Do charismatic gifts really come from god?
The
situation is that you withhold many things that do not align with
your views, but this does not happen by chance, since your partial
truths are not in harmony with the whole truth.
It starts with projecting the events of the 1st-century era all the way to modern times, as if everything works now the same way it did in the apostolic times. But if this were true, then the gifts (signs and miracles) would have had to operate throughout the past two thousand years. If this were true, then Jesus could not say that false prophets and false Christs will come, performing great signs to deceive even the elect. (Matthew 24:24) This only makes sense if there are no miracles from God, because they ceased with the apostolic era - Hebrews 6:5 "and have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the coming age" - but reappear, and these miracles characterize the false prophets.
You
conceal the fact that the return of miracles comes from Satan, which
is clearly written. Why don't you quote this, why do you keep silent
about it? 2 Thessalonians 2:9 Whose
coming is by the power of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying
wonders. -
This text identifies the background of false prophets, showing that
they are not from God, but from Satan!
Then
you also conceal that not only the Holy Spirit can come from God
(Luke 11:13), but also the power of delusion, which He sends upon
those who take pleasure in false teachings. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
And
for this reason God sends (Greek:
pempei – sends) upon
them a strong delusion, to believe the lie; That they all may be
condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
You
keep silent about the fact that among the gifts of the Spirit there
was also raising the dead (Matthew 10:8), which the Devil cannot
imitate, which is why you cannot raise the dead as charismatics, even
though if those gifts were working as they did in the time of the
apostles, you should be able to raise the dead as well, but you
cannot, neither you Pentecostals nor those from the Faith Fellowship,
in fact, no one can.
In this way, the so-called charismatic movement fulfills the Word of God in a certain sense. Even if we had never heard of Pentecostal movements based solely on Bible prophecy, we would still have to assume that these very things would come and spread widely. However, this time their source is not God, but, as 2 Thessalonians 2:9 clearly states, Satan!
The fulfillment of speaking in tongues
You keep silent that Paul speaks about the cessation of tongues: 1 Cor 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are prophecies, they will cease; or tongues, they will be done away; or knowledge, it will be done away. - They cease because speaking in tongues was a sign of judgment to the unbelieving Jews of the first century, showing that God was laying the cornerstone, and whoever believes in it (Jesus) will not be put to shame. 1 Cor 14:21-22 It is written in the law: With other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and yet they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Therefore, tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers, but for believers.
This event was revealed in Isaiah 28, and through speaking in tongues, God indicated that Jesus was laid as the cornerstone; whoever believes will not be put to shame. But the Jews did not understand the sign (only a few who believed in Jesus did). The sign was valid until 70 AD, when the Roman army swept through Jerusalem, and afterwards the sign ceased to function; speaking in tongues from God came to an end.
Compare Isaiah 28:21: For the Lord shall rise up as at Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His act, His unusual act. With Acts 13:41: Behold ye, despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. - This refers to the destruction of the temple, which the Jews would not have believed, yet it happened.
You
remain silent about the fact that in the 1st century God immediately
sentenced to death those who misused the Holy Spirit (Ananias and
Sapphira - Acts 5:1-5), but after the apostolic era, during the
period of grace, God did not condemn anyone, and He does not do so
today either.
You
remain silent about the fact that although speaking in tongues could
be edifying, that was not its purpose; God did not give it for that,
but as a sign for unbelieving Jews. Today, however, you cite this
edification as how useful it is. Of course, it is just that it is not
from God, as we have read.
Unmasking the Healings
Jesus'
first-century disciples themselves suffered from certain illnesses
from which they were not miraculously healed. Jesus himself also
says: I was sick. (cf. Matthew 25:36)
The Apostle Paul
struggled with a physical ailment, and in Galatians 4:13 he writes:
“You know that it was because of a bodily
illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my
illness was a burden to you, you did not despise or reject me, but
received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.”
