Here comes a story so bizarre you can hardly comprehend it. At least, that's how it goes for me. It shows how God's adversary Satan can deceive Christians. We often think too small of our God, but we also sometimes think much too small of the devil. That can have fatal consequences.
We're going to list some things you may not have heard of, but we'll try to keep it as simple as possible. We hope you want to follow it to the end.
If you've been to this site before and are familiar with the topics, you can skip the first part, and go directly to "What is this all about again?".
Mystical – that which is greater than ourselves
We must first discuss what is called "mysticism." It is a global and timeless pursuit of humanity to interact with beings in the unseen world. You can find (too) much information about it on the internet. But I came across a simple and recognizable description on the site of the Dutch foundation for mysticism (website). You can read it below, remembering that this is the way Satan takes over people who are open to it. It is of all times and happens in all religions.
What is Mysticism?
Mysticism occurs in all times and all religions. You could describe mysticism as feeling touched by That which completely transcends you as a human being, and with which you are one with your core.
Mysticism is associated with the desire, and often with the experience, to be one with it and to be absorbed in it.
The mystical consciousness can be very strongly present in a person from early childhood, or it can arise in a long growth process.
Mystical breakthrough experience
Often there is a mystical breakthrough experience, in which a person becomes aware with a shock that he is being touched by That which cannot be expressed in words, and with which he can have strong feelings of oneness during that experience.
For example, such an experience can take place in or after a crisis in life, or in nature, where a person can feel one with the greater whole of which he is a part.
Mystical road
The mystical breakthrough experience is followed by a mystical path, which is different for each person, as the time and culture in which that path takes place, but also personal history and character traits color the path.
But there are clear similarities, such as:
– placing yourself less and less central, the so-called 'little me' and
– the increasingly centralization of the Essence, the core, the Divine, God, the Divine Love, Consciousness, or however the mystic tries to indicate That which cannot be put into words.
The latter also characterizes one of the many paradoxes associated with the mystical path.
The mystic wants nothing more than to sing the Secret in the most lyrical words, but realizes again and again that That Which Is, and that the Secret of all things is, can only be indicated, but never captured in words or images.
Transformation
The mystical path entails a profound process of personality transformation, in which love for one's fellow man and for all living things plays a major role.
The mystic becomes a human being who only wants to serve.
It's not about himself anymore. This dying process of the self-involved 'I', in order to be born more and more in Divine Love, is a lifelong journey.
Social awareness
Over the centuries, mystics have committed themselves in many ways to their neighbors and nature as an expression of this mystical path. For example by:
• care for the sick/pastoral to the sick
• taking action against the war in Vietnam and against nuclear weapons
• supporting refugees
• fighting poverty
• care for nature and the climate.
Let's be very clear right away. What you read above is the way Satan deceives 'people of good will'. They desire something beautiful - from their god or whatever they may call it - from the invisible world. When people are open to this - fortunately it doesn't happen to you just like that! - he gives a special inner experience, called the breakthrough experience above. That is the beginning of another life: enlightened and changed. The devil gives people inner experiences through which they think they have found happiness in themselves and they become better people.
Satan uses his demons to do this. Humanity discovered early on how to bring the invisible world to itself. In many ways, one can eliminate thought and allow the demons access to the soul to work within it. In religious settings, meditation is a proven means of achieving "the mystical experience within you.
Also in Christendom it is believed that God - or the Holy Spirit or Jesus - gives such an experience to those who want it. They hear God's voice, are baptized in the Spirit, feel the fire of the Spirit, experience a great love for Jesus, or whatever. But the question is whether that is the way the God of the Bible works in us.
The God of the Bible speaks to our minds
The description of mysticism above superficially resembles the way God works in man and brings him to repentance and faith, but that is not correct. Our God speaks to us only because we think about what He speaks to us and base our beliefs and choices on it. The Bible is the Word of God to us and what He reveals in it we should try to understand.
That God speaks to our minds is important for several reasons.
