Salvation Without a Saviour............New Age, Exposed and Debunked!

I met Jack Hennessey face to face in 2006. It was the Fourth of July weekend and he was in Coronado, California for his mother’s memorial services. For the past year we had read and responded to each others posts on a Universal Reconciliation Forum called Tentmaker. I had been drawn to several brothers and sisters on Tentmaker. Many used pseudonyms, such as Kept, RedLetter, Reb, StainedGlass and Sparrow. Then there was JACK whose favorite quote seemed to be. "What you see is what you get!" And truly we did "get" what Jack said.........lol

My greatest scriptural interests at the time were the teachings on the lake of fire, hell, Hades, eternal torment and outer darkness. At Tentmaker these topics were dissected and discussed with thoughts I never heard in my Charismatic, Word of Faith, Kingdom Now, world!

The Lord himself finally showed me the truth that “ALL” would be saved, using the parable of the lost sheep. How dear was the day he asked me, if he left the 99 sheep and went to find the one lost sheep how many would he have when he got back? My answer… was 100. He said, well change that to 100%...it was shouting time!!!!.......I was finally able to see other scripture that bore that same truth. My whole world rocked and changed ….as did my love and view of my Heavenly Father.

By 2008, I began to see a shift at Tentmaker as the first new age teachings began to emerge on the forum. The Administrator resigned after months of refuting the blood of Jesus and the work of the cross. Then many others left embracing the teachings of NEW AGE. I felt like I was in a Tidal Wave. Over and over Jack pointed to the error. I struggled to see what was being said. I cried, prayed and wondered if I too would be deceived. I could not seem to understand what newagers believed, contrasted with what I believed, as they used some of the same words and concepts I used.

I finally found Terry Crisp’s website where I would immerse myself in articles dealing with the error of the New Age. Terry is gifted as no other in detailing the error.

I still longed for something I could put in my children's hands that was simple and to the point. I found that summary this past week in an Elwin Roach article titled, "And Their Eyes Were Opened and They Knew" Part 3.
I have copied that part below.......

Be Blessed. Joian
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Elwin Roach~

"The New Age terminology can be mistakenly taken for Kingdom Truth. They speak much of the kingdom of God within man, of Christ within man, of love, mercy, goodness, and spiritual perfection and oneness with God. The ancient serpent is wise, shrewd, crafty and subtle, and he knows that the most effectual way to instill error into the minds of the unwary is to use old and precious words and put a new meaning into them. So when his messengers, masquerading as ‘ministers of righteousness,’ seek to lead, if possible, the very elect astray, they use the old precious words, but put an entirely different and false meaning. When they talk about God and our heavenly Father they don't mean the God of the Bible, the personal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They mean the impersonal energy that is resident in all things animate and inanimate. They talk of atonement, but they do not mean at all the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on our behalf by which we are reconciled to God by His blood. They mean the at-one-ment in which we recognize our oneness with all things, a cosmic unity, not with the Creator, but within ourselves and with the creation. Jesus has nothing to do with it at all, except as a great Teacher, a Way-shower, revealing to us the divine potential inherent in every man. They believe there are many ways to God - Jesus is merely a way given to Christians - one of many ways to God.

"What do the New Age people look to for salvation? A complete or perfect union with this ‘inexorable principle’ or ‘divine energy’ permeating all things, which is their god! It is the same thing as Nirvana of the Buddhist, Brahma of the Hindu - an imaginary god-consciousness, into which all will finally be absorbed. And this is attained by discovering and developing your ‘inner self’ — which ‘inner self’ is the corrupted soul rather than the regenerated spirit! And when they talk about Christ, they do not mean at all our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the actual historic Jesus who lived and died for us, who rose from the dead, ascended up to the right hand of God, and came back again in mighty spirit-power. Oh, no! They mean an ‘ideal Christ, or a ‘Christ principle’ that is in every man! They mean the ‘inner self’ of the soul! They see God as the life principle of every man and Christ is the name that is given to man once he has awakened to his godhood. Now, it is true that the seed of God is in every man! But no man is ‘Christ,’ that is, an anointed one, until the seed of God in him is quickened, germinated, and empowered by the infusion of God's Holy Spirit! Jesus, in the New Age view, was no more the Son of God than the drunk in the gutter. He was simply a good man, a highly developed man, a ‘Master-Spirit’ who developed the Christ principle within him and showed men how to awaken to their true inner self. According to their teaching Jesus was a man who went through many incarnations. These incarnations of Jesus took the form of Confucius, Buddha, Moses, David, and many others. These lives were his days at school, and he arrived at a state of consciousness, while manifesting as Jesus of Nazareth, where he remembered his past lives. They see no need for Jesus as the Lamb slain, for redemption, justification, regeneration, new birth, sanctification, baptism in the Holy Spirit, or any other New Testament experience. Men don't need to be saved, reconciled to God, or cleansed by the washing of regeneration - just awakened to the god within! What the New Age movement has done in America and other western nations is to combine Christian terminology with the tenets of various eastern religions, wrap them all up in a new package, and put a label on the package which guarantees everyone salvation without a Saviour! And what some in this Kingdom walk have done is create their own hybrid strain of sonship, speaking Kingdom truth deadly laced with pagan New Age concepts!

