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Continuing our discussion from part one, while Satan has slipped into some of these modern churches and deceived the congregations by turning everything around, so that being "slain in the spirit" or "falling in the spirit" is now viewed as being a very positive thing, and as evidence of the presence of God's Spirit, I believe that the Lord has shown me how totally contrary this practice is to His Word.

Let me state for the record that when some of these people say that they "fall in the spirit", I am not sure if they mean that they physically fall to the floor -- such as when one faints -- or if they simply mean that they fall under the influence of the spirit. I tend to believe that in some cases, depending upon to whom one is talking, it means the former, and in other cases, it means the latter. In other words, some people definitely are literally falling down under this spiritual force, as is quite evident in a number of the online videos I have watched, such as the Benny Hinn videos.

While this may alarm some of my readers, the simple truth of the matter is that from the very beginning of the Bible to the very end, the act of falling is described as a negative experience, and definitely not as a positive one. Falling in some way involves rebellion, and God's displeasure in some way; physically-speaking, as well as metaphorically-speaking. When Adam and Eve rebelled against the Lord by listening to the subtle lies of Satan, they fell from grace and were kicked out of the Garden, as we see by these verses:

"Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."


As a result of the Fallen Angels rebelling against the Lord and mating with human women, the wicked generations of the pre-diluvian days fell under tons of water, while Noah was lifted on high in the Ark by the grace of God, as we can determine by these verses:

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."


When proud Nimrod and his misguided followers tried to build a city and the tower of Babel which would reach unto Heaven, in order to establish themselves and make themselves a name, the Lord confused them with different tongues. As a result, the tower was either destroyed, or else it simply fell into disrepair in His hot displeasure. The Scriptures don't make clear the actual fate of the tower. Consider these verses:

"He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar...And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."


When in obedience to God's command, Joshua and the children of Israel marched for seven days around the city, the heathen of Jericho probably thought that they were crazy. While they relied upon their walls of brick to keep them safe inside, the Lord made the walls of the city fall due to the faith and obedience of His children, as we see here:

"And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city."


When the pagan Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant from the children of Israel and placed it in their temple next to the statue of their false god Dagon, in His fury, twice the Lord made it fall over so that it split into several pieces. Again, consider these verses:

"And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day."


In the Book of Isaiah, when Lucifer became lifted up in his pride and tried to exalt himself to the very Throne of God, instead, he fell, or was cast down to the Earth, until the day that he is cast into the Lake of Fire, as we see by the following group of verses:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"


"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."


"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."


"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."


While the wicked, rebellious men of Earth continue to build their puny, corrupt governments and temporal kingdoms, just as King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his vision of the great idol in Daniel chapter two, we are told that the stone which is cut without hands -- that is, Jesus Christ -- strikes the idol of man in its toes, so that it comes crashing down when the Lord subdues the nations of the world, and sets up His own everlasting Kingdom:

"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth...And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."


"And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."


In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, when the Lord cleansed the possessed man of his legion of demons, we are told that a nearby herd of swine was filled with those same demons, and that they then violently ran down a steep place into the sea where they drowned, as we see by these verses:

"And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea."


Over and over again we see that this act of spiritually or physically falling down, or being cast down, is a negative event which is brought about by the sin of rebellion, which results in the judgments of God in some way. It was never a positive experience.

Despite this Biblical truth, today we have people in certain churches who claim to get so "drunk in the spirit", that they actually become giddy and fall over as if they had actually drank too much wine. I have read some of these testimonies for myself. If there is one thing of which I am certain, it is that absolutely nowhere in the Bible do we find the Lord's servants being filled with the Spirit, and then acting in this manner. In fact, it was the false, unbelieving Jews who launched this accusation of being drunk against the Apostles in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, as we see by these verses:

"Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day."


As I point out in other articles, what really happened there is that once the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were suddenly given the gift to speak in a number of foreign tongues, so that the large crowd who surrounded them could receive the message of the Gospel. The hard-hearted, unbelieving Jews who mocked them apparently didn't understand said languages, so they assumed that the Apostles were drunk, and that they were just speaking gibberish, which was not true in the least.

