At the zenith of the Charismatic Movement in the 1970s, a pseudo-movement that came to be known as the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement emerged. That purely humanly-devised campaign was led by an alliance of five ministers who employed their influence to rapidly proliferate in the emerging Charismatic Church a collection of doctrines related to authority that were patently hyper-authoritarian. In sum, the unscriptural teachings posited and promoted a multi-tiered, pyramid-shaped system of governance that conveniently positioned these five ministers at the apex of the pyramid. Coincidentally or not, the multi-level paradigm these teachers proposed mirrored the multi-level marketing models that were exploding upon the scene across the nation at the time in the business world. Read the rest of this entry »

My good friend, Charles Carrin, as a Baptist pastor for more than twenty-five years, was much like Apollos before Priscilla and Aquila “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” Like Apollos, he was “an eloquent man…and he was mighty in the Scriptures,” he “had been instructed in the way of the Lord” in Baptist schools, was “fervent in spirit,” and “was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus,” meaning the Gospel of Christ’s sacrifice. However, Charles, like Apollos and myriad other sincere and fervent traditional denominational ministers today, was “acquainted only with the baptism of John,” the original Baptist.

This simply was the way it was for this very eloquent and learned Bible scholar and teacher for nearly three decades of service as a Baptist pastor, until one day when, in the midst of severe trial and spiritual dryness and emptiness, he had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit, and despite all his refutations, protestations, and contrarian beliefs, was thoroughly IMMERSED or BAPTIZED in both the water and the fire of the Holy Spirit! Himself and his theology forever changed! From that day forward, cessation theories for Charles Carrin were thoroughly expunged from his theology, but more importantly, his personal relationship with the God-Head. From that day forward, He had no more questions regarding the reality of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, no not one!

After nearly eighty years of living and over sixty in the Kingdom, Charles has come to some specific conclusions concerning what the Spirit says in the Word of God about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as well as the Dunamis-Power of God unto supernatural manifestations of the Spirit throughout the Church Age. This learned and articulate servant of God in this article does a masterful job of refuting the wholly indefensible cessation theories espoused by so many denominations and so-called “fundamentalists” today, who, unfortunately, continue to “invalidate the Word of God by their traditions.” Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things I love about the Christmas Season is that for a few days and weeks at the close of every year virtually the entire world is confronted with the belief held by millions throughout time that two-thousand years ago a Baby was born in a lowly manger who was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all Mankind. “You shall call His Name, Jesus,” the angel of God instructed His human parents, which means Savior, for He would save the world from their sins. His Name would also be Immanuel, which means, God with us; and that He is! for all those who receive Him, are infused in their human spirit with His very Life, His Being, His Spirit, the Divine Nature.

There are some other aspects of the Christmas Season that still make it a very special time of the year, despite its annoyingly overt commercial exploitation. For one, it is by far the most protracted of all the holiday seasons, and with its proximity to the turn of the new year, it has become not just a day of celebration as with Easter and Thanksgiving, for example, but several weeks of celebration. Another aspect that distinguishes it from the others is the fact that it is the only holiday season that is celebrated to some degree in virtually every country of the world by at least some of its citizenry. Then, one of the most unique aspects of the Christmas Season is that it is celebrated with it’s own extensive and ever-expanding collage of season-related music playing almost ubiquitously in the background in both public and private venues for days and weeks as people throughout the world go about the events and traditions that have become a part of the landscape of the season.

As grating and even offensive as the super-commercialization of the Christmas Season increasingly becomes, in a sense, I can see that in the end, God being Sovereign as He is, it is He and His people who have the last laugh. What an irony it is that the season that has been set aside to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, is the most crucial, and in many cases, pivotal financial period for retail merchants great and small around the world. It is its commercial value that undergirds the global tradition of Christmas celebration and commemoration. Our sovereign God, even uses the root of all evil—the love of money—for His own purposes, commandeering each year even the secular system to dramatically proclaim to the whole Godless world that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die in their stead in order to redeem “whosoever will” from the sin that separated all humanity from Him. Throughout the days and weeks culminating each year, the message of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration is conveyed in word, song, and various art forms. The sovereignty of God is both awesome and mind-boggling.

Perhaps the most familiar refrain of the master-collage of Christmas-related narratives, poems, songs, melodies, tunes, and orchestral odes is that of “Peace On Earth and goodwill to men.”

What a noble-sounding aphorism and meritorious longing—Peace on earth and goodwill to men! Who in his right mind would be opposed to the prospect of goodwill among all men and greater peace in any segment of human relations than what currently exists?

But, if “peace on earth and goodwill to men” was the primary purpose of the Christ-Child’s birth two-thousand years ago as the Christmas carols proclaim, why has so little of it transpired on Earth since then?

This never-fulfilled proposition of peace on Earth has for ages been prime fodder for the naysayers and critics of the Gospel, who point out the very obvious fact that to this day wars and all manner of conflict among men have not only not ceased, but rather have increased. Indeed, the fact is that Man has never achieved peace anywhere, at any time on the Earth. There has never been a time in the history of the world when there was ubiquitous peace on Earth, i.e., the absence of all conflict among nations or peoples. Rather, nations have always been at war, either with other nations, or themselves in the form of civil wars, conflicts, and uprisings.

The fact is, as annoying as the question of why peace on Earth has never existed in the history of mankind is to many Christians, it is nonetheless a valid and fair one. Why hasn’t there been peace and goodwill in the affairs of men through the last two millennia? Is the prospect of peace on Earth really even a scriptural concept? Even more pertinent to our real lives, is it a viable possibility?

Well, to uncover the answer to those questions, we must separate the holy from the profane, the true from the fictitious, and the mythical from the factual. The short answer is: there is a genuine peace that is spoken of repeatedly in Scripture and is an underlying theme of the Gospel of Christ. But then there is also a fallacious and counterfeit peace the Godless seek that is a deception and false hope.

Man-centered Rather Than Christ-centered Peace

A primary reason that the “peace and goodwill” that the world and the false religions of the world seek is a counterfeit is that it is Man-centered, and Man is wholly incapable of achieving peace on his own. Proof of that is inherent in the fact that—he never has! Since the very beginning of the Creation of Man in the Garden of Eden there has never been a time of prevailing peace upon the Earth. Man’s very first generation of progeny—Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel—engaged in the first deadly conflict recorded, wherein Cain murdered Abel.

