Creation often testifies of a beauty that leaves us gazing into its wonderful landscape as with the awesomeness of great mountains, the calm and tranquil gentleness of a stream, the mighty rushing tides that sweep through the ocean and the glorious back drop of a perfect blue sky that makes every painting and photograph of such a beautiful scene pale in comparison to the beauty found in the real thing. Such magnificent wonders of beauty are captured by the eyes of natural man, yet a greater and much more magnificent beauty has been seen through the eyes of the Spirit. This beauty I speak of cannot be compared to creation, yet I dare say that all the beauty of creation gives us in the visible realm only a hint of this greatness that dwells within the invisible realm of the Spirit.
I'm speaking of the lily of the valley, for in such times where others can only express praise and claim a rest from their own toiling while on the high mountain top, this One that I speak of radiates the beauty of consistent praise in the midst of circumstances and times that are the exact opposite of such mountain top experiences that may satisfy a craving for temporal happiness but never become the source of lasting joy.
I'm speaking of He who is as clear as crystal and flows with a life that contains not one single minute speck of the slightest impurity. I'm speaking of He who is the river of life, for where such waters flow, everything He touches is quickened as the parched dry thirst of death is quenched and swallowed up into His life.
This One, beloved, was made manifest in the person of Jesus, and in Him we find the beauty that my heart so desperately desires to communicate, but I testify to you that such descriptions of this beauty, without the vision, cheapens it. Without the vision, that which is left unexperienced goes on to be a novel idea at best and an unappreciated and undesirable truth at the worst.
The beauty I speak of is not something manifested through something merely physical, for it was said of Him, "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isa. 53:2). I speak of the beauty of perfection made manifest through a life consistently revealing the Father with righteous judgment and unfailing wisdom, for authority to execute judgment was given to Him and He is the wisdom and power of God (John 5:26 and 27 and 1 Cor. 1:24). I speak of a divine, set apart beauty that made His advent to humanity by taking on flesh and blood so that we, through His life, might partake of this beauty! It is the beauty of maturity which is found through the contracted pressures of this heavenly birth that is portrayed as a wholehearted pursuit toward the condition Paul spoke of in Colossians 1:28, and that is to be perfect in Christ Jesus! On this quest to maturity we have made mention of three places that can be mistaken as the final rest stop as far as our walk in the Spirit goes:
We pray that we can look at every gathering from the perspective of the Spirit and discern the intent before we write off every gathering as a manifestation of Babylon, because it is in the intent of the minds and hearts of men that we will either find the seal of God or Mystery Babylon. This Mystery Babylon is just as much a spiritual being as the very spirit of anti-Christ. We can look for one single person to be the anti-Christ, but anyone who places something else in the place of Christ is operating in the spirit of anti-Christ. Any group that would use the name of Christ to teach their own doctrines and live their own way of life, has manifested a mind set that goes under the name of Mystery Babylon. I can in no wise confine this Mystery to be one single group or organization. It goes much deeper than that. The real heart of the matter is not how many conspiracies may be uncovered in governments and how many obvious hypocrisies are seen in the systems of men. These are nothing more than mere tentacles of the spirit of Babylon itself. One man once wrote this about Mystery Babylon, "It is a mystery, the spirit of which seems to be deep-rooted in the heart of man. It is like an octopus with many arms reaching in all directions."
We also realize we cannot deny the outward manifestations of this deeply rooted spirit that thrives on agendas birthed out of the carnal mind. We trust that the importance of looking beneath the surface of the matter will be conveyed so that we will not grow preoccupied and distracted by targeting one visible manifestation of Mystery Babylon, since in reality it is a spiritual source that is responsible for all outward manifestations.
Often, in the pages of history, we find the origin of these mysteries. We have seen the Babylon of the Apostle's day brought down low as the dead system of the Old Covenant met a most horrid destruction in 70 A.D. We find another voice speaking of this expression of Babylon, of Jerusalem being brought down: "Anyone who compared our Saviour's word with the rest of the historian's [Josephus] account of the whole war could not fail to be astonished, and to acknowledge as divine and utterly marvelous the foreknowledge revealed by our Saviour's prediction. After the Saviour's Passion, and the cries with which the Jewish mob clamoured for the reprieve of the bandit and murderer and begged the Author of Life should be removed from them, disaster fell upon the entire nation" (Eusebius, The History of The Church, p. 74 and 75).