Nowhere in the Book of Acts, or anywhere else in the New Testament for that matter, have I ever found people falling all over each other "drunk on the spirit", rolling on the floor, barking like dogs or making noises like other animals, stomping their feet, foaming at the mouth, staring in some kind of a hypnotic trance, shouting "Jeez-us, Jeez-us, Jeez-us!" at the top of their lungs, being knocked or pushed to the floor by some invisible force, laughing hysterically totally out of control, shaking and trembling and convulsing, or asking "Do you feel the spirit brother, do you feel the spirit?". It just isn't there. At least not in my Bible. As I pointed out at the beginning of this series, the only people who manifested odd behavior of any kind in the New Testament, were those who were either possessed by demons, or else those who dabbled in the occult forces, such as the two sorcerers Simon and Elymas. Consider the following verses:

"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries."


"But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand."


The behavior of the Spirit-filled Christian, as described by the early Disciples, is extremely different from what we see happening in some modern-day churches. As I have explained before, we are supposed to control our minds, our thoughts, our spirits and our actions. This advice is Scripturally sound doctrine. When the people in some of these churches behave themselves as I previously described, they are doing so in direct contradiction to the very Word of God. Consider the following example verses:

"He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."


"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."


"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"


"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you."


"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;"


I think it is important to point out that in the previous set of verses, the word "sober" is not just speaking of sobriety as in the case of limiting our intake of alcohol. It is also talking about mental and spiritual sobriety as well. In other words, similar to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, it is talking about self-control. It is derived from the Greek word "nepho" -- which means to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit -- and from "sophron" -- which means to be of a sound mind, sane, in one's senses, curbing one's desires and impulses, self-controlled and temperate.

Quite frankly, I honestly do not understand how some of those people can claim to be in control of their minds, bodies and spirits, when they are falling down, shaking and trembling, being knocked unconscious, pushed to the floor, jerking like zombies, and doing all of those other grotesque things while being "slain in the spirit", or "falling in the spirit". It makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are supposed to glorify God in both our bodies and in our spirits, as we see by these verses:

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."


As I said earlier, how is being "slain in the spirit", or "falling in the spirit" glorifying the Lord? With all of the loud music, singing, screaming, yelling, stomping, laughing, foaming, fainting, tongues, prophesying, and falling over going on, how is the Lord supposed to even get through all of that racket and confusion? He can't! And that is exactly what it is; nothing but total chaos and confusion! Of course, you already know what the Bible says about that:

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."


Now, some of these people claim that in their particular church, it isn't quite like that; and I don't doubt that it is true. As we are told in the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. There is a time for studying the Word of the Lord in quietness. There is a time for singing and praising the Lord. There is a time for exercising the Gifts of the Spirit such as Tongues and Prophesying. There is a time for everything; and undoubtedly, some of these churches do it well.

Despite this, based upon everything I have discovered in the Scriptures thus far, and seen in a number of videos, and shared with you in this series, I am not convinced of the Divine Nature of being "slain in the spirit", or "falling in the spirit". Please notice that I purposely do not capitalize the word "spirit", because I am by no means persuaded that it is truly God's Spirit which is behind all of that bizarre behavior. Do you honestly want to know how God's true Spirit normally operates with His children? Consider the following group of verses:

"And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"


I can personally testify that when the Lord chooses to speak to me, that is exactly what it is like. It is a still, small, almost-imperceptible voice which speaks His Word to my heart. It is something very deep within me. While I use the word "heart", please understand that I am speaking metaphorically here. It is just something that I sense deep within. It isn't an audible voice, and there is no overpowering onslaught of physical emotions. I don't become overwhelmed or overcome by some invisible force so that I am in some kind of a stupefied daze, like the people I see in some of those videos.

