1 00:00:10,915 --> 00:00:12,872 [This question] comes from Rod... 2 00:00:12,872 --> 00:00:17,461 Do Christians fall down involuntarily 3 00:00:17,461 --> 00:00:20,461 while worshiping God? 4 00:00:20,461 --> 00:00:23,312 I've been worshiping God with the praise of my lips, 5 00:00:23,312 --> 00:00:26,312 and had all the strength removed from my legs 6 00:00:26,312 --> 00:00:29,421 which has made me fall to the ground or into the chair behind me. 7 00:00:29,421 --> 00:00:31,219 Is this a Biblical experience 8 00:00:31,219 --> 00:00:33,519 or am I being seduced by another spirit? 9 00:00:33,519 --> 00:00:36,319 I'm not one who wants to place my faith in experience, 10 00:00:36,319 --> 00:00:37,388 but the Word of God 11 00:00:37,388 --> 00:00:39,832 knowing that the heart is deceitfully wicked. 12 00:00:39,832 --> 00:00:42,145 Now here's the thing, listen: 13 00:00:42,145 --> 00:00:44,268 True Christians have experiences - 14 00:00:44,268 --> 00:00:45,918 no question about it. 15 00:00:45,918 --> 00:00:48,166 Being saved is an experience! 16 00:00:48,166 --> 00:00:50,043 I've never known a person truly saved 17 00:00:50,043 --> 00:00:53,043 that their salvation wasn't an experience. 18 00:00:53,043 --> 00:00:56,860 True Christians have experiences. That happens. 19 00:00:56,860 --> 00:01:01,225 But you know what? Lots of not-true-Christians have experiences. 20 00:01:01,225 --> 00:01:02,930 There is the Holy Spirit. 21 00:01:02,930 --> 00:01:07,990 The Holy Spirit, if He bears witness with our spirit 22 00:01:07,990 --> 00:01:10,800 that we are children of God? That's an experience. 23 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,452 If the love of God is poured 24 00:01:12,452 --> 00:01:15,062 into my heart by the Spirit, that's an experience. 25 00:01:15,062 --> 00:01:17,764 If men's hearts are regenerated by the Spirit, 26 00:01:17,764 --> 00:01:20,365 you better believe experiential things happen. 27 00:01:20,365 --> 00:01:22,091 If I become a new man, 28 00:01:22,091 --> 00:01:23,548 old things pass away; 29 00:01:23,548 --> 00:01:24,775 all things become new. 30 00:01:24,775 --> 00:01:26,505 Folks, that's an experience. 31 00:01:26,505 --> 00:01:28,515 You become filled with the Spirit. 32 00:01:28,515 --> 00:01:31,695 Acts repeatedly speaks about that. That's an experience. 33 00:01:31,695 --> 00:01:34,861 But, demons also do experiences. 34 00:01:34,861 --> 00:01:38,501 There are unbelievers that have demonic experiences. 35 00:01:38,501 --> 00:01:41,131 And they think it's of God. Ok? 36 00:01:41,131 --> 00:01:46,451 Here's the thing. How can we tell the difference? 37 00:01:46,451 --> 00:01:49,589 Well, the Scripture talks about testing the spirits. 38 00:01:49,589 --> 00:01:54,449 How do we test the spirits? 39 00:01:54,449 --> 00:01:57,312 By the Word of God. That's absolutely right. 40 00:01:57,312 --> 00:01:59,083 And when we go to the Word of God, 41 00:01:59,083 --> 00:02:01,863 the Word of God teaches us things about the Spirit of God. 42 00:02:01,863 --> 00:02:04,004 And where the Spirit of God is, 43 00:02:04,004 --> 00:02:07,224 the Spirit of God works based on the truth 44 00:02:07,224 --> 00:02:10,201 that is revealed about that Holy Spirit 45 00:02:10,201 --> 00:02:12,189 in the Word of God. 46 00:02:12,189 --> 00:02:17,266 And so, there are certain things we can look at. 47 00:02:17,267 --> 00:02:21,217 I would just say this: Sarah Edwards, 48 00:02:21,217 --> 00:02:23,487 Jonathan Edwards' wife, listen, 49 00:02:23,487 --> 00:02:25,487 she had an experience that went like this: 50 00:02:25,487 --> 00:02:27,025 She says, "At one time, 51 00:02:27,025 --> 00:02:29,505 my strength was immediately taken away, 52 00:02:29,505 --> 00:02:31,505 and I sunk down on the spot." 53 00:02:31,505 --> 00:02:34,673 Sound familiar? Just like this guy's situation? 