“PROTECTION FROM DECEPTION”

-by Derek Prince.
 Of Navigating Through The Minefield Signs And Wonders
[Chapter One of a book by Derek Prince - Nov 1996].

Chapter 1
Signs and Wonders Do Not Determine Truth

There has been in recent years a worldwide explosion of signs and wonders. Some have been biblical and helpful. Others have been bizarre and unbiblical. Signs and wonders are not new. They are recorded in various passages of the Bible and in different periods of church history. However, the current explosion extends more widely than any particular church or denomination and has attracted widespread attention in both the religious and the secular media.

I want to make it plain that I have no personal prejudice or anxiety concerning unusual manifestations. In actual fact, I have in my own lifetime experienced quite a number of them. They do not frighten me. I am not negative about them. As I recorded in my booklet Uproar in the Church, my own personal encounter with Jesus in World War II began in a very unconventional way. In the middle of the night, in a barrack room of the British Army, I spent more than an hour on my back on the floor, with my body first racked by convulsive sobs and then filled with a river of laughter which grew continually louder.

Next morning, I found myself a completely different person, changed not by any act of my will but by yielding to the supernatural power that had flowed through me. I then looked up various passages in the Bible that speak about laughter. To my surprise, I discovered that – for God’s people – laughter is not primarily, as we imagine, a reaction to something comical, but rather an expression of triumph over our enemies.

In Psalm 2:4, David actually depicts God Himself as laughing: He who sits in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall hold them in derision, Here, God’s laughter is not a reaction to some comedy that is being enacted on earth. Rather, it is His response to the ridiculous human midgets who have the effrontery to oppose His purposes. It is His expression of triumph over all the forces of evil.

Sometimes, God fills us with His own laughter that we may share in His triumph over those who are both His enemies and ours.

Later I pastored a fellowship in London that met on the top floor of a five- story building. One evening a lame man was miraculously healed and threw away his crutches. We all burst into spontaneous praise. At that moment the building began to tremble and shake with the power of God. The praise and shaking continued for about thirty minutes.

I realized that something similar was recorded of the early church in Acts 4:31: And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

At that particular time, our fellowship was conducting several evangelistic meetings each week in the streets of London, and we certainly needed more than natural boldness.

But with regard to any kind of manifestation, there are two questions that I always want to ask. Number one: Is it a manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God? Or is it a manifestation from some other source? And number two (and this is related to it): Is the manifestation in question in harmony with Scripture? In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the author of all Scripture, and He never says or does anything to contradict Himself. Every genuine manifestation of the Holy Spirit will, in some way. harmonize with Scripture.

Now, I want to begin with some warnings of Jesus, particularly related to the end time period in which I believe we are living. These are warnings against deception. They are found in Matthew chapter 24, verses 4, 5, 11 and 24. In other words, four times in 21 verses, Jesus specifically warns us against deception in this period of the close of the age. The first thing Jesus said about the events leading up to His return, in Matthew 24:4: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Verse 5: “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah (Christ),’ and will deceive many.” Verse 11: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” And then in verse 24: “For false messiahs (christs) and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” So, Jesus warns us four times against deception. Anybody who shrugs off that warning or treats it lightly does so at the risk of his own soul. The greatest single danger in this end time is not sickness, nor poverty, nor persecution. It is deception. If anybody says, “It could never happen to me,” it has already happened to that person, because that person is saying something could never happen that Jesus said would happen. That is a sufficient indication that such a person is deceived.

Next, I want to say something important about signs and wonders. They do not determine truth. It is very essential to understand that. Signs and wonders do not determine truth! Truth is already determined and established, and it is the Word of God. In John 17:17, Jesus is praying to the Father, and He says, “Your word is truth.” And in Psalm 119:89, the psalmist said, Forever, 0 Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Nothing that happens on earth can ever change the smallest little sign or letter of the Word of God. It is forever settled in heaven.

Now, the Bible speaks about signs and wonders. It says some things about them that are good, and some that are very frightening. I want to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and read a few verses there, beginning at verse 9. The coming of the lawless one [that is the title of the Antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

So, Paul says here there are such things as lying signs and wonders. There are true signs and there are lying signs. True signs attest the truth. Lying signs attest lies. Satan is fully capable of supernatural signs and wonders. Unfortunately, many in the Charismatic movement have the attitude that if something is supernatural, it must be from to God. There is no scriptural basis for that assumption. Satan is perfectly capable of producing powerful signs and wonders attest his lies, and the reason such people are deceived is because they did not receive the love of the truth. On such people God will send strong delusion. That is one of the most frightening statements in the Bible. If God sends you strong delusion, you will be deluded. I think that is one of the most severe judgments of God recorded in Scripture, sending these people strong delusion. They will be condemned, these people, because they did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Therefore, signs and wonders are not a guarantee that something is the truth. There is only one sure way to know the truth. It is in the Word of God. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There is no other way to be sure that we can escape deception in these days except that we know and apply the truth of God’s Word, the Scripture.

In 1994, for the first time, I was brought into fairly direct contact with one of the groups where those manifestations were occurring. A group of leaders went to some of their meetings and returned all excited, saying they had experienced something wonderful and we all needed to experience it. They said, “Now, you don’t test it. You don’t try it out. You don’t examine it. You just open up to it and receive it.” That was the first time that I really began to be suspicious of some of these things, because such a statement is directly contrary to Scripture.

In I Thessalonians 5:21, Paul says to Christians, Test all things: hold fast what is good. So, if we do not test things, we are disobeying Scripture, and anybody who tells us not to test things is, himself, not in harmony with Scripture. Our hearts cannot be relied upon to give us the truth. Proverbs 28:26 says, He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. So do not be a fool. Do not trust your own heart. Do not rely upon what your heart tells you, because it is not reliable. Again, in Jeremiah 17:9 the prophet says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

That word deceitful in the Hebrew is a very interesting word. In 1946, I was attending the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a guest student studying the nature – or the law – of the Hebrew language. I was listening to the head professor in this field at that time talking about this verse: Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things. He gave reasons which I cannot carry over from Hebrew to show that this form of the word deceitful is active, not passive. It does not mean that your heart is deceived. It means that your heart deceives you, so you cannot trust your own heart.

The professor gave a very vivid picture of what it means to find out the truth about your own heart. He said it is like someone peeling an onion. You peel off skin after skin, but you never know when you have reached the last skin – and all the time your eyes are watering. So that has remained with me now for 50 years – such a vivid, scriptural warning against relying on my own heart to tell me the truth. There is only one source of truth, and that is the Scripture.

Mixture Produces Confusion and Division

Now, I would like to give briefly my summation of this whole phenomenon /movement/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, based partly on personal observation and partly on what I believe to be reliable reports. My summation is very simple: it is a mixture of spirits, both the Holy Spirit and unholy spirits. They are mixed together.

In Leviticus 19:19, God warns us against mixture. He is opposed to mixture. God says this, “You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.” So, God warns against three things: breeding mixed livestock, sowing with mixed seed and wearing a mixed garment.

We could say that sowing with mixed seed represents the message that we bring, when it is partly truth and partly error. Wearing a mixed garment would be like a lifestyle that is partly scriptural and partly of this world. And letting livestock breed with livestock of an incompatible kind would be equivalent to a Christian ministry or group aligning itself with a group or ministry that is non-Christian.

It is an interesting thing about such breeding; its product is always sterile. For instance, you can mate a horse with a donkey and the product is a mule. But a mule is always sterile; it cannot reproduce. I think that is one reason why there are so many “sterile” operations in Christendom – they are being bred with the wrong mate.

Now, I have observed this carefully, and I have had grievous experience of this condition of a mixture of spirits. I find that it is something which the Scripture warns us against. For instance, there is a character in the Bible, King Saul, who had a mixture of spirits. At one time, he prophesied in the Holy Spirit; at another time, he prophesied in a demon. His career is really a warning. He was a king who ruled for forty years. He was a successful military commander. He had a lot of successes. But mixture was his undoing, and his life closed with tragedy. On the last night of his life, he went to consult a witch, and the next day he committed suicide on the battlefield. Surely that offers no encouragement to any of us to cultivate any kind of spiritual mixture in our lives.

I have observed that the result of mixture is two things: first of all, confusion; and then division. For instance, we have this mixed message, part of which is true, part of which is false. People can respond in two ways. Some will see the good and focus on it, and therefore accept the bad. Some will focus on the bad, and therefore reject the good. In either case, it does not accomplish God’s purposes.

Once upon a time I was a pastor, a long time ago, but I remember that the most difficult kind of people to deal with were people who were a mixture. I will give you a little imaginary example. We have Sister Jones in our congregation. One Sunday she gives a beautiful, prophetic message and everybody is uplifted, excited. But two Sundays later, she stands up and gives a revelation which she had in a dream. The further she goes with this revelation, the more confused and confusing it becomes. Eventually, as pastor, I have to say to her, “Sister Jones, I thank you, but I really don’t believe that is from the Lord,” and she sits down – but that is not the end. After the meeting, Sister White comes to me and says, “Brother Prince, how could you talk to Sister Jones like that? Don’t you remember that beautiful prophecy she gave two Sundays ago?” And when Sister White is gone, Brother Black comes to me, and he says, “If that’s the kind of revelation she has, I won’t listen to any more of her prophecies!”

So, you see what we have? Confusion, and out of confusion, division. I believe that is exactly what is happening in the church: confusion resulting in division. Certainly there is tremendous division! I believe confusion will always produce division.

The Bible gives us no liberty to tolerate the incursion of evil into the church. We are not to be passive; we are not to be neutral. Proverbs 8:13 says, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. It is sinful to compromise with evil. It is sinful to be neutral toward evil. In John 10:10 Jesus spoke about the thief, the devil, who comes: to steal, to kill and to destroy. We always need to remember, whether it is in an individual life or in a congregation, the devil only comes with three objectives: to steal, to kill and to destroy. I can remember many times I have been speaking with a person who needed deliverance from an evil spirit, and I have said to that person, “Remember, the devil has three reasons for being in your life: to steal, to kill and to destroy. You need to take a stand against him, not be neutral – you must drive him out.” What is true of an individual is true of a congregation. It is true for the body of Christ, worldwide.

Some of these unusual manifestations have been compared with unusual manifestations that accompanied the ministry of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney. Undoubtedly there were unusual manifestations in the ministries of those four men, and I have studied some of them myself, but I think the differences are greater than the similarities with the present situation. Let me point out to you three differences:

First of all, all those men majored on the strong preaching of God’s Word. They hardly did anything until they had preached the Word of God, or apart from the preaching of the Word of God. Finney, himself, commented somewhere about his ministry, “I usually spoke an hour or two.” I do not know how many contemporary Christians in the West would listen to a two-hour sermon, but Finney gave the Word in its purity and in its power.

