Dear Hyper-Charismatics, please scan the Word and see that in nearly six thousand years of man's existence God has never rained down gold dust, angel feathers never fell, jewels never magically appeared, orbs never appear, worshipers never clucked, barked or contorted, gold teeth never appear, oil does not drip from their fingers. You never see any of these things in the OT or Acts nor referred to in any of the other epistles. Why not, if these things are the way God works? These are just a few things that need serious biblical investigation.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity
While signs and wonders affirmed the deity of Christ and the Apostles, there can also be lying wonders and works of iniquity or lawlessness. Pharaoh's magicians created some sort of snakes, but Moses' snake ate theirs. God's miracles will always overpower the fake and are not done for showmanship, but have a specific purpose for them to be done.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Note that the mystery of iniquity or lawlessness had already begun and will ultimately lead to the coming of the Wicked or the Anti-Christ. John the Baptist was the forerunner proclaiming the coming of Christ to prepare the people. The Anti-Christ will have a false prophet that will prepare people for his arrival.
Jesus said there would be many false prophets and it would be reasonable to believe that they would increase as we get closer to the appearance of the Anti-Christ. There have been an increasing number of cults and an increasing apostasy since the nineteenth century.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Cults often arise outside of the Church, but some of the founders of cults were raised in church. Jesus taught about the tares. There are people who graduated from orthodox seminaries who later taught heretical doctrines. Some of them are sure that they have found new revelations and are very sincere in their motives, but I suspect that the lads and ladies in Matthew 7 were very sincere, though deceived.
All that being said, please seek more sound doctrine and less experience or feeling so that you can avoid the error of the Matthew 7 and other folks. God is at work today. Jesus saved souls, healed the sick, raised the dead, called out the hypocrites, corrected false doctrine, fed the multitudes, reached out to the poor and sinners. All of that was done without any of the purported manifestations of the Spirit in the first paragraph of this teaching. He said we would do greater things than Him and what we are seeing in many places would be cubic Zirconium compared to what He did.
Study the Word so that you can tell the difference between God's miracles and the false. Maranatha!!
