Luke 6:41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Discernment
In this Civil War in the Church that we have been concentrating on we hear a constant cry for discernment. Many are majoring on discerning the mote in their brothers eye. Rather we should seek to discern the voice of the accuser of the brethren. Here are some things to look for.
What happens in this Civil War in the Church is that some people, for whatever reason, have yielded to a divisive spirit. This has directed them into becoming spokesmen for the enemy camp without realizing it. We need to pray for these people who are being used in this way. Remember this is a spiritual battle.
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Since the Lakeland Outpouring shifted into high gear around Passover, the accuser of the brethren has been working overtime. But even before that I received quite a few samples of his work as various people tried to sway me against it. Now after seeing even more of this kind of material, I have noticed that there is a pattern that most of these accusations follow.
Before launching into a series of accusations the accuser will try and set you up to accept what he is about to say. The process is like a confidence game. Once they get you to accept the messenger, you are likely to accept the message. Lot’s of the tactics used are just variations on the argument from authority. Once they get you to believe they are speaking from some authority, then they really don’t have to prove any thing they say. The whole idea is to get you thinking they have more spiritual authority than you do.
- Such a person may offer Ministry history or credentials.
Or they may give testimonies or examples to set themselves as some authority or mature voice.
Some will imply that it has taken them much courage to say what they are about to say.
While others will claim that they have been attacked for criticizing.
This is a sympathy routine.
- Expression of sorrow or regret that such warnings must be given.
You will hear things like this:
I’m not against such and so, but …
It really grieves me to have to say these things.
I simply have to speak out and warn people.
I have been weeping over the sad state of things or deeply involved in tearful intercession.
I am only writing this out of love for The Church.
- They may claim to have some special revelation or inside knowledge that others don’t have.
Some will report having a dream or vision, or getting a prophecy to support their view.
Others will claim to have absolute certainty, or cite someone else who is ‘never wrong’.
Or you will hear the claim that the Holy Spirit is instructing them to speak out.
- Most common is the invoking the authority of the scriptures to support what they are about to say. After all, it’s implied, who can argue with the bible. For example:
The Word of God must be our standard.
This is not just my opinion, it’s what the bible teaches.
The bible must be our basis of Judgment.
Don’t get mad a me, this is God’s word.
The bible clearly teaches that such and so.
Next they will give their opinion of what the Bible ‘clearly teaches.’
- Then they may employ lengthy quotes from scripture regarding deception, false teachers, false prophets, false apostles, no private interpretation of scripture, wolves among the flock, hirelings, lying signs and wonders, great delusion, Satan as an angel of light and so on.
The more scripture they quote, the more authoritative they will seem.
This is where the fear tactic comes in.
Please dear saints, don’t let yourselves be deceived.
- Then they proceed to judge someone after the Law, accusing them by name, usually with great scorn and ridicule.
They may insist that their interpretation of a certain scripture is the only correct one.
They will point to things happening that are not in the bible.
or claim that this is not the way God operates.
Or Jesus didn’t do it that way.
Many of their accusations will have no proof, only hearsay or opinion.
They could claim there is no scripture to support someone’s teachings. [This could be hard to prove, even if attempted. It would be a difficult matter to evaluate every possible interpretation of every scripture in the bible.]
- But they will not cite any verses about tale bearers, strife among brethren, railing accusations, backbiting or slander.
And especially they will never consider that the letter of the Law brings death, and only the Spirit brings life.
We mentioned that this accuser tries to get you to accept him, or her, as a messenger with some authority, so you will accept their message. The aim of the accusations is to get you to reject the accused person or persons, so you will reject their message.
And after all that, what if there is some real truth in all the accusations? Then it all boils down to one thing: Gossip. We are told to be afraid of deception, when all the while we are corrupting ourselves with slander and gossip.
Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
And I’m Repenting Too
While going thru some old mail, I found that back on May 2, I had forwarded to some close correspondents, a message Re: Todd Bentley that contained a lot of accusations from some other ministries. I'm now very sorry for this and repent for ever circulating or forwarding any such accusations. And for ever saying any thing that could be considered criticism of any other ministry.
Now here is a verse from Ephesians that can be seen as a prophecy of the Church coming out of Civil War and into unity. It is the work of the Lord, to bring about a Christ like attitude.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
And here are the results spoken of.
Psalms 133:1-3
1 <A Song of degrees of David.> Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Isaiah 52:8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.