The fact is that the permeation of Mankind and the entire Creation with the corruption of Satan’s nature of sin—rebellion against God and His righteousness—brought forth a state of incessant conflict of every possible kind upon the earth that continues yet today, and will remain until the millennial reign of Christ and His Eternal Bride. Though the idea of utopian peace is a wonderful thought, it is nevertheless a vain, humanistic, and unscriptural philosophy, in this age. That is the reality that every Christian needs not only to understand, but also thoroughly embrace. To think or imagine otherwise is futile, fruitless, and a false hope.

True peace, on the other hand, is not at all Man-centered, but rather Christ-centered. Christ Jesus Himself is the only true source of genuine peace and it emanates only from Him, “For HE HIMSELF IS our peace” (Eph. 2:14), the Spirit testifies in the Word of God. True peace is a PERSON, not a philosophy or principle.

It is Christ Jesus who is the Child who would be born unto us and the Son who would be given unto us, who is the “PRINCE of peace” (Is. 9:6). It is Christ Jesus who Melchizedek, the king of Salem, which translated means the “KING of peace” (Heb. 7:2), typified.

It is Jesus who is the “LORD of peace” who alone, because He is Lord over all, can “continually grant you peace in every circumstance” (2 Thes. 3:16).

It is “the peace OF CHRIST“—the peace that emanates from Christ Jesus—that we are to let “rule [hold sway, act as an arbiter] in (our) hearts, to which (we) are called in one body” (Col. 3:15).

Jesus Christ is Himself Peace, because true peace is a part of and emanates from God, which is corroborated, for one thing, by the fact that the salutation of twelve of the thirteen Pauline Epistles includes the benediction “peace FROM GOD“ (the exception, First Thessalonians, he simply invokes “peace” to them without explicit reference to its emanation from God). It is the “peace OF GOD,” the peace Jesus gives unto us, which is unlike the “peace” the world gives (Jn. 14:27), “which surpasses all comprehension, (and which) shall guard your hearts and your minds IN CHRIST JESUS” (Plp. 4:7).

Paul informs us, “GOD is not a God of confusion (disorder) but OF PEACE“ (1 Cor. 14:33). His valedictory to the Romans included the blessing “Now may the GOD OF PEACE be with you all. Amen.” (Rom. 15:33), plus the assurance that “the GOD OF PEACE will soon crush Satan under your feet” (16:20).

The Apostle promised the Philippians that if they practiced “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” then “the GOD OF PEACE shall be with you” (Plp. 4:9).

He also revealed it is, thank God, “the GOD OF PEACE“ who sanctifies us (1 Thes. 5:23). Thank God it is as the God of peace rather than the God of wrath, which He is as well, that He makes us holy, lest we all be consumed.

We are told in Hebrews it is “the GOD OF PEACE, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep in the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord” who equips us “in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ” (Heb. 13:20,21).

The Fallacious Peace of Humanism

Moreover, the secular idea of peace is fallacious primarily because it is based on the vain humanistic philosophies of men, or humanism. Simply defined, humanism is the exaltation, at the minimum, or the deification, at the maximum, of man. It is a man-centered philosophy that for all intents and purposes ignores or, at the least, minimizes the sovereignty of God, and instead vaunts man to a place of supreme veneration. Indeed, humanism can also be accurately defined as the worship or veneration of man.

We live in an age of humanism. A popular song of the sixties promulgating New Age astrological doctrine called it “the Age of Aquarius.” Anti-Scriptural humanistic doctrines are pandemic in our world. Mankind gropes and longs, almost pathetically now, for an ever-elusive, idyllic, universal, utopian “peace” and utter tranquility, in which what it considers evil is no more and all semblance of conflict is non-existent. Volumes and volumes of expressions of the false hope of world peace have been written in the annals of human history, especially since the Mass Communication Age began with the invention of the printing press, and now in the computerized Technology or Information Age.

Indeed, a primary contributor to the notion that Christ came to bring peace upon the Earth is the melodious and highly inspirational Christmas carols charged with lyrical jubilation concerning “peace on Earth,” to which I alluded at the outset, that are sung ad infinitum during every Christmas Season all over the world. Just a few examples are:

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.” (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth. (O Little Town Of Bethlehem)

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold.
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.” (It Came Upon The Midnight Clear)

The lyrics of such Christmas standards, because of the time in which they were written, were based upon the King James Version of Luke 2:14, which renders the doxology of the angel of the Lord as: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.” However, that is not the correct translation of the text, which fact is corroborated by most every English translation published since the KJV. The correct translation is as Marshall’s Literal English Translation of the Nestle’s Greek Text [The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, 1982] renders it: “Glory in (the) highest places to God and on earth peace among men of goodwill.” The New American Standard Version as well captures the true import of the text: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Thus, we see a glaring example of how the mistranslation of a passage has resulted in a “doctrine of men” that is in truth antithetical to Scripture. For you see, the testimony of the angel of the Lord was not that with the birth of the Christ-Child peace would prevail upon the Earth and Divine goodwill would inure to all men. Rather, the angel was proclaiming that people with whom God was pleased and whose hearts had been infused with goodwill from God—that is, “as many as received Him” (Jn. 1:12), the Christ who had been born—to these persons living upon the Earth would peace with God inure, not universally to all of mankind on the Earth. Neither was this peace proclaimed by God’s Word peace between men and nations, but rather peace between believing men and God. The message was that with the birth of the Christ, reconciliation with God had come for all men (humans), which reconciliation would produce internal peace within all humans who accepted Him as their Savior and Lord. In other words, it is to redeemed humanity that peace would inure, not all humanity.

Peace Not the Purpose of the First Coming of Christ

Indeed, the unequivocal truth that inherently is so difficult for the majority of Christians to comprehend, and accept even if they do comprehend it, is that Jesus in His first bodily visitation upon the Earth did not come to bring peace to the Earth. Nowhere does the Word of God teach that He did. In fact, it conveys the exact opposite—that the purpose of His first coming was to bring conflict or war!

Jesus Himself explicitly and unequivocally declared, “Do not think that I came to bring PEACE ON THE EARTH; I did NOT come to bring peace, but a sword [a symbol of conflict, war]!” (Mat. 10:34). He is telling us here to not even think that the reason for His first visitation was to bring peace on the Earth. Yet, that is the very thing that the majority of professing Christians think. But, as already discussed, the reality is that there has never been a time of total peace on the Earth, neither since the birth of the “First Adam” nor the “Second Adam,” Christ Jesus, and there never will be peace on the Earth until after the Second Advent or Coming of Christ!

Jesus did not come to bring peace to unregenerate, evil-willed men in this corrupted cosmos, but war and more war, until it is irrefutably established that true peace will only come when the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace is manifest in the hearts of men and on the Earth. He is the Christ, the Savior of all mankind, and there is none other!