Second difference: All those men made a strong call for repentance. That was their primary demand on the people to whom they ministered. Some people call what we are seeing today “a refreshing,” but in Acts 3:19 Peter says that refreshing must be preceded by repentance. Any refreshing that bypasses repentance is not scriptural.

The third difference is that in the ministry of those men, there is no record as far as I know that any of them laid hands on people. I am not saying that it is unscriptural to lay hands on people, but there is a difference. There is a situation in which people receive directly for themselves from the preached Word and another situation in which people have hands laid on them by others. If I could take a simple example. It is like rain. If you are out in the open and the rain falls upon you, you have received your rain direct from heaven. But, on the other hand, if rain is caught and stored in some kind of a cistern, then you are not receiving that rain direct from heaven. You have to take into account the cistern and the pipes through which you receive the rain. This is very vivid for me, because my first wife, Lydia, and I lived in Kenya for five years in a house where our water came from rain caught on the roof and channeled into concrete cisterns. Although the water came from heaven, we quickly learned by experience that if it stayed for any length of time in the cistern, worms developed in it and, consequently, we always had to boil our drinking water. There was nothing wrong with the rain as it came down, but something happened in the channel through which the rain came to us, and it was no longer pure. I think this can be true of laying on of hands. It is a channel which is not always pure.

Recently some ministers have moved from actually laying on hands to some other action of the hands – such as waving or pointing. However, this does not change the fact that something is being transmitted through the hands. Otherwise, there is no reason to use the hands at all. The important question still remains: Are those hands pure channels through which only the Holy Spirit can flow?

For instance, Ruth and I were in a meeting fairly recently where ministers deeply involved in the current move were speaking. We were sitting about two rows behind a woman who was having a terrible experience. She was like somebody continually trying to burp or trying to vomit, and she just went on and on and on. Eventually, I said to Ruth, “I think we ought to try to help her.” So, although it was not a meeting for which we were responsible, we went over quietly and started to talk to her. We discovered very quickly that she was speaking in a tongue, but for both of us it was evident that it was a false tongue; it was not a Holy Spirit tongue. We challenged her to confess that Jesus is Lord, and she was not willing or able to say that. So I conclude that she had a false spirit.

Later on, the people who were with her came over and talked to us and asked us what they should do about it. I asked them, “How did it happen?” And they said, “Well, she went to a church that’s involved in this move and somebody laid hands on her and this is the way she has been since then. But,” they said, “she’s convinced it’s from God. We can’t help her.” That is just an example of “rain” that came through a “cistern” that was not pure.

Also, in the present move, there is a great deal of emphasis on love. I agree that love is the greatest thing. But the trouble is that people are not always clear about the nature of love as it is described in the New Testament. First of all, love in us is expressed by obedience to the Lord. Any kind of love that does not result in obedience is unscriptural love.

In John 14:15, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” or, in a perhaps better text, “You will keep My commandments.” In other words, what is the evidence that you love Him? The evidence is keeping His commandments. Then in verse 21a. Jesus says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them. it is he who loves Me.” And in 1 John 5:3, it says, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. Therefore, any kind of love that does not result in obedience to the will of God revealed in His Word is not scriptural love. It is a counterfeit, a substitute for the real thing. Then, we need to consider the way that God expresses His love toward us. True, God is our Father, and He loves us. But as a Father, if necessary, He is prepared to discipline us. In the messages to the seven churches depicted in Revelation, I would say that Laodicea is probably the one that corresponds most closely to the contemporary church in the West. And to that church the Lord said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19).

So, God’s love is not sloppy. It is not sentimental. It is right down-to- earth. If we are straying from His ways and if we are disobedient, His love is expressed in rebuking us and chastening us, and He commands us to repent. Once again we have the problem of trying to get what God promises, but bypassing the basic condition of repentance – which is a deception.

I recently read the following comment by a British Bible teacher: Some Christians take the text “God is love” and turn it around to mean “Love is God.” In other words, nothing can be wrong if it is rooted in love. However, any love that comes between us and God is an illegitimate love … Likewise any love that diverts us from obedience to God’s Word is illegitimate.

The Identity of the Holy Spirit

In all of this that we are speaking about. this worldwide phenomenon, I believe there is one, central, underlying issue, which is often obscured. In fact, very seldom do we come really to grips with this issue.This issue is the identity of the Holy Spirit. How do we recognize the Holy Spirit? How do we know what the Holy Spirit is like? And how do we distinguish the Holy Spirit from other spirits? I read a statement recently by some New-Ager in which she said about the “New Age,” “When the holy spirit comes, then the New Age will be here.” Of course I am sure most of you would understand that when she talks about the holy spirit, she is not talking about the same Holy Spirit that the Bible speaks about. This is one of various indications that there is a counterfeit holy spirit. It is nothing new for Satan to produce a religious counterfeit. Since the time of Jesus, history records a whole series of counterfeit messiahs who have risen among the Jewish people. All of them had a following. Some like Sabbetai Zvi, had a widespread and enduring influence. The latest of them died in 1994.

Another religious counterfiet is the being titled the “blessed virgin Mary.” With all the claims that have been made for her and all the titles that have been ascribed to her, she bears no resemblance to the humble Jewish maiden who became the mother of Jesus, and later of His brothers and sisters. Yet over the centuries this counterfeit has claimed the devotion of millions of sincere Christians. We need to be on our guard, therefore, that we do not entertain a counterfeit “holy spirit.” I want to suggest to you three ways to identify the Holy Spirit, to recognize who the Holy Spirit is.

The first way I refer to in my little booklet Uproar in the Church, which I wrote about two years ago. I will just quote a few paragraphs: Another danger that threatens those who minister in the supernatural realm is the temptation to use spiritual gifts to manipulate or exploit or dominate people. At one period in my ministry I found myself casting spirits of witchcraft out of church-going people. Eventually, I asked the Lord to show me the true nature of witchcraft. I believe the Lord gave me the following definition: Witchcraft is the attempt to control people and get them to do what you want by the use of any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. After I had digested this, the Lord added: And if anyone has a spirit that he can use, it is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God. That is very important. The Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God. Then I went on to say, Today I tremble inwardly when I see or hear of a person who claims that he has spiritual gifts which he is free to use just as he pleases. It is surely no accident that some of those who have made such claims have ended in serious doctrinal error.

It is important to see that there is a difference between the Holy Spirit Himself, as a Person, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 11:29, Paul tells us that the gifts … of God are irrevocable. In other words, once God has given us a gift, He never takes it back. We are free to use it, not to use it, or to misuse it. But even if we misuse it, God does not take it back. Otherwise it would not be a genuine gift, it would only be a conditional loan.

It is a fact that people do misuse gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul provides a clear example in I Corinthians 13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Obviously the Holy Spirit Himself does not become a clanging cymbal. But the gift of speaking in tongues – when misused – can become an empty, discordant noise. Unfortunately this often happens in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles.

I believe it is possible to misuse other spiritual gifts – such as a word of knowledge or a gift of healing. This can happen when a person uses a spiritual gift to achieve a result or promote a movement which is not in harmony with the will of God. One obvious misuse would be for personal gain. In such a situation, our safeguard is to be able to recognize the Holy Spirit as a Person and to distinguish between Him and His gifts. This, then, is the first and most important fact about the Holy Spirit: HE IS GOD. And we need to relate to Him and treat Him always as God.

The second fact about the Holy Spirit is that He is the servant of God the Father and God the Son. This is an exciting revelation because it gives such a high value to servanthood. Many people today despise the idea of being a servant. They feel it is demeaning and undignified to be a servant. But I think it is wonderful that servanthood did not begin on earth. It began in eternity and it began in God. God the Holy Spirit is the Servant of the Father and the Son. This does not demean Him or make Him less than God. But it is a fact that we have to recognize about Him, which directs His activities and the things He does. In John 16:13-14 Jesus gives us a glimpse of the Holy Spirit’s ministry and activity: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak on His own authority [literally: from Himself] but whatever He hears He will speak: and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” So we see: the Holy Spirit does not speak from Himself; He has no message of His own. Isn’t that remarkable? He only reports to us what He is hearing from the Father and the Son. Secondly, His aim is not to glorify Himself, nor to attract attention to Himself, but always He glorifies and focuses attention on Jesus. That is the second important way to identify the Holy Spirit.

Now, I want you to listen to this carefully, because it is revolutionary. Any spirit that focuses on the Holy Spirit and glorifies the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit. It is contrary to His whole nature and purpose. Once you have grasped that, it will open your eyes to many things which are going on in the church that are otherwise difficult to understand. For example, we have a very beautiful chorus that we sing about the Father, the Son and the Spirit. The first verse says to the Father, “Glorify Thy name in all the earth.” The second verse says to Jesus the Son, “Glorify Thy name in all the earth.” The third verse says to the Spirit, “Glorify Thy name in all the earth.” I love to sing the first two verses, but I decline to sing the third verse, because I do not believe it is scriptural. The Holy Spirit never does glorify His own name. His purpose is to glorify the One who sent Him.

Let me make another statement which may surprise you. I have not found in the Scripture anywhere an example of a prayer addressed to the Holy Spirit. So far as I can understand, no one in the Scripture ever prayed to the Holy Spirit. You probably would do well to check that for yourself, but I have looked carefully and have not found one example. You might ask, “Why so?” And I would give you this answer: It is a question of heavenly “protocol.” There is so little respect nowadays for protocol on earth that we sometimes do not realize that there is protocol in heaven. It is protocol relating to a master-servant relationship. In such a relationship, when you are dealing with a servant, you do not speak to the servant, but to the master. You ask the master to tell his servant what to do. It is wrong to directly address a servant when his master is available for you to speak to. I believe that is heaven’s protocol. When you recognize the relationship of the Holy Spirit to God the Father and God the Son, you understand that we never give orders to the Holy Spirit. When we want the Holy Spirit to do something, we address our request to the Father or to the Son.

When I was looking through this, I found a passage in Ezekiel chapter 37 which I thought, at first, was an exception. It is part of Ezekiel’s well-known vision of the valley full of dry bones with no life in them. First of all, he prophesied and the bones came together, but they were still lifeless corpses. Then, in verses 9 and 10: Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”‘” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

So, I thought that the “breath” is really a picture of the wind – or the Holy Spirit – and so Ezekiel was praying to the wind. But he was not praying. He was prophesying. And it did not come from himself. He merely passed on to the wind a command that he had received from God Himself. Therefore, as far as I have been able to discover, there is not a single example anywhere in the Scripture of praying to the Holy Spirit. Now, I am not seeking to make a big issue out of that. On the other hand, I think it is very important as we try to discern the nature and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You would say to me, “Well, doesn’t God hear our prayer when we pray to the Holy Spirit?” I think He does. But we are not praying in full accord with heaven’s protocol. If we really want to please the Lord and show respect for Him, we will show respect for His protocol.