54 00:02:34,673 --> 00:02:37,633 "Those who were near raised me, placed me in a chair." 55 00:02:37,633 --> 00:02:39,272 Sounds very familiar - this guy, 56 00:02:39,272 --> 00:02:42,072 all of a sudden his strength's gone, he falls in a chair. 57 00:02:42,072 --> 00:02:43,906 All of a sudden her strength is gone. 58 00:02:43,906 --> 00:02:46,366 She didn't fall in a chair, she went to the ground 59 00:02:46,366 --> 00:02:48,216 and other people put her in the chair. 60 00:02:48,216 --> 00:02:50,279 There was another time, she says she was, 61 00:02:50,279 --> 00:02:53,929 "moved so exceedingly, she was drawn so strongly heavenward, 62 00:02:53,929 --> 00:02:56,594 that it seemed as if her body 63 00:02:56,594 --> 00:02:59,504 were feeling as if it were being pulled upwards." 64 00:02:59,504 --> 00:03:03,082 She said, "I felt as if I must necessarily ascend thither. 65 00:03:03,082 --> 00:03:04,852 At length my strength failed me, 66 00:03:04,852 --> 00:03:07,449 I sunk down, and they took me up 67 00:03:07,449 --> 00:03:10,299 and laid me on the bed." 68 00:03:10,299 --> 00:03:13,254 Well, guess what? I've seen pictures of Benny Hinn 69 00:03:13,254 --> 00:03:15,734 waving his hands and people fell to the ground. 70 00:03:15,734 --> 00:03:17,676 Ok, Sarah Edwards falls to the ground. 71 00:03:17,676 --> 00:03:20,276 Benny Hinn's got people, they fall to the ground. 72 00:03:20,276 --> 00:03:24,353 So which category does this guy fall into? 73 00:03:24,353 --> 00:03:26,224 Well, let me tell you something. 74 00:03:26,224 --> 00:03:27,634 Let me tell you something 75 00:03:27,634 --> 00:03:31,554 about what Sarah Edwards said in the midst of all this. 76 00:03:31,554 --> 00:03:34,837 She said, "the presence of God was so near 77 00:03:34,837 --> 00:03:36,287 and so real that I seemed 78 00:03:36,287 --> 00:03:38,287 scarcely conscious of anything else." 79 00:03:38,287 --> 00:03:40,470 Now listen to what she says, 80 00:03:40,470 --> 00:03:43,410 "God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 81 00:03:43,410 --> 00:03:46,410 seemed as distinct persons, 82 00:03:46,410 --> 00:03:50,745 both manifesting Their inconceivable loveliness 83 00:03:50,745 --> 00:03:52,895 and mildness and gentleness 84 00:03:52,895 --> 00:03:55,904 and Their great and immutable love to me. 85 00:03:55,904 --> 00:03:58,064 I seemed to be taken under the care 86 00:03:58,064 --> 00:04:01,533 and charge of my God and Savior, 87 00:04:01,533 --> 00:04:05,133 in an inexpressibly endearing manner, 88 00:04:05,133 --> 00:04:10,261 and Christ appeared to me as a mighty Savior." 89 00:04:10,261 --> 00:04:12,890 Can I tell you one thing about the Holy Spirit? 90 00:04:12,890 --> 00:04:15,611 You know what Jesus Christ said about Him? 91 00:04:15,611 --> 00:04:18,151 In John 16:14, speaking of the Comforter 92 00:04:18,151 --> 00:04:19,751 or the Spirit of Truth, 93 00:04:19,751 --> 00:04:24,308 "He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine 94 00:04:24,308 --> 00:04:26,408 and declare it to you." 95 00:04:26,408 --> 00:04:30,933 Can I tell you what? Where the true Holy Spirit is operating, 96 00:04:30,933 --> 00:04:35,433 is it any marvel that the Father and the Son 97 00:04:35,433 --> 00:04:40,693 were made much of, but where another spirit is, 98 00:04:40,693 --> 00:04:46,416 the "Spirit" is typically made much of. Watch that. 99 00:04:46,416 --> 00:04:51,826 In the Pentecostal circles, the "Spirit" is made much of. 100 00:04:51,826 --> 00:04:54,482 In these health, wealth, prosperity circles, 101 00:04:54,482 --> 00:04:57,272 the "Spirit" is made much of, 102 00:04:57,272 --> 00:04:59,512 but where the Spirit is truly operating, 103 00:04:59,512 --> 00:05:01,296 He doesn't make much of Himself, 104 00:05:01,296 --> 00:05:03,652 He makes much of the Father and the Son, 105 00:05:03,652 --> 00:05:06,422 and especially the Son. 106 00:05:06,422 --> 00:05:12,441 You watch: whatever experiences people are experiencing, 107 00:05:12,441 --> 00:05:17,331 is Christ being magnified? 