"The New Age movement is a modern form of eastern pagan religion — mingled with the darkness of the occult. While they do espouse some principles that contain truth, these are at best but half-truths, which are more deadly than the outright lie! All true reality of the living Jesus Christ is missing - they know not the Lord Jesus as Saviour, nor the cleansing power of His blood, nor the quickening, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, nor the authority of His name, nor the baptism in His Spirit, nor the fellowship of His body, nor the truth of the Holy Scriptures — in short they are at best bastard sons, subtle counterfeits, and there is no light in them for the light they do have is darkness, merely their own supposed inherent godhood, unquickened and unregenerated, which is the godhood of the self, old Adam - not the true and living God! This ‘inner self’ of all men is the ‘Cosmic Christ’ of the New Age!

"No truer words have been penned than those by Bob Torango wherein he writes, ‘I don't care how much it grieves some to think about having a Lord over themselves, no matter how much it makes their flesh to rebel, there is only one Lord over all heaven and earth, and that is Jesus Christ. It is not your perceived higher self, your I Amness, your shifted consciousness, your universal oneness, your metaphysical self, neither is it your egotistical, sinless, Adamless, fleshless self. Let me go down on record and say that there is only One worthy of honor and glory and adoration, only One to be worshipped and exalted, and it is not YOU. It is Him. If you cannot see Him beyond YOU, then you have a problem, and we need to talk. We don't have to exalt ourselves to feel better about our status in the kingdom. If we would only exalt Him, then He would lift us above our woeful self and bring us into His glory and crown us with everlasting joy. Isn't that enough? Do you really need to lower Jesus in rank and file in order to set yourselves up as kings? Must you continue to try to find another door, another way into God? He is the door, and it is wide open for all. Walk through Him, sit down with Him and drink the new wine and eat the bread of the kingdom. It is enough.’

"The book of Revelation is not the revelation of this Cosmic Christ, nor of a Christ principle, nor of the old inner self of unregenerated men - it is the revelation of the crucified, risen, ascended, glorified, spiritualized, universalized JESUS CHRIST who is Saviour of all men and Lord of all! It is the revelation of Jesus Christ as Head and body in the earth by the power of the spirit of His sonship! Remember, dear ones, that there is no truth beyond Jesus Christ! He has been given the name which is above every name in the heavens and in the earth! To Him has been given all power and all authority in heaven and in earth! Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved! He is the Head of all principality and power! He is the prince of the kings of the earth! He is the firstborn among many brethren! He is King of kings and Lord of lords! He is the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father! In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily! We are the body in which His fullness is revealed! Those who seek an ultimate truth beyond Jesus Christ, an ultimate reality beyond Him, will discover to their dreadful dismay that they have taken a fearful detour into the realms of outer darkness!" — End quote.

GOD ABANDONED HIMSELF

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There are but two truths; the All and the Nought. Everything else is a falsity.
Madame Guyon

I sense the mind of Christ when I find myself being disturbed by the term “balance” when used to speak of the things in the Kingdom. It is like saying neutral grey is good, when Truth is always painted in black and white. And I can’t settle for partiality either, when the "Alpha and Omega" are the measure of Christ. Furthermore, the "nought and the all", even fall short in describing the infinite wholeness of God. For He is truly the Immeasurable One.

