New Age – Old Lie
The aim of
this document is to introduce the New Age movement from a Biblical
perspective. You might be surprised that
the Bible speaks of the New Age. However,
many of the beliefs and practices often described as “New Age” are actually
forbidden by God in scripture. While the
New Age movement is diverse and eclectic, there are 5 main philosophies that
make it distinctive: Spiritism,
Globalism, Eclecticism, Monism, and Relativism.
Instead of
dealing individually with New Age Gospels such as “The Gospel of Thomas”, “The
Aquarian Gospel”, the “DaVinci code”,
and whatever other New Age gospel that becomes popular, I prefer to introduce
the 5 distinctives that you will find at the root of any New Age philosophy or
theology.
Comparison
The chart
below compares these 5 main New Age philosophies to Christianities closest
equivalent philosophy.
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New Age |
Christian |
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Spiritism- spiritual practices that involve
spirits other than the Holy Spirit of the Jesus Christ of the Bible. |
Holy Spirit There is
only one. He only gives glory to Jesus
Christ*, whom He points man to by guiding man in Christ’s truth – which never contradicts the Bible. |
|
Globalism – political world unity. |
Pluralism God
created a multitude of languages and cultures in the story of the |
|
Eclecticism- Believing bits and pieces of
whatever you like from sources other than the Bible, whether the sources
contradict the bible or not. |
Unified, internally consistent (testable)
theology across the 66 books of the Bible,
written by 40 different authors. |
|
Monism –all is one. No separation between good and evil, or man
and God (humanism). Pantheism (courtesy of Wikipedia) (Greek: πάν ( 'pan' )
= all and θεός ( 'theos' ) = God) literally
means "God is All" and
"All is God". It is the view that everything is of an
all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God
are equivalent. More detailed definitions tend to emphasize the idea that natural
law, existence,
and the universe
(the sum total of all that is, was, and shall be) is
represented or personified in the theological
principle of 'God'. |
Dualism - Good vs. Evil. God is not one with
evil: Man (and Angels’) sin separates
them from God. The Gospel God the
Father is good and man is not. God’s
creation was good until it was corrupted by Man’s sin, which separated it (and
Man) from God. Man can only become
good (or at least better) by allowing God himself, by the Holy Spirit, to
live through him by believing that God’s only son, Jesus Christ, died in his
place, for his sins that once separated him (collectively and individually)
from God. |
|
Relativism - moral relativism is
the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute and universal
moral truths, but instead make claims relative
to social, cultural, historical or personal
circumstances. Moral relativists hold that no universal standard exists by
which to assess an ethical proposition's truth. |
Monotheism - One God, one absolute and universal truth;
Jesus Christ—the Word become flesh—His Word is
the universal standard by which to assess an ethical
proposition's truth. |
*John 16:13-15 (New International Version)
13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you
into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears,
and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known
to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit
will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
As you can see from the chart and the above descriptions,
New Age and Christian beliefs are opposite.
It is impossible for both to be true since they make contradictory
claims. Everyone must choose to follow
Jesus or follow New Age thoughts. Let’s
take a closer look at these 5 distinctives of New Age thought.
Spiritism
These
spiritual practices involve spirits other than the Holy Spirit of the Jesus
Christ of the Bible. While Christians
label these practices as “occult” they are not new. In fact God warned against involvement with
them early on in scripture.
Deut 18:9-14
9 When you
enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the
detestable ways of the nations there.
10 Let no one
be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
11 or casts
spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
12 Anyone who
does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable
practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.
13 You must be
blameless before the LORD your God.
14 The nations
you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as
for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. (NIV)
Lev
26 You are to
be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the
nations to be my own.
27 "'A man
or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are
to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'" (NIV)
Lev 20:6-8
6 "'I
will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to
prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
7 "'Consecrate
yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
8 Keep my
decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy. (NIV)
1 Chr 10:13-14
13 Saul died
because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and
even consulted a medium for guidance,
14 and did not inquire
of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David
son of Jesse. (NIV)
Deut 13:1-5
1 If a
prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you
a miraculous sign or wonder,
2 and if the
sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us
follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship
them,"
3 you must not
listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing
you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your
soul.
