People have been directing me to a certain website of a Christian
movement in Nigeria, known as True Gospel Revival Movement (TGRM) Worldwide. Until now I
kept saying that I did not feel led to go and look at it. But recently I
did take a look and evaluated some of the things I read. Here are some
issues I discovered that are cause for serious concern:
World Domination
On
the TGRM website, it states: In the very words of Jesus Christ, He said,
“I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth set up ‘True Gospel Revival movement’ to
dominate the world.”
I don’t see that in the Bible where any group of believers is supposed
to dominate the world in this present age. This sounds more like “Dominion theology” or
“Kingdom Now” theology, which are false. The reign of Christ and the
saints on earth does not occur until after His visible return to earth
to set up His kingdom.
Dominionism aims to reform all
sectors of society, or bring about the renewal of all things, in order
to establish Christ’s kingdom on earth before He comes. However, Jesus
said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you,
at the renewal of all
things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.” (Mt 19:28). He taught that the renewal of all
things would occur “when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne.” He
also taught that He will sit on His glorious throne when He returns,
not before He returns: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.” (Mt 25:31).
So
it is presumptuous to attempt to renew all things in this world before He comes and sits on His glorious throne. (Also see
Sequence of Signs Preceding the Coming of Christ).
Salvation by Church Membership
The TGRM website states: “
Again Jesus Christ said that anybody who wants to see Him on the last day should join this movement
He has founded by Himself. Whatever religious or secular position held
by any person, if he or she does not join and assist ‘True Gospel
Revival Movement’ and pattern his/her life and religion according to all
the truth He is revealing through this movement,
that person is doomed.”
The
apostle Paul reproved the Corinthians for this kind of sectarianism
when he said, " What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;
another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another,
“I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were
you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor. 1:12-13). This prohibits
divisions in the Body. Yet TGRM is creating divisions by saying they are
the only true movement of God on the earth, excluding all others that
do not join them.
It literally says, “Jesus Christ said
that anybody who wants to see Him on the last day should join this
movement… if he or she does not join and assist ‘True Gospel Revival
Movement’…that person is doomed.” This means that we must join a
movement in order to be saved, and that goes against the Scripture. We
are saved by faith in Christ, not by Church membership, or being part of
a religion, or group. (Eph 2:8-9).
Working for the Lord vs. Working with Him
The
site also says: “I, Jesus Christ raised ‘True Gospel Revival Movement’
to work
with me. Others are working
for me. The danger in working
for me
is that they will end up in destruction.”
So this site
claims that if we work “for” the Lord we will end up in destruction.
But the Scripture says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as
for the
Lord rather than for men,” (Col 3:23). The Greek word is “tō” meaning
“to” the Lord. If it was “with” then the Greek word would be “pros”. The
better translation says, “as unto the Lord and not unto men”. “And
whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (Col
3:23, KJV). Elsewhere Paul said, “With good will render service, as to
the Lord, and not to men,” (Eph 6:7)
It also states on the TGRM site: “Jesus Christ said that all other people are working
for Him but only this movement is working
with
Him. Any other project or support or assistance governments and people
are giving in His name, outside this movement is on a wrong foundation.
He, Jesus Christ does not accept it. Therefore whatever project, support
or assistance given to this movement 'True Gospel Revival Movement’ is
directly to Him, Jesus Christ of Nazareth."
To
summarize, TGRM is saying: “only this movement is working
with Him” and “Any other project or support or assistance governments and people are
giving in His name, outside this movement is on a wrong foundation. He,
Jesus Christ does not accept it.”
Husbands are Little gods?
TGRM
also states that the Lord said, “When a woman is married, the first
father that she has to obey as a
little god other than her biological
father is her husband…A woman is free to call
her husband lord because he is a small god to her.” This prophecy does not even say a husband is "like" a small god, which would have been bad enough, but that he "is" a small god. However, there is no Scriptural basis for any man being a little god. See
Are We Really Little gods?
The Authority of the Only Begotten Son of God
TGRM states that the Lord said, “When I came before,
I spoke like a child who has no authority. I gave a message to the world before now, that
I am not the only son of my father. Adam was a son, Satan was a son.”
However,
this has two issues: 1) the Bible says that when Jesus came, “He was
teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” (Mat
7:29). Also see Mk 1:22 and Lk 4:32. And 2) the Scripture says that
Jesus was the only Son of God. "For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life.” (Joh 3:16).
All throughout the
New Testament, the Lord Jesus is referred to as “the Son of God” (Mat. 26:63; 27:40,43,54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 15:39; Luke 1:35; 3:38; 4:41; 22:70;
John 1:34,49; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4,27; 19:7; 20:31; Acts 8:37; 9:20; Rom.
