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MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT

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June 17, 1997 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - We often warn of the dangers of the Charismatic movement, and I believe it would be profitable to share my own testimony of involvement with the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement in the early part of my Christian life and some of the lessons that God has shown me from the Scriptures.

INTERESTED IN THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT SINCE CONVERSION

It was an old-line Pentecostal who was part of the human instrumentality in my own conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ in the summer of 1973. The night I was converted, he prayed that I would receive the gift of tongues and be baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. At the time I didn't understand what he was talking about, but I did know one thing: I wanted everything God had for me!

It also wasn't long before I knew that the Christian life is not easy. That became apparent very quickly as I learned the power of the flesh, the world, and the devil to hinder one's walk with Christ. Thus I wanted every advantage that God would give me in this warfare. If I needed a "second blessing" of some sort, I wanted it. If I needed to speak in some kind of strange tongue, I wanted it. I wanted all the baptisms I could get -- water baptism, Spirit baptism, even fire baptism if that was what God wanted to give me!

I was willing to do anything for it, as far as knew my own heart (which was not very well -- Jeremiah 17:9). In fact I did many things as I sought to know the will of God and to receive from Him anything that would make my Christian experience richer, fuller, more victorious. I prayed; I fasted; I found private places where I could pray and literally cry out to God; I confessed my sins privately to God and publicly in the church; I begged and pleaded for second blessings, for baptisms in the Spirit, for tongues, for anything and everything that God would have for me. I was determined that if something was required on my side to receive more blessing than I already had, then I would do whatever was necessary. And, knowing the deceitfulness of my own heart, I often prayed (and still do) that if somehow I was holding back some area of my life, that God would make me willing.

I put away every habit that I could think of that I felt displeased Christ. I quit smoking, quit watching TV, quit going to the theater, quit listening to rock music, quit partying. I cut my long hair. I was in church every time the doors were open, and I studied the Bible three or four hours (and more) every day. For the first seven or so years of my Christian life I probably averaged studying the Bible for five hours a day.

I memorized hundreds of Bible verses, including entire chapters and books. I didn't waste a minute. If I had a few minutes to spare, I read the Bible or some other Christian literature. A fellow student at Bible school laughed at me one day when he arrived at an agreed meeting place to find me busily studying the Bible and writing down things the Lord was showing me. Practically everywhere I went I carried a huge leather briefcase which contained an exhaustive concordance and other components of my Bible study library! As I drove my car, I memorized Bible verses. I witnessed to my friends, and from house to house, and in the parks, and from store to store in my hometown. Not only did I attempt to have charismatic experiences, but I tried other alleged secrets to victorious Christian living. I tried to "let go and let God." I tried the "Calvary Road" way of the deeper life experience; the Keswick holiness teaching. I tried everything I heard and everything I thought of!

LEARNING THAT THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT IS THE WRONG PATH

I prayed continually that God would guide me and show me His will and help me not to be deceived by any false way. God has promised to lead us in the truth if we continue in His Word, and I cleaved to His promise (John 8:31-32); as I did so He showed me through the Scriptures that some of the experiences I was seeking were not things that He had told me to seek, and they were not things He had promised.

PERFECT AND COMPLETE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE

I realized that the Apostles were the men who were led by the Holy Spirit into all truth according to the promise of Christ (John 16:7-15). There is an application in this passage for all Christians, but the special fulfillment of it happened to the Apostles as they penned the New Testament Scriptures. This is how they could recall every detail of events and conversations which they had heard (and some they had not heard!) months and years before they wrote. The Holy Spirit led them into all truth and recalled to their remembrance the things they had heard. The fullness of Truth spoken of by Christ is ours now in the completed Scriptures. The Apostle Peter described the vision he had on the mountain with the Lord Jesus Christ and he explained that the Scriptures are more sure than visions (2 Peter 1:16-21).

"We have also A MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:19-21).

I praise the Lord that I have such a solid and infallible foundation for my Christian walk. I have the holy Bible.

The Lord did, indeed, lead the Apostles into all truth, and we have it as they penned it for us in the New Testament writings. This completed book was sealed with the warning of the last chapter of Revelation, chapter 22 verses 18 and 19 -- "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

This is a very, very serious warning. It notifies all peoples of the world that the day of prophecy from God is over for this age. Notice that I am not saying the day of miracles and blessings are over, but the day of open prophecy, of new revelation. There is a great difference. I believe in miracles, and we see many miracles. I am not talking about a lifeless, powerless Christian experience. But I am warning that we do not need, and God is not giving today, any new revelation. The Scriptures are the Word of God, and they are now complete. They are able to make the man of God PERFECT, THROUGHLY FURNISHED unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17). This being so, what more could we possibly need? Nothing! We don't need some man to stand and give us his dreams and visions; we need the sound preaching and teaching of the perfect Word of God.

