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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:

i) I was led by the Spirit as to how to approach writing these notes: The Lord led me to start this study in 2007. It has taken several years so far. Re-reading, discerning, double checking and weighing this book of prophetic experiences against scripture in detail was no small feat. I could not have done this for the entire book had the Holy Spirit not told me which issues to focus on in each of the following twelve Chapters. The analysis, choice of quotes and scriptures were my own. I have used the original 1996 edition of the book for this as more people will have this version. A later version was brought out in 2006 which is almost identical although the quotes appear on different pages. I would recommend reading the “SUMMARISED VERSION” of these notes first as the full version may prove too long and time consuming for most people to tackle. If any more detail or evidence is then required there are links from the summarised version across to the full length Chapters listed in the index.

ii) A failure to differentiate between different prophetic experiences: “The Final Quest,” is not presented in the way most Christians would express prophetic messages or the way they are presented in scripture. Part 1 came to Joyner as a dream. Parts II through to V came to him as several different visions, dreams and trances though, in different ways and at different times. For the most part Joyner does not inform the reader where one vision ends and another experience starts, this results in “The Final Quest” appearing to be one continuous prophetic experience which was not the case. This makes it much harder for others to test and weigh the various different and separate prophecies that combine to make up this book. For most of the book the reader will not know if they are reading about a vision, a dream, a trance or a prophetic impression. In his own introduction Joyner also states that he contemplated writing this book “as an allegory” in the way “The Pilgrims Progress,” (p. 14), was written. However “The Pilgrims Progress,” by Bunyan was a work of fiction whereas “The Final Quest” is entirely a work of prophecy. When presenting prophecy the “prophet” should surely state when and how each part came to them, whether as an impression, as words, images, a dream, a trance, or a vision etc, and where one prophetic experience ended and the next one started? A prophet should surely not link various separate dreams, visions, trances and impressions together as if they all came to the “prophet” in the same way when this was not the case? This is however what Joyner has done in “The Final Quest.” The way Joyner has merged the different spiritual experiences in the book will be a hindrance to most people adequately weighing up the messages contained within it. Considering the magnitude of these prophetic messages it is vital that the reader manages to weigh them despite this.

iii) A misrepresentation of most of these spiritual experiences. When Joyner’s statements are looked at more closely it appears that he has misrepresented most of his spiritual experiences. Chapter 1 is straight forward enough though and consists of a single dream in which Joyner engages in a spiritual battle and climbs up a spiritual mountain as if he were actually there in the dream engaging in these activities whilst unaware of his earthly surroundings. This would be an experience similar to an ordinary dream that one might have whilst asleep. The rest of the book, (Parts II through to V), are presented in the same way as if a continuation of this dream. However Joyner claims that these parts came to him as separate, visions, dreams, trances with only some of them whilst he was in a dream like state. For most of these spiritual experiences Joyner says he was aware of his natural surroundings, (aware of the room he was in at the time etc), quote, “most of it came on the level where I was still aware of my surroundings, and could interact with them, such as answering the phone,” (p. 11). Why then did Joyner describe all of his spiritual experiences as if he had been in a dream like state at the time, as if he had interacted with what he saw in all of his visions, when this cannot have been the case? If he was aware of his natural surroundings during most of these experiences he could not have actually moved around, engaged in firing arrows at vultures, blown trumpets, shouted to other saints, talked with eagles, walked along with angels, touched spiritual stones or engaged in climbing a mountain etc as he has recorded in his book. It would be bizarre to act out like this whilst you could see the room you were in, and break off occasionally to answer the phone as Joyner claims he did. The majority of Joyner’s spiritual experiences have clearly been misrepresented as dreams in the text of his book when they were not at all. Instead according to his own words above most of these visions and trances must have been what Joyner describes as “rather mild, so that you are still conscious of your physical surroundings, and can still interact with them” (p. 11). Joyner even claims that when these experiences “were interrupted, or when things got so intense... I would have to get up and walk around,” (p. 11). So whilst he records all these experiences as if he had engaged with the many things he saw in his visions he was in fact still aware he was sitting down in a chair in a room at the time. He cannot therefore have engaged with most of these visions as if in a dream like state as his book describes. His books account is therefore a misrepresentation of what Joyner really experienced during most of his visions. “The Final Quest” is therefore in the main an inaccurate account of what Joyner had experienced.

