Chapter 1 - Is Experience a Valid Test of Truth?
- It All Starts with the Baptism of the Spirit
- Was Peter a Charismatic?
- Did Paul rely on Experience
- Keen but Clueless
- The Origins of Experiential Theology ...
Chapter 2 - Does God Still Give Revelation?
- The Canon Is Closed
- How the Biblical Canon was Chosen and Closed ...
Chapter 3 - Prophets, Fanatics or Heretics?
- The Kansas City Prophets
- Roman Catholicism
- From Sola Scriptura to "Something More" ...
Chapter 4 - How Should We Interpret the Bible
- Three Errors to Avoid
- Five Principles for Sound Bible Interpretation
- Four Texts Charismatics Commonly Misinterpret ...
Chapter 5 - Does God Do Miracles Today?
- What Happened to the Age of Miracles
- Are Miracles Necessary Today?
- Does God Promise Miracles for Everyone?
- What Made the Apostles Unique?
- Has God's Power Diminished? ...
Chapter 6 - What is Behind the "Third Wave" and Where is it Going?
- Signs and Wonders?
- Power Evangelism?...
Chapter 7 - How Do Spiritual Gifts Operate?
- Spiritual Gifts or Spiritual Casualties?
- Gifts in the Corinthian Church
- Carried Away with False Gifts ...
Chapter 8 - What was Happening in the Early Church?
- The Charismatic Doctrine of Subsequence
- Seek the Power or Release It
- Is Spirit Baptism a Fact or a Feeling?
- The Difference between the Baptism and the Feeling ...
Chapter 9 - Does God Still Heal?
- What was the Biblical Gift of Miracles?
- A Closer Look at Healers and Healing
- God Does Heal -- His Way
- How Did Jesus Heal?
- The Gift of Healing is Gone, but the Lord Continues to Heal
- What is the Explanation for Charismatic Healings?
- Has God Promised to Heal All Who Have Faith? ...
Chapter 10 - Is the Gift of Tongues for Today?
- The Biblical Gift of Tongues
- Are Tongues a Heavenly Language?
- Counterfeit Tongues
- The Abuse of Tongues at Corinth
- Tongues Will Cease
- What Kind of Tongues are Being Spoken Today? ...
Chapter 11 - What is True Spirituality?
- The Zapped and the Unzapped
- Marks of True Spirituality
- Gifts Do Not Guarantee Spirituality
- How to be Filled with the Spirit
- Peter -- A Pattern for Being Filled ...
- False and True Religion
- The Wrong God
- The Wrong Jesus
- The Wrong Faith ...
From the Introduction:
It is not necessarily factious to voice disagreement with someone else's teaching. In fact, we have a moral imperative to examine what is proclaimed in Jesus' name, and to expose and condemn false teaching and unbiblical behaviour...
The biblical challenge is not to avoid truth that is controversial, but to speak the truth in love. (Eph. 4:15)...Scripture is the rule against which we must measure all teaching, and my only desire is to turn the light of God's Word on a movement that has taken the contemporary church by storm...
The most visible and charismatic celebrities barely even give lip service to biblical authority. The few Charismatic leaders who are concerned about biblical truth have been viciously attacked by other charismatics. In effect, they have been shouted down by people who quote 1 Chronicles 16:22 ("Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm") as if that verse silenced all doctrinal discussion -- and as if we were supposed to assume that everyone who claims an anointing from God is speaking the truth. As a result, charismatics as a whole have failed to expose and reject the most obvious, unbiblical and even anti-Christian influences in the movement.
Fantastic encounters with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are reported as common place. Personal messages from God are supposedly routine. Healings of all kinds are claimed. It is not unusual to hear striking testimonies about how God, in response to faith, has corrected spinal injuries, lengthened legs, and removed cancerous tissue. Seemingly omniscient Christian talk-show hosts discern that miracles and healings of various types are happening during their broadcasts. They urge viewers to call in and "claim" healings.
Some of the miracles seem almost bizarre: one dollar bills turn into twenties, washing machines and other appliances are "healed," empty fuel tanks fill up supernaturally and demons are exorcised from vending machines. People are "slain" (knocked flat) in the Spirit; others claim to have been to heaven and back. Several even claim to have been to hell and back!
Some even go so far as to deny the effectiveness of evangelism without such miracles. They argue that the Gospel message is weakened or nullified if not accompanied by great signs and wonders. They believe some people need to see signs and wonders before they will believe. That notion has spawned a whole new movement, grandiosely tagged "the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit," also known as the Signs and Wonders Movement. This recent variation on the old charismatic theme is attracting many evangelicals and others from mainline denominations who were formerly wary of Pentecostal and charismatic influences...
Experience, however, is not the test of biblical truth; rather, biblical truth stands in final judgment on experience. Frederick Dale Bruner has stated it clearly: "The test of anything calling itself Christian is not its significance or its success or its power, though these make the test more imperative. The test is truth."
If you are a Christian who has not experienced some supernatural charismatic phenomenon, perhaps you are feeling left out. You may be wondering whether God views you as a second-class citizen. If He honestly cares about you, why haven't you had a special miracle or manifested some spectacular gift? Why haven't you ascended to a higher level of spiritual bliss? Why haven't you heard Jesus speak to you in an audible voice? Why hasn't He appeared physically to you? Do our charismatic friends really have a closer walk with God, a deeper sense of the Holy Spirit's power, a fuller experience of praise, a stronger motivation to witness, and a greater devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ? Could it be that we non-charismatics just do not measure up? The charismatic movement has separated the Christian community into the spiritual "haves" and "have-nots."...
John F. MacArthur is pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and is heard daily on the radio program "Grace to You." He serves as president of The Master's College and Seminary.
This book can be obtained at the Grace to You website at www.gtycanada.org or www.amazon.com. Your local Christian bookstore will also be able to order it for you.
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