Indeed the Lord's prediction came to pass, unlike so many predictions of today's sign watchers which are unfortunately well paid by many sign seekers. Even more so than history, in the scriptures we find greater light on Mystery Babylon, and we find even greater light than that when the very Spirit that inspired the scriptures opens our understanding so that we can see clearly beneath the surface of the letter that so often veils such things to the multitudes.
Nimrod, whose name means rebel, foreshadowed the very spirit that manifests itself through those of a seared mind that is full of darkness. Out of such a heart came the motive that sought to make a name for itself. Then Babel was birthed. Now the individual Nimrod is no longer with us, but the spirit of rebellion remains. Can we not see that the natural, individual manifestations have already happened, rather than look for an individual, evil, superhuman to come? Has such a spirit not been here since the transgression in Eden?
Before we move on, we would like to bring to mind this saying concerning history: "Those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it." With that thought in mind, we need to seriously take a look at the rubbish that the spirit of the age has offered each devout seeker of truth that has set out on such a great quest. This brings us to "The New Mars Hill." We have mentioned the encounter that Paul had in Athens in a previous article some time ago, but in light of the subject at hand, we once more find this relevant for further consideration. "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him" (Acts 17:16 and 17).
Ah, Paul has already broken one principle that the spirit of the age has worked into this present generation. But you see, Paul was a man that had been impregnated with the heavenly vision, and he saw the high calling, which meant there was no other way to obtain such a prize but to be led by the very One who called him! What is this principle or rule that I'm speaking of here? It is the idea of not seeing a difference in himself and those around him. ". . . his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." Paul obviously was gripped with something other than the "I'm o. k., you're o. k." thought that is so prevalent in the teachings of this day that circumvent the initial salvation experience.
Furthermore, Paul did not just accept their beliefs to be on par with his, and he surely did not applaud them for the beliefs they held. You see, by today's standards Paul was being judgmental and very intolerant. What right did he have to dispute with anyone? Did he not know that all ideas are equal and we all have some mixture, meaning he had no room to open his mouth with a view that calls all other views into question? I'm afraid we have steadily drifted farther and farther away from the heart of Christ, until we have been absorbed into what others demand when we find ourselves complying to the idea that we are to not only tolerate the spirit of the age, but applaud those who are led by it. We may as well applaud ourselves while we are at it, because whatever convictions we may have once had are lost in the grey area of the idea that all world views, religions, ideas, and revelations are really the same and we just don't know it yet.
Those who mind the things of the Spirit become aware of spiritual faculties that are being developed, and in this development, lines are drawn and distinctions are made. This is a needful part of our growth. Without it we are unfit to handle any truth beyond the fact that we have been saved. "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). The Concordant Literal New Testament words it as such: ". . . because of habit, have faculties exercised for discriminating between the ideal and the evil."
If we truly find ourselves developing these faculties of the Spirit, then we would come to some very opposing conclusions to the idea of tolerance that has been bought by this generation. Just because one may realize the spiritual leprosy of sin dominating someone else, does not make them an unloving person. It all comes down to our attitude and our heart. Do we look on with compassion and seek the Spirit so that we would know how God would have us to minister to such needs, or do we buy into the idea that if we even see them as being in need, then we don't know the love of God? I tell you a truth. The teachings of God's love have become so perverted and so twisted and so redefined. Those who see God as some limp-wristed, celestial, sugar daddy that knows nothing about judgment unto victory are just as much off track as those who only know of a god that cannot bring judgment unto victory, so he torments endlessly!
