Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 12:11:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Benny Hinn "spout"

This entire movement is rifled with people who say one thing and do another. Remember John Wimber declaring publically that Paul Cain was NOT a manifested sons of God theologian? Remember John Wimber saying he didn't completely agree with Toronto (even tho he had prayed for the renewal, laid hands on all involved, and basically had discipled personally all the Toronto players?) now Benny denies the TB experience while out of the same mouth rabidly endorsing the same - this "spout" was just my way of dealing with his duplicity.

(Name withhled)
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Cannot resist answering your email about the many faces of Benny Hinn.

(HIS QUOTES ARE IN CAPITALS, my comments are in small lettering.)

While seeming to denounce the current "move of the Holy Spirit", Hinn manages to advocate and teach it. ....

Hinn says,

"QUIT SEEKING REVIVAL AND SEEK THE LORD WHO WILL REVIVE YOU...."

In saying not to seek "revival", Hinn does well. For in fact, the word "revival" is not found once in the entire bible! The future tense of the word, "revive" is used in the old testament only, in both the personal and national sense. The past tense "revived" is used six times in the bible. Four times in the old testament and twice in the new. On the surface Hinn's statement may seem innocent. But if you carefully examine what he is really saying, there are truths of the Word of God that are being systematically denied through linguistic subtlety. Concerning being revived, the word is clear:

"... For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living...." Rom. 14:9.

Interestingly, Hinn says,

"YOU SEE, WE ARE NOT SEEKING A MOVE, NOT AN EXPERIENCE. WE ARE SEEKING JESUS, AND WHEN YOU SEEK JESUS, HE'LL BREATHE THAT MIGHTY POWER OF THE SPIRIT."

Apparently, Hinn is not a Christian, he says he is "seeking" Jesus. This is no testimony of knowing Jesus. He who believes on the Son has life, he who does not have the Son abides in darkness. ....instead of arguing "sound" doctrine with him, we need to share the gospel with him. If he doesn't know Jesus whom God sent, and He isn't abiding with him still, (which is the testimony of the saints), then he actually needs to know the Lord...be born again.

"...except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." John 3:5

Hinn denies the very words of Christ:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebr. 13:5

Instead of entering into His presence with thansgiving, and coming boldly to the throne of grace, through the blood of Christ, Hinn rather seeks an unbiblical earthly experience. He writes,

"WE WANT A GENUINE EXPERIENCE IN THE SPIRIT, AND IT ONLY HAPPENS WHEN JESUS IS PRESENT."

Just what exactly does he consider a "genuine" experience? And just exactly what does he mean "When Jesus is present"? When he "feels" Him? Or when the majority votes? Can you see it? He is denying by this statement that he has experienced the gift of life and reveals that he does not have knowledge of the eternal abiding Spirit of God. Elsewise the Spirit would be in him through regeneration, and he would not be expecting Jesus's presence in any way except that which the scripture specifically teaches:

"...Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:23-27

Only then will Jesus be "present"...

Not only does Hinn expect, and teach others to expect an unbiblical appearance of Jesus, but he goes further, saying:

"GOD WANTS TO BRING A MIGHTY INVASION OF POWER".

Really? Where is that in scripture? "A mighty invasion of power..."? Just exactly how does he expect to see that "power" revealed? He gets "deeper",

"WE'RE ALL HUNGRY FOR THE RIVER, BUT WE MUST HAVE CONTROL, GOTTA HAVE SOME BANKS..."

What "river" is he referring to? Why is he hungry for it? And if he is referring to the Holy Spirit of God, just how does he expect to control it?...(the banks he's "gotta have" no doubt hold all the money his extrabiblical experiences yeild...)

Concerning thirst and hunger, the scripture says,

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6:35

"... He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:38-39

The frank truth is that we enter into relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit through faith. In the two verses above the conditional phrase is "he that believeth..." Not "he who experiences..."

The characteristic hope of the apostate church is future "revival". Rather than glorifying the risen Christ, the "revivalists" have historically, and continue to currently denegrate the finished work of Christ and have laid upon His church a burden to "pray for", "work for", "wait for", and "call upon Him for", a "revival" which does not exist! Instead of encouraging one another with the hope of His soon return, they are looking for a "second pentecost" or "latter rain" of the Spirit.Their ingratitude for what He has already done, and the sheer ignorance of the full work of salvation which was accomplished through the shed blood of Christ reveals the shallow esteem in which they hold Him.