The third important fact about the Holy Spirit is what is indicated in His name: He is Holy. This is His primary title: the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew it is the Spirit of Holiness. He has many other titles: for instance, the Spirit of Grace, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Power, and so on, But they are all subsidiary. His name and His primary title is the Holy Spirit. Anything that is unholy does not proceed from the Holy Spirit.

The Scripture also speaks of the beauty of holiness. There is a beauty in holiness when it proceeds from the Holy Spirit. It is not necessarily external. It may be internal beauty. For instance, in I Peter 3:4, Peter speaks about the hidden person of the heart, and he speaks about the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. This is not external beauty. It is internal beauty, which comes from the Holy Spirit. I want to say, however, with the utmost emphasis: Anything unholy or ugly does not proceed from the Holy Spirit.

I will give you a list of 12 adjectives, all of which I believe cannot be applied to the Holy Spirit or to anything that is the product of the Holy Spirit. As I go through the list, I suggest you check mentally and see if you agree with me. Here, then, are words that would never apply to the Holy Spirit:

self-exalting
self-assertive
degrading
flippant
rude
sham
vulgar
indecent
insensitive
stupid
silly
degraded

I have in my heart, if God wills and I live, to write a book at some time of which I have already chosen the title. The title is this: Holiness Is Not Optional. Only God knows whether I will ever succeed in writing the book, but I want to say, in any case, that the title states the exact truth. In the Christian life, holiness is not optional. Many Christians seem to think about holiness as if it is like something added to a car, such as fancy leather upholstery instead of the normal kind of plastic. But that is not true. Holiness is an essential part of salvation. In Hebrews 12:14 the writer says, Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. What salvation do we have that does not bring us to see the Lord? But without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

We have in our contemporary Western Christianity a very incomplete picture of salvation. “If I get saved and born again, and then I want to go on and be holy. I can do it – but it is an option.” I want to tell you that your salvation depends on your being holy. And holiness comes only from the Holy Spirit.

There are many features of purported moves of the Holy Spirit that I could pick out and hold up as examples of things that are not holy. But I will only deal with one, and that is: animal behavior in human beings attributed to the Holy Spirit. There are many such examples, some I have witnessed and some have been reported.

First of all, there is no passage in Scripture that I know of where the Holy Spirit causes any human being to behave like an animal. There is the example of Balaam, but that is a strong contrast. God caused Balaam’s donkey to speak like a man – but He never caused Balaam to bray like a donkey!

There was one man whom God caused to behave like an animal: Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. (Daniel 4:33) But that was God’s judgment, not His blessing! Revelation 4:6-8 depicts four living creatures that surround the throne of God. Three are there as representatives of the “animal” kingdom: a lion, a calf and an eagle. But none of them make noises that express their “animal” nature. All of them alike proclaim the holiness of God in pure and beautiful speech. It is important to understand that there is an order in God’s creation.

Man was created in the image and likeness of God to exercise authority over the animal kingdom (see Genesis 1:26). Man is, in fact, the highest order of the creation described in the opening chapters of Genesis. This has a bearing on the way the Holy Spirit blesses us. He uplifts those whom He blesses. He will at times cause an animal to act in some ways like a human being. But He will never degrade a human being by causing him to act like an animal.

I have a certain amount of experience in this area because I have encountered animal spirits many times in Africa. I recall one particular deliverance service that I held in Zambia with about 7,000 Africans present. When I had finished the teaching and began to command the evil spirits to manifest themselves and come out of the people, there were all sorts of animal spirits that were let loose. By “animal spirits” I mean evil, demonic spirits that enter human beings and cause them to behave like animals. The first thing that happened was that a man with a “lion spirit” tried to charge me. But someone tripped him up and he did not reach me. You need to know that the reason these Africans in this part of Africa have so many animal spirits is because many of them are hunters of animals. They have this superstition that in order to hunt an animal successfully, you have to get the spirit of the animal in you. So a man tends to have the spirit of the animal which he seeks to hunt. For instance, the man who is hunting a lion, will get a lion spirit.

There are many others. We dealt with spirits of wild boars that caused people to burrow in the earth with their noses like a wild boar rooting for something. Then there were many snake spirits. These were mainly in women, and when they were manifested, the women were flat on their bellies slithering around like snakes. All these I actually witnessed myself.

There was one other spirit that I did not witness, but heard about from the missionary couple who organized the meeting. Later I met the lady concerned. She was a very sweet Christian lady – a school teacher – but her husband was an elephant hunter. When she came to the missionary couple for deliverance, they commanded the elephant spirit to come out. Immediately she dropped on her hands and knees, crawled out through an open door, put her forehead up against a small tree, and began to try to push it down. Wasn’t that remarkable? Perhaps some well-meaning Western Christian might have said, “Our sister is pushing a tree down for Jesus,” but that was not the explanation. The elephant spirit in her was causing her to do what elephants regularly do, which is push down trees with their foreheads. As soon as she was delivered from that spirit, she no longer had any urge to push trees down with her forehead. In the West, we sometimes tend to speak about the people in Africa as unsophisticated and to consider ourselves more sophisticated. However, I think in this realm of animal spirits it is we, in the West, who are unsophisticated and the Africans who are sophisticated. They have lived for generations with such spirits, but until the gospel came, with the power of the name of Jesus and the Word of God, they had no way to deal with them. Thank God that many of them now know how to deal with them!

Another example of which various reports have been given is people behaving like dogs. I am a dog lover, but I think dogs should be kept in their rightful place. I do not believe that the Holy Spirit ever causes anybody to bark or to run around like a dog.

Where such manifestations of animal spirits have occurred, there are certain steps that we need to take. We cannot tolerate or encourage such manifestations. Nor can we merely sweep all this under the carpet and go on as if nothing had happened.

In Matthew 12:33, Jesus instructs us: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” Wherever there is bad fruit, it comes from a bad tree. It is not enough to get rid of the bad fruit. We must also cut down the bad tree that produced it. If we fail to do this, the bad tree will go on producing more bad fruit. Undoubtedly the tree that produces animal behavior of this kind is some form of occult or pagan practice. For instance, there are frequent manifestations of animal behavior in some parts of Africa and India.

To cut down the tree requires that the leaders responsible identify the problem, confess it as sin and repent of it. Nowhere in the Bible is there any ground to suppose that God will forgive sins that we are not willing to confess. Somebody has said, “The confession must be as wide as the transgression.” If leaders have tolerated these things in the presence of their people, then in the presence of their people they need to confess it as a sin and cancel it. Otherwise, if the bad tree is not cut down, it will go on producing bad fruit.

In closing, I want to give a little “parable” of my own construction, which is about my relationship with my wife. In this parable my wife represents the Holy Spirit and I represent God. Now please understand, this is a very simple little parable and I am fully aware that the Holy Spirit is not the wife of God. But with those cautions, let me relate the parable.

A friend comes to me and says, “I saw you and your wife together on the platform the other evening and she looked so beautiful, so fresh, so full of the Holy Spirit.” So I say, “Thank you. That’s really how she is.” Then, a little later, the same man comes to me and says, “You know, yesterday I saw your wife in a bar with a man drinking.” And I say, “That was not my wife! My wife is a pure and godly woman. She does not go to bars and she does not drink with strangers. My wife was right here with me all day yesterday. Don’t speak that way about my wife!”

But a little later, he comes to me and says, “You know, I saw your wife yesterday sunbathing topless on the beach.” Then I get really angry. I say to him, “My wife was nowhere near the beach yesterday, and she would never expose herself like that! If you want to remain my friend, you’ve got to come to the place where you don’t identify that loose, immoral woman as my wife, because that’s an insult to her and to me, If you want to remain my friend, you’ve got to change the way you speak about my wife.”

The application, of course, is this: if you want to remain a friend of God, you cannot afford to identify His Holy Spirit as something that is loose or immoral or ugly or unholy, because that angers God intensely.

Now we come to one final Scripture, which is in Matthew 12:31-32. Jesus says, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

That is a very solemn and frightening warning. We are warned by Jesus Himself to be very, very careful how we speak about the Holy Spirit, how we represent the Holy Spirit.

Jesus uses the word blasphemy, and I decided to look it up in my big Greek lexicon. The primary meaning of to blaspheme is given in the lexicon as this: to speak lightly or amiss of sacred things. So when you speak lightly or amiss concerning the Holy Spirit, or misrepresent the character of the Holy Spirit, by definition you are close to blaspheming.

If you have ever done that, or been prone to do it, or been associated with those who do it, I want to offer you some sincere advice: You need to repent. You need to settle that matter once and for all with God and never again be guilty of misrepresenting God’s Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is holy and He is God.

——————-

 [The above is Chapter One of a 3-chapter book put out by Derek Prince Ministries.
 Web-site- http://www.derekprince.com/ - other articles & books, etc].
 copyright © Derek Prince Ministries
 Originally published July 1996
 Revised and expanded November 1996.
 Derek Prince Ministries – International
 DPMI Web Site- http://www.derekprince.com/

See also:

Who will left behind?

Rapture Alert! Make Sure You don't Left Behind

What Will You Do If You Are Left Behind?

After the Rapture

The Tribulation

Is The Phenomenon of being Slain in the Spirit, Biblical?

 -by Tony Warren

But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1

See Slain In The Spirit’s Resemblance to The ancient Hindu custom of Shaktipat or Divine Touch(click here!)

The phenomenon of 'falling down backward' is one, which has gained unprecedented popularity in today's churches. However, it is a phenomenon, which has absolutely no biblical standing whatsoever. In fact, it would indeed be laughable if it weren't so deadly serious an issue for the Church. There are many Christians who are curious about these odd occurrences and have asked if there is any biblical validation for these events. Subsequently, I am obliged to give a response, and a warning.

This phenomenon is usually declared to be the product of the act of 'laying on of hands,' which is the belief that a person receives the Holy Spirit of anointing when this is done. The subsequent falling down backward is defined as the physical response to the strong power of the Holy Spirit coming upon these people.

These curious events are known by many different names, including, 'falling down backwards, falling out, drunk in the Spirit, sleep in the Spirit, going down, slain in the Spirit, overcome by the Spirit, resting in the Spirit, and the sleep blessing..'

As best we can tell, Maria Beulah Woodworth-Etter, a woman who preached in the holiness movement of the 1880’s, started this practice by falling out in her popular services of the time. She would often go into a trance-like state and fall down during her performances. She died in 1924, but her legacy of falling down backward in Church services has lived on. In modern times, it was brought back to great popularity by people in great numbers falling down in a small church in Toronto Canada. From this resurgence, many have also labeled this, The Toronto Blessing,' where it is mixed with what is termed holy laughter.

