If someone were to write an anthem for the Charismatic movement, it would have to be titled "God Told Me." You hear that over and over again. Strange prophecies abound in the Charismatic movement. In fact, it is well neigh impossible to turn on a Charismatic television station or a radio station without being exposed, almost on a daily basis, to some new "Words from the Lord."
The most famous of all of the Lord's speakings to Charismatics is the famous Oral Roberts' death threat prophecy. A preposterous and fabricated supposed Word from the Lord. Roberts told his nationwide audience in 1987 that God had threatened to call him home if he couldn't raise $8 million by his creditors' deadline.
Oral Roberts is not the only Charismatic who thinks he's receiving private revelation from God. Most Charismatics, at one time or another, feel that God speaks to them in some specific way. Either through an audible voice, some kind of internal impression, a dream; and that's kind of a new one, a vision or a prophecy.
One television evangelist claims that he had a seven hour conversation with Jesus Christ. And during that time, they talked about the problems on earth and discussed decisions which he, the evangelist, was facing. And Jesus was trying to help him work out some of these decisions.
There should be no confusion in this area. The Orthodox teaching of Christianity is always affirmed that God's special saving revelation to mankind is restricted to the teaching of Scriptures. If the Bible is complete, then it represents a closed system of proof. If it entails a fixed and absolute standard of truth, then the teaching of Scripture must be ascertained and dogmatically asserted.
Melvin Hodges is a Charismatic pastor who has admitted his strong reservations about these new revelations. Melvin Hodges is very worried about all of these, even though he's a Charismatic. Hodges said..
"Today, some people tend to magnify the gifts of prophecy and revelation out of their proper proportion. Instances have occurred in which a Church has allowed itself to be governed by gifts of inspiration. Deacons have been appointed and pastors removed or installed by prophecy. Chaos has resulted. The cause is obvious. Prophecy was never intended to usurp the place of ministries of government or of a gift or a word of wisdom."
Not all Charismatics would agree that the problem of abuse is one of overemphasis. Some thing people just aren't well-trained enough. One group has started a School of the Prophets. I'm quoting from their literature.
"Perhaps you feel that you have been called to be an oracle of the Lord. And have had difficulty explaining your experiences or finding someone that you could relate to and learn from.
"The School of the Prophets is designed to help bring grounding and clarity to the myriad of dreams and visions that are the hallmark of a prophet and see your ministry. And to assist in the restoration of the prophetic ministry within the body of Christ."
So their suggestion is you've just got to have good training, take some good courses, and you'll be an accurate prophet. Is the distinction, by the way, between true and false a matter of technique? Is a true prophet a true prophet because he's gone to school to learn how to do it? Was there a school that trained the biblical writers?
In Bible times if you were a prophet and you missed one, you got killed. They executed you. In spite of this, some Charismatics believe that anybody with any claim to have a Word from the Lord should be believed, should be heard; you don't even need a call from God.
Nothing in the Charismatic movement is as destructive as a failure to adhere to Scripture alone. It opens the movement to everything, worst of all, demonic lies. "Seduction from spirits pumping demon doctrine through hypocritical liars." 1 Timothy 4. Once you have gone beyond the Word, you are in chaos and confusion.
I want to conclude with just a brief statement about the close of the canon of Scripture because I think it's important. Jude verse 3.
"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints."
Literally, the Greek text says, "The once for all delivered to the saints' faith."
Greek Scholar Henry Alford says, "Faith here is objective. It means the sum of that which Christians believe. It is not subject, a faith that is believing, in a verbal sense. It is the sum of what we believe the Christian faith."
"The faith," he says, "was once for all delivered." Once for all is hoffox. It refers to something done once and no more. Done once and no more. It has lasting results; it never needs repletion. "The faith was once for all delivered."
The word "delivered" is important. In the Greek, it is an erest passive participle. An act completed in the past, with no continuing element. Once in the past, once for all, never to be repeated. The faith was delivered.
So, through the Scriptures, God has given us a body of truth that is final and complete. Our Christian faith rests on historical and objective revelation. That rules out all prophecies, all seers, all forms of new revelation until God speaks again at the end times.
True Church has always believed the Bible is complete. The Charismatic movement doesn't believe that. Now, they want to deny that they're adding to Scripture, but their view on prophetic utterance, prophetic gifts, knowledge, wisdom, visions, dreams, revelations, add to Scripture. Unwittingly, they undermine the uniqueness and the authority of the Word of God.
You see, Christians can't pay fast and loose with inspiration and revelation or they'll never be able to distinguish the voice of God from the voice of Man from the voice of Satan.
The Holy Spirit is working mightily, I believe, in the Church today. But not in the way most Charismatics think. The Holy Spirit's role is to empower the Church to preach the Word. To empower the Church to teach the Word. To empower the Church to write about the Word that it might be understood. The Holy Spirit is empowering the Church to worship according to truth, to witness to the truth and proclaim it. To grow by the study of the Word and to serve as the Word calls and commands. He does lead us into God's truth and He directs us into God's will for our lives through the Word, not through new revelation.
'God told me' is a dangerous and heretical motto for anyone to take because it opens to chaos, confusion, mysticism, subjectivism, demons and deception. All Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable. It is completely profitable. It is so profitable that the man of God is made perfect by it thoroughly furnished unto all good works. The Scripture is sufficient; we need nothing more than this.
That's the tragedy of the Charismatic movement and that is why it is in chaos. That is why there are some people in the movement who are tearing their hair out because they can't control what's going on. But once you allow for additional revelation, it's gone. There's no control.
This Word is all that God wanted us to have. Once for all delivered.