It should be quite obvious that Paul was sovereignly placed in the idol-ridden city, because there were a few people that God was about to call out of the utter confusion that encompassed the atmosphere of Mars Hill. Indeed, the scriptures and the Spirit bear witness to no loss on God's part when it comes to salvation, but unlike a lot of today's teachers of so-called deeper truths, God has not forgotten the plan He has purposed. All in the confines of Adam shall be made alive in Christ, but it is every man in his own order (1 Cor. 15:22 and 23). This is the way that the Lord has purposed it and who can gainsay His purpose? Can we not accept the time element that God has chosen to use? The pattern Son did. This time element that God is using indicates that salvation has yet to be experienced by many. It should also tell us that not all men are presently in Christ. We can talk about timelessness all we want, but those who are pressing toward the mark and whole heartedly seeking the Lord will be the ones used by God to bring a quality of timelessness into the very realm of time itself!I know the mind can hardly get a glimpse of what abides in timelessness, in which truly God is all in all, but that thought does nothing for the strung out junkies, the used and abused prostitute, the drunkards, the confused and miserable homosexual and every other victim of this sin-vexed cosmos!
"Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection" (Acts 17:18).
It is interesting to note here that Luke said that Paul was preaching unto them Jesus and the resurrection, while so many today that quote Paul and cite him as the ultimate source of the highest truth, preach themselves and their immortality. It is also noteworthy that the Epicureans are mentioned in the above verse. Epicurus, the founder of their philosophy, believed that the fear of the gods and the fear of death could be overcome by philosophy. Those of the New Mars Hill have taken the part of that philosophy concerning the fear of death a step further, because by their philosophy, they claim to overcome death itself.
"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death" (Phil. 1:20). It should be quite obvious that self-preservation was not part of the vision as far as Paul was concerned. The issue was Christ being glorified. Death is an enemy, but Paul did not waste any time entertaining the vain idea that death could be overcome by confessing his way into immortality. Unless we have been given divine revelation, then we are operating in the realm of dead works with positive confessions and thinking that we can think ourselves into something. We might want to think again, before we put ourselves through another mental work out!
"And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)"(Acts 17:19-21).
The New Mars Hill is perfectly described in verse 21. We would like to share some comments by a contemporary of the Mars Hill of old concerning his observation about the consistent practice of having to tell something or hear something newer than the last word of the day. "In the speech of Cleon to the Athenians, given by Thucydides, he says: 'No men are better dupes, sooner deceived by novel notions, or slower to follow approved advice. You despise what is familiar, while you are worshippers of every new extravagance. You are always hankering after an ideal state, but you do not give your minds even to what is straight before you. In a word, you are at the mercy of your own ears.'" (Marvin Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament Vol.1, p. 541) In consideration of the mind set of today that has been swallowed up into the pastime described in verse 21, "IN A WORD, YOU ARE AT THE MERCY OF YOUR OWN EARS."
MARS HILL IS ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF CONFUSION,
AS THE GNOSTIC REVIVAL IS BIRTHED IN DELUSION.
IF YOU HAVE A THRILL SEEKERS MIND, YOU CAN SING THE SONGS THEY
SING.
YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF, "WHAT ARE THEY REALLY SAYING?"
BUT LIKE THEIR CHORUS SAYS, "WE ARE ALL REALLY SAYING THE SAME
THING."
ALL ARE WELCOME TO PUT ON THEIR BABYLONIAN GARMENT AND PLAY
THEIR
PART,
EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHOSE SPIRITS ARE STIRRED BY SURROUNDING
IDOLS
AND A CHRIST PIERCED HEART.
THIS NEW MARS HILL BOASTS OF UNITY OF ALL WORLD RELIGIONS AND
EVEN SONS OF GOD.
WITH GREAT SWELLING WORDS AND PSEUDO-MYSTICISM, THEY SPEAK
IN HALF-ASHDOD.
YET EVEN OUT OF THIS CONFUSION, OUR GOD HE SHALL DELIVER,
FOR HIS TRUE SONS ARE LIKE ARROWS HIDDEN IN HIS QUIVER.
THE MILLSTONE SHALL BE CAST; THE DRUNKEN WOMAN SHE SHALL FALL.
A PURE LANGUAGE SHALL THEN BE RETURNED AND THE NATIONS SHALL
LEARN THE RESTORATION OF ALL.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL DRAW THEM FROM EVERY KINDRED, RACE,
TONGUE AND BORDER.
AS IN ADAM ALL DIE, AND IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE,
EVERY
MAN IN HIS OWN ORDER.
