Mysticism (Part 2) (rerun)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the apostle

Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'"

In short, if you like smooth, watered down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name's

Mike Abendroth, and I wanna talk again today about mysticism. If you'd like to email us, it is info at nocompromiseradio .com,

info at nocompromiseradio .com. If you'd like to attend one of our worship services, you can find us at bbchurch .org,

bbchurch .org. I wanna talk again today about mysticism.

I talked last time about mysticism and how it has influenced evangelicalism, kind of a

Buddhist, Hinduistic mysticism that says God speaks to us on the inside.

B .B. Warfield would say there are two religions in the world. The first religion is Christianity, where God speaks from an external outside source, extra nos, outside of us.

And since we're depraved and we're fallen, we would have a receiver that would be broken.

And so you can imagine, we would have everything tilted and torqued, and it would be off.

And so God has to speak to us externally. And we now have his complete, full, sufficient scripture found from Genesis through Revelation.

There's no need for God to speak any longer. Sometimes people will say to me, well, prove to me that God has done speaking.

Well, that is very easy to say. Why don't you prove to me that God needs to speak anymore?

Are the scriptures sufficient? Do you believe in sola scriptura or not? Do you believe that God saves through the preaching of scripture and sanctifies through the preaching of the scripture?

But when scriptures are too hard, when people are too lazy, when they think somehow they read the

Bible as everything is for them today, they wander off into the tall weeds, into the

Old Testament, and somehow think when God talks to Moses, then he must talk to them too.

And sadly, many of those people's lives are only about 1 800th as godly as Moses is.

And then they think, well, why doesn't God want to speak to me? And so we're talking about mysticism.

And I want to talk a little bit more about Beth Moore and her mysticism in a minute, because I got cut off last time.

I received a magazine, and sometimes I receive magazines just to kind of read what other people are doing.

It's from Fuller Seminary. It's called Theology News and Notes from Fuller Seminary, Fall 2009.

And a woman named Grace Adolphson, B -R -A -M -E, or Brame, wrote an article called

Quaker Spirituality. How can we serve unless we listen? And she is mystic.

She teaches integration of theology and spirituality at Graduate Religion Department at LaSalle University in Pennsylvania.

And I guess she teaches in some way, shape, or form at Fuller, or maybe she's just a guest writer.

She says, quote, "'A spirituality of receptivity and response has been the heart of Quakerism since the

Society of Friends was founded by George Fox in 1652." So far,

I believe her. "'In this approach, one prays and waits on the Lord before one acts. Indeed, one might not act at all unless moved by the

Spirit in prayer. That is mysticism. The society differs from many Christian denominations by insisting that no one needs a mediator to know, hear, or be guided by the

Spirit.'" I'll tell you what a word for that is, chaos. "'God,' Grace goes on to say, "'who made each heart naturally speaks to it.'"

Really? "'God will be heard if one learns to listen.'" Well, maybe she can teach us how to learn to listen.

"'Christ the Savior has taught His people to listen and then obey, to do and say as He did what the

Spirit bids. Because the Spirit still speaks to those who listen, revelation has never ceased.'"

Did you get that? Revelation has never ceased. While the Bible, she says, God -inspired word, she's going to basically slam it here.

I can tell what's coming. Here's a little pat on the forehead. While the Bible, God's inspired word, is cherished and quoted,

God continues to speak personally, inspiring people of every generation. In fact, it may be that Scripture reading opens the mind and warms the heart to new revelation and greater courage to act in God's name.

I don't know what to do. I just need one of those little bags that come in the airplane. It's a little white bag.

It's kind of got wax on the inside of the small bag and it's got a nice little seal on the top.

I need one of those. Listening to yourselves is mysticism. And then somehow saying

God told you, to me, that is the apex of appalling theology.

And I don't mean A space P -A -U -L -I -N -E. I mean, A -P -P.

It is appalling to somehow say, I believe this and then say,

God told me. What I think, what I feel, and what I believe, it is what

God says. That is not the Reformation. That is not Pauline.

That is not Petrine. That is not what Jesus would say. We cannot trust ourselves.

Out of the heart, horrible things occur. And we would all believe that. And so we need external source of revelation.

We can't trust our hearts. We can't buy into what the Disney movies sell. And that is, trust your heart.

Go with what you know. Abandon all authority and go with the flow. Is that a rhyme there?

I don't know. Anyway, Quaker spirituality is a bad theology. It is a horrible kind of theology.

And if you live your life that way, it's going to be utter chaos. And that's exactly what it was.