Many Charismatic claim that apart from the anointing, falling down backward is also a phenomenon, which brings both physical and emotional healing. They believe that it is a blessing of the spiritual gifts that God gives. However, the most agreed upon explanation or purpose for this act is that it is that of the anointing of the Spirit for the service to God. Much like Christ was anointed for the service of God when the Spirit descended like a dove. But all of these explanations are in stark contrast to all of the actual Biblical references to falling down backward. These are 'always' (without exception) seen in the context of God's judgment upon man, and are 'never' seen as any type of blessing, anointing, or healing. So if falling down backward is not anywhere seen in scripture as good or a blessed thing, then the question is, why are some professed Christians emulating this?

In order for faithful Christians to honestly establish if there is any real support in the scriptures for these experiences, we must be willing to examine the passages, which have been offered up by these people as evidence that it is a Biblical practice. Therefore, in the first part of this article, we will examine the scriptures, which actually speak about people who fall backward. And in the second part, we will address some of the scriptures which Charismatics use in an attempt to support their belief. If falling down backward is really a biblical practice, then we should clearly see it illustrated in the Bible. And if it is not a Biblical practice, then what we see in scripture should illustrate that this falling is unchristian, and unprecedented. If we are willing to surrender to the authority of the Word, we can clearly tell what is not the product of the Spirit of truth, and what is the working of a seducing spirit of deception. Because it's not as if God has not warned us false practices were coming upon the Church.

Passages Illustrating Falling Down Backwards

When we search through the scriptures we are struck by the realization that the witness of canon is that any and all 'falling down backward' is invariably in the context of God's Judgments upon man. It is never in the context of believers receiving the Holy Spirit, or of any blessing or benefit. We should not lose sight of the 'fact' that all other scriptures which those who profess belief in this phenomenon offer, do not actually speak of any 'falling down backward.' And most speak of no falling down at all. The first reference we will look at is in Genesis:

Genesis 49:16-17
"Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward".

Dan is your classic example of a man under Judgment of God who goes forth an adversary, that others may fall backward under that same judgment. The tribe or family of Dan was infamous for it's fall to idolatry (Judges 18:30-31), and their turning away from God to serve false gospels and false gods. In Genesis, Dan is equated with the serpent who bites at the heels of horses that the horsemen might 'fall backward.' i.e., it is a spiritual picture signifying his bite is to make the strong people to fall into judgment. In point of fact, the name Dan itself is the Hebrew word [dawn], meaning 'judge.' Indeed, Rachel herself declared that she named him Dan because God had judged her. Dan being 'the serpent' biting at the heels that one falls down backward, is God inspired spiritual truths concerning the evil spirit and God's judgment. From the beginning in the garden of Eden, in Genesis chapter 3 we see this symbolism of that Spirit Satan, as the serpent:

Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Dan is equated with this serpent, Satan. He lies by the way attempting to bite the heel of the strong (horsemen are a symbol of strength) people that they fall backward, coming under judgment of God. Dan is a vessel of judgment. This tribe brought idolatry and false gospel to Israel so that it is cut off and not even mentioned in the census of revelation chapter 7, of the 12,000 sealed of "all" the tribes of Israel. By Dan's wickedness, he is used to Judge Israel. Much like God prophesies that he will send deceivers (2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12) with lying signs and wonders to deceive the unfaithful of the Church who will not receive the love of truth. It is illustrating that God uses false teachers to judge His Church. [See Footnote 1]

Likewise,

Genesis 49:16
"Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."

This falling backward of those whom Dan accosts, signifies they are come under Judgment. In no way does this scripture showing 'falling backward' signify the anointing of the spirit, or a blessing of God. On the contrary, it signifies God's judgment, and an evil upon man.

1st Samuel 4:18
"And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years."

Likewise, this falling backward is in the context of the judgment that God sent upon the people of Israel for their rebellion. There was a great slaughter of Israel by the Philistines, and the ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God's promise to Israel, was taken by the heathen. God had foretold of His judgment upon Israel, and now he was bringing it to pass. That any of the examples of falling backward in scripture can be construed or used as proof that it illustrates a blessing, or an anointing, is beyond all rational thought. This man fell backward, broke his neck, and died 'because' the Ark of Israel was taken in Judgment. In no instances of scripture is falling down backward ever seen as anything but judgment. The Charismatic church should testify to the passages which 'actually' speak of this falling backward.

Isaiah 28:13
"But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."

The Lord is speaking here of rebellious Israel, that they would not hear His Word of truth, and He declares that they would be broken, caught in their own snare or web, to be trapped. And He uses the terminology of His judgment as them, .'falling backward' We see that all roads lead to the same conclusion. And the conclusion is that the Biblical references of 'falling backward' do not ever signify the anointing of the Spirit of God, but signifies the wrath of God in his judgment upon rebellious man.

Likewise, when Judas betrayed Christ and the soldiers came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsamene, Jesus asked them who it was they sought, and their reply was, Jesus of Nazareth:

John 18:6
"As soon then as he had said unto them, I Am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground."

Note that the word 'he' is not actually in the original manuscript, it was placed there by translators in an attempt to make the sentence flow smoothly. Jesus literally says, I AM, announcing He was the Great I AM (Exodus 3:13-14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As soon as Christ said I AM, these wicked men who would come to accuse God, fell backward to the ground, signifying their own judgment. They had come to arrest righteous God for violation of the law, and God (not willing to stop His arrest, but to show forth His Authority), has them all 'fall backward' at the sound of His Glorious Name, 'I AM!' This isn't the picture the Charismatics want to paint of those who fall down backward, but it is the picture which God paints. No one 'caught' these men who fell backward, no one saw or alleged any anointing of them by the Spirit, and no one claimed that this was God's blessings upon these men. Because falling backward is a 'sign' of God's Judgment in scripture, not His Blessing. And in an ironic twist, this verse of John 18:6 is one which many attempt to use to support their claims of Biblical precedence for their belief in falling backward. On the contrary, it illustrates just the opposite. That it signifies those who come under Judgment of the Great I AM, and not those who are blessed of God.

These are the passages which speak of falling backward in scripture, and not one of them give one shred of support to such doctrines as Christians being slain in the spirit or Holy laughter. It supports the truth that this event signifies God's judgment. If we are going to go by the scriptural record of what men falling down backwards entails, then we have clear validation that it involves those under the Judgment of God. It is not something which any Christian would ever want to be associated with.

Passages purported to support Falling Down Backwards

Advocates of this practice allege that there indeed is Scriptural warrant, but does this claim hold up under close biblical examination? There are no explicit biblical references, but there are some passages which Charismatics say 'imply' the act of falling down backward or being slain in the spirit. The passages which they most often submit as supporting their beliefs are Genesis 15:12 and 17:3, Numbers 22:30 and 24:4, Joshua 5:14, Ezekiel 1:28, Matthew 17:5-6, Revelation 7:11 and 11:16, and Acts 9:3-4. Let's look at each of these scriptures in their proper context, and without prejudice.

Genesis 15:12
"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him."

This scripture says a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, it doesn't say a word about being slain in the spirit, falling backward, fainting, or passing out. Nor does this biblical reference bear any resemblance whatsoever to what goes on in the Churches today. This passage fails miserably as a proof text for the teaching that Christians fall down backward as a sign of anointing. At best it says when darkness came, he fell asleep. It doesn't say that Abram fell, it says a deep sleep fell upon him. A totally different context.

Numbers 22:27
"And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff."

This Hebrew word translated fell is [rabats], which means to crouch or to lie down. In no instance does it mean an involuntary falling backward. To use this passage as support for such events is taking liberties above and beyond what can be 'honestly' justified. The ass simply crouched down or lay down under Balaam because of what he saw. He did not fall backward, nor is there anything here that would allow this episode to be used to support such actions in the Church today. It's ridiculous to say this proves we can fall down backward in the Churches.

Genesis 17:3
"And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying," (See Footnote II)

Joshua 5:14
"And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?"

Ezekiel 1:28
"As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake."

These are people going down to the ground in reverence for God, a 'voluntary' act of obeisance, respect, and submission, not the spirit knocking them down or putting them to sleep. Obviously these people have no concept of the application of the Hebrew word 'fell' [naphal] in the sense of going down. Nevertheless, these also do not show an involuntary falling either backward or forward. We plainly see all throughout scripture that the prophets of God, acknowledging the Glory, Vision, and Magnificence of God's presence, would fall (that is to say, drop or go down) with their face to the ground as a sign of reverence and obeisance. None of these Holy men were stupefied, fainting, passing out or confused, nor were they prodded by other Prophets, nor did they fall backward as is the practice of Charismatics. Scripture tells us that they fell on their faces, which is a synonym for going down to their knees to kneel and bow in fear and reverence to God. None of these scriptures support the phenomenon of falling down backward. They are used by the proponents of these doctrines unjustifiably. It is simply another classic example of people 'reading one's own views into the scripture,' rather than actually reading these scripture.

Numbers 24:4
"He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:"

This passage doesn't speak of being slain in the spirit, doesn't show the act of falling down backward, or falling at all. And again, it doesn't bear any resemblance to what is today's Church phenomenon. It merely speaks of a man receiving a vision of God, and going into a trance. The very same application used if we were to say, 'the soldier fell into formation.' It is not falling 'as in' losing balance and falling down, but he fell in the causative sense of having gone into the formation. Likewise, the application of the word here is that this prophet has gone into a trance, not physically fell down. There are many different applications of the word fall, as we saw it used in the sense that prophets (voluntarily) fall (go down) with their faces bowed in worship. These have nothing whatsoever to do with a Preacher touching a christian on the forehead, and him falling backward to the ground in an uncontrollable fashion. More examples of this voluntary going down is illustrated in New Testament passages such as Matthew and Luke:

Matthew 17:5-6
"While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid."

Luke 17:16
"And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan."

Again, just what saw in the Old Testament passages. The Apostles of God fell to their face voluntarily, in fear, or reverence and obeisance to the presence of God.

Revelation 7:11
"And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,"

Revelation 11:16
"And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,"

To suggest that these verses are picturing falling down backward or being slain in the Spirit would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. What this actually does is support just the opposite. Namely, this falling on the face is a voluntary act, and in reverence and to worship God. It is not the anointing of the Spirit, and it is not falling down backwards.

