Job 36: Kings in Fetters (Part 11)
We continue from Part 10 of this series of messages where we left off our discussion at the Charismatic Church. The Charismatic Church only had its beginnings at the turn of the 20th century but they are already numbered in the hundreds of millions, and are only second to the Roman Catholic Church in terms of sheer size. They are currently the church of the vast majority and the face of Christianity to the unbelieving world.
Matthew 12:38-39 "¶ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:"
Jesus called the scribes and the Pharisees hypocrites throughout the gospel, and in this passage of scripture, we also learn that these hypocrites “seeketh after a sign”. It is common knowledge that the Charismatic Church too, seek after signs and wonders. Connect this to:
Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
In fact, the third wave of the Charismatic Movement is called the “Signs and Wonders Movement”. The Third Wave Movement is a Pentecostal or Charismatic movement that began in the 1980s. It is sometimes called the “Third Wave of the Holy Spirit” or the “Signs and Wonders Movement.” The name “Third Wave” was coined by C. Peter Wagner, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. He referred to the movement as the “Third Wave” because this was the third of three distinct Pentecostal/Charismatic movements in modern Christianity.
The first wave was the original Pentecostal Movement that began in the early 1900s with the teachings of Charles Parham followed by the Azusa Street Revival. The second wave then came in the 1960s with the Charismatic movement. In the Charismatic movement, Pentecostal doctrines, teachings, and practices began to spread to non-Pentecostal churches and denominations. This wave brought increased popularity to the “Word of Faith” or “Name It and Claim It” false teachings that are still popular today.
Then, in the 1980s, another “movement of the Holy Spirit,” supposedly characterized by “signs and wonders,” began in the Vineyard Church with the teachings of John Wimber, Mike Bickle, C. Peter Wagner, Jack Deere, and others. Professor Wagner characterized this Third Wave as being “a new moving of the Holy Spirit among evangelicals who, for one reason or another, have chosen not to identify with either the Pentecostals or Charismatics.” Also known as the Neo-Charismatic Movement, this Third Wave of Pentecostal doctrine and excess became very popular and led to many aberrant teachings such as the Toronto Blessing and laughing in the Spirit.
In addition to highlighting some of the melodramatic practices of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, the Third Wave goes even further with its emphasis on the sensational, including claims of signs and wonders performed by “modern-day apostles and prophets.”
Key teachings of the Third Wave Movement include what is known as “power evangelism.” The basic premise of power evangelism is that the preaching of the gospel must be accompanied with signs and wonders in order for people to respond in faith. Proponents of this view have an unbalanced focus on miracles, speaking in tongues, healing, and prophecy. They miss the fact that it is the gospel message itself that is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1). Third Wave proponents essentially deny the sufficiency of Scripture and believe that God is communicating directly though modern-day prophets and apostles. Therefore, they believe that God is giving new revelation today that undermines the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The words of these “new apostles and prophets” become more important than the clear teaching of Scripture. As with all Pentecostal/Charismatic movements, personal experience plays a greater role for determining “truth” than does sound doctrine.
The Third Wave is yet another movement that is based on people’s experience rather than on sound doctrine. Proponents of the Third Wave Movement believed that it would bring forth end-time apostles and prophets to do greater miracles than were performed by Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles. These “new apostles and prophets” were said to be greater than any prophet or apostle that had preceded them. This teaching has resulted in many false prophets coming out of Third Wave churches.
Since its beginning in the 1980s, the Third Wave Movement has sparked a large number of counterfeit revivals. As the movement evolved, unbiblical practices such as “laughing in the spirit” continued to get more and more bizarre. In recent years some Third Wave leaders and churches have begun to separate themselves from some of the more aberrant practices and are trying to move back to more traditional Charismatic practices. This Third Wave of Pentecostalism has left in its wake a history of false teachings and destructive practices. Many have been led astray.
The Charismatic Church is underpinned by “the dispensation of Grace” teaching, and so it is not difficult to see where modern churchianity is leading people to. The Charismatic Church, dispensationalism and modern bible versions: these three things work hand in hand to revive ancient Rabbinism, which is the religion of the scribes and the Pharisees (hypocrites). Apart from the Charismatic Church, there are also the IFB churches. Many of these churches still preach from the 1611 King James Bible. They still bear the image of a conservative church even though some of their doctrines are not conservative at all e.g. decisionism. Of all these churches, the Hyles cult has perhaps more than any other, promoted the Scofield Reference Bible and dispensationalism.
Jesus warned us in:
Matthew 7:15 "¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Some wolves in sheep's clothing prefer to hide their identities by calling out other less pretentious wolves, and it is a common thing that IFB churches like to call out the less pretentious Charismatic Church for their errors, but are silent to their own. Matthew 7:15 is bridged to Luke 11:39 by two words:
Luke 11:39 "And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness."
This is where we know that the Pharisees and the false prophets of the Old Testament times are the same group of people. These two entities, though seemingly separate, are connected by the word "ravening". In Matthew 24:24, it was the false prophets who shall deceive with great signs and wonders. Their target are the Christians who seeketh after a sign, mainly the Charismatic crowd. But it is not just the Charismatics that have been deceived. Many of the fundamental churches too, have been infiltrated by the religion of the scribes and the Pharisees - the hypocrites. Again, referring to the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus said in:
Mark 7:6-7 "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
The word of God means nothing to those hypocrites whose heart is far away from God. They teach for doctrines the commandments of men, not of God. Today, Christianity is overrun by all kinds of theories, theologies, philosophies and traditions. Biblical Christianity is unpopular. Popular Christianity is unbiblical. These church men and women may appear spiritual on the outside, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Their words "doth eat as a canker" according to 2 Timothy 2:17. They will come to you privily in the name of Jesus Christ bringing with them all the "-isms": Catholicism; Dispensationalism; Ruckmanism; Calvinism; Arminianism; Perfectionism; Methodism; Decisionism; Rationalism; etc.
These "-isms" denote their school of thoughts or framework of thinking. They are philosophical ideas which men have invented that would add unto or take away from the words of the LORD in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. True Bible-Christianity is pure, even as the words of the LORD are pure words. A truly born again Bible-believing Christian does not need the "-isms" to help him understand the words of the LORD in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. He has the Spirit of truth to teach him and guide him unto all truth alongside with the word of truth that he has received. The scribes and the Pharisees of the past are now the leadership of pharisaical churches of modern times. Their strange doctrines have taken root and as corrupt trees, have brought forth evil fruits.
Throughout the four gospel books and the book of Acts, we read of an enemy: the Pharisees, the Scribes and the Saduccees, who were constantly persecuting Jesus Christ and the church. They were the ones who got really angry at the truth - the 66 books of the Holy Bible. Today, even though the Pharisees and the Sadduccees who hated Jesus and persecuted the church are no longer with us, but their spirits live on in the form of “...doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12). In that sense, they continue to make disciples, converting them into “...twofold more the child of hell” (Matthew 23:15) than themselves.
Their spirits are alive in churches built upon false bibles, preaching false gospels, and teaching for doctrine the commandments of men - producing false converts. Look around you and see how many Pharisees and Sadduccees these churches have produced: Christians who deny the words of the LORD, working rebellion against God, and calling him a liar. These are the "Christians" who get really upset at the words of the LORD, having rejected the truth for lies, preferring darkness over light, and not possessing the love of God. They scoff at the words of the LORD, and they would not be reproved no matter what. These are the hypocrites who will fall away in the time of temptation.
Matthew 7:21-23 "¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
This passage is the LORD addressing the hypocrites who profess to know him, but in their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (Titus 1:16). We shall continue with our study of Job 36 in Part 12.