|
|
|
|
Kenneth Hagin has long been touted as a prophet by many within the charismatic movement for years. Without a doubt, all people within the Word of Faith Movement look to Hagin as a genuine prophet of God. The facts seem to indicate otherwise! Hagin's claim to the prophetic office is somewhat different than most people. Hagin claims that the Lord Jesus Christ personally ordained him into this "restored" ministry. When I said personally, I should clarify it to mean - IN PERSON. Hagin claims to have had an out-of-body experience in which Jesus laid His "nail scarred hands" upon him giving him a special anointing along with the personal, face-to-face call as a "prophet." All of this is revealed in his most entertaining book, I Believe In Visions," which contains a series of 8 visits with his version of Jesus (which is actually a demonic spirit masquerading as Christ). Chapter Three (taken from my book, Everything You Always Wanted to know about Kenneth Hagin, but were afraid to ask.) In chapter four we will look in some detail at the various alleged encounters Hagin has had with the risen Lord of Glory. This chapter deals with the encounter in which Hagin’s Jesus calls him into the prophetic ministry.
Hagin was in the hospital due to a fall on his elbow. The Lord took that opportunity to chasten Mr. Hagin for not keeping his prophetic ministry ahead of his teaching ministry. What is interesting in this encounter is that we are told that the role of the apostle and prophet are still for the Church today. This aberrant thought was not new, in fact, Hagin got it from the leaders of the Latter Rain Movement. People such as William Branham, Franklin Hall, the Hawtin brothers, and John Stevens had been teaching a restoration of apostles and prophets since the mid-1940's. Before them Edward Irving and Alexander Dowie had taught the restoration of such gifts in the late 1800's. The Bible discounts such a concept. The role of the apostles and prophets was foundational.
Paul, the apostle, laid the foundation, someone else built on it. The Church herself is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Once the foundation has been laid, then all other building is done upon that initial foundation. There is no other foundation which can be laid, than which has been laid! There is simply no need for apostles and prophets today. The foundation was laid two thousand years ago. The Word of God has been given, we have all the "Word of the Lord" we need. So why does the Church need Mr. Hagin and his fellow so-called restored prophets and apostles? Kenneth goes on to reveal to the Church what it is that constitutes a "prophet" today:
Now the Church knows what makes up a prophet! For almost six thousand years of recorded Biblical history all of God’s people have been in the dark . . .until the advent of "Dr." Hagin’s divinely granted insight. Hagin lets the readers know that he meets all of the qualifications of being a prophet. Hagin is recognized as an apostle, prophet, and teacher by multitudes of charismatic people. Yet the truth of the matter is even more obvious - he fails in all three areas of ministry. He is a false apostle, false prophet, and false teacher. The Old Testament has a simply, but strict guideline for those in the prophet’s ministry - it is called 100% accuracy.
If you say you are a prophet and presume to speak in the name of our Lord and your prophecy does not come to pass, then you are a false prophet. Let’s consider some examples of Mr. Hagin’s prophetic pronouncements and see if they have come to pass. The following prophetic words was given by Kenneth in Saint Louis the summer of 1997. This prophetic word is available on the Internet. WORD OF THE LORD THROUGH That which I said unto you shall come to pass. There is a time promised, but
they don't necessarily happen over night. He's coming again. Two thousand years have passed. He's coming. Well, 1997 has come and gone. The things the "Lord" spoke through Hagin did not come to pass. Hagin was just then getting into the "holy laughter" excess . . .but it had already swept the nation a few years earlier, with all its accompanying unbiblical manifestations. What is interesting in this patheticword is that Hagin seems to be saying the gifts which constitute the prophets office are in existence now - "words of wisdom words of knowledge, discerning of spirits . . . .the gift of faith shall be in manifestation. . .no one has ever seen the measure it will be manifested in these days. . . Gifts of healings like showers of rain falling everywhere." Over a year has passed since Hagin stated by a spirit, "this is the day, the hour, the time." In his book, I Believe In Visions, he made a similar pathetic utterance in September 1950 - (Hagin is reading from an invisible scroll out loud to the people at a tent meeting while he is in a trance) bold type added for emphasis:
In 1997 - the same old theme for a new generation of people. Restoration of the gifts . In 1950, when Hagin gave this mystical utterance the healing revival was at its peak. William Branham, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe, Oral Roberts, all were holding huge tent meetings, each outdoing one another with claims of dramatic healing and miracles. So it was easy for Hagin to make such a statement and have people believe he was speaking by the Holy Spirit. Yet history proved all of the above mentioned "healers" to be liars, fakes, frauds, drunks, and con men. Now, once again, Hagin is in the midst of theToronto Blessing and Pensacola Outpouring, and the Smithton Cornfield Revival, all with wild claims and bizarre manifestations. On line 20, the hearers are told, "respond unto the prophet and you shall see the glory of God on thee, your loved ones, and those around you." Again he claims to speak as our Lord’s very mouthpiece! He excites the hearts of unstable people into thinking what is taking place is of God. . .when it is no more of God than the so-called healingrevival of the mid 1940's and early 1950's . Notice the emphasis in 1950 was the restoration of miracles. In 1997 it was the restoration of the "revelation" gifts. Both words underscore the "glory" of God being made visible and tangible. Now, take a few moments and compare the comments from 1950 and those of 1997 with these prophet Hagin made in 1980: THE GREATEST MOVE AND MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD You are right on the verge, right on the verge of the greatest move and