SO LET THE PROUD BE HUMBLED AND LET US WALK IN GODLY FEAR
WITH OUR MOUTHS SHUT, WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT TO TEACH US TO
SPEAK
CLEAR.
We can in no wise think that the stagnant camps that fail to move with the progressive revelation of God make up Babylon and that they alone take on the spirit of Babylon. This Mystery woman has also marked her territory within the camp grounds that entertain a new truth or a new revelation as the central theme and motive for gathering. The spirit of Babylon has hopeful prospects to make her home in the hearts of any who fail to hold Jesus Christ as their central focus and the embodiment of the truth!
Now it is true that Paul was not speaking to people who had a born again experience when he was taken to Mars Hill. However, the mind set he had to address is alive and well within many camps that claim the name of Christ and insist that they have the true Gospel of the Kingdom. Before we address the New Mars Hill any further, we should take a look at how Paul addressed the unbelievers at Mars Hill. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious" (Acts 17:22).
It may sound as if Paul has insulted them, but a more literal translation would show us that Paul was simply noticing that they are unusually religious. Paul was familiar with their background, and when he spoke to them, he was being as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove (Matt. 10:16). "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD" (Acts 17:23). Another commentator, Mr. A. E. Knoch, also acknowledges the way Paul handled the Gospel in this passage of scripture. "He is careful to make every possible concession to the philosophers, yet boldly attacks their error." It would be of no avail to hammer the audience with scripture, when he could play off the inscription to the unknown God and the partial truths found in their philosophy. Even in that, Paul was not confirming to them something that showed that they needed their philosophy. Rather, his climax showed them that they needed what ignorance and philosophy can at best only hope to stumble upon in their darkness, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the scriptures were not written to the unregenerate man, for they testify of Jesus who brings them regeneration, and until He comes into their lives, His testimony is foolishness to them (John 5:39).
"...Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:23-28).
Verse 28 brings us back to the New Mars Hill, because this is the verse that others are now using as a proof text to show that all men are now in Christ since Paul tells the people at Mars Hill they are God's offspring. Those of the New Mars Hill say that the only thing people are to do is wake up and know who they are.
Humanity is God's offspring in relation to the fact that we are part of His creation. Man is the highest order of God's creation, for it was given to man to have dominion over the rest of creation (Gen. 1:28). If by virtue of being a part of the human race makes us a new creation that we are only ignorant of, who then is a part of the old creation? Can we not take Paul's appeal to those at Mars Hill in consideration to his playing upon their philosophy to lead them to repentance? Can we not consider his comments throughout the rest of his writings that make a clear-cut difference between the old man and the new man? If we only need to wake up to Christ already in us, then we are saved not by His work on the cross and not by the grace of God, but simply by what we come to know. Do take note of the word know. In the Greek it is gnosis. This is where we would like to look back into the pages of history once more and look at this salvation through knowledge (gnosis) idea. The Gnostic sects that competed with the early Church held the same idea concerning knowledge. Let us consider the belief system of Valentinus, one of the Gnostic teachers. "Probably the most influential of the Gnostics, he taught belief in an elaborately structured pleroma (= fulness) of pairs of aeons (invisible heavenly beings), consisting initially of an ogdoad (a set of eight . . . ), which spawned yet more pairs, The existence of the visible world is a result of the fall of Sophia (= Wisdom), the last of the aeons. The redeemer, Jesus, saves men from the world by giving them saving knowledge (or gnosis). This gnosis is available only to the spiritual (pneumatikoi); 'natural' (psychikoi = soul-ly) men can attain some kind of salvation through faith and good works (by 'natural' men, Valentinus seems to mean ordinary members of the Church), while the rest of mankind, the hylikoi (hyle= matter) have no chance of redemption." (From "Who's Who in Eusebius," The History of the Church).
Was Paul making a case for all men being in Christ already? "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). If what Paul says about being God's offspring in Acts 17:28 means that all men are in Christ and are not without God in the world, who then is he speaking of in the above verse? This concept of taking one scripture to hang an entire belief system on and ignore the fact that it contradicts the scriptures as a whole is as old as the carnal mind itself. In these days, it is becoming very rare to find those in the so-called deeper circles who are willing put their idols aside and realize that the Author of the scriptures has set forth His plan in perfect harmony, which does not contradict itself! When we entertain these contradictions, we make way for the loss of absolutes and from there we make our own absolutes, rather than receive them from God!
