New Age vs. The Gospel: The View of God

New Age vs. The Gospel: The View of God

Amen. Let's take our Bibles and I would like to read a couple of verses from Jeremiah 23 this morning. Jeremiah chapter 23. And when we arrived there, let's look in verse 23 this morning. The question our Lord asks here, Am I a God at hand, sayeth the Lord, and not a God, a far off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Sayeth the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth, sayeth the Lord?

It's been a growing burden on my heart through a number of circumstances, a number of things that I have witnessed. Around me I have, you know, it's come up in conversation through a variety of ways. And I would say probably some months ago I thought came to my heart about this, the need to address this matter and it's just been confirmed to me more and more recently.

But we are, I don't want to take the time to go into the depths of the new age and talk about all the nuances of it, but I believe the Lord what I'm happy to do is to take several messages and contrast, compare and contrast the thoughts of new age spirituality with gospel Christianity, with Bible Christianity. And how we are to think versus a lot of the thought that's actually infiltrating churches today about this new age kind of thinking that is permeating more and more around us.

Let me take a few moments and we're going to come to the text this morning. And you'll see the purpose of that text. But I want to take a few moments to give a little bit of a background about the new age.

The new age we say is very spiritual and sometimes we're not even people don't even want it to be called new age thought anymore. Sometimes people say new thought or new spirituality or something along those lines. You know, I know the devil doesn't like to get stuck with a certain label for too long. He likes to get a new one, right? He doesn't want to be identified and marked very readily. But all he does is he repackages all of lives. That's all he can do. He can't create anything new. He doesn't abide in truth.

But when we think about the new age movement, it actually, well, if you go back really it finds its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, Eastern spirituality. But as it pertains to our country, going back to 1875 in New York City, there was a woman by the name of Helena Belavatsky that she, along with Henry Alcott and William Judge, founded a society called the Theosophical Society. Theosophy is combining two Greek words, meaning God and wisdom. And so they claim to have divine wisdom or knowledge obtained in some way other than through revelation. We believe that all wisdom and spiritual understanding comes by faith in God's word. And they obviously said something quite different from that.

It was in the 1970s though that this new age thought really became popularized in the culture. And it fell into a fertile time frame and culture at that time with the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s. The hippies and all of this kind of thought and that time period and the music was sort of an expression of all of that. It was coming along at that time frame as well. And so this just exploded during the 1970s and 80s.

There was a woman by the name of Marilyn Ferguson who wrote a book, a best-selling book at that time called the Aquarian Conspiracy. I haven't read it. I don't really care to read it personally. But there was also another lady woman by the name of Shirley McLean who wrote a book at that time understanding the new age. These were very popular books. And there's more than that. There are women like Alice Bailey and the man like David Spangler. They were very, very instrumental. I know in the 1990s we're growing up as a child. Oprah Winfrey popularized to middle class women and housewives popularized a new age thought along with Marianne Williamson. I don't know if I pronounce it as name right. Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra. And I might be butchering some of these names. But you know what I'm talking about. That was Oprah was probably single handedly one of the most well-known individuals that popularized it in the 1990s.

In terms in our culture now, in society, people just use terms like culture, true self, your truth, all of these types of things, energy. There's so much talk about energy in the world now. They're not talking about energy drinks. I mean, there's that too. But they're talking about spiritual energy. You know, these terms just became commonplace from the 70s all and they became more and more popularized through the advent of more media television and certainly the internet now. So on and so forth, a lot of self-help is self-help books. Inspirational books are rooted in this idea of the new age thought, new age spirituality. And it's deceptive in many ways because it uses a lot of times uses the similar vocabulary to Christianity, but it assigns to that vocabulary for different meanings than what is the same thing.

But we find in scripture, the new age means something far different when it's speaking about God, about sin. Although it doesn't say much about sin, but particularly about the old mentioned Christ, a Christ consciousness. But they're not talking about what we believe. When we're talking about consciousness of the Lord, meditation. That means something far different obviously than biblical meditation. There are words like love, unity, truth that have been hijacked. And actually, seminaries are pumping out students that are, they have this hybrid a lot of times. Twist on the gospel in the way that they view it. In the way that they teach and preach that, that gospel. And so it's easy to turn it into another gospel.

And this morning I want to take the contrast between the way we are told in the scriptures to view God in the way the new age views God. What's the difference in the view of God? And it's very important. It's fundamental to everything we do. It's fundamental to how we think about God. How we think about God.