1:4; 2Co. 1:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1Jn.
3:8; 4:15; 5:5,10,12,13,20; Rev. 2:18), as well as "His Son" in the singular form (Rom. 1:3,9; 5:10; 8:29; 1Co. 1:9; Gal. 1:16; 4:4,6; 1Th. 1:10; Heb. 1:2). He is not referred to in
Scripture as merely “a son of God” or “one of the sons of God,” but “THE
Son of God.” His disciples attested to it (Mat 14:33). It was His position as the
only Son of God that satan challenged when he tempted the Lord in the
wilderness (Mat. 4:3,6). But even the demons, whenever they saw Him,
cried out that He was the Son of God (Mk 3:11). And the reason the Jews
crucified Him was that He claimed to be the Son of God. “They all said,
‘Are You the Son of God, then?’ And He said to them, ‘Yes, I am.’” (Luk
22:70). This was such a significant claim that they considered it to be
blasphemy. By calling God His Father, He was making Himself equal to God
(Joh 5:18).
TGRM is teaching that satan was a son,
too. It says, “Satan was a son.” Why would Jesus say such a thing?
Granted, one might find Scriptural basis to say that satan was one of
the many “sons of God” in the sense that he was originally an angel, and
angels were direct creations of God, known as “sons of God” (Gen.
6:2,4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). But that does not put satan on the same
level as the only begotten Son of God, nor does it make him the brother
of Jesus as some cults teach. When TGRM says that Jesus is not the only
son of His Father, and that satan was also a son of His Father, it puts
Jesus and satan on the same level as brothers, which is false. Satan is a
created being. Jesus Christ is the Creator -- God, not a created being
(Col 1:16)! Also see
Is Jesus God?,
The Eternal Firstborn of All Creation,
Jesus is Yehova,
The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music and
The Rise and Fall of Lucifer the Musician.
Property Ownership
About ownership, TGRM states the Lord said:
“The idea of
ownership is from hell.
In heaven there is no claim of ownership. I and my father and the Holy
Spirit are one. I made this world in such a way that anywhere somebody
finds suitable he can build and live. I want to tell the world that this
world was created before man was created. My programme for man is to
replenish the earth and not to claim ownership of it. I have come to
tell those who claim ownership of land that, right as I am speaking now,
no man should own more than a flat. Every document of land
ownership is fake. These are things Satan is using to confuse the world.
Nobody in the world is qualified to own more than a flat. As I’m giving
this order the governments of the world should adopt it. If they
cannot, I will achieve it with True Gospel Revival Movement. That is why
I said,
this is the only movement I have raised to dominate the world…
Those who claim they own lands are working against me, for this reason,
I declare to the world that my plan for the whole earth is that any
where people find space they should build and live… Tell the world that
I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth said that even the car owner seat, people
sit on, is a seat of pride. So, tell my children who really want to obey
me that they should
avoid the car owner seat because it is the seat of
pride.”
On the one hand, the Lord did say in His Word,
“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his
own possessions.” (Luk 14:33). But is all ownership evil? This prophecy
says that “the idea of ownership is from hell,” which effectively means
all ownership is evil, except for owning a flat (apartment), which TGRM
says that believers are allowed to own.
It says, “my
children who really want to obey me that they should avoid the car owner
seat.” This means that it is disobedience to own a car.
It
also says, “Any where people find space they should build and live.” So
if a believer builds and lives in a place, does he not then own what he
built? Is it not a house, rather than a flat? Does this mean that he
can build on property that someone else claims to own? It seems to imply
this, because it says, “Every document of land ownership is fake.” So
if a TGRM member finds space and builds on it, and the owner of that
space (another private citizen, corporation, or government) claims
ownership of it, what will be the deciding factor to settle the dispute?
If the owner produces their ownership documents, perhaps the TGRM
member will claim that the documents are fake and he has right to live
there.
This means that in the Bible, when God told the
prophet Jeremiah to buy land, that was a sin (Jer 32:6-15). In that
same passage, the Lord commanded the use of property deeds to prove
ownership. Were those deeds fake or illegitimate? What about when Boaz
bought the field of Naomi (Ruth 4:1-10)? What about the field he already
owned before he bought that one (Ruth 2:3)?
