*ILL>Fourteen years ago, the sight was "burned into our memories" (pun-intended). David Koresh’s Branch Davidians’ compound, named "Camp Apocalypse", caught on fire as the FBI came to arrest Koresh (actual name Vernon Law) for attempted murder of his son and a number of violations concerning illegal firearms stashed inside the compound. But how did it come to all that?
--Well, David Koresh was a former Southern Baptist who became a Seventh Day Adventist, then joined the "Shephrerd’s Rod" group just before they were kicked out by the Seventh Day Adventists. Koresh became the new leader of the group after having an affair with the former, lady leader. Together, they had a son whom they declared to be the "Chosen One," after Koresh went on a trip to Israel, where he had a special "vision" from God.
In the vision, Koresh believed he was being told that he was the reincarnation of the former Persian king, Cyrus, who allowed the children of Israel to return to their homes after having been taken away in bondage by Nebuchadnezzar. (The hebrew word for Cyrus is Koresh.) He believed and taught that God was putting together a new Davidic kingdom in Israel, and his "Chosen One" son was to be the new Messiah.
--However, years later David Koresh changed the vision to declare that it was he, Koresh himself, that was to be the new Messiah, that he was the "ideal sire" of a new kingdom, and that every woman in tune with God should have his children. So, he added numerous "spirit wives" to his household and compound, and many of the children in the compound were his own children.
--So, the FBI surrounded the complex and gave everyone inside two full days to come out without harm (Koresh was the only person they were after). Most refused, so on February 28 of 1993, when the FBI used battering rams to break through the outside walls of the compound, someone on the inside ignited a series of fires until the entire compound was caught up in flames, and everyone inside, including the children, perished in the fire.
*ILL>Two years later, Marshall Applewhite, a former mental patient who suffered from delusions and various psychoses, gathered a group of about thirty followers and formed the "Heaven’s Gate" cult. The members were convinced by Applewhite that the earth was about to be "re-cycled," wiped out, and their only hope of survival was to kill themselves and allow their souls to be transported to the Halle-Bopp comet traveling overhead, where they would then be carried away to a new planet and be given a new life there.
They believed him, and, as a group, although in individual beds, resting as though they were just taking a nap, committed suicide by way of cyanide on March 27, 1995.
*ILL>But the best known and most notorious cult of them all was Jim Jones’ "People’s Temple." Jones and the group moved first from Indianapolis to San Francisco, and eventually moved out of the country, to Ghana (each time to avoid tax fraud indictments of Jones and the church). In Ghana they cleared out an area in the jungle and built their community, called "Paradise" by the members, but Jonestown to outsiders, where Jones was clearly the head poobah.
Jones convinced followers that he was the new Messiah (sound familiar), that "Paradise" was heaven on earth, and that every woman should have a child with him (familiar ring again), even requiring the women in his group to spend her wedding night (and sometimes more nights than that) with him rather than their new husbands. However, there were some on the inside who weren’t entirely pleased with what was happening, and reports of the wedding night fiascos and other cases of phsyical and psychological abuse reached the ears of the FBI and federal enforcement officers in California.
--In response, a Congressional delegation, accompanied by FBI officers, and a network news reporter flew to Jonestown in the summer of 1978, and discovered the accounts to be true. However, before they could get back to their private jet and return to California to "make a federal case" of it, hey were killed by People’s Temple members. One of them, however, managed to get a message through to the authorities back in the states before he was killed. As a result, a second delegation was quickly assembled, this time armed and prepared for battle, arrived only a few days later.
However, when that group arrived, they discovered a horrible sight: every person in "Paradise" was dead. Letters left by some of the dead and written instructions that were found amid the scene told the horrifying story of how Jones and church leaders had persuaded every person to drink cyanide-laced kool-aid. The mothers were instructed to first give it to their children and then drink it themselves. Their dead bodies were now bloated and sun-bleached. Jones was found dead by a gunshot to the head, and no one knows whether someone else shot him or he killed himself, but the followers of Jim Jones were led straight to their deaths by this persuasive and demonic man.
The simplest instructions we could give everyone concerning cult groups is, "DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID."