After telling us not to think that He came to bring peace on the Earth, Jesus categorically stated, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Luke’s version of Jesus’ statement is: “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on the earth? I tell you, no, but rather DIVISION“ (Luke 12:51). Not only do professing Christians—against Jesus’ explicit admonition not to—suppose that an inherent purpose of His first coming was to bring peace upon the Earth between peoples and nations, but they also presume, totally erroneously, that Jesus’ coming should automatically produce peace in all forms and levels of interpersonal relationships, especially familial relationships, and are quite bewildered if that does not take place. However, that presumption is false, foundationless, and humanistic. Indeed, the rest of Jesus’ statement makes it clear that Jesus will also be the “rock of offense,” that is to say, source of division, among relatives as well:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it. (Mat. 10:34)

True Peace Is Of The Holy Spirit, Not The Human Spirit

True peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), an attribute of the Divine Nature, and emanates from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is manifest in and through only one breed of person on planet Earth—those who have been regenerated and infused with the Divine Nature, which is the Holy Spirit. It cannot be manufactured or merely simulated. Nor can it be legislated. True peace is a matter of the heart, which is the reason that until the Kingdom Rule of Christ is effected upon the Earth among people, races, and nations, peace will not exist in the world.

True peace is a peace that comes from God and is resident within the regenerate heart of the redeemed. It transcends all comprehension and circumstances, and is contingent upon neither. God Himself is the God of Peace. True peace emanates from Him. True peace among humans is the result of having peace with God. The peace of God emanates to humans who have peace with God.

Indeed, Christ Himself is the very essence of true unity and peace. Any so-called unity and peace not established upon the foundation-rock of Christ is a Godless, humanistic, and totally counterfeit unity and peace. Utopian peace void of all conflict simply is not going to occur “until the perfect comes,” and it is impractical to expect that it will.

What men call “peace” is in reality nothing more than a truce—an agreement not to be in conflict, and invariably it is an instrument of gain and self-interest for one or more parties who have in some way overpowered or vanquished another party or parties. At the most, what is effected is a “peace treaty,” wherein the vanquished (subjects) agree to the terms of surrender and subsequent governance by the victors (subjugators). True peace, however, is not a mere truce.

In Amos 3:3 the inviolable Divine principle is stated that two cannot walk together except by agreement. When two entities are walking together it is by agreement, whether the two parties be marriage partners, criminal conspirators, or demons with humans. In Christ what causes us to walk together, to be at peace with one another, is not a humanly contrived truce or peace treaty founded on the overpowering or predomination of one believer over another, but rather on the premise that the same Holy Spirit lives within each of us and motivates us from within to holy attitudes and behavior. The Holy Spirit is always in agreement with Himself and with the Father and the Son. We may not always agree on the mundane matters of life or even non-essential elements of the Walk with Christ, but the fruit of the Spirit nevertheless compels us to “be at peace with” (Mk. 9:50; Rom. 12:18) and “live in harmony with” (Plp. 4:2) others.

Satan is the master-deceiver. Everything he does he does for the purpose of trying to extend his kingdom and maintain his rule upon the Earth. And, his chief weapon is deception, his lies; Jesus called him “the father of lies.” One of his primary lies is the vain prospect and false hope of “world peace,” which he purports through his agents will be achieved through humanistic pacifism. Yet, he himself is by no means any pacifist, but rather he is the master-insurgent, who is maniacally and eternally bent on total world domination with the ultimate goal of establishing himself as sovereign over the cosmos. Indeed it was this master-motive of making himself to be like God that he actually and literally “said in (his) heart” that precipitated his violent expulsion from heaven:

I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds:
I will MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH GOD.” (Is. 14:13,14; NAS)

This is the reason believers are commanded to “resist him, firm in your faith!” (1 Pet. 5:9); and, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jas. 4:7). But, this resistance that we are commanded to employ against the devil is not passive or defensive “resistance” of running away or doing whatever is necessary to avoid any semblance of conflict or confrontation, as some suppose and propose, for that will never work, because Satan is the classic playground bully, who will continue to harass and harangue and aggress against you until you finally plant your feet firmly, stand your ground, and face him head on in whatever means of offensive resistance is necessary to put an end to his bullying. When you do, like the playground bully, he will turn tail and run in fear from you, because he really is a complete COWARD at heart, internally terrorized with fear and trepidation, which is why he employs his tactics of terrorism and intimidation in the first place.

So the resistance we are to engage in against the schemes and devices of the devil is OFFENSIVE resistance, not weak, Casper Milquetoast passivity. Jesus declared, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by FORCE“ (Mat. 11:12).

And, all this, it must be understood, is true whether the application is our personal lives in our struggles against the wiles of the enemy of our souls, or national matters on the international front. War is nasty. War is ugly. War is unpleasant. War inevitably bears grave consequences. “War is hell!” But, wars must be fought to protect and defend our national sovereignty against the aggression or threat of aggression posed by maniacal rogue despots bent on world domination or hegemony of any magnitude. The line must be held at all costs. “Give NO PLACE to the devil.” NONE! For, given the proverbial inch, tyrannists will take the proverbial mile. Aggression and intimidation by terrorism must be CRUSHED the moment it raises its dastardly head! That’s the only way to deal with it successfully.

The Spirit made it clear through the Apostle Paul that there is a “WARFARE“ (1 Cor. 10:4) that believers are, have always been, and need to continue waging until Jesus returns. But, it is a warfare in which we have been given special spiritual weapons that we must employ to offensively resist the devil and his schemes, and to pull down his strongholds. He also tells us that the WAR in which we are engaged is “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12; RSV), and not against mere flesh and blood, or human, foes.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force“ (Mk. 11:12, KJV). Indeed, the Christian walk is no cakewalk, and it certainly is not for wimps! Like it or not, when someone becomes born again, he/she is drafted into the army of God, and it is either become a warrior, put on the armor of God, pick up the weapons of our warfare, join the battle, and begin to fight, or be defeated by the foe. It’s just that simple!

Nevertheless, many believers, unfortunately just do not get it—that, like it or not, we are indeed engaged in a fierce battle — a constant, never-ending struggle against the “wiles (lit., strategic battle plans) of the devil” (Eph 6:11; RSV). Pretending it doesn’t exist will not make it go away. Pacifism will not make it go away. It’s either conquer or be conquered; overpower or be overpowered— “not by might, not by power, but My Spirit, sayeth the Lord!” (Zech. 4:6).