In the
New Testament, the disciples all had their own homes. It says, “So the
disciples went away again to their own homes. “ (Joh 20:10). Peter and
Andrew owned a house, in which it appears that Peter’s mother-in-law
also lived, so it could not have been too small (Mk 1:29-30; Mt 8:14). Martha welcomed Jesus into her own home (Lk 10:38). Jesus ate at the house of Matthew (Mt 9:10), and He said to Zaccheus, "I must stay at your house today" (Lk 19:5). He was anointed at the home of Simon the Leper (Mt 26:6). In making arrangements to eat the Last Supper, He instructed His disciples to ask permission from the "owner" of a house to use a guest room (Lk 22:11). He sent out His disciples with instructions to stay in the home of a worthy person, whenever they entered a town or village (Mt 10:11). He referred to a prophet having his own home (Mt 13:57; Mk 6:4). John took Mary into His own home (Jn 19:27). Peter once
stayed at the home of another disciple named Simon the tanner, who
owned a house by the sea in Joppa (Acts 9:43; 10:6,32). Paul once stayed
at the house of a disciple named Judas on Straight Street in Damascus
(Ac 9:11). The saints gathered together and prayed at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Ac 12:12). Yet not a word of condemnation is spoken against any of these
disciples for owning homes.
If
ownership were evil, then stealing would not be a sin. Yet the Lord
commands us not to steal (Eph. 4:28). This means that there is such a
thing as people owning property.
TGRM says in this prophecy that “Nobody in
the world is qualified to own more than a flat. As I’m giving this order
the governments of the world should adopt it. If they cannot, I will
achieve it with True Gospel Revival Movement.” This means TGRM is
claiming divine authority to defy the governments with regard to
property ownership. However, this seems to contradict the Scripture that
says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing
authorities.” (Rom 13:1ff)
One
last thing I would like to say about ownership is this. If a married
man and his wife have a large family together, a flat (apartment) may
not be big enough for them to live in. If so, then what are they to do?
Since TGRM says they are not qualified to own anything more than a flat,
does that mean their only recourse is to squeeze into a flat that is
too small for them? Or if they must move into a home, does it mean that
they are only allowed to rent a home, even though it may be more
expensive than for them to own one?
Financial Support of TGRM
It is interesting
to note that the matter of ownership presented in this last TGRM prophecy is
directly connected with financial support of their ministry. The obvious
implication is that to be a member in this movement, you must sell
everything you have and
bring the money to them.
About financial support of TGRM, TGRM states
the Lord said: “Tell the world that I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth said,
since I announced to people to
bring their resources into True Gospel Revival Movement
and use it to achieve my project, they are finding it difficult because
Satan has filled them with the idea of ownership. But I want to tell
them that if they keep it to themselves because of their plans to build,
own lands, train their children and so on, I will come and do it myself
but
they will end up in hell fire. Thus, said Jesus Christ of
Nazareth. So I am calling them to unite and do as I commanded them for
their own good. Tell them that
with this movement I will introduce my own money which will not have the head of Caesar,
when I said “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”, the money of the
world has the head of human beings on them. With this movement I will
introduce my own money which will not possess the heart of my children.
Thus, said Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Who has ear let him hear what Jesus
Christ of Nazareth said.”
These statements have
several issues with them: 1) First of all they imply that anyone who
does not support TGRM financially is going to hell. 2) It also states
that there will be a currency especially for those in TGRM that is not
one of the currencies produced by any government. When Jesus was on
earth, He did recognize the Roman denarius and Caesar’s image on it, and
He said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s
(Mat. 22:19; Mark 12:15; Luke 20:24). There is no place in Scripture
where it says the Lord will introduce a new worldwide currency for the
saints. 3) If ownership is from
hell, then wouldn't the Lord want to abolish it completely? Why then
would He want to generate another new currency to help support the
practice of ownership? One would think He would want a world where
everyone just shared everything they had and there was no need for
currency.
Moreover, after Barnabas
sold his tract of land and gave the full proceeds to the apostles (Act
4:36-37), another disciple named Ananias sought to imitate it, while
secretly and deceptively keeping some of the proceeds for himself (Ac
5:1-2). Peter told Ananias, "While it remained unsold, did it not remain
your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control?" (Act
5:4a). He said the field remained the property of Ananias until it was
sold, so
he acknowledged that Ananias was the rightful owner of it. Moreover, he said that after it was sold, the proceeds from the
sale remained under the control of Ananias.
Peter did not say it was
evil for Ananias to own the property, or that the Lord required him to
sell it and give the resources to the projects the apostles were working
on. Yet TGRM states the Lord is announcing to the world that people
should “
bring their resources into True Gospel Revival Movement and use it to achieve my project.”
King James Version Only
On
their website, it also says, “MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST ABOUT THE HOLY
BIBLE. I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth tell the world that they should not
go with or interpret my word from any other version of the Bible except
King James Version (KJV), both English and any other language. Other
translations are arranged by the kingdoms of darkness, to water down my
word. All who buy and use those other version are partakers of the harm
those versions are doing to my word and they will perish with the
translators. I tell those who join me in TGRM not to go with any other
version except KJV.”
