Following our statement in CETF Vol 2.5 I received the three "Protection from Deception" tapes which were withheld by the NZ Trustees of the DP Ministries. The teaching by Dr Prince is clearly aimed at the so called Toronto Blessing of which he is highly critical. We consider it most regrettable that these, together with the booklet written by Derek Prince, have been withdrawn world-wide.

Is it a part of the on-going spiritual deception that this Bible teacher, who is respected in charismatic & pentecostal circles in the antipodes, has been persuaded to with-draw the material? Was there, as some suspect, a political manoeuvre by the DP Trustees to avoid a public conflict of opinion in association with the visit of the pastor of the Toronto Airport Church, John Arnott with his wife Carol?

I now have a transcript of the first tape of the series which has the overall title of, PROTECTION FROM DECEPTION - navigating through the mine fields of signs & wonders. In the first message entitled "LET US HONOUR GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT" Dr Prince seeks to "analyse a problem that has arisen in many sections of the Church, in many parts of the world." He is openly critical of what has happened in Toronto. Here are some pertinent quotes:

"The greatest single danger in this end time is not sickness, nor poverty, nor persecution. It is deception. If anybody says, `It could never happen to me', it has already happened to that person, because that person is saying something could never happen that Jesus said would happen. So that's a sufficient indication that such a person is deceived."

"Then I want to say something important about signs and wonders. They do not define truth. It's very essential to understand that SIGNS AND WONDERS DO NOT DEFINE TRUTH. Truth is already defined and established and it is the WORD OF GOD." - ref Jn 17:17 & Ps 119:89.

In referring to 2 Thess 2:9-12 Dr Prince comments, "Paul says here there are such things as lying signs and wonders. There are true signs & there are lying signs. True signs attest the truth, lying signs attest lies . many in the charismatic movement have the attitude that if something is supernatural it must be from God. There is no Scriptural basis for that assumption. Satan is perfectly capable of producing powerful signs and wonders to attest his lies, and the reason why such people are deceived is because they did not receive the love of the truth. God offers the love of the truth but we have to receive it .. (otherwise) God will send strong delusion. That's one of the most frightening statements in the Bible, because if God sends you strong delusion, you will be deluded."

In this context and immediately after developing this idea Derek Prince says, "Now in 1994 for the first time I was brought into fairly direct contact with things that were happening in Toronto. A group of leaders went there and returned all excited & said they had experienced something wonderful and we all needed to experience it. They said, `Now you don't test it. You don't try it out. You don't examine it. You just open up to it and receive it.' Well that is the first time I really became suspicious of some of these things because it is directly contrary to Scripture. In 1 Thess 5:21 Paul says to Christians, `Test all things hold fast to what is good.' So if we do not test things we are disobeying Scripture, and anybody who tells us not to test things is himself not in harmony with Scripture. Our hearts cannot be relied upon to give us the truth. Prov 28:26 says, `He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.' So don't be a fool. Don't trust your own heart. Don't rely upon what your heart tells you because it's not reliable. In Jer 17:9 the prophet says `The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?'

In providing a summary of "Toronto" Dr Prince states that it's "a mixture of spirits, both the Holy Spirit and unholy spirits, they are mixed together. Now in Lev 19:19 God warns us against mixture. He is opposed to mixture." The result according to Mr Prince is always confusion and division, which is precisely the fruit of Toronto.

These are the sorts of things that we (Jacob Prasch & I) have been saying from the outset. I find it tragic, deceitful & possibly part of the build up to the great delusion, that someone of Dr Derek Prince's stature can be manipulated to such an extent that he agrees to with draw teaching which obviously reflects his considered opinion based on Scripture & observation of what is happening world-wide. It is a great let-down & a total disregard for the safety of God's people, who need Protection from Deception. We call for a reversal of the decision and a reissuing of the tapes & book.

(The 2nd Message (Tape No 2) is an attempt on the part of Dr Prince to analyse how the problem arose while the 3rd (Tape No 3) considers ways to guard against the problem arising again.)

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Appeared in Volume 3.1 January/February 1997