THEIR EYES WERE OPENED,

(Part 3)

Behold, All Ye That Kindle A Fire

"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow" (Isa 50:11).

There are so many manmade fires today they could raze a city. Building one’s own fire has become common-place with many who protest the religious system. I suppose we could call them Protestants of the Protestants. We could easily throw stones at those self-made fire-kindlers; but I won’t, for I do not delight in doing so. Moreover, pointing the finger at others generally does nothing more than to stir up debates, and debates generally entice people to choose sides and fling more stones. To help abate such squabbles, I will mention a dead man. For some reason or another this is acceptable, especially if the man is renowned and has been dead a long time.

It is not ethical to talk about ordinary people before they die; for that is gossip, and since we love talking about people, the man of the past I have in mind is the one who made the cut. However, the living can also be the topic of discussion, or ridicule, if they become well-known. Figureheads, such as politicians, ministers, writers, celebrities, or anyone else who is commonly known can be the focus of discussion. Even so, I like to avoid talking about the living, so I will make reference to a man who has been dead for a long time; namely, Siddhartha Gautama (563-480 BC), known as Buddha, or to his followers, the Buddha, meaning the enlightened one.

Some may argue that point, saying the man was not enlightened; but factually, he was. I will not dispute his supporters’ claim that Siddhartha Gautama was enlightened; for there were two before him who were likewise enlightened; but they did not fair extremely well either. Both, the man and the woman of the Garden, were enlightened. This happened, as we noted previously, when the serpent communed with and inspired the woman. That enlightenment, however, was an enlightenment (revelation, devilation) of knowing themselves, rather than God Himself. That is the foremost thing that taking the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil does. It causes one to know himself. Let me quote from one of the Buddhism web sites which sums very well what happens upon taking that fruit:

"At the age of eighty...Buddha prepared himself to enter Nirvana, a state of eternal peace, where there is no more birth or death. Before his final departure, Buddha addressed his disciples:

‘Realize your own self. The truth is in your heart that will lead you to heaven.’" (GENIUS Technologies, Inc. http://www.indolink.com/Kidz/buddha.html).

In all sincerity, I must say that this enlightened man built his own fire and there were many compassing sparks following after him. I must also say — even though he may have been an enlightened speculator and loved by millions — he was just as much a thief and robber as were the two in the Garden. You see, he took the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and by taking it, he unwittingly became a thief and died. He went to the grave and remained there along with the hundreds of thousands who have since received the stolen fruit from his and his disciples’ hands. Such are thieves. By definition, anyone who attempts godhood via the tree of Knowledge is a thief. Jesus made it clear of the thieving, religious leaders when he said, "All that ever came before me are thieves [Grk. kleptes, from D2813 (klepto, to filch); a stealer (Strong's) ] and robbers [leistes...(to plunder); a brigand (Strong's). Brigand: from French brgare to fight...one who lives by plunder, usually as a member of a band, BANDIT. (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary)] : but the sheep did not hear them" (John 10:8). And so it continues today with the violent who attempt to take the Kingdom by subtle force, and with those who receive from their plundering hands. With such enlightened takers, I am reminded of something Jesus said, "...If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Mat 6:23). Therefore, although people can have their eyes opened and be enlightened, their enlightenment is darkness.

The resurfacing of man taking the Kingdom has been an ever-increasing concern with us over the past three or four years. This rise of the Old Age theology comes and goes like the ocean tides, and each time it appears in a different shade and angle, sweeping away some of those it missed the times before, pulling them into the dark depths of their foaming waters of "enlightenment."

Although it is good to be concerned about these matters, we should not think the sky is falling every time a word we don’t understand hits us on the head. Some have done so and have been so overly concerned that it seems as if they are on a witch hunt and are calling anything they fail to understand as being New Age. Many have had that label pasted on them merely by association. Jesus knew something of that. He was judged guilty by association. He associated with tax collectors, harlots, wine bibbers, and the such.