Thomas Kelly, author of a Testament of Votion, commented, quote, "'Dogmas and creeds and the closed revelation "'of a completed canon have replaced the emphasis "'upon keeping close to the fresh upspringings "'of the inner life,' end quote.

Well, the Bible's supposed to keep you from that because it's not good for you. You're not supposed to do that.

God has closed that off by his kindness and his goodness. And if you want to read the scripture, you'll quickly realize that you're not supposed to be looking for some kind of inner listening and internal assimilating and then calling your own gizzard

God. That is not good. 19 times, Grace Brame says, in the

Gospel of John, Jesus addresses the theme of giving and receiving. "'The words I say to you are not just my own.

"'Rather, it is the Father living in me "'who does his works,' John 14, 10. In the next chapter, Jesus says it will be the same.

"'For all his followers abide in me. "'Without me, you can do nothing.' Paul echoes that in 1 Corinthians 7. "'What have you that you have not received?'

End quote." Okay, so that means Quaker spirituality is right?

That means what you said is true? I don't see, you haven't proven anything to me.

That's the integration of theology and bad spirituality at LaSalle University. Not anything that I would agree with, that there is that of God in everyone, an inner light.

That's what the Quakers teach. Friends, if you abandon the doctrine of total depravity, corruption of the human heart, then you are open to all these kind of fables.

You're open to this kind of thing. And so, hey, let's not do communion, let's not have baptism, let's have no sacraments because God moved in my bosom to do that.

And that's exactly what they did. There's no sacraments in Quaker meetings because some hooligan theologically has said, oh, we don't need those.

And I think we have to be very, very careful. You see Quaker theology moving through the hearts and lives of people.

And so maybe George Fox was a nice guy, maybe William Penn was a good man, and he established the city of brotherly love.

And at Pennsylvania, it's interesting, this author says, there in Penns Woods, Pennsylvania, there he attempted to bring to life a special city where love of God and others would grow through worshipful listening and looking for that of God, the inner light in each other.

To this day, Pennsylvania is known as the Quaker state and is a center of Quaker life and thought.

And to this day, you see total depravity run amok in Philadelphia.

It's not the city of brotherly love, it's a city of crime and hatred. And of course, there are many good people there, but they're good because of the gospel, not because of their own internal selves.

Quakers are friends hold before themselves three central challenges. This is what this Grace Brame said.

One, listen to the spirit. And she doesn't mean the Bible. To love God and neighbor and to risk whatever is necessary so to do.

I think we need to abandon that kind of theology. I don't want you running around saying God told me because he didn't.

He told, you know, it's back to this whole Unitarian deal where they have the big sign, don't place a period where God has placed a comma.

Well, let's flip that around. Don't place a comma where God has placed a period. The scripture is sufficient.

The scripture is authoritative. We don't need more revelation. For what would we need it for?

To understand salvation better? No, that is complete. To understand the mind of God as he interacts with his covenant people and how he keeps his promises and how he's loving and kind and a faithful promise keeper?

No, we already have that. How to interact with people in work, at home, families, relationships?

We already have that. How to be sanctified? We already have that. What's heaven going to be like? We already have that.

Why do we need to go forward? We have to be careful to be somehow walking around as the

Bible's not enough for me, not satisfied with the revelation of God. Oh, I tried it and it didn't work.

No, we want to be very careful. And when Beth Moore teaches on her Be Still DVD that every person today,

God wants to have the tent of meeting with, I think you need to be careful of that. I think you need to run from her theology in that regard.

There's little room for speculation on her DVD. Quote, if we are not still before God, we never will truly know to the depths of the marrow of our bones that he is

God. There's got to be a stillness. Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

Beth Moore in a book in 2002, When Godly People Do Ungodly Things in a section on unceasing prayer writes,

I have picked up on the terminology of Brother Lawrence, well, that's the first problem, who called praying unceasingly practicing

God's presence. In fact, practicing God's presence has been my number one goal for the last year.

And it has influenced her because her references to Brendan Manning pop up, pop up, pop up, and she calls him, she says of him, our generation of believers may be a gift, his contribution to our generation of believers may be a gift without parallel.

And he is big time into this whole contemplating, nasal gazing. Manning said, choose a single sacred word or phrase that captures something about God of your intimate relationship with him, such as Jesus, Abba, peace, or a phrase such as Abba, I belong to do, belong to do, belong to you, without moving your lips, repeat the sacred word inwardly, slowly, and often.

