Common Evil Elements of False Movements

And then we had the discipleship or the Shepherding Movement. I was personally, closely involved, and I can tell you that it began with a supernatural intervention of God. I was there when it happened. Three other preachers, besides myself—Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson, and Don Basham—and I were all speaking at a convention.

In the middle of it, we discovered that the man who was leading and organizing the convention was an actively practicing homosexual. So we thought, “What are we to do about this?”

We agreed to meet together in someone’s room in the motel, not my room. The four of us knelt down and prayed. And when we stood up, we all knew, without any process of reasoning, without praying for it, without even wanting it, that God had joined us together.

Yet, in spite of that, I don't think the thing went a year before it started to go off. This is my personal impression. The problem was primarily personal ambition in different forms. One wanted to be the leader of a movement, another one wanted to appear on a platform, and so on. And I was one of them.

From my experience, I would say, there is no greater problem in the church today than personal ambition in the ministry. Another problem was that we were not renewed in our minds. We still thought in the old church categories. Everybody who disliked us said, “Well, you’re really a denomination.” Our leaders said, “Oh no, we’re not a denomination. We never will be.”

But the logic of spiritual principles is inexorable. He and his group have become a denomination. Our root problem was that we were not renewed in our minds. We still thought in terms of the way the church traditionally does things. And I do not believe the church does things right.

I believe there has to be a revolution in our thinking before we can line up with God’s purposes. So let me just list these five examples: the Latter Rain, the Manifested Sons, the Children of God, William Branham, and the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement.

Finally, let me point out two elements that were common, I think, to all these movements. Number one, pride. Pride is the most dangerous of all sins, in my opinion. I heard another preacher say once, “Pride is the only sin about which the devil will not make you feel guilty.”

“Pride ‘goes’ before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Now, you’ll notice that people usually say, “Pride ‘goes’ before a fall.” That is not what the Bible says. The Bible says, “Pride ‘goes’ before destruction.” So turn around. Don’t continue in that way, because the end of it is destruction. And I’m talking to myself as much as to you.

The second feature, which I believe was common to all five, was what I have already spoken about: a mixture of spirits. There was truth, and there was error. There was the Holy Spirit, and there were other spirits. And the way the other spirits got in was through a downward slide from the earthly to the soulish to the demonic.

Remember, the soulish is essentially self-centered. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul describes what the condition of humanity will be like at the close of this age, and I believe we are living in that time. He omits any sins or moral blemishes. But note this, and that’s the only time I can recall that Paul was so emphatic. He says, “Know this,”—be absolutely sure of this—“that in the last days perilous times will come.”

The Greek word translated ‘perilous’ is only used in one other place, in Matthew 8:28, where it describes two demonized men who came against Jesus. And notice the emphasis, what God says: “Know this.” So there are going to be fierce times, and they are here. You can pray as much as you like, but you cannot change it, because God says, “Know this, there will be fierce times.” You cannot change it, but you can ask God to prepare you for it.

“For men will be lovers of their own selves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

You notice, it begins and ends with the things that people love: the love of self, the love of money, and then the love of pleasure. But I want to point out to you the root of it all is the love of self. That’s what lets evil in: soulishness, being focused on me. “What is God going to do for me? What do I get out of this?”