s. Even though the Latter Rain of the 50’s faltered and fell into disrepute with the tragic death of William Branham and the repudiation by the Assemblies of God it was kept alive by certain survivors and reintroduced in a veiled manner into the Charismatic Renewal of the 60’s and 70’s. Few people have realized just how influential the Latter Rain movement was and how effectively Latter Rain concepts were introduced into the Charismatic Renewal. Ern Baxter who was instrumental in the Shepherding Movement, worked with William Branham during the 50’s Latter Rain. George Warnock, who wrote the only systematic teaching from the Latter Rain (The Feast of Tabernacles), was Ern Baxter’s personal secretary.

In the midst of the Charismatic Renewal, I remember well the teaching of the fivefold ministry and, at that time, assumed it was a new revelation to the church not knowing it had been imported directly from the Latter Rain. But is the mid-century Latter-Rain the headwaters of the current River of revival? Not really. Rather than the headwaters it is a major tributary. We must travel further upstream to find the actual source. Dr. Raymond Carlson again is correct in asserting that some of the early Pentecostal pioneers of the turn of the century also were involved. Before we stop with the early Pentecostals, we must go just a little further and find the headwaters in the Holiness movement of the late 1800’s.

The Holiness Movement

Holiness enthusiasts of the late nineteenth century searched the scriptures for reference to the revival they were experiencing. One popular scripture was Matt. 24:14, “And this gospel shall be preached in all the world and then the end come.” Holiness teaching served as a prelude to missions and missions a prelude to the second coming.

They identified their holiness experience as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the enabling to take the gospel to every nation and then Jesus could return. Holiness preachers searched the scriptures for this worldwide revival and interestingly enough the best they could find was a teaching they called the “Latter Rain.” This Latter Rain allegory was pieced together from scripture references of the early and latter rains of the Palestinian growing season. (Deut. 11:10-21 and James 5:7-8). These Palestinian rainfall patterns metaphorically became a sort of lens though which to view all of church history. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was seen as the early rain in which the church was planted and the end of age revival was the latter rain, a divine preparation of a last days harvest and the signal of the soon return of Jesus.

Wesley Myland (1858-1943) who began his career as a holiness preacher was the first to put in writing the Latter Rain scheme which he titled “The Latter Rain Covenant.” [4] He is also credited with writing the first Pentecostal hymn “The Latter Rain.” The Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements also refer to his book, “The Latter Rain Covenant” as the first definitive Pentecostal theology.

The Latter-Rain and the early Pentecostals

It was Charles Parham, a Methodist Holiness preacher who broke with traditional Holiness teaching and linked the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with a Latter-Day Pentecost. His new discovery was that tongues was both a sign of this Spirit Baptism and also the signal of the end of the age. The early Pentecostal pioneers initially accepted this Latter Rain motif. Spirit Baptism was an end time repeat of the first Pentecost. Tongues was seen as an eschatological sign signifying that a second and final Pentecost was taking place, bringing the church into a new and final dispensation. This second Pentecost would bring a final world revival in which the nations would have one last opportunity to hear the gospel and then the end would come. Tongues were at first perceived as actual missionary languages to enable the Gospel to be quickly preached throughout the whole earth. Indeed, many at that time went to China assuming they had been given a Chinese tongue to announce the gospel. Most returned disillusioned.

The term “Latter Rain” was used freely by the early Pentecostal pioneers as well as the term “apostolic.” The early Pentecostals were convinced that not only would there be a Latter Rain global revival but the last days church would be restored to the apostolic pattern. Joined to the Latter Rain teaching was a complementary truth called restoration.

Restoring the Apostolic Church

The basic principle of restoration teaching is that there is a fundamental discontinuity, historical and spiritual, between the church today and the New Testament church. In the restoration agenda, God will end the church as He began it. Events, however, caused the early Pentecostals to dispense with Restorationism and the Latter Rain motif. In 1914 and later the founding fathers of the AOG turned their back on Latter Rain Apostolic Restoration thinking and espoused the current pre-millennial eschatology. The Latter Rain motif then sat more or less dormant for decades until 1948.

In Canada, the Latter Rain paradigm erupted again. Impartation of spiritual gifts by the laying on hands was instituted as well as traveling prophets giving personal prophesy. This time there was added the restoration of the apostolic office gifts of apostles and prophets. Indeed, to restore the apostolic church without restored apostles and prophets would be a limited restoration of the apostolic church.

