Dreams & Mysteries - The Mystery of the Three Dark Nights

in the year 1577 while in prison for his descent against the then ruling leaders in the Catholic Church a little-known monk by the name of st. John of the Cross began writing a poem that soon became a small book called the dark night of the soul today that book is considered to be at the top of the mystical church literature in the last 450 years since it was written the dark night of the soul has become more than a title to a book it's become a colloquialism and is synonymous with the thought of going through life's difficult times but the dark night of the soul is not the only dark night that anyone who longs to go to a deeper relationship with God will go through there are two other dark nights that those who seek uncommon depth in the search for God will face these three dark nights will wither and mature anyone who seeks this level of spiritual life the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 3 tells us that this transformation will by the Holy Spirit of God take those who allow themselves to go through this time from glory to glory but this path of the dark nights is only for those who are desperate desperate for a deeper relationship with God being conformed to the image of God's Son and transformed into his nature does not come cheap while salvation is a free gift from God and is precious each dark night exists to purify you in so doing they will one by one remove each issue that hinders you or detours you or keeps you from deep and abiding relationship with him in other words your future spiritual gain is predicated on a form of current loss that loss is merely the death of self and it starts with picking up your cross to follow him this is why it seems dark and all too often we forget that it was God who brought us here so we can become what has created us to be by losing how we think is giving us life this is dreams and mysteries with John Paul Jackson as a follower of Jesus you reconciled to God through belief of what Jesus alone achieved through his crucifixion resurrection and ascension however Romans 5:10 reveals something very important to those who seek more of a relationship with God Paul states the salvation is much more than reconciliation to the Father were actually told that it's the life of Jesus that saves us does that mean that we're not really saved at conversion no that's not what Paul was saying and that's not what I'm saying but what Jesus went through and how he responded to all the father asked him to do will bring us and to a depth of relationship with him that's far beyond being reconciled to the Father the Greek word for saved used in Romans 5:10 is Sozo which simply means to be made sound well or healthy in every way therefore anything that doesn't draw you closer to God then will decay or deteriorate your life and will keep you from experiencing the fullest relationship with God possible obviously you will get better and healthier by decreasing the presence of that which is causing you to decay this is precisely what the Apostle Paul was saying when he pinned now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ you see each of these three dark nights are a step in the process God has chosen to aid you in the sanctification of your spirit soul and body just like Paul wrote there for the first dark night or the dark night of our flesh or carnality some call it the dark night of the wilderness the second dark night is the dark night of the soul and the third dark night is the dark night of the spirit in the dark night of the flesh our carnality God deals with our sin in our lives and the dark night of the soul God deals with our emotions our and our stubborn nature our self-confidence that we actually think we can easily do whatever God wants us to do in the dark night of the Spirit God deals with our self-sufficiency and what he's asked us to do I'll talk more about these three later in this episode we hope you're enjoying dreams and mysteries with John Paul Jackson in addition to watching the show there are many great reasons to visit dreams in mysteries.com watch any episode anytime you want download detailed teaching notes see exclusive content not seen on TV and behind the scenes footage purchase featured music from the show and even audio versions of episodes and more go to dreams in mysteries.com today are you looking to uncover more mysteries with over a hundred videos free downloads and new videos added monthly streams Media Plus offers you teaching and training on biblical subjects as a member you will have exclusive access to dreama pedia a dream mentoring program and beyond an interactive program where John Paul answers tough spiritual questions from subscribers $10 a month gets you connected to everything in our library at home in the office or on the go get started today at dreams and mysteries.com let's take a closer look at each of these three dark nights and let's begin with the dark night of the wilderness that art is often called the dark night of the flesh it's here in the dark night of the wilderness that God and His mercy deals with our tendency to succumb to temptation and the resulting sin that comes with it during this time we go through a form of what Jesus went through when he was in the wilderness it was in the wilderness that Satan tempted Jesus after he had fasted for forty days this was right at his weakest point that's when Satan came to attack him these temptations are found in Luke chapter 4 Jesus was tempted during his time in the wilderness in three distinct areas these three are respectively called the pride of life lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh as Jesus overcame his temptation in these three areas we likewise are going to half drove come being tempted in the same three areas lust of the eyes lust of the flesh pride of life in today's language we might say those three areas are the temptation to think too highly about ourselves