One interesting thought which has occurred to me, is that perhaps one reason why some of these people need all of these physical signs and manifestations, is because they really don't have true faith. At the very least, perhaps their faith has been greatly diminished for some reason. Thus, they need something to boost their faith. I discuss this same topic in articles such as "Faith and the Shroud of Turin". Now, if my statement strikes a raw nerve with you, then perhaps you are the one who needs to hear this the most. I am reminded of something that Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke:

". . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"


While these people claim that these strange things happen as a result of their faith, could it be that some of them occur because of a lack of the same? Might it be possible that the Christian world today has so little genuine faith left, that they have a need for all of these emotional props, feelings in the flesh, and other weird manifestations in order to convince themselves that they still do have faith, and that God has not abandoned them? As alarming as this statement may be to some of you, could there be some truth to it? In fact, I have read some stories where certain dishonest preachers, pastors or ministers will stage or fake things -- including healing people -- to either draw in the crowds, or to try to boost the faith of their congregation.

It is a Biblical fact that even though the Lord had abandoned ancient Israel on numerous occasions due to their sins, the Israelites were in denial of this very fact. As I explain in articles such as "Oh Israel, Why Will Ye Die?", when the true Prophets of God tried to expose the sins of their brethren in order to encourage them to repent, both the political and the religious leadership of Israel mistreated them, and accused them of being liars and false prophets; and they eventually paid for their grave error. Consider what happens when the ungodly persecute God's true children:

"And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand."


As I point out in articles such as "Civil Disobedience and Christian Persecution", this is why we find verses like the following in the Bible:

"Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."


"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye."


As troubling as this thought may be for some of you, is it possible that the United States of America is currently in the very same position as the Israelites of old? In other words, is it refusing to acknowledge its own sins, even though they reach unto Heaven like a foul stench? From all of the material which I have seen and read over the years, it appears that the Christian community in America is divided into two major camps.

On the one hand, we have Christians who honestly acknowledge the many sins of America. These people easily recognize the violence, oppression, and ungodly nature of a corrupt, cruel government which forces its will, not only on its own people by the quiet, subtle enactment of restrictive laws, but also upon other countries of the world through the imposition of economic sanctions and other harsh measures, through the overpowering of weaker nations by sheer military might and intimidation, etc. While seemingly justifiable reasons have always been given for these actions -- which many Americans have blindly accepted -- the truth of the matter is that these political, economic and military forces only wish to maintain the United States of America as the dominant power in the world. It is all about American hegemony.

This first group has likewise sadly watched as God has been removed the public school system, from the public square, from government offices, etc. At the same time, the teaching of evolution has replaced Creationism; abortion is available on demand, including for some minors; same-sex "marriage" is legal nationwide; gender identity issues confuse our young; abuse of hard drugs and over-the-counter drugs is at an all time high; and so many other things destroy our nation from within. Thus, this first group of Christians senses that the judgments of the Lord may soon fall upon a nation which has clearly turned its back on God and His Word.

On the other hand, there are misguided Christians who claim the exact opposite. This second group is so oblivious to the true state of the nation that they continue to wave their red, white and blue flags. They sing "God Bless America" and the "Star-Spangled Banner", and they promote the belief that so-called Christian America is now headed for even greater heights, particularly under the current president. Some of these people are convinced that there is a great spiritual revival sweeping across the land. They assert that God has begun to raise up -- or else will soon be raising up -- great Apostles and Prophets as in ages past.

From what I have read, some of these people envision a second day of Pentecost, in which a great outpouring of God's Spirit will occur, based on an ancient prophecy that is found in the second chapter of the Book of Joel. I discuss this topic in the article "Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?", and I will discuss it in more detail later on in this series. These erroneous beliefs are tied in directly to another widespread belief concerning a final great American Prophet known as Elijah. As I point out in my series "Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?", based upon my personal understanding of the Scriptures -- such as the verses which are found in the Book of Malachi where this belief originates -- I believe that this is a totally false doctrine resulting from a gross misinterpretation of the Scriptures.

Obviously, both of these groups cannot be correct. One of them must be speaking the truth, while the other speaks and prophesies a lie.

Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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