Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries, a well-known Latter Rain “prophet,” recently wrote:
“As we have addressed before, the Lord could have bound the devil and established His kingdom immediately after His resurrection, as He already purchased the world and all that is in it. This entire age, the Church age, is for the purpose of training for reigning for those who will reign with Him in the ages to come. He purposely did not bind the devil because He does not want it to be easy. Easy in this age usually equates to less maturity, less importance, or even less of a calling.” (11/29/05, “TAKING THE LAND–We Are Establishing Our Eternal Place And Position Here On Earth,” http://tinyurl.com/atuvh) [emphasis added]
This is a perfect example of the domionionist doctrine that teaches that Jesus did not defeat Satan when He shed His blood for us on the cross. Beware of this Joyner “prophecy” because it is filled with much more leaven, including the false teaching that the Church is about to enter the “promised land,” take dominion, and perfect herself as the bride of Christ on Earth:
“We are coming to the times when passive Christianity and passive Christians will cease to exist. There is a maturity, a discipline, and a divine militancy coming upon the people of God. Those who have succumbed to humanistic and idealistic theologies may have a hard time with this, but we must understand that God is a military God. The title that He uses ten times more than any other in Scripture is ‘the Lord of hosts,’ or ‘Lord of armies.’ There is a martial aspect to His character that we must understand and embrace for the times and the job to which we are now coming.” (Ibid) [emphasis added]
Al Dager in his book Vengeance Is Ours: The Church In Dominion defined this Latter Rain heresy as the “Dominion Mandate”:
“Dominion theology is predicated upon three basic beliefs: 1) Satan usurped man’s dominion over the earth through the temptation of Adam and Eve; 2) The Church is God’s instrument to take dominion back from Satan; 3) Jesus cannot or will not return until the Church has taken dominion by gaining control of the earth’s governmental and social institutions.” (Sword Pub., 1990, p. 87, [available at www.discernment-ministries.org])
The Truth:
For an excellent sermon that teaches the old doctrine about the Kingdom of God see Charles Spurgeon’s “Christ’s Universal Kingdom and How It Comes,” delivered in 1880.( http://tinyurl.com/8dss8) An excerpt follows:
“The power and Grace of God will be conspicuously seen in the subjugation of this world to Christ. Every heart shall know that it was worked by the power of God in answer to the prayer of Christ and His Church. I believe, Brothers and Sisters, that the length of time spent in the accomplishment of the divine plan has, much of it, been occupied with getting rid of those many forms of human power which have intruded into the place of the Spirit. If you and I had been about in our Lord’s day and could have had everything managed to our hand, we should have converted Caesar straight away by argument and oratory. We should then have converted all his legions by every means within our reach. And, I guarantee you, with Caesar and his legions at our back we would have Christianized the world in not time, would we not?
“Yes, but that is not God’s way at all, nor the right and effectual way to set up a spiritual kingdom! Bribes and threats are, alike, unlawful. Eloquence and carnal reasoning are out of court. The power of Divine Love is the one weapon for this campaign. Long ago the Prophet wrote, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.’ This fact is that such conversions as could be brought about by physical force, or by mere mental energy, or by the prestige of rank and pomp are not conversions at all! The kingdom of Christ is not a kingdom of this world, otherwise would His servants fight! It rests on a spiritual basis and is to be advanced by spiritual means. Yet Christ’s servants gradually slipped down into the notion that His kingdom was of this world and could be upheld by human power.
“A Roman emperor professed to be converted, using a deep policy to settle himself upon the throne. Then Christianity became the religion patronized by the State — it seemed that the world was Christianized, whereas, indeed, the Church was heathenized! Hence sprang the monster of a State Church, a conjunction ill-assorted and fraught with untold ills. This incongruous thing is half human, half Divine! As a theory it fascinates, as a fact it betrays! It promises to advance the Truth of God and is, itself a negation of it! Under its influences a system of religion was fashioned which, beyond all false religions and beyond even Atheism itself, is the greatest hindrance to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!
“Under its influence dark ages lowered over the world. Men were not permitted to think. A Bible could scarcely be found and a preacher of the Gospel, if found, was put to death! That was the result of human power coming in with the sword in one hand and the Gospel in the other and developing its pride of ecclesiastical power into a triple crown, an Inquisition and an ‘infallible Pope’! This parasite, this canker, this incubus of the church will be removed by the Grace of God and by His Providence in due season. The kings of the earth who have loved this unchaste system will grow weary of it and destroy it.
“Read Revelation 17:16 and see how terrible her end will be. The death of the system will come from those who gave it life — the powers of earth created the system and they will, in due time, destroy it! Frequently do we meet with the idea that the world is to be converted to Christ by the spread of civilization. Now civilization always follows the Gospel and is, in a great measure, the product of it, but many people put the cart before the horse and make civilization the first cause. According to their opinion, trade is to regenerate the nations! The arts are to ennoble them and education is to purify them. Peace Societies are formed, against which I have not a word to say, but much in their favor. Still, I believe the only efficient Peace Society is the Church of God and the best peace teaching is the love of God in Christ Jesus!”