| Rick Joyner |
I attended a Foursquare Charismatic Church many years ago.
One of the most popular authors in that church was Rick Joyner:
http://www.apostasynow.com/reviews/finalquest.html
I am convinced that the greatest fault of the "Crazymatics" and every other denomination is found:
fools and slow of heart.
They do not know the word, they do not rest on the Word, Christ Himself and His Finished Work.
Rick Joyner's Work "The Final Quest" suffers from the same flaw as many other works – the author makes Himself prominent at the expense of everyone else, even Jesus.
Jesus Christ must be the center, the one theme that unites everything else.
He articulated this without reserve to Cleopas and wife in Luke 24.
The whole Bible, the whole universe (Colossians 1: 18) is all about Him.
Any prophecy, and vision, any foretelling which does not measure up with Scripture, with Jesus as the Central theme of everything, will fail in all its ways.
Rick Joyner's one prophecy, the "Horde of Hell are Marching" did indicate a trend which has not changed quickly enough in the Body of Christ.
The vision of these hordes showed an army of believers against an army of people in the Church on whom were riding demons.
I would submit that many of the problems, the source of many conflicts and issues in the Body of Christ, stems from the one weapon that the Enemy and his minions are using against us:
The Law, the Ten Commandments, the ordinances which are against us!
I cannot stress this enough — the law is perfect and good, but cannot make us holy, perfect, and good:
"The sting of
death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)
"But thanks
be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15: 57)
This weapon was taken out of the hands of the Enemy when Jesus died on the Cross:
"And you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
"Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
"And having
spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing
over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)
"Spoiled" speaks of "disarmed", in that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us on the Cross (Matthew 5: 17). We are now called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16):
"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held;
that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter." (Romans 7: 6)
The "oldness of the letter" is established at least twice in the Book of Hebrews:
"For the law made
nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope didcovenant, he hath made the first old. Now that
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8: 13)
As long as Christians are still trying to live out the Christian life in their own efforts, they will be defeated and condemned. For this reason, Paul told the believers in Colossae to fix their eyes on Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, the perfect sacrifice for our sins, who justifies now and to this day before God the Father (Colossians 3: 1-4)
The one truth which one can glean from the many errors in Rick Joyner's prophecies argues that men and women in the Body of Christ are looking at themselves, looking at each other, looking at their obedience.
Let us take a look at 2 Corinthians 10:
"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to
the pulling down of strong holds;)
"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;
"And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10: 4-6)
The weapons are mighty through God, not ourselves, and they pull down every thought that rises up against a growing awareness of God the Father and all He has and does on our behalf. Moreover, everything is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, His Finished Work at the Cross.
If we want to find fulfilling fellowship in our churches, then, let us look no further than His righteousness:
"But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)