Christianity says there's one personal God. He's transcendent. He's also imminence. The Bible teaches the imminence of God. Our text teaches the imminence of God. But He's transcendent and that He is greater than His creation. And He is above His creation, although He's involved with His creation, He's not one and the same as the creation. He's distinct from His creation.

We read in our text here this morning. Let's look back here in Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23 and verse number 23. We read here in verse 23. Am I a God at hand, say at the Lord, and not a God, a far off? Am I a God at hand and not a God a far off? Can any hide Himself in secret places that I shall not see Him? Say at the Lord, do not I feel heaven and earth?

Well, the Lord not only is near at hand here, but we see that He's all knowing. We see that He is overall. He feels not only the earth, but He feels heaven. He is, as Scripture will make it clear to us in John 1, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, and it tells us in verse 3 that all things were made by Him. And without Him, without Him was not anything made that was made. So He is the Alpha. He's the beginning. Without Him being the Alpha and the beginning, there would not be any creation, because He was before we were. He pre-existence His creation. In the beginning, Genesis 1 says that the earth was without form and void, and then He created it. Man, in His own image. And then He certainly made the animals. Even in crown does creation with mankind.

But our text today shows that He fills heaven and earth. He sees He knows all things. Remember what He said to Jeremiah chapter 1? Let's look over there in Jeremiah chapter 1. Our God said to Jeremiah in verse 5 of that verse chapter. Before I formed the, before I formed the in the belly, I knew thee. And before they came His forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God formed Adam from the dust of the ground. And it says that He formed Jeremiah in His mother's womb. We had a beginning. God does not have a beginning. Nor does He have an end. He's the Omega. He is the ending. He is. And yet, of His kingdom, there shall be no end. But there's nothing before Him, nothing after Him. He is eternal. He truly is the eternal God.

Look in Psalm 100 with me. Psalm 100s. It's here as we understand who God is that we understand who we are. Only as we rightly understand God is uncreated. He's separate above His creation. He is involved with His creation, but He's not one of the same as the creature. It says here in Psalm 100 verse 3, here we understand clearly who we are. It says in verse 3, know ye that the Lord He is God's. It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

The Lord has made us. We did not make ourselves. We are not God. All has sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're not God. But we have been given the privilege to be reconciled to God. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but we see that we got to get it very clear. I don't think I'm saying anything to anybody here that you don't know this morning already. You know that we must have it 100% clear even as we think of the implications of this to every area of life that God is the creator. God is greater than His creation. We are not God's in the sense of divine beings. We don't have some spark of divinity in ourselves. We are human beings. We had them again.

Now, the new age, there are so many, it's a spectrum. I mean, for that matter, professing Christianity is a spectrum, isn't it? But it's a spectrum within the new age. But generally, there is some sort of monistic, like monism, all is one, or pantheistic. God is everything. All is God, God in the universe, or identical, or pan-in theistic view. There's some multiplicity of gods that comprise God in some form or another. Pan-intheism says God is in everything.

Let me break this down really simple. Pantheism says God is everything in the sense that God in the universe are identical, but pan-intheism says that God is in everything, but there's a distinction. Pan-intheists, or pan-intheism, asserts that God is also transcendent. He's transcendent. They would say, yes, he feels heaven, you know? He's transcendent, but he is not limited to everything, but he's not the God of the Bible. And yet, even though he's transcendent, we're all sort of part of God. We can say it that way. It's hard to rat one's brain around it. I don't really want to try too hard to add it. This is very much the view that Hinduism has. Hinduism is more of a pan-intheistic view of God.

And one thing that is true of all new age thoughts is that God is very impersonal. God is not… He's a force. He's a power. He's a… It's an energy. But it's very impersonal. It's a very impersonal God. It's a cosmic consciousness or force. Can you think of television, television program that… Or movies that popularize this, you think of Star Wars, right? Star Wars popularized the force. The force. In fact, the creator of that George Lucas, I was reading some of his own statements and… You know, because I've heard people say things about it. I'm not a Star Wars fan never watched it, never… I don't really know much about it other than the bare minimum about it. And he actually said, George Star Wars said his intention was to quote, awaken a certain kind of spirituality and young people to get them to begin to ask questions about the mystery. He said, the force is a metaphor for God. I'm quoting him here. And God is essentially unknowable. He also said the force… He described the force as being distilled from the essence of all religions. That's what Hinduism does. Distilled from the essence of all religions. He said, quote, the force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all… Listen to this. Created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

When people… We hear this today. I don't like the… Something like, I don't have to ask the universe. Or I don't like the answer the universe gave me. That's just Eastern mysticism. That's Eastern thought. People use that. It's very common though. It's very common, especially among younger people, to hear that language. But this force, as you can see, is very impersonal. And the force can be manipulated. The force is actually, he says here. And I want to misquote him an energy field created by all living things. See, there's the distinction. The… Actually, very big difference. We… It is he that has made us, not we ourselves. But the new age says we have the creative power. Oprah Winfrey certainly popularized that. She said it all the time. You have the creative power, the power of the divine within. I'm not quoting directly, but I remember her saying things like that.