108 00:05:17,331 --> 00:05:22,206 Is He the focus? Is He central? 109 00:05:22,206 --> 00:05:27,808 I'll tell you this: You've got people falling down where Benny Hinn is? 110 00:05:27,808 --> 00:05:29,914 He prophesied that God would destroy 111 00:05:29,914 --> 00:05:34,434 the homosexual community of America by fire in the mid '90's. 112 00:05:34,434 --> 00:05:37,446 In about 1994 or 1995, no later than that, 113 00:05:37,446 --> 00:05:39,416 he also foretold that Fidel Castro 114 00:05:39,416 --> 00:05:41,416 would die during the '90's, 115 00:05:41,416 --> 00:05:43,590 that the world would end by 1999. 116 00:05:43,590 --> 00:05:49,040 Hinn has taught that the biblical Adam flew, had wings, 117 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,105 that he even flew to the moon. 118 00:05:51,105 --> 00:05:52,895 He's said that the Christian Trinity 119 00:05:52,895 --> 00:05:55,505 is actually God in nine persons, not three, 120 00:05:55,505 --> 00:05:59,703 because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost 121 00:05:59,703 --> 00:06:02,703 are each comprised of trinities. 122 00:06:02,703 --> 00:06:04,938 You know, Hinn said in one broadcast, 123 00:06:04,938 --> 00:06:07,108 "I've looked for one verse in the Bible, 124 00:06:07,108 --> 00:06:08,998 but I just can't seem to find it... 125 00:06:08,998 --> 00:06:11,852 one verse that says 'if you don't like them, kill them.' 126 00:06:11,852 --> 00:06:13,452 I really wish I could find it. 127 00:06:13,452 --> 00:06:15,530 Sometimes I wish God would give me 128 00:06:15,530 --> 00:06:19,430 a Holy Ghost machine gun and I'd blow their heads off." 129 00:06:19,430 --> 00:06:22,585 You know what Sarah Edwards said? 130 00:06:22,585 --> 00:06:26,895 "My soul was so filled with love to Christ, 131 00:06:26,895 --> 00:06:29,065 and love to His people, 132 00:06:29,065 --> 00:06:32,755 that I fainted under the intenseness of the feeling." 133 00:06:32,755 --> 00:06:35,721 You know what one of chief marks 134 00:06:35,721 --> 00:06:39,141 of true Christianity is? It's love. 135 00:06:39,141 --> 00:06:43,072 And where the Spirit of the living Christ is, 136 00:06:43,072 --> 00:06:46,072 there's love for God's people. 137 00:06:46,072 --> 00:06:48,713 Hinn wants to blow their heads off. 138 00:06:48,713 --> 00:06:53,843 Sarah Edwards is so taken up with a love for God's people. 139 00:06:53,843 --> 00:06:56,247 Listen: test the spirits. 140 00:06:56,247 --> 00:06:59,247 You know them by their fruits. 141 00:06:59,247 --> 00:07:03,066 Pauline's right, go to the Word of God 142 00:07:03,066 --> 00:07:06,066 and see the marks of the Spirit. 143 00:07:06,066 --> 00:07:07,277 Go to the book of Acts. 144 00:07:07,277 --> 00:07:09,747 Look where the Spirit was operating, 145 00:07:09,747 --> 00:07:14,307 where places trembled, 146 00:07:14,307 --> 00:07:16,826 where there were fillings of the Spirit, 147 00:07:16,826 --> 00:07:19,316 where there were supernatural occurrences, 148 00:07:19,316 --> 00:07:20,807 where there were experiences, 149 00:07:20,807 --> 00:07:23,537 and look in the midst of all of it, 150 00:07:23,537 --> 00:07:27,308 and look at the flavor, look at the aroma, 151 00:07:27,308 --> 00:07:30,308 look at the fruits of those things. 152 00:07:30,308 --> 00:07:32,225 Weigh things out by the Word of God. 153 00:07:32,225 --> 00:07:35,959 Hinn gives himself away as a false prophet. 154 00:07:35,959 --> 00:07:39,180 Sarah Edwards gives herself away. 155 00:07:39,180 --> 00:07:41,122 She's so entranced by Christ 156 00:07:41,122 --> 00:07:44,433 and by a love for the people of Christ.