- God has consciously made man different from the animals. We have been given reason, ratio, understanding. That makes us specifically human, but at the same time 'image of God'. This allows us to think, analyze problems, come up with alternatives, make a choice and then also ensure that it is implemented. That is what makes us typically human and 'image of God'.
- Thought belongs to the domain of the human mind. It's a bit clearer in English; for that you use the word 'mind'. God gave man a spirit so that He could communicate with man. God gives words to understand, man thinks about them and will respond to them.
- God loves man, but does not want to force him to obey or love Him. That is why He addresses man with words, so that man can think about it. Then man comes to a conclusion and decides whether or not to accept what God has said.
- Thought is also relevant to normal human existence as God intended. After the fall, man must distinguish between good and evil and you do that in normal functioning. You constantly observe the environment with your senses and if there are dangers, you have to react to them. Someone who is drunk perceives the world around them differently and is not or much less able to respond adequately to imminent danger.
Our thinking also has everything to do with our mind. Look up where that word is everywhere. Here I mention two things:
- In the book of Proverbs the word appears very often. It has everything to do with following the way that the Lord God has set before us. We have to keep that in mind.
- In his first letter, John writes, “But we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, that we might know the true One” (1 John 5:20).
What God wants to make clear to us in the Bible is that we are lost people; a hopeless situation. But then He Himself comes with His solution. He Himself gave a sacrifice for our sin: His own Son became flesh and became the Lamb of God. Whoever believes in Him has eternal life! God calls every person to believe that very personally! Seeing that you are an incorrigible sinner and wanting to be saved by a Savior who Himself has suffered your judgment!
This is the basis for a life full of joy, for you know that Christ Jesus bore the judgment of the holy God for you. You are therefore saved - out of faith - so that you will not have to bear the judgment yourself for eternity. In fact, you may look forward to that new life that will soon come to share the glory of the Lord Jesus! You may thank Him for that every day and as much as you like; it is the greatest gift you can give to God!
This faith must be held by a believer throughout his life. But you also have to grow into it, that is, understand more and more Who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what His work actually means. But for that too we need the Word of God, to make us grow in faith, so that our lives will be more devoted to the Lord.
Now God also gives His Spirit to everyone who turns to Him and believes in the Lord Jesus. That Holy Spirit works for us to love the Lord Jesus more and will help us to understand the truth of God's Word.
It is essential that the Holy Spirit is not dominant in us; He doesn't force us to say it just like that. He will guide us step by step in our life of faith. As human beings, we always have the option to accept something or not. The Spirit wants to make it clear, but luckily He also has patience with us. The same patience that the Lord God also has.
To live by faith as a Christian, two things are of great importance
- You continue to rejoice in Christ and His work of redemption and thank Him for it – actually every day. Don't lose your joy and gladness in Him!
- Keep reading the Word of God. Then God's Spirit can give you insight into what that Word says about God and His plans in Christ. Then those things will be able to be established in your heart.
How God's people can be deceived
What we have discussed above will probably raise the necessary questions for you. But we will leave that aside for now, because we have to continue with what we have described above. The main point was to show some essential differences between the way Satan works and the way the God of the Bible works.
In the Old Testament, God clearly told the people that they could only serve Him—that is, draw near to Him—in the way He had made clear to them. Under no circumstances were they to approach Him in the way the pagans approached their gods. He outright forbids them:
“… lest you ask about their gods, saying: As these nations have served their gods, so will I do. You shall not do as they do to the LORD your God!”
Deuteronomy 12:30-31
The Bible calls it idolatry—serving the gods—and uses the word apostasy for it (for example, Deuteronomy 13:5; Isaiah 31:6;47:10; Jeremiah 3:12; 28:16). This disobedience has been the great problem with Israel throughout history. They always really believed that what they experienced in their inner being came from the Lord God. But it was of the demons and that's what the Lord calls it (eg Leviticus 17:7). The bizarre thing is that without realizing it, they were not serving the Lord God, but the demons, the gods of the pagans. In the end, it was the reason that they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land and they were later exiled to Babylon for this reason.