But back in our text today, in Jeremiah 23 verse 23, we see the truth that God is imminent. His imminence, he is… Yes, he's present everywhere. I'm the present. But he's imminent in that he manifests himself in time, in history, in mundane as well as in dramatic ways involving himself in the lives of his creatures, of human beings. He… There's a passage I want to read that really sums this up well. In Psalm 113 verse 5, Psalm 113 verse number 5. You know, I remember actually Brother Andrew sharing this verse with me years ago. And it just really struck me in a different way that I never really stood out to me until he shared it with me at that point in time. But Psalm 113 verse 5, who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwell upon high, he's transcendent. He dwells on high, he fills the heaven, who humble with himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth, in the earth. He, though high and holy and transcendent, humbles himself. But we certainly know that in Jesus Christ, Christ is God incarnate, humbled come to dwell among us. And in fact, in manual, the name given to him, God with us. God with us. So God is separate from man, not confusing with man, but he's come to dwell, to deal with man and to be among men. He's here. He is, in fact, if you're a believer today, Christ's living in me. Christ living in me. Has lived the flower within the seed as in the calm, the tree. So light and life and love came forth from Christ living in me. In me, that is in my flesh. Well, if no good thing, that runs contrary to the thought of do age. Oh, no, you have to just awaken to the goodness within. No, thank God he's through revelation, awakened to me to the fact that I'm not God, I'm a sinner, and I need to be awakened to my sinful state so I can call out, ship a hoat and call out to him for salvation.

We see that God, it would have been impossible for us to even know this if it was not for the fact that God has humbled himself and condescended to us, our needy state as human beings. Far different than what we see in the new age. Far different. So he's imminent. He's working even in the minutiae, minutiae of our lives. He is in the detail. Sometimes we give the devil too much credit. We say the devil's in the details. Well, he is. But how much more so is God in the details. And as Christians, specifically, we know it well. Romans 828, we know that all things work together for good to them, that love God, to them who are the call according to His purpose. What is His purpose? What's purpose is to make us holy, to make us like His Son, that Christ may be formed in us. Do we might think like Him, act like Him, speak like Him, because it's Christ living within us, that Christ would be formed in our lives. That's His purpose. He's called us out of this world. And He's purifying us unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. That's His purpose in our lives. Every little thing works for good as we say yes to the Lord in our lives. Yes, Lord, I believe. I know. I know the truth work in this. It may not seem, it may not even feel like it. Why this? Why now? Sometimes certain people have a great number of afflictions more than other people. And yet God has a purpose in those things that He's doing.

The Athenians realized that there was a God that they said He's unknown, right? Or there is a God that's unknown. There might be one that in our pantheon, we haven't discovered, but there's an unknown God. And Paul would tell them this one that you say is unknown is the one in whom we live and move and have our being. He's not far off. He's not far off. He says in Acts 17, he must, let's turn over there. Acts 17, verse 27. Acts 17, he's not a knowable Athenians. He's not a knowable. He is knowable. He wants, he wants to have a relationship with you. He does not want to remain a mystery. You see what George Lucas said? George Lucas found or the creator of Starlmore said, the force is a metaphor for God and God is essentially unknowable. No, that's not the true God. That's the Athenian view of God.

But Acts 17, verse 27, that they should seek the Lord. He says, if happily they might feel after Him and find Him. Though we be not far from every one of us for in Him, He's the one who created us. We live. He's the one that sustains us and move and have our being.

What does that produce in us? Roman tells us that it ought to make us thankful, right? But instead people are unthankful for the God that created them. As certain of your own poets back here in Acts 1728, as certain of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring. If you want to know this God, He will make Himself known. He will make Himself known. We live, we move, we have our existence in Him.