The Apostle Peter testified that God has given us "all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3). The sufficiency that we need for our Christian lives is available in the atonement of Jesus Christ, in His Scriptures, in His church, and in His Spirit. The completion is not something which will be given bit by bit through the progression of the Christian age. We already have all things that pertain unto life and godliness! What need, then, have we of something new, something more than we find in the completed Scriptures and in the Salvation we have been given when we placed our faith in Christ? Absolutely nothing!

GOD DOES NOT CALL THE CHRISTIAN TO A SPIRIT BAPTISM OR SECOND BLESSING

Do we need a Spirit baptism? The epistles to the churches never mention such a need. Do we need tongues for a richer Christian life? The New Testament does not say so. If this were the case, and the Christian did indeed need a second blessing, a Spirit baptism, tongues, don't you think that the Apostles would have quickly told these secrets to the needy churches to whom they were writing! Consider the church at Corinth. They had a great many problems, but the Apostle not once said that the solution to their problems was some second blessing, or Spirit baptism, or tongues. In fact, he said they had plenty of tongues and that was one of their problems! He said they already had been baptized by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). He reminded them that they had the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 5:5). He mentioned no second blessing, but instructed them carefully about repenting of their sins and growing in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no "secret," no short cut, no easy road.

THE SECRET OF CHRISTIAN LIVING

In the New Testament the only "secret" for victorious Christian living is growth in the Lord, growth in the things we already possess, the things we received when we were born again. Ephesians tells us exactly what happened when we put our faith in Christ. Ephesians is very clear that we are saved by faith alone through grace alone without works (Ephesians 2:8-10). When we believed upon Christ, what happened? At that time we received the Holy Spirit and were sealed by Him unto the day of resurrection (Ephesians 1:12- 14). We were given all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). We were adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5). We were made accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). We received redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). We received wisdom about the eternal plan of God (Ephesians 1:8-10). We received a sure hope, a certainty of our calling, which is the riches of the glory of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:18). We possess these things, and the Apostle prays that the eyes of our understanding may be opened that we will realize that we have these things!

I came to understand this blessed truth; therefore, I stopped seeking things that Christ through the Apostles did not tell me to seek. I stopped seeking experiences that the New Testament does not instruct me to seek. I began, rather, to busy myself with the task of desiring "the sincere milk of the word that I might grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:1,2). I stopped demanding of God that I have an experience whereby I could somehow be placed on a spiritual plane in which I would cease to experience the constant problems and battles and struggles that are my portion as a Christian. I put my trust, rather, in God's promises such as that in 1 Peter 5:10 -- "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

I stopped seeking some sinless-like condition and believed God's Word which says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Instead of seeking a sinless condition, I sought to walk in the light of God's Word, seeking to obey Him in all things, and confessing my sin as I fail (1 John 1:7-10). I stopped seeking the conditions and experiences which will only be found at Christ's coming. Until then, I must believe God's Word that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together UNTIL NOW. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:22-23).

Those who claim that they are on a higher spiritual plane than the normal are usually less than honest about their actual spiritual condition and their secret struggles. I have seen this repeatedly. Let me give one example of many which could be mentioned. In the early 1980s I met a man from England who was preaching in south Asia. He claimed to speak prophetically, and he taught Christians to seek a "second blessing" and a "baptism of the spirit." In his invitations he quoted 1 Corinthians 12:13, for example, and urged the people to "come forward and be baptized like the Bible says." I challenged him, because that passage does not urge anyone to seek a baptism; it says we already are baptized. He did not like my challenge, of course, and he urged me to admit that my Christian life was not perfect. I readily admitted that it was not, and I asked him if his was. He said he had great victory, but he admitted that he got frustrated and angry at times when he traveled. In those days I was traveling roughly 100,000 miles per year, and I knew then that he didn't have anything that I did not have!

LIVING BY FAITH, NOT FEELING, SIGHT OR EXPERIENCE

I stopped trying to have experiences whereby I could always "feel" God and thereby "know" He was with me; I stopped constantly seeking for signs and wonders and "continually laying out fleeces" whereby I could live by sight and not by faith, remembering the words of the Apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- "For we are saved by hope: but HOPE THAT IS SEEN IS NOT HOPE: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Romans 8:22-24). And again in Hebrews: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of THINGS NOT SEEN" (Hebrews 11:1) And again, the words of Jesus as He spoke the same truth: "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED" (John 20:29).

Do you see, then, why I was so deeply interested in the Charismatic movement as a young Christian? I wanted everything God would give me, and the Charismatic movement certainly makes some spectacular claims for the Christian life. The theme of the Full Gospel Business Men's Association International (FGBMI) is "We are the happiest people on the earth." And if you read the testimonies in the FGBMI Voice magazine or if you hear the testimonies given at their meetings, you would almost think they have no struggles, no sicknesses, no distresses, no pain, no financial lack -- and all because they have had a charismatic experience and speak in a "heavenly language." My friends, God has shown me through the highest authority on earth--the Scriptures--that these charismatic claims and promises are deceptive.