I’ll tell ya, the carnal soul of man loves ambiguity and confusion thus the "black and white" and the "nought and all", can never be accepted as characteristic of God and His Kingdom.

However, for you, man and woman of God, allow me to share, that a number of years ago my Lord began to have me measure Truth with a few rules in mind. First, everything in the Kingdom, is encapsulated in the "nought and the all", which be the boundaries of God in creation. Secondly, everything in creation is also moving toward the "One", which be the Glory of Christ. Lastly, His Spirit always has me choose the simplest of concepts, because Truth is not complex nor confusing when viewed through a Jesus focused, single eye. With regard to the person of God, I will choose one over three any day.

It seems, I always find myself sharing on one forum or another and I have noticed that those that build their theology, primarily with carnal reason and intellect, always slip up somewhere, in their message. It may be just a sentence, or even a phrase, hidden in the midst of unending paragraphs of confusion and falsity, but it will always be there. The hidden truth will somehow find it’s way into the mixture. This often makes for a great invitation to show the prideful intellectual, the hypocrisy within their view. I don’t know why God does the following with me. Normaly, I quickly peruse written material that lacks anointing. And I will see the hypocrisy and then spy the hidden mention of Truth in the unsavory mix. God has given me this gift and I am so grateful for it, as it saves much time and even frustration. Thank you, Lord!

This below is a forum response to an intellectually bent trinitarian that slipped up, when writing of the atonement and the cross. In the mix of his silver dollar words and lofty ideas, this vain philosopher inserted the phrase, “the whole fullness of the Deity is the one doing.” Is that not a great invitation when spouted by an orthodox trinitarian churchman. I certainly thought so. You must understand a trinitarian distinctly divides Deity into three instead of seeing God as one. We, who have learned to be still in prayer, should know the Father is Jesus outside the eons, while Father is Jesus in the world. Once someone has this revealed to them, things become much simpler and all Truth starts moving toward the One. Conversely, those with a trinity view, are ever in the division mode and this precipitates even a greater division between God and man. Allow me to share once again the progression, in this neat little poem. We move from divided to One. Think of atonement as, "at one ment."

How strange it should be,
That we who seemed four,
Are now become Three.
And We Who are Three
Are yet become One,
Father, Spirit and Sons in the Son.

My reply is below and hopefully you can see that which I am conveying. Lord willing, I will do better in a future blog, as the Lord reveals more and when I have time to embellish and clarify the thought, “GOD GAVE HIS VERY ABSOLUTE ALL AT CALVARY.” To lend some aid in your understanding, take note that we are discussing the topic of “abandonment” conveyed in these most sacred of scriptures, quoted just below. May Our Dear Father give you the heart and mind to comprehend a measure of the cost of ALL, that He gave through His Precious Son, Christ Jesus. Oh, to think of how dark it must have been that ninth hour, when God spoke of abandoning His own self, before He died a very human death. I weep now, as I recollect, He carried all my despair and all of yours, for they were surely His very own. Oh my, I am completely undone in the telling of it! There is a God that so knows and understands our infirmities, because they are His. Who has such a God? Who knows such a God. I am so smitten, because you and I, dear reader, can answer, “WE DO!”

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mat 27:45,46


FROM THE FORUM:

In a long post, my trinitarian friend slipped out of his theology by using the phrase, "the whole fullness of the deity is the one doing". He was speaking of the "the crucifixtion" and in trying to make his point that the Father never abandoned His Son. He had to resort to using such a phrase which is at complete odds with the orthodox trinity view. His phrase makes Christ and Father one. I will emphasize that point and even share, because Jesus and the Father are one, God abandoned all of Himself for our sake. He completly, without measure, gave of Himself, to us that He would, at the fullness of the ages, be All in All that we are made up of. This is the full-fill-ment our souls groan for.

Responce:

Yes, "the whole fullness of the deity is the one doing" Amen!

Thus, the the fullness of the Father, in Christ, suffered the cross. I tell ya, this "Christ and Cross" is veiled in much mystery! The intellect can never discern it, as only the "heart" can know it ....... that is, the indwelling heart of the Father and the inward mind of Christ. The fullness of God even rests within us. We just haven't realized it yet.