But there’s much more to groups like this, and there are other more subtle, but still dangerous cult groups all around us. -- In fact, we live next to some of them, we work alongside some of them, many will be at the baseball game with us later today.
I invite you open a Bible to Galatians 1:8.
Before we can understand the nature and danger of cults, however, we must wade through some background information in order to see how cults "fit in" to the whole discussion of "religion," denominations, etc.
We start out by learning some...
DEFINITIONS.
The first of these definitions we need to understand is the broadest category of all "religious" groups...
1) BELIEF SYSTEMS.
The simplest way to understand these systems is through understanding the word "THEISM."
Theism comes from the Greek root, "theos," which means God. Theology is the study of God, a theologian is a student of the characteristics and teachings of God, etc.
There are five basic "Religious" or "Theistic" Belief Systems...
>Monotheism -- Those systems that believe that there is only one God.
>Polytheism -- Believing there are many gods.
>Animism -- Believing that everything is God, or that God is in, or is everything.
>Atheism -- Believing that there is no God at all.
Then, within each of these belief systems, there are...
2) RELIGIONS, or WORLD RELIGIONS.
>Within Monotheism -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
>Within Polytheism -- Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology, Native American religion, some Eastern religions.
>Within Animism -- New Age, Eastern mysticism, Spiritualism, Witchcraft
>Within Atheism -- Humanism (including cultic groups like Scientology), Agnosticism
Then, within each of these "religions," there are off-shoots, called...
3) DENOMINATIONS.
For our purposes today, we’re just going to focus our attention to those which are within the monotheistic systems.
>Within Judaism -- Hassidic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Secular Judaism, and the cultic and mystical spin-off called Kaballa.
>Within Islam -- Traditional Islam, Radical Islam, and the cultic spin-off called The Nation of Islam (or Black Muslims).
>But within Christianity there are numerous denominations -- Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, Christian, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, Church of God, Apostolic, Congregational, Messianic, Mennonite, Nazarene, Salvation Army, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, and others.
Then, within the denominations there are additional groups, or...
4) BRANCHES.
The branches are various "flavors" within the denominations, which, although agreeing on the basic tenets of the denomination, differ on certain practices or emphases.
>Within Lutherans -- Missouri Synod, Lutheran Church of America, Reformed, Evangelical
>Within Methodists -- American, United, Traditional, even African Methodist Episcopal
>Within Catholicism -- Roman, Charismatic, Renew
>Within the Church of Christ -- Traditional, United, Disciples of Christ
>Within Presbyterians -- Presbyterian Church of USA, Traditional, Reformed
>Episcopalian -- Conservative, Episcopal Church of USA, Church of England, Anglican
>Non-denominational or interdenominational (which are really wrongly-named because they too associate and work together with one another, which is the very nature of a denomination -- Fellowship, Community, Bible (as though the other churches are not Bible churches)
>Within Baptists (Clearly we win the prize for the most "flavors" of them all) -- Southern, Northern, Independent, Bible, American, Conservative, General, Cooperative, and about fifty more "flavors."
For the most part, the different denominations still hold to the central belief that Jesus is Son of God who died for our sins.
However, there are two additional groups that we need to be aware of:
5) Sects.
Sects are groups "on the fringe" of world religions.
They hold to most of the central and core beliefs of that religions (for our purposes today, I want to look at just those sects that are off-shoots of Christianity), but they over-emphasize or "go crazy" on one or more elements, taking them to extremes the Word of God never meant them to be taken to or practiced in our lives the way sects advocate them to be.
So, Christianity has seen or is seeing these sects:
>Shakers
>Quakers.
>The Amish.
>The "Holiness" churches.
>The best known: Seventh Day Adventists.
But, by far the most dangerous, is where our focus today is...
6) CULTS.
These groups present themselves as being part of a world religion, but they aren’t.
For our purposes today, we’re going to deal just with cults that present themselves as Christian, but aren’t.
The most recognizable are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). -- Yes, Virginia, they’re a cult.
In order to understand why they’re so dangerous, and where they’re wrong we need to recognize their characteristics. So, we begin with...
A DESCRIPTION.
Here are the general characteristics of a cult...
