TESTING THE PROPHETIC SERIES
Conferences of Cassian
John Cassian was an incredibly influential man in the 5th century. He traveled throughout Egypt learning the spiritual life from the Desert Fathers and Mothers near the end of the 4th century. Cassian chronicled their teachings in his two main works: the Conferences and the Institutes. The Institutes were a codification of what the desert monastics practiced and were written for the western church. The Conferences were a collection of conversations Cassian had with the monastic fathers in Egypt. Though the voice was the Desert Fathers, the pen was Cassian. What comes across is not the exact teaching of each Desert Father, but a reinterpretation for the western church.
It was Cassian’s work that popularized Christian monasticism beyond the borders of Egypt, Jerusalem, and Turkey. These works informed the Church on the nature of the spiritual life for centuries and laid the foundation for the widespread practice of Christian monastic communities. In Cassians' second conversation with Abba Nesteros (Conference 15), Nesteros lays out the reasons for God's distribution of gifts in the church.
Through the speaker is Nesteros, it is Cassian who lays out why gifts are necessary and what to expect in the lives of those gifted individuals. Three reasons are given for why gifts are seen in a community. Two of the reasons are on account of God, and the last reason is on account of demons. Gifts can be seen because of the lifestyle of those who pursue God. The natural outworking of a holy life is that God is seen evidently moving in the life of that person. People around them are touched by the Holy Spirit and brought near to the Father.
““The first indeed is for the sake of healing, when the grace of signs accompanies certain elect and righteous men on account of the merits of their holiness.””
The lifestyle of the one who pursues God creates space for God to move through that person. This is something we should expect. When we set our lives to draw near to God and recognize that all that we have received in life comes from Him, God uses us to accomplish His purposes. We see this throughout scripture.
Secondly, sometimes the gift is seen not because of the individual, but because of the great need within the church. Certain individuals can appear to be gifted, but it is not a heavenly endorsement of the person. It is merely the grace of God to respond to the cry of His people.
““The second when for the edification of the church or on account of the faith of those who bring their sick, or of those who are to be cured, the virtue of health proceeds even from sinners and men unworthy of it.” ”
In this case, the gift is not seen because of the merit of the person, but because of the need within the community. God chose Samson to defend the people of Israel in spite of his flaws. The power of Samson was not an endorsement of his lifestyle, it was because of the need within the nation. 1 Corinthians 14:12 tells us that the gifts are to edify the church:
““Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.””
The gift in this case is not an advocate for the life of the person. Today, we have often let the gift speak for the person. Whether it is their talent in teaching, as a musician, or in prophecy, these things are not necessarily owed to a holy life, but rather could be attributed to the need of the people. This is an important consideration that we often fail to make. We must not let the talents of a person speak for their character, but let their character speak for their character.
The third reason that Cassian lays out is because of demonic deceit:
““The third method of healing is copied by the deceit and contrivance of devils, that, when a man who is enslaved to evident sins is out of admiration for his miracles regarded as a saint and a servant of God, men may be persuaded to copy his sins and thus an opening being made for cavilling, the sanctity of religion may be brought into disgrace, or else that he, who believes that he possesses the gift of healing, may be puffed up by pride of heart and so fall more grievously.””
The person who appears gifted is actually in deception. The purpose for the appearance of giftedness is to lead others astray. This underscores why it is so important to weigh the lifestyle of the person. The one driven by the Holy Spirit will carry themselves in a manner consistent with the fruit of the Spirit. As Jesus said, look at what is within. The one driven by demonic inspiration will unleash division, contempt for others, pride, and will make the hope for gain a significant part of their ministry. This puts into stark clarity the need for a solid foundation:
““Paul says, “I show unto you a still more excellent way.” By which it is clearly shown that the height of perfection and blessedness does not consist in the performance of those wonderful works but in the purity of love.””
The more excellent way Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12 is the way of love (see the previous posts on the love gifts). The foundational aspect of the gifts of the Spirit as they function within the community of God is love. There is no other way than the way of love, the way of love is the way of Christ. If the practice of the gifts divides you from the wider body of Christ, you may be doing it wrong. If the one you are listening to breeds within you contempt for other churches, and brothers or sisters in Christ, flee from their influence.
To Cassian, the pursuit was not the gift, but the purity of the Holy Spirit:
““Wherefore we never ought to admire those who affect these things, for these powers, but rather to look whether they are perfect in driving out all sins, and amending their ways…””
Again, as in all the early church, we must look at the life of those who we allow influence within the body of Christ. To operate in a gift from God is to be moved by compassion and a humble posture:
““And so these men gave no credit to themselves for their power of working such wonders, because they confessed that they were done not by their own merits but by the compassion of the Lord and with the words of the Apostle they refused the human honour offered out of admiration for their miracles: “Men and brethren, why marvel ye at this, or why look ye on us as though by our own power or holiness we had caused this man to walk.””
People that are insistent that they be called Prophet or Apostle present problems in light of these instructions. The credit is not given to the presence of a gift or a call. Healing, wonder working, great prophecies do not come about because of the individual, but because of God. As John Paul Jackson has said, “Those who desire a title soon think they are entitled.”
Cassian wrote that when Jesus said, “Come and learn of Me,” he did not teach them “…to cast out devils by the power of heaven, not to cleanse the lepers, not to give sight to the blind, not to raise the dead…” But rather, Cassian writes, “…says He, learn this of Me, ‘for I am meek and lowly of heart.’”
What Jesus expected his disciples to learn was not how to operate in power, but rather, how to humble themselves by looking at his heart.
The witness to the world is in the way Christians carry themselves. There will always be an excuse not to believe in the miraculous power of God, but the love that Christians carry for others can never be denied:
““By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love to one another.” He says not: “if ye do signs and miracles in the same way,” but “if ye have love to one another;” and this it is certain that none but the meek and humble can keep.””
Humility and meekness are not so much qualities of life as they are the foundational principles of the heart of God.
In our modern age, it is a normal thing to teach someone to pray for healing. It is often done in an afternoon. But teaching someone to forgive those who have wronged them is a much more challenging affair. Forgiveness is the greater challenge because our hearts are hard and fickle.
Our struggle is not with God, but with our own hearts.
Cassian presents us with many things to consider in application to the modern-day exercise of prophecy and spiritual gifts.
We must come to realize that the presence of a gift does not speak towards the credibility of the person (gifts can come because of the need within the people), but the gift also can owe itself to the lifestyle of the individual. We must have measures in place to help guide our discernment. The truest measurement is the measurement of the heart. The pursuit should not be for greater and greater gifts, but greater and greater love.