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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman
Satanic
Mysticism Revelation
2:24 reads: "Now
I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, 'I will
not impose any other burden on you." Jesus
referenced Satan's so-called deep secrets in the above letter addressed
to the community of believers in the first-century Roman city of Among
the false doctrines floating around the Christian community at the end
of the first century when the Book of Revelation was penned, was a
mysticism that found its roots in polytheistic paganism.
This might have intrigued certain Christians because there is a
spiritual element to the Christian life.
That being said, not all mystical or spiritual experiences are
Christian, and this is what Jesus addressed, as seen in Revelation 2:24. A
mystical approach to the Christian life appeals to certain Christians,
because by their very nature, they lean more to the spiritual side of
life than the intellectual side of life.
That would naturally carry over to their lives as Christians,
which I believe I see in a New Age style mysticism in today's Christian
community. Some people
promote their dreams, visions, and prophetic words as being secrets that
are being revealed directly from the heart of God through them.
Such revealing of secrets catches the attention of those who are
more spiritually orientated, but are they really secrets from God's
heart? I personally believe
most of them are more of a product of an over-active imagination, or
worse still, a product of Satan's over-active imagination.
I
do not discount the Biblical validity of dreams, visions, and
prophecies, but that does not mean I embrace all that I hear and
see these days. One thing we
must learn from the seven letters of Revelation is that we must test
these dreams, visions, and prophecies.
We do that from a Biblically based intellect, something that is
sadly lacking in what I believe is a Biblically illiterate western-world
church. The
Christian life is a balance between the
spiritual and the intellectual. Stressing
one over the other is always problematic, as was the case with those in
Thyatira. As this age winds
down, Satan will be promoting his so-called deep secrets as if they were
directly from the heart of God.
Don't be fooled. Be a
balanced believer.
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