REINCARNATION
(Excerpt from: Disrupting the Foundations, Part 2)

Almost every religion in the world has some form of doctrine concerning RESURRECTION. Most of the nonchristian beliefs, however, revolve more around the idea of REINCARNATION rather than true RESURRECTION. REINCARNATION comes from the Greek word reinkarneit and means "to REenter into flesh (RE-in-carnate, i.e again - enter - meat)," and as mentioned earlier resurrection means "TO STAND UP or RISE UP," which is translated from the Greek word "anastasis" and conveys no thought of it being a REpeated thing. JESUS said I AM THE RESURRECTION and THE LIFE, and Paul said amen to this by saying, the Spirit that dwells in us will quicken our mortal bodies. Some reincarnation advocates, however, have said we will eventually attain perfection through works we do while in many different bodies. The Christians we have heard, who embrace reincarnation, do believe in being resurrected and agree it is Christ who initiates the resurrection, but it is done in progressive degrees and in many different bodies, and the more we DO in each body, as they have said, the closer we get to the final phase of glorification. The DOING that they refer to is not works we see the church system involved in but are things that pertain to their minds and bodies. On behalf of their minds, it is a continual listening to tapes or reading of books and articles for more and more "revelation knowledge," and for their bodies it is health foods to activate certain glands that will enable them to have revelations from God.

As we said before, we are certainly not opposed to healthy eating -- Christians should do more of it -- but we maintain, it is not what goes into the body that defiles man or glorifies him but what is already inside, and whatever is contained within will eventually come out. We are not opposed to listening to tapes or reading articles and books either, but when it is REV-ELATION we are seeking above THE REVELATOR, then we cannot be one with that. Revelation seekers alone, will no doubt get their revelations, and they may have to drive or fly half way across the country to get them from a flamboyant, quick-silver, tongued man of the hour, but the revelation they come back home with might be something like reincarnation, or glandular stimulation, or worse. Brethren, there are a few very deadly spiritual viruses, in some of the word that is going around today, and if our immune system is not built up we will be susceptible to the disease regardless of how mature we may think we are. For such an immunity, we need plenty of NUTRITIONAL FOOD, i.e. A BALANCED DIET OF THE WORD (LOGOS) rather than alfalfa sprouts; plenty of PURE WATER, A FLOWING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT rather than herb teas; lots of SONSHINE rather than sun-shine; and plenty of EXERCISE, PUTTING INTO PRACTICE WHAT HAS BEEN QUICKENED AND LEARNED FROM EATING THE WORD rather than jogging three miles everyday. It is the SPIRITUAL things OF GOD that gives us Spiritual immunity to spiritual diseases and will glorify our bodies, not any natural thing, no matter how good it might be for the body.

Resurrection and change comes by undefiled REVELATION, JUDGMENT, and THE POWER OF CHRIST. These are the things that will change the spirits, minds, and bodies of "all they that go down to the dust" (see Ps. 22:27-29). When the hand of God is laid upon an individual, ANY INDIVIDUAL, they will be over-whelmed by the power and sovereignty of the Spirit that is imparted to them. They will become as meek and submissive as Paul when he was touched by His hand and cried out, "LORD, what will you have me to do?" The REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST changed Paul from a hardened murderer to a weak, submissive servant who was filled with the love and compassion of HIS LORD. In like manner, when we receive any REVELATION from the Spirit of God, WE WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. If we are not, then the revelation did not come from Him but from some other source.

JUDGMENT changes the hearts of the rebellious. One area where this is recorded is Rev. 15:4: "...All nations shall come and WORSHIP BEFORE THEE, for THY JUDGMENTS ARE MADE MANIFEST." When God lays His hand of Judgment upon the nations they will come to Him, even as Israel did in times past, but now that His Spirit has been given, they will receive chastisement unto Life and never fall back into rebellion again, for they will then be born of God. Once the revelation of Christ and Judgment have done their work upon the people and the nations, their spirits and souls, then the POWER OF CHRIST will initiate the RESURRECTION of their bodies. Let's not get impatient to see the fulfillment of this, now, for it is the dispensations and ages to come when we will see the finished work of the cross (see I Cor. 15:22, Eph. 1:9-11, Eph. 2:7 & Col. 1:15).

Evidence has it, that the "revelation" of REINCARNATION has not changed people into the image of God, even if the name of Christ has been attached to it. Although, there is an image it does change them into, and from what we have seen, it is the IMAGE OF THE BEAST. Those who bear the mark and image of the beast dwell on things that pertain to the flesh -- THE BODY, i.e. CARNALITY. Reincarnation (RE-IN-CARNALITY) does just that; it not only encourages one to not lay down his flesh in this life, but in case they go to the grave, it tells them they can pick it up again and continue feeding its appetites in other lives and other bodies. In their next life, whatever they fail to overcome in this one, it is said that God will deal with it then. This could cause one to ignore his shortcomings in this life, if he thought he could put it off to the next one.