Restored Apostles Prophets

To Latter Rain teachers it seemed obvious that if there was to be a repeated apostolic Pentecost that Apostles and Prophets must be restored as well. These teachers then devised a historical scheme of restoration. Church history was understood as a succession of recoveries of lost or neglected truths. Luther recovered justification by faith, Baptists believer’s baptism, Wesley holiness, A.B. Simpson healing and the early Pentecostal pioneers the gifts of the Spirit. The recovery process was now extended further. The end-time body of Christ must go on to maturity and restore the apostles and prophets and these restored ministries must lead the church to a new and final dimension of power and authority not only bringing in the final harvest but establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth.

Kingdom Now Teaching

Now we are introduced to another major feature of the current move namely Kingdom Now – Dominionism. Previously, Latter Rain teachers saw a second and repeated Pentecost as a final harvest of souls before Christ could come back. Now there is a major addition to the Latter Rain/Restoration concept. The restored apostles and prophets will lead a new and reconstituted body of Christ in conquering the kingdoms of this world and establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth. This dominion mentality is conceived as a gigantic end-time revival that will sweep the whole earth in its wake. Some even refer to a billion souls being swept in to the kingdom. An elite company of over-comers from out of the larger church will subdue all things and will be so endued with supernatural power that the first church apostles will be envious of the latter day apostles.

The church isn’t going sit and take it anymore. The Church isn’t going to wait to be helicoptered out of the world in some rapture rescue plan. The Church will stay right here and by its spiritual authority even defeat the principalities and powers in the heavenlies, dragging them to earth and putting them under their heel. Paul Cain, a survivor of the Latter Rain (1950) is currently marketing a vision of an elite company of overcoming spiritual warriors called “Joel’s army.” This end-time spiritual seals unit will be an invincible band who leads the church in dominion on the earth. A purging of the wider church of those who will not follow the new order is necessary to constitute a unified global church.

Teachers of the new order tell us that all this has been prophesied. This is an end-time fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. These teachers assert that Passover found fulfillment in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The Feast of Pentecost was fulfilled in the outpouring of Spirit, and now the only remaining feast is that of Tabernacles to be fulfilled in the last days church. It is a second Pentecost with restored apostles and prophets. This end-time spiritual army will put all God’s enemies under its feet, yes even the last enemy death itself. This introduces us to another added teaching of the Latter Rain (1950).

The Manifested Sons of God

The body of Christ coming to spiritual maturity will be able to defeat death itself. This teaching became known as the “Manifest Sons of God.” Taking childish cues from Paul’s teaching in Romans eight and misunderstanding them, they suggested that a company of overcoming believers “the sons of God” will be manifested upon the earth with never dying spiritual bodies before the return of Christ. This would have to be the ultimate in dominion teaching. Bishop Earl Paulk has stated the Manifest Sons teaching very clearly without ever using that unpopular term. Listen to his unmistakable teaching:

“Jesus Christ, as the first-fruit of the Kingdom, began the work of conquering death on an individual basis, but we, as His church, will be the ones to complete the task. Jesus said (Matthew 28:18), “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” and the church today has that same power. Death will not be conquered by Jesus returning to earth. It will be conquered when the church stands up boldly and says, “We have dominion over the earth.” [5] Obviously the church has not yet matured to the place of defeating death. Bishop Paulk counsels Christians not to accept death unless they get a specific revelation from God otherwise. [6]

There is a companion truth that often accompanies the Manifested Sons teaching namely the birthing by the church of a corporate Christ. This corporate Christ is said to be a fusing together of the spiritual Christ within His many-membered body upon the earth. The end-time glorious church is supposed to give birth to this corporate Christ. Though it is not always stated this view assumes and some teach (not all) that the literal physical resurrected Jesus will not need to return as such. Rather His second coming will happen when He is spiritually incarnated into his church which will then be able to conquer death itself. This teaching has been expressed in various ways:

“Jesus was God in the flesh. We must be as He was in the world, even greater in volume and influence.” [6]
“The completion of the incarnation of God in the world must be in His church…Jesus Christ is the first-fruit, but without tile ongoing harvest, tile incarnation will never be complete.” [7]
“The living Word of God, Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb of a virgin. The Word became flesh in the God-Man Jesus Christ (John 1:1). Likewise, tile Word of God must be made flesh in the Church in order for us to bear witness to the Kingdom which God has called us to demonstrate.” [8]
“We are on earth as extensions of God to finish the work He began. We are the essence of God, His on-going incarnation in the world.” [9]

This is saying far more than the orthodox view that Christ indwells His Church by the Holy Spirit. The question arises: how can Jesus, with his current resurrected body in heaven, be incarnated into the church that is still upon the earth? Some have seen this problem and solve it by adjusting their Christology.

