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Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith (http://www.fightingforthefaith.com) deconstructs and exposes the Bible twisting techniques that Rod Parsley uses to scam people out of their money.
Alright, so are you ready? Get your helmets on or your tinfoil pyramid hats or whatever. What you're about to hear is probably one of the most egregious and horrible examples of somebody twisting God's Word and covering himself in the Bible and Bible verses in order to make merchandise of people.
Here is Rod Parsley and his segment from a recent edition of his program entitled No Weapon Formed. Here we go.
Right now a fierce all-out attack against you against everything of great value in your life. But my dear dear friend your commander-in-chief has full supremacy absolute authority and he's decreed and declared that no weapon formed against you shall prosper.
On this broadcast you're about to discover how to receive for yourself his miraculous anointing of provision and protection. Stay right where you are. I'm Rod Parsley.
Yeah, so do you need God's provision and protection? Well, you're gonna find out how you can get it today. How much do you want to bet that this involves sending money to Rod Parsley? Let's continue.
Stay right where you are. I'm Rod Parsley. This here is your breakthrough.
Your relationships, your health, your finances may be under attack. But today the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah reverberate down through the ages. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Now from the high-definition studios of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, it's time for your breakthrough.
Take someone out and join me right now. Just shout right about it. You're in the most deep. No weapon. Come on, shout it. No weapon.
Notice all the hype. No weapon is that formed against you. By the way, open up your Bible to Isaiah chapter 54.
You're gonna need to have it open. Tell somebody here. You tell somebody there. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It just won't work. What a time we're about to have. Right now what I'd like you to do.
Now don't do it if you're in this wonderful Studio Waters. But if you're watching at home, here's what I want you to do right now. I want you to call your friends. I want you to text. Come on, your cell phone's laying right there.
You're never more than two feet away from it. Text all your friends. Tweet somebody if you got an iPhone. Or if you're like me, just go out in the backyard and yell over the fence to some of your neighbors.
Tell everybody, you know, that their adversary is about to encounter a God with whom they cannot contend.
So what would those adversaries be, by the way? Well, you're gonna find out.
Encounter a God with whom they cannot contend. Turn on the TV right now. Watch breakthroughs of Pastor Rod.
That's right. Tell all your friends to turn on the TV right now. I mean, why? Why would I want to tell my friends and neighbors to turn on their television quick? Rod Parsley's on. Tweet it out. Get on your smartphone.
Get on Twitter quick. Send out the hashtag NoWeaponFormed against me and let all your friends. You got to turn into Rod Parsley right now. Well, why would that be? Well, you're gonna find out.
For you right there, right there where you are in the middle, in the middle of that raging struggle, that battle, that conflict. Everybody shout, No Weapon! Let me ask you a question. Are you ready? All right.
So imagine, just imagine for a second that you've just lost your job or you just heard from your doctor that you've been diagnosed with cancer or you came home a week or two ago and your spouse has left you or your child has been arrested.
Right now you are having a crisis in your life. Okay, you're flipping channels and you're looking for an answer. You are miserable. You're suffering. You're in anguish. You are looking for a way out and you've probably spent time praying, God, I just need a sign.
Please, please, please give me anything to show me that you hear me. Okay, and you've come across this program. Now he's got your interest, right? Um, okay. Maybe this is the answer to my prayers, right?
Conception that some of the things that are currently arrayed against us must have some kind of power. But I hear Isaiah shouting up out of the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem, No Weapon! No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
Listen, it gets better and every time, I'm gonna talk about those folks lying about you right now. I'm talking about those folks that can't tell the truth about you right now. No. Every tongue that rises against you to judge you in judgment, you shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. If you are one, shout no weapon.
Now what he said is kind of true. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, those who've been brought to repentance and faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. But don't worry, don't let that get in the way.
He's not gonna over-define this thing, you know, because what he's really after. He's not really after you being brought to repentance and faith in Christ. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. What he's really after is a financial contribution on your part of a particular amount too, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sorry, spoiler alert there.
I'm ready. I'm ready to make a declaration. I have no, no idea really. I have no idea what weapon in the arsenal of your adversary that he's chosen.
To use against you today. Okay, now here comes the litany of weapons. What kind of weapons are we talking about here? Well, listen.
That in this economy so many are being hammered, beaten down by weapons called lack.
A weapon called lack? Huh? Hmm. So are you, maybe you just lost your job. Maybe you're struggling, you know, financially, you know, with the rising cost of food and gas. I mean, you're barely able to make, you're suffering, you have an enemy who's formed a weapon called lack.
Huh?
By weapons called lack, insufficiency, not enough, debt.
You may have lost your job. So, okay, think about this for a second, okay? Just think about the evil of what it is that you're hearing. People he's preying on are those who can't afford to make ends meet.