Two reasons that we have heard, that supposedly justifies their immoral acts of the flesh, such as fornication, adultery, and homosexuality, are: (1) Some believe they cannot sin, because Jesus took them to the cross and nailed them there, and because they have the Spirit of Christ who cannot sin. (2) They must become one with the person who is weak in those areas, and while joined to these "weaker ones," they absorb and destroy that persons weakness by the "life" they possess, and in this process of absorption, they are supposed to be "imparting the strength and power of the Christ life into them." How-ever, one thing they fail to notice -- these weaker vessels are never freed from the bondage of fleshly lusts, while the supposed strong "liberators" are steeped deeper and deeper into those passions of flesh they say they are destroying.

We heard one of these evangelists say from a pulpit in Albuquerque, "Quit trying to live a moral life if your desires are still in the world, for in doing so you are sitting on the fence and you're no good to either world. Therefore, go out and get your sinning out of your system, then come back to church, and we will have some victorious Christians who can be overcomers." (These are not the exact words but carry the essence of what he said). To make such statements, we would have to conclude that he has not had the revelation nor heard the question, "CAN A MAN TAKE FIRE INTO HIS BOSOM, AND HIS CLOTHES NOT BE BURNED: CAN ONE GO UPON HOT COALS AND HIS FEET NOT BURN?" (Prov.6:27-28); or "Hell and destruction are never full; so the EYES OF MAN ARE NEVER SATISFIED... and THE FIRE SAITH NOT, IT IS ENOUGH" (Prov. 27:20 & 30:15-16). There is absolutely no way we can overcome the lusts of the flesh by loosening the restraints of the Spirit and freely indulging in them. Oh, what deception!

No doubt, only a minority of those who have erred from the truth have gone this far into gross darkness, but the same spirit that has deceived their carnal minds has also deceived other adherents to reincarnation. The CARNAL MIND, as already mentioned, will always do that which satisfies the FLESH, and it is the ENEMY OF GOD (Rom. 8:7) regardless of how it will subvert the truth to justify her deeds. It is a mind that is concerned only about the welfare of the human body and how to cater to ITS PASSIONS -- EATING, DRINKING, HEARING, SEEING, SMELLING, and FEELING. It is nothing more or less than this. Whether one is trying to eat their way into the kingdom of God, or to slowly evolve into it through many REinFLESHtations, the prognosis is the same -- IT IS FLESH, NOTHING BUT FLESH. It's worse than the flesh pots of Egypt, and God will have nothing to do with it but to JUDGE IT!

Some people have reported remembering things in "past lives" they felt they could not have possibly known unless they were actually there. These experiences have helped to support their beliefs as well as other's in reincarnation. Such things as this had prompted me to go to the Lord and ask Him about it, and this is what He said: "'It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.'" I said, "Yes, I believe that, Lord, but what about the experiences these people have had?" He replied, "Demons desire bodies to inhabit, and when they are without one they roam in dry places, looking for an open door to enter through. When a person begins to entertain immoral thoughts, the door of the mind is opened for a demon to enter through. A demon can also encourage one to open their minds to certain things by knocking on their mind's door, and if they welcome such thoughts, the demon walks in and becomes a house guest that will eventually rule that house, and he will not leave until he is cast out by the higher power and authority of Christ.

When people remember things from past ages, it is not that they have been in that age as those individuals, but the demon was there which now dwells in them, and it had merely planted such thoughts and images in the person's mind that the demon had known from possessing other people's souls in those past ages. Just because one has accurate thoughts of things in the past does not constitute that person as remembering the occurrence -- they are only thinking it, the demon is the one who is remembering it, not the person.

We had received a report of an individual a few years ago who was having a demon cast out, and when it was commanded to leave, it refused. The minister said, "You have to come out, for Jesus died on the cross for this man and the blood He had shed exonerated and bought him. He now belongs to Jesus, and you have no legal claim on him...." The demon cried out, "Yes, I know, for I WAS THERE THAT DAY HE WAS CRUCIFIED!"

If that man, before the demon was cast out, had meditated and tried to remember things of former times, he would have had plenty of thought and mental images of many different people from various periods of time. Even so, this does not mean that the man had been those other people; but rather, the demon was recalling its past experiences while living in their bodies and possessing their souls. Demonic possession works the same way as when Christ possesses our souls. When we free our minds from the noise of the world through meditation, whatever Spirit or spirits we are one with will begin to reveal things to our open minds. Therefore, the man was not there as someone else, but it was the demon who was there in perhaps the body of one of the religious Pharisees.

Jesus said, "I AM THE RESURRECTION and THE LIFE!" He did not say that He was "reincarnation," nor did He say that life was found in glands and assorted herbs. The only lasting foundation we can build upon is the ROCK OF LIFE -- THE CHIEF CORNER STONE!
 

Elwin R. Roach