I WAS TEMPTED IN AN HOUR OF DISCOURAGEMENT

The charismatic claims appeal powerfully to those who are going through the difficult trials that are a common part of every Christian’s life. I remember a temptation which came to me in a time of trial. During our missionary years in south Asia, I was on a brief trip back to the States to preach in some churches and take care of some business associated with our literature ministry. The day before my departure from Calcutta, India, I contracted a serious intestinal virus, the kind that can normally be cured only with powerful medicine. The last night in Calcutta was spent on the bathroom floor with vomiting and diarrhea. The next day I said goodbye to my family and somehow got onto the plane and flew to the States. My first stop was in Wyoming. I borrowed a car from a pastor in Casper and drove up to the interesting little western town of Cody, at the eastern gate to Yellowstone National Park. I was very sick and very miserable. I was 12,000 miles from my family and I was lonely. I was depressed and discouraged. Not only that, but I was broke! Arriving three or so hours before the church service, I went into a restaurant and got a drink of some kind. On the way out of the place, I saw a stack of Full Gospel Business Men’s Voice magazines on the counter. The articles were centered around the theme "We are the happiest people on the earth." I picked up a copy and took it out to the car and began reading it to pass the time. One of the testimonies struck me like a ton of bricks: "Even if there were no heaven, this [charismatic] experience is so good that it almost would not matter." I compared that testimony with my own. I was sick, lonely, depressed, broke! A powerful feeling came over me that I needed to search out a charismatic preacher and have him lay hands on me. The thought came to me that perhaps I had resisted the Holy Spirit when I was a young Christian and that is why I did not have the Pentecostal experience. With those thoughts running through my mind, I lay down in the car and slipped off into a fitful sleep, awaking just in time to get to the church for the evening meeting. It was the most miserable meeting I have ever had, but somehow I got through it and began driving back down through Wyoming to the town of Thermopolis, where I was scheduled to spent the night with a pastor friend. It was more than 100 miles and I had a lot of time to continue thinking about my spiritual condition and the charismatic claims I had read that afternoon. I was praying and begging the Lord for help and wisdom. Suddenly a Bible verse came vividly into my mind. It was Paul’s testimony in 1 Corinthians 15:19--"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Paul wrote this in the context of the chapter on the resurrection. He considered the troubles of his own Christian life and concluded that it is crucial that he would be a miserable man above all others if his hope in Christ were for this life only. That is exactly the opposite of the testimony I had read that afternoon in the Full Gospel Business Men’s magazine! I began recalling other Scriptures which instruct me to expect many troubles in this life. I thought of Romans 8:16-25. Suddenly the misery and depression lifted like a cloud and I began rejoicing and praising the Lord. The Lord had reminded me that the victory is FAITH not sight. I have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), but I do not yet possess resurrection realities. For those I hope and wait, and in the mean time I patiently endure whatever trials the Lord sees fit to send my way. As an added blessing for me that night, the Lord completely healed me of my intestinal sickness. After arriving at the home of my pastor friend, he and I stayed up until the early hours of the next morning catching up on things, for we had not seen each other for a couple of years. By the time we determined to retire I realized I had only three hours before I would need to get up and head to my next destination. I did not know how I would be able to do it, physically, but my pastor friend prayed for me before we went to bed. I awoke three hours later the picture of health! I was not sick and I was not tired and I was not discouraged.

The charismatic movement says the Christian needs to leap into a new realm of spiritual experience through a second blessing, a Spirit baptism, tongues. The Bible calmly tells us to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). The charismatic movement says tongues speaking carries the Christian into a higher spiritual realm of praise and prayer and victory. The Bible says nothing of such a thing, and never offers tongues or other charismatic experiences as the answer to spiritual problems. The charismatic movement says that those who have not had charismatic experiences are living a sub-normal Christian life, are living and serving with only 75% of the gospel, are not operating in the realm of "power evangelism" and "power living." The Bible says in the verses cited earlier in Ephesians (and elsewhere) that the Christian--every true born again Christian--has everything he is ever going to have from God in this life. The need then is to grow in these things, to understand these things, to exercise these things!

Thus, praise God, I was able to relax in Christ and stop being intimidated by the claims and demands of the charismatic movement. They are false claims, false demands, and they do not produce stability. Behold the Vineyard Movement headed by John Wimber. There is no stability there. It has moved from one new experience to another--from power evangelism to end-times prophecy to the laughing revival. The charismatic movement is as unstable as water. Those who are flocking to the various outbreaks of the Laughing Revival and are becoming "drunk in the spirit" today will quickly find that experience fading away and they will be left as empty and as unsatisfied as before. There is no stability in seeking signs and wonders and special experiences. The stability in the Christian life comes by walking with Christ BY FAITH through THE BIBLE, patiently growing and serving and bringing forth fruit for His glory, patiently enduring the hardships and struggles which are a necessary part of the normal Christian life.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; IF SO BE THAT WE SUFFER WITH HIM, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS PRESENT TIME are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that THE WHOLE CREATION GROANETH AND TRAVAILETH IN PAIN TOGETHER UNTIL NOW. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT" (Romans 8:16-25).