The Charismatic Movement, The Lord’s Supper, and the New Age
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13).
Grace and peace to the Body of Christ and greetings to the world.
Today I watched a video featuring a woman named Ana Mendez Ferrel, who claims to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus (Whom she calls Yeshua). Like many New Age false prophets, this lady claims miraculous powers, which, according to her, she received when the heavens opened and God “downloaded” His powers upon her. Consequently, she purports to have this amazing ability to speak in previously unknown tongues. She also claims to have the ability to raise people from the dead and even said that she resurrected her own daughter, who she said had died after breaking her neck.
Ms. Ferrel said that she received this power after she first repented to God, then asked Jesus to forgive her, and finally took “communion” (Charismatic speak for the Lord’s Supper). She claims that the power to do these miracles comes from the blood of Jesus, and is available to anyone who partakes of the Lord’s Supper, which she claims to take every day.
This, of course, is an illustration of the Charismatic Movement’s emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, specifically tongues and healing. As we discussed in our series on the Charismatic Movement, the ultimate goal of this movement is to bring the world’s religions, particularly Protestant Christianity, under the headship of the Roman Catholic pope; hence, Ms. Ferrel’s emphasis on communion and the reference to the wine being the blood of Jesus Christ.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KSmuWU8UKI&NR=1
If you watch the other videos on this series, you will notice that in the advertisement for Ms. Ferrel’s DVD series, “Jesus” is seen holding up and blessing a piece of bread that is large and perfectly round in the same manner that Roman Catholic priests hold up and bless the eucharist.
You will also notice that Ms. Ferrel never says the Lord’s Supper is symbolic: that the bread is symbolic of Jesus’ body and the wine is symbolic of His blood. Rather, she says that the bread and wine are the body and blood of Jesus. This conforms to the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence, which teaches that the body, blood, and divinity of Jesus are actually present in the communion wafer that Catholics receive in their mouths. That is why, when speaking of her encounter with “Satan,” Ferrel says Satan fled from Jesus’ blood “which was in [her].”
We know that as Christians, Jesus’ blood is not in us. Jesus’ blood served one purpose: to wash us free from sin (Hebrews 9:22). Our power comes from the name of Jesus, not His blood. One can claim that the blood of Jesus is in him, however, if one eats the Roman Catholic communion wafer believing that Jesus’ body and blood are actually in it.
This is why Ferrell claims to have such miraculous powers. If one believes that Jesus’ divinity; that is, His Godhood, are in the communion wafer as well as His body and blood, and one consumes this wafer, then one can also claim to be able to perform miracles as Jesus did. And if one has Jesus’ divinity in Him, then one can claim to be God; for Jesus said, “The Father is in me, and I in Him” (John 10:38). This is what I believe Ms. Ferrel is really trying to say. This exposes the New Age character of the Charismatic Movement, for New Agers also claim to be God.
Steve Harvey, another New Ager, claims to worship God, but as we discuss in Is Steve Harvey a Christian?, this is simply not the case. Remember that in Exodus 3:14, God told Moses that His name was “I Am.” Jesus also claimed to be the Great I Am (John 8:58). Steve Harvey makes the same claim below.
Harvey is saying that he is God. In case you are still skeptical, notice that the center portion of the “W” is a pyramid with a capstone. This has special significance:
“DELTA. The name of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In form it is a triangle, and was considered by the ancient Egyptians a symbol of fire, and also of God” (Macoy, p. 118).
Notice he is also forming a triangle, or pyramid, with his hands. This man thinks he is a god, just like Ana Mendez Ferrel.
Now taking this analogy further, if one truly believes that the body, blood, and divinity of Jesus are in the eucharist, and one is a thinking person, then one must not only believe that if he eats the wafer, he can perform the miracles of Jesus. One must also believe that one is Jesus, for what is Jesus if not His body, blood, and divinity? Jesus the Son of man was body and blood—human. Jesus the Son of God is divinity—God.
Therefore the thinking person who adheres to this doctrine would have to believe:
1. That he is able to pay for his own sins, thus, redeeming himself. This doctrine is reflected in many religions like Freemasonry, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism. This is also seen in the New Age emphasis on self (self-improvement, self-help, self-healing through herbs, etc.) All of these groups are “working” toward perfecting themselves—becoming gods.
The catch phrase of the New Age religion is that one must be responsible for oneself. That includes being responsible for your own sins. In other words, they are not teaching that one should be sorry for his sins and accept Jesus’ sacrifice for sins. They are teaching that one has to be responsible for redeeming oneself from one’s sins. One must realize that one is God.
2. That if he can forgive his own sins, then he can also forgive the sins of others. We have already seen the results of this blasphemous practice in Roman Catholicism. And we will see it again, very shortly.
3. That he is sinless. If Jesus was sinless, and Jesus is in him, then he is also sinless.
4. That there is no sin: For if he is God, and God determines what is sin, then one can claim that sin doesn’t exist. He who makes the game makes the rules.
5. That he can decide for himself what is right and wrong. After all he is God, and Satan said, “And ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). This is what spawned the New Age motto “Do your own thing.” The problem with this is that there is no guilt for sin and therefore, no repentance. Ultimately this goes back to #1, for if a person is able to redeem himself of his sins, as only God can do, then he should be able to determine for himself what is sin, because he is god. We are seeing the tragic results of this thinking every day in the media.
6. That he is going to heaven even if he doesn’t accept Jesus as Savior. If it is Jesus’ death and the shedding of His blood that saves us, as the Bible teaches, then if the person has consumed the body and blood of Jesus he can literally say that he has salvation within him. He doesn’t need Jesus’ sacrifice.
7. That as Creator, he gets to say not only what’s right and what’s wrong, but also who is right and who is wrong. This could be based on a number of factors including race, religion, gender, etc. Do you see where this thinking could lead and is leading?
As you can see, only chaos, anarchy, self-righteousness, prejudice, and elitism can result from such a blasphemous doctrine as the Real Presence, and the effects on society would be disastrous. Now take a look around you and consider the state of things. You no longer have to ask yourself why things are as bad as they are.
I want to point out that in the third video the advertisement for Sid Roth’s ministry says that the Jews will be won to Jesus “through signs and wonders.” This means that the Charismatic Movement will also be used to join the Jewish religion to Rome. This should not surprise us as Jesus said that the Jews rejected Him, who came in the name of God, but that they will accept one who comes in his own name (John 5:43).
Ana Ferrell Mendez is profaning the Lord’s Supper. The doctrine that the literal body and blood of Jesus is present in the bread and wine is an abomination to God. It is not Christian. But then again, neither is the Charismatic Movement.
Click here to learn how the Lord’s Supper is supposed to be observed.
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Source: A Dictionary of Freemasonry, by Robert Macoy.
Copyright © 2011-2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All Rights Reserved.