This is a major concern for a few
reasons:
1) The King James Bible has undergone three revisions since its
inception in 1611, incorporating more than 100,000 changes. So which King James Bible is inspired?
2) TGRM prophesies that Jesus Christ of Nazareth said, "tell the world that they should not
go with or interpret my word from any other version of the Bible except
King James Version (KJV), both English and any other language."
The problem with this statement is that Bible translations into
non-English languages are not the King James Version. Moreover, there are no translations into
non-English languages based on the KJV that I am aware of. Just to be
sure of this, I asked Wycliffe Bible Translators, and their contact
person replied to me after researching it, saying, "I didn't find any
non English translations that said they were translations of the KJV." If
any such foreign translation exists that is based on the KJV, it must be
very rare. If so, that means most nations are using a Bible that is arranged
by the kingdom of darkness, and the people who read it are doomed,
according to TGRM.
3) The KJV Preface asks, “How shall men meditate on that which
they do not understand?” They sought to put it into the language that
common people used every day, so that they could understand the Bible.
However, what was common language 400 years ago, has become outdated and
difficult to understand for most English-speaking people today.
4) In
his
Critical Analysis of the King James Version,
Al Maxey points out that for all its flowery language and
other positive characteristics, the KJV has doctrinal problems, textual
manipulation, lack of uniformity, archaeological inaccuracies,
textual inaccuracies, and paraphrasing.
5) Factual evidence reveals that the KJV is not
the most accurate and easy to understand version of the Bible.
6) Other
English versions existed before the KJV, such as Tyndale's New Testament, the Rheims New Testament, the Great Bible, the Bishop's Bible, and the
Geneva Bible, so it is not the original English version. The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the Protestant Reformers; it was the people's choice for seventy-five years before the King James Bible was produced, and was the preferred Bible of the common Christian household. In fact, it was the Bible used by the Puritans who migrated to America. However, based on the prophecy above from TGRM, we would have to conclude that the Geneva Bible translation was arranged by the kingdom of darkness and all those who read it perished with the translators.
7) The KJV translators used more than just the original Greek and Hebrew texts of Scripture to produce the English text found in that version. They also used the Bishop's Bible as their source text, as well as the Geneva Bible, along with other versions already in existence. So it is a real hybrid of many sources.
I can understand if some individual or some church prefers the King James Version over all others, but it is wrong to require its use by prophecy as a commandment of the Lord, under penalty of hell fire. That's what TGRM has done, making this a requirement for salvation, thereby condemning billions of people who cannot read the King James Version or prefer not to do so.
Dietary Laws
Another
major concern with this movement is that they teach that Christians
should not eat foods that were forbidden in the Law of Moses. They claim that Jesus Christ of Nazareth has now released to the world
the message that anyone who eats such foods is condemned to hell. However, these are dietary laws, and
Christians are not under any dietary laws, (except for the ones decreed by the apostles in Acts 15:28-29). Jesus declared all foods
clean (Mk 7:19), and Paul did, too (Rom 14:14,20). Anyone who puts
Christians under dietary laws, beyond what the apostles decreed at the Jerusalem council, is preaching another gospel and is
eternally accursed according to the apostle Paul (Gal 1:9).
Paul
warned us about teachings like this in his letter to Timothy: “But the
Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by
means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a
branding iron, men who forbid marriage and
advocate abstaining from
foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who
believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is
sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.” (1Ti 4:1-5)
To
use Paul’s words, TGRM advocates abstaining from certain foods, which
God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know
the truth. Paul said these are doctrines of demons. Based on what he wrote, as well as the Lord's own teaching, we can be assured that
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.
Observing the Law
Not only does TGRM want to bring the Gentile disciples of Christ back to the dietary laws of Moses, but
they teach that we must obey the entire Law of Moses. In the context of the message about dietary laws, they prophesy, "
I have come to tell the world that this message I am giving now, is with heaviness of heart.... Every law My Father instituted must be obeyed...No commandment of My Father should be disobeyed." (capitalization and underlining added by editor for emphasis). This means that in the name of the Lord they are requiring Christians to obey all dietary, ceremonial, ritual, and sacrificial laws. That includes circumcision, wearing tassels on their clothing, and observing all Jewish days, months and years.
I can assure you that the Lord is not calling the Gentiles to come under the Law of Moses. This fact was firmly established in the first century, when certain Judaizers insisted that the Gentile Christians must be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders in Jerusalem discussed this, and Peter asked, "Now therefore
why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (Ac 15:10-11). James concluded, "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Ac 15:19-21).
