Benja32one
June 26th, 2005, 04:10 PM
Chuck Smith
LIVING WATER
The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life
Miles J. Stanford
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The work of the Lord Jesus now is to occupy me with Himself. It is clear that in spirit I am up There in all His beauty and acceptance, and now I am to live down here, not as a comely and excellent person, but as the Lord Jesus manifested in my body (2 Cor. 4:10).
"And He who sustains me up There in all the brightness of His glory, is the same One who has to do with me in all my weakness and need down here in this scene of darkness and death."
1 August 1996
Dear brother:
Thank you for your informative, albeit sad, letter. And I appreciate your request concerning Smith's 'Calvary Chapels ... especially since I was working on the subject! The Father is always an infinite step ahead of us (Isa. 26:12; Eph. 2:10).
It is a shocking thing to contemplate the level to which the Christian Booksellers, and most other such organizations, have sunk to. And the end is not yet, it all being the harvest of corruptible seed sown a generation or more ago (Gal. 6:7).
In that these organizations, and churches, are composed of individuals, it is astounding to note the great numbers of leaders, and followers--all who should know better--that are slipping down into the Charismatic realm. And now with the onslaught of the Charismatic, so-called Promise Keepers, the worst is yet to come.
So the poor brother you mention is but one of a vast number--sound doctrine, fruitful ministry, and all. How the mighty have fallen--in droves! The scene is much like the flattened, blackened and barren, forests surrounding Mount St. Helens!
I would like to make a suggestion, if I may. I would hesitate to send the enclosed critique to your brother in Christ. You have had an extensive talk with him--I am sure from the heart, and scripturally-based.
He has not stepped down on a doctrinal basis, but rather that of subjective experience. If he comes out of it--which they very seldom do, I am sorry to say--it will more than likely be via the bad experience of coming to realize what he has gotten into. He already has the necessary doctrine for recovery, but he must first find out by crushing experience, by hitting the bottom of the chasm into which he has fallen.
Probably it will have to be via "O, wretched man that I am," before he will be able to say, "I thank God through the glorified Lord Jesus Christ."
This "falling away" that is happening in the Church, many assemblies included, has two primary causes. The one is lack of dispensational distinctions. The result is the lack of establishment in one's heavenly position in the Ascended Lord. Anyone consciously "hidden with Christ in God" would never fall for, and into, the Charismatic craziness.
With you, trusting the Father for His blessed will--on His terms, and in His time.
Resting in Him
Miles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHUCK SMITH & THE CALVARY CHAPELS
Living Water--The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life, by Chuck Smith (Harvest House, Eugene, Oregon, 1996, 297 pages).
Chuck Smith is founder and pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California; which has spawned a number of Calvary Chapels in different parts of the country. All are Charismatic; all are out of scriptural bounds.
The author has a radio program titled "The Word For Today," and often speaks on TV via the rabidly Charismatic Trinity Broadcasting Network. He has a very personable aspect, his speaking approach is low-key, and he is careful to avoid any untoward Charismatic characteristics.
Hence his ministry is especially dangerous, in that most Christians today tend to evaluate a leader by his personality and appearance, rather than by his doctrine. But this is a fatal practice, especially concerning false teachers, as Dr. Chafer warned:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:5-20). The [kingdom] warning here is against false prophets who are to be discerned by the quality of their lives.
The warning to the Christian under grace is against false teachers who are to be discerned by their doctrine concerning Christ (2 Pet. 2:1; 2 John 1:7-11), never by their lives; for outwardly, false teachers are said to appear as the "apostles of Christ," and to be under the influence of Satan who himself appears as an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:13-15). The attractive personality of the false teacher affords great advantage as a "front" for the appeal he makes for his false doctrine.
Chuck Smith, Charismatic to the core, emphasizes the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, rather than the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, "who is our Life" (Col. 3:4). The ascended Lord Jesus Christ is not even secondary in the Charismatic concept, as they, failing to rightly divide the Word of truth, turn back to Jesus in His pre-Cross life on earth, and His earthly Kingdom Gospel to Israel.
The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come... He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak... He shall glorify Me" (John 16:13,14).
Prior to His ascension, Jesus prayed, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me" (John 17:24).
Paul says to the Christian, to the Church, "Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1,2).
