As the years wore on and my knowledge of the Word grew however, I realized that there was no biblical basis for this phenomena. As someone who runs a discernment ministry, I am extremely sensitive to stretching the Word of God beyond what He intended. I know the key verse has nothing to do with being slain. I know that the Transfiguration and Marriage Supper of the Lamb do not doctrinally establish a practice of falling down in churches across this land. Especially when you consider the painstaking detail the Apostle Paul went to in describing an organized church service. So what was a I left with? An experience that certainly seemed spiritual to me and the Word of God that assures me it was not. I had no choice but to acknowledge my flesh and defer to the Word. I remembered that at the time I was slain I was getting over losing someone very close to me. Someone who died too soon. I began to realize that if I were to be honest, the experience could have just as easily been an emotional one that I convinced myself was spiritual. Did God use it? I believe that He did. He will use anything for His glory. Did He minister to me? Absolutely. Those things were very real. The point is He could have and would have done those things without the theatrics. I did not have to go down for the count. God is always willing to minister to us. The question is are we ready? Do we really want to be ministered to?
So I know that many will read this and disagree. It is hard to be objective when it comes to things we have personally experienced and that is entirely the point. If all we have is our experiences to rely upon then we are subject to our flesh and the spirits of this present darkness. That is expressly why God gave us His Word:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2Timothy 3: 16-17 (ESV)
His Word is not just for teaching but it also corrects us. It separates out what is of us and what is of Him. This is how we are trained in righteousness. The Word of God is objective beloved. It is not guided by passion but by the solid objective truth of God Almighty. You may read this and still stick with what you have experienced but realize that the Bible is on the other side of that argument. It does not make you more spiritual to fall down in church. It makes you more spiritual to realize that it is unbiblical and therefore must be discarded.
Reverend Anthony Wade - August 8, 2015