4 It is the
LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and
obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
5 That prophet
or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD
your God, who brought you out of
Lev
31
"'Do
not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I
am the LORD your God. (NIV)
1
John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits
to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.
(Whole Chapter: 1
John 4 In context: 1
John 4:1-2)
1
Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you
cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.
(Whole Chapter: 1
Corinthians 10 In context: 1
Corinthians 10:20-22)
Ephesians
4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.
(Whole Chapter: Ephesians
4 In context: Ephesians
4:26-28)
1 Tim 4:1-7
1 The Spirit
clearly says that in later times some will abandon
the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2 Such
teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared
as with a hot iron.
3 They forbid
people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created
to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the
truth. 4 For
everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received
with thanksgiving,
5 because it
is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
6 If you point
these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus,
brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have
followed. 7 Have nothing to do with
godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. (NIV)
Globalism
Gen 11:1-9
1 Now the whole
world had one language and a common speech.
2 As men moved
eastward, they found a plain in
3 They said to
each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They
used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they
said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to
the heavens, so that we may make a name
for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the LORD
came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
6 The LORD
said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do
this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us
go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
8 So the LORD
scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the
city.
9 That is why
it was called
Why was God opposed to world unity? He explains later in Revelation. Notice how this future-tense
Rev 18:1-24
1 After this I
saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the
earth was illuminated by his splendor.
2 With a
mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is
3 For all the
nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth
committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her
excessive luxuries."
4 Then I heard
another voice from heaven say: "Come
out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you
will not receive any of her plagues;
5 for her sins
are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Give back to
her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a
double portion from her own cup.
7 Give her as
much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart
she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.'
8 Therefore in
one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be
consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
9 "When
the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury
see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
10 Terrified at
her torment, they will stand far off and cry: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, O
Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'
11 "The
merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their
cargoes any more--
12 cargoes of
gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet
cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory,
costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;
13 cargoes of
cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil,
of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14 "They will
say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor
have vanished, never to be recovered.'
15 The
merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far
off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn
16 and cry out:
"'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and
glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour
such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' "Every sea captain, and all who
travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will
stand far off.
18 When they
see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like
this great city?'
19 They will
throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: "'Woe!
Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her
wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
20 Rejoice over
her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and
apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'"
21 Then a
mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it
into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of
22 The music of
harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in
you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound
of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of
a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will
never be heard in you again. Your
merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the
nations were led astray.
24 In her was
found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on
the earth." (NIV)
The lord
tells His people in verse 4 to “Come out
of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins”. What was the “magic spell” that brought such
unity and persecution of Christians? How
could followers of Christ posed a threat or created a problem in the
coalescence of this “
Rom 15:5-6
5 May the God
who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among
yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with
one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. (NIV)
1 Tim 4:7
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be
godly. (NIV)
2 Tim 3:1-5
1 But mark
this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will
be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient
to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without
love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the
good,
4 treacherous,
rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--
5 having a
form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (NIV)
So,
what is the “magic spell” that brought
unity to the world and persecution to Christians? I personally believe that it
is the magic false gospel of the AntiChrist.
II Th 2:1-12
1 Concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers,
2 not to become
easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have
come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
3 Don't let
anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion
occurs and the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything
that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's
temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don't you
remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
6 And now you
know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is
already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so
till he is taken out of the way.
8 And then the
lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the
breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit
miracles, signs and wonders,
10 and
in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful
delusion so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth but
have delighted in wickedness. (NIV)
So, there
is a lie that you can believe that makes you wicked and damned to hell. Only the ones who love the truth will be
saved. What could this lie be? Verse 7 tells us that “.. the secret power of lawlessness is
already at work”. Some already
believe it. Do you? What is this lie? I’m not going to tell you until later in this
paper.
You have
noticed that globalism, or world unity, is not a new idea. It is, however a popular “New Age” idea.
Chuck
Missler and Dr. Mark Eastman expose the new age messages consistently
attributed to aliens by the scattered hundreds who claim alien contact at http://www.khouse.org/conferences/alien/. Since the new age movement is vast and
eclectic, it has been difficult to summarize it into its basic component
teachings. These alien doctrines,
however, have done a great job of that—so I will be citing them to represent
the new age movement. Whether you
believe in aliens or not, this is the best summary of New Age philosophy that I
have come across.
