Forward
Because there are those among us who aspire, and because there is this time and season, and because there is this God who beckons to us from the heights, this book is written. In every age and in every place where men aspire, there is that which withstands them. Every time the sons of God appear before God, the Devil comes also. In every place that grace is given, there is the law to provide the counterpoint. When the times and seasons of God bring forth the Manchild, there is the Dragon waiting. It is our purpose to identify the dragon and to unmask the devil and to warn the traveler.
There is that which in every age opposes.
It is fitting that we do not war against ‘flesh and blood’ for we are, at the center, a spiritual people. It is not some secular heaven that we aspire to but the very heart of God. And because we do not simply set our sights on financial security or a well-rounded religious experience or a reputation among the brethren, we may well be numbered among the radicals of our generation.
But we must, simply must, keep faith with those who have gone before us, as well as those who may come after us.
And we must keep faith with ourselves.
To stop short is unthinkable.
But rest assured, on the way we will meet that one who stands in the gate and seeks to deny us entrance. In this age, that one is not some will-of-the-wisp from the past but an identifiable entity with a name and a character and a history Of mischief-making. And, although his best work is done in the dark, he can be dragged into the light.
He can be called to account!
He who has ‘laid waste’ can be laid waste himself for He who once led ‘captivity captive’ is still in business.
And so we say …
The Dream
It was a strange scene. On a stage suspended somewhere between heaven and earth a young man was engaged in earnest dialogue, first with one and then with another. The subject was religion and what a man’s duty was in this life and how he must finally come to acknowledge God and His claim on his life.
The young man seemed quite persuasive.
Some stopped to listen. Some even to the point of agreement. These he took gently by the hand and introduced them to the religious system he represented.
But there was more to the scene than that. To be sure, there was the young man. And, yes, he was attempting to proselyte others. But (and this was the strange part) above him, much like a director riding a broom above a sound stage, there hovered an apparition.
I say hovered because that is how it seemed.
I say apparition because it did not have the distinctive features one would associate with a flesh and blood creature.
No. It was more like the genie who sprang from the lamp of Aladdin, as illustrated in a child’s book of fables.
Above, floating, unreal, and yet, very real indeed. So real, in fact, that it literally dominated the scene. So much so that one finally became aware that it (the apparition) really was the director and that all of those on the stage (including our young man) were merely players. Only as you grasped that fact were you able to ascertain the real situation and the almost mechanical actions and reactions of the players on the stage began to make sense.
Yes, the young man’s words were fervent. Yes, his manner was sincere. But then you began to notice that which had been hidden before, i.e. his heart wasn’t in it. It was only a role he was playing. Indeed, his actions were those of a well-trained horse being put through his paces by the owner. There were invisible strings attached to him and he was being manipulated by the puppet-master who hovered above him.
As the play continued it became apparent that the young man was not satisfied with his role-playing. Indeed, on more than one occasion, he moved toward the outer limits of the stage, as if wanting somehow to escape the situation. But he was always drawn back by the invisible strings.
And then it happened.
The young man not only reached the edge of the stage but suddenly turned his back on the performance and began to walk away from it. Just as suddenly, the Entity seemed to sense that his power over the young man was diminished. His reaction was immediate and terrible to behold. He screamed after the young man.
“Look”, he cried, “look up there in the sky!”
The young man looked.
All he saw was a wispy white cloud against the blue of the sky.
“Look”, it cried again, “and know this. You will never know your God except as a wispy intangible, a vaporous substance, like that small cloud up there!”
At that pronouncement, and without thinking, the young man spun on his heels.
“Oh, no”, he cried, and the words seem to flow from his lips.
“Oh, no! I will know Him. I will know my God. Beyond the wispy intangibles of religion, I will know Him!”
Without warning the words in his mouth, understandable to this point, changed into that which was not understandable. Different words. Strange sounding words. Full-of-power words. They filled his tongue and leaped the distance between him and the apparition.
As he continued his impassioned speech, a strange thing occurred.
The apparition vanished!
One moment he was there, the next, poof, he was gone.
And, in his place, what appeared to be a steel girder, upon which the young man set his feet.
Then he knew.
He was free. He was finally and at long last free!
Not only of the apparition but of his former limitations.
Far below him, the earth and the peoples of the earth. And he knew that he could step off the girder and, with one giant stride, onto the surface of the planet, now thousands of feet below him!
The young man woke from his dream.
And wondered.
And inquired of his God.
And his God gave understanding to him.
“What is the name of the Entity”, he asked, “who had such power over me and my actions”?
The Lord said, “his is a Jewish name.”
“Yes”, the young man cried, “I know his is a Jewish name, but who is he and what does he represent?”
The answer came. “He is the Spirit of the Pharisee.”