Cults and the Occult
Part 1
“The Culting of America”
Tonight we are going to talk about false religions or cults. One definition of cults comes from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones who says that:
“Cults are groups that are not Christian, but nevertheless claim to be. They teach things that fundamentally deny the Christian faith and gospel. Often, cults are centered around one person who claims to have received a special divine revelation. These cults either deny the authority of Scripture altogether, or they put another authority on equal level or above that of the Bible.”
In a Christian context, the definition of a cult is, specifically, “a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of biblical truth, is often led by a central figure, exercises unhealthy control over its followers, and claims a truth source other than or equal to the Bible.”
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Prior to 1850, cultists were practically unheard of in America. Today there are tens of millions of Americans involved in the cults.
The following statistics reveal some disturbing trends for those of us who hold to the truth of Scripture:
1. Most Americans reject the notion of absolute truth.
2. Up to 1/3 of Americans do not believe in the God of the Bible.
3. Most Americans believe it doesn’t matter what god you pray to because the deities of the world religions are the same, but with a different name.
4. Nearly 2/3 of American adults believes all faiths teach the same basic lessons about life.
5. A small minority of Americans have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
6. Nearly half of Americans believe that Jesus sinned while He was on earth.
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Considering the above statistics, it is easy to understand why Americans are so easily led into false religions. And there are plenty out there to choose from. Most of us will recognize the most prominent ones:
Mormons or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Jehovah’s Witnesses (The Watch Tower)
Christian Science
New Age or Spiritualism
Baha’i
Islam
These are only a few of the most prominent false religions right here in the US.
FACT: We know the truth and Christianity is different from any other religion because our faith is based on the true-inspired Word of God, the Bible.
No other religion can prove the existence of their god. But Christianity can. The founder of our faith, Jesus Christ, fulfilled over 100 prophecies from the Old Testament with 100% accuracy. No other religion can make that claim!
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The Bible and, above all Jesus Himself, warns repeatedly of false prophets and religions.
Let’s read:
Matt 7:15-23 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Sometimes it takes years or a generation for the true fruit of false prophets and false teachers to be exposed. But not for those that know the Word!
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Jesus’s next words are thought-provoking:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
So here we have people that were in miracle type ministries using Jesus’s name for fame and profit without truly knowing Him at all!
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Jeremiah warns of false prophets over and over again.
23:16 “Thus says the Lord of hosts; ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.'”
23:25-26 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart.”
One need only casually take a stroll through social media to discover countless claims of “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” claiming an “URGENT” word from God.
God gave Moses the litmus test for prophets and their prophecies:
Deut 18:22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has made it up himself.”
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One of the best examples of this is the cult of Mormonism known as the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”.
All cults have a central figure and Mormonism’s is a man named Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was born in 1805 and died in 1844. He was poorly educated and very superstitious.
In 1820 he claimed he had received a vision in which both God the Father and God the Son appeared to him. He was told in this vision that all churches were abominations to God and that he was being charged as a prophet to restore the true gospel.
In 1823 he claimed that the angel Moroni (found nowhere in Scripture) allegedly appeared to Joseph telling him where to locate a number of golden plates.
In 1827 Joseph claimed to have located these plates that were inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Using crystals (an occult practice) he was able to translate these plates into “The Book of Mormon”. The 1st printing of the book is filled with misspelling and grammatical errors. Joseph enlisted 3 other men to join his cause and the 2nd printing of the book corrected all errors, but also changed a lot of the doctrine.
If Joseph had received the “true gospel” why is the 2nd printing of the Book of Mormon different from the first? In fact, there have been 3,913 changes to the original Book of Mormon!
Mormons believe that God the Father was once a man but became God and has a wife–a thoroughly unbiblical teaching. They also believe the trinity does not exist.
They believe that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three separate gods, not one God in three distinct persons as sound teaching dictates.
And they teach that worthy Mormon men may one day become gods themselves ruling over another populated planet–again, found nowhere in the Bible.
They believe in the resurrection by grace, but only by works can they may become gods in another world. They give little emphasis to the cross. They believe that Jesus took on our sins when He was in the garden praying and not on the cross. This takes away from the atonement of sin by Christ’s shed blood.
They are very zealous for their cult. They encourage two-year missionary commitments and door-to-door proselytizing by their members.
The Mormon Church is one of the wealthiest in the world. They own or control at least 100 companies. Among them are Jet blue, Black and Decker, and SkyWest airlines.
They spend roughly $550 million per year on their worldwide missionary efforts. They use extensive radio and TV outlets to reach more that 2.3 million adults per day.
In 1950 there were one million Mormons in the US and today there are over 4 million.
Mormons are well trained in their beliefs, but the best method to witness to them is the meaning of the crucifixion of Christ and the shedding of His blood for the atonement of sins.
If you have the 1st edition of the Book of Mormons and a later edition, then you can ask them to explain how the alleged “words from God” have constantly changed.
This may place doubts in their mind and the Holy Spirit may convict them of the falsity of their book. Always pray for them to realize the truth.
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Next we come to the Jehovah’s Witnesses (The Watchtower).
As with all cults it has a central figure and founder whose name was Charles Russell. Russell started the Watchtower organization in 1884 after he left the Seventh-day Adventist over disagreements, especially over the Atonement.
Russell’s wife successfully sued him for divorce in 1913 on the grounds of adultery and abusive domination. So Joseph Rutherford took over the Watchtower in 1917, and Nathan Knorr took over in 1942.
The JW’s believe that the Scriptures alone are insufficient in learning the things of God. One must study the Watchtower literature to be able to know the true meaning of God.
HERETICAL BELIEFS:
They believe that the Archangel Michael created Jesus (a thoroughly heretical teaching). It was through this created angel that all other things in the universe were created. They also teach that Jesus is not God.
They believe that Christ died on a stake; not a cross and was resurrected as a spirit, while his body was destroyed.
Adding even worse egregious doctrine to their list, they claim that Christ’s spiritual and invisible Second Coming took place in 1914. He has been ruling as King since then through the Watchtower Society (of course).
Furthermore, they believe only 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses will go to heaven. All remaining Jehovah’s Witnesses will live forever on a paradise earth.
They believe salvation depends on works. “Grace” is the opportunity for human beings to earn their salvation by total obedience to the Watchtower Society.
And yet, in spite of these outlandish teachings they’ve dramatically grown. In 1940 there were only 58,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the US. Today they are approaching one million.
Like Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses are required to witness and to pass out the Watchtower literature.
Most Christians are not equipped to respond doctrinally when Jehovah’s Witnesses show up on the doorstep. They are well trained and have been indoctrinated into the Watch Tower’s beliefs since a child.
The best method to witness to Jehovah’s Witnesses is to use the book of John chapter 1. John 1:1 says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This is one of the most profound and yet simply stated Christological passages in the Bible. Jesus was God. Period.
Yet in the JW’s New World Translation it reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” Those last two words rob Jesus of His deity! He was just one of many god type men, not unique.
So to clear this up, here’s how the original Greek reads:
John 1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
If you show them this they will either get up and leave your home or will say that they have to discuss this with their leaders. But maybe a seed was planted! Pray for them.
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NEXT TIME: a quick sweep through the last 4 of the major cults and how to get out of one if you’re trapped!