In the New Testament it is exactly the same story. Satan will try to tempt Christians by the same means. All the letters of the apostles warn against it. This is not the place to elaborate on it here. Just a few references from the New Testament
- The event of Israel in the wilderness is used in three places in the NT as a warning to us. They are 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:7-12 and Jude 1:5.
- In Corinth, the congregation was engaged in pagan practices. Paul strongly disapproves of this, even saying, “I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:20). Perhaps one of the least understood warnings in the New Testament.
- Also in the New Testament apostasy or apostate is connected with idolatry (eg 1 Timothy 4:1 and Hebrews 3:12; 6:6).
- The apostle John closes his 1and write with it: “Dear children, beware of idols” (1 John 5:21).
But even now Satan still uses the same tactics. He promises the Christian that there is still more. 'Do you really know that you are right with your faith? Are you really a Christian? Have you received the Spirit of God? There is more to discover, God gives even more if you want it. In fact, only then do you become a good Christian.'
This has been the case for 2,000 years and with increased intensity in recent decades.
What is this all about again
The reason for all of the above is to give you some tools to judge things and to be able to follow me in the story that follows. Because recently I was confronted with “Behold your God!” a few times in a row. (see here) from HeartCry. When I got it from someone, along with the DVDs that came with it, I had to go through it.
It is a 'Bible course' consisting of a workbook of almost 250 pages A4 and a set of 12 lessons on DVD. In 12 weeks you work through the book - a chapter every day - and every week you watch the relevant DVD at the end of the week. The subtitle is “Back to a Biblical Image of God.”
I myself went through the workbook and watched the first two DVDs. In this article I will report on the things I encountered. I must say it was shocking what I discovered. Whatever I expected, not this. It's such a surreal story that I can hardly get it out of the keyboard.
Background and objective
The reason for writing this course is that the writer – predecessor John Snyder – noticed at some point that the evangelical movement in the US was declining sharply. His second finding was that preaching against church members' wrongdoing did not help. His conclusion was that he had to go back to uncovering and addressing the roots of sin, the underlying causes.
Now this is fine in itself, the bible always goes to the core problem. But the question is whether Snyder really gets to the root of the problem when he writes:
“. . . to repent of the low and unworthy image we have of God and return to the Biblical descriptions of the true God, and to risk everything to live for Who He is.”
You can also register for the course and on the website can you read the following:
“In this course we want to think about the Biblical image of God. It is always, but especially in this day and age, important to consider whether our image of God matches how God reveals Himself in His Word; the Bible. This course will guide you in pondering this important question.”
We'll see if the book lives up to this.
A textbook with Bible texts and quotes
The workbook is a continuous story with Bible texts and quotes. It contains many Bible texts with questions that can only be answered if you look at the Bible. That in itself is fine.
But a Bible student will still stick to the line of the workbook and then view the texts in that light. The same goes for the quotes.
In other words, the workbook presents a line of thinking supported by scriptures and appropriate quotes from preachers, theologians and poets. This suggests that what the book presents is biblical.
The lyrics themselves
When you zoom in on the texts of the workbook, things get complicated.
On the one hand, there are things in it that I think are in line with what the Scriptures say. But on the other hand, there are many things that contradict the Bible. There are pieces of text that are vague or open to multiple interpretations. Or Bible texts that are used incorrectly out of context.
In addition, caricatures and false contrasts are used, so that space is created to convey one's own message.
In short, the whole thing is rather disjointed. If we had to comment on everything that just wouldn't work; unfinished business. Moreover, no one is waiting for such a comment and no one will read it.
It is therefore not necessarily about what is good (or not good) in the texts. Discussions about this will not resolve anything and will not get to the heart of the matter.
We will therefore try to get the main ideas. We have to get the underlying line of thinking out of the book. We will continue with that below.
The big lines
There are two major themes that recur throughout the book. I will try to summarize them briefly without commenting immediately.
The first is 'beholding God'.