They are literally struggling financially. They may be behind on their rent. They may not be able to make their car payment. Their car is about ready to be taken from them, repoed. Maybe they don't even have enough money to pay for their electricity.
And so these, this is who he's preying on. Okay? So these are people who are in bonafide, real, financial trouble. That's who he's taking advantage of. Think, just think how evil that is. Because when we get to the sales pitch portion of this, you're gonna be disgusted.
And now you're behind on your house payment. Your car is in danger of being repossessed. You can't see the end in sight. God has a word for you today. I want to whisper it, but I can't. No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
The weapon of recession is broken. Hear this word and heed it. Hear this word. Believe it. The weapon of financial loss arrayed against you shall not. I don't know, maybe. Maybe you've come from your physician's office.
Maybe you uttered those words that struck a resounding fear the depths of your heart. I know what that's like. I know what it's like to be handed a child, be told no hope. I've been there and I can still shout.
No weapon. Now you keep saying that, no weapon, no weapon, out of context, no context. In fact, let's, I asked you to open up your Bible to Isaiah 54. Open it up, flip back one chapter. Let's go back to Isaiah 53.
Let's get some context here. Let's do a little Bible study. Find out what's going on in Isaiah. Is Isaiah saying in Isaiah 54 verse 17 that the weapon of lack is not gonna prosper against you? The weapon of cancer, the weapon of, you know, whatever.
Is that what he's talking about? Is that really what this passage is saying? Well, the only way we're going to figure that out is using our three primary rules for sound biblical exegesis, and they are context, context, and context.
And we're gonna start with Isaiah 53. There's a reason for this because 54 flows from 53 and Isaiah 53, literally, this is one of the passages in Scripture that is the clearest passage regarding the gospel in all of Scripture.
Okay, if you remember yesterday's lecture on what is the gospel, the point that I think Dr. Thomas made was that if you watch the movie The Passion of the Christ, what you saw was a man being beaten brutally, okay, absolutely beaten senseless, one of the worst cinematograph, cinematographer, you know, well, I don't even know the right word, one of the worst movie depictions of somebody being scourged ever, right, and very accurate, okay?
You saw this, but the thing is is that watching that movie, you didn't actually hear the gospel. And here's the reason why, it's because there is a theological significance attached to the crucifixion of Christ that is not stated while he's being crucified.
It comes before in Isaiah, and it comes after in the in the writings of the Apostles telling us what was going on there while that was occurring. To the untrained observer, all they saw when Jesus was being crucified was a guy being crucified.
That happened all the time in Jerusalem and during the time of the Roman occupation, right? People were crucified, you know, regularly. What made this crucifixion any different than any other? Okay, well, here's what Isaiah 53 says, "...who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he," that's Christ, "...grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form of majesty that we should look on him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions.". Transgressions. We're transgressors. We have all transgressed God's holy laws and his commands. Each and every one of us stand guilty before God of sinning against him and against our neighbors, right?
"...but Christ was pierced for our transgressions. He, Jesus, was crushed for our iniquities, and upon him was the chastisement or the punishment that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth, and like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like the sheep that before its shearers is silent, he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgressions of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man, and his death, although he had done no violence, and yet there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him, and he has put him to grief. When a soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring, and he shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hands, and out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied, and by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted or reckoned righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Chapter 54. Sing, O barren one, who did not bear. Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor. For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the one who was married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations, and will people the desolate cities.
And this is talking eschatologically here, okay? This is talking eschatologically. Why? Because every one of us eventually is going to die. It's not promising material wealth here, but when Christ returns in glory, and we are in his kingdom, having been raised bodily from the grave, here on a new earth, right?
New heavens, new earth. We're gonna spread forth, right? We will inherit the earth itself. This is what this is referring to. Fear not, for you will not be ashamed. Be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood. You will remember no more. For your maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. Now, you'll notice here that the language, husband talk, okay?
So this is talking about the church, right? This is, you know, this is a, you know, what is Christ? Christ is the bridegroom. The church is the bride of Christ. For your maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is his name.
The Holy One of Israel is your redeemer, the God of the whole earth, he is called. For the Lord has called you, like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says the Lord.
For a brief moment, I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger, for a moment, I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love, I have compassion on you, says the Lord, your redeemer.
This is like the days of Noah to me, as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.".
This is very comforting words for those who are in the church, those who are in Christ, right? Oh, afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of agate, and the gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones, and all your children shall be taught by the Lord. The great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established, and shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me. Whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.
Behold, I have created the smith, who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon for its own purposes. I have also created the Ravenger to destroy, but no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me declares the Lord.". Just a quick summary here. So in Isaiah 53, we have the suffering servant, Jesus, being pierced for the transgressions of the Lord's people.