But the Charismatic seeks to emphasize and glorify the Holy Spirit, in spite of the scriptural fact that His purpose is to glorify the Glorified One at the right hand of the Father on high. And they seek to know and follow Jesus in His earthly humiliation, and Kingdom Gospel. Hence we see this in Chuck Smith's book titled Living Water--The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life:
The purpose of this book is to help you get to know the Holy Spirit so that you may enjoy a full, rich relationship with Him.
I am praying that by God's grace and through this book the Lord will develop in you an insatiable hunger for and thirsting after the Spirit. He is the person of the Godhead to whom we relate most closely (pp. 7,8).
Wrong way around! Error! It is the Spirit's ministry and purpose to develop in the believer an insatiable hunger and thirst for the glorified Lord Jesus Christ! The fruit of the Spirit consists of aspects, characteristics, of the life of Christ (Gal. 5:22,23).
The purpose of The Book, for the believer, is expressed by Paul: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." "For I determined not to know any thing among you, except Jesus Christ." "Christ shall be magnified in my body ... for to me to live is Christ." "That I may know Him" (1 Cor. 1:31; 2:2; Phil. 1:20,21; 3:10).
The Spirit's ministry is that "the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). As J.B. Stoney well said:
The work of the Lord Jesus now is to occupy me with Himself. It is clear that in spirit I am up There in all His beauty and acceptance, and now I am to live down here, not as a comely and excellent person, but as the Lord Jesus manifested in my body.
Because the Charismatic does not center in the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, he does not really know God for who He is; and he would attribute sovereignty to Satan. But while Satan may be the "prince of this world," God is King over him, this world, and the universe.
Jesus told us to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6: 10). Oh, how I long to see the day when God's will instead of Satan's is being done on this earth! (p. 44).
But Chuck Smith is right about one thing; one should not "stick around" Calvary Chapel, or any of the other lesser Chapels, for that matter. He speaks of a letter received, and his answer:
Some time ago I received a letter from a fellow who wrote, "I considered affiliation with the Calvary Chapels, but this aspect was wrong and that doctrine was wrong and I don't know if I really understand what is going on there."
I wrote back and said, "I don't think you do know. And I would suggest you not pursue any further trying to affiliate with Calvary Chapel." He described his shock at one of the issues that was brought up, and I said, "If you stick around, you will probably find a lot more shocking things. So maybe it's better that you do not stick around" (p. 90).
As a Charismatic, Chuck Smith claims that all of the gifts of the Spirit are for today:
When you walk with the Spirit, develop in your relationship with Him, and respond to His work in you, it is very likely that you will begin to have all kinds of glorious, supernatural experiences (emphasis mine) (p. 19).
In exercising the ministry of pastor-teacher, I believe there are three spiritual gifts that operate, especially when we are teaching the word of God: prophecy, the word of knowledge ["the Lord told me"], and the word of wisdom.
This is the word of wisdom: You didn't know the answer before this moment, but even as you speak your heart testifies of its truth and it makes [subjective] sense. The Spirit of God gives you the answer. It is something that you had not learned or studied or thought about, but it is right, so on target, that you recognize it as a word of wisdom (p. 103).
It is as always: "The poor Pentecostals and Charismatics; they do not think, they only feel." That is verified by their quest for, and claims of, tongues, healing, and miracles:
I believe healing faith is related to and associated with what 1 Corinthians 12 calls the gift of faith. The gift of faith is related many times to healing and miracles (p. 122).
I believe that lack of miraculous healing today lies more in the failure of man's faith than in the reluctance of a compassionate God to meet His children's needs. The reason we don't see much miraculous healing today is our general skepticism. The reason why people aren't healed so often today as they seemed to be in the past can be traced to general unbelief. The fault is not God's, but ours (pp. 135,136).
We do have our limitations, and I confess I'm in that group. I could not in faith believe that God would give a person a new arm. I just couldn't do that. It is not that I don't believe God could do it; I just don't believe God would do it.
Don't misunderstand--that's a confession of my lack of faith. I'm not proud about it. I wish I did have the kind of faith that could pray, believing that God would give a person a new arm (p. 145).
To these people, faith is the factor, rather than the sovereign will of God.