Almost every chapter has that phrase in the title. In each chapter 'beholding God' is then linked to a certain aspect of the Christian life. I'll just mention the chapters below to give an impression here).
- Behold your God: the great attraction!
- Clearing the way for our return
- Beholding God in the Bible
- Beholding God in the face of Jesus Christ
- Beholding God in the work of redemption
- Beholding God and Personal Holiness
- Behold Thy God: Restoring Worship in Our Lives
- Beholding God and Evangelism
- Beholding God and Our Christian Service
- Behold a lesser God?
- Beholding God: Avoiding the Lies of Pragmatism
- Seeking the God we behold
The idea behind this is that a Christian must learn to desire God because He is so incredibly attractive. When you behold Him, He becomes more important to you, you get to know Him better and things in your life will also change. That is why in the various chapters 'beholding God' is also connected with important aspects of the Christian life.
The second theme is 'behold yourself'.
It's not mentioned that way in the book; I just call it that because it is a common thread throughout the book. There is a constant call to look into your heart: look how sinful you are. But it is not enough to eradicate sin, you must also eradicate the 3 roots that underlie it. These are pride, disbelief and selfishness. Both the roots and fruits must be eradicated.
You regularly come across paragraphs with the headline: Self-examination. At the start of each new week is a streamer with the following text:
“Are you willing to adjust your life
to what God is revealing about Himself in the coming days?”
The purpose of this is to bring every corner of your heart and life under the authority of Christ.
The connection between the two themes is that the more you desire and behold God, the less sins and shortcomings you will discover. But also the other way around: if you become more holy, you get a life in which God likes to approach. But if you do not become more holy, God disappears from your presence.
At least, that's what people think.
Review in outline
First, I will review the main issues as shown above. We try to keep it as short and clear as possible.
- The book has a false start. It is not made clear that the learning process cannot begin until you have made a good start, that is, that you know that you are saved. But the whole idea of repentance, being born again, and assurance of faith in Jesus Christ is missing.
Sure, comments are being made about this left and right, but nowhere is it explained what it is to "believe" or be "saved." - That false start also ensures that the Lord Jesus Christ is not the central focus of the book. And that is the biggest flaw of all. No basis is laid for faith: Who is He, what did He do at Calvary, what is He doing for us now in heaven, and what is the nature and practice of our relationship with Him.
If the Lord Jesus Christ is the protagonist of God's Word - not only in the New, but also in the Old Testament (John 5:39) - then these things must be extensively addressed. After all, all that God has revealed, He has spoken in the Son (Hebrews 1:1). - A resulting core problem is that it is not recognized that the Bible teaches that the sinful nature remains in the believer as long as he walks around in this mortal body. But a believer, upon conversion, receives the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), enabling him to love God and "live unto God" (Galatians 2:19).
- In summary, the biblical teaching that "we are justified by faith" and "live by faith" lacks elaboration. It is repeated three times in the New Testament:
- “For the righteousness of God is revealed therein from faith to faith, as it is written, But the just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
- “And that by the law no one is justified before God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)
- “But the just shall live by faith, and if any draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38)
- Instead of all this, "Behold your God!" that we must constantly eradicate sin within us so that we become more and more holy. At the same time, we need to focus on God in order to get a better, more biblical picture of Him that brings Him closer to us. That closeness is noticeable and can be so close that we are "completely engrossed in God" (p. 226).
“Those who long for God's nearness should seek the humility that comes from a heartbreaking awareness of their sins and helplessness” (p. 236). - This view is completely unbiblical, however beautifully it is decorated with biblical texts (often taken out of context) and quotes. It is a "doctrine" that we do not find in the Bible. We need to discuss the concept of 'beholding God' separately.
beholding God
The story that is presented to us – regardless of all details – is as follows.
God is incredibly great, infinite and unfathomable. We cannot reach that with our minds – our minds are utterly inadequate. Yet we need renewed knowledge of God as He really is (p. 12); a revolution in our thinking about God (p. 16). The knowledge of God is not just a vague idea that He exists "above," but it is an intimate acquaintance with His character and His works (p. 17).