I would like to share a quote by Ricky Evans on this issue. "There was a time when we were WITHOUT CHRIST, HAVING NO HOPE. This does not mean the Christ was in us but just lying dormant or that we lacked the knowledge of His existence within us. We were WITHOUT CHRIST. We were WITHOUT GOD. We were WITHOUT HOPE in this present order of things, kosmos. Oh, but glorious day when God breathed in us the very essence of Himself. At that point we had Christ in us the hope of glory. Now we have God in us in this present kosmos. Our spirit has been joined to His Spirit. We have the faculties, the potential of all God is resident in our spirit. We have become one in spirit with God and within us is the mind of Christ. We have Christ within us. The anointing abides in us. (1 John 2:27)."
We would also like to consider these prophetic words in regard to the idea that Christ has always been within the entire human race regardless of their ignorance of Christ. "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" (Eze. 36:24-27).
This removal of a stony heart speaks of the passing away of the Old Covenant that was written upon tables of stone, for it was God's intention from the very beginning to write His nature upon the tables of our heart. This is not needed if Christ already dwells in all of humanity. If that is the case, the New Covenant, the coming of the Spirit, and everything Jesus Christ performed in the visible realm of time, which was nothing short of the complete and perfect will of the Father, was all unnecessary. In Ezekiel 36:27, God speaks of putting HIS SPIRIT WITHIN HIS PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKEN FROM AMONG THE HEATHEN, RATHER THAN THEM ALREADY HAVING HIS SPIRIT!
According to some, Acts 17:28 tells us that God's Spirit is already in all men, and to even consider anyone to be outside of the household of faith is wrong and coming short of God's love. Well, I beg to differ! The Gnostics that gave their presentation of the Gospel to the early Church had the idea that the God of the Old Testament was not the God of the New Testament, because the God of the Old Testament was nothing more than an evil creator god. They made a god out of sheer human sentiment in order to explain God's love, because they had no spiritual understanding of the shadows, dealings and declarations of the Old Testament. Today, the current New Age philosophy is no different. They are convinced that a loving God could not judge, for such an attribute is unloving, therefore they too refute many things contained in the Old Testament as well as the New. They are sure that such things are not to be equated with the true God, who, according to such beliefs, is nothing more than our true self that dwells within all humanity. This should tell us that the same spirit that inspired the Gnostics of old is alive and well today, and such a spirit has left a heavy influence upon many who are quite sure that they have the latest true revelation from God. This should also bring another fresh consideration to the saying that we quoted earlier: "THOSE WHO FAIL TO REMEMBER THE PAST ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT."
The real problem at the New Mars Hill is the ignorance of the origin of all the seemingly new ideas floating around. Furthermore, the tragedy of it all is an absolute disregard to the most basic principles of walking in the measure of truth that God has given us. Mankind is not in need of some high thing that can only be grasped by those who have some grand piece of knowledge. The true need of mankind is to have a people walking in a nature that is the result of a heavenly birth, which is to mature into a life that brings heaven to earth! This is what Jesus did. However, the life that Jesus walked in is not as thrilling as a new word, a new truth, a new revelation, or a new idea to those who keep the buzz words and catch phrases circulating in the network of the New Mars Hill. It seems as if spiritual reality has been traded in for a warm fuzzy philosophy.
Some have even gone so far as to assert that Paul's presentation of the Gospel at Mars Hill was a testimony of some sort of pantheism. Pantheism more or less concludes that all is God and God is all. It is a fact that God has an absolutely unlimited capacity to work His divine purpose in the realm of time. If need be He can speak through a donkey, but does that make the donkey one of our brothers in Christ?
In consideration of such conclusions concerning God being in all things in the pantheistic sense, I am reminded of my days outside of the household of faith and my involvement with the music of those who don't know God. In one of the lines from a song entitled "God is Everywhere," which was poking fun at God, it said, "hey waiter, there's a god in my soup." Life is given by God. Creation is so because there was first a Creator. Nevertheless, to conclude that God's Holy Spirit, the indwelling Christ, is within every living thing justifies those who hug trees and makes those obedient one hundred and twenty called out souls that waited in the upper room in the book of Acts look foolish for waiting on something that they already had! It is also a slap in the face to He who was obedient unto the death of the cross. These conclusions come from a mind that rejects the true meaning of what the cross does in our lives.