and our calling the temptation to promote ourselves to gain authority in favour with others and the temptation to use any gift or talent we have to satisfy our own desires one way we can tell if the dark night of the wilderness is coming to an end is to ask ourselves this question are we blaming others for our lack of success or for our failure to the degree we're guilty of this it will directly correlate to the length of time we have remaining in the wilderness Luther well soon we're going to find ourselves firmly entrenched in the dark night of the wilderness 'as eerie confines and for a short while we're going to continue to blame shifter use the problem as a clue as a crutch for some that short while maybe a day for others it may take a week or even a year but it will eventually come to an end and the quicker the better most of us who who enter this dark night of the wilderness find that we actually take some form of self-identity from the very issue God wants to reshape or get rid of in our lives it may be our talent it may be our attitudes our ego our need for self-promotion our control there could even be fear and manipulation or a thousand other issues that keep us from the deepest relationship possible with God to reach the purpose for which God created us we're going to have to allow God to break the chains of sin that we have historically failed to address it's here that we begin to learn to be as the Apostle Paul wrote a slave of righteousness now many people want to be a slave of righteousness but this is the path that we're on if you want a deeper relationship with God many are going to quit before they get started the cost of righteousness will be too much for them the unknown will be too intimidating they're afraid that their friends will call them self righteous and religious but remember Jesus said many are called and few are chosen many people will begin the process us and then stop finding himself seemingly unable to let go of the things that bring them short-term pleasure the sooner were able to die to self the quicker we exit from the dark night of the wilderness the dark night of the soul is the next step in the sanctification of our spirit soul and body the dark night of the soul is also parallel to the time in Matthew 26 when Jesus was in the garden just before he would be crucified his disciples were fighting going to sleep and just sitting just a short ways away on a rock over there Jesus is sorrowful and deeply distressed and he said to them my soul is exceedingly troubled later they hear him pray my father if it's possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as you will the will is one of three parts of the soul the other two are the intellect and the emotions Jesus was going through a test of all three Jesus was going to have to conquer his soul he was using his intellect as a reason what the father about taking the cup from him he was overcoming his emotions as he was fighting sorrow and he was fighting his will in order to embrace the will of the father Jesus refers to this process in John chapter 12 when he says to his disciples he who loves his life will lose it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternity the Greek word for life here may surprise you it is actually the Greek word sookay which is the root word for soul in other words Jesus was saying if you love your soul you're going to lose it the dark night of the soul is about losing and overcoming your soul it's designed to help you conquer your soul and by so doing you get to keep it for eternity it's here that we wonder if God isn't mistaken by allowing this to happen they think what in the world is God doing all you wanted was to draw closer to him now look what's going on you suddenly are experiencing deeper darkness and more of the feeling of a loss of direction than you've ever experienced before you may even wonder what happened to your destiny where have God's promises God and why isn't he speaking to you anymore or so you think though this darkness will seem to last forever it really won't the purpose is for God creating you will ultimately become clear one even at the time as he takes you and cleanses you and you become his home the Holy Spirit begins his work on you from the inside out and his goal is to totally fill every space within you even the smallest of spaces you've historically ignored eventually you're going to learn that God is taking the chaos in your life and turning it into a higher order the result is deeper joy and peace as well as a higher faith that you can accomplish all things as Christ strengthens you the dark night of the soul will produce a whole lot of fruit in your life the problem is it seems so dark when you first enter you won't know where to go or what to do God's teaching you who he is and that you can trust him in all things when you spiritual eyes eventually adjust to this darkness you're going to realize he was always with you one final thought of the dark night of the soul is this you who are in this dark night of the soul maybe thinking God hasn't come through for you if you're feeling and thinking or believing that God isn't trustworthy and hasn't kept his promises you more than likely have yet to complete the dark night of the soul sorrow disappointment even disillusionment are not the result of completing the dark night of the soul they're the opposite there's a sign you're still in it the dark night of the soul is the progression from exterior to interior spiritual life the problem is that the exterior life is so much easier to control them the interior just as it's always easier to sacrifice food or fast for a day or a week than the discipline the thoughts feelings and will of the soul for the rest of your life it takes an effort but giving up what you don't want to keep it's the precise reason that God has wooed you here here you learn to let go of your agendas that have been constructed from err perceptions those errant perceptions