Every attribute of God is infinite, immeasurable, boundlessly full. The greatness of God's character cannot be captured with your mind. It will flow beyond the boundaries of your imagination (p. 20).
Fortunately, God gives us two gifts: the Bible and His presence (p. 225). That nearness or presence of God is noticeable, you can experience it (p.226). We need God's closeness just as much as Biblical truth.
Are you willing to unlock all your doors and allow Christ complete freedom to come in and rearrange your life so that your fellowship with Him can be restored? (p.240).
The task of the Christian is to seek the God of the Bible, to long for God, to refuse to be satisfied with a distant God (p. 244).
This teaching means that in addition to the Word of God, we must also experience God's presence. We should long for that experience and continue to strive for it.
But the Bible teaches us otherwise. When we want to know Who God is and how great He is in everything, it should be about the Lord Jesus Christ. “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him to us” (John 1:18).
But what is presented to us here is a path which - let me put it simply - introduces people into the idolatrous Roman spirituality, the contemplation[1].
The purpose of the course is that you will experience that inner experience, which is called God's presence, but it is not! After all, Satan masquerades as someone who brings light: an angel of light! (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The quotes
The workbook itself confirms this conclusion because it is full of quotations from all kinds of theologians, preachers and poets. Many of them come from the corner of the puritans. These are seamlessly combined with quotes from the contemplative corner.
The latter in particular make it clear which sources have been drawn from and to which people apparently feel related. Below are some authors cited in the course. I added some information here and there, mainly from Wikipedia. Other works by the author may also be used.
Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anselmus_van_Canterbury)
Quote in Behold your God: “Get up little man! Take a break from your activities. Hide yourself from your disturbing thoughts for a while. Lay off your heavy burdens and your wearisome pursuits. Make room for some time with God and rest in Him for a while. Enter the inner chamber of your soul, shut out all thoughts except those of God and those that can help you seek Him. Speak now, all my heart, Speak unto God, and say, I seek Thy face, Thy face Lord, I will seek.”
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardus_van_Clairvaux
As a mystic, Bernard strives for a direct vision of the Divine Truth that God is Light. For him no image is strong enough to represent the experience of the divine reflection.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_van_Loyola)
Quote in Behold your God: "Let nothing overpower you but Christ".
Ignatius of Loyola is one of the most famous Catholics. He is the leader of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Jesuit Order (see here Wikipedia or their own website) of which he was the founder, is still very active in fighting Protestant Christendom. The purpose of the order was "spiritual renewal, the purification of the soul, the correction of dogmatic ignorance, the elimination of sin and superstition." But from a Roman point of view.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691) https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broeder_Laurentius
Quotations from Behold Thy God: “To go to God requires no science or art, but only a heart determined to dedicate itself to nothing but Him, for His sake and for Him alone”
“There is no life in the world more beautiful than a life in constant conversation with God” (p 235).
From Wikipedia:
“The presence of God, a little painful at first, practiced faithfully, secretly produces wonderful effects in the soul, draws abundant grace from the Lord and imperceptibly leads it to this simple gaze, to this loving gaze of God's omnipresent presence, which most sacred, most solid and most effective form of prayer.”
“The presence of God, I feel, is what all spiritual life consists of, and it seems to me that with good practice one becomes spiritual in a short time.”
"I do not believe; but I see, I have experienced what faith teaches us.”
Henry Blackaby https://blackaby.org/experiencing-god/
Blackaby has a vast 'ministry' to help Christians experience God. He has spoken at a HeartCry conference before.
A.W.Tozer (1897 – 1963) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._W._Tozer
The author of Behold Thy God has studied much of Tozer's work and has written a biography of him. This can be found in Behold your God. Many quotes are from Tozer and the first video tells how his ideas inspired this course. Below are a few quotes from Tozer's work about 'silence' and 'mental exercises' (spiritual disciplines).