So therefore, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as Spirit-filled, Spirit-baptized believers in Christ, who is the Word of God and was the Word of God made flesh during His first visitation to the Earth, let us resolve to believe who the Christ really is—not merely the Child born in the meekness of a manger, but the Person, Prince, and Almighty God of Peace—the One from whom true peace emanates. And, let us cast off the bonds and bondages that the vain philosophies of men place upon us, in particular those of a false, humanistic peace and pacifism foisted upon us at this wonderful time of the year, and let us walk instead in true peace and freedom of the Spirit, which is a peace and freedom that requires constant vigilance and spiritual warfare against the devices and schemes of the enemy of our souls. For, if we abide in God’s Word and His Word abides in us, then we shall know THE TRUTH, and the Truth that we know shall set us and keep us FREE—free from the throes of every bondage, affliction, and oppression that comes in an attempt to bind us! For truly, “He whom the Son sets free, is FREE INDEED!”

[Editor's note: This article is adapted from the book, CHARISMATIC CAPTIVATION, by Steven Lambert. The book exposes the widespread problem of authoritarian abuse in Neo-Pentecostal church-groups, and explains how it became infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal church arising out of a false movement known as the Discipleship/Shepherding Movement (1970-77). References to "Discipleship" or "Shepherding" (and variables) doctrines, teachings, proponents and participants, and so forth, allude to those pertinences that arose out of that movement.]

For nearly thirty years, I have been doing all the Lord has allowed, anointed, and enabled me to do to set captives of spiritual authoritarian abuse free from the bonds of witchcraft, or the “yoke of slavery,” in which they are ensnared.In the last few years, the Lord has kindled a fire in my belly for the State of Florida in particular. Not only to do what I can to set the captives residing in this State free, but also to be used of the Lord to ignite prophesied fires of revival and refinement in the humanly nicknamed “Sunshine State,” but Heavenly named, “Sonshine State.”

Florida is an apostolic state, in that the apostolic anointing and function is a “first-in” anointing and function (1 Cor. 12:28) — a forerunner, pioneering, breakthrough anointing. Virtually all the original famed explorers’ forays into the New World were along Florida’s then surreal sand-covered beaches. Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, is accredited with the original discovery, in 1513, of the pristine paradisal peninsula, which is encompassed on three sides by the immense waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The lush flora and foliage pervading it partially influenced the awed adventurer’s naming of the newly found land.

Further demonstrating the State’s apostolic roots, though it is not been widely chronicled, a number of critical conflicts, conflagrations, and events precipitating the colonization and early establishment of America occurred here in Florida.

Florida is a proverbial “Fort Knox,” financially speaking, because much of the world’s wealthiest and most influential people reside in or hold properties or interests somewhere in the pearled peninsula. For multiple consecutive years, the sparse, exclusive enclaves of Jupiter/Hutchison Islands have been ascribed the wealthiest per household hamlets in America. The unimaginable dense concentration of mammon represented in the State of necessity then comprises a lion share of the “wealth of the wicked” God declares is stored up for the righteous of the End-times Church Jesus is building that is required to finance the final great global in-gathering of souls.

For these reasons and much more that cannot be addressed in this article, one of the most ferocious pitched battles between Heaven and Hell is over the 60,000 total square miles of land mass comprising the State of Florida, but more importantly, over the some 18 million souls who inhabit it. Numerous profound and portentous prophecies by prominent voices foretelling major moves of the Spirit of God have been trumpeted during the 20th and now early part of the 21st Centuries. What some have purported to be a “Prophetic Movement,” which is a precursor of the nascent “Apostolic Movement,” was launched from the panhandle of Florida, where one of the most significant modern protracted outbreaks of the Spirit, the “Brownsville Revival,” also occurred. The sleepy Central Florida town of Lakeland was the somewhat unlikely host of the so-called “river” or “laughing” revival in the early 1990s through the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne and the aegis of Carpenter’s Home Church, itself a significant phenomenon, burgeoning into a multi-thousand-member super-church over the span of three decades in the late 1900s. Similar growth bursts transpired during that same span in a number of other Florida locales as well. Still today, Florida is graced with a number of mega- and super- and large Neo-Pentecostal churches that are offshoots of the spectrum of spiritual streams flowing in the State.

Unfortunately, however, as an apostolic State, the master-deceiver, the “prince of the power of the air,” has also in times past hijacked the spiritual air-currents of the fair State whose name is also partially derived from the Spanish word for Easter, for propagation of some of his most diabolical and damaging handiworks of deception — “winds of doctrine,” i.e., false movements founded on “doctrines of demons” — in modern church history. One of the most prominent of those false movements was the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement of the 1970s, spawned in the South Florida coastal town of Fort Lauderdale. The deviant doctrines dispersed through that false movement eventually permeated the fabric, foundation, and functions of the Charismatic Movement, ultimately effecting its derailment and demise, as well as the defilement of its myriad of spiritual offspring (believers, churches, ministries) with the spiritually decimating disease of hyper-authoritarianism.

From the vantage point of 2005, it is clear that the effect of the spiritual plague was of epidemic proportions. Veritable spiritual genocide has transpired. Not just in Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal but denominational and non-Charismatic consortiums as well. None of the present streams of the Spirit — i.e., spirit-oriented churches, groups, ministries, and networks — are unaffected by it. The constant stream of communications and counseling requests to my office by victims of authoritarian abuse demonstrate the validity of these assertions. The streams that are supposed to make glad the City of God (the church Jesus is building) [Ps. 46:4] have been polluted by it and instead made the Church sad. Vast portions of the Body of Christ reel in the downward spiritual spiral of witchcraft! It’s almost as if the events initiated by the sounding of the Third Angel’s trumpet of Revelation 8:10,11, wherein a great star named Wormwood — “fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters….and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died (spiritually) from the waters, because they were made bitter” — has some latent application.

What is the answer? I believe the answer is inherent in a prophetic word the Lord gave me in July 2004. It tenders the key that unlocks the chains of bondage in which God’s people who are called to be “Sons of God” as opposed to “slaves of men.” The false teaching of illegitimate authoritarianism has brought curses upon the Body of Christ that must be reversed in order for the people of God to possess their inheritance. This past week the Lord dropped this phrase into my spirit, “Poised to Possess!” I believe the Spirit is saying the Church is “poised to possess” the Promise Land, but like the Israelites, they must be delivered out of the tyranny of spiritual Pharaohs that are holding them in bondage in order to possess it. The Body of Christ at large, and to some degree the Church of Florida more so than any other, is in serious crisis! Yet, sadly the majority of believers are thoroughly brainwashed and thus hoodwinked to the horrific state of affairs that pervades the Church.