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Ecumenism
Uniting the
world religiously, politically, and economically will be complete when all are
required to take the mark of the beast.
Rev 13:16-18
16 He also
forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a
mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
17 so that no
one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or
the number of his name.
18 This calls
for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast,
for it is man's number. His number is 666.
(NIV)
Until then,
Ecumenism across religions (as in the quote above and below) works toward that
end. It is obviously new age:
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Slide 27 of 43
“Most other
Religions”—That is interesting. Which
does not fit? The antichrist exalts
himself above everything that is
called God. This phraseology
points to a previously existing religious pluralism. Pluralism is respecting other beliefs as equally possibly true—since none
of us can be sure about the one real truth.
This is beginning to be called “tolerance”. Now, tolerance used to mean that you treated people
equally whether you agreed with them or not.
However, now tolerance has taken on a Hindu meaning: respecting
other beliefs as equally true.
Notice how idea of one absolute
truth is removed with removing the word “possibly” from the
above sentence. The Hindu meaning
supposes the existence of mutually exclusive coexisting truths. In other words, they can politely say in
Intolerance?
Intolerance
is the main enemy to World Unity. This
idea that truth is relative is called “relativism” and I will go into more
detail about it later. For now, let’s
see how intolerant Jesus Christ Himself is:
the only way
John
14:6
Jesus
answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. (NIV)
John
10:1-2
1 "I tell you the truth, the man
who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way,
is a thief and a robber.
2 The man who enters by the gate is the
shepherd of his sheep. (NIV)
Matthew
(
(
Romans
(
Acts
4:9-12
9 If we are being called to account
today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was
healed,
10 then know this, you and all the people
of
11 He is "'the stone you builders
rejected, which has become the capstone.'
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved." (NIV)
Acts
17:30-31
30 In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For
he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has
appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the
dead." (NIV)
For
more detailed explanation of the exclusivity of Christ in regards to “those who have not heard”, see my document
by that name. It takes me 30 pages of
mostly scripture to explain the simple fact that God judges all according to
their response to the revelation of Christ that they have had the opportunity
to receive.
So, for
Christ, who claims to BE the truth, truth is far more important than unity with
the world. However, for the antichrist, unity, or tolerance is more important
than the doctrinal truth of the bible.
This is his false unity with which he will unite all “religions”. Followers of the bible and the Holy Spirit,
however, will not unite outside of sound biblical doctrine.
Doctrine is not important?
Have you
heard the phrase, “Doctrine is not important”?
'Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.' 1Timothy 4:1
What
happens to believers and preachers of false doctrine?
John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on
him." (NIV)
John 3:16-18
16 "For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him.
18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not
believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
(NIV)
1 Tim 4:16
16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in
them, because if you do, you will
save both yourself and your hearers.
(NIV)
Gal 1:8-9
8 But even if
we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
9 As we have
already said, so now I say again: If
anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be
eternally condemned! (NIV)
II Th 2:9-12
9 The coming of
the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all
kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
10 and in every
sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this
reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that
all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in
wickedness. (NIV)
Rev 22:14-15
14 "Blessed
are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of
life and may go through the gates into the city.
15 Outside are
the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers,
the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (NIV)
Eclecticism
Eclecticism
is a person believing bits and pieces of whatever you like from sources other
than the Bible, whether the sources contradict the bible or not. The New Age lie is that there is so much
truth out there, that: Who’s to say which is the real thing? The bible is not the authoritative
standard of the one truth for New Age practitioners. However, it is a very popular “spiritual
book”.
I Jn 4:1-6
1 Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how
you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every
spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you
have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear
children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They are from the world and therefore speak
from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from
God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not
listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of
falsehood. (NIV)
2 Cor 11:3-4
3 But I am
afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may
somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if
someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or
if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different
gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (NIV)
John 8:51
51 I tell you
the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." (NIV)
1 Cor 15:1-2
1 Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold
firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in
vain. (NIV)
Many
believe that New Age philosophies are “extra” biblical, and that all truth
comes from God. This idea is called
eclecticism. Most educated westerners
are New Age, although they may call themselves Christian. This document exposes New Age philosophies as
anti-biblical. A Christian must pick
between New Age and Christianity. There
is no middle ground because these religious systems are mutually
exclusive.