form your thoughts those thoughts form your choices and the choices you've made are the reason for the uneasiness and disappointments that reside deep and the recesses of your heart in my dream I'm visiting with my parents and I feel like it's going to be the last time they'll ever be able to see them I have this old weather radio that I was listening to and the person on the radio is saying that a storm is actually headed right at us and warns us to take shelter we seek immediate shelter I realize the storm is closed and I say goodbye to my parents after I say goodbye I go to a bedroom that I grew up in and notice that the walls are starting to dissolve as the walls are dissolving I can see that the tornado is coming right towards us one of the great things about dreams is it tells you so many things in such a short period of time what I've also marveled that I can think I had a short dream and when I go to write the dream down it takes me an hour to write the dream down so dreams have this peculiar time-space disorienting type of thing that happens and there's a little bit of disorientation and this dream and that the the dreamer actually has the feeling he's going back into his childhood bedroom and and what in dreams that's really possible to do but it is kind of a little disorienting this dream is about the dark night of the soul coming and you know that because a storm is coming a tornados coming also we find out that God is actually the one giving the warning and you say how do how do you know that well you know that because the radio there was the radio that was being being played number two it was a weather radio and number three radios transfer information over the airwaves so God is speaking to us over the air the airwaves also involved in this is that it's a weather radio now weather radios tell you the condition of things it's not like a news forecast or it's not like an entertainment type of thing it's telling you the condition of things and the condition of things to come so you have a voice over the airwaves the Lord telling you about a condition of things to come and that condition is about to change the dreamer is concerned about his mother and father that's an emotional issue the dreamers kind of bewildered by going back into his childhood bedroom that's an intellectual issue so you have two elements of the of the soul the emotions and the intellect and the other one is the will that is also part of the the souls so right off the bat we recognize this is dream about a dark night but it's also dream about the dark night of the soul the dreamer goes back into his childhood bedroom two things regarding childhood that this represents one childlike faith that on the other side of the storm everything is going to be okay and number two is that things of the childhood are going to be dissolved you say where do you get that you get that from the walls dissolving what a walls do on one hand walls can protect you but in another hand walls keep you from seeing the future walls keep you from having insight about what's going on around you and that's the case here because on the other side of the wall you didn't see what was in the room on the other side of the wall the dreamer saw the tornado coming their tornado also tells us that it's a short-duration tornadoes don't last for a week tornadoes last four minutes so this particular dark night the issue that God's wanting to get at has to do with childhood issues walls had that have restricted the ability to see what God is doing from the childhood are going to be dissolved it's going to be a short-lived issue it's not going to be one that's going to last a long long time but probably the overarching theme of the dream is this on the other side of this your child likeness is going to be seen and you're going to be able to know more about what's coming your way and God's plan for your life it's a great dream over the last thirty years John Paul Jackson has studied how God speaks metaphorically through dreams parables and proverbs in the Bible God wants all believers to understand their dreams and that includes you for your gift of $60 or more we'd like to send you the essentials of dreams bundle this bundle includes a 2-cd set teaching the basics of dreams and visions John Paul's advanced six CD set essentials of dreams and visions and a three CD set on the biblical model of dream interpretation also included the moments with God dream journal +4 dream cards to help you understand your dreams order your essentials of dreams bundle today visit dreams and mysteries calm or call one eight hundred five three eight five two eight five we've talked about the dark night of the wilderness and we've talked about the dark night of the soul and by now you're probably wondering so what is the dark night of the Spirit and you might also be asking is it more difficult than the other dark nights the simple answer is yes yes it is more difficult the dark night of the Spirit is the final step in the sanctification of our spirit soul and body as Paul wrote in first Thessalonians 5:23 the dark night of the Spirit is parallel to the time Jesus was hanging on the cross and is depicted by the three things Jesus said my God my God why have you forsaken me it is finished and into your hands I commit my spirit the dark down of the Spirit is designed to remove our self-sufficiency when we exit the dark night of the soul we believe we can do what God has called us to do and perhaps we can as some surface-level but we cannot fulfill our calling at the deepest level with our own abilities when we exit the dark night of the Spirit we are sure that we cannot do what God is requiring of us only God can do it it is here that the greatest testimony of God's hand in our life is displayed after the dark night of the Spirit when hardly says see what I did but you will often say see what God did in the dark night of the soul were pretty we are to pick up our cross but in the dark