We are not justified by observing the Law (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16). Paul said, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'" (Gal 3:10, NIV). He said that every man who lets himself be circumcised is obligated to obey the whole Law (Gal 5:3).
Brethren, we are not seeking to keep up the Law of Moses in conjunction with the gospel. Please see
my articles
What Then Must We Observe? and
Righteousness by Faith not Law.
The Return of Christ
TGRM
states the Lord said, “This is why my word says that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Does not the world see my wisdom in
these mysteries? Therefore, I, hereby announce to the world that
I have returned, to rule and to destroy whatever the idiot has done all this time.
I have come to take back to my kingdom that which belongs to me.
Thus said the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”
TGRM
states the Lord said, “Satan devised another means of using a Roman
emperor to merge Christianity and the world together in order to stop my
own vision. Since then I allowed him and he started introducing a lot
of things into Christianity through churches and their founders. I have
been warning people but they would not understand me. So,
I have come again by myself to re-establish my standard.”
TGRM states the Lord said, “No body has the power to kill my own people again.
I am coming
like a king to claim what belongs to me. If a king goes on a long
journey that will take him many years away from his domain, his coming
back will be announced so that things will be put in order before his
arrival. Now
I am announcing my return, so that things that are not in order will be put in order.”
“So, my children who obey me and do what I command,
I am coming to reign.
As I promised Israel of giving them a land which was not their own, so I
promise to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.
Thus said the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”
These statements have three main issues:
1)
They state that the Lord has returned by using the expressions, “I have
returned;” “I have come,” and “I have come again.” Then they contradict
those statements by putting it in the future tense with expressions
like “I am coming” and “I am announcing my return;” So has He come again
or is He announcing His return? Which one?
2) They
state that the Lord said, “No body has the power to kill my own people
again.” This means there will be no more martyrs from this time onward.
Yet we know that Christians are still dying for Christ around the world,
and in the Bible we see that martyrdom will continue until the end,
when His angels gather His elect from the four winds. Jesus Himself said
persecution of the saints is one of the signs of the times before His
return. “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and
will kill you,
and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” (Mat 24:9).
The book of Revelation has much to say about End Time Saints being
killed, and even says it is the destiny of some to be killed (Rev
13:10). The Lord requires faithfulness until death (Rev 2:10). Anyone
who will not worship the beast will be killed, including saints (Rev
13:15; cf., 14:11; Rev 20:4). See my articles
The Glory of Martyrdom for Christ and
The End Time Saints.
3)
They state that Jesus called satan an “idiot”. Yet we find no place in
Scripture where Jesus ever called satan or any demon an “idiot.” He
called the devil “satan” (Mat. 4:10; 12:26; 16:23; Mark 3:23,26; 4:15;
8:33; Luke 10:18; 11:18; 13:16; 22:31). In Revelation, he is referred to
as “the great dragon,” “the serpent of old who is called the devil and
Satan” (Rev 12:9). He is also called “the accuser of the brethren” (Rev
12:10). Jesus called the demons “unclean spirits” (Mk 5:8) or simply
demons (Mat. 7:22; 10:8; 12:27,28; Mark 16:17; Luke 11:18,19,20; 13:32).
And when speaking to His enemies, the Lord may have called them by
names of beasts like fox or viper (Mat. 12:34; 23:33), but He never
called anyone an idiot. In fact, it says in Jude, “Yet in the same way
these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and
revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed
with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare
pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke
you!" But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and
the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by
these things they are destroyed.” (Jud 1:8-10)
About the statements that the Lord has already returned, we have the following Scriptural warnings against such claims:
The
apostle Paul said, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that
you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a
spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that
the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it
will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every
so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the
temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2Th 2:1-4). Paul
warned the Thessalonians not to believe any spirit or message or letter
as if from him to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. In
Paul’s concluding remarks to that epistle, he states, “If anyone does
not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that
person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” (2Th
3:14-15)
The Lord Himself also said, “Then if anyone
says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not
believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will
show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the
elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you,
'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in
the inner rooms,' do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes
from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the
Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
(Mat 24:23-28). You will know it when the Lord has returned, just as a
flash of lightning in the sky cannot be kept secret from those on the
earth. But when you see a lot of vultures circling in the sky above,
rather than a flash of lightning, that should tell you something. You
may not be able to see what they are all gathering around for, but you
know it is some body that is sick or dead. Beware of anyone who says the
Lord has come back and any group that gathers around such claims. See
Sequence of Signs Preceding the Coming of Christ and
Synching Up the Seven Seals with the Gospels.
Confusion
There is confusion in this movement, and confusion is not of God. "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." (1 Cor 14:33, KJV).