This is what it says. And then in Isaiah 54, the eschatological result of all of this, the coming kingdom of God and the promises of what's coming, right? But Jesus himself says here on the earth that we should expect suffering and persecution for his name's sake.
You know, if they crucified him who is the Lord, how much more are they going to persecute and cause to suffer those who are his servants, those who are his disciples? The same thing happens here. But all of this is going to, all of this, these tears, the rejection that we have, those who suffer by, you know, by basically proclaiming the gospel, proclaiming and believing in the Lord.
Right now, they are hated and despised, but God is going to gather us. He's going to gather us on the last day, and we will possess the earth forever, and him forever, right? This is what it's talking about here.
So that's what's going on here. These are, these are, in a very real sense, eschatological promises. But when we read Isaiah 54, 17 in context, it doesn't say anything about the weapon of lack, or the weapon of cancer, or anything like that.
That, this is not what this passage is saying. But, see, what this passage is saying is not really an important thing to Rod Parsley. Rod Parsley has a different agenda. His agenda is not faithfully proclaiming God's Word.
No, not at all. His agenda has nothing to do with proclaiming the Christ who was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. No, no, no, no, no. He's manipulating God's Word in order to take advantage of those who are in very real distress and suffering.
This man, well, he's like a shark, you know, because a shark smells blood in the water. That's what he is. You know, people who are wounded, and grieving, and suffering, that's like blood in the water.
And he's the shark that's circling. And he's about to take a big bite out of those people who are already suffering. All, all, with the assurance, all with the assurance that, oh, don't worry, don't worry.
God wants to help you, but yeah, you need to give me money first. That's all coming. Here we go. I've been there.
That report said cancer, and I'm here to tell you, I can still shout no weapon. Let me declare the decree of the Lord. Let me speak the law of the Lord over your physical situation right now. No weapon, not cancer.
No weapon, no malady, no malfunction. No disease shall prosper. No infirmity. It's broken. Maybe it's your children. Maybe it's your children. Maybe there's a situation going on there that keeps you pacing the floor at night, and though you seek for it desperately, no peace comes.
No rest comes. You fall over and go to sleep a few hours out of exhaustion, sleepless night after sleepless night, and believe me, if that's you right now, there's in the natural reason to be gravely concerned.
Recent statistics show that 45 teenagers die every day in America, and the top three killers are accident.
Okay, so let's review here. Who's he trolling for? Those who are financially strapped, right, who can't pay their bills. Those who've received a diagnosis from the doctor, and it's not looking good. Those whose children have died.
Okay, these are the people he's trolling for. He's gonna offer a simple solution.
Murder and suicide. Our children are taking their own lives. I read those statistics, and I think you've you've been on this planet 12 years. How can you get so distressed in.
12 years? Oh, he sounds so compassionate, doesn't he?
Why is it that such relentless warfare raises up and is being waged against our teenagers? It's very simple. The adversary hates them, not because of who they are today, but because he knows what they have the potential of.
Oh, brother. Oh, yeah.
Satan is raging a war against children because they have the potential to do something great in the world.
He knows what they're going to accomplish for the kingdom of Almighty God, because we will not let them go. And I'm here to prophetically proclaim to you that no weapon formed against your children. No weapon formed against your teenager.
No weapon formed against your grandchildren. Shall prosper! I need somebody to agree with me right now. Oh, look at all these people. They believe this too, don't they? Well, the kicker's coming. I know that you want your children.
Protected. Oh, yeah, I want my children protected.
I mean, you may take a risk yourself, but you want your children.
Protected. How can I have my children? I don't want them to be at risk. I don't want the devil to war against them. How can I ensure that my children will be protected?
From the entrapments of the adversary. So let me encourage you right now. Oh, please do. Entrapments of the adversary. So let me encourage you right now.
Lay hold of a promise of Isaiah 54 17. So I just need to lay hold of a promise. Okay. Notice the word. Lay hold of a promise. Is a promise something you have to pay for? Okay, for instance, if I were to say to you, you know, I promise that tomorrow I'm going to do X Y or Z for you.
I promise I'm gonna do that. Is that something you have to pay for? No, if I'm promising to give you something then it's a gift. It's given as a promise. It's not something you have to buy. That promise is a promise.
So here he's saying, lay hold of the Isaiah 54 17 promise. But apparently the promise means something different to him than it does to the rest of the world. Listen.
If you're weary from the battle and you want with all your heart to have God Almighty step in and say, I've got this now. Okay, so and you need to lay hold.
So if you want God Almighty to step in and say, okay, I got this now. Yeah, so you can sit down. God's gonna fight your battle for you, right? So, I mean, it sounds like a great thing. Wow. Okay, so I need to lay hold of the promise and if I'm so tired and weary that I want God to kind of like tap in, you know, think of like a wrestling match.
