The Danger of Dabbling into the Spirit World

 The apostle Paul warns against individuals who claim to see into the spirit world! According to Colossians 2:18 where it says, "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." There are key components within this particular passage of scripture that spells out the nature of those who claim to have seen something by which they have not seen anything. The most shocking of many professing Christians is that of intruding into the spirit world as if they know all that goes on into the spiritual realm. They also claim to have had a conversation with the Universal Spirit (God) through which their spirit departed from their bodies (OBE). Within many Gnostic systems, belief is in the exaltation of the spirit as to the denigration of the flesh. When it comes to the Person of Jesus Christ most Gnostics believe that it is impossible for the Spirit Christ to indwell in the Man Jesus. In so many words Jesus is not the Christ. The apostle John warns concerning those who will deny the full Deity and humanity of Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 4:1-3).

Jesus Christ is God revealed in human flesh (Jn. 1:14). Without Jesus Christ, for being Who He is as to be God in human flesh it is impossible for the Incarnate Son of God to provide salvation (Jn. 3:16). Christ died on the cross by which to save that of sinful humanity. Also most Gnostic within the professing church believe that in order for people to attain salvation is to recognize the "spark" of divinity by which to also receive such revelatory knowledge. Most Gnostics deny salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:36).

What is the character and nature of those who are Gnostics? First, the apostle Paul warns Christians against Gnostics who will defraud them of their reward through such false humility and the worshipping of angelic beings. Most Gnostics take pride in the superiority of their knowledge ("gnosis"). They seek to elevate themselves by the act of knowing or be in the know of something that is revealed to them "directly" by God. The kind of knowledge that they claim to have is beyond such Sense-Rule knowledge. It is both mystical, esoteric, and intuitive in nature. It is the spirit by which many Gnostics claim is the candlelight by which a person receives such spiritual "revelation." As the late Kenneth E. Hagin, Sr. once says, "God by-pass the mind in order to give revelation within a person's spirit." As believers, we are admonished to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and all our mind. There is nowhere in the Bible that encourages God's people to discard their reasoning capabilities to get revelation within a person's human spirit. 

Taking Delight in False Humility

Many Gnostics within the professing church take pride in the superiority of their knowledge-based upon what is revelatory. (2 Pet. 1:20)  Such humility by which is many professing Christians claim to have such secret wisdom and knowledge is in fact based upon false humility. Such knowledge and experience are based upon what is subjective; not what is absolutism. The absolute truth of God's Word is not the mystics' standard of authority but what is mystical.  Everything has to be seen through the mystics worldview by which it is esoteric, intuitive, and revelatory. Whenever professing Christians are challenged as to their newfound faith they are unable to give a definitive answer. It is explain based upon what they experience. What is experiential is the litmus test of the mystics' "orthodoxy." It is heterodox; not orthodoxy. Why? Because it is based upon the Gnostics worldview. (Col. 2:4, 8)

The Worshipping of Angels

Neo-Gnosticism worships that of angelic beings. They claim such OBE, divine personage, and intruding into the spirit world. They worship such inanimate beings by which they worship spirits. Spirits that develop within a person's spirit as their "source" of authority, the personification of Jesus, and conversation with the All-Encompassing Spirit as to its minute details and practices. As one Faith leader says, "At 3:00 am in the morning that the appearance of Jesus was sitting in his rocking chair by which his hair stood upon his head by which he heard the voice of Jesus talking to him." Also, the worshipping of angels by many Gnostics is "decreeing and commanding" of angels, rebuking spirits, and their obsession with the spirit realm. Whenever Gnostic seeks to dabble into the spirit world that they open themselves up to such demonic possession and spiritual injuries. The casualties of such spiritual injury are catastrophic. It will be impossible for many professing Christians who are so preoccupied with the spirit world to bounce back to reality. They are deceived by which they deceive others. (2 Tim. 3:13)

Intruding into the Spirit World

Whenever professing Christians dabble into the spirit world they are susceptible to such demonic possession and spiritual injuries. When it comes to the realm of the spirit is that many Gnostics are playing fire to what is in the spirit world. The spiritual world is no match to those who seek to tap into the deep mysteries of God. The deep mystery of God is only allocated to the Triune God. (Rom. 1:20) The infinite wisdom and knowledge of God are incomprehensible to men today. Most "Christian" mystics will attempt to figure out the unknown spirit world based upon their "limited" knowledge of Who God is. Also, for many professing Christians to pry into the spirit world to search out the unknown spirit world is offensive to God by which they will be severely judged by the Almighty God.

Gnostics Claim to Have Seen Something

What are some things that many Gnostics within the professing church claim to have seen? They claim to see in the Spirit the third heavens where God dwells, images, places, and things. By claiming to see in the Spirit it is based upon their own imagination that is without the basis of reality. It is a "conspiracy" theory by which it is difficult for many professing Christians to understand basic facts of reality. What is experiential is the "source" of the mystics' authority by which they claim to have seen something but in reality, have seen nothing. Whenever many professing Christians are challenged as to what they experience they go into neutrality as to say what they have experienced is based upon "mere" experience without verifying what they have experienced. Experiential truth is preferred over what is an objective reality. 

"Fleshly" Knowledge of Gnostics

Many Gnostics within the professing church claim that the knowledge they receive from God is "true" spiritual knowledge as opposed to Sense-Rule knowledge of the church. The spiritually mature are those who are enlightened; the "unenlightened" are those who are immature. There are many professing Christians who accuse the institutional church of having the "letter" of the law but not the Spirit. In so many words the institutional church or traditional churches are just only reading "mere" words of the pages of scripture by which they need revelatory knowledge. Most Gnostics claim to be in the know or the act of knowing by which they receive "direct" revelation from God. The hermeneutical approach of many Gnostics is its symbolism, parables, and meta-narrative stories of the Bible. They claim such "higher" knowledge by which it is pure knowledge. The "knowledge" ("gnosis") by which many professing Christians possess is fleshly; not spiritual. The knowledge that the church possesses is spiritual; not fleshly. (Col. 1:9, 10)

 

Rev. Darryl Miller is the President & Chairman of "Darryl Miller International Ministries" in Atlanta, Georgia, and travels extensively throughout the United States and continents. Darryl is the Host of, "Darryl Unplugged Podcast" which airs regularly @ www.spreaker.com/user/bishopoflyons. He is the bestselling author of his book, "The Prosperity Gospel: Where Did it Come From?: Gnostic Source? Or Spiritual Revelation? As an apologist, conference speaker, and lecturer he is in great demand both in the United States and around the world. Darryl lives with his wife Vivan outside metro Atlanta with their puppy "Little Baby."