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Esoteric “Christianity”
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It was a four hour visit, but it seemed like all
day.
For a number of months I had been talking with a local gentleman who
claimed to have had a deep spiritual experience. Shaken and changed by
this supernatural event, this gentleman declared that the “veil had been
opened” and that he had entered the “Holy of Holies” within his own soul.
He claimed that through this experience he had been given a true
understanding of who God is, and that he now knew the hidden secrets of
God’s heart – “the oracles of God.”
This type of alternative spiritual view wasn’t new to me. I had come
across similar views through my studies in the New Age Movement. However,
it still caused consternation when, sitting at my dining room table,
this dynamic individual was now actively trying to persuade me of the
validity of his experience and spiritual position. More than that, his
ultimate aim was to lead me into a similar experience so that I too could
come “face to face with Jesus” within my own soul.
It was an exhausting afternoon – his experience versus whatever I
understood the Bible to say. “We don’t need the Bible, just put it on the
shelf” was something he repeated on many occasions. Why? During our
discussions, both at this particular meeting and at subsequent others, I
was told that “truth” already resided in the soul. Moreover, God was
revealing this new soul-reality by doing “a new thing” through fantastic
(mystical) experiences. After my guest departed it felt like a spiritual
whirlwind had ripped through my house. But something good came out of
this episode; it made me think.
Throughout the course of our time together, my guest continuously
referred to “fearing God” – not that we were to fear God, but just the
opposite. The claim was simple: in order to know God fully, man must shed
any fear of God, for the fear of the Lord breeds pride, lust, and anger.
This fear of God, my guest explained, was the root of pride and sin.
Scripture, however, paints an opposite picture:
“Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge
carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or
bribery.” 2 Chronicles 19:7“The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is
understanding.”
Job 28:28“The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The
ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.”
Psalm 19:9“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who
follow his precepts have good understanding.”
Psalms 111:10“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but
fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
Proverbs 1:7“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and
body in Hell.” Matthew 10:28
And in the song of Mary found in the first chapter of Luke, Mary tells
us in verse 50, “And His mercy is on those who fear Him. From generation
to generation.”
Now my guest also had a verse – even while exclaiming that the Bible
was no longer relevant – “there is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not
been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18).
Is this a contradiction? No. The context of 1 John 4:18 centers around
love, salvation, and punishment for sin. One commentator writes,
“We must here distinguish between the fear of God and being afraid of
him. The fear of God is often mentioned and commanded as the substance
of religion. Such fear is consistent with love, yea, with perfect love.
But then there is a being afraid of God, which arises from a sense of
guilt; and so fear here may be rendered dread: There is no dread
in love.” (Matthew Henry)
The bottom line is this: as Christians, we must revere God without
holding onto the fear that comes with judgment – as our penalty for sin
has been paid in full by Jesus Christ. This is the basis for our
confidence before the throne of grace; assurance through Christ’s
sacrifice, coupled with an intense reverence for a God who is
terrifyingly awesome and infinitely powerful.
But by equating the “fear of God” with pride and sin, my guest was
saying something far different.Yes, I understood that his position didn’t jive with Scripture, but
something larger was nagging at me. And then it hit me: my guest had
literally reversed the truth.
Why is the lion considered the King of the Jungle and a “beast of
pride”? Simply because he has no rival and doesn’t fear anything. Why did
Lucifer fall – because he feared God with humility and trembling? Just
the opposite. Scripture tells us that the pride of Satan (Lucifer) was
his downfall (Ezek. 28:17 and 2 Timothy 3:6). Pride says,
“I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of
the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will
make myself like the Most High.”
(Isaiah 14:13-14).
This is akin to spitting in God’s face and declaring “I no longer fear
you. I will become as you are, or better.” To say “I no longer fear God”
is the ultimate act of pride and arrogance; it places the creature as
equal to or above the Creator.
But who was telling my guest that to fear God was the root of pride?