I encourage you to covet earnestly the work of miracles [new arms?]. It would take quite a bit of preparation to possess, but I don't believe it is out of reach or out of the question. I would love to see the hand of God at work among His children in a greater measure. And I believe God desires to do it. So what hinders Him? I think we are the stumbling blocks; we are the ones who have clogged the flow of the Spirit in that realm (p. 149).
And then there is the Charismatic "tongues" error:
How is the gift of tongues to be used in the life of the believer? Tongues are exciting! It builds you up in your walk with God, and invigorates your relationship with Him (p. 178).
Tongues is the only gift of God that edifies you personally and individually. All the other gifts serve to edify the church and to build up the body. But this one gift was given to build you up, to strengthen you. Speaking in tongues strengthens your walk, your relationships, and gives you the power to commune with God on a deep spiritual level (p. 180).
Speaking in tongues is a powerful, God-given tool. It brings an intimacy and communion and fellowship with God that can be achieved in no other way (p. 182).
Such misplaced reliance is the reason for the general Charismatic craziness. And yet another key error concerning the Holy Spirit:
Peter said we should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus also called the Holy Spirit a gift. And the only way to possess a gift is to receive it. The gift of the Holy Spirit must be received by faith. Receiving the Spirit is like believing on Jesus for salvation.
You must ask for the Holy Spirit. God is not going to force on you something that you do not want. You must desire what He has to give. God will not violate your free will. You must ask the Lord in faith for the gift of the Holy Spirit (p. 276).
The Charismatic movement is not characteristic of the work of the Holy Spirit; as Sir Robert Anderson warned long ago:
In proportion as mind and heart are fixed upon the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, we may count on the Holy Spirit's enabling. But if we make the Spirit Himself the object of our aspirations and worship, some false spirit may counterfeit the true and take us for a prey.
A final word from Dr. Arno Gaebelein concerning the Holy Spirit:
What is it to "walk in the Spirit?" It is not self-occupation, nor even occupation with the Spirit. Walking according to the Spirit is occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. If the believer ever looks to the Lord Jesus, depends upon Him, draws all he needs from Him, if He is his All in all--then the believer walks according to the Spirit of Christ.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MJStanford
withchrist.org/MJS/smith.htm
LIVING WATER
The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life
Miles J. Stanford
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The work of the Lord Jesus now is to occupy me with Himself. It is clear that in spirit I am up There in all His beauty and acceptance, and now I am to live down here, not as a comely and excellent person, but as the Lord Jesus manifested in my body (2 Cor. 4:10).
"And He who sustains me up There in all the brightness of His glory, is the same One who has to do with me in all my weakness and need down here in this scene of darkness and death."
1 August 1996
Dear brother:
Thank you for your informative, albeit sad, letter. And I appreciate your request concerning Smith's 'Calvary Chapels ... especially since I was working on the subject! The Father is always an infinite step ahead of us (Isa. 26:12; Eph. 2:10).
It is a shocking thing to contemplate the level to which the Christian Booksellers, and most other such organizations, have sunk to. And the end is not yet, it all being the harvest of corruptible seed sown a generation or more ago (Gal. 6:7).
In that these organizations, and churches, are composed of individuals, it is astounding to note the great numbers of leaders, and followers--all who should know better--that are slipping down into the Charismatic realm. And now with the onslaught of the Charismatic, so-called Promise Keepers, the worst is yet to come.
So the poor brother you mention is but one of a vast number--sound doctrine, fruitful ministry, and all. How the mighty have fallen--in droves! The scene is much like the flattened, blackened and barren, forests surrounding Mount St. Helens!
I would like to make a suggestion, if I may. I would hesitate to send the enclosed critique to your brother in Christ. You have had an extensive talk with him--I am sure from the heart, and scripturally-based.
He has not stepped down on a doctrinal basis, but rather that of subjective experience. If he comes out of it--which they very seldom do, I am sorry to say--it will more than likely be via the bad experience of coming to realize what he has gotten into. He already has the necessary doctrine for recovery, but he must first find out by crushing experience, by hitting the bottom of the chasm into which he has fallen.
Probably it will have to be via "O, wretched man that I am," before he will be able to say, "I thank God through the glorified Lord Jesus Christ."