As I write, my spirit is exceedingly sorrowful and grieved. But I have been at this prophetic thing long enough to know that it is not really me that is sorrowful and grieved, but rather God. Really, when you stop and think about it, what is it to me? Why would I, as just another person, care about these matters? No, I’m seeing and sensing what God sees and senses. Prophets are “seers.” They see things; often things others do not or cannot see, at that time. Oftentimes others will not see the things a prophet sees until like Elisha with his servant, the prophet prays that God open the eyes of the blind so that they can see what he sees. But prophets are also “sensers” they sense things that others do not sense — often the heart or feelings of God (yes, God has feelings). I know without any equivocation that what I am seeing and feeling in my spirit is what God sees and is feeling. This is not a Steven thing, this is a Spirit thing!

One of the objectives of the Spirit of the Lord and anointing that was upon Him, which is likewise the anointing under which every true minister on His behalf operates, Jesus stated was/is to “set the captives free” (Lk. 4:18,19). The Holy Spirit commanded through the Apostle Paul, “It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject AGAIN to a YOKE OF SLAVERY” (Gal. 5:1)! Jesus declared, “He whom the Son sets free is FREE indeed” (Jn. 8:36)! He also said that true disciples of His, who abide in His Word, will be SET FREE by the Truth that they KNOW (Jn. 8:31,32)! It is clear from just a few snippets of Scripture such as these and the preponderance of Old Testament chronicles concerning the people of God as well that God is intensely desirous of His people being FREE of ALL kinds of bondage, no matter what it may be! GOD WANTS HIS PEOPLE FREE! Free to be HIS! He is a jealous God who, above all else, wants us to be free to belong to Him, and Him alone!

Satan himself, the original rebel and defector from God, is the master-taskmaster! He is the arch-megalomaniac who is absolutely possessed with the altogether foolish figment of conquering and controlling God’s entire Creation, and enslaving the crown jewel of that Creation — mankind. Yet, the most succinct expression by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God of the purpose of the Son of God’s manifestation and visitation is “that He might DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL” (1 Jn. 3:8). Essentially, “the works of the devil” are invisible chains of captivity to the rebellion against God that the devil himself originated. God wants you free from his bondage.

My spirit cries out to the Body of Christ today: BE FREE FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF SATAN AND SIN, INCLUDING THE SIN OF IDOLATRY AND SPIRITUAL ADULTERY! I implore you to hear the voice of the Lord crying out in the wilderness today! Pray and ask God if you have sinned and brought a curse upon your life by entering into unauthorized covenants.

Father, I pray now, in the name of Your Son, whom you sent to set the captives free, that you open the eyes of your people, to see the yoke of bondage that they have been under, and that you set them free from it today! I give you praise, honor, and glory, for hearing my prayer and doing it! Amen!

After reading this prophetic word, if you have not already read my book, Charismatic Captivation, I strongly urge you to order your copy today and read it, in order to be set free from “the yoke of slavery” to illegitimate human mediators. You may read more about the book and order it from our website at: http://www.slm.org/pubs/index.html. On the left side of this page are also books by other authors among the recommended reading list for victims or suspected victims of spiritual abuse that you can order through our affiliation with Amazon.Com.

The Curse of Unauthorized Covenants
By Steven Lambert, ThD (7/7/04)

One of the last books Derek Prince authored prior to his recent death was Blessings and Curses (Revised version, 2003; Chosen Books, Grand Rapids Michigan).  It has been well-documented how that in the 1970s Prince had been one of the originators of what became known as the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement. To his credit, however, when the doctrines associated with that movement were challenged by numerous prominent church leaders, the highly-respected Bible teacher was the first to publicly acknowledge that the teachings were erroneous, recant them, repent, and ask fellow believers for forgiveness from the spiritual harm he had been instrumental in wreaking upon the Body of Christ.

In Blessings and Curses (p. 46) [emphasis and bracketed comments added], Prince writes:

In Exodus 23:32-33 God warned Israel about the idolatrous nations whose land they were about to enter: “Do not make a COVENANT with them or with their gods…The worship of their gods will CERTAINLY be a SNARE to YOU.” If you make a solemn agreement with people who are under the power of evil forces, you come under that same power…. As Christians, we are all in a covenant relationship with the Lord and the ONLY other valid covenant is that of marriage between a husband and wife. Covenants are very powerful, and to enter into a covenant relationship on any other basis but these can be extremely dangerous. If it is a scriptural covenant [which the author states are only those between a believer and the Lord, and between a husband and wife], its effect will be a blessing. But, if it is unscriptural, its effect will be a CURSE. Solomon offers an urgent word of counsel in Proverbs 6:4-5 to anyone who has made a pledge or vow binding them to an evil ASSOCIATION:

Allow no sleep to your eyes,
No slumber to your eyelids.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
Like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

What you have said with your own lips [unscriptural/unauthorized pledges, oaths, covenants] only YOU can unsay. At the same time, get rid of any articles associated with the ungodly covenant. It is best to do this in the presence of Christian witnesses who can support you with their faith.

It is clear in Scripture that human covenants, pledges, and oaths other than the only two that are authorized by Scripture (marriage and God’s with believers) subject the participating parties to curses that bear the potential for great harm and grave danger.

Contrary to the adage quoted even by occultists, Jesus did not teach that the truth itself will automatically set you free. Rather, He taught that it was the truth that we KNOW — the truth that lives (abides) in us and that we live in — that will set us free (cf, John 8:31,32). Indeed, the Word of God is literally filled with Kingdom Truths that bear unfettered power to liberate all who will accept and apply them to their lives, yet that glorious result cannot occur until we first KNOW those Truths. It is incumbent upon every believer who comes into this knowledge and understanding regarding illegitimate covenants to immediately repent and renounce every such improper covenant, and replace it with a confession of the two appropriate covenants, in order to “free yourself” from the “hand of the hunter” and “the snare of the fowler” — for improper covenants make us captives to the hunter and make our lives ensnared by the fowler, (Satan) who has the authority to fowl everything in our lives that is unprotected as the result of our removing ourselves from the protective covering of God through improper spiritual covenants and associations made with humans, which produce enslavement (Rom. 6:16).