“He [Jesus] entered a higher realm of restoration and love by becoming an indwelling Spirit.” [10]

We must oppose this view. Jesus has not become the Holy Spirit. It is rather the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer. The Resurrected Jesus is at the Father’s right hand and in His glorified resurrected body He will return bodily to the earth. Obviously, an indwelling spirit would not need to return from heaven. It is on this basis that some Dominion teachers assert that Jesus can be an on-going incarnation of God in His body (church) upon the earth. Consequently, scriptures pertaining to Christ’s ruling on earth are often seen as referring the Church rather than Jesus. The Church is viewed as a kind of virgin Mary who must give birth to Jesus the indwelling spirit. Francis Frangipane teaches a similar a message:

“When the Spirit of Christ comes into the physical world, He must enter through a physical body. When Christ first entered our world as a child, it was Mary whom God chose to give Christ birth. Mary’s life symbolized the qualities the church must possess to walk in the fullness of Christ. God is preparing us as He did Mary to give birth to the ministry of His Son. Even now, in the spiritual womb of the virgin church, the Holy purpose of Christ is growing, awaiting maturity, ready to be born in the power and timing of God. The virgin church is in labor and in pain to give birth (Rev. 12:5) even now hell trembles and the heavens watch in awe for I say to you, once again, the virgin is with child.” [11]

Latter-Rain teachers have long used Rev. 12, teaching that the woman in this passage is the church and the “Manchild” to be birthed is a spiritual second coming of Christ into His corporate body. When Latter Rain Prophet Paul Cain describes, in passing, the church as the “Manchild Company” he has this teaching in mind. Marc Dupont of the former Toronto Vineyard claims to have received a significant prophecy in which he states the following:

“This move of the Spirit in 1994 in not just a Charismatic and Pentecostal experience, concerning power and gifting. It is one thing to be clothed with power; it is another to be indwelt with the Person of God.” [12]

Old Testament scriptures are spiritualized to see birthing as the return of the ark to the temple that is the coming of Christ invisibly into His living temple the church. This will occur when the Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled which celebrates the Lord dwelling among His people.

“When this happens, no longer will it be the Head (Jesus Christ) in heaven and the body (believers) on earth – but one Perfect Man filling both heaven and earth.” [13]

This teaching of a spiritual second coming of Jesus into His body is rarely advertised. Rather the more palatable teaching of a final global revival and restored apostles prophets is the public teaching most emphasized. How can the present Charismatic/Pentecost Church even entertain elements of this teaching that originated from such a small group that operated on the fringes of the Pentecostal movement in the early 50’s?

When the Charismatic Renewal exploded in the 60’s and 70’s, certain Latter Rain holdovers found a new and undiscriminating audience. Charismatics had never heard of the Latter Rain and received the new teaching as part of their new wine experience. Consequently Latter-Rain/Restorationism received a greater hearing within the Charismatic renewal than it ever did in the Classic Pentecostal tradition. Through the Charismatic Renewal, Latter Rain teachings were renamed and finally homogenized sufficiently so that today Latter Rain ideas float freely on “the River” without anyone detecting their true identity. Furthermore, the Charismatic Renewal has been mainstreamed into wider evangelical circles through John Wimber and Vineyard conferences, signs and wonders teachings, etc. Indeed some of the more extreme parts of the paradigm are not put out front, nevertheless, little by little the wider church is coalescing around what, when thoroughly analyzed, are Latter Rain core beliefs.

Without unwarranted employment of the Latter Rain allegory there is not even a hint in scripture of an end-time global revival and second Pentecost. Not everyone in the River uniformly accepts all the parts of the paradigm. But as time goes by more and more Latter Rain tenants exert a gravitational pull that draws participants to logically espouse more and more of the paradigm. When Peter Wagner calls for and attempts to network a worldwide apostolic reformation, does he espouse the whole of the Latter Rain/Restoration paradigm? I don’t really know. In fact, I doubt that he does. I do know, however, that by bringing Bishop Bill Hamon to speak at his conferences he is bringing the whole paradigm mentioned above. There must be at least an openness on Wagner’s part and many others because they without qualification recommend Bill Hamon’s books with its full-blown Latter Rain and Manifested Sons teaching.