This "falling away" that is happening in the Church, many assemblies included, has two primary causes. The one is lack of dispensational distinctions. The result is the lack of establishment in one's heavenly position in the Ascended Lord. Anyone consciously "hidden with Christ in God" would never fall for, and into, the Charismatic craziness.
With you, trusting the Father for His blessed will--on His terms, and in His time.
Resting in Him
Miles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHUCK SMITH & THE CALVARY CHAPELS
Living Water--The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life, by Chuck Smith (Harvest House, Eugene, Oregon, 1996, 297 pages).
Chuck Smith is founder and pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California; which has spawned a number of Calvary Chapels in different parts of the country. All are Charismatic; all are out of scriptural bounds.
The author has a radio program titled "The Word For Today," and often speaks on TV via the rabidly Charismatic Trinity Broadcasting Network. He has a very personable aspect, his speaking approach is low-key, and he is careful to avoid any untoward Charismatic characteristics.
Hence his ministry is especially dangerous, in that most Christians today tend to evaluate a leader by his personality and appearance, rather than by his doctrine. But this is a fatal practice, especially concerning false teachers, as Dr. Chafer warned:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:5-20). The [kingdom] warning here is against false prophets who are to be discerned by the quality of their lives.
The warning to the Christian under grace is against false teachers who are to be discerned by their doctrine concerning Christ (2 Pet. 2:1; 2 John 1:7-11), never by their lives; for outwardly, false teachers are said to appear as the "apostles of Christ," and to be under the influence of Satan who himself appears as an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:13-15). The attractive personality of the false teacher affords great advantage as a "front" for the appeal he makes for his false doctrine.
Chuck Smith, Charismatic to the core, emphasizes the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, rather than the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, "who is our Life" (Col. 3:4). The ascended Lord Jesus Christ is not even secondary in the Charismatic concept, as they, failing to rightly divide the Word of truth, turn back to Jesus in His pre-Cross life on earth, and His earthly Kingdom Gospel to Israel.
The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come... He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak... He shall glorify Me" (John 16:13,14).
Prior to His ascension, Jesus prayed, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me" (John 17:24).
Paul says to the Christian, to the Church, "Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1,2).
But the Charismatic seeks to emphasize and glorify the Holy Spirit, in spite of the scriptural fact that His purpose is to glorify the Glorified One at the right hand of the Father on high. And they seek to know and follow Jesus in His earthly humiliation, and Kingdom Gospel. Hence we see this in Chuck Smith's book titled Living Water--The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life:
The purpose of this book is to help you get to know the Holy Spirit so that you may enjoy a full, rich relationship with Him.
I am praying that by God's grace and through this book the Lord will develop in you an insatiable hunger for and thirsting after the Spirit. He is the person of the Godhead to whom we relate most closely (pp. 7,8).
Wrong way around! Error! It is the Spirit's ministry and purpose to develop in the believer an insatiable hunger and thirst for the glorified Lord Jesus Christ! The fruit of the Spirit consists of aspects, characteristics, of the life of Christ (Gal. 5:22,23).
The purpose of The Book, for the believer, is expressed by Paul: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." "For I determined not to know any thing among you, except Jesus Christ." "Christ shall be magnified in my body ... for to me to live is Christ." "That I may know Him" (1 Cor. 1:31; 2:2; Phil. 1:20,21; 3:10).
The Spirit's ministry is that "the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). As J.B. Stoney well said:
The work of the Lord Jesus now is to occupy me with Himself. It is clear that in spirit I am up There in all His beauty and acceptance, and now I am to live down here, not as a comely and excellent person, but as the Lord Jesus manifested in my body.
Because the Charismatic does not center in the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, he does not really know God for who He is; and he would attribute sovereignty to Satan. But while Satan may be the "prince of this world," God is King over him, this world, and the universe.
Jesus told us to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6: 10). Oh, how I long to see the day when God's will instead of Satan's is being done on this earth! (p. 44).
But Chuck Smith is right about one thing; one should not "stick around" Calvary Chapel, or any of the other lesser Chapels, for that matter. He speaks of a letter received, and his answer:
Some time ago I received a letter from a fellow who wrote, "I considered affiliation with the Calvary Chapels, but this aspect was wrong and that doctrine was wrong and I don't know if I really understand what is going on there."