For example, TGRM contradicts itself. On the one hand, they prophesy that it is disobedience to own a car. On the other hand, they prophesy that the car was made with wisdom, and that those who say it is useless will suffer for their foolishness, since their travels will become more difficult. They state that the Lord asked, "Can an African tell the white man that the wisdom he used in making a
car is useless? If he avoids him, his movement becomes difficult and he
will suffer because of his own foolishness."
Another example that I have already mentioned is the matter of the Lord having already returned on the one hand, yet on the other hand He is coming to reign.
Another example is the matter of working for the Lord versus working with the Lord, as I have also mentioned. On the one hand they prophesy, "The danger in working
for Me
is that they will end up in destruction.” On the other hand they prophesy, "...the matter is that after working
for me, they get their reward in heaven.” This is confusing. Do people working for the Lord get their reward in heaven or do they end up in destruction?
To further emphasize my point about confusion, here is an email I received from a brother named John A. from Nigeria, which I received over a year and half after I posted this article. He stated:
"I started reading the doctrines of True Gospel Revival Movement, and I contacted them through my phone and introduced myself to them. And the next thing they told me was to start a fellowship wherever I am, and teach the doctrines on their website. I began to wonder when they later called me and told me that my name is not supposed to be John, that my name is Yahchana. I accepted the name [initially], but I later began to question myself and I became confused. In the process of visiting their site, I saw your article that pointed out certain things that caused me to [contact] a pastor to pray for me to renounce the name I accepted without knowing the source or the meaning. And I became afraid from that moment. What confuses me most is that their teaching sounds like true teaching, so I am still confused even till this moment. "
As you can see, this group is causing confusion, and they need to be held accountable for what they are doing to people like this man John in Nigeria, which brings me to my next point.
Lack of Accountability and Directive Prophecies
TGRM
seems to lack accountability. What I mean by that is that they are
primarily issuing directives via prophecy, which nobody is allowed to
challenge or question. Over and over again you see prophecy after prophecy
setting forth these new rules, new standards, new commandments, usually
ending with the phrase, “Thus said the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” We need to be careful of directive prophecy, since the biblical purpose of prophecy is to edify, comfort, and encourage us (1 Cor 14:3), not to direct us.
The TGRM site states, "In True Gospel Revival Movement
the Lord Jesus Christ speaks direct to men and not through his spirit alone.
He speaks through his chosen mouth piece and his ordained oracle." This is talking about the person who initiated this movement. It also states that "...
nobody ever attempts to doctor or amend his messages before releasing them to the world, but
they are handed raw to the world."
This
is leading by prophecy, which is dangerous. Many cults have been
created this way. Things may start off seeming to be fairly innocent
with only a few, apparently minor deviations from the Word, but then it
can gradually become more and more obvious that it is unbiblical. The
problem is that by then it is too late, because you have been completely
deceived, and you cannot get yourself out.
No matter
who gives a prophecy, it must always be tested and judged, not only by
the individual who gives it, but also by others. Yet these TGRM prophecies are being "handed raw to the world" without anyone being allowed to judge or amend them. Paul said, “Let two or
three prophets speak, and
let the others pass judgment.” (1Co 14:29). He
also said, “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic
utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is
good;
abstain from every form of evil.” (1Th 5:19-22). In fact, Paul
himself, who wrote half the New Testament, went up to Jerusalem to
submit himself to the apostles there and ensure that his gospel message
to the Gentiles was valid. He wanted to ensure that he had not been
running in vain. He said, “Then after an interval of fourteen years I
went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It
was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the
gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to
those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had
run, in vain.” (Gal 2:1-2)
The apostle John warned us,
“Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.” (1Jn 4:1). The Berean disciples were commended for
seeking to find out if Paul’s messages were Scriptural. It says, “Now
these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they
received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily
to see whether these things were so.” (Act 17:11).
We must always be free
to examine everything carefully, test it, and pass judgment on every
single prophecy. If anyone puts themselves above that process,
threatening anyone who attempts to do so with hellfire, then that is
dangerous. That person is not accountable to others in the Body of
Christ.
Prophecy is not the only gift and prophets are
not the only ones the Lord uses to prepare the Body for works of
service. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some
as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of
the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of
Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the
stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13). There
needs to be these others, such as apostles, evangelists, pastors, and
teachers, in order to maintain accountability and keep the Church from
error. But when a group relies mainly on prophecy to equip the saints,
and defies any challenges to these prophecies, the enemy can easily get
in and bring deception. Please see
Judging Revelations, Visions, and Prophecies,
Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, and
Accountable, correctable, and teachable.