night of the Spirit God takes us to the cross you might remember that while Jesus hung on the cross great darkness fell on the land it is here in this darkness that we realize we've done all that we can do and God only God can do the rest it is also here that we feel God has abandoned us and the deepest level of loneliness a taxes and the de taxes when we are the most defenseless when were the most vulnerable it is here we come close to God as we die to self to accomplish this deep level of relationship with God the Father he has to allow us to come to the end of our self in fact we come so close to the end of our self that we cry out to God as Jesus did it's finished I've done all that I can do from here everything is up to You Father I place everything into your hands and father you're going to have to take it from here this is in essence where the father took a son this is where he will take us to take on the nature of Jesus we have to follow him no we're not going to have to hang on a physical cross but we will have to crucify our soul so our spirit can rule the spirit of the man is the lamp of the Lord searching all the inner depths of his heart and the dark night of the Spirit the deepest part of us is searched in the dark night of the Spirit our spirit becomes alive and radiant here we take on the nature of Christ here we are conformed into his image here we learn obedience this inspirational collection of resources includes the audio teachings your next victory and regaining what you've lost in your next victory John Paul explains why we must go through the wilderness to discover who God really created us to be John Paul also shares keys to recognizing and overcoming seasons in your life when God feels far away regaining what you've lost is an encouraging reminder that it's never too late to accomplish the purpose for which God created you also included I am inheriting the fullness of God's names a devotional book that will help you embark on a glorious adventure of knowing God uncovering his mysteries and exploring his wonders your next victory bundle is being offered for your gift of $35 or more to the ministry to order your next victory bundle visit dreams and mysteries.com or call one eight hundred five three eight five two eight five if you're truly seeking a deeper walk with God you're going to sense the coming of each dark night at the beginning of all three dark nights you sense something is missing in your life and you begin to take a spiritual inventory of what's missing you might find yourself saying something needs to change here you might feel like I've got to find out what it is in fact it could become a driving force the problem is that you'll always come across the obvious or things easily seen before you find the hidden route God is after in essence you can chop down the whole tree and feel satisfied you can turn and walk away only to discover new growth on the stump come next spring because you didn't kill the roots the three dark nights are all about killing the roots that decay our life and stop or hinder our relationship with God the first issues you find usually aren't the issue God's getting at things like anger jealousy and fear are all real issues but they're surface issues and at the root of these things lie the real problem in my experience the real issue the ones that's bringing me into the dark night is always in one of my blind spots because if I could see it if I knew it was an issue it wouldn't be hidden from me there'll be no need for the dark night I would have prayed about it counseled with others otherwise taken care of it long ago when we finally do start to draw close to the real issue normally we're going to try to justify the very matter gods after and that in itself is a clue to what the purification process is all about much of the time we actually believe we have the right to feel the way we feel we have a right to do it or feel it or think it at least initially and that is why each dark night often lasts so long we have to get over our self justification when we finally touch the issue goddess after we're going to naturally recoil we're going to say to God what you want me to get rid of what but god I've always done this why now I need this it's mine it works me slowly God shows us what we considered to be a good thing it's actually a bad thing for us as we grasped and go after what God is really grasping and going after we're going to begin to see the end of the darkness we've been in as we grasp these issues dark nights happen because God wants all of you the point isn't your pain or the bittersweet ripping as your issues are torn away the point is the song of songs its face-to-face intimacy with the one who loves you as no one else could and that's the point your walk with God your relationship with others and your entire life will be so much easier if you could remember this one simple fact if you're experiencing the transition that occurs in any of the dark nights it's an open invitation from God to draw closer to his heart in all three dark nights we come to realize that what we have self justified is actually hindering our destiny in the midst of darkness we literally see the light and with this realization there's the dawning of hope the truth is first we change then the world would change it is the way of you we have an ambitious goal to restore the awe and wonder of God through this groundbreaking TV series would you like to take part then join us in spreading the gospel by calling 1-800 five three eight five two eight five and ask to become a monthly TV partner thank you for watching and may God bless all ago

Channel: Dreams & Mysteries

Views: 109,578

Rating: 4.9427209 out of 5

Keywords: John Paul Jackson, Streams Ministries, Dreams & Mysteries, dreams, dream interpretation, Daystar, Christian TV, Christian, Holy Spirit, dark night, dark night of the soul

Id: P2OyptSajjM

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 21 2015