For so it was ordained between God and man from all eternity, that Man should be God, and God, Man, neither without the other; that is, as God Himself is, and will be, the Paradise, garden, tabernacle, mansion, house, temple, and Jerusalem of man, so also was Man created for the same end, that he should be the Paradise, garden, tabernacle, mansion, house, temple, and Jerusalem of God; that by this mutual union and friendship of God with Man, and of Man with God, all the wisdom, power, virtue and glory eternally hidden in God should be opened and multiplied. For, God once made all things for Man, but Man for Himself.

Valentine Weigelius.
SAPIENS DOMINABITUR ASTRIS
1649

I love that by Weigelius and I have shared it often, illustrating the glory, God has invested in man. My friend, allow me to share with you also, another favorite quote that often strikes the ire of those who believe that intellect and reason can open the mysteries of the Kingdom.

"Reason should not undertake to comprehend the last destructions; they are ordained expressly to destroy our reason." Fenelon

Let it be known, Jesus only spoke that, which He heard of the Father. Only by Jesus speaking to, through, and by the Father and vice versa, could we ever see the great truths of the Kingdom, where all is being made ONE.

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." Jn 14:10

Surely the Father's words through Christ, speaking of "abandonment" was the language of the last destructions. How can reason measure such Love, that God would abandon Himself for our sake, Selah! On that rugged blood stained cross, did we not witness the very end of God Himself and His love toward man. He gave to us, all of Himself. Oh, how this magnificent God of ours stooped in servitude, even to becoming nothing to Himself, that we might be entreated with His very All. Yes, the Father in Christ Jesus gave His all for the very purpose Weigelius stated, "that Man should be God, and God, Man, neither without the other." This unreasonable God of ours, is truly made up of the Nought as well as the All ! Who can comprehend such, save the mind of Christ and the heart of God, which are one and the same.

Lord, grant us each, such abandonment that we might experience the NOUGHT of You, to know the ALL of You that we might be ONE.

John

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THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

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A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air,
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.

My cage confines me round,
Abroad I cannot fly,
But though my wing is closely bound,
My soul is at liberty;
For prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.

Lettie Cowman


As most of you know, I have been quite sick. It has actually been two and half months since I was diagnosed with my disease and was first tethered to an oxygen machine 24/7. Nowadays, I sneak out of the house once a week to run a couple errands. However just an hour away from my concentrator can make me quite ill, and it actually has at times. So it is with my life, today. But that aside, I am here to report all is well with my soul.

I think, how amazing to live in one of the most beautiful spots in all the world and not be able see it. Yet, I am far from sorrowful and since my infirmity I have not suffered depression. Sadly, malaise and melancholy is the damnable fare for most, upon being introduced to such a drastic new course of life. But, you know, I am quite different from the average "failing heart guy", in that I have a realization that God has perfectly planned and purposed even the minutest details of my life. More so, I trust the immaculate care and overwhelming love of which He used, to do this. Yes, God so loves me and He loves you as much.

If you, dear reader, were to go back to my first post on SONSHINE, I shares a vision God gave to me concerning my life, some years ago. That being, "I would learn to live in a secluded Enochian type of an existence." Sounded romantic then, and it really turned out so. To be shut away, just me and my Lord. However, surprise, surprise! I never would have dreamt such seclusion with Jesus and contemplation of my lovely Lord, would come about in the way it has. That is just like Him, isn't it. He certainly is a Jealous Sort. lol

That said, I feel led to share part of an E-mail I sent this last week to the dearest of old friends. Truly, today my soul is well and I pray, that if you are in the midst of some tribulation you will be encouraged by these words. Be it also known dear brother, sweet sister, He has perfectly planned and purposed your life with the greatest of all care and unimaginable love. You can find rest in that. You can bank on it.

My life is almost as being translated. I believe Enoch must have felt this way before he was, as the Bible says, "no more." Some of the old contemplative and prayerful mystics called this state "the Enochian way", although they never described it quite the same, as I do. By the way, when God dragged me back to himself, He placed before me the story of Enoch found in Jasher. He spoke to me that I would live much like Enoch. Today, because of my infirmity I indeed find myself very much shut away with God, as was the old venerable patriarch.. Please excuse me, but I can't help but share these verses that have been of great inspiration to me for a number of years.

