“Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ” (Colossians 2:8 NLT).
THE NEW AGE IS NOT NEW! It is a modern revival of ancient religious traditions, along with a potpourri of influences: Eastern mysticism, modern philosophy, science, science-fiction, and the counterculture of the fifties and sixties. Basically it is a combination of spirituality, superstition, fad and farce. No one seems to know where the term originated. Despite its popularity, New Age is hard to define. It includes a variety of beliefs and rituals. It seems to be a marriage between science and Eastern cult-religions, a mixture of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and spiritualism. New Age is a religious movement that is centered in SELF. All you need is within you. You become your own god! Followers worship the god of forces and promote the Aquarian Gospel.
"The New Age Movement is a Western spiritual movement developed in the second half of the Twentieth Century. It's central precepts have been described as drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics" (Wikipedia).
"The lure of the occult is almost always on the basis of acquiring knowledge and power. We crave a knowledge that is esoteric, not normally available to the ordinary person, We want to experience a power that is spiritual and supernatural in origin. People don't seem to want to hear what God has to say, instead, they want information and direction from many other sources: psychics, channelers, palm-readers, card-readers, ouija boards, astrology, magic charms, automatic writing, or the spirit of a dead friend or relative. Satan is busy trying to pass his counterfeits for God's knowledge and power as the real thing. If he can get us to accept his versions of knowledge and power, he has a foothold in our life." (adapted and modified…Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker).
SEVEN BASIC TEACHINGS OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT:
1. Jesus was not and is not the only Christ, nor is He God.
Some may think that everyone means the same thing when they say "Christ." Christians see Christ as the one and only Son of God, our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Many New Age writers, on the other hand refer to Christ as spirit. They believe there have been many Christ's, Jesus being only one of many. New Age Prophetess Alice Bailey, author of many occult books, including, The Reappearance of The Christ, which describes the "Avatar of Synthesis." ("Avatar" in Hindu is a deliberate descent of a deity to Earth, or the descent of a supreme being, and is mostly translated into English as incarnation). “The ‘Avatar of Synthesis,’” she says “is a close associate of the Christ. He works under the ‘natural law of the synthesis,’ producing at-one-ment, unification and fusion.”
The New Ager understands Christ as a reincarnated Avatar, Messiah, or messenger sent from the hierarchy to give the living on Earth spiritually advanced revelation. The New Age accepts that Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Jesus, and many others were "Christ." The Baha'i World Faith claims to be in perfect harmony with the Christian faith, yet they see the historical Jesus as only one of several manifestations of Christ on equal ground as Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroastrian, Buddha, the Bab, and their founder Baha'u'llah.
Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter answered, 'YOU are the Messiah (the Anointed One), the Son of the Living God'.
• John 10:30, Jesus said, ‘I and the Father are One.
• John 20:28, Thomas answered and said, 'My LORD and my God.’
•Colossians 2:9, For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.
•Revelation 1:17,18, Do not be afraid, I AM the first and the last, and the Living One; I was dead and behold, I AM alive forevermore…
•Hebrews1:8, But to the Son He (God the Father) says, 'Your throne, O God (speaking of Jesus), is forever and ever…(Hebrews1:8).
•Colossians 1:15-17, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…He existed before everything else began. And He holds all creation together.
2. God is impersonal, cosmic, a God of energy forces.
All things, including man, constitute the ONE called "universal mind, the source, universal self, cosmic consciousness, universal presence, the force, your inner voice, higher self or intuition." The New Age belief is that God is an impersonal energy force, immanent in all things, including man. God can be referred to either as "she, or he, mother or father, god or goddess."
Do not be deceived! New Agers do not mean the God or the Christ of the Bible. Most New Age teachers hold that mother earth, the sun, moon, and stars, indeed all of nature can be worshiped as God. Pantheism is a belief that the universe (or nature) is the totality of everything. God and the universe are one. In other words don't step on a rock or break a twig, it may be God.
The Bible teaches that God is a personal being. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. He is not to be confused with His creation. In Genesis chapter one God is clearly depicted as the Creator. This passage supports the fact that God existed before anything else, and that out of nothing God created everything. To argue that God is part of the creation is to deny that God is Creator. And a definite denial of God's Holy Word. But all of these arguments presuppose that we believe the Bible is inerrant, inspired by God and is absolute truth. (See 2 Timothy 3:16,17, Colossians 1:15-17).
3. Man is himself a god, for he consists of and is the creator of "The Forces."
Man already exercises the powers inherent in his divinity and needs only to awaken this fact. New Ageism embraces supernaturalism, but ascribes to it to the creature, not the Creator. Romans 1:22-25, Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshiping the Glorious, Ever-Living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds, animals or snakes. So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each others bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things that God made but not the Creator Himself, who is to be praised forever, Amen.
"It is one of the goals of the New Age Movement to cause people to rebel against the true God of the Bible and to believe that they [themselves] are deities. Once Satan has a person in this heretical frame of mind, then the battle is won. The individual will then be called for greater service to the Prince of Darkness. And with a mind clouded and confused, he or she will comply. The individual will have become a member, knowingly or unknowingly, of the Satanic conspiracy." (Texe Marrs, Millennium).