Monism
If you are God, you won’t die!
Even though
God scattered the language of the Babylonians to prevent globalism, the city of
- you will not surely
die.
- you will be
like God: Monism- “all is one”/ I
am one with everything-including God.
- Spiritism.
In Gen
11:1-9 God scattered them that built the
Isa 47:5-15
5 "Sit in
silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians;
no more will you be called queen of
kingdoms.
6 I was angry
with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and
you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, 'I will continue
forever-- the eternal queen!' But
you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
8 "Now
then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to
yourself, 'I am,
and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the
loss of children.'
9 Both of
these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and
widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many
sorceries and all your potent spells.
10 You have
trusted in your wickedness and have said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and
knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, 'I am, and there is none besides me.'
11 Disaster
will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity
will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you
cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
12 "Keep
on, then, with your magic spells and with your many
sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will
succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the
counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make
predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon
you.
14 Surely they
are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire
to sit by.
15 That is all
they can do for you-- these you have labored with and trafficked with since
childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save
you. (NIV)
You are not God
A monist may or may not say “I am
God”. However, since all is one, they
are as much God as God is. This New Age
idea is not a new idea. I don’t honestly
know whether the Babylonians pre-date the Hindu Vedic writings, but my guess is
that they do. They definitely pre-date
the monistic teachings of Buddhism.
However, Hinduism (including Buddhism) is the most similar religion to
the New Age religion because of it’s tolerance of multiple truths--relativism. The New Age movement is basically Hinduism
minus holiness. It is growing more popular among Westerners because you get to
be God (in control), and make your own rules.
This New-Age idea actually predates Indian religion (Hinduism) and human
history, however. In fact, the Devil was
the first to have this idea.
Isa
14:12-14
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O
morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who
once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, "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.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the
clouds; I will make myself like the
Most High." (NIV)
According
to many commentators, this King of Tyre is known to represent Satan, and this
passage further explains that his desire to be as God was his doom:
Ezek
28:1-18
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of
3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no
secret hidden from you?
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and
amassed gold and silver in your treasuries.
5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of
your wealth your heart has grown proud.
6 "'Therefore this is what the
Sovereign LORD says: "'Because you
think you are wise, as wise as a god,
7 I am going to bring foreigners against
you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your
beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die a violent
death in the heart of the seas.
9 Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of
those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who
slay you.
10 You
will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners.
I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"
11 The word of the LORD came to me:
12 "Son of man, take up a lament
concerning the king of
13 You were in
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the
fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the
day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled
with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of
God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of
your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw
you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and
it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all
who were watching. (NIV)
This one passage contains many of
the elements of the New Age movement that I will explain throughout this document.
- I am God
- I am like God
- I will not die
- v. 16: widespread trade- the economic aspect of
Globalism.
Notice the reference above to the
garden of Eden? Satan was a proponent of
sharing his “you are God” idea early in human history, as he introduced the New
Age movement to humans right away:
Gen 3:2-5
2 The woman said to the serpent,
"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat
fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch
it, or you will die.'"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like God, knowing good and evil." (NIV)
Satan’s old New Age lie
Satan tries to deceive humans with
the following reasoning: “If you are
God, then you won’t die. Don’t worry about God and His warnings that disobeying
Him will kill you”. Does this sound hard
to believe? Well, it is hard to believe
for most people. However, the devil
wants us to believe that we are God, to keep us from knowing Him. So, he improves the packaging of the idea:
- You will not die
- You will be like God
He can also improve the packaging
more than this. He can even use
Christian packaging.
17. "Are you ready for some real
revelation knowledge....you are god"
(Benny Hinn, "Our Position In Christ", tape # AO31190-1)
Benny Hinn pretty much quoted Satan
(and Shirley McLane) with the “you are God” statement.
You
are not like God. Also, God is not a tool
to get what your flesh desires. He is
also not the same as you. You are not
God! Your desires and His will often be
at odds. What is your cross to
bear? Your cross is when your will
crosses God’s.
Matt
16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
You
will die.
Either you will
die to the flesh and live through the Spirit, or end up in Hell (Rev.