1) An Identifiable Leader.
Usually the founder, and viewed as either the primary or only accepted theologian of the group.
He/she is usually very persuasive, charismatic, operates in an authoritarian style of management, and fancies himself/herself as a teacher of Divine truth.
In fact, in many ways it can be an accurate description to say that most religious cults are cults of personality.
>There would be no Mormonism without Joseph Smith.
>There would be no Jehovah’s Witnesses without Charles Tase Russell.
>There would be no Christian Science Church without Mary Baker Eddy.
He/she usually has had very little formal education, but declares himself/herself as being wise from God.
He/she usually has been involved in "shady" dealings and/or has displayed less than stellar character and behavior.
>Joseph Smith claimed knowledge of Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics (which the angel Moroni supposedly told him the golden tablets were printed in) but having not been able to identify Egyptian hieroglyphics when shown to him, he admitted under oath in court, in March of 1826, that he, in fact, did not know any such thing, and that he was indeed an impostor, a fraud when it came to his so-called vision!
He also was described by his boyfriend neighbors as having been an unusually lazy, shiftless young man, who was given to grand bouts of imagination & self-grandeur, was viewed by other community members as being much more apt to be lying to you than telling the truth about matters.
>Charles Tase Russell and his brother, as late as when he was in his early twenties, used to dig large holes in their yard and other pieces of property, searching for what they believed to be hidden pirate treasure.
He claimed to have a knowledge of the Greek language, but in court, while under indictment for fraudulent scheming, and under oath, could not identify even the Greek alphabet.
He was convicted of fraudulent scheming after being involved in a scheme to raise funds for Jehovah’s Witness work through the sale of "miracle wheat," which Russell promised could grow 142 heads on each wheat stalk.
>Mary Baker Eddy taught that illnesses and pain and death are merely illusions, not real, and that God would lead through our lives without any need for medication or drugs. However, after she took a hard fall on a sidewalk, afterward experiencing what she described as "total healing from God," still sued the city for punitive damages, claiming she was still suffering from the residual effects from the fall. (Suffering? She must have been mistaken, huh? After all, according to her, suffering is just an illusion.)
She also walked with a cane, wore false teeth, and took the powerful pain drug, morphine, to which she became addicted, and eventually died of an overdose of morphine. (Oh, by the way, surely she must have been mistaken in dying, because that too is an illusion, according to her teachings.)
2) There is a "Secret Truth."
Galatians 1:8 -- But even if we, or an angel from heaven (Moroni?), should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.
>Joseph Smith claimed the angel Moroni specified that only Joseph Smith would be allowed to view the golden tablets, or ever see the angel Moroni for that matter, and today there are still "restricted" doctrines and special temple access allowed only the highest level Mormons.
>For many years, no non-Jehovah’s Witness was ever allowed entrance into one of their Kingdom Halls (what we would call simply a worship center).
>According to Mary Baker Eddy, only the truly "enlightened" ones (those with advanced minds) will ever understand the "secrets" of metaphysical healing. (Hence, we need to be reading and expanding our minds in places such as Christian Science Reading Rooms.)
3) They distort, deny, edit, or add to the Bible.
Revelation 22:18 -- I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and f anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city…
>Apparently (according to Joe Smith) God didn’t get the gospel right the first time. And, what better person could there be to write "another Gospel" of Jesus (the so-called Book of Mormon) than the confessed impostor with only a third grade education?!
Oh yeah, there are also some additional books that are divinely-inspired, and written by Joe and the church leaders: The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrines and Covenants.
>Charles Tase Russell had to "edit" and bastardize the Bible to make it come into agreement (although it still doesn’t) with the false teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The result: The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Russell’s very own revision and the only accepted "Bible" of the J.W.’s, which eliminates some passages and completely changes, re-words others. Most notorious of all is John 1:1. According to Russell’s translation, Jesus is NOT the Word who was with God and who was God. No, instead he’s just a man who was also deemed "a god." But wait, even being "a god" would invalidate the idea that there’s only one God, wouldn’t it?! But, then again, when you’re into denial of Jesus’ divinity, it shouldn’t be surprising that you’ll also deny the obvious errors of logic in other areas of your thinking.
>Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science equates anything written in the Christian Science Monitor to be what’s truly inspired. In fact, they reject the Biblical notions of sin (which Jesus died to pay the penalty for us), pain (which Jesus suffered with being whipped by a cat of nine tails, being punched in the face, being nailed to a cross, shedding his blood, even being thirsty on the cross and weary at the well of Sychar), and death (which is how God demonstrated His love toward us).
--So, not only is Christian Science not science (their "teachers" are deemed "practitioners," even though they reject any other type of medical professional, and deny the need for pain medications, etc.), it also is clearly NOT CHRISTIAN. Their teaching is not at all about faith in Christ, it is simply faith in our own intellectual competencies or the lack of them.
4) They deny the Divinity and work of Jesus.
Philippians 1:10-11 - ...at the name of Jesus every knee will bow...and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
>Mormonism declares that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer, who BECAME a god, just like you and I can become gods. When they talk about Jesus Christ, they are NOT talking about the Biblical Jesus, the one-with-the-Father Jesus, the Word who made everything there is. Instead, they’re talking about a mythical Jesus, who was supposed to have relayed a message to Joseph Smith through the angel Moroni that He (Jesus) had given up on the organized churches and believers up to that point, and that He was now going to start all over again, that the only "true church" would be those who believed that in these "latter days" He was starting over again. Oh, THAT Jesus! Not the Biblical Jesus! Well, it’s all becoming clearer now.
They teach that God was once a man, and that men can become gods if we reach the level of obedience that Jesus reached. And, when we do, we can take our entire families and be "gods" of another planet in another galaxy, maybe even in another universe. (That’s what they mean when they advocate being "family-oriented," by the way.)
>Jehovah’s Witnesses deny Jesus being God because they believe the Shema of Israel ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God") to mean there is no way there could be a Trinity. However, as do most cults, if and when they ever quote Scripture they take it completely out of context. The context of the Shema is that Israel was living among other nations, all of which were POLYtheistic, believing in many gods. Instead, Israel was to remember and proclaim that THEY were, in fact, MONOtheistic. They believed in only one God.
You see, when you look at the full counsel of Scripture, you discover that it was Elohim (a plural singularity) who created the world (God in three Persons), and that the Old Testament is replete with verses that indicate that we are to bring all our worship to God, but we’re to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...again showing that the three are all One at the same time.
--Jehovah’s Witnesses take it even further: they teach that Jesus, before His birth by the way of Mary, was previoiusly Michael the Archangel. -- Absolutely fictional. However, when you’re trying to advocate a lie you usually have to tell a whole bunch of whoppers to help cover up the first one.
--Oh, by the way, they also believe that Jesus has already returned to the earth...He did so sometime between 1952 - 1954. Gosh, I guess we missed it! Actually, they explain, He returned "invisibly," and He is now here and working to set up His earthly reign later.
>Christian Science declares that Jesus didn’t ever have a physical body at all. He was simply the embodiment of enlightenment, sent here by God as a manifestation of God to correct our erroneous way of viewing life, and to reveal to us that we are all immortal, and that pain and death are illusions.
Their basic philosophy is that God is within everything that exists (that’s animism), and that God is good (that part they got right), so therefore everything is good (convilluted logic). Evil doesn’t exist, because that would be bad, and "bad" doesn’t exist. Likewise, there’s no need for saving atonement, no need for Jesus’ blood to be shed, no bodily death nor resurrection of Jesus, no talk about Jesus being both God and man simultaneously, etc. In fact, if you even believe in sin, you are punishing yourself needlessly and need to be "healed" by a Christian Science practitioner of that wrong way of thinking.
THEIR DRAW.
Why they’re so appealing, why so many "buy into" what these groups are advocating...
1) Their message “sounds real.”
Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way (which seems) right to a man, but its end is...death.
You see, Satan’s most powerful tool is a mixture of truth with error. That way, there’s at least a small "ring of truth" to it, so it sounds plausible, and the person ends up swallowing the false along with the half-truth.
