And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

         Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

         “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [Matthew 13:10-13]

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         Everything false and deceptive has a dual nature.

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         There is the outer form, the one presented to the world which makes use of spectacle and illusion.

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         And then there is the inner form. It is unseen and hidden. Few can perceive it. Few know of its presence outside those that are part of the delusion.

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         The inner form wears a costume—the outer form—which it presents as its actual form…

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         Q: Why?

         A: Because the inner form does not operate in good faith. It is stealthy by nature. It has a hidden agenda.

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OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

         The aim of the inner form is to fool the public by putting forth a false outer form, that which is essentially mere window dressing. People are drawn toward it and eventually taken in by it.

         In its best manifestation, the inner form within is hidden by the outer form without to the point that the inner form becomes completely invisible and effectively ceases to be.

         Throughout history, the majority of people have often been deceived into thinking the outer form they see is the only form there is. Because they never see or perceive the inner form, they believe it does not exist.

         Much of the reason the majority of people do not believe there is any actual inner sinister presence is because their natural senses are overwhelmed by the outer pretentious costume.

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

         Hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) Greek. (1) One who answers, an interpreter, (2) An actor, stage player, (3) A dissembler, pretender, hypocrite [2]

         There is a reason stage actors and orators have traditionally depended on ostentatious costuming and loud, somewhat strange methods of speaking. Their voices must be loud and clear enough to be projected to the farthest seats and end of the crowd. They must never miss a beat in their speaking in order to keep the attention of the audience. Distractions are anathema. They must command attention at all times. That’s why they are there. The audience must be riveted upon their every move and word.

         This is also the reason costuming, or branding, is so important.

         Of the five senses, only two are most applicable to the thespian art and therefore must be appropriated fully by the stage player. These two senses are: Sight and Hearing.

         Stage productions must do everything possible to grab the full attention of the entire audience and maintain it from beginning to end for any chance at all to be successful.

         In former times this depended greatly on the appearance, voice, and emotive ability of each actor, especially the lead actor, including gaudy costuming, quasi-gymnastic bodily movements, and extreme facial expressions.

         It was all pretend, of course, and completely overblown. It was not real and everyone knew this, but everyone also wanted to be entertained. Everyone was mindful of the few people in their lives that possessed the ability to command attention in social groups. They also knew that some of those people were mere put-ons, having learned how to take advantage of others by their looks, charm, natural skills, confidence, and speaking ability.

         The best ended up on stages making good livings at being nothing more than super-emotive fakes. They could turn it on in a second and right back off again once the curtain dropped with most spectators being none the wiser.

         In these times, the success of the two-faced process has gained considerably. Many millions are completely fooled not only by the false appearance of the body snatchers, but are completely oblivious to anything beneath the surface.

         Image is Everthing.

         As a result, the world is quickly becoming a purely surface-oriented entity. Motives and morals no longer matter. It is a world dominated by the present, by phonies, photographs, illusion, tweets, and sound bites.

         The inner form has completely disappeared. The outer form has taken over.

CONFUSED BY LIES, BLINDED BY SIN

         Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

         For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

         They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

         Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.

         Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men, we grope like those who have no eyes… [Isaiah 59:1-10] [1]

RELIGIOUS PERFORMANCE ART

         In the first centuries AD, it did not take long for the emergence of those with a hidden agenda to make use of stages, clerical costuming, acting skills, and theater props to appropriate and further their personal and denominational cause.

         They had joined the ancient cult of the outer form.

         “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” [Matthew 7:15]

         These were hypocrites—religious stage players of the highest order. They learned well from the originals and the best at their craft—the demonic enemies of the Lord Jesus.

         Their spiritual descendants of the present have multiplied exponentially, invaded many other fields since that time, captured minds by the billions, and are presently all over the landscape.

         Their dual-natured, double-dealing method and ability to deceive has made possible the acquiring of incredible wealth and power, the means to successfully sway public opinion toward their hidden agenda, and the diabolic skill to induce millions into believing in and accepting the opposite of that which the Lord Jesus died to give them.

         But no one knows they are there. They are perfectly hidden by their outer form.

         Unless one has eyes to see.

         © 2015 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.

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[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

[2] Strong’s Concordance