We would like to give one more scripture concerning this idea of Christ being in everyone. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:15 and 16). Paul acknowledges our spirit bearing witness to the Holy Spirit, rather than considering them to be one and the same. Oh, there is a beautiful union spoken of here concerning our spirit and God's Spirit, but that is due to the fact that our spirits have been quickened. This is the first part of our salvation, not the end of it. Salvation in its complete sense involves spirit, soul, and body! Those three parts make up the whole man (1 Thess. 5:23).
"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" (Acts 17:29). The Concordant Literal New Testament renders man's device in Acts 17:29 as human sentiment. In the King James Version, the Greek word for device is also translated twice in Matthew's Gospel as thoughts (see 9:4 and 12:25), and it is also translated as thoughts in Hebrews 4:12. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Paul was enabled by the abiding word within him, which is Christ, to discern that which was of the soulish realm, which out of such a realm comes the vast multitudes of idols birthed out of human sentiment, and that which is of the spirit. There is nothing wrong with our soul as long as she is being obedient to her husband, which is the Spirit. Just as there has been a union of our spirit and the Holy Spirit, there must be a union of our soul and the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Christ that is to reign in His complete Lordship throughout our very being!
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:30 and 31). Repent. This is the climax of Paul's message to God's offspring. Paul's reference to them as God's offspring simply was a more diplomatic way of addressing the fact that God created humanity. It is quite different from the conclusions that are being found in the presentation of the Gospel in today's so-called deeper circles. As far as their message goes, God is still winking. But as far as Paul was concerned, the word to those at Mars Hill was repent! Did Christ die for them? Did God love them? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Nevertheless, Paul openly calls them to repentance. There still had to be a salvation experience. They were called to take on a new mind, rather than just join some little circle that simply gives their time and life to boasting about knowledge others do not have!
We can read on in Acts 17:32-34 and see where Paul is interrupted during his presentation of the Gospel, and then, in spite of the jeering crowd, there were those who believed! Something of the Holy Spirit was imparted rather than a new idea or another twist on the philosophies of the day. Divine life was given. God brought an increase to the household of faith!
Today at the New Mars Hill, the message has been one of tolerance, in the sense that we are unloving if we carry the convictions that there is a difference between those who have come to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour and those who do not know such a Saviour. Things are often parroted, repeated, and rehashed without it being considered what they are really saying when such things are taken to their conclusions. What are the conclusions? One obvious result is confusion.
This confusion is a spiritual state which the Spirit of God shall be calling a people out of. This spiritual state can also be a place in which God has sent others captive as a result of being qualified for a reprobate mind, which is simply a mind void of judgment. Although there are advocates of the New Age movement that use some of the scriptures, as well as teachers of so-called deeper truths, when you compare their message with the scriptures as a whole, their belief system breaks down and is seen for what it really is, which is inconsistent and self-contradictory. Why? Because the scriptures, which God inspired, were not given to teach, promote, and bear witness to Gnosticism, New Age, Hinduism, Unitarianism, nor any other world view, including the so-called kingdom teachers who declare a gospel that is not centered in Jesus Christ!
We all know there has been an innumerable amount of commentary written concerning what the scriptures teach, promote, and bear witness to. The shortest commentary ever written about the scriptures is without a doubt the most accurate commentary of all. That was the commentary our Lord gave the Jews, in John 5:39, which is, ". . . THEY (speaking of the scriptures) ARE THEY THAT TESTIFY OF ME."
If preeminence is being given to something else other than the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the scriptures witness, along with the Spirit, which abides in each member of the body of Christ, then we have an indication that a golden calf has been erected. We then know that the spirit of anti-Christ is at work. Oh, it is one thing to use the Lord's name, but it is an entirely different matter to devote our entire being to His Lordship. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and our very words, the very thing we lay the most emphasis on, will tell our listener the measure of preeminence that the Lord is given! (Matt. 12:34).
