RICHARD TAYLOR - THE FALSE TEACHING SURROUNDING THE WELSH OUTPOURING AT CWMBRAN

This article is a follow up to my previous article about Richard Taylor and the so called “Welsh Outpouring” in Cwmbran. I previously pointed out the ecumenical agenda of “Churches Together” of which Victory Church is a part, and what I consider to be certain cultish aspects of Taylor's leadership.

This particular paper is a critique of Richard Taylor's sermon on the 29^th of May from Acts 10/1-28 on day 26 of the “Outpouring”. Taylor uses the questionable New Living Translation which is a poor paraphrase rather than an accurate translation of the Bible. Acts 10 concerns the commencement of the in-grafting of Gentiles into the early church. Cornelius, a Gentile centurion who is described as “devout and God fearing” and the Apostle Peter are the main characters of Acts 10. “God-fearers” is a term used for Gentiles who were sympathetic towards Judaism.

The whole thrust of Taylor's sermon is predicated on a lie; it is actually a distortion of Acts 10/28 (also 11/9). “The lost, the hurting, the broken” unbelievers in society should not be viewed as, or spoken of as being “unclean” because “Jesus gave his life for those people”. This erroneous “opinion” is pure heresy and presumption. Taylor: “Don’t you dare call unclean what God calls clean.” The fallacy of emotive language lies in the abuse of the power of words to evoke a response, but this is deceptive and has nothing to do with truth or love. By biblical definition, unbelievers are “unclean” before a Holy God because they have not been cleansed from their sins by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1/7; Hebrews 9/14 etc). To say that sinners are "clean" prior to repentance is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

God has loosed what he bound in the Law of Moses in regard to distinctions between Jew and Gentile. These distinctions have been removed by God, so that after Gentiles believe the gospel their hearts are cleansed by faith and they no longer remain “unclean” (Acts 15/9). Peter's prejudice against the Gentiles as being excluded from receiving the gospel is shattered, so that now amongst believers: there is neither Jew or Greek (Gentile) for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3/28)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.(1 Corinthians 6/9-11)

Taylor is adamant that Christians should not say that certain people in society are immoral or declare what is moral and what is immoral - “we should love people the way that Jesus loves people.” This is another instance which demonstrates the imbalance of Taylor's theology. Jesus Christ is the Judge and Christians are not to judge people in a condemning way. However, to avoid any kind of warning about immorality is not biblical. If Christians do not define sin specifically and warn unbelievers about their lifestyles then there will be no conviction of sin. It is a question of how this is done rather than simply avoiding the question of sin in people's lives. The kind of “love” which Taylor promotes is unbiblical. If unbelievers are not convicted of sin then they will not be truly saved.

Conversely,Taylor condones “good works” of unbelievers and suggests that God is pleased with works of the “flesh”. Taylor: “You are a generous person...you are a nice person.....God sees that.” Condoning so called “good works”, but refusing to condemn sin is both perverse and dangerous. The Bible says that all are wicked prior to being saved – we are the enemies of God whether we think we are “nice” people or not, God does not make this distinction.

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. {the flesh profiteth nothing -KJV} (John 6/63)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17/9)

…..without faith it is impossible to please him (God) (Hebrews 11/6)

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64/6).

There is no difference all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3/23)

Righteousness is through faith in Christ alone (Philippians 3/1-6).

Everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14/23)

Taylor says that Peter had a “religious spirit” prior to his vision of the unclean animals. No – Peter did not have an evil spirit, he had the Holy Spirit. Peter's problem was ignorance and blindness about God's wider purposes for the whole world, he did not realise that the gospel was to go out to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, this is understandable given his Jewish mindset. Peter needed, received and accepted a revelation from the Lord about this. Christians do not have Peter's excuse of ignorance when they are exclusive and unloving towards people they consider to be outside the sphere of God's grace however.