21:8). Losing your life is dying. If you
do not lose your life, you will not find true life in Christ.
1 Cor
31 I die every day-- I mean that, brothers--
just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to
your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (NIV)
1 Pet
2:19-24
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under
the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a
beating for doing wrong and endure it? But
if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before
God.
21 To this
you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that
you should follow in his steps.
22 "He committed no sin, and no
deceit was found in his mouth."
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did
not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted
himself to him who judges justly.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree, so that we might die to
sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (NIV)
You are not like God
Isa 55:8-9
8 "For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares
the LORD.
9 "As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. (NIV)
Have
you heard people say, “He will give you the desires of your heart”? Many quote part of the following passage
without regard to its immediate context.
Ps 37:3-5
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell
in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he
will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in
him and he will do this: (NIV)
This promise is for those who trust
in the Lord behaviorally by doing good (v3).
Their desires are different from those of most people, since they are on
the narrow road (Matthew
Ezek
18:30-32
30 "Therefore, O house of
31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you
have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house
of
32 For I take no pleasure in the death of
anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (NIV)
Ezek
36:26-27
26 I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and
move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (NIV)
Relativism
John 18:33-37
33 Pilate then
went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the
king of the Jews?"
34 "Is
that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about
me?"
35 "Am I a
Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who
handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
36 Jesus said,
"My kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, my servants would fight to
prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
37 "You
are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in
saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came
into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens
to me." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he
went out again to the Jews and said, "I
find no basis for a charge against him.
(NIV)
What is Truth?
Pilate’s
question reveals another important corollary of the New Age: What is truth when everyone is equally
God? Who decides what truth is? Naturally, it is all truth! The drama of Christ’s judgment shows us much
about God’s purpose in allowing the Devil to deceive people and test their
worthiness.
Luke 20:35-36
35 But those
who are considered worthy of taking
part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor
be given in marriage,
36 and they can
no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since
they are children of the resurrection.
(NIV)
Pilate was not worthy.
He did “not take his cross and” follow Jesus.
Matt 10:38-39
38 and anyone
who does not take his cross and follow
me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. (NIV)
Like most
New Agers, he was not “against Jesus”.
He believed his wife’s dream, and tried to release Him. He even symbolically washed his hands of His
blood before the Jewish leaders.
However, as Jesus says in Matt 12:30, "He who is not with me is
against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. (NIV)
This
passage above (John
John 8:23-24
23 But he
continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 I told you
that you would die in your sins; if you do
not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins." (NIV)
Hey-I’m not Anti-Christ!
People
usually think of THE Antichrist as the one guy who will unite and lead the
world system of
I Jn 4:2-6
2 This is how
you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge
Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you
have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Did Pilate
acknowledge Jesus? Well, he did not want
to crucify Him. He respected and feared
him to an extent. The world, who’s God
is the spirit of antichrist, denies the identity that He claims. They do not believe that Jesus is God
incarnate. In fact, I asked a Hindu
friend of mine for fun if he believed that “Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh”. He said no. I was surprised that he correctly discerned
the meaning of my question—Did the Spirit of the one true God come in the flesh
as the man Jesus Christ?
Why does
the spirit of antichrist deny that Jesus came in the flesh? The New Age idea that Jesus was a mere man
originated during the writing of the Gospels, according to Joe Schimmel. He states that a first-century false teacher
named Serenthis taught that Jesus was not born in the flesh-that instead his
Christ-hood came from His self-realization of his own God-hood. Much in the same way, many New-Agers believe
that Christ was not born fully God and fully man but that Christ consciousness
came upon a mere man named Jesus. This could possibly occur to any other mere
man. After all, we are all like God--the
reasoning goes.
In fact, in
keeping with the Babylonian pantheistic idea (Isa 47:5-15) that "I am and
there is none beside me", you are God! All is one--there is no personal
God separate from His creation. God is
not Holy and separate, instead, He is in everything, and everyone. That means
that He is in Hitler, Manson, and every other unregenerate Christ-rejecting
God-hater. While this pantheism seems like silly piece of ancient religious
history to most of us, it is gaining popularity in the West—through the New Age
movement. Check out this survey research
presented at http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PageCategory.asp?CategoryID=2
The god of the New Age--the god of this
world
Pilate may
not have known that he was anti-Christ.