Acts 9:3-4
"And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

Even in our day (in war for example), when a man comes face to face with his opponent who has the power to kill him, he goes down to the ground or to his knees in submission and fear. We saw this in the Gulf war. How much more Saul standing in the presence of the Light of God from Heaven? But it has nothing to do with being slain in the spirit phenomenon. Man is in fear when in the presence of the Almighty God, and he falls to the earth in terror at the voice of God. We have scripture after scripture in the Old Testament Proving just that, and I'm sure we all know them. Man falling to the ground in fear has nothing to do with being drunk in the Spirit, but with his knowledge of his frailty before a great power, or that he is in the presence of the Almighty God, the Great 'I AM!'

And so considering all these scriptures which the Charismatics use in the attempt to support their actions, we can only humbly conclude that not one single passage supports this unbiblical phenomenon. It is a case of men grasping at straws in order to rationalize their unGodly actions. Moreover, in none of these verses, was there ever anyone actually falling down backward because of things that happened during a worship service or a Church gathering. In fact, there was no falling down period, there was a voluntary falling to their face in reverence or fear. This is very significant. It is the same as if we were to say, "Bill saw the vision, and fell to his knees in prayer." For someone to take from this statement that not only did Bill fall down backward, but that this also now gives us warrant to do this in the Churches, is nothing short of ludicrous. These men did not lose control of their senses. They did not fall down. They were not twitching and jerking uncontrollably. There is no warrant in any of these verses for the practice that we see in the Churches today.

Conclusion

In this study we have shown that there is no real scriptural support for the falling down backward experience. The precedence in scripture is that such experiences signify God's judgment, and this seems to me in perfect harmony with the Churches which practice this. They are false Churches under judgment. No 'Bible believing' Christian should want to have anything to do with this plague of falling down backwards. While Charismatics claim that they are following the Bible, this is an untenable declaration, as the witness of Holy Canon is void of any accounts, testimonies, experiences or doctrines like the ones they are attributing to God. These are very serious offenses, and are not non-essentials which we can just wink at.

Search as we may, we will not ever find anything in scripture where Christians were lined up, catchers stationed, and The Apostles or Christ tapped them on the forehead and watched them 'fall down backward.' The idea is foreign to scripture. We're not going to find it there because it is a ridiculously unbiblical practice. When the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, anointing Him for His ministry (by the baptism of John), Jesus did not fall down backward. No one that Jesus or the Apostles ever touched or laid hands on fell down backward. The truth is, this is a doctrine pulled from the dark inner minds of the imaginations of men, not from the pages of Holy canon. It does not draw from Scripture. The claim of a Scriptural foundation for it does not hold up under the light of God's Word. Both the historical and the modern 'slain in the spirit' services are more from pagan themes and the occult, than from anything in scripture. And since these experiences are obviously not by the Holy Spirit of God, we can only conclude that it is by the spirit of disobedience. Another substitute (anti) spirit, masquerading as the Spirit of God. A spirit of lust for the fleshly and temporal experience. A spirit of deception, wherein Satan's lie is made to appear as God's truth. The spirit of Dan, a serpent nipping at the heels of horsemen that the rider may fall backward and be trapped or caught in a web. A spirit of Judgment, where the wrath of God abides upon it. For no false gospel shall be a Saving gospel, nor false spirit a Saving spirit, and no sign of Judgment a sign of Blessing. Christ is not in the business of mocking Himself. These are two different gospels, and two different spirits.

In conclusion, we can see that the popularity of this phenomenon is just another example of a 'spiritual' falling backward. A falling away or apostasy which is devastating the Churches in our day. It is professed Christians departing from the faith, and falling away from God. We are in a time where there is little reliance upon the Authority of the Word of God, as men change these laws to suit their own agenda and beliefs. God has always used falling as a 'sign' that His people are coming under judgment.

1st Timothy 4:1
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

People of the Church giving heed to seducing spirits, not the Spirit of Christ, and because of this they shall be Judged. As the Bible clearly indicated, falling backward is a 'sign' of Judgment. The product of a seducing spirit, not the anointing Spirit.

To be sure, when true believers fall, it isn't a involuntary fall, as the Charismatics do, but rather a fall or quick decent to our knees, faces bowed to the earth in humble prayer and worship of God. No preacher pushed us, we fell to our knees voluntarily. As did Jesus Himself, our precious example (in the Garden of Gethsamene). He fell on His face before His Father giving Him reverence. He did not actually 'fall down,' as Charismatics attempt to use the word, rather, He voluntarily dropped or went down with his face to the earth. To fall is by implication, to go down. It doesn't mean literally falling as these suppose, and as was so clearly illustrated in that garden:

Matthew 26:39
"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Jesus, as all the Prophets and believers, fell forward in prayer, not backward. And they fell or dropped down in reverence. Falling backward is shown by God as Judgment, not anointing, healing, or blessing. So let us all in subjection pray that many will begin to learn the difference between falling backward, and falling on our faces to worship our God.

And may the Lord who is Gracious above all, give us the wisdom to 'Stand' and to discern His truths in these days of the rampant degradation of the Church.

1st Thessalonians 5:21
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." Amen!

See also:

Who will left behind?

Rapture Alert! Make Sure You don't Left Behind

What Will You Do If You Are Left Behind?

After the Rapture

The Tribulation

Comparison Between Kundalini and the Counterfeit Revivals

Compiled by Carol Brooks

What Is Kundalini?

Kundalini Has been described as a concentrated form of prana or life force, lying dormant in our bodies, conceptualized as a coiled up serpent (In Sanskrit kundalini is literally that which is coiled)

Another source describes it as

“a concentrated field of intelligent, cosmic invisible energy absolutely vital to life; beginning in the base of the spine as a man or woman begins to evolve in their first incarnation; fed by the chakras along the spine and by the cosmic energy entering through the feet from the earth; as wisdom is earned in each incarnation, this electromagnetic, ultrapotent energy moves slowly upward through the spine; it is directed by the speed of the soul mind as the soul-mind meets the requirements of each chakra, according to the needs and thinking of the individual; eventually this energy is unspiralled through the medulla oblongata, pituitary gland, pineal gland and through the crown chakra to unite with the silver cord; one will ascend to the higher realms to finish evolutionary cycle…” [1]

However since the concept of kundalini is almost inseparable from that of the Chakras and Shakti, a basic understanding of both is essential to understanding kundalini.

Chakras

Chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel. Bodily Chakras are often depicted as circles, spaced at intervals along the spine. Ancient Indian tradition holds that there are seven Chakras, or energy centers.

“Chakras are part of the ancient belief system associated with yoga. These traditions were handed down orally for thousands of years before being codified by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, several centuries before Christ”. [2]

So is it possible that Chakras have some base in fact? … Maybe

“Contemporary spiritual literature often notes that the chakras, as described in the esoteric kundalini documents, bear a strong similarity in location and number to the major endocrine glands, as well as nerve bundles called ganglions” [3].

According to the ancient yoga system of India, Chakras play a very important part of the human energy system. The goddess Kundalini is said to awaken and unfold each chakra as she ascends through the spine, ensuring the free flow of life energy (prana or qi) throughout the body, thus balancing the chakras and promoting general health and well-being. When she has risen to the crown chakra, located at the top of the skull and associated with elevated spiritual consciousness, then all chakras have been opened [although lower chakras are thought to be just as important as higher] and a person is said to experience enlightenment. The goddess is also said to unite with the Shiva, or the male polarity when she arises to the crown chakra.

In an article by Anne Lewis on the an-Ahata School of Universal Yoga site.. [Anne Lewis is an international author, a nutritional counselor and one of Australia's most distinguished and well-respected Yoga teachers who runs Tibetan Rites workshops in Sydney]

A chakra is a spinning vortex of energy created within the body. The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’ or ‘disk’ and originated within the philosophy of the ancient Yoga system of India and Tibet…

…Centuries ago, the Yoga masters realised that the human being consisted of more than just the physical body; they believed that the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual were inter-related. The masters also believe that the spinning vortexes of energy overlap and correspond to various physical organs and glands and that these chakras can be regulated and harmonised, resulting in the unleashing of an individual’s full potential of health, happiness and spiritual awareness.

There are seven major chakras arranged vertically along the spine, starting at the base of the spine and ending at the crown of the head. While the chakras do exist within the physical body, exhibiting a strong influence on such aspects as body shape or health, they are not made of any physical components themselves. For instance, a physician could not operate on a chakra any more than on an emotion, yet both can, and do affect us physically.

The chakras correspond to major areas of your life, such as survival, sex, power, love, communication, perception and understanding. To use a practical analogy, the chakras can be seen as your internal ‘floppy disk’ that stores your programming about how to function in life. The base chakra, for instance, contains your survival program, such as what and when you eat, and when you need to sleep, exercise and protect yourself….

…Chakras are often referred to as lotuses, for they open and close like a flower and, in Tantric Yoga, they are shown with a varying number of petals. The petals range from four at the base chakra to one thousand or more at the crown.

When a chakra is closed, the life force energy or prana cannot travel through that part of the body. If this is the case, you may feel a lack in your life in its related area: for example, the throat chakra relates to communication. Therefore if it’s blocked or closed, communication is difficult and, on the physical side of health, a blocked chakra may manifest itself as a sore throat or tight neck….

… Mythologically, Kundalini is a serpent Goddess who lies asleep at the base of the spine, coiled three and a half times around the base chakra, awaiting unfoldment. When she is awakened through any of a number of techniques, she unfolds and rises through the shusumna channel, piercing and awakening each chakra as she goes. When she has risen to the crown chakra, then all chakras have been opened and a person is said to experience enlightenment. [4]

Shakti

In an article called The Secrets Of Shaktipat, Ravindra Kumar, Ph.D. explains it in these words..

The term "Shakti" is very popular today, but is usually misunderstood. Shakti can be understood by thinking about electricity. The fan will function as long as electricity powers it; the moment electricity is withdrawn, it stops working and become useless. The same is true of humans. We are alive as long as Shakti powers us. The moment Shakti life force withdraws, we die.

When Cosmic Energy or Universal Shakti comes into contact with Its residual Shakti, called Kundalini, hitherto lying dormant in the individual, it awakens, activating the sleeping Kundalini. The awakening of Kundalini is a sure sign of active Shakti (although even in its inactive state it still supplies the energy that keeps us alive). The individual consciously feels the oneness of one’s own Shakti Kundalini with the Universal Shakti, just as a drop of water feels the union when it contacts the ocean [5]

How Kundalini is Awakened

The article goes on to say

“Traditionally, Kundalini energy can be awakened through three main practices:

Asanas (yogic postures), mudras (hand positions), and pranayama (breath-control exercises)

Grace of the Guru

The accumulated results of devotional practices through several lifetimes.

Awakening Kundalini through the grace of a Guru is traditionally seen as the best and most natural way of stirring this energy. When Kundalini energy awakens through the grace of the Guru, yogic postures, mudras, and breath control exercises do not need to be performed…” way. [6]

In other words a short cut to an awakened kundalini is through a Guru or so called holy man..