Taylor: “God is touching them (unbelievers) by His Holy Spirit. Here – the people get the Holy Ghost and get saved afterwards.....” !!!!!!!! He goes on to describe how the Holy Spirit is touching unbelievers: “the power of God hitting them, they are going down on the floor, they don't know what is going on, but they know something has happened - then they are saying to us (the pastors) 'What must I do to be saved?'” For me, this is one of the most concerning parts of Taylor's sermon. If unbelievers are “going down” and “don't know what is going on”, then it is not through Holy Spirit’s conviction in the areas of sin, righteousness, and judgement through the preaching of the Word (John 16:8-9). Taylor is very aggressive at the prospect of anyone disagreeing with him on this point: “Since when do you become the theological authority on all matters of faith and conduct of life?” Whilst I do not claim to be a “theological authority”, the Bible is authoritative on such matters. There is a case of people believing and receiving the Spirit prior to water baptism (Acts 10/47), but never the other way around. There is no case of anyone receiving the Holy Spirit in the New Testament prior to being saved. This is not something that just happens randomly to unbelievers, there is a clear sequence of events in the Bible whether Taylor likes it or not. God is not the author of confusion..... (1 Corinthians 14/33)

And they (the disciples) went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs (literally signs following). (Mark 16/20)

Following Peter's sermon at Pentecost: .....they (the people) were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do? “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2/14-41;see also Acts 8/14)

The Apostle Paul received the Holy Spirit three days after his encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9/9-18).

And laying his hands on him he (Ananias) said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9/17)

The Apostle Paul clarifies that the Holy Spirit is received by faith by believers: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? …..so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3/2,14)

the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. (Acts 10/44)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10/17)

Believers are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4/30).

The world cannot receive the Spirit (John 14/17).

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8/9) Conversely if anyone does have the Spirit of Christ, he is His.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3/16)

According to Taylor: “The Holy Spirit came, touched and set people free who didn't even know Jesus, and then they said 'What must we do to be saved?'” I have seen no such passage in the Bible and I would be grateful for anyone to give me the reference for this.

Taylor disdains theology and says: “Put theology to one side.” This statement should set off warning bells. To put experience above the Word of God and right theology is a very dangerous thing to do. God does not contradict his Word, whereas experiences can be powerful and deceptive.

Taylor relates an occasion when “the presence of Jesus” was so strong that the children (forty or fifty in number) started to shake in the so called “presence of God” - the apparent “power of God” came upon the children and they were “going down in the Spirit”. How very concerning that the children who attend Victory Church are being subjected to such dangerous experiences not found in the New Testament.

Taylor reiterates to his congregation the importance of attending his church every single night without a break – this is something I have addressed in my previous article.

Taylor hasn't got the discernment to see what is wrong with the money preachers and Word-Faith teachers etc. on God TV - “There is nothing wrong with God TV.”

The mixture of truth and error is something that God hates as demonstrated by Jesus warning about the leaven (teaching) of the Pharisees (Matthew 16/6; Mark 8/15; see also Deuteronomy 22/11). Because there is some truth in Taylor's teaching it is deceptive. The Apostle Paul teaches that it only takes a little leaven (false teaching) to leaven the whole lump of dough (1 Corinthians 5.6; Galatians 5/9). As believers, we are to crave the pure water of the word which sanctifies, otherwise we are warned that we will not grow - the oldest manuscripts say “grow unto salvation” (1 Peter 2/2). The Bible tells us that the Apostle Paul's appeal to the Thessalonians did not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive..... (1 Thessalonians 2/3). A teacher who teaches a mixture of truth and error is muddying the pure water of Gods Word making God's people a prey …..must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? (Ezekiel 34/18,19).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.(1 John 4/1)

http://www.victorychurch.co.uk/the-book-of-acts-part-17

FURTHER INFORMATION

http://watchman4wales.blogspot.co.uk/

http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/

Please read the comments on the link below following Rob's recent article.

http://watchman4wales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/richard-taylor-andrew-parsons-self.html#comment-form