It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. - John 6:63 (ESV)
http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/81789-why-the-religious-spirit-is-the-no-1-enemy-of-revival
As the end times deepen we see more and more voices arising for the apostate church. The ranks of the NAR swell larger and larger every week as more continue to follow their zeal for faux revival because they love this country more than the God they claim to follow. I have pointed out the similarity before but when Jesus walked the earth the folks with all of the power were the Pharisees and teachers of law. They held all of the positions of power and respect. Thus the Gospel was perceived correctly as a threat to their way of life. Fast forward to today and we see the NAR, purpose driven, seeker friendly, mega church folks are the ones with that power and as past is prologue, the true Gospel still represents a threat to that power. The true Gospel reveals that what they preach is false. It exposes them as charlatans and hirelings. This is why we see so much hostility towards those that dare to insist on biblical accuracy. People who insist on biblical discernment are labeled as legalistic or possessed somehow by a "religious spirit." Make no mistake though. When you hear the whining about religious spirits they are really just upset at what God has said in His word. In wading through the Charisma News cesspool this morning I came across the short article linked about from someone named Jamie Morgan.
It seems Ms. Morgan is a pastor at an AG church in New Jersey, so she is already in outright rebellion to the word of God. So I do not expect much moving forward to review her article above that posits that the religious spirit is the number one enemy of revival. We must realize that allegorically this is correct. Revival is a concept that is simply unsupported biblically for the end times. The bible instead promises a great end times apostasy, which we see alive and well underway. "Pastor" Morgan is part of that apostasy. The term religious spirit is NAR code-speak for being held to the letter of the bible. So yes, those that demand we adhere to the bible are the number one enemy of those who seek false revival in the pursuit of idolizing this country. Now let us reason once more through the above linked article.
"The meanest, foulest, most ruthless demonic spirit you will ever confront is the spirit of religion because it attempts to replace the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian or church. While many demonic spirits operate through the occult and witchcraft, this one works boldly and daringly in the church on a daily basis. The spirit of religion is sent to resist godly change in any form, including the moving of the Holy Spirit in revival." - Jamie Morgan
This may as well be the mission statement for the NAR. You have to understand that at the core of NAR theology is dominionism and experiential Christianity. While the revival pursuit is central to the dominionism, this bastardization of the Holy Spirit is central to experiential Christianity. Remember that the notion of a "spirit of religion is just code-speak for the bible. When they refer to the "work of the spirit" in the life of a believer or the church they are referring to the dumpster fire that goes on in most Charismaniacal churches. Go to YouTube and check out a Bethel prayer service. That is not the Holy Spirit operating but rather demonic spirits. Experiential Christianity teaches people to empty their minds and theology so that the devil can fill both. I watched a training video for Bethel worship leaders once that taught them they were all prophetic and to just start singing whatever popped into their heads and of course blame it on the Holy Spirit.
This is the final battle within the church before Christ returns. The apostate church is growing exponentially and the remnant are left to fend for themselves. This is the same demonic spirit since the original latter rain movement decades ago. If you think I am being hyperbolic just watch some videos of either the holy laughter debacle from Toronto or the Kundalini demonic outpouring in Brownsville. Fast forward a few years and watch Todd Bentley kick people in the head claiming the Holy Spirit directed him to in order to impart healing. Sound absurd? Realize that all of the top false teachers and prophets went to Lakeland Florida and anointed Todd an apostle! If you think that is an outlier realize the man that led the prayer that day was Bill Johnson who still happens to run Bethel Church today. The great apostasy is hiding in plain sight and the final battle will be between people who insist on chasing revival through personal experience being pawned off as a "move of the spirit" and those that refuse to compromise the word of God.
"When the Holy Spirit pours Himself out upon a church or region, the religious spirit will rise up through the critics of revival to try and stop God from moving." - Jamie Morgan
Yeah, no. Let me translate what she is referring to. When a church or region goes apostate and tries to pass off pure carnality as the Holy Spirit moving, there are those with bibles who will correctly point out the heresy. It is not about being a critic of revival but rather of faux revival. A revival based purely on the flesh. When you ascribe everything that comes into your wickedly deceitful hearts as being from God you give up any ability to discern, especially if the bible is relegated to second place. An example is the testimony of Kim Walker-Smith, worship leader for Jesus Culture. This heretical "worship" outfit is from where else, Bethel. When you are taught by Bethel in experiential NAR theology you can believe, as Walker does, that Jesus whisked you away to the throne room of God during a waking visitation. There, you think you met the Father face to face as he cut out a piece of his own heart to show you how much he loves you. Seriously, this is her testimony. If she bothered with that religious spirit, I mean the bible, she would know that she cannot meet the Father face to face or else she would have died. Then she would know it was a demonic visitation. This is not about stopping God from moving, which by the way no one could anyway, but rather stopping the devil from moving as an angel of light.
'I have firsthand experience with the spirit of religion; it tried to kill revival in my church even before it started. It was a midweek prayer meeting I will never forget. The people of my church were crying out to God for revival; the desperation for revival was palpably heard in the prayers of the people in that room. One of the people in attendance, a gentleman who regularly attended my church, interrupted our revival pleas with a pronouncement. "I hate to be a wet blanket," he loudly proclaimed, "but there will be no revival!" And then he added: "To pray for revival is to pray against the church!" He said a few more things before he ended his attempt to squelch any future revival, and my heart sank. I loved this brother in the Lord, and certainly didn't want to embarrass him, but knew I had to publicly correct this demonic decree which was publicly stated. I stood up in the middle of the prayer meeting, looked the man in the eyes, and respectfully but firmly proclaimed, "You are out of order. There will be revival!"' - Jamie Morgan
How's that going for you Jamie? You declared there will be revival so where is it? It sounds like you had a Bethelesque service where everyone was shouting at God and He answered through this brother only to have you proclaim with authority you do not have that his message was demonic. You only decided that because it went against your pursuit of revival which you will chase until you stand before Jesus. Beloved, it is time to get ourselves prepared. This fight is waged every day. I speak to people every single day who are waging this war. God told us our hearts were deceitfully wicked above all else for a reason! He gave us His final revealed will in the bible for a reason! I rebuke Jamie Morgan, the usurper. She has no authority. Only God has through His holy word. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth contained in that word. Rely not upon the flesh for it profits nothing according to our key verse today. The words in the bible are spirit! They are life! Amen.
Rev. Anthony.