JASHER

2 And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up in the instruction of the Lord, in knowledge and in understanding; and he wisely retired from the sons of men, and secreted himself from them for many days.

18 And Enoch did so, but did not entirely secret himself from them, but kept away from the sons of men three days and then went to them for one day.

19 And during the three days that he was in his chamber, he prayed to, and praised the Lord his God, and the day on which he went and appeared to his subjects he taught them the ways of the Lord, and all they asked him about the Lord he told them.

20 And he did in this manner for many years, and he afterward concealed himself for six days, and appeared to his people one day in seven; and after that once in a month, and then once in a year, until all the kings, princes and sons of men sought for him, and desired again to see the face of Enoch, and to hear his word; but they could not, as all the sons of men were greatly afraid of Enoch, and they feared to approach him on account of the Godlike awe that was seated upon his countenance.

Not many get an opportunity like I have with my seclusion. And although my current state may seem as difficult to many, I am blessed in it for so many reasons. God is so good.

______, I guess, I have said all this, to but encourage you to just rest and know He will, in an almost unperceived way, fill your heart with joyous things to do. Of course I speak of a different joy, than that which the world knows. It is as an inward seated peaceful joy that often becomes as deep still waters to swim in. I know you have experienced this before.

Surely, there is less doing but more being, for those that advance in the Kingdom. Such is my prayer for you and of course _ _ _ also. I would be remiss if I didn't request the same from you, towards me.

Father God, grant us, that we might ever know more of Your joyous and peaceful rest, through Your Precious Son, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Jack

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ARE YOU A LOSER ?

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The man bent on self aggrandizement could never comprehend the anointed words of this old poem. Those that jeered Jesus, on His way to Calvary, thought Him a loser. And should you walk deep in God, the world will mark you the same. This is the holy pattern where the last is made first and the the least the greatest. Such is the Kingdom, where the Creator stoops and the Servant wears the crown.

"God's glory is a wondrous thing,
...Most strange in all its ways,
And of all things on earth least like
...What men agree to praise.
For He can endless glory weave,
...From what men reckon shame;
In His own world He is content
...To play a losing game."

Dear brother sweet sister, should you be marked a loser in this world, take hope for you are in the very best of company. Count it also joy, for only a rare few out of each age are chosen for such. This is the little hidden flock to whom the Father promises the Kingdom.

John


Note:poem by GD Watson

ABSOLUTELY CONQUERED

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When one first steps into this deeper walk, one takes lightly the reports, that suffering is the way to the throne. It just does not register when one still holds to the comforts of this world and suffering seems far past or even further ahead. However, cast one into a session of suffering followed by another and topped with even more. Then one learns "the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus."

That which is in quotes above is from the message below. I haven't a clue where I found this excerpt, but it is beautiful in it's truth. I share it with those who suffer today, that you might be comforted. I share with those who will suffer tomorrow, that you might remember, the way to your crown is by way of the cross.

Our precious Jesus is our pattern not our substitute. And how very few in this age are called to know this.

In His Sweet Lord Jesus,
Jack


"SOUL FOOD"
A Book By G. D. Watson - A 19th Century Deeper-Life Author
CHAPTER 7: "THE BENEFIT OF DEEP CRUCIFIXION"

"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8).

There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown.

It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me ?"

The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good.

Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus. –Soul Food

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CHERUBIM ARE IMAGINATIONS

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So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Gen 3:24
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And so it is today that the old man, Adam, in you and me is kept from partaking of the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is Christ, from Whom all the fruit of the Spirit grow. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith and this fruit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. (Gal 5:22 & Eph 5:9)

Adam is afraid to meet God. He is really unable, because of his faulty reasoning which is every bit imagination. Because of that which he imagines, Adam is not able to accept the New Covenant, which is also the oldest covenant, even before the foundations. This covenant of love and grace opens up access to the Tree of Life, with all its good, joyous and peaceful fruit. It is only in the vain mind of Adam, that man imagines and suffers alienation from God and His Eden. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled” (Col. 1:21).

It seems of late Joian and I have been sharing with friends and family a series of messages written by Elwin Roach. In this series Elwin opens up the idea that the Cherubim, guarding the Tree of Life are our imaginations. Sounds right to me and this must hold water also with Joian. For upon finishing this five part series, she was so moved, that she decided to read it all again.