Wagner’s “New Apostolic Reformation” is nothing more than warmed-over Latter Rain teaching. G. Raymond Carlson from his vantage point of history knew that all this has its source in a second end-time Pentecost, first articulated at the turn of the century and restated and expanded in the New Order of the Latter Rain 1950 and now imported and marketed into the wider church by means of the Charismatic renewal. When much is made of a sweeping revival that will overflow the earth in the last days with billions of converts you should be aware that this popular idea comes not from scripture but from a view of church history that has been running now for over a century. Take away the fraudulent allegorical use of “Latter Rain” scheme and there remains no other biblical support for this elaborate view of the end-times.

Rather, it was Jesus Himself who asked the question: “When the Son of Man comes will He find faith upon the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

The Scripture leaves no doubt that Jesus will return bodily to earth and when He does His “body” upon the earth (the full complement of his church) will be raptured up to meet Him in the air (I Thess. 4:17). It is then and only then that He will change our corruptible bodies in a twinkling of an eye. It is then that Jesus will rule earth in His glorified and resurrected body. It is then that the Sons of God will be manifest.

Rather than sensationalizing a false and unbiblical agenda, the church must occupy until He comes and His body is completed. Faithfully this Gospel must be preached to every nation and then the end will come. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

END NOTES
1. C. Peter Wagner, The New Apostolic Churches (Ventura CA; Regal, 1998). p. 18.
2. Donald E. Miller, New Paradigm Churches in the Twentieth Century (Pasadena CA: Ministry Advantage), Vol. 6, No. 4, July/Aug 1996.
3. G. Rayomond Carlson, personal letter to Jewel van der Merwe
4. Wesley Myland, The Latter-Rain Covenant (1910)
5. Earl Paulk, The Proper Function of the Church (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers, undated p. 13
6. Earl Paulk, The Ultimate Kingdom (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers), 1986, p.121.
7. Earl Paulk, The Wounded Body of Christ (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers), p. 43.
8. Earl Paulk, Held In The Heavens (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers), 1985, p.60
9. lbid, p. 125.
10. Earl Paulk, Thrust In The Sickle And Reap (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers, 1986, p. 132.
11. Francis Frangipane, In The Presence Of God, New Wine Press 1994, pp. 153-157.
12. Marc Dupont, Mantle of Praise, Alpha Magazine, 1994.
13. Tricia Tillin, The Source and Goal of the Second Pentecost (UK: Banner Ministries, 1994)

The Truth of False Teachings

For more about the “whistle blowing” ministry of 4 Truth Ministry, please see our About page as well as our False Movements page which lays out several false teachings/teachers found within evangelicalism.

Another great “whistle blowing” ministry is Christian Research Network.

Whether it be recognized or not, there is a huge integrity problem in the church today regarding who speaks for God. Charles Colson, who authored a book with the appropriate title, WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD, apparently feels that the Roman Catholic Pontiff speaks (ex cathedra) for God today, for he has advocated that the whole of the Christian church should return to home sweet Rome.

Others who announce that God has restored apostles and prophets to the end time church, boldly acclaim that these prophetic and apostolic offices of NT times are once again receiving “present truth” (in addition to biblical truth) to guide the church into its triumphant and glorious establishment of God’s rule and kingdom upon planet earth. Although he is not quoted much these days, Bishop (also prophet) Earl Paulk has stated this claim with unmistakable clarity.

“Holy men of old were moved upon by the Holy Spirit and the revelation given to them is God’s Word in the Holy Scriptures. Is God speaking any less today through holy men called of God to bring a message through revelation to this generation? …

We wave our Bibles and cry, ‘This is the Word of’ God.’ Indeed it is God’s Word, but the Holy Spirit yet brings revelation to this generation today that is no less God’s Word…The prophet is not a method that God uses; but in fact is the only method he uses to speak to this generation.”

Benny Hinn prophesied to his congregation in Orlando Christian Center in 1989 regarding what God had to say in regard to the 90’s:

“The Lord tells me to tell you in the mid 90’s about 94-95 no later than that God will destroy the homosexual community of America. He will destroy it with fire.”
“The Spirit tells me, an earthquake will hit the East Coast of America and destroy much in the 90’s.”

After twenty minutes of many more prophecies, Hinn appeared to be “drunk in the Spirit”. When he came to his senses he said:

“I’d like to know what I said, I was totally gone.”

Other wannabe prophets, too numerous to mention, give unending revelations of what the Spirit has told them.