In the Greek text, the word asteneia appears, which means weakness/illness. (cf. Acts 28:9) Epaphroditus was almost sick to the point of death, not because of any sin, but Paul did not heal him by a miracle. (Philippians 2:25-30) He recommended a little wine to Timothy for his stomach ailments, and he did not use miraculous healing for him (or for Trophimus) either. (1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20) John wishes Gaius physical recovery, but here too there is no miraculous healing. (3 John 2.)
It can be read in the autobiographical book of Sándor Kerekes, a Pentecostal pastor:
“A brother from Aranyosgyéres, named János Farkas, became ill with chills and prayed for the Lord to heal him. The Lord said to him: ‘Take 500 lei for the construction of the congregation house in Torda, and I will heal you.’ One day I saw this brother there with the money, and he said: ‘I will give a thousand, Lord, just let my illness go away. I’ll bring 500 here, and I’ll give the rest wherever I know it’s needed.’ And immediately his chills disappeared.” (Sixty Years – Experience with God, Agapia Publisher, p. 118)
Do we know Jesus as someone who heals for money??? (cf. Psalms 145:16; Matthew 10:8) Or rather as someone who excludes those who perform miracles by the power of a false spirit from God’s kingdom?! Because such things (prophecy, exorcism, mighty works, speaking in tongues) are clearly done by those working through a false spirit, as Jesus himself explicitly lists these things as unlawful!!!
He
says:
„Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not
perform many miracles in your name?' Then I will declare to them: 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
(Matthew 7:21-23)
Here we find the Greek word 'anomia,' and Jesus applies it to those who perform miracles and their accompanying signs, meaning He cites no other reason for their condemnation except this. For God withdrew the gifts of the Spirit once they had fulfilled their purpose. (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:8) God only gave a taste of the powers of the coming world, which does not last two thousand years until our days. (cf. Hebrews 6:5)
If
it is true, according to the charismatic interpretation of 1 Peter
2:24 - He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we
might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have
been healed - that He not only delivered us from sin but also saved
us from sickness, then how is it that those previously mentioned were
not delivered from physical illnesses?
Why
did Lazarus become sick? Why did Paul not heal Epaphroditus and
Trophimus miraculously? What about Timothy, who had stomach problems?
How could he himself (Paul) struggle with sickness? /Perhaps with an
eye disease?/ Why was he sympathetic to the sick when Jesus
supposedly brought healing through His wounds, both physical and
spiritual?
If, in charismatic churches, the lame woman advertised gets healed through a miraculous healing, why not the above cases as well?
But more importantly, if healing from illness is obvious as a result of salvation, why did Jesus mention in his parable that he was sick, and that whoever visited his slightest spiritual brother in sickness, actually visited Jesus himself?! If everyone was healed by Jesus' wounds because 'it is God’s will to heal us, as healing is part of His plan of salvation,' then were these sick people not part of God's redemptive plan?
How far astray are the charismatics if they proclaim and practice automatic physical healing in their congregations, which they moreover attribute to Jesus?!
Quotes from F.F. Bosworth's book: Christ the Healer:
“For
a sick person, the certain knowledge that God wants to heal them is
the ‘seed’ that must be planted in their mind and heart… If
someone prays with faith-destroying words such as ‘if this is Your
will,’ they are not planting the ‘seed,’ but actually uprooting
it…
If
you want to receive life and healing from God, take the time to find
in the Scriptures those verses that promise these results… The
Church should no longer pray for the sick using the faith-destroying
phrase, ‘if this is Your will.” (Publisher: Faith Church,
1993. pp. 17-18; 20; 63.)
These
short but pithy quotes show that charismatics almost concoct their
own expectations from the Bible. They no longer even leave healing up
to God's will if He happens to want it, because – what do you mean
'if'??? God does not want 'if,' He surely wants it!!! Practically,
they are dictating (!) the rhythm of healing to God,
which is utterly astonishing.