4. All religions and religious teachings lead to the same goal. All are of equal merit.
Satan's primary tactic in opposing God is not to promote Atheism; not to prove there is no God…"I have not come to found a new religion," Lord Maitreya says, "I have come to teach the art of self-realization…I come to you like a thief in the night," he tells us, "so that we will not become too excited. Slowly, as you become aware, you can digest what is eaten. In awareness you will know me…"
The New Age does express a cloudy sort of religion, claiming vague connections with both Christianity and the major faiths of the East. New Agers like to say that Jesus spent eighteen tears in India absorbing Hinduism and the teachings of Buddha, plus an occasional dab of Pantheism and sorcery.
"Somehow, New Agers believe there must be some secret and mysterious shortcut or alternative path to happiness and health. Ecumenism is essential in creating a 'Christianity' which embraces all religions. Psychology plays a major ecumenical role by providing common faith, language and ritual for everyone from atheists, cultists and occultists to Roman Catholics and Evangelicals" (Dave Hunt; The Berean Call, August 1993). But…Jesus says in John 14:6, I am the Way (so there is no other way) The Truth (so there is no other truth) and the Life (so there is no other life), no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Again allow me to emphasize that our belief system is firmly grounded in God's Word, the Bible. When people will not accept the Bible as final authority in all matters of faith, practice and life, we must witness to them of the saving power of Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and God as our only hope for the future. We must make them realize that we unequivocally reject any teaching that does not agree with the inspired, inerrant Word of Almighty God.
5. The "ancient wisdom" of Babylon, Egypt and Greece, not the Bible, is the basis of all truth.
Former Vice President Al Gore, in his book, Earth in the Balance, writes, "Ecology and the human spirit reveals himself as a person who believes we should have a 'mother goddess' that we can worship." He points back to the ancient religions and Hinduism and says, "They have something good in their worship of mother earth; that man and nature are one, and that God is part of nature, and nature is part of God…" (Pantheism). He talks about departing from the Baptist Faith and entering into the New Age religion. He says "The richness and diversity of our religious tradition throughout history is a spiritual resource long ignored by people of faith, who are often afraid to open their minds to teachings first offered outside their own system of belief…Native American religions, for instance, offer a rich tapestry of ideas about our relationship to earth."
1 Timothy 6:20,21, Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the Faith by following such foolishness.
•Romans 1:21-23, “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds , and four-footed beasts and creeping things.”
•Romans 1:25, “Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen.”
•Colossians 2:8, “Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world and not form Christ.”
6. Sin and evil do not exist.
Peace and love are the ultimate realities. New Agers deny the existence of hell and judgment. They also deny that sin and evil exist. God (the universe) is alleged to be beyond good and evil. The New Age gospel is not a system of revolutionary principles. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It does not seek to set a mother against her daughter, nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great brotherhood. Old time modernism/ liberalism promoted the "fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” The New Age does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to "the best that is within us." It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ's absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. You would have to completely reject God's teaching in Romans 3:10-18, 23, "Verse 23, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 5:12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. 1 John 1:8,10, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [God] a liar, and His Word is not in us.
7. Depending on which branch of the New Age you encounter, there may or may not be a great world leader who will emerge to lead us all into enlightenment.
Some New Agers await the advent of Lord Maitreya, while others believe we will become so godlike that we will not need any leaders. The Bible tells us of an age when God is going to permit Satan to actually rule, in person, on the earth! If the New Age leader emerges, he could well be the Antichrist, an enemy of mankind who will be intent on leading the world into a terrible rebellion against God, and he will be destroyed along with his followers.
Although God's Prophets foretold many explicit signs of Christ's first coming, most people rejected Him. I submit to you that every Jewish leader, knew that Jesus was the Messiah (Anointed One). Every priest, every scribe, every member of the Sanhedrin, every Pharisee, and every Sadducee knew where He was to born, when He was to be born, in what manner He would come, how He would live, how He would die, and rise from the grave because it had been prophesied. Just one example, Peter, preaching on Pentecost spoke about the Patriarch David in Acts 2:30-32, He was a Prophet, and he knew that God had promised with an oath that one of David's own descendants would sit on David's throne as the Messiah. David was looking into the future and predicting the Messiah's resurrection. He was saying that the Messiah would not be left among the dead and that His body would not rot in the grave. This prophecy was speaking of Jesus, whom God raised from the dead…
Now God has provided many definite signs that point to the second coming of Jesus Christ. We also know there will be false Christ's and false prophets in the last days!
•Matthew 24:11, Then many false prophets will rise and deceive many.
•1 John 2:18, Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrist's have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They are already here!
•1 John 2:22,23, Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either, He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also"
•1 John 4:1-4, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world…This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world.
•2 John 7, Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. [
In conclusion, Colossians 2:8,9, Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is LORD over every ruler and authority in the universe.
So the question is, do you know God in Jesus Christ, as He has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures? Have you read God's Word? How can you possibly know the real God and His Son Jesus if you have not read the Holy Scriptures. The Bible tells that God loves us so much we can trust Him with our lives, and He will never let anything happen to us that is not good for Him.
Since I used various resources for this article, you may use the contents of this message for teaching or preaching. If this has been helpful to you, please leave a comment: pastorbigjohn@sbcglobal.net
Thank you, and God bless you!