Ungodly human covenants of improper submission to men, as postulated by the erroneous Shepherding doctrines, have brought the State of Florida under a curse — from the Southeast coast to the Northeast extremities of the panhandle. Let every preacher and believer first “free” his or her self from these covenants of enslavement and the curses they bring upon the participants, then preach, proclaim, and declare the message of freedom and liberty to fellow believers, and thereby deliver ourselves and the church of Florida that Jesus is building from the scourge of the curse!

When the scourge of this self-imposed curse is finally removed, we will begin to see God’s hand of favor and approval released upon the church of Florida, and the fulfillment of the many prophesies predicting an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit and God’s Glory upon the coastlines of the State![end]

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The following is an excerpted section from Chapter Two, The Movement Goes Underground, from my book, Charismatic Captivation, first published in 1996, which proffered back then more warnings concerning the dangers of unauthorized and unscriptural “covenant relationships,” and traces the roots of the concept to the Discpleship/Sheperding controversy that emerged in the mid-1970s.

However, what has transpired over the course of time is that in order to avoid the adverse effects of controversy, the majority of Discipleship proponents and practitioners have gone “underground,” so to speak, employing less overt and less conspicuous methods and means of propagation, cloaking and camouflaging their operations behind more subtle and euphemistic, cryptic language.

For example, the extreme concepts initially referred to as concepts of “pastoring” are now termed “shepherding” principles. To give it a more sophisticated and sanctimonious ring, the obsequious relationship between the subjugated (the sheep) and their subjugator (the shepherd) now is called “covenant relationships.” These “relationships” (if you accept that appellation) in many groups espousing Discipleship/Shepherdship/Covenant doctrines and employing variations of the practices advocated under that teaching are actually codified in the form of a “Covenant Agreement” signed by the subjugated in which the subjugated pledges his eternal oath of allegiance and unquestioned obedience and obeisance, along with his financial support, of course, to his “shepherd.” Usually, this “covenant” requirement is a matter which is not addressed openly in the public meetings, but is introduced “in private” to attendees who have been around long enough to have become fully indoctrinated with the group’s ways and teachings, and to have become psychologically dependent on the group (more on this and other psychological mechanisms employed by Discipleship groups later).

Allow me to say in passing that to me, oaths such as these bear little dissimilarity to the secret oaths and pledges required of initiates into secret societies such as the Free Masons, Ku Klux Klan, and the La Cosa Nostra (Italian Mafia), which essentially bind the inductee to that group for life, or in other words, “Til death do us part.” In fact, it has been my experience in dealing with hundreds of people in deliverance from demonic powers that the pledge taken by inductees into these secret societies is precisely the same in terms of the spiritual impact it induces as those taken by members of Discipleship/Shepherding/Covenant cults (as we shall discuss later, this is precisely what these groups are cults). A plethora of spirits of bondage, witchcraft, and idolatry saunter right through the door willfully opened by the person who enters into such demonic “covenants” of allegiance to men. Additionally, terribly debilitating and subversive satanic soul-ties are formed with the individuals with whom they have “covenanted.” But, in actuality, the spiritual dynamic that is being instigated in the unseen spiritual realm when a person “covenants” with another human being in this manner, agreeing to subject himself to a mere human rather than unto the Lord Jesus Christ, is a pact of idolatry, because, spiritually speaking, wittingly or unwittingly, the subjugant has in essence pledged to submit his human will to his subjugator. In effect, the subjugant has just become the willing slave of his subjugator, for the Spirit says, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are SLAVES of the one whom you obey” (Rom. 6:16).

The ultimate result of such a “pax idolatrus” is that that person has in actuality made the pact, not with that leader, but with demons, for in reality there is no such a thing as an idol, but the idolatrous homage rendered unto “idols,” whether they be human or inanimate is “sacrifice to demons, and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:19-22). In other words, anyone who makes a spiritual covenant with anyone other than God, covenants with demons, whether they intend to or not, for “You cannot drink the cup of (fellowship with) the Lord and the cup of (fellowship with) demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (Ibid, v. 21, parenthesis added by author). If you do so covenant and so partake of fellowship with idols (other gods), or demons, you “provoke the Lord to jealousy” (Ibid, v. 22). Thus, in actuality this “covenanting” business and paying homage to human leaders is tantamount to pagan demon worship. The Bible explicitly constrains us against making such “covenants” with anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It specifically commands, “Do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor. 7:23).

Dear Friend, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of ungodly human covenants of improper submission to men such as what are addressed in this word, I urge you to “Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids” until you “FREE YOURSELF, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler” by renouncing all such ungodly covenants and thereby break the self-imposed bondages and curses over your life. Repeat the following simple prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, my eyes have been opened to the error of these improper covenants I have made with men in ignorance, and sense the inner conviction of the Spirit regarding them. I ask you to forgive me of my sin and error. I want to FREE MYSELF from the witchcraft resulting from those false oaths, pledges, and covenants right now. So, in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every name, I now renounce those covenants I made and demand by the Spirit of the Lord that the illegitimate yoke of slavery that has been upon me now lift off of me! I am now free of all false burdens and responsibilities, and free to serve YOU as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus!

[Original Post Date on Prophetic Perspective E-zine: 11/19/2005]

In the 1980s a spiritually perilous trend began developing in the Neo-Pentecostal realm, which was the human appointments of certain leaders into the supposed office of “bishop.” This vogue has become especially popular and common in an increasing number of so-called Neo-Pentecostal “networks” that have emerged since the 80s, comprised of affiliated though purportedly autonomous churches. One prominent Neo-Pentecostal organization has formed what they call “The International College of Bishops,” comprised of certain leaders of networks upon whom they have conferred this faux title.

This trend has developed despite the irrefutable fact that no such office or “position” is established anywhere in Holy Writ (The Bible), but rather in fact is undeniably antithetical to the governmental offices God has established in His Word. In other words, there simply is no such an office established anywhere in Scripture.

So what’s the problem? In a nutshell, the problem is that this is precisely the path that the Early Church followed under the influence of the doctrines and deeds of the Nicolaitans, which Jesus Himself specifically stated He hated and for which He rebuked the Church for tolerating and espousing, which ultimately led to the utter spiritual apostasy and decimation of the Dark Ages, from which it is still in the process of recovery. Follow along with me as I develop this premise and proffer what I believe to be a prophetic admonition from God to the Church to desist from this practice.