From: Experiencing Gods Presence (pp. 213,214)
“Loneliness is perhaps one of the hardest of ours spiritual disciplines. Everything in our lives and the world around us weakens this. Because of the difficulty, this discipline is very important. What could be more important than sitting in silence before God?
Often when we come to God in prayer, we come with… a shopping list of things we ask for. I believe in asking God for things. I believe it is important to come before God with a list of things to entrust to Him. But after all that is done, some time should be spent on it cultivating silence for His presence.
This will take practice and discipline, I guarantee you, and it won't be easy. (…)
Coming before God in silence and waiting on Him in silence can sometimes accomplish more than days and weeks of feverish activity.
David understood this very well. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he wrote: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the Gentiles, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10). It is in the silence that we come to see and hear the beating heart of God. All the nervous activity of our culture hinders us from really getting to know God as He wants to reveal Himself. We must overcome this American mentality that says a moment of silence is a wasted moment. The discipline of silence is the price we pay to know God.”
From: Pursuit of God – Foreword (1948)
“In this hour of almost universal darkness, an encouraging ray of light appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity, there are more and more people whose religious life is marked by a growing hunger for God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and be not put off by words, nor by correct “interpretations” of the truth. They are thirsty for God, and they will not be satisfied until they have drunk deeply from the fountain of living water…”.
In conclusion – the law and the deception
Finally, a few remarks about the combination of 'striving for sanctification' and 'experiencing the nearness of God'.
The course places a heavy emphasis on complying with the moral law of God. For example, on page 119 it says:
“God's moral law has two purposes:
1. The law reveals the sin of mankind and leads us to Jesus as our only hope.
2. The law guides those who have already come to Christ and desire to express their love to God in a life of obedience.”
Paul begins the letter to Timothy with a section about teachers of the law who have no understanding of what they are saying and strongly emphasize it. Paul corrects them and says: 'the law is not for the righteous(1 Timothy 1:9). In doing so, he teaches directly against the teaching of Behold your God.
That you thereby lose Christ, Paul writes to the Galatians who also tried to use the law: “You have become detached from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; and with that you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4).
Using the law to impose high moral standards on believers is spiritually speaking death in the pot.
Because Paul writes to Timothy that you will eventually end up in idolatry. Read it in 4and chapter (1 Timothy 4:1-5) about those who will apostatize from the faith in later times. This happens because they listen to those who pretend to be beautiful, but are hypocrites. They reject what God gives (marriage and food) because they believe it makes them holier. We clearly see here a reference to the monastic life, where one strives for greater holiness while at the same time rejecting God's gifts of grace.
In the same brief letter, Paul warns against false teaching that apparently begins with high moral standards (the law) and ends up in contemplation with its inner experiences of God. False teachings that ultimately lead to idolatry. Also in 2023 and also at HeartCry. It's unbelievably sad.
Like Timothy, we are called to keep the trust that has been entrusted to us. We pray that this blog may contribute to that.
“O Timothy, keep your trust,
turn away from unholy, empty talk and
contradictions of the erroneously so-called knowledge.
Some, who proclaimed this knowledge,
have departed from the faith.
Grace be with you. Amen."
– 1 Timothy 6:20-21 –
Related articles
What the Bible Calls Idolatry – https://goddienen.nu/afgoden-dienen/afgoden-dienen/
Idolatry in Christendom – https://goddienen.nu/afgoden-dienen/afgoderij-in-de-christenheid/
About the contemplation – https://goddienen.nu/afgoden-dienen/afgoderij-in-de-christenheid/de-weg-van-de-contemplatie-spiritualiteit/
What is serving God? – https://goddienen.nu/god-dienen/
The core of the Christian life – https://goddienen.nu/en/serving-god/the-core-of-your-christian-life/
The Rebirth – https://goddienen.nu/god-dienen/de-heilige-geest-en-de-wedergeboorte/
Walking to the Spirit – https://goddienen.nu/god-dienen/wandelen-naar-de-geest/
Footnotes
[1] Contemplation also means to behold or contemplate. The core of this word is temple, the sanctuary within you.
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