However, for those who think that Yoga and Meditation are safe for the Christian, carefully note what Philip St Romain, author of Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality (the title alone is enough to make one gag), and who is described as “at once a practicing Catholic devoted to the life of prayer and the recipient of experiences described by the sages of India”, says.. [Emphasis Added]

“Kundalini energy in its pure, undifferentiated form is experienced only after the personal and pre-personal dimensions of the unconscious mind have emptied their contents. Of course, kundalini is the energy "pushing" this cleansing process, and so the emptying of the unconscious is itself a "colored" experience of kundalini energy.

It may be said, then, that practices that facilitate the breakdown of Egoic defenses can help to awaken kundalini. The most effective method is a combination of meditation and yogic postures such as those taught in Hatha Yoga. Also effective are laying on of hands in prayer, certain drug experiences, praying in tongues, near-death experiences, certain ritualized sexual practices (Tantric sex), and intensive chanting and/or dancing. If these practices only temporarily puncture the seal of repression between the conscious and unconscious mind, the kundalini energies will erupt until the repressive mechanisms are "repaired." Such an arousal, then, is short-lived in comparison with a full-blown awakening, in which at least part of the repressive seal is permanently ruptured. [7]

What Is Shakti Pat or Divine Touch?

Wikipedia sums it up

Shaktipat or Śaktipāta is a Sanskrit word in the Hindu spiritual tradition that refers to the act of a guru or spiritual teacher conferring a form of spiritual "power" or awakening on a disciple/student. Śakti translates as spiritual energy and "pāta" as descent(to fall down). Shaktipat can be intermediated by the spiritually enlightened master either by transmission of sacred word or mantra, a look, a thought or by touch. The touch is usually given to the ajna chakra or third eye of the disciple. Shaktipat can be transmitted in person or at a distance, through an object such as a flower or fruit, or via telephone or letter.

So the touch is given to the “ajna chakra or third eye of the disciple”. In other words to the forehead.

“Few Christians realize that for thousands of years gurus have operated with gifts of healing, miracles, gifts of knowledge, and intense displays of spiritual consciousness as they stretch out and connect with a cosmic power which, though demonic in origin, is very real. The meetings which mystic Hindu gurus hold are called 'Darshan'. At these meetings devotees go forward to receive spiritual experience from a touch by the open palm of the hand, often to the forehead, by the guru in what is known as the Shakti Pat or divine touch. The raising of the spiritual experience is called raising Kundalini……

The Requirements for a Receiver

Kundalini: The unique perspective of Siddha Mahayoga is that because kundalini is an intelligent force it will, upon awakening, naturally direct the practice of the student. All that is required is that the student completely surrender to this force. As a result of kundalini's unfoldment spontaneous purifying movements, called kriyas will occur...

Is It Contagious?

The website Enlightened Beings says the following [Emphasis Added]

“Perhaps the most important thing to know and remain aware of, is that a Kundalini Awakening contains the most unbelievable expanded states of comprehension of Reality, enlightenment and absolute ecstasy. Not to mention that you've just befriended the greatest healing energy available inside you and extremely contagious to all human beings.” [8]

Unfortunately, most people do not seem to realize just how contagious the Kundalini energy is, nor how easily it is passed by a touch or by some other method from one already ‘on fire'. “The mere presence of a single being whose shakti is strongly active can awaken the shakti of those around him. Similarly being in the presence of many people whose shakti is awakened to some degree can awaken one's own shakti. [9]

An interesting excerpt from kundalini-teacher.com [Emphasis Added]

The transmission of Grace from Guru to seeker to awaken or enhance Kundalini, is called Shaktipat. Someone with the ability to do this is called a Shaktipat Master….There are degrees of Shaktipat Mastery. From "oops, I'm contagious, how did that happen?" to "here is your full awakening, all knots pierced and major blockages removed." ... but it always depends on the receptivity of the recipient, and what they can handle. The title of Shaktipat Master, is a little misleading. …Nobody really "Masters" Shakti. She does as She pleases, and we just try to stay out of the way. The Shaktipat Master is a vessel for transmission, Goddess is the source….I do not care for the term "Kundalini Master", because it suggests mastery of Goddess, ... control of it, and that is an ego illusion. One does not Master Kundalini, one steps aside and allows it to do its work through you, as the vessel... I do accept the title of Shaktipat Master... which at one end of the spectrum, simply means that one's Kundalini is contagious. [10]

So What Does An Awakened Kundalini Feel Like?

Turning again to Enlightened Beings we read

A Kundalini awakening can be an experience that feels like the greatest blessing in the entire world, or the worst curse you have ever encountered. It simply depends on one thing. Whether you know that you are a infinite soul that will never die, OR you still believe you are this physical non-spiritual mortal body. Your perspective is everything when it comes to a million watts of energy pouring through you. The bigger and more inclusive your perspective is on each experience, the easier it will be for your bodymind to accept the Kundalini”.

And

Awakening your Kundalini can be like tapping into a million watts of electricity where your body may only have the capacity of a 100 watt bulb at the time. So you'll want to prepare your bodymind so that you can open up to 100 million watts or more. Remember, this is a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual merging with the most powerful healing Divine creative sensual energy in this Universe. So you'll want to go about it slowly, respectfully and consciously. [11]

Physical Manifestations..

The end results of an awakened Kundalini are

Along the process of kundalini, there can be extreme emotional outbursts without any apparent cause or source. This is simply the effect of karma releasing. [12]

And

Kriyas [literally activities] are spontaneous movements that occur after kundalini awakening. After a period when the devotee has reached a certain spiritual elevation they begin to shake, jerk, or hop or squirm uncontrollably, sometimes breaking into uncontrolled animal noises or laughter as they reach an ecstatic high. These manifestations are called 'Kriyas'. Devotees sometimes roar like lions and show all kinds of physical signs during this period. Often devotees move on to higher states of spiritual consciousness and become inert physically and appear to slip into an unconsciousness when they lose sense of what is happening around them. This state is called 'samadhi' and it leads to a deeper spiritual experience.'

In his book Kundalini: The Arousal of the Inner Energy, Ajit Mookerjee, an “acknowledged expert on Eastern art and the sacred texts of India” says

"The ascent of the Kundalini as it pierces through the chakras is manifested in certain physical and psychic signs.

Yogis have described the trembling of the body which precedes the arousal of Kundalini, and the explosion of heat which passes like a current through the Sushumna [the supposed channel by which this energy rises through the body]....inner sounds are heard... the head may start to feel giddy... the yogi visualizes a variety of forms... pure light...numerous signs and symptoms may be experienced... as creeping sensations... tingling sensations all over the body; heaviness in the head or sometimes giddiness; automatic and involuntary laughing or crying; seeing visions of deities...

The chin may press down against the neck; the eyeballs roll upwards or rotate; the body may bend forward or back, or even roll around on the floor... the mind becomes empty... there is spontaneous chanting of mantras or songs, or simply vocal noises

The eyes may not open in spite of one's efforts to open them. The body may revolve or twist in all directions. Sometimes it bounds up and down... sometimes the hands move... some speak in tongues... Sometimes the body feels as if it is floating upwards and sometimes as if it is being pressed down into the earth... It may shake and tremble and become limp, or turn as rigid as stone.

In the process of the arousal of Kundalini, Muktananda went through an experience of extreme sexual excitement. Not everyone will experience all or even most of these signs. The Sakti [foundational consciousness] produces whatever experiences are necessary for the disciples spiritual progress according to his samskaras [impression or fruit of Karmic action] or habit pattern formed by past action". [13]

Although the effects of an awakened kundalini can vary from person to person, both in form and intensity, the following are common manifestations of the risen Kundalini according to the Kundalini Gateway site.

Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms.

Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body

Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations

Intense heat or cold

Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome, or PLMD

Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns

Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue

Intensified or diminished sexual desires

Headaches, pressures within the skull

Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest

Digestive system problems

Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg)

Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck

Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression

Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) -- are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs

Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears.

Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating

Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual's prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity)

Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area.

Ecstasy, bliss and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion

Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; pastlife memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers

Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.

Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one's own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one's environment (including "vibes" from others)

Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness [14]

Is It Dangerous?

The above list of manifestations of the risen Kundalini on the Kundalini Gateway site is accompanied by the following warning [Emphasis Added]

“Many people know that the risen Kundalini flings open gates to all sorts of mystical, paranormal and magical vistas but few realize it can also dramatically impact the body. A large percentage of Shared Transformation subscribers have reported long bouts of strange illness as well as radical mental, emotional, interpersonal, psychic, spiritual and lifestyle changes. Over and again we hear stories of frustrating, sometimes desperate visits to doctors, healers, counselors, etc. who neither understood nor were able to help with the myriad pains and problems catalyzed by raging Kundalini”

And this tidbit [Emphasis Added]

“We have also been asked why we do not put more emphasis on union with the Divine and God-realization, which are very much central to spiritual awakening. Since everyone experiences and interprets their mystical experiences differently and very personally, to make sure no one will feel excluded, we just speak of "awakening consciousness" or "transcendent states" on the ST Web pages”. [15]

Kundalini teacher also warns that “Some caution is recommended when dealing with Kundalini” since “he cannot control Goddess”. [Emphasis Added]

“Legally and morally, I have to tell you: "Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread." Kundalini has been called the most powerful force in the universe. Respect it, or it will kick you to pieces. I don't think Kundalini itself, kills anyone but resistance to the process can result in trauma that moves people to suicidal behavior.

Don't seek awakening unless you are genuinely ready to turn your whole life over to your Higher Power, have it taken from you, and reshaped, redirected and rebuilt. "Not my Will, but Thine be done." Kundalini eats your ego based free will, replaces it with the will of your Soul. This is a door that once opened, does not close again. There is no putting the Genii back in the bottle.

Like the Borg say, on Star Trek:

Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated

...into the collective consciousness... into the Self. Bliss! Resistance, is worse than useless, it is dangerous, and the cause of most all kundalini based problems. There is growing evidence that many bipolar disorders and psychoses may be undiagnosed kundalini…

Surrender is the imperative of Kundalini.”. [16]

Also in the words of a first hand experience of kundalini

“Someone in my yoga class told me about a famous Indian guru who was offering a three day retreat in Honolulu. I signed up for the workshop, and met Swami "Baba" Muktananda, who changed my life. He was a Siddha Yoga disciple of Bhagawan Nityananda, and had shaktipat, the ability to awaken spiritual energies in other people. During one meditation, he gazed at me awhile, then forcefully slapped me several times on the forehead. I felt like I had suddenly been plugged into a high voltage socket. My body began to shake with a powerful force moving through me, and I was flooded with visions. I sobbed, experiencing birth, death, pain, ecstasy, strength, gentleness, love, fear, depths, and heights, like a genie finally let out of a bottle. Dark days followed...”

