SAVED FROM CHARISMATISM II

More testimonies of FEBC students who took the course on “Charismatism Q&A” online last semester

My Questions Are Answered

I’m a first generation Christian, new to the faith, and I can only thank God that the person who shared the Gospel with me, shared it in its entirety. As I grew in my faith, I came to know about the health and wealth gospel, how it was preached in Charismatic churches and hugely popular among professing Christians. I soon got to know friends from such churches.

Despite knowing that Charismatism was erroneous, I found myself unable to refute it nor justify my stand. This was unsettling for me, and because it’s not something that is covered in detail in Sunday services, I knew God was leading me to this course, that would answer my questions.

Throughout the weeks, the one thing that really struck me was the constant referencing to the Bible and the importance placed on understanding the context of which verses were written in. It truly opened my eyes to see how erroneous the Charismatic teachings were, and equipped me with Bible-based rebuttals that I can use. I do feel better equipped to handle conversations with friends from Charismatic churches. I pray for wisdom to say the right words, and to approach the topic with love and humility. I pray that self-righteousness would not be driving the conversation, but a true desire to point them to the true Gospel. As such, I am truly appreciative of this opportunity to study God’s Word. It has made me doubly appreciative of my own salvation and that the early exposure to the faith was a biblical one. Had I been involved with the Charismatics, I fear that I would have taken their word as gospel. Thank God for FEBC and for raising preachers who speak nothing but the Truth. DT

From a Megachurch to a BP Church

Back in my schooling days, I was part of a Charismatic megachurch (one which steadfastly maintained its “independence” from any mainline denomination) and as is the norm, I ended up in a cell group with a few friends of mine from the same school. Naïve and enthusiastic as I was then, I very quickly learned how to blend into the scene—speaking in tongues and exposed to many charismatic doctrines during my four years in and out of that megachurch. Looking back, the fact that I am here today worshipping at the other end of the denominational spectrum in a Bible-Presbyterian Church is itself a testament of the Lord’s grace and mercy in my life.

I shall use this testimony to reflect on my time in a Charismatic megachurch and my impression of their practices.

Tongues-Speaking: I was told that this was a pre-requisite of being a born-again believer. My leaders would sincerely and fervently pray for each new professing believer to possess this “gift” of the Holy Spirit. At that time, I remembered being very perturbed by these ecstatic utterances, which were justified and explained by different leaders and preachers as being a gift of the Spirit, an angelic tongue, a secret “code” between God and believers. I aped the sounds made by my Charismatic pastors and leaders as they spoke in tongues, mimicking what I have heard. Tongues were also used to “sing a new song unto the Lord”—singing in gibberish to the tune! It all sounds incredible now that we are detached from it—but believe me, when you are in the congregation it is so tempting to follow suit.

Worship: This is a highlight of a Charismatic church service. We will always say that our church service is not like that of a traditional church but more like a secular concert—just that the songs are “Christian”. It degenerated to become the “Crossover Project”. We were told that this is the epitome of what is called the “Cultural Mandate”—that all believers are to reclaim the secular areas of the world for Christ, no matter how repulsive they might be. We were told, “You have to stoop down to their level and use their language and actions to engage them, converse with them and win them for Christ.” Compromise and not separation was and still is the order of the day. Having worldly methods of worship is one sure way to attract people to the church—for once they are in hook, line and sinker, the church will be financially secure. Seen in this light, the expenditure on salaries, expensive equipment, furnishings and buildings may not be that foolish after all, at least from a secular point of view.

Health and Wealth Gospel: The Cultural Mandate as preached by some Charismatics is simply the prosperity gospel. Believe in Jesus and you will have success and physical and material gain. It is formulaic in its prescription and if one does not have success, it must be due to the lack of faith! The leaders perpetrate this impression by constantly encouraging testimonies of how God has given them a new job/car/house after I sowed X amount into the building fund. They allegorise the Old Testament books by conflating Israel with the Church and urging all believers to claim the covenantal blessings that God had promised to Israel (the nation) for themselves, utterly failing to understand the distinction between Israel and the Church and the implications of their respective roles.