iv) Written in the style of a novel: “The Final Quest” reminded me in many ways of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” a fantasy novel which describes an imaginary battle between people with occult powers, between black magic sorcerers and white magic wizards etc. However Joyner is sharing prophecy with us and this was not given to him in the format of a single continuous novel. Surely he should not therefore have presented it to us as such? Presenting it like this ushers the reader down a path of reading it as if it were a novel. This works against people weighing it up as prophecy. Instead they are more likely to rush from one chapter to the next as they get caught up in the exciting storey line, in a bid to find out what happens next, forgetting that they should treat it cautiously as prophecy. When they come to the end they will then have the prospect of weighing up a single 158 page prophecy. So because of the way it is presented most people who read “The Final Quest” won’t find time to weigh it up as they should. Instead if Joyner had described what he had experienced more accurately, informing us for example that “this part came a dream, the next as a mild vision I saw whilst sitting in my room” etc, then the reader could weighed up each part as they went through the book. By presenting it in this misleading continuous novel like style inclines the reader to weigh it up as one huge prophetic dream instead. Strangely the book also ends with the sentence “To be continued...” (p. 158), which is how a secular entertainment based novel may be presented. Joyner seems to have adapted his own visions and spiritual experiences so that even he even ends up treating them as a novel himself. This is surely not how a serious and substantial body of separate predictive prophecies should be presented? It is however more entertaining and appealing to the flesh and may explain why the book has become so popular?

v) Prophesying what he already believed: Joyner claims that “most of the doctrine that was illuminated to me in these experiences I have known and taught for years,” (p. 13). However prophecy is not given for the illumination of doctrine, especially not to back up a person’s own particular beliefs. Christian doctrines are already known and clear to see from the pages of the bible. It is the teaching gift that is given to illuminate doctrine not prophecy. The fact that Joyner’s visions repeat so much of what he had already taught for years is in itself unusual. Prophecy always entails fresh revelation which is new knowledge, (this is also the dictionaries definition of revelation). Prophecy is not sent to repeat what a “prophet” already believed. This could however appear more convincing to others and persuasive. Joyner also claims his visions “contained some strategic revelations,” (p. 13), the main one of which is his call for a “Christian Civil war,” (p. 22), within the church; once again though this was not a revelation to Joyner because his close friend and associate “prophet” Bob Jones had a well known vision calling for exactly the same thing just two years earlier. Like Jones Joyner also likened this call for a Christian Civil War to the American Civil War. Joyner will have been very familiar with Jones vision so this “strategic revelation” could not have been new to him but again a repetition of what he had heard before. It appears that most of the revelations and prophetic messages that came to Joyner in his various visions and dreams were not in fact new to him at all but things that he had already believed or had heard from others before. Even the new style of spirituality described in the book appears to be the same as that advocated by other Kansas City Prophets, (by Paul Cain and Bob Jones for example).

vi) Testing prophetic visions and dreams: As with all prophecy it is essential that the reader weigh up the messages contained within this book rather than accept them at face value, in presumption, on the basis of having read the book through once; that they “test all things,” as per 1 Thess 5. 21. It is important that the gift of “discerning of spirits,” (1 Cor 12; 10), is used to test these visions wherever possible although the results of that cannot be transferred to others. The following twelve chapters therefore focus on testing “The Final Quest” against scripture, which is the most important and reliable test of all. I am convinced/certain that it was the Holy Spirit who directed me to look at the specific issues covered in each of the following twelve chapters of these notes.

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Chapter 1