There are also those I call activists who letter in legal gymnastics. They are quick to condemn that which they do not understand, and run everything they hear through their "New Age filter." Having their theology set hard as flint stone, those religious factions piously malign everyone and everything which God pours from the heavens. Some are convinced by their reports. They, are swayed and held in fear, never advancing. However, there are genuine reports which beg our attention. They shed valuable light on things which are advantageous. One such report was so masterfully penned by J. Preston Eby (From The Candlestick To The Throne, Part 3):

"...All consecration, and all sacrifice, and all priesthood, and all sovereignty came to their consummation in Jesus, the Christ of God - the Anointed of Yahweh! And thus it is that His Old Testament name, The Messiah, and His New Testament name, The Christ, and His English name, The Anointed One, contain and convey to us the whole heavenly history of His election from everlasting, His predestination, His incarnation, His calling, His consecration, and His complete equipment, in every way, for all the position and ministry and glory and dominion He now fills as the Son of God....

"This, then, is the true Messiah, the true Christ, the true Anointed - the Christ of God! Even as Peter opened his mouth, and began to preach Christ to Cornelius, and to all his house, in these very words: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.’...

"And this is how this great name, ‘The Christ,’ came to be given to the man, Jesus of Nazareth, above all other men. Almighty God took that chosen man and anointed Him, as man had never been before, with the Holy Ghost. That is to say, God filled the man Jesus of Nazareth as full as human nature could hold of the mind, and the spirit, and the grace, and the glory, and the power of the Divine Nature. And having so anointed Him, God then presented Him to Israel, and through Israel to the whole world, as the Son of God in human flesh....

"Some say that Christ is the anointing, but that is not quite the truth. Jesus the Christ is the anointed, the anointed one, and Christ is the one anointed, not the anointing. The oil typifies the anoint-ing, but the one upon whom the oil was poured was the anoint-ed. Others teach that Jesus ‘had the Christ’ or that ‘the Christ was in Jesus.’ Those terms are foreign to scripture and make no sense whatsoever. The Christ is not something that came upon Jesus or that dwelt in Jesus - the Christ is who and what Jesus was and is! ‘Thou art the Christ...’ (Mat. 16:16). ‘God has made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ’ (Acts 2:36). ‘Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God’ (I Jn. 5:1). Jesus was not the oil - He was the prophet, priest, and king upon whom the oil was poured! He is not the anoint-ing - He is the anoint-ed!...

"With this exhortation fresh upon our minds, let us think a little further about the book of Revelation as THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Again I say, it is not simply the revelation of ‘Jesus,’ nor is it merely the revelation of ‘Christ.’ It is the revelation of J-E-S-U-S C-H-R-I-S-T! Nothing more, and nothing less. There is ‘another Jesus’ and ‘another Christ’ that is proclaimed today by the New Age movement, and the concept of some who call themselves kingdom people and sons of God is not far removed from this other Jesus and this other Christ.

"The New Age terminology can be mistakenly taken for Kingdom Truth. They speak much of the kingdom of God within man, of Christ within man, of love, mercy, goodness, and spiritual perfection and oneness with God. The ancient serpent is wise, shrewd, crafty and subtle, and he knows that the most effectual way to instill error into the minds of the unwary is to use old and precious words and put a new meaning into them. So when his messengers, masquerading as ‘ministers of righteousness,’ seek to lead, if possible, the very elect astray, they use the old precious words, but put an entirely different and false meaning. When they talk about God and our heavenly Father they don't mean the God of the Bible, the personal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They mean the impersonal energy that is resident in all things animate and inanimate. They talk of atonement, but they do not mean at all the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on our behalf by which we are reconciled to God by His blood. They mean the at-one-ment in which we recognize our oneness with all things, a cosmic unity, not with the Creator, but within ourselves and with the creation. Jesus has nothing to do with it at all, except as a great Teacher, a Way-shower, revealing to us the divine potential inherent in every man. They believe there are many ways to God - Jesus is merely a way given to Christians - one of many ways to God.