He had nothing against Christ, he was simply unwilling to sacrifice
everything for His sake. This is
anti-Christ though. Furthermore, by
default, he was against Christ—because he was of the world. Notice what these passages say about the
world:
I Jn 5:19
19 We know that
we are children of God, and that the
whole world is under the control of the evil one. (NIV)
Rev 12:9
9 The great
dragon was hurled down-- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.
He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (NIV)
I Jn 4:2-6
2 This is how
you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge
Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you
have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear
children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They are
from the world and therefore speak from the
viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from
God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not
listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (NIV)
Since the
New Age movement has gained popular acceptance in the popular media (see http://www.goodfight.org/ for compelling a/v
resources on this topic), new age authors (many of whom claim that their
writings were channeled or auto-written by spirits) can afford to be more
upfront with their demonic message:
' Lucifer comes to give to us the final gift of
wholeness. If we accept it then he is
free and we are free. That is the
Luciferic initiation. It is one that
many people now, and in the days ahead, will be facing, for it is an initiation
into the New Age.' David
Spangler, Reflections on the Christ, 1981, Pg. 45.
Matriarchy &Greed
I cover the
correlation between greed and the New Age extensively in my 30 something page
paper entitled “The New Age Prosperity Gospel”. The aim of this document is to introduce the
New Age movement from a Biblical perspective.
So I will simply leave you with some biblical descriptions of the effect
that New Age beliefs can have on society and individuals.
Isa 3:12-24
12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over
them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the
path.
13 The LORD
takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.
14 The LORD
enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is
you who have ruined my vineyard; the
plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people and
grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
16 The LORD
says, "The women of
17 Therefore
the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of
18 In that day
the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent
necklaces,
19 the earrings and bracelets and veils,
20 the headdresses and ankle chains and
sashes, the perfume bottles and charms,
21 the signet rings and nose rings,
22 the fine robes and the capes and
cloaks, the purses
23 and mirrors, and the linen garments and
tiaras and shawls.
24 Instead of
fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of
well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of
beauty, branding. (NIV)
Does this
sound familiar? While I wish it was
alien to modern culture, or Church culture, it is not. Women use provocative clothing and
accessories to entice men/boys into a relationship where they control the man,
or “rule over them”. This is the direct
opposite of God’s pronouncement in Gen:
Genesis
3:16
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in
childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your
desire will be for your husband, and he will
rule over you."
(Whole Chapter: Genesis
3 In context: Genesis
3:15-17)
To find out
more about the fulfillment of this scripture (Isa 3:12-24) in our day, as it
relates to popular music redefining gender roles, modesty, and other aspects of
popular culture, check out http://www.goodfight.org/.
Conclusion
The New Age
Gospel is broad, eclectic, and difficult to define and evaluate. This contrasts with biblical thought which is
narrow, mono-cultural (Jewish), internally consistent, unified, finite, and
testable.
Deuteronomy 4:34-36 (NIV)
Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of
another nation, by testings, by
miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for
you in Egypt before your very eyes?
You were shown these things so that you might know that the
LORD is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you
hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great
fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.
2 Pet 1:20-21
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but
men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
1 Thessalonians 5
20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test
everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.
Acts 17:11
11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the
Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
This
document could be useful to a Christian who is or has been influenced by New
Age thought according to Acts 17:11:
They can examine the scriptures herein to see if these 5 main New Age
philosophies are true. Thousands of other New Age philosophies or theologies
have their root in these 5 ideas.
For
Christians like me, who come from a New Age background, it is easy to spot
traces of New Age thinking in the Church. For many however, it is difficult to grasp
the above concepts at all. That is why I
do not explain these New Age philosophies/theologies at length. I only show the scriptures that expose and
refute them. You could spend your whole lifetime studying New Age thought. It would be better to study God’s thought.
2 John 1
9 Anyone who goes
too far and (1)
does not abide in the teaching of
Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both
the Father and the Son.
1 Tim 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths
and old wives' tales; rather,
train yourself to be godly. (NIV)
2 Timothy 3 16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
This means
that there is no spiritual truth outside of scripture that you need to concern
yourself with. God’s word is adequate in equipping you for every good
work.
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