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the prevalence of deception
By Robert I Holmes
The Final Quest (cover)
copyright Rick Joyner. MorningStar 2009
But stepping back from my travels, reading and reflecting on what I see in the flow, one things stands out to me like an eye catching curiosity, but far more sinister than that. I hear voracious voices calling out compelling truths. I see harbingers bearing brightly coloured revelations. I notice also a certain dark edge to their deep treasures. There's something about each and every one of these messengers hits me sideways.
Prophetic (and apostolic) voices call and their messages seem compete (at first): erudite, clever and compelling but there is something off-smelling. Maybe it's something about the messenger: a towering intellect, a piercing insight but carried with temerity or audacity? I can't be sure. Perhaps it's something about their message that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They give me a pounding in my head, for the truths they bear seem too... complicated or... too deep.
Gems from the darkness?
I have met some amazing brothers and sisters and have been exposed to a wide range of their teachings. Each of them is "Biblical" in the sense that they quote Bible passages. But I cannot get excited about them. Some were admittedly quite very strange and far out and those were easy to discard. But others came from reputable teachers, men whom I otherwise love, women who have taken my faith journey further along the road toward heaven. However in the end each of these brothers or sisters were reaching, stretching, pulling at truth. Or they were digging deeper and deeper searching for hidden truth. Each had brought forth a gem, a glimmering treasure from the dark storehouse.
"If anyone comes to you preaching another Jesus who we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received from us, or a different gospel which you have not accepted you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:4 NKJV)
But the phrase which catches on my tongue is "neo gnosticism" - a new, new truth! The gnostics rose in the early church claiming to have new truth - not previously revealed to the apostles. They were good hearted people no doubt - and probably reacting to the institutionalisation of their faith. They were prophetic, for sure. They sought and found "hidden truth" and the revelation they now had trumped orthodox faith. But it was twisted, and strange, far removed from the lineage Jesus established.
Today the "new" gnosticism has many faces:
• Neo-Charismatics (obsessed with obscure spiritual manifestations);
• Third heaven ascention (and volitional translocation);
• Spiritual warfare (with a strong focus on physical angelic interactions);
• Seeking the hidden name of God (usually in obscure Hebrew);
• The secret gospel of Jesus (hidden -rom the back slidden church);
• Those obsessed with the form of how we "do" church (usually simple, house or cell);
• Various prayer movements focussing on Jerusalem (or Israel);
• Adherents to Old Testament formula (such as gates, altars, walls or high places);
• Guerrilla war experts (taking on the Queen of Heaven);
• Various groups aiming to take the high places of society (especially those who seek to usher in a Christian leader for the nation as a panacea);
• Ruling, fathering apostles of the city (the neo-shepherding movement);
• The new Knights Templar (wielding the Sword of Solomon);
• The hyper Baptists (with seven to ten kinds of baptism);
• The uber faith movement (placing faith in human faith);
and my personal favourite...
• Pre-tribulation rapture, pan-wrath exhousia, post-apocalypse thousand year reigners! (1)
The final quest
These sincere and zealous believers remind me of a scene from Rick Joyner's "The Final Quest". In this book Rick recounts an amazing series of open visions and dreams he has about an epic battle in the last days. He reviews the enemy's army and the state of play in the church. Then, along with some companions, he ascends the Mountain of the Lord. At the top the weary champions gather in the Garden and are issued with armour. They go back to the battle blazing, aglow with the glory of the Lord.
Rick interacts with an angel called Wisdom, who gives him a plain cloak - a garment of humility with which to cover his own glowing armour. "You will not be able to see very clearly without it" says the angel. Putting it on, Rick can now see a huge army gathered to attack his glorious warrior companions. Rick asks the angel about this enemy horde and is told, "This army is pride, the hardest enemy to see after you have been in the glory."
Many of the brothers who had been up the mountain - who had ascended the hill of the Lord - who had stood in God's own presence and won great battles - were marching straight toward this hellish army. (2) God's soldiers were wearing armour at the front but had nothing to protect their backs and this devilish battalion of pride snuck right up behind them and attacked. They were weakened, and fatigued but did not acknowledge their slow decay.
Then a new battalion of enemy soldiers came forward. This group was called "Strong Delusion". Each warrior that was taken became deluded, given over to strange doctrines and deception. They started taking off their armour, and claimed invincibility.
"Satan will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God would cause them to be greatly deceived and they will believe lies" (2 Thessalonians 2:10 NLT)
My testimony
I'm not throwing stones at my brothers - it makes me weep. I well know their struggle because I have given into such deception time and again during my walk. Unlike Rick, I accepted the glory of man and sought the company and counsel of the glorious ones. I flew to the other side of the world to participate in secret round table meetings of the luminaries above the glass ceiling to discuss end time theology and our strategies for the kingdom. I revelled in their glory and the nudge-nudge, wink-wink, "you're a member of the club now" rarified company.
Later, in my pursuit of apostolic fathering, I searched far and wide for those who carried great truth ahead of me. I submitted myself to men both older and wiser than I. Stage by stage I surrendered my truth for theirs, my conviction for their movement. Step by step I gave myself over to their doctrines, travelling at great expense to be with them, to submitting my will to theirs. It is at that point that the deception becomes very hard to break.
An elegant test
After all this destruction, Rick asks Wisdom how he could avoid such pride and giving in to deception. The angel replies, "The Lord is closer to the homeless than to princes. You only have true strength to the degree that you walk in the grace of God and He gives grace to the humble." (3)
When you find yourself in the company of a compelling new doctrine, or a forceful companion claiming to have come down from the very mount of God with a truth - ask yourself the humility question. It's very easy to apply. Is this brother or sister teachable? Can you access them, or do they live beyond the glass ceiling of fame and personal protectors? Do they spend the whole time teaching you, telling you, forcibly preaching to you the truth?
I also ask myself, "Do I have any evidence that Jesus Christ of Nazereth ever taught such a thing?" Can I find it in the pages of the gospels or of Acts? "Is this the sort of thing Jesus might teach?" Can I imagine him sharing this with his fishermen disciples? After all, these were simple folk. It has to pass the simplicity (and applicability) test. Jesus was given to teaching truth using stories and analogies that ordinary men could grasp.
He and Paul both backed up their truth with revelation of the Father, conducted themselves with the fruit of the Spirit and demonstrated the power of heaven. Do the neo-gnostics pass this test? Or do they just give you a headache?
Footnotes
1) My apologies if I missed your group or favourite doctrine
2) Joyner, Rick. "The Hordes or Hell Are Marching" The Morning Star Volume 5 Numbers 2-4. Section "The Deadly Trap"
3) Ibid. Section "Wisdom for the Battle" |
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