Strange Fire

by John MacArthur

1. What did I learn from the book? The Bible is clear that God demands to be worshipped for who He truly is. No one can honor the Father unless the Son is honored; likewise, it is impossible to honor the Father and the Son while dishonoring the Spirit. Yet every day, millions of charismatics offer praise to a false image of the Holy Ghost. You can’t mold God into your own image. Essentially, charismatics have created their own golden-calf version of the Holy Spirit. In early generations, the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement would have been labeled heresy. The true ministry of the Holy Spirit is not chaotic, flashy, or flamboyant. It is usually concealed and inconspicuous (the way fruit develops). One of the fundamental claims of charismatic teaching is that charismatics are privy to sanctifying spiritual power not available to every believer. Charismatics televangelism and celebrity pastors teach a false gospel of material prosperity knows as Word of Faith doctrine. Essentially, they see the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever they believer wills. Silver-tongued televangelists promise unending health and wealth to all if they have enough faith–and more important, to all who send in their money. I see a big problem with this especially as these evangelist prey on the poor. This doctrine may be popular, but it is not the true gospel. This type of preaching is custom made for false teachers and spiritual con-men. The New Testament is filled with dire warnings about false teachers and the need for every believer to exercise spiritual discernment. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15). The Holy Spirit’s desire is that we be focused on Christ, not Himself. He points us to Jesus. The Spirit was sent to convict the world of sin and unrighteousness so that sinner’s might believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:7-11). Did you know almost nine of every ten Pentecostals live in poverty? The needier the culture, the easier it is for the prosperity preacher to siphon money from them. Women are allowed also to be pastors in the church not because the Bible permits it (1 Timothy 2:12).

The Charismatic Movement suggests we have Apostles amongst us today. There are three criteria to be an Apostle outlined by the Bible : (1) An apostle had to be a physical eye-witness of the resurrected Christ. (2) An apostle had to be personally appointed by Jesus. (3) An Apostle had to authenticate his apostolic appointment with miraculous signs. These qualifications alone conclusively demonstrate that there are no apostles in the church today. Not only did the apostles hold a unique position of authority in church history, but they were given a unique place of honor in eternity.

Another charismatic proclamation is speaking in tongues, Speaking in tongues today is no more than gibberish in many charismatic churches. The New Testament gift ceased after the apostolic age ended and has never returned. When tongues were spoken in the New Testament it was an actual language people could understand.

The seed-faith principle is the man cash-cow that built and has supported networks of preachers who barter for their viewer’s money with promises of miracles–the most sought after being health and wealth. Did you know Tulsa’s Oral Roberts University founded in 1963, is a breeding ground for televangelist and faith healers? Some names you might recognize who graduated from there include: Joel Olsteen, Creflo Duller, Ted Haggard, and Kenneth Copeland. Think about it these guys preach you will see a miracle if you believe enough. Though Jesus responded to people’s faith during His ministry, the success of His healing was not dependent on their level of belief. Remember the phrase, “Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). There were no failures. Every attempt to heal was successful. No modern healing ministry comes anywhere close to this biblical standard. After the time of the apostles. healings have ceased and never since been part of church history. While God still answers prayers and works to heal people according to His will, there is no evidence of miraculous healings occurring today.

3. How will I use this book in the future? As the New Testament makes clear, being a Spirit-filled Christian has nothing to do with uttering gibberish, crashing to the carpet in a hypnotic trance, or any other ecstatic power. Rather, it has everything to do with submitting over hearts and minds to the Word of Christ, walking in the Spirit and not the flesh, and daily growing in love and affection for the Lord Jesus unto the service of His whole body, the church. In the future, I intend to call out may of the actions I described as false teachings in hopes of bringing to life the real meaning of being filled with the Spirit.