The
core members of this movement, who are giving these prophecies, seem to
be rather young in the Lord and spiritually immature. They need to submit to authority and make
themselves accountable to others in the Body of Christ. They must also
be correctable and teachable. But who will correct them or teach them if
all other churches and movements are deemed by prophecy to be apostate
or illegitimate?
Extra-biblical Writings
If
these prophecies cannot be challenged, judged, or tested by other
disciples using the Word of God, then that means these messages are inerrant and become elevated
to the level of Scripture. This means each prophecy posted on the website becomes
like another book of the Bible and holds the same authority as
Scripture. Or else it is regarded as another book that Christians must
obey, besides the Bible. The end result is that such a book or such
extra-biblical writings on the web end up superseding Scripture, because
they are regarded as authoritative and binding upon all Christians,
even if they contradict the Bible. This essentially nullifies the Word of God, as TGRM is doing with their laws that contradict Scripture. The fact is that no prophecy or
extra-biblical writing carries the same authority as Scripture, and must
either conform to the Word of God or be ignored.
Also see my articles
Scripture Alone and
The Bible is the Word of God.
One Group with All Truth
TGRM states that the Lord "has decided to reveal all truth and mystery of Heaven through this movement." They also state that the Lord said He "will reveal all mysteries through this movement." Those are the exact words from their website. That also presents a problem, since it is unbiblical.
The apostle Paul said, "
We know in part and we prophesy in part." (1 Cor 13:9). That means none of us have the whole, but only a part. None of us, except the Lord, have all knowledge. The Lord does not reveal all mysteries to one individual or group, but only some. That is the way a healthy body functions. Otherwise one part of the body could say to another part, "I don't need you." As we all function together in unity, each one doing their part, then we receive the fullness of all that the Lord reveals to the Church. As the whole body is fitted and held together in Christ "by what every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part," then He causes the growth of the body (Eph 4:16).
As the apostle John said, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and
you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because
no lie is of the truth." (1Jn 2:20-21). Every true disciple has an anointing from the Spirit of grace, and by this unction we all know the truth, as well as discern the lies.
If the Lord gave all knowledge to one individual or group, and everyone looked solely to them for guidance, then the enemy could easily deceive billions of people at once, simply by deceiving that single individual or movement. So if the enemy has already deceived the founder of TGRM and introduced error into this movement, as I have proven in this article, then the potential for mass deception not only exists, but is already happening at some level internationally!
Condition for TGRM Membership
The ten rules that all TGRM members must obey are listed on the home page of their website, which are basically like the new, Ten Commandments. Of course, as usual, they claim these rules were set by Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
The ninth rule states: "Membership is
by believing every bit of these messages of our Lord
Jesus Christ and joining in our fellowships and programmes to both do
and teach others nothing but this truth." They said you can do nor teach
nothing but what they claim is "truth." So if you are a part of that organization, you
must do and teach others only what they teach, including all the heresies I
have highlighted above, and others I have not yet discovered. In other words, you are not allowed to teach others anything else, except what TGRM dictates. This essentially means you are not allowed to teach anything found in the Bible that they do not teach.
And their tenth commandment states, "membership of this movement is one of the unavoidable conditions for seeing God at last." This means that their ninth rule that I just mentioned is a condition for salvation, along with all their other conditions.
If you are a member of TGRM, I call upon you to repent, because in order to be a member of it, you must do and teach everything they say. That requires that you embrace doctrines that I have just proven to be false, according to the Word of God. And you will have to teach others that they will burn in hell, unless they embrace these false teachings.
Mind Control
In case you did not already reach this conclusion yourself, the practices of TGRM resemble the mind control techniques commonly used by cults to control their members. If you would like to educate yourself about that, please see the article by Cult Watch entitled "
How Cults Work."
Similarities to Armstrongism
Based on what I have seen thus far of TGRM, it is similar in many ways to
Armstrongism, which refers to the beliefs of a cult formed by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934 that eventually came to be known as the Worldwide Church of God. According to Wikipedia, he taught that "God had restored the full Gospel message of the Kingdom of God...to the Church through him (Armstrong) by opening his mind to the plain truth of scripture. He taught that all other churches calling themselves 'Christian' were not merely apostate, but actually counterfeits..." His worldwide church was supposedly the one group with all truth. He taught that Christians must observe the dietary laws of Moses, celebration of high Sabbaths, and annual Jewish festivals. He claimed that these and other teachings of his were the true gospel restored. Therefore, I think that the True Gospel Revival Movement Worldwide bears many resemblances to the Worldwide Church of God.
Unable to Refute this Article
One last thing I would like to say is that shortly after writing this article, I sent it to TGRM, and asked them to respond to it. They initially requested phone contact, which I refused. They deleted my comment from their site and said they were preparing a response to this article, but they never followed through with it.