"What do the New Age people look to for salvation? A complete or perfect union with this ‘inexorable principle’ or ‘divine energy’ permeating all things, which is their god! It is the same thing as Nirvana of the Buddhist, Brahma of the Hindu - an imaginary god-consciousness, into which all will finally be absorbed. And this is attained by discovering and developing your ‘inner self’ — which ‘inner self’ is the corrupted soul rather than the regenerated spirit! And when they talk about Christ, they do not mean at all our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the actual historic Jesus who lived and died for us, who rose from the dead, ascended up to the right hand of God, and came back again in mighty spirit-power. Oh, no! They mean an ‘ideal Christ, or a ‘Christ principle’ that is in every man! They mean the ‘inner self’ of the soul! They see God as the life principle of every man and Christ is the name that is given to man once he has awakened to his godhood. Now, it is true that the seed of God is in every man! But no man is ‘Christ,’ that is, an anointed one, until the seed of God in him is quickened, germinated, and empowered by the infusion of God's Holy Spirit! Jesus, in the New Age view, was no more the Son of God than the drunk in the gutter. He was simply a good man, a highly developed man, a ‘Master-Spirit’ who developed the Christ principle within him and showed men how to awaken to their true inner self. According to their teaching Jesus was a man who went through many incarnations. These incarnations of Jesus took the form of Confucius, Buddha, Moses, David, and many others. These lives were his days at school, and he arrived at a state of consciousness, while manifesting as Jesus of Nazareth, where he remembered his past lives. They see no need for Jesus as the Lamb slain, for redemption, justification, regeneration, new birth, sanctification, baptism in the Holy Spirit, or any other New Testament experience. Men don't need to be saved, reconciled to God, or cleansed by the washing of regeneration - just awakened to the god within! What the New Age movement has done in America and other western nations is to combine Christian terminology with the tenets of various eastern religions, wrap them all up in a new package, and put a label on the package which guarantees everyone salvation without a Saviour! And what some in this Kingdom walk have done is create their own hybrid strain of sonship, speaking Kingdom truth deadly laced with pagan New Age concepts!

"The New Age movement is a modern form of eastern pagan religion — mingled with the darkness of the occult. While they do espouse some principles that contain truth, these are at best but half-truths, which are more deadly than the outright lie! All true reality of the living Jesus Christ is missing - they know not the Lord Jesus as Saviour, nor the cleansing power of His blood, nor the quickening, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, nor the authority of His name, nor the baptism in His Spirit, nor the fellowship of His body, nor the truth of the Holy Scriptures — in short they are at best bastard sons, subtle counterfeits, and there is no light in them for the light they do have is darkness, merely their own supposed inherent godhood, unquickened and unregenerated, which is the godhood of the self, old Adam - not the true and living God! This ‘inner self’ of all men is the ‘Cosmic Christ’ of the New Age!

"No truer words have been penned than those by Bob Torango wherein he writes, ‘I don't care how much it grieves some to think about having a Lord over themselves, no matter how much it makes their flesh to rebel, there is only one Lord over all heaven and earth, and that is Jesus Christ. It is not your perceived higher self, your I Amness, your shifted consciousness, your universal oneness, your metaphysical self, neither is it your egotistical, sinless, Adamless, fleshless self. Let me go down on record and say that there is only One worthy of honor and glory and adoration, only One to be worshipped and exalted, and it is not YOU. It is Him. If you cannot see Him beyond YOU, then you have a problem, and we need to talk. We don't have to exalt ourselves to feel better about our status in the kingdom. If we would only exalt Him, then He would lift us above our woeful self and bring us into His glory and crown us with everlasting joy. Isn't that enough? Do you really need to lower Jesus in rank and file in order to set yourselves up as kings? Must you continue to try to find another door, another way into God? He is the door, and it is wide open for all. Walk through Him, sit down with Him and drink the new wine and eat the bread of the kingdom. It is enough.’