The integrity problem is that these people who speak claiming the mantle of the prophets of old are never totally accurate or even mostly accurate. When Bob Jones, the Kansas City prophet, (who was temporarily sidelined for using prophecy for sexual advantage) and others, can only boast of being 30% accurate, doesn’t this suggest that there is an integrity problem? The famed South Korean Pastor David Cho, prophesied, while in Pensacola, that the Brownsville Revival would continue until Jesus returns. The current fact is that the Brownsville Outpouring is presently imploding with staff firings, recriminations and two rival schools of revival.

We berate politicians when they make promises they choose not to keep. Remember “Read my lips?” But when someone, with no hesitation, announces the supposed very words of God which fail totally, we don’t make a murmur or bat an eye. Isn’t this an integrity problem?

Moreover, don’t you suppose that the Holy One who never lies or changes, has some problems with all the inaccurate words He supposedly uttered? Do we really think that God, in the wideness of His mercy, simply sees these prophets as immature trainees? Can we really believe that God is absolutely thrilled that some of His mouthpieces have actually arrived at 30% accuracy? This assumes that God’s conception of truth is, after all, quite flexible and more akin to a postmodern understanding of truth.

The further question concerns the status of those who prophesy falsely. How do we regard them in the church? Do we give them an “A” for effort and hope they will do better next time? Here is the rub. These prophets have much in common with us. They believe Jesus is the Savior, that He died and rose again etc. In fact, they could all endorse the Apostles Creed. How many in the current environment of the church would dare call someone a false prophet? But what else should we call them? If they aren’t false prophets what are they? They call themselves prophets and they utter falsehoods claiming to speak God’s very words.

Indeed, some of us have differing views of the interpretation of certain scripture (for example the timing of the Lord’s return). There is some room for differing understandings as long as we claim the truthfulness of God’s inspired Word and are always seeking to find that truth. But what about those “the Spirit told me” statements in which the authority is not derived from Scripture or an attempt to understand God’s written word? Rather the authority is stated to be that these are the very spoken words of God. When a prophesy fails who has the integrity problem?

Even on the human level, how many of us would be happy if someone quoted us as saying something we never said? We get irate when someone quotes us out of context! Does the God who is truth by definition and prides Himself on being the source of all truth feel any different? Is God really pleased with his church when it seems unconcerned about this integrity problem? Does He smile when we refuse to make those who presume to speak for Him accountable? Just how concerned is God about truth claims offered in His name? Are His statements about truth flexible after all?

Wayne Grudem, a renowned professor of theology and Vineyard church member, has come to the rescue of those who prophesy falsely. In his book, The Gift of Prophesy in the New Testament and Today, he has offered a theory about NT prophecy that seems to get those “missing it” in prophecy off the hook. Grudem is biblically and theologically trained and his writings reflect that. His proposal is that NT prophecy was of a lower grade than OT prophecy. People spoke what they thought God was telling them. The prophecy could contain elements truly from God and other elements that were not.

He wrote his book to put forward the above understanding. His arguments hinge on his understanding of one Greek word, diakrino. The context is 1 Corinthian 14:29, “Let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge.” (NKJV) The word “judge” is the Greek word diakrino. Grudem admits that this word can have a wide range of meaning but he chooses a minor meaning of the word which means to “sift out.” He concludes that the “others” of this verse are not the other prophets but the whole congregation. He suggests that the words spoken in prophecy are to be sifted so that what is “of God” can be distinguished from that which is “not of God.” It is not the prophet himself who is judged but only the words spoken by the prophet. In this way no one has to be concerned with gaining the title of false prophet.

Grudem admits that Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:10 uses diakrino to distinguish between “spirits” not as sifting out but judging what in totality is from God. He admits that in Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus warns of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing and I John 4:1-6 warns about false prophets and gives a test for determining who is a false prophet. He also alludes to the “Didache” a first century Christian writing that gives specific tests to determine a true prophet from a false one. But then he simply announces that we must not take this meaning into the first Corinthian 14 passage but we must see it here as a sifting of the elements of prophecy, not judging true or false prophets. He states it this way:

“The whole congregation would listen and evaluate what was said by the prophet, forming opinions about it and some would perhaps discuss it publicly. Each prophesy might have both true and false elements in it and some would perhaps discuss it publicly. Each prophesy might have both true and false elements in it, and those would be sifted and evaluated for what they were.” (page 78)

He dismisses the idea that the discernment was about the truth or falseness of the prophet by saying “would it be by some kind of vote that a prophet would be declared either a true or a false prophet?” But, on the other hand, given Grudem’s view, stated above, could you imagine the whole congregation publicly sifting a prophetic utterance to figure out what parts were true or false, which was of God and that which was not? Can’t you just see Demetrius, a Christian slave raising his hand and saying I accept this part from God and the rest as false only to have his Christian master respond to him with a different sifting of the same prophesy? It could have taken hours to arrive at a proper decision and in some cases, they would have to agree to disagree.