Tap in and say, don't just step out of the ring. I got this now for you. Oh, yeah, that sounds helpful, doesn't it? How do I get that to happen?
With every ounce of dogged faith you can find in your being right now. And I can tell you right now, there is a supernatural flowing forth of the gift of faith. I'm here to tell you you're about to be able to take a step of faith that you had no idea you could take because there's an infusion of the supernatural gift of faith coming to you right now.
So I can take a supernatural step of faith. This is an opportunity that has all of a sudden just magically appeared. Already, it's starting to sound, hmm. Uh-oh.
Natural gift of faith coming to you right now. Tell him that I'm gonna take you at your word. I'm gonna stand up in faith and I'm going to sow an Isaiah 54 17 seed of $54 .17. Listen to me. There it is.
I thought you said it was a promise. So if I want God to, you know, tap me on the shoulder and say, all right, I got this now. You go sit down. I need to step out in faith and sow an Isaiah 54 17 seed by sowing a seed of $54 .17.
Remember, who's he trolling for? People who can't even pay their rent or their mortgage or their car payment. Okay. So they're gonna give up $54 .17 to demonstrate to God that they're stepping out in faith so that God will see that and go, okay good.
Now I know you believe so I'm gonna help you. He's selling God's promises.
17 cents only matters because that's the instruction that God placed in my spirit for you today. So God placed this instruction in.
Rod Parsley's spirit today. Maybe that's why Isaiah 54 17 says nothing about sending money to Rod Parsley. Because he says that God put that into his heart. Don't believe it.
Could I encourage you if God asks you to do some great thing, you do it. I'm asking you to take a very simple step of faith toward God to obey a very simple instruction.
Yeah, an instruction that is not in the Bible, but an instruction that God gave directly to Rod Parsley. See, he's the prophet now, not Isaiah. See God told him to tell you to give him.
$54 .17. For God to obey a very simple instruction. Because when Naaman obeyed that instruction, the miracle of God was released. Just like I'm believing with you right now.
Naaman didn't give $54 .17 to Elisha.
I can perceive it. I can perceive that virtues going forth out of me. I feel your faith pulling on me right now. Somebody in this studio audience is sitting here right now saying, could it be, could it be, could this be my moment, could this be my word, could this be my opportunity?
Right now, you have a need and you've received an instruction.
Mm-hmm. You have a need and you've received a direct instruction from God through the prophet Rod Parsley.
And you've received an instruction, step of faith. Respond in faith right now because your miracle only manifests by what God does. You're not responsible to perform a miracle only to begin one with a seed and the miracle of God becomes manifested by what he does when you simply obey.
Go to the phone. Do it right now. Go to the phone right now. This is a moment of faith that may never ever. No, it's a moment of fleecing and and.
Mark my words. Rod, you will have to give an accounting to God for this blasphemy, for every penny that you stole from these people who were down on down on their luck, down on life, who were suffering and you bled them dry with your false promises from God.
Faith that may never ever ever be repeated again. But God is saying, if you're hearing this word, take hold of it. Seize this moment. Claim this word right now as your own word and say, God, that's me.
That's my family. That's my business. That's my ministry. That's my church. God, those are my children. That's my marriage. So I feel the adversary releasing his stranglehold. Are you going to your phone?
Yeah, just quick. Call him. Send in your $54 .17 so that God can defeat the adversary in your life. This is exactly what Jude refers to when he warns us of those who've gone after Balaam's heir, Balaam who prophesied for profit.
This is what the scripture warns us about, those who make merchandise of you in the name of God. This is what it means to take God's name in vain. If you think taking God's name in vain is typing into your smartphone messaging system, OMG.
Believe me, it's way worse than that. This is what blasphemy sounds like. This is what it means to take God's name in vain, to literally rob those who are suffering, promising them release, and all they have to do is give you money.
There will be a day when we see men like Rod Parsley thrown into the lake of fire, and we will rejoice at the judgment of God. Or such men as this. Man, utter, utter blasphemy. If you have been hoodwinked by people like this, understand this.
This isn't Christianity, and God is not speaking to this man. You want to know the truth? Find out about Jesus. Read the Apostles. God doesn't sell his miracles. He loves you, and he's offered you the miracle of forgiveness of your sins for free and gratis.
He is your loving and eternal Father who takes care of your needs purely out of his love for you, and you do not have to buy miracles from him. And anybody who says otherwise is an agent of the devil.
Don't listen to them. All right, we're up on our second break. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the Faith, you can do so.
My email address is TalkBackAtFightingForTheFaith .com, or you can ask to be my friend on Facebook. It's Facebook .com forward slash PirateChristian, or you can follow me on Twitter, my name there, at PirateChristianWe.
We'll be right back.
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