"The book of Revelation is not the revelation of this Cosmic Christ, nor of a Christ principle, nor of the old inner self of unregenerated men - it is the revelation of the crucified, risen, ascended, glorified, spiritualized, universalized JESUS CHRIST who is Saviour of all men and Lord of all! It is the revelation of Jesus Christ as Head and body in the earth by the power of the spirit of His sonship! Remember, dear ones, that there is no truth beyond Jesus Christ! He has been given the name which is above every name in the heavens and in the earth! To Him has been given all power and all authority in heaven and in earth! Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved! He is the Head of all principality and power! He is the prince of the kings of the earth! He is the firstborn among many brethren! He is King of kings and Lord of lords! He is the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father! In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily! We are the body in which His fullness is revealed! Those who seek an ultimate truth beyond Jesus Christ, an ultimate reality beyond Him, will discover to their dreadful dismay that they have taken a fearful detour into the realms of outer darkness!" — End quote.

Unsuspecting people may read or hear messages taken from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and believe they are Christ-centered, especially since Christ and The Christ are terms often used. However, as we have noted above, Jesus Christ is not the Christ they have in mind, i.e. "the Higher Self." Such statements can steer people’s attention away from the Lord and upon themselves as the source of their salvation. It becomes a "conscious" effort on their part to become "conscious" of who they are, thus becoming their own savior, which in turn makes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as nothing more than historical events by which we can learn to do the same. It is then that they supposedly become consciously aware themselves on how to live forever or resurrect from the dead, or go into nirvana. If Siddhartha Gautama, the "enlightened one" failed to raise himself from the dead by consciously knowing his higher self, there is not much hope for those who look to him as their enlightened teacher. One might say that Gautama had no intentions of resurrecting from the dead, that he ascended into the nothingness of nirvana and became one with the universe. Sounds mystically profound; but becoming a Star Trek or Star Wars god is man’s enlightenment of godhood, not God’s.

An influential man of the nineteenth century in England spoke of this higher self, or the cosmic Christ. Archdeacon Wilberforce in Mystic Immanence, pg 5, wrote: "...It is not those who rely on a personal historical Jesus for their salvation by ‘belief’, but the real Christians are those who have recognized that the cosmic Christ principle is verily and truly their own higher self, and who strive to have that ‘brought to birth’ in them, so that even here and now they may act in the power of that supreme divine nature, even as the historical man Jesus is reputed to have done. It is these alone who can truly say that their life ‘is hid with Christ in God.’ (Col. 3:18).

"The discovery of the mystic Christ in you is being ‘born from above.’ This knowledge is of the utmost importance to human victory over the lower self. The imperishable secret of human life is the mystical Christ in all men, their hope of glory’" (Strange Fire, by Travers and Jewel van der Merwe).

I have no reservations in telling you that such concepts are alien to the written word, the anointed word, and the living word, not to mention the clear pattern which was cut so distinctly for us. We simply cannot enter perfection by consciously tuning into our adamic "higher-self," or by any other self-efforts. The Kingdom of God will not come through reasoning, discussion, getting a council together, getting the bishops together, or calling all the sonship ministers together in an international conference and working it out. You see, the wind blows where it listeth and not where man’s subtle mind plunders. No one can channel it, direct it, use it, or abuse it! Therefore, let us hear what the Spirit, is saying to the churches. There are no councils, organizations, programs, or great religious drives that determine where the wind of God’s mighty Spirit blows.

Men have no control over the wind of the Spirit whatsoever. God is the one who determines from where it comes, to where it goes, and how hard or gentle it blows, and men have nothing to do with it. At best, the only wind they can generate is with their handheld fans, waving them about to cool the sweat from their feverish brow. Religious gatherings and meetings can cool things off in their immediate surroundings; but like their kindled fires, they don’t go much farther than that.

