https://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/02/gifts-of-judgment-george-l.html
Gifts Of Judgment
GEORGE L. FAULL
Dear Brother Faull,
I heard you say that the men who teach that the apostolic gifts continue
today are inconsistent, for if the good gifts exist, the judgmental
gifts continue, too. I do not understand what you mean by that. Would
you explain?
The apostolic gifts were not merely the gifts of tongues, and healings,
raising the dead, making the deaf to hear, the blind to see and the lame
to walk. That is only half of the story. There is another side to the
coin. Namely, the apostles had the power to bring judgment or even death
on the disobedient.
God did not only empower His Old Testament prophets with the ability to
do miracles of supply, He also endowed them with the ability to bring
judgment on rebels. In fact, in a crisis when God's man was questioned,
or their authority suspect, God empowered them to defend their office.
Remember Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and how they were swallowed alive by
the earth for questioning Moses and Aaron?
Numbers 16:30-32, "(30) But if the LORD make a new thing, and the
earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain]
unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand
that these men have provoked the LORD. (31) And it came to pass, as he
had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave
asunder that [was] under them: (32) And the earth opened her mouth, and
swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained]
unto Korah, and all [their] goods."
When Elisha was mocked by the children who inferred that if he had the
power of Elijah, he should be able to be translated as Elijah was, bears
came out of the woods and devoured them.
II Kings 2:23-24, "(23) And he went up from thence unto Bethel:
and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out
of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head;
go up, thou bald head. (24) And he turned back, and looked on them, and
cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears
out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."
Again, Uzziah the king was smitten with leprosy for usurping the priest's role.
II Chronicles 26:18-21, "(18) And they withstood Uzziah the king,
and said unto him, [It pertaineth] not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn
incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are
consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast
trespassed; neither [shall it be] for thine honor from the LORD God.
(19) Then Uzziah was wroth, and [had] a censer in his hand to burn
incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose
up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from
beside the incense altar. (20) And Azariah the chief priest, and all the
priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his
forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also
to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. (21) And Uzziah the king
was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house,
[being] a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and
Jotham his son [was] over the king's house, judging the people of the
land."
Other such examples could be given to demonstrate that God secures the
honor of His specially appointed servants. The New Testament, likewise,
bears out this truth.
1. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter, they soon lay in death. (Acts 5:1-12)
2. Herod, who killed James and imprisoned Peter and sought his life when Peter escaped, was eaten of worms and died. (Acts 12:1-ff)
3. Peter also must have threatened Simon the sorcerer, for he said,
Acts 8:24, "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me."
4. When Elymas the sorcerer withstood Paul, Paul cursed him to be blind for a season, and he instantly became so.
Acts 13:8-12, "(8) But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by
interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from
the faith. (9) Then Saul, (who also [is called] Paul,) filled with the
Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, (10) And said, O full of all subtility
and all mischief, [thou] child of the devil, [thou] enemy of all
righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the
Lord? (11) And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and
thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately
there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some
to lead him by the hand.(12) Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."
5. Paul ordered the Church to deliver the incestuous man at Corinth over
to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit might be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
I Corinthians 5:5, "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus."
We do not know if a physical malady came upon him, but Paul did likewise to Hymenaeus and Alexander.
I Timothy 1:20, "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."
When Paul wrote the Corinthians who questioned his apostleship, and some
affronted him, Paul said he was quite prepared to revenge all
disobedience with action and not just words. His boast of having such
power was not an idle boast. He preferred, however, to build them up,
not destroy them.
II Corinthians 10:6-13
He reminds them again in chapter 12 that they may find him unfavorable
when he comes with power to execute judgment on the disobedient.
Likewise, he says that he may use severity according to the power which
the Lord gave him.
II Corinthians 13:10, "Therefore I write these things being
absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the
power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to
destruction."
His argument in these chapters are: "If you seek proof of Christ in me, I
shall come with the power of God and 'proof' will be given."
6. The apostle John also says of Diotrephes, who resisted him, "Wherefore if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth." What was he going to do, "tickle him with a feather?" Not hardly.
Those in the apostolic office were not as those who merely walked in the flesh. Listen to Paul:
II Corinthians 10:2, "(2) But I beseech [you], that I may not be
bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be
bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. (3)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4)
(For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
(6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when
your obedience is fulfilled. (7) Do ye look on things after the outward
appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of
himself think this again, that, as he [is] Christ's, even so [are] we
Christ's.
(8) For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: (9) That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. (10)
For [his] letters, say they, [are] weighty and powerful; but [his]
bodily presence [is] weak, and [his] speech contemptible. (11) Let such
an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are
absent, such [will we be] also in deed when we are present.
II Corinthians 13:1-2, "1 This [is] the third [time] I am coming
to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established. (2) I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were
present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which
heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare."
Again, I Corinthians 4:21, "What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and [in] the spirit of meekness?"
If the prophetic gift continues, and God is still revealing His Word,
why do not these "so-called" apostles and prophets have the power to
blind and strike men dead? Why aren't those who oppose them miraculously
eaten of worms or swallowed alive or made lepers or devoured by bears?
One fourth of the miracles in Acts were judgmental!!! Even our Lord
cursed a fig tree so that it miraculously dried up in one day.
The truth is, these false apostles, prophets, and miracle workers no
more have the ability to miraculously do evil than they do to do
miraculous good. They do not reveal truth for they cannot confirm their
authority by miraculous judgment any more than they can confirm their
words by raising the dead.
Question: Has there been any one this century that Christians should have feared, lest these terrible judgments come upon them? If
so, I know of none; least of all the leaders of the charismatic
movement: Jimmy Swaggart, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy Baker, Jimmy Roberson, Oral
Roberts, Robert Tilman, Earnest Ansley, Kathryn Kuhlman, Amiee Semple
McPherson, A. A. Allen, Pat Robinson, W. V. Grant, and all the other
professionals who have made a fortune at pretending the gifts. Those of
this group that are dead, have died from alcoholism, cancer, or suicide,
and almost every one of the above has been involved in shameful
scandals, not for the cause of Christ, but their own sins.