Well, the new age would say, the new age would say, we live and we move in God. We have our being in Him, but they would go to step further and say, we are divine. We are divine. No, we're not divine. We're mere mortals. We're mere mortals. But we will live forever, somewhere. We will live for an eternity, somewhere. But we are moral. See, there's a kernel. There's a kernel of truth and a lot of these things, isn't there? There's a kernel of truth there. And it can sound at points and at times. It can sound kind of right, but it's not. Anything but the whole truth is a lot. Anything but the whole truth. How are lies made so palatable as because they have a little bit of kernel of truth in them, don't they? God is not far from any one of us, but we're not God. We're not God. We are His creatures.

Romans 1, I know I alluded to this, but let's look there together. Romans 1, 20. Romans 1, verse 20. It tells us for the invisible things, in verse 20, Romans 1, 20, for the invisible things of Him, the God who created us. From the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead so that they are without excuse because that then they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and to four-footed beasts and creeping things.

We can know that there is a God that is separate, that is higher, that is creative, that created us, even just through the visible things that He has made. So in a sense, the new age is actually a rejection of the basic, knowable things in the world, and certainly as a distortion of the gospel, it is a perversion, it is in contrast in adversary to the gospel.

But look in Romans 10 though with me, Romans 10, verse 6. In Romans 10 6 we read this, but the righteousness which is of faith, speak it on this lies, say not in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring Christ up Christ again from the dead. But what's saith it? The word is nigh the even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thy heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

New age thought in the gospel are absolutely incompatible. We are foolish to try to even the thought to even try to blend in any way. And yet that's what's going on. There's a blending of new age thought and it's okay to think that way and be a Christian too. No, it's not. No, it is not. We will have a perverted and we will pass down a perverted view of who God is and who we are as a result of that. The word is nigh the even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach Paul says. Paul, Paul relied on the foolishness of preaching to save lost men. The light of the glorious gospel is not the light within. Now where the scripture says we're darkness within, but the light of the glorious gospel has to shine into the darkness of our hearts and call us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We're not awakening us to the light within us like the new age says. No, we're not divine. We are fallen in sin and we need redemption. We need to be reconciled to God.

Yes, His energy, if we can say it that way, not in the sense that the new, but in the sense that the spirit that works in the children of disobedience that we're working from the children, work is the word inner gayo. As he energizes disobedience, so God energizes enables obedience. He enables us when we trust in Him and believe revelation. We believe the gospel, the word of God. This is the power of God into salvation. As many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God. And then gives the power, Paul said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthen of me. He didn't say I can do all things through the divinity within, through the power of, that I've been awakened to the energy that is already in me or something like that. He said, I am what I am by the grace of God. Everything that I am is a gift. He said, I am the chief of sinners in me dwell with no good thing. That's far different, isn't it? From the view of God in the New Age.

Well, Isaiah 55, we'll look there together. Isaiah 55, I know we must draw to inclusion here, but Isaiah 55. Well, war and passage of Scripture, we know these words, but let's read them again as Isaiah 55 verse 8. Our Lord says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, say it the Lord. It's not a matter of awakening consciousness in ourselves. It's a matter of coming to know what are God's thoughts? If my thoughts aren't right, what are his thoughts? For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. In my thoughts, then your thoughts.

Scripture is very clear. The Lord says, come let us raise them together. Though your fear is being scarlet, they shall be wide as snow. I've come with truth and you are to receive it because you need my thoughts. You need to receive my thoughts because your thoughts are wrong, your thoughts are not right. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. And even as we're living the Christian life, we need to continue to feed on God's thoughts. Because what else do we have to go to otherwise? Well, we'll listen to the age or we'll lean to our own understanding once again. Speak, Lord, for thy servant here. We need to desire, Lord, show the wonderful things out of thy law. Practically we can be influenced by this thought of some of the self-help thoughts. If we call it, stay in God's words. Self-help oftentimes, I think many times Oprah Winfrey was very influential on people that were even Christians. To listen to those things slowly, it's kind of like communist propaganda can start to influence the way you think about. You know, you can sort of separate your daily decisions from, well, I'm saved, but I'm thinking this way. No, we need to think like the Bible tells us to think. Not like we, not like we, see and feel people, hear people thinking around us, don't think God's thoughts. After him, think God's thoughts, not our own thoughts. Our own thoughts will lead us astray to whom shall we go? He said, they'll ask the words of eternal life.