Applying the Berean Principle:
“Examining the Scripture…to see if these things be so”

The Greek word translated in the King James Version (KJV) as “bishop” is the word “episkopos,” which literally means “overseer.” This word, as it is used in the original contexts, bears no thought of an “office,” or position of authority, or echelon of rank in the Church. Rather, it speaks only of the function of ministry in which everyone anointed and appointed by the Lord to Fivefold ministry within the New Testament Church operates. In fact, the terms “elder,” “overseer,” and “shepherd” are all synonymous terms referring to the same offices of spiritual function, which are the Fivefold Ministry offices. If to some the KJV appears to be referring to an “office” or “position” of “bishop,” the reason, it is vital to understand, is that the cadre of translators appointed by King James in the Medieval Era to the task of developing an English translation of canonized Scripture, finally completed in 1611, were working from the mental backdrop of ecclesiastical concepts founded in the Dark Ages, and ecclesiastical structure in place at the time in the Roman Church included such positions.

However, the fact that the intention of the Holy Spirit and the original writers in the usage of the word “overseer” in the original letters was to refer, not to a position of authority, but rather to ministry function, and the fact that the terms “elder,” “overseer,” and “shepherd” are all synonymous terms referring to the function of those appointed by the Lord to Fivefold Ministry is abundantly evident in two particular passages of Scripture. The first is in the Twentieth Chapter of the Book of Acts, beginning with verse 17, in which the Apostle Paul has called together “the ELDERS of the church” at Ephesus, which he had founded, and over which he had apostolic oversight, and admonished them, “Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you OVERSEERS, to SHEPHERD the church of God…” (v. 28). Here we see the three terms of elders, over­seers, and shepherd being attributed to the same individuals, the latter two of which, overseers and shepherds, spoke explicitly of their function in the capacity as the first, elders.

The second proof text is the first three verses of First Peter, Chapter 5, in which Peter as an apostle (an elder who has oversight over other elders by virtue of esteem) addresses the elders of the various churches with this exhortation: “Therefore I exhort the ELDERS among you, as your fellow elder…SHEPHERD the flock of God among you, exercising OVERSIGHT….” Again, the same three terms are mentioned here, attributing the functions of shepherding and oversight to the elders collectively.

Hence, we see from these two passages that what the Holy Spirit is communicating through this usage of the word “episkopos” is that all elders have two primary functions: to shepherd the flock of God, and to provide spiritual oversight (look after the spiritual well-being) of the flock allotted to their charge by the Holy Spirit. It is referring to the function of Fivefold Ministers (who, incidentally, are all Shepherds, not just the pastors), rather than establishing an authoritarian position of ascendancy and domination over fellow believers as so commonly but wrongly purported by so many today. In fact, the third verse of the previously mentioned passage, while specifically instructing the elders to shepherd the flock of God, exercising spiritual oversight, explicitly enjoined them against “LORDING IT OVER those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”

Thus, to summarize the point, when someone takes upon himself, or has conferred upon him, this purported title of “bishop,” he is engaging in modern-day Nicolaitanism, the deeds and doctrines Jesus explicitly stated He “hated.” He is perpetrating a patently ungodly and unscriptural form of predomination over fellows that certainly is not reflective of the model of servanthood ministers are called to demonstrate as representatives of the Ultimate Servant and Chief Shepherd, and now Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Church Jesus is Building is Founded Upon Apostolic Authority

The Church that Jesus is building is founded upon APOSTOLIC authority. There is no authority or offices in the Church of which Jesus is the Head higher than or transcendent over apostolic authority.

In His now infamous dissertation to Peter and the other Apostles of the Lamb, Jesus declared the Church to be His very own possession, His consuming passion, and that He Himself was its Chief architect and builder, when He proclaimed, “I will build My Church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18). When contemplating this statement, it is imperative to remember that when Jesus said He would build His Church, He meant He would build His Church through, foremostly, the foundation ministries of apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20).

Prior to His ascension, Jesus personally selected twelve “disciples” who merely by His appointment and anointing became “apostles” (Mat. 10:1,2), and relegated to them the task and function of being the chief surrogate builders of His Church. This established the apostolic precedent for the ultimate superintendence of the Church. This apostolic precedent Jesus set and which He has never since rescinded, remains in effect throughout the Church Age. 1 Cor. 12:28 makes this abundantly clear, in that it explicitly states that “God has SET in the CHURCH, first apostles, second prophets,” which means that apostles and prophets are permanently set into Church for as long as the Church exists and remains here upon the Earth, or in other words, for the duration of the Church Age. The term “set” in this passage, it is important to understand, connotes permanence, in the way the term is used to refer to what happens with concrete as it dries—it becomes set. (Further discussion concerning the office of apostles and their role in the Church is contained in the book on which this article is based, Charismatic Captivation.)

The Church is established upon “the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19,20). Truth declares unequivocally that the Church Jesus is building is founded upon and will be built up through apostolic authority. The true Church of Jesus can never be established upon any form of government other than apostolic authority. The Church-Age began with apostolic authority in place, and apostolic authority will be in place at its culmination. Moreover, it will only be when the Church returns to apostolic authority and foundation that genuinely significant spiritual advancements will be made.

Similarity of Nicolaitan and Discipleship Heresies

The natural nemesis of that apostolic authority has always been, and will always be humanly-contrived and -appointed, politically-based, hierarchical systems of ecclesiastical government. Supplanting of the apostolic authority or government established by Jesus was a primary factor precipitating the Church’s gradual descent into the throes of deception and apostasy that transpired in the Dark Ages. Abrogation of apostolic authority in favor of politico-ecclesio hierarchy led to the virtual debacle of the Church as the instrument for implementation of Divine purpose, reducing it instead to being an agent of demonically-inspired humanistic purposes. No other single element was more causal to the deterioration of the Church during its corporate apostasy than this supplanting of apostolic authority. The heretical Nicolaitan strategy to “conquer the laity” as their name implies, was the chief element precipitating the corporate apostasy of the Early Church.

This modern trend of human appointment of men to the humanly contrived office of bishop began on the heels of the demonically-inspired Discipleship/Shepherding movement that emerged in the early 1970s. When you cut through all the rhetoric and faulty apologetics proffered by their proponents, the hyper-authoritarian teachings and practices promulgated via that movement, along with its coupe de grace of “bishops,” are virtually identical to the doctrines and deeds of the Nicolaitans who emerged in the first century, and whose influence eventually led to the emergence of an apostate “universal church.” These hyper-authoritarian doctrines and deeds of the Nicolaitans, which Jesus said He hated, eventually led to a hierarchical system of church government comprised of priests, bishops, arch-bishops, cardinals, and so forth, under the ultimate authority of the Pope.