In later conversations, he explained that the spirit within his soul
guided him into all knowledge. When I asked him which spirit it was that
had control of his soul, and directly challenged whether or not it was an
agent of Satan masquerading as an angel of light, he sharply replied that
“as long as you have no fear, it doesn’t matter which spirit it is.”
This is very dangerous ground. The Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn,
an occult society that had its start back in 1887, teaches that “Fear is
failure and the forerunner of failure…Therefore fear not the Spirits,
but be firm and courteous with them…” (Israel Regardie, The
Golden Dawn, “Fourth Knowledge Lecture”). Yet, God’s Word tells
us that we are not to believe every spirit, but rather to test them to
see if they are from God (1 John 4:1).
Please understand, this is nothing to fool around with. In 2
Corinthians 11 we find that “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of
light.” Furthermore, 1 Peter 5 tells us that “your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Obviously, the
realm of “spirits” isn’t something to be taken lightly.
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, a New Age
text written in response to a mystical vision, also links fear and
spirituality,
“When man comes to himself and comprehends the fact that he is son of
God, and knows that in himself lies all the powers of God, he is a
master mind and all the elements will hear his voice and gladly do his
will. Two sturdy asses bind the will of man; their names are Fear and
Unbelief. When these are caught and turned aside, the will of man will
know no bounds; then man has but to speak and it is done.”
(The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Chapter 92)
Notice the connection between suppressing spiritual fear and rising to
a god-like state (“in himself lies all the powers of God”). After all,
becoming God is what this is all about, isn’t it?
The Aquarian
Gospel of Jesus the Christ states: “Now, men and birds and
beasts and creeping things are deities, made flesh” (Chapter 28). John
Randolph Price, author of The Planetary Commission, says
it even more dramatically,“Nothing can touch me but the direct action of
God and God is my Omnipotent Self. I can do all things through the
Strength of the Christ I AM. I AM STRENGTH!” (capitals in original,
p.133).
Annie Besant, past leader of the Theosophical Society and one of
the “mothers” of the New Age Movement taught that “Man is not to be
compelled; he is to be free. He is not a slave, but a God in the making.”
(Esoteric Christianity, p.220).
During the numerous follow-up conversations that ended up happening
with my guest, it became evident that he followed this self-deification
line to a remarkable degree. It’s the same line that Satan used in the
Garden of Eden, the same line that caused man to fall: “You will not
surely die…For God knows that when you eat of it [the forbidden fruit]
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:4-5).
Today, just as in the past, we as Christians are in a vulnerable
position. The short book of Jude describes this problem very simply,
“For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have
secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the
grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our
only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 4)
This fits in our modern age as much as it did during the early church.
My mystically-oriented guest was very “evangelistic” with his message,
and ended up going from church-to-church proclaiming this new gospel –
sometimes using very blunt tactics, but more often using provocative
statements and questions in order to open doors and seed confusion.
Romans 11:34 rhetorically asks, “Who has known the mind of the Lord?”
In this day and age, many men and women are now claiming that they know
the mind of the Lord, the secrets of God, and the hidden thoughts of the
Almighty. They come equipped with new prophecies, teachings, and
doctrines; often validated by fantastic experiences, signs and wonders,
and great proclamations of “thus saith the Lord.”
Dear reader, be aware! Be aware of wolves in sheep’s clothing, be
aware of experienced-based teachings which counter or twist God’s Holy
Word, be aware of those who proclaim an “esoteric” version of
Christianity – rightfully teaching that Jesus was divine, but adding to
it the message of an internalized “Jesus spirit” and/or self-deification.Jesus said in Matthew 24, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For
many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive
many.”
Carl Teichrib is a highly respected freelance researcher
and a wise and authoritative writer on issues pertaining to globalization.Please visit his website at
www.forcingchange.org
Some
of his earlier articles are:
Re-zoning the World: The Merging of the Americas in a New Global Order
A Short Guide to Occult
Symbols
A New
World Agenda – Canada’s Role In Sustainable DevelopmentIndex to his
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