>So, the Mormon message sounds real and good -- "We’re a family-oriented" church...we’re drug-free, clean living, clean cut...we don’t even drink soft drinks! You can trust us...we even give away free King James Bibles, so we have to be "good guys," don’t you think. Oh yeah...we also have "Jesus Christ" right in the name of our church!
>The Shema ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God") DOES at first glance sound like it agrees with Jehovah’s Witnesses idea that only Jehovah, and not Jesus, is God.
>And when scientists and educators tell us that most of us only use about ten percent of our brains, it DOES seem to agree with what Christian Science advocates -- just imagine what "enlightened" souls with "enlightened" brains can accomplish!
--And besides that, it does sound "logical" to advocate that a loving God would never want or allow people to be sick. (Two weeks from today we’ll look at that idea and see what the Bible tells us about it.)
2) Their message “sounds great!”
2 Timothy 4:3-4 - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
*QUOTE>B. K. Chesterton said it well: "Men can always be blind to a thing so long as it is big enough."
>I can become a god?! My family will live together and rule over our own planet?! -- Where do I sign up?!
>I can either be chosen to be one of the 144,000 souls who gets to live forever in heaven on earth, OR I’ll just simply be annihilated? No hell? No eternal punishment? -- Wow! That’s a win-win situation!
>You mean I don’t ever again have to experience pain? -- All right!!!
3) It’s easy.
Ephesians 4:14 - ...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness in deceitful scheming.
Wow! If I join their group I won’t ever have to worry about knowing theological stuff at all ... I’ll just trust the guy with the invisible tablets, or the miracle wheat salesman who dug holes constantly in search for buried pirate treasure, or I’ll just trust the lady morphine addict, and I’m sure everything will be just fine!
4) It’s Satan’s handiwork.
Genesis 3:1 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
It’s really no big surprise why it’s so appealing...
The Master Deceiver, the crafty serpent, the father of lies knows how to persuade and convince people to believe lies and refuse the truth of the gospel.
THE DANGERS ( where cults “fit in” to the discussion)...
1) They encourage a misplaced trust.
Matthew 24:24 - For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead…
Rather than seeking God and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal truth through God’s Word and the message of the gospel, cults mislead people to put their eternal trust in someone of questionable character and who is himself/herself lost, who himself/herself actively resisted and rejected the Holy Spirit.
2) They offer a false hope, and foster a false sense of security.
1 Peter 1:13 -- Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Rather than leading people to put their entire trust in Jesus, who IS our Blessed Hope, cults offer individuals a false hope...
>The false hope of Mormonism: "I’m going to spend eternity with my family!" But the Bible tells us there will be no marriage in heaven, nor any giving away to marriage.
>The false hope of Jehovah’s Witnesses: "I’ll be more likely to be part of the 144,000 in heaven because I’m NOT a trinitarian...I honor Jehovah by what I believe!" Oh, by the way, there are many more than 144,000 who have been a part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses...so even mathematics tells us a bunch of them aren’t gonna make it into heaven even if they were right (which they clearly or not).
>The false hope of Christian Science: "I can overcome anything if I just put my mind to it!"
3) In advocatg a “secret truth” or “new truth” they are leading people away from the saving truth.
Romans 1:15 -- ...they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.
They lead people away from Jesus, away from the Gospel, away from the one way to the Father.
In short, they are leading people to hell, leading them to being eternally separated from God.
OUR DUTY.
What we can and should do in light of what we know and what they’re teaching...
1) Study and know the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:15 -- Study to show yourself an approved workman of God, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We need to know Scripture for ourselves, to avoid being deceived ourselves. But we also need to know Scripture so we can give answers to others who ask.
2) Speak so others can know the truth.
1 Peter 3:15 -- But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
One of the reasons cults are so effective is because the truth sometimes isn’t getting out as clearly & powerfully as false teaching.
Bringing It Home...
In speaking to our friends, neighbors, who are involved in the cults we’ve mentioned, we need to...
Be kind. -- This is not the time to "beat them over the head with the Bible."
Be understanding. -- The cults are attractive and persuasive.
Be loving. -- Our focus is not on winning an argument, but in helping a person.
But be straightforward and urgent too. -- We’re talking about the difference between eternity with God or eternity separated from God.
