A New Wave of the Spirit?(Continued) |
Weeping |
Dr. Evans writes on page 3 of his booklet:
Weeping * In the Old Testament, the people wept at God’s Word
(Nehemiah 8:9).
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Do NOT |
Nehemiah — “Do not mourn or weep“” They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. Then Nehemiah the Governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.“” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law (Nehemiah 8:8-9).
Lessons from Nehemiah 2. These people were under the Law of Moses, not under the dispensation of “grace and truth” given through Jesus Christ. 3. They had just had that Law, with its many terrifying threats, read aloud and explained to them. Read through Deuteronomy 28:15-68 to obtain some idea of the horror the Law holds for those who are unable to keep it - curses, confusion, ruin, disease, defeat, affliction, madness, blindness, confusion of mind, scorn, ridicule, famine, hunger, thirst, nakedness, dire poverty, siege, cannibalism, every kind of sickness, and ultimately, a return to exile. No wonder the people wept! 4. But this was a day of renewal. The people were reconsecrating themselves to God and, as joy was the appropriate emotion on such a day, their leaders rebuked them for weeping. 5. Rodney Howard-Browne teaches that ‘revival’ has nothing to do with non-Christians; it is simply the Christians (who have once been ‘vived’) now being re-vived. If this were true (and it is not), he would ban weeping at his ‘revival’ meetings - just as Nehemiah did. 6. It is obvious that Dr. Andrew Evans doesn’t have the remotest understanding of this passage of Scripture. |
The emotional |
Pentecost — “Repent and be baptised” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38).
Lessons from Pentecost
2. The true gospel informs the mind: 3. The false, emotional gospel is only concerned with creating an emotional atmosphere, giving an emotional (and usually long-winded) appeal for people to come out the front and be prayed for in order for them to experience an emotional ‘blessing’. Human emotions are highly changeable and the people who accept the emotional gospel often need to go out the front week after week to have that emotion restored. 4. Dr. Andrew Evans listed this passage of Scripture under the heading of “Weeping", even though there is absolutely no mention of anyone weeping. Paradise AOG has operated under the proclamation of the emotional gospel for so long that Dr. Andrew Evans doesn’t even remember the convicting work of the Holy Spirit — he now equates everything spiritual with an ‘emotional response’. 5. To sum up, Dr. Andrew Evans provides us with just two verses of Scripture to support his teaching that God wants people to weep at meetings when Rodney Howard-Browne is present. Of the two verses he quoted, one doesn’t even mention “weeping” and the other specifically says “do not mourn or weep”. The presentation of these two verses, supposedly in support of his ‘new gospel,’ must be one of the most cynical spiritual exercises ever perpetrated on a trusting congregation by Dr. Andrew Evans! |
Summary |
Summary After taking a close look at the two verses that Dr. Andrew Evans suggests will illustrate the “Weeping” manifestations that occur at Rodney Howard-Brown meetings, we find no connection at all between them and either the practices of Rodney Howard-Brown or the teachings of Dr. Andrew Evans. Worse than that, the verses mentioned further reveal the false teachings of Rodney Howard-Browne, and the deep ignorance of key areas of spiritual truth on the part of Dr. Andrew Evans. |
Laughing |
Dr. Andrew Evans writes on pages 3 and 4 of his booklet:
Laughing * In the Old Testament, the freed captives’ mouths were filled with
laughter (Psalm 26:1 [sic]; see also Ecclesiastes 3:4).
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Songs of joy |
Return from Babylon — “Songs of joy” When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” (Psalm 126:1-2).
Lessons from the Return from Babylon 2. While their mouths were filled with laughter, notice also that their tongues gave expression to “songs of joy”. These were coherent, intelligible expressions of the goodness of God. The result of which was that the non-Christians, observing them, could acknowledge that “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3. Rodney Howard-Browne meetings typically result in tongue-tied people, incapable of coherent speech, or of giving intelligible praise to God. The unbelievers look on and say: “You are out of your mind!” (1 Corinthians 14:23). 4. The Rodney Howard-Browne manifestations are opposed to the Scriptures. Dr. Andrew Evans’ teachings are sadly misplaced. |
You will have |
High Priestly prayer — “You will have trouble” “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Lessons from the High Priestly Prayer 2. Dr. Andrew Evans quotes selectively from this prayer to give the impression that Christians will experience an unbridled, unlimited joy in this world. His approach is typical of preachers of the emotional gospel. 3. Preachers of the true gospel will always take the full context into account and pass on the fact that Jesus prefaced His High Priestly Prayer (John 16:33) with the promise that in this world Christians would have “trouble” or “tribulation”. 4. The joy promised by Jesus was “my joy”. Jesus was anointed “with the oil of joy” (Hebrews 1:9), yet there is no suggestion in Scripture of Him spending His days laughing like a hyena, rolling around and slapping the floor uncontrollably, while incapable of coherent speech. |
Inward joy… |
Leap for joy — But not “soberly”? “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Luke 10:20-21).
Lessons from Leap for joy 2. The Greek for rejoice in “…do not rejoice…but rejoice…” is agalliao, Strong’s number 21. The Greek for joy in “…Jesus, full of joy…” is chairo, Strong’s number 5463. 3. According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, p.7, agalliao means be (exceeding) glad, with exceeding joy, rejoice (greatly); while chairo, p.77, means to be cheerful, calmly happy or well-off. 4. Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p.270, says that chairo is used of rejoicing while “suffering in the cause of the gospel, 2 Cor. 13:9 (1st part); Phil. 2:17 (1st part); Col. 1:24”; and that it is used of rejoicing “in persecutions, trials and afflictions, Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:23; 2 Cor. 6:10”; while p.271 says that agalliao is used of rejoicing “in persecutions, Matt. 5:12 (2nd part)”. 5. It is clear from the contexts in which both words are used that they can signify that “one should suffer with joy for faith’s sake and with the hope of imminent deliverance” (Bromiley, p.1300). Dr. Andrew Evans asks us to believe that “you can’t do that soberly!” I would suggest that anyone who has ever suffered for their faith will testify that, though they knew an inward joy, they displayed a thoroughly sober exterior at the time. |
Summary |
Summary After taking a close look at the verses that Dr. Andrew Evans suggests will illustrate the maniacal “Laughing” that occurs at Rodney Howard-Brown meetings, we find no connection between the two. There is no necessary connection between joy and laughter, and there is absolutely no connection between Rodney Howard-Browne manifestations and a life of godly joy. |
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Last update: 2 January 1997 |