Messages with tag - Mysticism

After Christianity reached its pinnacle in the mid-1600s, dominant philosophies began to influence thinking into a gradual decline. Today we see the results as pagan worldviews are accelerating. Hear about six men who influenced thinking negatively during the last five hundred years resulting in the chaotic culture of today. See how the authority for knowledge was shifted from the revealed Word of God to the unstable minds of humans and understand that all of us have been affected by this.

How can we know what is true? Listen to this lesson to learn that when mankind attempts to learn truth apart from God’s revelation, it ends in chaos and violence. Hear about Demetrius who urged the citizens of Ephesus to start a riot against Paul and his co-workers. When we study Ephesians we need to understand that we face similar problems of living in a hostile culture today. See that the solution now as well as then is to study the Word of God so that what we believe will have a direct impact on how we act.

Our scene is in Antioch in a well-established, conservative congregation, about 15 years after Pentecost. Antioch thrives with commerce and the decadent culture of the times. It also has a large Jewish population, within which are Christians, viewed as a sect of Judaism. Teachers and prophets gather to minister to the Lord and fast. What does it mean to minister to the Lord? What does fasting accomplish? Today a fast can be an initiation into a weight-loss program, a systemic purge, a social protest or a mystical manipulation of God. What was fasting about as it was practiced scripture? Is it a prescribed ritual for us? Is Biblical fasting an anachronistic term in our modern culture. Should we fast?

All believers are engaged in a cosmic spiritual battle. The conflict may not be within the obvious spheres of personal or physical enemies. Satan is our arch-enemy and inculcates his false system of thinking on the human race in various guises. At the core of Satan-promoted thinking is an assault on God’s authority. However, Satan is the master counterfeiter and disguises his false religions and philosophies with the robes of righteousness and light. This makes these systems attractive to our sin nature. Learn in this lesson the commonalities and dangers of Satan’s worldly thought systems that sabotage our reliance on the all-sufficiency of Christ and our spiritual growth.