When distractions come, simply return to listening to your sacred word, gently remind your mind to the sacred word.

This author of the Ragamuffin Gospel as well as a Roman Catholic, he's mystic, and why would we believe that?

So I'm supposed to sit there, I can't, you know, since it's radio, I can't say it quietly, I have to say it out loud,

Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you,

Abba, I belong to you. This is kooky, this is mysticism, this is sub -Christian, this is not

Christianity, this is not contemplative prayer, this is void your mind and act like a pagan.

What did Jesus say in Matthew chapter six about praying these repetitive prayers? He said, the pagans do that, don't you do that, you use your mind.

Why do we have to have all these books on contemplative prayer when we can go back and where we see the disciples say to Jesus, Jesus, you're the

God -man, we've never met anyone like you, there's never been anybody like you, there'll never be anyone like you, and you're in constant communion with the

Father, would you teach us to pray? And Jesus says, repeat after me, Abba, I belong to you,

Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you. No wonder people speak in tongues after that because you can just put the whole thing together,

Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you, Abba, I belong to you. And it's just so ridiculous.

When I start saying those things, I don't think of God. I start thinking about the Swedish band

Abba and what songs they sang, and that's what I begin to think about.

I don't think about what I'm supposed to be thinking about. We have to be careful. This whole language of people exhilarated, as Beth Moore would say, with experiencing

God, and if you don't, you're missing some kind of normal, regular way to commune with God, that is not good.

Forget that she has a bunch of tear -jerking stories and forced allegories and calling

Melchizedek Mel. I can live with all those kind of things. And what

I can't live with is mysticism and evangelicalism, and we imbibe it hook, line, and sinker.

What I also can't get over is when people say yes, but God's blessing it, and if he's blessing it, then somehow it's justified.

How do you know God is blessing it? More numbers, more money, bigger sanctuaries, selling more books, more per diem.

That's not how we understand God is blessing something. We need to make sure that we go back to the

Bible. A .W. Tozer said, "'The laws of success operate also in the higher filled of the soul.'"

I don't even know. In the higher filed of the soul? I can't even read my own writing. "'Eminence is the things of the spirit demands a devotion to these things more complete than most of us are willing to give.

But the law cannot be escaped. If we would be holy, we know the way. The law of holy living is before us.

The prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the new, and more than all, the sublime teachings of Christ are there to tell us how to succeed.'"

And so basically, Tozer said, you don't say how is God blessing something? You say, what does God have me to do?

We want to make sure that we're careful. Tozer goes on to say this, "'The amount of loafing practiced by the average

Christian in spiritual things would ruin a concert pianist if he allowed himself to do the same thing in the field of music.

The idol puttering around we see in church circles would end the career of a big league pitcher in one week.

No scientist could solve his exacting problem if he took his little interest in it as the rank and file Christians take in the art of being holy.

The nation whose soldiers were as soft and undisciplined as the soldiers of the churches would be conquered by the first enemy that attacked it.

Triumphs are not won by men in easy chairs. Success is costly.'" And so it costs to really study the

Bible, to really prayer, and then to really pray. And when we go into this kind of lazy mode, well,

God's just going to tell me, "'No, we need to be diligent with Timothy to present ourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.'"

And we need to be diligent. We need to make sure that we say to ourselves, let's pray for our leaders to faithfully exert themselves in this lofty endeavor, and then we will follow the lead of our elders and pastors and study as well.

We don't want to be shamed by God. We want to work accurately, and we want to cut the scriptures straight.

We don't want to be like Elemas the magician in Acts chapter 13, who makes crooked the straight ways of the

Lord. You don't need to read any Bethmore books. They're not good for your soul. They're not good for your contemplative prayer life.

You need to be very, very careful. Let's go back to the scriptures in Psalm 119, verse 60. "'The sum of thy word is truth, and every one of the righteous ordinances is everlasting.'"

Even if there was 1 % of the time that God supposedly talked to you, in your prayer life, even 1 % of those times was true.

The other 99 % are false. So why don't you go for something true all the time, and that is scripture.

There's something more reliable than experience, and that is scripture. Do you know you could see

Jesus transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration and see His eternal deity and glory stream forth out through His skin, as it were, and shine forth

His radiant glory, and you could still say to yourself, "'Even though I saw that with my own eyes, like Peter, James, and John did.

Even though I heard it with my own ears, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well -pleased, like Peter, James, and John did.

Even though they said on that holy mountain, "'This is God, we've experienced this.'"

Did you know that the reliability of divine scripture is more sure than experience?

