Posted by Steve B., et al on 12/29/2001, 11:09 pm

Posted by Steve B. on 11/5/2001, 7:39 pm Matt, I looked through my old files and found two different postings that may be the ones you refer to. They were both from early 1999 (longer ago than I thought), and were written to two different people. In addition, I also found this excerpt in another posting, which I believe is also relevant, and which I believe may have touched off the thread in which the other two postings were made. (I'm not sure, because I did not save the postings made by others.) Somebody else on the board, another ex-Chapel member who is now in the "Jesus is not God" camp, but who still believes in a lot of the Chapel's other theology, including the Chapel's Latter-Rain-derived teaching on the Feast of Tabernacles, had made the statement, "Scripture without the Spirit revealing it to us will fail." I responded with this: Now this I must whole-heartedly reject. If you and I were in the same room, it would be time for me to get up on the table and start shouting and waving my arms. It is time for spiritual armies to rise. Wake up! This is rank gnosticism. This is E.W. Kenyon "revelation-knowledge" heresy. This is what led literally hundreds of people at the Chapel to ignore the warnings of the "legalists" and to plunge headlong into the frenzy that would destroy their marriages and their church and some of their souls. Your above statement is very near to the crux of the whole problem with the "Tabernacles" crowd. It takes authority away from the scriptures and puts it into the hands of a spirit which gives you "revelations" about scripture. It implies that one cannot understand scripture with the rational mind but must instead wait for a "revelation" on it. Scripture is revelation. It was all given by the Spirit and is all profitable for teaching and instruction. The Word is the sword of the Spirit -- it is the means by which the Spirit works. One can never be working without other. Additionally, how do you know which scriptures are being "revealed" to you? By the way you feel when you read them? Now there's a sound method.... Sincerely, Steve Born email: srborn@seanet.com Home page: http://www.seanet.com/~srborn/ ---------- ...And a repost on the Latter Rain Movement (part 1) Posted by Steve B. on 11/5/2001, 7:46 pm , in reply to "A repost on revelations (in response to Matt)" Here is another repost, one in which I address the Latter Rain theology, to a young man named Josef Larsson who was attending COA, and may still be, for all I know: May I explain to you why, although I once held a position very similar to your own, I now think that the position you hold is not derived from scripture but from human imagination? You write I believe the Bible even talks about something to the effect of "if you give the book to a fool he will say I can't read it and if you give it to a wise many he will say I can't read it because it's sealed..." The quotation you refer to is probably that from Isaiah 29:9-14: Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. The fact of men being unable to read the Word of God does not refer to a normal situation. It refers only to a situation in which a nation has obdurately refused to hear the Word of God for years on end. The only reason they are unable to read the Word of God now is because God has specifically blinded them. This section of scripture is not teaching on how truth is normally revealed to those who are seeking it. I dwell on this quotation because it illustrates so nicely the proof-texting done by many Christians who should know better. The scripture of "the book being sealed so the wise cannot read it" is taken out of context to mean that the text of scripture cannot normally be understood unless we have a special revelation of its meaning. This scripture is, in other words, used to support a doctrine which leans toward a gnostic understanding of the Christian faith. Gnosticism is a religion which teaches salvation by knowledge, but understand that this knowledge is not the intellectual kind you can gain from studying in a library. The knowledge referred to is granted only to those who have been spiritually initiated into it by teachers who have themselves have been initiated into whatever semi-secret system of doctrine they are handing down. I am saying that this view of the faith has been unwittingly accepted by those in the Latter Rain movement. They seem to believe that in these endtimes their apostles and prophets have been specially granted an understanding of the plan of God which they can dispense to their followers. These teachers impute their teachings to the scriptures, to be sure, but the scriptures to which they refer yield these teachings only if interpreted in highly allegorical ways. These allegorical interpretations are attributed to special revelations of the Spirit. It is precisely here that they have yielded to the gnostic tendency. Others, who decline to accept the interpretations of the gnostic teachers because of scruples based on the plain grammatical and historical reading of the text, get described by the gnostics as fleshly, unspiritual, and legalistic. They simply "don't have the revelation." These gnostic tendencies of the Latter Rain movement are shown very clearly in many places. One interesting place is in the booklet "The Feast of Tabernacles" written by George Warnock, a 1951 publication which was key for the Latter Rain movement, and which was sold in the Chapel's bookstore. Here is the first paragraph of that booklet: We believe that the hour has come when the saints should know and understand, at least in part, the meaning of Israel's annual Feasts, for they constitute a very beautiful type and pattern for the Church. There is a time and a season for the proclamation of every Biblical truth, and when God's hour of revelation has struck, the Spirit of God is gloriously present to remove the veil from God's secrets and initiate His people into the mysteries of God. [emphasis mine] Such is the office work of the Holy Spirit, to lead and guide the saints into all truth, and to reveal the things which are to come. (Jn. 16:13.) A consecrated and holy walk in the Spirit, therefore, is the only genuine basis we have for a proper understanding of the Scriptures. Without that consecration and that walk in the Spirit we might acquire a considerable understanding of theology, but it will be theology devoid of Truth. After all, theology is the study about God and about Truth; whereas Truth is a living, vital, powerful demonstration of the Spirit of God, pulsating with Divine life and power and wisdom and knowledge. Another interesting place for us who were members of the Chapel, is in one of the last letters Don wrote to us as his congregation -- The "Dear Sheepies of My Flock" letter: God is anointing me with a new message: "the new man (i.e., those in the last Adam who walk in the Spirit and are therefore not under the law Gal. 5:18). The flesh man can never be sanctified or made perfect -- he will always sin (Rom. 7). No man will get to Tabernacles in the bondage of the law! Your elders can never lead you there -- they can only lead you backwards. They need my new revelations! I hope this is making some sense to you, and that if you still cannot agree with me, at least you might see the basis for my objections to the system of thought I was taught at the Chapel, and why I think that that system of thought played a key role in the tragic end of the Chapel. Sincerely, Steve