“And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.”
(Gen. 27:21-23)
Jacob was deceived because he went by his senses rather than by words. And so it is with us, anytime we go by our feelings and not God’s Word we are sure to be duped. Church History shows not only our Catholic friends have been taken in by this subtle teaching but we protestants also. There has always been those who wanted a short-cut to God by bypassing the Scriptures, God’s ordained means to that end. Mysticism in its simplest definition is the belief that one can know God without anything intervening, that they have a direct knowledge of God without His written revelation of Himself.
Mysticism makes feeling the source of their knowledge, not The Word of God. They are easy to spot, they seek signs, visions, and the phenomena, terms such as, “God told me,” are frequently used, experience is their teacher, not instruction. They are given to an unhealthy introspection, constantly scraping raw the inner man. They protest the rational and adhere to the mystical. They believe in a continuation of inspiration. They are opposed to doctrine and replace it with, “I think,” “I believe”. And worst of all they believe they are one notch above their brethren. They have something God has not let the rest of us in on.
One great danger of mysticism is found in their formula for knowing God. That is, putting oneself into a passive state, having no will of their own, no reasoning, no particular point of direction, completely empty and desiring to be something or someone other than they are. J.I. Packer said, “It sounds more like a formula for demon possession than the ministry of the indwelling Christ of the New Testament.”
O, my brethren learn this, fellowship with God begins and ends with the Holy Scriptures, the Written Word of God. You will never know the God of the Word till you know the Word of God!
“If you want a wonderful experience, explore the Word.”
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