Grudem’s only defense for his view is that a local church would hardly threaten some of its own people with being false prophets. This has some merit. But he fails to mention that we already know that the NT prophetic office was primarily an itinerant ministry. It seems thus that when itinerant prophets arrived, the local approved prophets would judge first their words and if false they judged them as false prophets. It’s the only way the church could escape a confusing smorgasbord of supposed authentic prophetic utterances with no apparent way to reach a consensus as to what elements were from God and what was not from God.

The fact that false prophets also believed in Jesus, His cross and resurrection, was not sufficient to absolve them of their prophetic inaccuracy. That some of what they prophesied met apostolic muster could not sanction them as spokesmen for God when in that same utterance there were elements that were clearly false. Let’s illustrate. Snake venom is 90% pure protein but the 10% that is toxic can be deadly. Consequently, snake venom is not a good source of protein.

The apostle Paul did not hesitate to vote up or down on those who promoted false truth claims. In Galatia, he announced that those who added to his gospel of grace are accursed. He was even ready to pronounce a divine curse upon a supposed angel from heaven that got the gospel of grace wrong. These Judaizers in Galatia had a lot in common with other believers. They were believers in Jesus, the cross and the resurrection. But to misrepresent the truth of God was a preeminently serious matter. Paul was even willing to go nose to nose with Peter on this. Putting forward a united front in a pagan world did not cause Paul to look the other way. Why was this so all fired important to Paul? Was he just trying to show off his apostolic authority? Hardly. The truth of God was at stake. He could not hide behind the verse “keeping the bond of peace” in this case. This went right to the integrity of the truth of God.

We have all read about the “whistle blowers” who, as in the instance of the tobacco industry, blew the whistle of integrity. Were they loved for it? Did they win the esteem of their work friends? Hardly! They were accused of betrayal and many were summarily fired for their efforts. How many NFL referees are loved for making the call that someone was out of bounds? Can you imagine a football game in which there were no rules or boundaries? Everyone just made up the rules as they went along. Who would prevail? The famous, the most powerful and most persuasive would end up making all the judgment calls. It’s somewhat like that in the church today. We play without biblical boundaries. We expand the out of bound markers all the time by saying that God Himself said we should do it. But then, all too rarely, along comes a “whistle blower.” He declares something out of bounds of the Word of God. Is he loved and esteemed? Hardly! He is put down as a “word bound legalist” who isn’t flowing with God’s present truth. But the only reason we need “whistle blowers” is because the church seems unable to muster the courage to judge itself.

1 Corinthians 11:31, “If we judged (diakrino) ourselves rightly we would not be judged.”

The only reason we need building inspectors is because some of the contractors are often cutting comers. If we make every effort to do it right, do we need fear an inspection? Our anger at inspectors is perhaps because we aren’t sure of our actions.

Plumbline is meant to be a “whistle blower” ministry. We aren’t overly concerned with the evaluation of the heavy hitters and the famous, rather when we are aware of something that appears to be out of bounds biblically, we will make the call and leave it to those who love truth to evaluate it. Do we thus claim perfection? Hardly. But, when someone presumes to speak God’s actual words and they prove false, it hardly takes a prophet to blow that whistle.

In our market driven spiritual economy, where truth too often is what seems to work, fill pews, sells books, often enhancing anointed celebrities, if you dare to blow the whistle of biblical integrity you will not win any popularity contests.

Paul seems to have been one of those peace-breaking censorious “whistle blowing” heresy hunters. Why he even went so far as to pronounce the anathema on those who had a different view of circumcision. But, he wasn’t building an empire or selling a book. He was determined that if pleasing God meant being discredited by man (the Corinthian church) he would gladly bear that burden.

The Truth of False Teachings

For more about the “whistle blowing” ministry of 4 Truth Ministry, please see our About page as well as our False Movements page which lays out several false teachings/teachers found within evangelicalism.

Another great “whistle blowing” ministry is Christian Research Network.