However, when we are moved by that mighty wind and fire of God, we shall sweep over the earth with great power and unrestrained effect. We will speak the word we hear trumpeting in our ear. If we hear it today, we sound it today. We are and will be who we are in Christ Jesus, and we will manifest it in the earth. Man can neither hinder nor stop it, nor can he improve upon on it or promote it. The higher self is impotent in the wind of God’s Spirit.

There is great height to man’s knowledge. There is no doubt about this. So high are his witty schemes that they are sometimes confused as God’s very light streaming right out His throne which marks the way to the Kingdom. The fact is, there is no part of his sparkling grandeur which can be an asset to God and His Kingdom. There is not one tasty morsel of the fruit of the great thinkers and sages of the ages which can contribute to the manifestation of the Sons of God. None of them have anything which can help to establish His Kingdom. God does not need that fruit, will not use it, and will blow it away by the power of His own wind when it is presented.

People who are tossed by every wind of theology cannot usher in the Kingdom of God. Their trifling puffs of wind can’t shake one leaf on the tree of life. Neither is it remotely possible for their kindled fires to enlighten us to any degree to the reality of knowing God. It simply cannot be done. There is nothing the greatest of fruit-plundering men can do to add one thing to what God is doing. At most, they can make a person feel good and cause them to spark in the night; but the end thereof, like the temporal spark, is death.

Let me now ask, is it possible to apply anything to the Kingdom of God which is taught by the adamic enlightened ones, those wise men of the east, and of the west, those who have taken from the tree of knowledge? No! Not one! We cannot benefit from those who have illegally plundered that tree. We know there is no reward of life in stolen fruit, only the sentence of death. The first man and woman found that to be true. Siddhartha Gautama also found it to be true, and all those who fill themselves with that ill-gotten fruit will find it to be true.

Those who hear the voice of the Son of God, however, shall live (John 5:25). They will not eat of that tree. They will not be led astray and die. For, "...when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:4-5).

Some become distraught at what they are seeing today; but let us rest, knowing all is well, and that God is working things according to His will. Let me share a letter from a fellow sojourner, Nancy Bailey, who sheds some comforting light on all this: "I am glad that I had an opportunity to speak with you in Breezewood, PA about all the ‘New Age’ teachings circulating within ‘Kingdom Ranks.’ I have really grieved over this, and my heart was very heavy. Then I heard God say, ‘I am sifting, sifting, sifting.’ Such peace came over me. Even this, He is using for His purpose. Praise His Holy Name!" Yes, even this, He is using for His purpose. And His sheep will not hear another’s voice.

Indeed, dear readers, we hear the word of the Spirit, saying, "I am sifting, sifting, sifting." And it can be distressing at times; but the inspiration and revelation of New Age, i.e. Old Age, teaching is necessary. Paul wrote something along these lines, saying, "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" (1 Cor 11:19). As the light of the true New Age of the Kingdom of God is ministered by those who hear and receive the broken bread of Life — distinction, manifestation, and approval are seen.

Therefore, brethren, let us not be overwrought with what we hear and see in our midst. God is doing it, and we see some are being swayed by the obvious error. Truth is cast aside by them, as they race to follow the voices of many strangers. Although it can be unsettling to us, this is good; for God will have no one in His administration who know their naked selves and are proud of it, or who clothe themselves with the leaves of their own traduced righteousness. He will have only those who receive the broken bread of Jesus Christ, whose eyes are opened, and they KNOW HIM!

If you so desire to proclaim another gospel and confess many names as your savior, including your own, continue if you will; but "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN, WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED" (Acts 4:10-12). And we must not exclude, "That AT THE NAME OF JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Phil 2:10). Sorry folks, it does not say, "At the name of Buddha, Krishna, Mohammad, or yourselves — but AT THE NAME OF JESUS, the virgin born, resurrected, living Son of God! Period!

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach

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