BIBLE
DIGEST - Number 68 January
1997
THE TORONTO "BLESSING" - or THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM?
By Allon Maxwell
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"If a prophet
arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let
us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,'
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of
dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk
after the LORD your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his
voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him." (Deuteronomy 13:1-4) Over
the last couple of years the Pentecostal Movement has been plagued by
controversy about yet another new phenomenon. This time it is the
"Toronto Blessing", named for The Toronto Airport Church (Ontario
Canada) where it is reported to have begun in January 1994. From there it has
spread like an infection, to the Pentecostal movement, all over the world. However
it is not universally accepted. There is also wide opposition and rejection
from many of the more traditional Pentecostal leaders. Some well-known
"Spirit filled" authorities are as loud in their condemnation, as
others are in promoting it. The
experience is characterised by waves of uncontrollable "holy
laughter", and "spiritual drunkenness", which infect whole
meetings with confusion and disorder, disrupting all other activities. In
some victims it appears as equally uncontrollable weeping,
jerking, screeching, animal noises etc. Others are "slain in the
spirit". Of
course it is NOT really new. "Holy laughter" "the jerks",
animal noises, and other bizarre behaviour identical to this 1990s outbreak,
can be found in the history of the more abandoned "revivals" of the
18th and 19th centuries. And the same things can be found in modern pagan
religions, and parts of the New Age Movement. In
some of the meetings which I have seen on video tape, confusion reigns
supreme! ....... initiated by men who come in their own name (John 5:43) displaying their king sized egos
in the most blatant ways! Paul
had something to say about this sort of confusion. "For God is
not a God of confusion but of peace."
(1 Corinthians 14:33) In
that same passage, he also clearly rejected "spiritual experiences"
in which there was any lack of self-control! "The
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets".
(1 Corinthians 14:32) But, although
that is enough of a problem in its own right, it is not just the confusion
about which we need to be careful. The real issue is whether it can be
clearly identified as a truly Biblical experience ....... whether it appears
anywhere in the Bible as a valid "manifestation" of the Holy Spirit. That evidence is sadly lacking. In
some places there can be less noise and confusion, but the problem of false
experience remains. It is merely the same unbiblical experience dressed up in
different garments. As
with all other false Gospels , at the heart of it all lies a
lack of real Bible knowledge in those who are deceived, and an inadequate
concept of repentance. Don't
believe everything you hear from people who claim experiences from the Holy
Spirit! "Try the Spirits". (1 John 4:1) Question
them about the real Jesus ...... who He is ...... what He taught about
obedience (especially the Sermon on the Mount) ...... what He taught about
the coming Kingdom. Test whether these things are a part of the Gospel
associated with the manifestations. These
are, by and large, people who hear without hearing and see without seeing. (Matthew 13:14-15) Somewhere underneath all the
trappings, you will find a false gospel and a measurable lack of the real
fruit which is the test of true discipleship. And
if the "prophet" should happen to pass the test of lip
service to true Abrahamic faith, check out the place of those things
in the Gospel he now actually proclaims! Do
they still really matter? Or have they been put on the back
burner in favour of a new gospel about the Holy Spirit,
instead of the true Gospel about Jesus? Especially,
we might ask whether the source of this "spirit" is one which
regards our Abrahamic Unitarianism as a heresy! Does
that no longer matter? Shall we now profess "unity of
spirit" with those who regard us as heretics? With those whose Gospel
bears no resemblance to that believed by Abraham? Or
does it place the experience under the same cloud as all the rest of that
"other gospel" which we hear from those who tell us that we cannot
be Christians until we accept the Trinity? One
of the distinguishing features of all these new Pentecostal other
Gospels , is who they speak about. Listen
carefully to whether the preacher is talking about himself and
his "ministry" (in his own name - John 5:43) or whether he personally
knows the man and preaches the truth about the real Jesus (not just
dropping the name occasionally!) A
real work of the Holy Spirit will not be mere carnal
"entertainment" appealing to carnal emotions and feelings. It
will be about repentance and holiness. It will truly glorify Jesus. It will
bring its hearers to conviction of sin. And it will be much more likely to
induce tears of contrition, than uncontrollable and ungodly and inappropriate
laughter. THE
BLESSING OF ABRAHAM In
stark contrast to this Toronto counterfeit, stands the real blessing that God
offers to those who share the faith of Abraham. (Galatians 3:13-16 & Galatians 3:26-29) That
blessing has its foundation, its beginning, its present reality, and all its
eternal future, in these words of Peter from Acts
3:25-26: A real trust in
those words , and a real obedience to them, leads
to a real peace with God and real experience of the Holy
Spirit. CONCLUSION The
"dressing up" of the Toronto "manifestations" in pseudo
Christian language, does not make it either Christian, or from God. We need to heed
Paul's warning to that first century "Pentecostal Church" at
Corinth, which was experiencing similar problems with counterfeit
"gifts" and ministries. "For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no
wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not
strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
Their end will correspond to their deeds."
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) |