Well, the Lord is high above all nations, the psalmist says in Psalm 113, verse 4, and his glory above the heavens, who is like unto the Lord our God? Who dwelleth on high? Who hum both himself to behold things that are in heaven and in the earth as we've already read this passage, but the Lord says he is transcendent yet. He dwells in the high and holy place with him that is of a humble and a contrite heart, right? Isn't that what the scripture tells us? A contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble is a lot of pride in the new age. I am. I am God. I am a little God. I'm part of the divine. No, not at all. If we truly know God and walk according to the spirit, we'll be humbled. How could God love us in our senses? How could God condescend and come down and be a part of His creation, fully is high, and above His creation, not that He doesn't care about it, He does care, and He sinned it down the cross so completely different. And out of a humble, yielded heart, I say, thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you for condescending, for being such a long suffering. God, though, I did not. I've often shunned and often have appreciated what you did on the cross. Thank you for humbling yourself. I cannot, Lord, I admit, I cannot keep all 1600, whatever it is, commandments in the Bible perfectly in my mind at all times, and make sure that I'm not. I can't keep the law. But thank you for when Jesus came to earth and the Holy Spirit is my paraclete, my companion, and you're with me all the way into the end of the world, even though we're separate. I have not seen Him. I love Christ because He gave His life for me, and He's given me the Holy Spirit to dwell within me and to enable me to live for Him, to energize me to live for Him. And as I really think it comes down to just saying as the Holy Spirit speaks, and He does, through the Word, brings the Word to us, not our own thoughts. We've got to be sure it's not our own thinking, but is this, this is the Lord, this is the Holy Lord? I need to say yes, yes, I will obey. Yes, I will do this. I need to be tender. That's why we say so many times, I need a tender heart before the Lord. I need a tender heart.

Let's, we must draw the conclusion with the final passage, but if you'll turn to Isaiah 40, Isaiah 40, verse 25, Isaiah 40, verse 25. It's there. We read the Lord asked this question to whom then will ye like in me? Or shall I be equal, say at the Holy One? Well, there is no equal. Lift up your eyes on high and behold, who have created these things that bring it out their host by number. Let me stop for a moment there. Have you ever? I'm sure you have watched some documentary about creation and just been in awe at how great God is. How does He keep up as He do all of this? How does He create all these things and maintain the order of the universe and looking to the macro level and the micro level and the macro level of the large scale and just think what and this was the true, this is a true fitting way to use the word awesome God that we serve. We're awesome. It was for anything now. You know, I like to kill her the pain on your car. Awesome. No, this is truly awesome when we think about how great our God is.

But lift up your eyes and behold, who have created these things, verse 26, that bring it out their host by number. He called them all by names, by the greatness of His might. For that He is strong in power, not one failure. Why say it's that old Jacob and speak is still Israel? My way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God. Oh, we need a God consciousness, not like we'll get to it, but not like the new age says. We need a God consciousness and that God sees all that I do and hears all that I say. He's over at all. Hasst thou not known? Hasst thou not heard? That the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding. He giveeth power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint. The picture here is that the Almighty, all-powerful, all-wise, all-present God is able and willing to impart strength to our fainting hearts. He's willing and able to energize the trust and heart that will look to Him and realize and truly stand in awe at how great He is. This is the reason why Israel got into so many much trouble throughout its history with His kings. You know, A. has asked the Assign of the Lord. I will not tempt the Lord. So many went into alliances with other nations because they didn't believe how great their God was. They trusted more in Assyria in Egypt. We tend to lean to our own understanding because we don't see how great God is because we don't fully obtain appreciate that He is very much involved in the minutiae. He's transcendent, but then He's also imminent, very much involved in our everyday details of life. It may not be that He's going to tell us, you know, walking through the room and saying, here I am physically, no He's not going to do that, He's able to guide us. May God help us to see that our God is far different than that that the new age portrays. He is transcendent, but He's also imminent very much with us each and every day.

What's bring? Heavenly Father, I know I've taken more time this morning. I pray, Lord, that you would take these feeble words, these limitations of human language, Father, and that you would break the bread of life, help us to chew on it, to meditate on it, to hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against thee, but also that we might draw close to thee, help us, Lord, to truly stand in great God, the mighty fortress that is our God, but also to realize that you're very much involved in the details of our lives and want us to respond to you day by day in the things that you show us in your word, in the way that you, your Holy Spirit moves upon our hearts, help us, Lord, to respond, help us to help us to see, help us to submit ourselves to what your dealings are with us. And sometimes Lord, many times, even you use others, you use conversations, you certainly use Scripture, but you use the words of others to prompt our thinking, Spirit led to help us and Lord help me even this week, even today as they go out to be sensitive, to be tender to your leading in that way, Father. We pray these things, asking them in Jesus' name. Amen.