Faith Healing and Demon Casting: This was not practiced widely by the pastors of the church I was in. However, once in a while they invited renowned personalities such as Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn to preach on weekends. Inevitably these will be packed since a hallmark of their ministries is the healing sessions during the services. When they issued an altar call for those who believed they have demons within them to come forth, I did so believing I had demons inside me that were causing me to be unable to make friends in school! For we were told that there can be a demon for just about anything. Many people were then “slain” in the Spirit when they were pushed (with some force) by the evangelist. To not stand out, I followed suit and fell backwards, writhing as I did so. I can now say with confidence it was a huge sham and deception—to manipulate people to first think they are possessed and then to make them imagine that the demons are leaving them one by one. They are not faith healers but rather confidence tricksters preying on the vulnerable and gullible.

Concluding Thoughts: The Charismatics with their promises of health, wealth and success make the one living and true God look no different than the Chinese God of Fortune or even Santa Claus. Charismatism is easily embraced by pagans and heathens simply because it is not so different from the world and their previous religious beliefs. The Charismatics see God as accepting of worldly living and popular culture. They entice with the threefold lust of the eyes, of the flesh and of the pride of life. Each scandal in the Charismatic world deals another blow to biblical Christianity. Ultimately, one cannot help but conclude that Charismatism is a phenomenon that fulfils the prediction made by the Lord Jesus Christ about the end days—a time when false Christs and prophets will arise and deceive if possible the very elect with counterfeit signs and wonders.

Although my attempts at educating my Charismatic friends are usually met with an accusation of being a judgmental and legalistic Pharisee, may I continue to show forth Christian love to those around me and bear forth a good testimony through my life, so that the Lord may in His good time and pleasure use me to deliver the people I love out of the darkness and into the marvelous liberating light of the truth, “for we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Cor 13:8). KJJ

Rightly Dividing the Word

I took great interest in this course on Charismatism because I wanted to know more about Charismatism to be a more effective witness to my friends. The Q&A format of the course was easy to follow and it has helped me understand many aspects of Charismatism, their teachings, how they interpreted Scriptures to support their beliefs and practices, and why and how they are in error. I have also learnt the right way to reading and understanding Scriptures, and how to interpret and apply the Bible correctly. Through the course, I have gained greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Without rightly dividing the Word, we can easily be misled and deceived.

In the course I have learnt how we should approach God’s Word, reading Scriptures plainly and let the text speak for itself, understanding the Word by the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. God, who is unchangeable, the same yesterday, today and forever, being the Author will not contradict Himself and thus Scripture cannot contradict Scripture. As we read more and more, and understand more and more of God’s Word, our view of God and His Word should elevate more and more. I found these “rules” to be very helpful in my spiritual growth and walk with Christ. It has helped me greatly to discern truth from error.

Most telling of all why Charismatism is not of God is its grievous fruit of ecumenism. It is sad to see many churches have fallen wayside to be a part of the unholy union. It was for this this reason that I left my previous church. Although the preaching was sound, the church does not practice biblical separation. The church shied away and even discouraged members from speaking out against the errors of Charismatism. In 2015, the church organised and led a global day of prayer involving many different churches in Singapore, ignoring doctrinal errors and uniting in the name of love. Dr Jeffrey Khoo said unity and love must be based on the truth. I agree wholeheartedly!

The lesson in week four reminded me of an encounter I had with a Charismatic church pastor four years ago. As I was a very young Christian then, in ignorance but with much fervency I attended the Alpha Course conducted by a Christian church near where I live. Unbeknownst to me at that time that I was in the midst of Charismatics. It was several weeks later that the topic of tongues-speaking came up. When I pointed out to the pastor that the tongues mentioned in Acts were actual foreign languages and not ecstatic utterances, he cited “angelic speech” from 1 Corinthians 13:1 for support. I left that discussion confused. Therefore when I heard Dr Khoo explain how the Charismatics misinterpret and misapplied 1 Corinthians 13:1, I was very happy to learn how to rightly interpret Scripture and I now know the answer!

I enjoyed very much reading the book Wang Ming Tao & Charismatism. God will never fail in drawing His sheep to Himself, even though they may be misled for a time. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” says the Lord. It gives me great comfort, assurance and gratitude to know that in God’s grace and sovereign will, we are secure in His hands. The Christian Living proverbs by Wang contain great wisdom and application. I shall hold them dear to my heart. BKW

Ed: The book Wang Ming Tao & Charismatism by the FEBC Press can be downloaded freely from www.febc.edu.sg (see under “Publications”). uo;Dr Timothy Tow’s translation of Wang Ming Tao’s assessment of the Charismatic Movement should have the widest possible circulation. Although his assessment was written in 1934, it struck me as remarkably modern and totally applicable to the practices that have swept through many church fellowships and house groups of our day.” (Dr Peter Masters)