I wrote back and said, "I don't think you do know. And I would suggest you not pursue any further trying to affiliate with Calvary Chapel." He described his shock at one of the issues that was brought up, and I said, "If you stick around, you will probably find a lot more shocking things. So maybe it's better that you do not stick around" (p. 90).
As a Charismatic, Chuck Smith claims that all of the gifts of the Spirit are for today:
When you walk with the Spirit, develop in your relationship with Him, and respond to His work in you, it is very likely that you will begin to have all kinds of glorious, supernatural experiences (emphasis mine) (p. 19).
In exercising the ministry of pastor-teacher, I believe there are three spiritual gifts that operate, especially when we are teaching the word of God: prophecy, the word of knowledge ["the Lord told me"], and the word of wisdom.
This is the word of wisdom: You didn't know the answer before this moment, but even as you speak your heart testifies of its truth and it makes [subjective] sense. The Spirit of God gives you the answer. It is something that you had not learned or studied or thought about, but it is right, so on target, that you recognize it as a word of wisdom (p. 103).
It is as always: "The poor Pentecostals and Charismatics; they do not think, they only feel." That is verified by their quest for, and claims of, tongues, healing, and miracles:
I believe healing faith is related to and associated with what 1 Corinthians 12 calls the gift of faith. The gift of faith is related many times to healing and miracles (p. 122).
I believe that lack of miraculous healing today lies more in the failure of man's faith than in the reluctance of a compassionate God to meet His children's needs. The reason we don't see much miraculous healing today is our general skepticism. The reason why people aren't healed so often today as they seemed to be in the past can be traced to general unbelief. The fault is not God's, but ours (pp. 135,136).
We do have our limitations, and I confess I'm in that group. I could not in faith believe that God would give a person a new arm. I just couldn't do that. It is not that I don't believe God could do it; I just don't believe God would do it.
Don't misunderstand--that's a confession of my lack of faith. I'm not proud about it. I wish I did have the kind of faith that could pray, believing that God would give a person a new arm (p. 145).
To these people, faith is the factor, rather than the sovereign will of God.
I encourage you to covet earnestly the work of miracles [new arms?]. It would take quite a bit of preparation to possess, but I don't believe it is out of reach or out of the question. I would love to see the hand of God at work among His children in a greater measure. And I believe God desires to do it. So what hinders Him? I think we are the stumbling blocks; we are the ones who have clogged the flow of the Spirit in that realm (p. 149).
And then there is the Charismatic "tongues" error:
How is the gift of tongues to be used in the life of the believer? Tongues are exciting! It builds you up in your walk with God, and invigorates your relationship with Him (p. 178).
Tongues is the only gift of God that edifies you personally and individually. All the other gifts serve to edify the church and to build up the body. But this one gift was given to build you up, to strengthen you. Speaking in tongues strengthens your walk, your relationships, and gives you the power to commune with God on a deep spiritual level (p. 180).
Speaking in tongues is a powerful, God-given tool. It brings an intimacy and communion and fellowship with God that can be achieved in no other way (p. 182).
Such misplaced reliance is the reason for the general Charismatic craziness. And yet another key error concerning the Holy Spirit:
Peter said we should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus also called the Holy Spirit a gift. And the only way to possess a gift is to receive it. The gift of the Holy Spirit must be received by faith. Receiving the Spirit is like believing on Jesus for salvation.
You must ask for the Holy Spirit. God is not going to force on you something that you do not want. You must desire what He has to give. God will not violate your free will. You must ask the Lord in faith for the gift of the Holy Spirit (p. 276).
The Charismatic movement is not characteristic of the work of the Holy Spirit; as Sir Robert Anderson warned long ago:
In proportion as mind and heart are fixed upon the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, we may count on the Holy Spirit's enabling. But if we make the Spirit Himself the object of our aspirations and worship, some false spirit may counterfeit the true and take us for a prey.
A final word from Dr. Arno Gaebelein concerning the Holy Spirit:
What is it to "walk in the Spirit?" It is not self-occupation, nor even occupation with the Spirit. Walking according to the Spirit is occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. If the believer ever looks to the Lord Jesus, depends upon Him, draws all he needs from Him, if He is his All in all--then the believer walks according to the Spirit of Christ.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MJStanford
withchrist.org/MJS/smith.htm