Indeed, what is imperative to understand about this issue is that it is an indisputable fact that the Nicolaitan heresy was the primary force leading to the supplanting of apostolic authority in the Early Church, which in turn ultimately led to the corporate ecclesiastical apostasy of the Dark Ages. So also the heretical Discipleship/Shepherding teachings advocate a counterfeit authority system that in effect supplants apostolic authority. The similarity is just too striking to be merely ironic or coincidental. Rather, it is my confident conviction that the Nicolaitan doctrines were planted by Satan in the Early Church to supplant and effect the abrogation of apostolic authority, and in identical fashion the Discipleship/Shepherding doctrines were implanted by Satan in the End-times Church with the express intent to supplant apostolic authority, and impede, or if possible, preclude, the restoration of same. In the case of the latter, however, Satan’s hysterical efforts, in the end, will not be successful, for apostolic authority and anointing will indeed be restored to the Church.

We are told through the writing of Solomon that in reality there is nothing that is truly “new”:

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. (Ecc. 1:9,10)

And so it also is with the unscriptural hypotheses brought forth in the heretical Discipleship doctrines. They are virtually identical to those promulgated by the Nicolaitans, which, as I have said repeatedly, was the seed from which the fallacious hierarchy of the universal Roman church was germinated.

The reason for the similarity lies squarely in the fact that these doctrines were not merely contrived in the minds of men. Rather, they genuinely are “doctrines of demons” of the sort prophesied by the Apostle Paul in his letter to his younger protégé Timothy (1 Tim. 4:1ff). He foretold that in the last days there would arise patently demonic but subtle and impelling doctrines of deception that would actually be promulgated by lying, deceiving spirits through the agency of human teachers. These false teachings would be so subtle and impelling that many genuine and sincere believers would be duped by and give heed to them, with the result that bona fide believers will fall away from a true relationship and rightstanding with God into apostasy and perdition.

Indeed, this egregiously erroneous Discipleship/Shepherding teaching, I am absolutely persuaded, is a doctrine of this sort. It is contrived by the devil himself and promulgated by his fallen cohorts, demons, with the objective of craftily leading unsuspecting believers into spiritually idolatrous and adulterous covenants with mere men, and away from effectual relationship and rightstanding with God. As I have been establishing, these doctrines and practices are essentially the same age-old attempts by Satan to captivate and control people through the mythical utopian bliss of religious collectivism: promising them freedom while they (Satan and his cohorts) are the slaves of corruption” (2 Pet. 2:19, parenthesis added by the author).

Jesus’ Disdain for the Nicolaitan Deeds and Doctrines

Considering the eventual denouement and consequences of the Nicolaitan heresy, it is little wonder why Jesus issued such a terse but severe warning to the Early Apostolic churches through the Apostle John regarding the Nicolaitans in the apocalyptic vision comprising the book of Revelation. It is in His commendation to the church of Ephesus in which Jesus expresses His utter disdain for the premise of such ecclesiastical predomination as that proposed and promulgated by the Nicolaitans: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the DEEDS of the Nicolaitans, WHICH I ALSO HATE” (Rev. 2:6).

Jesus’ commendation of the Ephesians for recognizing the hereticalness of the ungodly teaching and practices of the Nicolaitans, and their consequential resistance and rejection of the false doctrine, is a tribute to the Apostle Paul who founded the church, to Timothy, who Paul personally tutored and sent to be their chief elder, and to all the other Fivefold ministers who contributed toward the spiritual development of the Ephesians. They had been so well taught that they were not deceived by men who came to them claiming falsely to be apostles (Rev. 2:2), and they did not succumb to the demonic doctrines and deeds of the Nicolaitans.

Though the Ephesian church was not taken in by the hypothesizing and attempted hijacking by the Nicolaitans, unfortunately, this was not the case with another of the seven Asia Minor churches explicitly addressed by Jesus in the Revelation communicated through John-the Pergamum church. Jesus sharply condemned the Pergamum church because “some” among them (some of which apparently were among the leadership of the church, else it could not have existed in the church long) had indeed been deceived into accepting and espousing the teaching and practices of the Nicolaitans: “Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching (doctrine) of the Nicolaitans” (Rev. 2:15).

The Nicolaitan heresy was not the only deception by which the Pergamum believers had been bewitched, however. For, Jesus also rebuked them because some of their membership also espoused some other form of false teaching leading to some form of idolatry and immorality that the Lord said was akin to the teaching of the prophet Balaam:

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. (Rev. 2:14)

(Note: The book on which this article is based, Charismatic Captivation, contains an entire chapter devoted to the history of the Nicolaitans.)

Are We Heading Toward Another Corporate Apostasy?

Jesus’ apocalyptic warning against the doctrine and the deeds of the Nicolaitans is more than just interesting. The truth of the matter is that had the early churches given heed to those Divine warnings, the course of Church history would have been totally different than what it was, because as mentioned before the demonically inspired teaching and practices of the Nicolaitans resulted ultimately in the Papal system that supplanted the apostolic authority upon which the Church was founded. This, indeed, was not only the most grievous and egregious effect of the Nicolaitan heresy, but no doubt also the very objective of the arch-enemy of the Church, Satan, who personally contrived this diabolical deception.

The question before the Church today is: will we allow ourselves to be taken into the error and resulting apostasy that was the fate of the Pergamum Church by continuing on this path of displacement of apostolic authority by a Scripturally-invalid system of government and authority, i.e., bishops and the rest that comes after that, or shall we cease and desist from that trend and opt instead to return to the apostolic-prophetic foundation so that indeed “the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former?” The Worldwide Universal Church will not cease and desist from that path, but will follow it to the end to in the name of ecumenicism, align all the “religions” of the world under the Roman Papal System. Sadly, the Spirit tells me that huge blocks of even the Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal Church will ultimately depart from the true Church that Jesus is building and ally with the apostate Antichrist universal church, taking multitudes of their adherents with them, in fulfillment of the Spirit’s prediction set forth in First Timothy 4:1,2.

As sad and distressing as that is, the most important question of all to you, the reader, and to every believer is: Which church will you be a part of—the one whose ultimate architect is the arch-enemy of God which will be led by the false prophet in alliance with the AntiChrist, or the End-time Remnant Church that Jesus is building and whose Architect is God?

[Editor's note: This article is adapted from the book, CHARISMATIC CAPTIVATION, by Steven Lambert. The book exposes the widespread problem of authoritarian abuse in Neo-Pentecostal church-groups, and explains how it became infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal church arising out of a false movement known as the "Discipleship or Shepherding Movement (1970-77)." References to "Discipleship" or "Shepherding" (and variations thereof) doctrines, teachings, proponents and participants, and so forth, allude to those pertinences that arose out of that movement.]