The presentation of the Gospel today, in a lot of camps, is not Son centered, rather it is centered on the sons. Does your world revolve around you, a son, or does it revolve around THE SON?! Are you constantly craving a new thing and chasing after a new idea, or are you yearning for the full fruition of Christ in you? Has the thought of the Lordship of Jesus become a tiresome bore and left your soul unthrilled? Has the strange woman wooed you into her house and turned your attention from He who is Wisdom? Has the ingrafting of the Living Word been too much of a painful process on your soul? Does the thought of travail sway you to abort the expression of Christ in you from being birthed? Is it satisfying enough to be devoured by information centered around who we are in Christ, rather than being overcome by Christ in us? Oh, how we have increased and He has decreased. The Christ, the very Head of the body, Jesus, has became nothing more than just one of the boys. He may as well be one of the many great philosophers that walked this planet. Is He just one of the many ways into the kingdom?
For the benefit of any who may read these lines and have yet to be desensitized by the vast flow of information concerning the kingdom message, which in essence has put the King of the kingdom somewhere in the background while men of reputation become the final say so for the gullible, I say to you rejoice! The risen Lord that revealed Himself to Paul and impregnated Him with the purpose of sonship, will place His Head on a mature body, which simply speaks of His Lordship operating in the fullness of an obedient corporate man that has but one Head and truly knows no other way whatsoever into the kingdom but through He who is THE DOOR! We have the privilege and challenge of such a high calling, so hold fast to He who is THE TRUTH!
There will be those that hear and go untouched and unchanged. There will be those who hear and become excited only to later abort that which is sown. Yet, as surely as the Lord Himself overcame, there will be a people who through Christ live wholly to God's will in obedience and become instrumental in filling the earth with the glory of God. You see dear friend, while we may find others caught up in running to and fro for a new word and wanting an explanation on all the hot topics, there will be those who simply come to see that the Lord desires obedience, and the other issues will be answered in due time if our priorities are in God's order!
Those who belly up to the bar and feed on the buffet of information, taking what they like and fixing their own plates according to their own taste can dine in pleasure if they please. However, as some of our spiritual faculties begin to sharpen, we might find that the rank smell that we sense may be coming from what we have been feeding upon, because some of those tables are full of vomit (Isa. 28:8).
That may sound like strong language, and it may not sound very loving according to some standards, but as far as that goes, the New Mars Hill tells us there are no standards. But there is indeed a standard. There is a plumb line. There is something in which God has chosen to measure His building project that shall be made without hands. Because of such a standard there will be seemingly harsh declarations to those who have rejected the standard. Can we suffer a wounded pride and submit to He who has called us or will we come up with another theology to justify the untempered mortar of personal agendas and alternative routes that sustain selfhood? Has not the ugly head of humanism popped up its proud head and forked out its tongue at the cross of Christ with Adam's Gnostic Gospel long enough?
Alas, divine discontentment will lead us away from the generation of information's mega- food bar, and the cry shall be heard in the soul that cannot be satisfied with anything less than the full measure of Christ. Let us ponder part of Paul's hope for the Church. "[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!" (Eph. 3:19, Amplified).
The information that may contain parts of truth, without the life and experience of the Spirit of He who is the Truth, can never fill us. I thank God for the many people He has used to share a word through tapes, writings, and conventions, but these things are not the source of divine life! We need not stand in front of the God shaped void of humanity and think we can fill it with mere information apart from a life changing experience, any more than we should expect to fill that which cries for Him within us with another book, another tape, or another convention. That is like throwing rocks into the Grand Canyon, but we would do well to simply fall on the Rock and be taken up with His purpose for making His abode in our hearts as we set our sights on the grand fulfillment!
The Path alien to the vulture's eye has been paved,
By He alone who is qualified to save!
His love for all creation is so profound and dear,
In Spirit and Truth His words are clear.
Let us reverence this blessed forerunner,
For He is the life of the overcomer.
Let our desire be for the full measure,
So like Him we may perform God's pleasure.
The road may seem long and the companions may be few,
Yet His testings are done in love to leave us tried and true.
Will we abandon ship for the sake of something seemingly new?
I beseech all who read these lines to let the cross shape
your
world view!