Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20020929.htm

CHRIST'S SCRIPTURE PROPHECY ON CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALISM
Part IV: Christ's All-Sufficiency Applied For Victory
B. Christ's Fitting Interruptive Address To Evangelical Charismatics
(Revelation 3:19)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Christ predicted our current Evangelical era of Church History and critiqued our errant actions and beliefs thereby, we should expect Him to offer His specific solutions to these needs.
    2. Rev. 3:19 continues Christ's words offering solutions for changing our errant beliefs in Evangelicalism.
  2. Christ's Fitting Interruptive Address To Evangelical Charismatics, Revelation 3:19.
    1. Christ abruptly breaks literary stride with His counsel in Rev. 3:18 to say in verse 19 -- and we translate directly from the Greek New Testament text -- "As many as (i.e., everyone) I myself (emphatic pronoun) emotionally love I reprove (of sin) and instructively punish! Therefore, be zealous and repent!"
    2. The abruptness of this literary stride break coupled with the text's word usage in the Greek New Testament text shows this message is pointedly directed to Charismatic Evangelicals as follows:
      1. Richard Quebedeaux's Ph. D. thesis (Oxford) published in 1976, The New Charismatics, p. 30 claims "Pentecostal theology has always been Arminian," and its worship is "marked by . . . spontaneity."
      2. Since we have shown in this lesson series Jesus addressed the Calvinist-Arminian debate (III, B, 2), and since the Charismatic Movement is Pentecostal, Christ's abrupt literary style break at Revelation 3:19 from that of Revelation 3:18 fits a spontaneous address to Charismatic Evangelicals.
      3. Also, Scripture's Greek word use picks up words beloved by Charismatics in their favorite passages:
        1. Rev. 3:19 alludes to Hebrews 12:5-6 that in turn cites Prov. 3:11-12 (LXX), but with substituting the word phileo (for "love") in place of agapao that occurs in these other passages. Well, phileo accents "natural affections . . . passion" more than does agapao, cf. R. C. Trench, Syn. of the N. T., p. 41-42, and fits the Charismatic emphasis on "subjectivism," Ibid., Quebedeaux, p. 31.
        2. Christ's call to "be zealous" is from the Greek word used elsewhere in the New Testament in the same good sense only in 1 Corinthians 12:31, 14:1 and 14:39 (cf. Abbott-Smith, A Man. Grk. Lex. of the N. T., p. 195; Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., p. 338), and Charismatics use these passages to claim we must be "zealous" to gain and not hinder the gaining of sign gifts today, Ibid., p. 13-18. Yet, the form of the verb in Rev. 3:19 is the newer, rare one -- dzayleuo versus the 1 Corinthians dzayloo form (Ibid., Abbott-Smith). This newer form reflects the Charismatic claim to enjoy the blessings of the Spirit via the alleged sign gifts in the latter days of Church History!
    3. As such, Christ calls Charismatic Arminians to REPENT of their errant theology and actions as follows:
      1. As we saw Christ critiquing errant Arminian theology with its errant resulting spirituality in Rev. 3:17 (Part III, B, 2 in this series & Part III, A-E of our series on "Examining Contested Reformed Theology Beliefs"), since the Charismatic Movement is a product of Arminian theology (II,B,1 above) Christ uses terms favored by Charismatics in a spontaneous context in Rev. 3:19 to critique Charismatics.
      2. We itemize Christ's critique of the Charismatic theology and practices as follows:
        1. Opposite "wealth-health" Charismatic gospels by leaders like Oral Roberts, Katherine Kuhlman et al. that godliness yields material, physical blessings (Ibid., Quebedeaux, p. 84-92), Jesus said those He emotionally loves He convicts and punishes to correct (versus such views), Rev. 3:19a!
        2. Hence, using favorite Charismatic terms, Jesus calls today's Charismatic Arminian to "be zealous" not to gain his false sign gifts, but to repent of errant subjective theology and its resulting practices!
        3. Also, Rev. 3:22 with 3:19 shows the Holy Spirit speaks today in the written words of Rev. 3:19! Well, as shown in these Rev. 3:17, 19 written words, the Spirit Himself counters Arminian-based, Charismatic, subjective beliefs and acts, so the claims by Jack Deere and Wayne Grudem et al. that they gain God's revelation apart from written Scripture, which revelation allegely promotes subjectivism are false! (Armstrong, gen. ed., The Coming Evangelical Crisis, p. 77-90)
Lesson: Jesus calls Charismatic-Arminian believers to be "zealous" to "repent" of their errant SUBJECTIVE-BASED beliefs and practices! May they with US turn to the Lord's truth!

Application: May CHARISMATIC believers with US repent of error and turn to the Lord's truth!