manifestation of the Spirit of God that this world has ever seen. You're right on the edge of it; and like on standing on the creek bank about to jump in. And if you'll give the more
earnest heed unto the things which you have heard, not only those things that you've heard about faith and those things that you've heard about healing, but also those things which you
have heard about the Holy Spirit, and the things that you've heard about angels, and the things that you've heard about Divine Visitation, (for remember that it was prophesied of Joel
of old that in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and upon My hand maidens
will I pour out My Spirit, and they will prophecy), so not only will it be that the young men will prophecy, but the young women will prophecy, and the anointing and the out-flow of
the Spirit of God shall be great and amazing in those days -- for there shall be a visitation of angels. And so in these days there shall come a mighty manifestation of the Spirit, and the work that God intended should be done in these last days shall be accomplished. For the time is short and things must be speeded up. And you'll learn much faster spiritual things then those of yesteryear. And you'll develop much faster and it'll be said of some they just virtually matured overnight. And they shall go forth to speak in the name of the Lord, because they understood the principle of faith. They'll understand the principles of the Kingdom. And they'll understand the laws of God. And they'll operate and minister in that area. And nothing will be hid from them. And though there are some who stand here now and have operated in a measure in those areas in times passed, and because they've let these things slip, they themselves in ministry and in life have slipped. And they shall be restored. Yea, they shall even be restored this night. And the manifestation shall come and the glory of the Lord shall rest upon it and rest upon thee. And His glory shall be seen round about and the cloud of God will come and fill the house. And, yea, it will seem as though the whole building is filled with smoke, because you see, the glory of God shall be in manifestation. And great, great shall be the noise thereof and praise and adoration that shall go up from His people. And it shall be noised abroad. And men from afar shall here it. And men from afar shall here of it. And men from afar shall come to behold it. For the Lord shall be in manifestation in those days in all ways that He ever manifested Himself, both in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant, plus the multiplying of the Spirit in the power of God of these days. For men, as men grow more wicked and more wicked, and as Satan, because he knows
his time is short, and, all of his cohorts and evil spirits go about as never before to devour, so the power of God, the glory of God, shall be increased and shall be multiplied. And it
will flow like a mighty river, flow like a mighty river. Yea, the Spirit of God will flow like a mighty river. And many, not only hundreds, not only thousands, but millions will be swept
into the flow of that river, and shall flow forth in praised and glory. For the glory, for the glory of the Lord is in manifestation. The glory of the Lord will be seen of the face of the saints. The glory of God shall shine forth until men will walk in a place of business and people will fall on their knees and cry out to God though be said nothing. And women will walk into a place of business and people will fall and their knees and cry out to God though she opened not her mouth
. For the glory of God will shine through. Yea, the glory of God will shine through. Yea, the glory of God will shine through. For the manifestation of His power, and the
manifestation of His glory, is reserved until this hour! For you see, these are the last days, and this is the end time. And what is done must be done quickly. And it will be done. And the hearts of many will be cause to rejoice. So rejoice. Rejoice. Be glad and praise the Lord and prepare your hearts. And let Him prepare you for that which He has prepared for you. And so walk in it. You shall walk in it. And you shall run. And you shall fly, literally, spiritually speaking. And you shall enjoy the fullness of that which is provided for you. All three of these false prophecies do nothing more than prop up the false concepts of the Latter Rain Movement (LRM) which was in full impact when Hagin initially prophesied in 1950. Some of what the LRM stressed was the restoration of: (1) prophets and apostles, (2) all the supernatural sign gifts of the Spirit, (3) a tremendous outpouring of healing and deliverance, and (4) a worldwide harvest of souls. The 1980 word is now eighteen years old, and has not come to pass. The Church was not flowing in the supernatural anymore in 1980 than it did a thousand years ago. What has happened since 1950 is a decrease in the Church and not an increase. There is more apostasy, more aberrant and heretical doctrines, more false signs and wonders deceiving multitudes than ever before in Church history. I close this chapter out by stating that because one is deceived into thinking he is a prophet, when in fact they are not, does not immediately signify that the individual is not saved. The person may simply be extremely deceived and misled, thus unintentionally misleading others . I am not God and thus I am not in a position to make any statements regarding the state of Mr. Hagin’s soul. He does teach false doctrine, he does utter false prophetic words, and in our next chapter we shall see that he has been subject to false visions. . .but I cannot say he is not saved. I do urge prayer be offered on his behalf, due to the impact of his ministry in the spiritual lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. |
|
Send mail to
webmaster@discernment.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
|