"...Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 2Tim. 3:5-8

When the resurrected Christ commanded the apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high, they did exactly as He said, and when the day of pentecost was FULLY come, the Spirit of God came to us ("I will be with you..."), the promise of the Father was complete. He was not poured out incrementally as the "revivalists" teach. First in one place, again in another. A "visitation" today, another tomorrow, first this city and then that city... perhaps Buffalo New York or Denver...not partly, but fully, completely, substantially, and eternally He will abide to the end of the age, just exactly as Jesus promised He would.

"I will not leave you, nor forsake you, Lo I am with you alway, even to the end of the age..." He is the omniscient Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Godhead. He is not "invoked", nor does He need to be "released", nor does He require any further work of man to accomplish His coming as the heirarcheal "fathers" of this most recent "revival" advocate. He does not need to be "prayed down", nor does He need to "remember" His people....He has come, He is here, He abides still. It is we who are in need of repentence. It is we who do not believe He is here. It is our unbelief that disavows Him. We deny His presence when we seek to "invoke" it.

If Hinn is saved, he has forgotten the rudiments of the faith. He has forsaken the plain truth of the gospel. He continues,

"I DON'T NEED TO DIVE OFF TO BE FREE. I JUST NEED TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD AND I'LL BE FREE."

My bible says:

"...If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36

"...But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:22-23

If Hinn would teach the freedom that is in Christ He would lose his power over his followers. He has insinuated an "unfinished work", and teaches a need for being "revived" by an experience that only he and the devil can deliver....an unbiblical experience of the "presence" and "power" of God. It is not too late for Hinn and others like him to return to the Lord and to the clear testimony of His Word. Rather than seeking unbiblical staged "visitations" of Christ, he can return to contending for the faith delivered "once, for all". The word characterizes the walk of faith by the life of Abraham, saying,

"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Romans 4:20-25

If Benny Hinn is telling the truth when he says:

"ALL I WANT IS THE POWER OF ALMIGHTY GOD THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE."

Then he must embrace the truth of the word of God that teaches,

"...And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Rom. 12:2-3

It all comes back to our faith in the finished work of Christ, and to our dependence upon His works to bridge the gap between what God might rightly require of us, and what in fact, we are able to do...that is the expectation of holiness as the requirement, and our utter sinfulness as the best we can do! If Hinn is depending upon the Old Testament promises to the nation of Israel as the basis for what he believes for the church, he must necessarily render grace of no value, and return to the law. The nation of Israel is not the church. The church is not the nation of Israel. To mix scripture between the two ends in disaster, It nullifies the work of Christ on the cross in our behalf, and denies the admittance of the gentiles through faith into the kingdom of God. As Christians we must demand of our teachers a clear understanding of the difference between the body of Christ and the nation of Israel. We must demand that they be wise and discerning and gifted as teachers of His word. We must not accept the complacent and abberant attitude of allowance of error by "taking the meat and spitting out the bones" that so many teach.

The word of God is clear:

"...But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17

If our pastors are in error, we must demand that they just get in the pulpit and read from the Bible to us...and not insert their fables, tales, opinions, and false interpretations into our Christian experience...we must not be partakers of their darkness and evil deeds...if they are teaching error from the pulpit, in the name of Christ, they must repent and return to the Lord. Our contemporary leaders need to go back to the word, and leave off their visions, prophecies, and experiences by which they are leading multitudes into apostacy. If we will allow them to insert the Old Testament burden of the nation of Israel into our faith, our hearts will be veiled to Jesus!

The scripture says,

"..But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away..." 2Cor. 3:7-16

The law focuses attention on the outward appearance of the flesh, measures it's success by acts of "godliness", and marks our position before God by sacrificial works. The gospel focuses our eyes on Jesus, measures His success at the cross, and marks our position before God by His declared word, "It is finished!".

"When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. ..." 2Ths. 1:10

If our lives are unpleasant, if our strength is tested, and our faith sorely tried, then would we call upon another spirit who will give us what we want?...Where is the trust and exhortation that "all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose"? If you have found the Lord, if you know Him, and He has come to you in salvation, redemption, regeneration, and deliverance, then what will you seek? If you have been sanctified through His blood, justified through faith, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the Day of the Lord...if He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him unto that day, and He will finish the good work He has begun in you, then what would you seek? If He has gone to prepare a place for you, and is coming back soon to get you so that where He is you may be also, then what do you seek? If a river of water is not flowing from your innermost being, then do you not know the Lord who promised it would? Will you make God a liar? Or will you admit freely that He has done, and continues to do exactly what He said...despite what you see, feel, think, experience or want?

"...For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. Rom. 3:3-4

Thanks for letting me "spout"
(Name withheld)
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