Addressing Discernment in the Charismatic Movement

For a moment, please forget the names of any leaders within the "Charismatic Movement" who are being addressed for moral failures and consider a few questions. Is it possible that there are some ministers in the Church who are not “fallen” but have been false from the beginning? Could it be that God is using situations that have become public to wake up His disciples to discern by the Spirit and not by the newspaper? Not all false ministers work in the occult or satanic churches. The Bible warns that Satan will infiltrate the Church with his ministers disguised as real ministers. They will be very capable preachers who preach a lot of truth but will eventually and gradually begin to sneak in the devil’s leaven.

What is it that people are really concerned about with those things that have become public knowledge? Could it be that we are still missing some things that God wants us to begin to see? Does He want us to learn to see the smoke before we see the fire? Does He want us to see the problem before there is even smoke? Is He using these things to help mature and make the bride of Christ more discerning?

I once heard a spiritual leader, a Charismatic leader, teaching on the spirit of antichrist. He said that the Charismatic church was prime for the manifestation of the spirit of antichrist; it is lawless (not governed properly), largely ignorant of Scripture, and wild about spiritual gifts. He was cautioning that the devil can take advantage of those things. He added that he still believed the Charismatic movement was of God. There is a case for everything he said being proven true over the last few years, but God, in His mercy, is wanting to correct and mature all of His people, including those whom some call the “wild and crazy Charismatics.” (LOL - No offense intended.)

Not all Christians are gifted with the gift of discernment, but all can grow in their knowledge of the Word and have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Could it be that either type of discernment would have revealed that the people mentioned in this message were off track and out from under the anointing of God before things were made public? Was it necessary for things to be made public before being recognized and addressed, or could the problems have been addressed before they were manifested publicly? The discernment of the difference between false, carnal, immature, and mature ministers is needed in all parts of the Church, but especially in what is called the Charismatic Movement. May God help us! May He correct all parts of His Church and unify us in faith so that we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Thanks for those who are loving and bold enough to address publicly known issues, but may we all grow in having our senses trained to discern both good and evil. May God raise up true prophets with discernment to speak to the whole Church! May what man has called the "Charismatic Movement" wake up and become what God always intended. This is much bigger than what is seen by the eye. All glory is to Jesus Christ!