Then five months after writing this article, in July 2016, a sister in the Philippines began to read their website, and when she asked if they had a branch congregation in her country, they wanted her to establish one. They even gave her a prophecy that they claimed was directly from the Lord that He wanted her to start such a group. However, she wanted to make sure she was not being misled or deceived, so she read this present article of mine. Then she brought it to their attention, to which they replied with another prophecy supposedly from the Lord Jesus to her. In this prophecy, they quoted the Lord saying that when they were making arrangements to answer my article, He stopped them, saying that
He would answer me by Myself, and He said that He has already answered me.
She wrote to me to find out if in fact the Lord did answer me about TGRM after writing this article. I responded by saying that I have received no such message from the Lord that would validate this movement, and that in fact I have received further information that only validates what I have written. Therefore, let it be known that I stand by what I have written in this article.
Two weeks after that sister in the Philippines corresponded with me and I added this new section to my article, here is what happened. On July 17, 2016, TGRM sent me a prophecy allegedly from the Lord to me personally, and they copied 59 other people on the email. The only way they had my email address was from when I left a comment on their website five months ago, but I never gave them permission to copy other people on an email to me, since I do not want my email address publicized. When I received their email, I did not read the attachment with the prophecy, since I assumed it was not favorable toward me unless I agree with their doctrines. They also sent attachments with their revised calendar that all Christians are supposed to use now, which seems to be part of what they have supposedly been commissioned to do.
As they told the Filipino sister recently, the Lord advised them NOT to answer me regarding this article, because
He Himself would do so and I had supposedly already received His message. Yet now they have in fact responded to my article by sending the following to me personally and copying others whom I do not know: 1) the supposed prophecy they believe the Lord has for me, which I was supposed to have already received; 2) a document they have written justifying their KJV-only position; and 3) a document they have written supporting their revised calendar with new names for the months of the year and days of the week. That action on their part completely contradicts what they previously claimed the Lord commanded them. Now it seems they are going against what they claim He commanded them, and they are responding to me. It is confusion.
Finally, to further validate a point I made earlier in this article about directive prophecy, please note that in this instance, TGRM used a directive prophecy to tell the Filipino sister to start a church for them in the Philippines, then they used directive prophecy to tell her why they never responded to this article of mine when she asked about it, and finally they apparently used a directive prophecy to me to respond to this article.
Putting it All Together
I
tried to keep an open mind about the True Gospel Revival Movement
(TGRM), and was willing to believe they were genuinely from the Lord.
However, my conscience is bound to the Word of God, and it is neither
wise nor safe to go against conscience. We must prove all things from
the Word and confirm that they are truly so.
As I have
examined the Scriptures to see if these things are so that TGRM is
claiming, I have found numerous issues, including the following: claims of world
domination, sole possession of all truth and revelation of all mysteries, Christian currency, property ownership, cessation of martyrdom, salvation
by membership in a movement, lack of
accountability, confusion, claims that Christ has already come back, working for the Lord vs. working with Him,
husbands being little gods, the authority of the only begotten Son
of God during His earthly ministry, satan being referred to as an idiot
as well as a son of God, King-James-Version-only, and observing the Law of Moses, including dietary laws beyond the ones decreed by the first-century apostles.
Therefore,
I would caution anyone who is considering joining this movement, or who
is listening to its prophecies. According to the Word of God that I
have just presented to you, some of their teachings are doctrines of
demons. Please do not be deceived by them. You have been warned. And I
have warned you not via my own prophecy or opinion, but via the Word of
God, which is our sole rule of faith.
"I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him." (1Jn 2:26-27, NIV)
Attribution notice: Most
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB,except where noted otherwise. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV®, where noted.
Author's Note: I also recommend reading
What Then Must We Observe?,
Are We Really Little gods?,
Scripture Alone,
Judging Revelations, Visions, and Prophecies,
Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, The Nature of False Prophets, A Tale of Two Kings, Is Jesus God?, Accountable, correctable, and teachable,
Accurately Handling the Word of Truth,
Exposing Heresy,
The Rise of Antichrists,
The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music,
The Rise and Fall of Lucifer the Musician,
Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell,
Scripture Alone,
By Grace Alone,
Righteousness by Faith not Law,
No Flesh Will Be Justified by Works,
In Defense of the NIV,
Sequence of Signs Preceding the Coming of Christ,
The End Time Saints, and
The Glory of Martyrdom for Christ. You can access the
Home page of this blog for more articles on Truth and heresy, as well as my complete blog directory at "
Writing for the Master.
___________________________________________________
Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org.