“.. the electrical tremors, shaking, involuntary rapid breathing, and spontaneous visions continued. I was also having constant pain throughout my body, excruciating headaches behind the eyes, and spontaneous visions of other times and places. Psychic events and coincidences began to manifest on a daily basis. In May, 1976, I sank into five days and nights of mental darkness”.

“...In 1977, I happened upon two books about the Kundalini awakening, and suddenly understood what had been happening to me. I learned how to facilitate the progress of this awakening through certain activities and foods. By 1980, I founded the Spiritual Emergence Network, and was telling my story in Stan’s workshops. My Kundalini oddessy lasted several more years, 12 in all..”. [17]

If that isn’t bad enough, read Muktananda’s own description of events relating to his own spiritual enlightenment, a path he endorses for his disciples. It is quoted at length so the reader may have a better understanding of the frightening reality that is frequently involved on the Eastern path. [Details]

In the online book Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality [section What Are Some Ways to Cope with and Integrate Awakened Kundalini Energies?] Two points (I and 18) that author Philip St Romain made caught my eye..

1. Don't panic! Fear only colors the energy darkly. There is nothing to fear if you cooperate with the process (or at least don't frustrate it too much).

18. When you don't know what to do to cooperate with the process, it is better to do less than too much. For example, it is better to cut back on meditation than to meditate too much. It is easier to awaken a sleeping serpent than to tame an angry one. [19]

And he would have us believe that this is of God? In Scripture there are several references to people being told NOT to fear.. not because ‘the energy would be coloured darkly’, but because God is on their side. In every case God is reassuring. The words of David are especially telling. Note the emphasized words.. especially the “beauty of Jehovah”. No darkly colored stuff here.

“Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh, Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident. One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in his temple”. [Psalm 27:1-4]

In the Signs and Symptoms of a Kundalini Awakening, Romain says that one of the signs is a

“sense of going down into an abyss, or "black hole." [19]

I don’t know about you but this makes me very very uncomfortable..

Kundalini in The World's Religions

The Kundalini Support Network states that…

“Shaktipat is by no means exclusive to the Hinduism religion which at over 4500 years old is probably the world’s oldest organized religion. Shaktipat appears in all the world’s major spiritual traditions under different names and is often hidden, obscured in Eastern and Western Alchemical literature. Shakti kundalini is a normal, biological cross cultural universal phenomenon that is inside all of us”.

[20]

Although Kundalini is mainly associated with Hinduism, it is related to several other occult practices like Qi Gong, and is thought to have parallels in many of the mystical and gnostic traditions of the world's great religions like the ritualized dhikr ceremonies and the Whirling Dervishs of the Sufis and the Tummo practices of Tibet. Kundalini is a prominent practice in Japan's Aum Shinrikyo group [notorious for the 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subways] and Shamanistic practices in Ayyavazhi (also a Hindu sect).

Incidentally, the shamanistic initiatory crisis, or rite of passage, observes symptoms similar to the kundalini process, where the initiate might sing or dance in an unconventional fashion. Interestingly they also call this being "disturbed by spirits".

Even more telling is the fact that The Shakers is a mocking description referring to the rituals of trembling, shouting, dancing, shaking, singing, and glossolalia (speaking in strange and unknown languages) of what is supposed to be a Protestant religious denomination. [While glossolalia or tongues is a legitimate Biblical practice within certain boundaries, the others are not... and more resemble Kundalini than Biblical practice].

Kundalini, The Christian and Fr. Thomas Keating

In the introduction to the online book ‘Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality‘ A Pathway to Growth and Healing the author, Philip St Romain, says the following [Emphasis Added]

“Since the spring of 1986,1 have been experiencing various psychological and physiological phenomena such as those attributed to kundalini in the Hindu and Taoist literature. Through the years, the process has intensified, bringing many positive and painful experiences. All this has happened to me in the context of Christian, contemplative prayer.

The purpose of this book is to describe the kundalini process as experienced by a Christian. As far as I know, this is the first book of its kind, which makes it significant in terms of the relationship between Christian and Eastern mysticism. The implications of kundalini relative to physiology, psychology, and spirituality will also be discussed. I believe these reflections will be of interest to spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, contemplatives, New Age readers, and those interested in Christian-Eastern dialogue.

And, in the acknowledgment section, says

“My correspondence with the Catholic contemplative Bernadette Roberts was also helpful. More than anyone I had ever read, she described experiences of contemplation that resonated with my own. I see the working of kundalini all throughout her journey”

Which makes me wonder how many of the experiences of Catholic (and other) mystics and Contemplative are due to an awakened Kundalini

Yet, the foreword to the book was written by a catholic priest... Father Thomas Keating. He writes in part

“This book is the first description that I know of in Christian literature about the awakening of kundalini energy in a purely Christian context. Kundalini has long been known in Taoist, Hindu, and Buddhist spirituality. The fact that this complete awakening occurred in the context of a classical development of Christian prayer makes it an important contribution to East/West dialogue. Given the newness of the kundalini experience in Christian circles, however, any theological interpretation is bound to be tentative.

Reading the Christian mystics from the perspective of his own experience of kundalini energy, the author sees many examples of its working in the lives of Christian saints and mystics. Since this energy is also at work today in numerous persons who are devoting themselves to contemplative prayer, this book is an important contribution to the renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition. It will be a great consolation to those who have experienced physical symptoms arising from the awakening of kundalini in the course of their spiritual journey, even if they have not experienced it to the full extent described by the author. His compelling testimony is a powerful affirmation of the potential of every human being for higher states of consciousness.

The awakening of kundalini energy and its various stages clearly enhances our understanding of how the body takes part in the spiritual journey. Spiritual writers of our tradition have long known that the body must be carefully prepared if it is to receive the higher communications of divine grace. For example, St. John of the Cross considered bodily ecstasy a weakness that gradually subsides in the process of transformation”…

…Kundalini is an enormous energy for good, but like all human potentials, it could also be used for selfish motives and thus become a source of serious harm…

In Christian spirituality, the unfolding of the stages of prayer described by St. Teresa of Avila in the Interior Castle may be the fruit of the kundalini energy arising under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Kundalini may also be an active ingredient in the Dark Nights of St. John of the Cross

Keating goes on to speak about the need for the church to have interfaith dialogue so that we can be “properly guided” into a safer kundalini experience:

“In order to guide persons having this experience, Christian spiritual directors may need to dialogue with Eastern teachers in order to get a fuller understanding. The importance of the “Document on the Non-Christian Religions” comes into focus here. The document states, "the Church therefore has this exhortation for her sons [and daughters]; Prudently and lovingly through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions and in witness of Christian faith and life, acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men and women] as well as the values in their society and culture."

However none of the above is particularly surprising. During the twenty years (1961–1981) that Thomas Keating was abbot of St. Joseph’s Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts, they “held dialogues with Buddhist and Hindu representatives, and a Zen master gave a week-long retreat to the monks. A former Trappist monk who had become a Transcendental Meditation teacher also gave a session to the monks”. [Read More]

All of which bring us to

A New Thing? You Have To Be Kidding!

When Kundalini teacher said that he was legally and morally bound to issue warnings about Kundalini he used the words "Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread". While I certain that angels (the real ones, not Todd Bentley’s demons dressed up as angels of light) actually would not have any problems taking on “the goddess”, I am equally sure that many thousands of fools are rushing into spiritual quicksand. Christians that flock to Toronto, Brownsville and Lakeland do not seem to realize that the manifestations at these places are not a “New Move of God” but have existed for thousands of years. They are a “Very Ancient Move of Satan”.

Todd Bentley, John Arnott and the like think they are hot stuff running around screaming “Bam” and “Fire” , yet

For thousands of years gurus have operated with gifts of healing, miracles, gifts of knowledge and intense displays of spiritual consciousness for thousands of years.

For thousands of years they have connected with a cosmic power which, though demonic in origin, is very real.

For thousands of years devotees have gone forward to receive spiritual experience (Darshan) from a touch by the open palm of the hand, often to the forehead, by the guru in what is known as the Shakti Pat or divine touch.

For thousands of years, as a result of the Shakti Pat, these devotees have had a raising of the spiritual experience also called raising Kundalini……

For thousands of years the manifestations of an awakened kundalini among people of other religions has been exactly the same as the results of being ‘Slain in The Spirit’ in so called Christian meetings.

Not convinced? Let’s do a little recap in the form of a visual comparison of kundalini and the antics at the so called revivals.

The Comparison Video..

They say a picture says a thousand words... In which case this video, comparing the spiritual manifestations of other religions and the new false revivals taking place inside the church, has to be worth at least a million.

End Notes
[1] The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary. June G. Beltzer, Ph.D.
[2]Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Peter Gregutt
[3 www.crystalinks.com/kundalini.html
[4]Understanding the Chakras. By Anne Lewis. www.anahatayoga.net/Well73.html
[5]www.llewellynjournal.com/article/358
[6] www.llewellynjournal.com/article/358
[7] Philip St Romain, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality... A Pathway to Growth and Healing.
Chapter 6. http://www.kundaliniawakeningsystems1.com/downloads/kundalini_and_christianity.pdf
[8]www.enlightenedbeings.com/kundalini-awakening.html
[9]endtimesdeception.com/?p=509
[10] kundalini-teacher.com/initiations/shaktipat.php
[11]www.enlightenedbeings.com/kundalini-awakening.html
[12]http://kundalini-teacher.com/symptoms/laff.php] [kundalini-teacher.com/initiations/shaktipat.php
[13] The Arousal of the Inner Energy, by Ajit Mookerjee. Pgs 71, 72.
As quoted in A Toronto Blessing... Or Kundalini Curse? By Greg DesVoignes
[14] www.kundalini-gateway.org/ksigns.html
[15] www.kundalini-gateway.org/ksigns.html
[16] kundalini-teacher.com/warn.php
[17]Christina Grof. http://www.creativespirit.net/learners/counseling/docu35.html
[18] www.inplainsite.org/html/eastern_gurus_say.html#Muk
[19] Philip St Romain, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality... A Pathway to Growth and Healing.
Chapter 6. http://www.kundaliniawakeningsystems1.com/downloads/kundalini_and_christianity.pdf
[20] www.kundalinisupportnetwork.com/shaktipat.html

The Comparison Chart

is based on one prepared by Antti Huima in August 1996. The information from that chart was derived from the Kundalini FAQ, the Siddha Mahayoga FAQ, and general knowledge about the so-called Toronto Blessing movement. The Kundalini FAQs were found at http://www.spiritweb.org/ which has since closed.

