When a pastor (or any Christian, for that matter) claims a
revelation, vision or word from God, it is hard to argue with him because he
thinks he has received divine direction. The Bible tells us we can “test the
spirits,” but how do we do that?
The answer, of course, is that we test them against the
revealed Word of God, the Bible. If a “word from God” does not conform to
Scripture, it is a word from Satan, not God. The trouble with that comes when
interpretations of Scripture are so divergent.
Let’s consider some things.
First, a true word from God is always verbal, the very words of God.
It’s never an impulse or an impression; it’s never a feeling that needs
interpretation. Rather, a word from God must be a precise message.Second, a true word from God is testable as either true or false. If someone invokes the Holy Spirit as the source of his word from God, but what he says is false, God commands His people to reject both the “word from God” and the prophet (or preacher).
Third, a true word from God is infallible. Whatever God spoke through His pastor must error-free and utterly unaffected by human fallibility.
Fourth, because a true word from God is verbal, propositional, and inerrant, the only conclusion to draw is that it carries the full weight of divine authority. Since the end of the apostolic age and the completion of the canon, only Scripture can legitimately claim that level of authority.
Finally, a true word from God would result in Him being glorified, His church being edified and His gospel being propogated.
So is it remotely possible that the action recommended by that pastor and followed by the congregation that led to disaster was truly a word from God?
No. That is not possible.
The sad thing is many churches follow their leader wherever he takes them. They lack the Biblical knowledge to know whether he is leading the astray. They have never been trained in sound doctrine and true Bible study has been ignored so long that they do not know the difference.
As a consequence of that “followship,” some churches have been driven from a pattern of growth to a pattern of limp sheepishness.
God’s Word lays out all of the basic principles we need to know about the orderliness of God and how His business is to be conducted. It is too bad that so many churches don’t even know what those principles are, vilify the “organization” required to enact them and are too lazy to do so anyway.
After all, God is just supreme, sovereign, all powerful, everywhere at once and all knowing. No reason to be so serious about so-called “words from God.”