The Bible is certain because it is divine. That's the whole point, and that's why 2

Peter 119 says, "'To which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your heart.'"

You don't need to pay attention to the experiences of your life. Sure, there are experiences that you live through and that are wonderful and some that are horrible, but God expects you to look to the

Word and to study it and to sweat and to toil and to get in there and dig.

John Wimber said, "'When are we going to see a generation who doesn't try to understand this book, the

Bible, but just believes it?' That's bad. Don't do that. That's not right.

Jack Deer said, "'The idea that fallen humanity can arrive at a pure biblical objectivity in determining all their practices and beliefs is an illusion.'

Well, I disagree with that statement, but if you have a hard time coming to biblical objectivity based on the

Bible, how much biblical objectivity can you have based on your own inner light?

Your inner light that is erroneous because of the fall. The Bible, true or false, commands us to look to an inner voice.

False. The Bible commands us to experience the presence of God in contemplative prayer. False. The Bible says to study the word.

True. To meditate on scripture. True. To keep repeating some word like Abba, I love you, something like that over and over and over again.

False. We are instructed to study, to cultivate wisdom, to gather discernment, to use understanding, to make the most of what

God has given us. That's what we're to do. Those who focus on subjectivity are immature.

Those that dwell in mystical subjectivity remain immature. You don't want to remain immature, do you?

You've got too many big problems in your life, too many big trials and temptations. You need to have the deep things of God, and they're not going to be found inside of you.

George Duncan said, God does not reveal the deep things to the casual Christian who drops in for a chat.

And I would go further and say, God does not reveal the deep things to the casual, lazy Christian who wants to hear from God outside the scripture.

That's true. That's just the way things are. Because if you start saying your theology comes from your experience, then you've replaced, as David Well says, theology with autobiography.

And you can just start a new religion. And instead of, you know, your name's Sheila, and instead of being a

Christian, you should just call yourself a Sheelan. And then you can say, I practice Sheelanism, and I take part of the

Bible and part of my own gizzard. That's my theology. That's my religion. And you're free to do that in America.

If you want to be a Sheelanite and practice Sheelanisms and evangelize others so there'll be more

Sheelans around, well, you're quite free to do that. But just don't call it Christianity because you see

James, as he says in chapter one, verse 25, look intently at the perfect law, not upon your own lint -filled belly button.

No, look at the law of liberty and abide by it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer.

This man will be blessed in what he does. Not those who are projectively portraying some kind of inner light and mysticism.

No, you want to be like the marrow man who sucked the marrow out of the word of God to get all the deep things.

Tasker said, the true listener is one who takes the trouble to look into what he hears and to consider its implications for practical living.

That's the one that wants to be, that's the one that will be blessed. My name's Mike Ebenroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry and I'm just off on a roll and here's the roll.

You want to be blessed? Get your nose in the word of God and say, God, open my eyes and I might see wonderful things in your truth.

God does not speak outside the Bible. Don't try to prove it from experience because the Bible can be trusted more than experience.

Don't try to say, well, God said this to me and he did that to me. I can't prove it one way or the other. God told me he didn't do that to you.

How about that? The test for all these things is truth. J. Gresham Machen said, nothing in the world can take the place of truth.

Personal experience is not a basis for reality, 2 Peter chapter one.

You can't say I've experienced, therefore it's true. Some people say, well, I've spoken tongues, therefore it's true. You don't know what you're saying because that is not a true statement.

You have to be careful. You have to watch out what you do. If we begin to accept as truth what has happened, one man said, even to fellow believers, we have no basis for rejecting the truth claims of any other religious doctrines.

Mysticism says, I get truth from the inside. From somebody else's insides are my own insides.

When I don't want to get truth from God's word anymore, I read it, it doesn't work, it's boring, it's old, I don't like big words,

I've read it before. No, we don't want to be that way. We want to be blessed.

And you want to be blessed, you study God's word. And he speaks, the spirit of God illumines your mind, convicts you, confronts you, conforms you.

John Flavel said, by entertaining of strange persons, men sometimes entertain angels unaware, but by entertaining strange doctrines, many have entertained devils unaware.

You don't want to be low -hanging fruit for Satan and the devils. So go trust objective, external revelation.

It's called the word of God. And it's there at your house. If you don't have a Bible, you write me at info at nocompromisedradio .com

and I'll make sure to get you a good Bible. Read the Bible, you'll be blessed in what you do. Read your own gizzard and you'll be a divination person.

And we don't want that. God bless you. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.