Dear sweet reader, If you are being buffeted from every side by the enemy and suffering anxiety, I strongly urge you to read this anointed series. I know it will help subside the unsavory thoughts and replace the warfare in your mind with a gentle peace. The link to Elwin's papers follow a few of his introductory words. I have also added some scripture. my friend Cindy put together in her short writing on vain imaginations. I found her choice of translations for these verses quite anointed.

"THE CHERUBIM ARE IMAGINATIONS which find their roots in the imaginative mind of man.
Perhaps we can see why the cherubim were sewn into the veil, that which represents man's mind, and is the obstacle which separates him from the Most Holy Place. The curtains of the tabernacle also contained cherubim, as well as the two doors of the temple, not to mention the walls. Everywhere in the tabernacle and the temple cherubim were sewn and made. This was for the purpose of keeping carnality out of the Holy of the Holies, which is the same as the midst of the Garden.

....... The curtains and veil speak of the physical makeup of man (his body of flesh) and his soul (mind, will, intellect, and emotions.) The cherubim are sown into the very fabric of man: in the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He can no more escape them than he can the serpent that feeds upon the dust of his makeup." (Roach)

http://www.godfire.net/cherubim_seraphim1.html

2 Corinthians 10:5
Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah and the Anointed One"
AMP

"These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts' desire is obedience to Christ" (TLB)

"For we overthrow arrogant 'reckonings,' and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery--into subjection to Christ" WEY

And a few other verses ....

Romans 1:21 "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened"

Acts 4:25-26 “Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.”

Jeremiah 7:24 “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward”

Hebrews 4:12 "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and the immortal spirit, and of joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Dear brother, sweet sister, "He works all things for good" and the heartfelt knowledge of this, buries our fretting and despair. May God grant you today His wonderful peace and may He fill you with a quiet heavenly joy,

Jack

IRON FOR GOLD

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Lately, I have been busy either giving away to friends or selling to strangers most all that I own. Often, I am caught back and in my mind, I exclaim, "Wow!, to think of the time and effort spent in procuring all this in a lifetime." For those that gather this weekend to buy, it will be but another garage sale but for me it is an estate sale ..... an estate that I have found all too fleeting.

Sure it is sad, especially as I dispose of the old photos with their memories, or when I tag a ridiculous price on an old heirloom. However, the saving grace is that I have a greater hope. It seems I myself, have been tagged by God's hand with a growing desire for a city where nothing is bought nor sold, and all is gain and never lost. This life has been good, very good, in that I can see it's purpose now. In reality the whole of this wordily existence is but iron fetters set before the throne of gold, which shines ever brighter with each succeeding day. Never more so, than this morning, do I look forward to the approaching day when I can stand before the full glory of my King and throw my earthly crown before His lovely feet. Those precious nail pierced feet have tread the path, not only before me, but aside me and even within me. Never, for even a moment, has my Lord forsaken me. He has walked my every step, and most of them, without even hinting, a want for acknowledgement. JESUS, THROUGH THICK AND THIN, IS TRULY THE FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER. HE CAME TO ME AS A SERVANT AND NOW HE IS MY KING. IN THE BEGINNING I WANTED FOR MYSELF, WHILE NOW I ONLY WANT FOR HIM. HE TRULY IS MOST PRECIOUS, A TREASURE BEYOND PRICE.

As I have labored hard, these last few days, I still cannot help but find time to read and write of my Lord, and all of that, which He has won for me. I can't recall whether I read, this quoted message below, yesterday or even this morning. For it seems, the individual days for quite some time have lost their distinguish. My time is, ever more so, measured in glimpses of Him, Who is as a restful home and a prize yearned for.

With that said, I loved the beautiful metaphor and lovely language used in the following message of "the making of a worthy priest and a servant king." How often, when my soul was surrendered and seemed as dead, yet I still suffered. On these painful occasions, "why?" has entered my mind. It is then, that He has, with both empathy and encouragement whispered, "We suffer for others."

Be blessed precious reader,
Jack

"Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" Ps 4:1

This is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement.

And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that "the iron entered into his soul." We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal.

My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings--wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain. --George Matheson

If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the golden chain about his neck. -- Lettie Cowman

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