Perhaps
Christ did not ask: „Father,
if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my
will, but yours be done!” (Luke
22:42, Károli; cf. Matthew 6:10) And the leper did not say to
Christ, "If you are willing, you can make me clean?' (Matthew 8:2) So
how dare anyone dictate to God? ”nstead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do
this or that.” (James
4:15)
And
what does He want, that we should do? Does He perhaps expect us to
heal our fellow believer? No, but in case of illness, to visit them;
the rest is God’s business! (cf. Matthew 25:36,40)
Christ
brought spiritual healing for every believer, which has remained
valid from the apostolic age to our present day, and physical healing
will come in His thousand-year kingdom. Isaiah 33:24: "No longer will
the people say, “I am sick,” for the people who dwell in it will
be forgiven their iniquity."
Is it Jesus who heals in charismatic churches, or the Devil?
How can we tell whether the quotation from 1 Peter 2:24 refers to spiritual or physical healing? The full context of the Bible becomes clear if we are willing to seek information objectively and do not subordinate our understanding to a preconceived doctrinal view. Yet, in charismatic denominations, the supposed evidence of physical healing extending to believers is just as much a doctrinal view as the competent assertion of the general theory of evolution in science regarding the origin of humans. However, both are false, and both serve the purposes of the Devil!
Alongside spiritual healing, physical healing and curing also appear on the pages of the Old Testament. If we look at the relevant quotes from the New Testament, we find the same thing.
Spiritual healing: „For this people's heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn back, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15)
Physical
healing: "And
Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and
every sickness among the people." (Matthew
4:23)
Spiritual
and physical healing together: "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed
free,"
(Luke 4:18)
Now let's look at what Isaiah foretold about Jesus' activity concerning healing: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
It is clear that Jesus' sacrificial atonement brings change in every Christian life, primarily deliverance from sin /forgiveness of sins, which results in a clear conscience/, and freedom from practicing sin /which results in disciplined, principle-based thinking and actions/.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness... which also now saves us, as a likeness, through baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;... who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all unrighteousness and purify for Himself a special people, eager for good deeds..." (1 Peter 3:21; 1 John 1:9; Titus 2:14)
Evidence of the Power of Delusion
PENETRATION THROUGH PASSIVITY A common goal in all charismatic religious practices is for the participant to become passive, to empty themselves (see the compulsion for self-suggestion in naturopathy, or tuning in to hypnosis), so that the demon can carry out its defiling work within them. One of the most striking signs of this is falling backward, which in the Bible symbolizes downfall. (cf. Genesis 49:18; 1 Samuel 4:18; Psalms 35:4; Isaiah 28:13)
In
charismatic congregations, special people had to be appointed because
they fall backward like a sack at the fiery touch of the pastor (who
is cloaked in a lamb's skin). The first man of the Mormons, the
founder Joseph Smith, was also thrown backward by the demon that
appeared to him in the wilderness, a place that Jesus explicitly said
would not be found! (cf. Matthew 24:26)
The
Bible advises,
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you." (James
4:7)
But
at the same time, the Bible also clearly states that in the presence
of the Holy Spirit, a person falls face down, and this is confirmed
in other places in Scripture as well. “When
I heard his voice and spoke, I fainted and fell prostrate before
him.” (Daniel
10:9; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:25; Genesis 17:3; Leviticus 9:24; Numbers
16:22; 1 Kings 18:39; Ezekiel 1:28; Daniel 8:17; Matthew 17:6; 26:39;
Revelation 7:11; 11:16)
However,
it also draws attention to the need to be alert and sober (1
Thessalonians 5:6). The problem is that those whose eyes have already
become hardened do not recognize that they are bound by demons. And
once they have entered into a laying-on-of-hands initiation, from
that point on they become puppets, receiving verbal instructions –
according to them from the Lord, but according to the Lord, from the
demons! (cf. Matthew 24:24; 1 Timothy 4:1)
Then
that the Holy Spirit fills them and they tremble like a poplar leaf,
others fall to the ground, writhe, get a giggling fit, and people say
it's the work of the Holy Spirit? And what if it is the work of the
Devil? Then you are under judgment, as we read: 2 Thessalonians
2:11-12 And
for this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will
believe the lie, in order that all may be condemned who did not
believe the truth but delighted in wickedness.
And
the truth is what we can read in 2 Corinthians 13-15:
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."