Kundalini: The Requirements for a Receiver

             : The unique perspective of Siddha Mahayoga is that because kundalini is an intelligent force it will, upon awakening, naturally direct the practice of the student. All that is required is that the student completely surrender to this force. As a result of kundalini's unfoldment spontaneous purifying movements, called kriyas will occur...

Surrender is the imperative of Kundalini.”. [kundalini-teacher.com/warn.php] The Requirements for a Receiver

Counterfeit Revival: The Requirements for a Receiver

                           CF: The receiver is asked to surrender to the "power of the Holy Spirit'' and to receive without questioning. “Another thing that hinders is people pray all the time. Praying in English or even praying in tongues. Mention the Holy Spirit and they start praying in tongues, you know. Our experience is that that will hinder substantially your ability to receive. And so I say to people, `Look don't pray.' It's hard to pour out and to pour in at the same time. It's like a bucket that's got a hole in it because you are pouring out in prayer. Stop and receive and let the Holy Spirit fill you. Be like a sponge and desire the Lord with everything that's within you. Every case that does that, they are on the floor receiving. People pray for you, that's your time to receive. Pray on the way out, you can pray later. Don't take control, you can take control later. The whole deal is, you lose control, He takes control. He gets you out of your comfort zone, makes you feel vulnerable, right? You can analyze it later can't you?" (John Arnott, at Holy Trinity Brompton, England, February 14, 1995)

What are the Signs of an Awakened Kundalini?
Briefly, according to classical literature the signs of an awakened kundalini can be grouped into: mental signs, vocal signs and physical signs. Mental signs can include visions that range from ecstatically blissful to terrifyingly frightful. Vocal signs can include spontaneous vocal expressions that range from singing or reciting mantras to make various animals sounds such as growling or chirping. Physical signs include trembling, shaking and spontaneously performing hatha yoga postures and pranayamas.

From a more subjective perspective the more pleasant experiences associated with a kundalini awakening may include: waves of bliss, periods of elation, glimpses of transcendental consciousness. The less pleasant experiences associated with a kundalini awakening may include: trembling, sharp aches in areas associated with the chakras, periods of irrational anxiety, sudden flashes of heat. The following manifestations are also mentioned. singing, reciting mantras, animal sounds, trembling, shaking, yoga postures, waves of bliss, elation, altered consciousness, aches, anxiety, and feeling of heat flashes.

Counterfeit Revival Manifestations.
Inspired singing in the spirit, other inspired utterances. It is conceivable that while yogis recite mantras, the Christians manifest something more typical to them. Animal sounds. Strange (or prophetical) postures in general; Compulsory movements. Inward joy, laughter, trembling, shaking, , prophetical glimpses; reception of inward understanding of spiritual issues. Weeping. Crying. Anxiety because of the childhood traumas now being healed. Feeling of heat or cold.

There are striking similarities between the manifestations of an ‘awakened Kundalini’ and the Toronto Blessing

So How Do I Awaken Kundalini?
Broadly speaking there are two radically different direct approaches to awakening kundalini. One approach requires initiation by a guru and relies upon a technique called shaktipat, or ‘descent of shakti.’ It is variously called: Siddha Mahayoga, Kundalini Mahayoga or Sahaja Yoga (Spontaneous Yoga)... While not every long-term student necessarily shows signs of kundalini awakening it is amazing how many people have had instant awakenings of kundalini through initiation from Siddha gurus...

Counterfeit Revival:
Shaktipat means ‘the descent of power’ (literally: kundalini). The most common form of shaktipat is a touch by the guru on the individual's forehead. This is exactly the method that is used greatly to impart the ‘anointing’, for example, by Rodney Howard-Browne. This is also the most common way to receive the power.

Can one receive Shaktipat just by being in the presence of those with awakened Shakti?
There is no doubt that shakti is contagious. The mere presence of a single being whose shakti is strongly active can awaken the shakti of those around him. Similarly being in the presence of many people whose shakti is awakened to some degree can awaken one's own shakti.

Counterfeit Revival:
The ‘anointing ‘ is known to be contagious by nature and easily transferred from one to another. John Arnott compared it to a ‘spiritual virus’. For example when the members of a group of people holding one another’s hands fall simultaneously).

What are Kriyas?
Kriyas, literally ‘activities’, are spontaneous movements that occur after kundalini awakening. These include bodily activities such as trembling, shaking and spontaneous yoga postures; vocal activities such as yelling, or spontaneous chanting and mental activities such as visions. These kriyas eliminate the blocks to kundalini rising within the spine or central channel.

Counterfeit Revival:
The common explanation for the ‘kriyas’ happening in CR meetings is that the God is doing some inward work on the people's lives and that it results in the outward manifestations... more generally, that the touch of the power from God results in the manifestations. Also one alleged purpose of the manifestations is to remove blocks from people's lives (such that pride, self-control etc.) that sustain the Spirit from moving freely in one's life. So we see that the supposed purpose and reason for the manifestations is (below the surface of religious terms) exactly the same.

Are these kriyas some sort of self-hypnosis or some sort of New Age phenomenon?
Ultimately the validity of any spiritual tradition rests in its ability to transform the beings of its followers. The real value of Siddha Mahayoga is said to be in transforming the minds of those who practice it.

Counterfeit Revival:
Counterfeit Revival advocates say that they cannot understand why these phenomena are happening. They continue by saying, however, that the phenomena belong to a genuine work of the Spirit is clear because of the transformations appearing as a result in the minds of the believers. So we see that the experience is justified by the same means.

Who should give shaktipat?''...
Giving shaktipat is a science and it is helpful, if not essential, to be instructed in that science...

Therefore, it is desirable that the guru be empowered to give shaktipat by his own guru and has been trained in an unbroken lineage back to a great master who was fully aware of the science of shaktipat. In this way some quality control is maintained. in theory ‘anyone on fire’ can give shaktipat, i.e. anyone who's kundalini is already awakened.

Counterfeit Revival:
In general, ’the anointing’ is known to be easily transferred further from anybody ‘already on fire’. However, usually short courses are held for direct intercessors before they go on to minister people.

The method for distributing the TB anointing is different from the traditional view of Christian intercession, where the focus is on God and His work needs no control, surveillance or intervention from people. In the TB the intercessors are instructed to watch people and their bodily manifestations to know what the spirit is doing. In this way, The TB ministry resembles science more than traditional intercession.

In Toronto meetings, usually only appointed ministers are allowed to pray for people. This is because of some quality control. In a sound Christian assembly, all are required and allowed to pray for anothers, not just appointed ministers.

So what happens after shaktipat? What's the practice of Siddha Mahayoga?
The unique perspective of Siddha Mahayoga is that because kundalini is an intelligent force it will, upon awakening, naturally direct the practice of the student. All that is required is that the student completely surrender to this force. As a result of kundalini's unfoldment spontaneous purifying movements, called kriyas will occur...

Even to reach the point of simply surrendering to shakti takes some practice for people. Some aids in cultivating surrender are chanting and selfless service. These practices open the heart and make one more susceptible to the influence of shakti.

Counterfeit Revival:
In Toronto Blessing the receiver is asked to surrender to the ‘power of the Holy Spirit'' and to receive the good work (“purifying kriyas'') of Him without questioning. So this is exactly the same initial condition that is required for the awakening of kundalini.

Also, chanting spiritual songs is done abundantly in Toronto meetings. This is supposedly to pray to God, but at least as a side-effect it moves people to light trance (this is widely known in the psychology) and so enables one to receive counterfeit spiritual experiences.

More Comparisons

Compare the word of BHAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH (Originally from India who later became known as the Oregon guru) and R. BROWNE from Toronto. (Incidentally the word Bhagwan means god)

1. RAJNEESH: "the former Oregon guru tells one of his followers in his book, "Dance Your Way To God," just be joyful . . ."

R. BROWNE: It is typical teaching that RHB tells people God likes to have fun with His children and wants them to laugh; this laughter is equated with "the joy of the Lord."

2. RAJNEESH: "God is not serious . . . this world cannot fit with a theological god . . ."

R. BROWNE: "One night I was preaching on hell, and laughter just hit the whole place. The more I told the people what hell was like, the more they laughed." "The Holy Ghost . . . might have you do something that no one's ever done before, and he might have you do something that's totally unique. But don't question, and don't argue, and don't ask, and don't try to devise and to plan it out but just follow the prompting of the leading of the Spirit of God and, oh, great and wonderful things shall be done, for God will move in diverse ways and with diverse anointings in these last days."

3. RAJNEESH: "drunk on the divine"

R. BROWNE: "We're drinking of that new wine. It's the wine that is divine."

4. RAJNEESH: "Rajneesh encouraged his followers to come and "drink" from him.

R. BROWNE: "Take another drink . . . the bar is open. . . . Be filled! We loose the power! Have another drink!"

5. RAJNEESH: "Bahgvan's spiritual "wine" was often passed along with a single touch to the head."

R. BROWNE: This same phenomena is typical of Rodney Howard-Browne in his services.

6. RAJNEESH: "Many of his Sannyasins would fall to the floor in ecstasy after their encounters with Rajneesh."

R. BROWNE: This same phenomena is typical of Rodney Howard-Browne in his services.

RAMAKRISHNA, an Indian saint, daily went into 'samadhi,' a trance in which one involuntarily falls down unconscious and enters a rapturous state of super-conscious bliss (ananda), complete with beautiful visions and often involving astral projection. These states could last anywhere from a few minutes to several days and were often accompanied by uncontrollable laughter or weeping. He could send others into this state with a single touch to the head or chest.

SWAMI BABA MUKTANANDA would transfer what was called "guru's grace" to his followers through Shaktipat (physical touch). This "grace" triggered the gradual awakening of the Kundalini which in turn produced various physical and emotional manifestations. Manifestations included uncontrollable laughing, roaring, barking, hissing, crying, shaking, etc. Some devotees became mute or unconscious. Many felt themselves being infused with feelings of great joy and peace and love. At other times the "fire" of Kundalini was so overwhleming they would find themselves involuntarily hyperventilating to cool themselves down.

SUBUD. According to "The Encyclopedia of American Religions" by J. Gordon Melton, the central element of the Subud faith is the practice of "latihan." Latihan is the way one surrenders to the power of God. It is a group process. The Encyclopedia says, "the latihan proper is a time of moving the consciousness beyond mind and desire and allowing the power to enter and do its work. . . . often accompanying the spontaneous period are various body movements and vocal manifestations - cries, moans, laughter and singing. These occur in the voluntary surrender of the self to the power. During this time, people report sensations of love and freedom and often, healings. All reach a higher level of consciousness.



See also:

Who will left behind?

Rapture Alert! Make Sure You don't Left Behind

What Will You Do If You Are Left Behind?

After the Rapture

The Tribulation