Counterfeit Christianity: The Cult Connection
Jude 3,4
The year was 1783, when America officially recognized its independence from England. A fiery pastor named Ezra Stiles steps into his pulpit with a sermon entitled, “The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor”. In it he predicts that in due time this nation would, “Embosom all the religious sects and denominations in Christendom.”
The greatest accomplishment to our Founding Fathers was that every single human being on this soil can worship whoever and however they see fit.
When the First Amendment was finally ratified in 1791 it states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
And keeping with this, James Madison our 4th President wrote, “The religion…of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man….”
Please don’t misunderstand me…freedom of religion is vital to the success of America, but with every ounce of religious freedom comes great weighty responsibility to defend religious truth.
I firmly believe that we can know religious truth! Just as we know that there is truth in science and math, there is spiritual truth found only in Jesus Christ the only Begotten of God.
Dr. Walter Martin states with such clarity, “Into this whirlpool of stagnant human philosophy and perverted revelation came the Son of God, who, through His teachings and example, revealed that there was such a thing as divine humanity, and through His miraculous powers, vicarious death and bodily resurrection, cut across the maze of human doubts and fears and was lifted up, to draw all men unto Himself. It has been wisely observed that men are at liberty to reject Christ and the Bible and the Word of God; they are at liberty to oppose Him; they are at liberty to challenge it. But they are not at liberty to alter the essential message of the scriptures, which is the good news that God does care for lost souls…”
Jude 3,4
Notice that Jude:
a. Determinately writes. Vs. 3a “Diligent to write”
Literally, “quickly”
Genesis 19:15 - Lot was urged literally “hurried” by the angel to get out of Sodom.
b. Exhaustingly warns. Vs. 3b “Exhorting you”
c. Earnestly witnesses. Vs. 3c “Contend earnestly”
“Contend” = fight or agonizes
In Paul’s day an athlete would push himself to the point of agony in order to compete well!
d. Sufficiently wrote. Vs. 3d
“Once for all delivered” = a completed task! Literally that can be translated…the faith was completely delivered in the past.
e. Diligently watches. Vs. 4 “Men have crept in”
“Crept in” = secretly or stealthily! Under the radar!
Acts 20:29 “I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”
That is happening everyday in churches across this nation!
1. The Diabolical Story of Cults.
Little did the Ezra Stiles know that within 150 years later America has gone further than to just recognize every religious denomination, but now the kingdom of the cults as well! Before 1860, cults were unheard of in America!
Someone has said, “A man who will not stand for something is quite likely to fall for almost anything.”
Studying the subject of cults ought to be considered serious business to every N.T. church, but sadly those days are fast becoming obsolete!
Romans 12:9 “…Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good.” NLT
Everyday in America, more and more territory is being taken from Christianity, especially in Latin America, Africa and the Far East!
Dr. Jan Van Baalen is so right on when he wrote in his book, “The Chaos of Cults”, “The cults are the unpaid bills of the church.”
I was recently watching a documentary on counterfeit money in the United States. It costs businesses millions of dollars every year. I learned that the American Banking Association has a school for bank tellers to go through for 2 weeks.
During this time not one counterfeit bill goes through the hands of the teller. The objective is that every person must become completely familiar with the original so that the counterfeit bill, no matter how much it looks like the original, it has no chance to fool the teller!
It is paramount that Christians once again become so familiar with the foundation of the faith before they are fooled!!
Fact: While businesses are loosing millions of dollars in revenue to counterfeit dollars – Christianity is loosing millions of lives to counterfeit doctrines.
George Gallup states, “This is the most crucial decade in History. Designer, a la carte religion flourishes as traditional Christianity is undermined by counterfeits.”
2. The Psychological Structure of Cults.
How do we define a cult? Any religious group that:
· Is in search of any new kind of mystical experience.
· Denies one or more of the essential teachings of historic Christianity.
· Demands strict control over anyone’s life.
· Quickly tries to hypnotize or brainwash new recruits.
We’ve all heard the powerfully dangerous affects cult leaders have had on their subjects!
There are several ways that cults will lead their members into very dangerous territory:
a. Through Identification with the Bible.
The average cult in America owes its very existence to the fact that they utilize the Bible! Most concepts of cultic theology are borrowed and twisted from the Bible.
Mormons, Jehovah witnesses quote as if it was God’s gift to them only!
Christian Science founded by Mary Baker Eddy said in 1897 in the “Christian Science Journal”, “The Bible, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures, and my other published works are the only proper instructors for this hour…”
The Christian Science cult loves to quote Mrs. Eddy to deceive their followers, as in this example, “The Bible has been my only authority, I have had no other guide in “the straight and narrow way: of truth.”
b. Through Isolation of their followers.
November 18, 1978, over 900 cult followers of the reverend Jim Jones committed forced mass suicide.
The following comes from the book, “People’s Temple – People’s Tomb”, “A sealed note found on the cult commander’s body, apparently written by a follower just prior to the ritual suicide…the note said, “I see no way out…For my part, I am more than tired of this wretched, merciless planet and the hell it holds for so many masses of beautiful people – thank you for the only life I’ve known.” …Phil Kerns
c. Through Intimidation with false doctrine.
Mary Baker Eddy again in 1897, “If any member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist shall fail to obey this…it will render him liable to lose his membership in this church.”
Former Jehovah Witness leader Judge Rutherford said, “The clergy are willingly…instruments in the hands of the god of this world, Satan, the devil, who has used them to blind the minds of the people…”
d. Through Interaction of their personality.
Strong charismatic personalities have dotted the cultic landscape over the years and by interacting daily in the lives of weak, desperate and often depressed individuals they gain control over their follower.
Charles Mason and his cultic powers over his followers is a perfect example!
Most of us have never heard of Franz Anton Mesmer, but he last name is where we get our English word, “MESMERIZE”. He was a French physician who lived from 1735-1815.
He was the father of psychotherapy, and one of the founders of the cult, “Christian Science”. He also discovered hypnosis, and promoted telepathy and communicating with the dead.
In 1784, the Royal Society of Medicine investigated Franz Mesmer, because of the stories coming from his patience…from convulsions, crying, violent movement of limbs and trouble swallowing, to deep trances he would use to control his patience.
He became so popular in Germany that to this day, there is a statue honoring him and his work. At one time, theological schools even tried to apply healing to certain people’s aliments through his strange procedures because he claimed to be a healer.
Now we’ve come to know the power of a personality! He was exposed in the later part of his life as a charlatan! A trickster! He tapped into the power of mesmerizing others!
Today, mesmerists operate not only in carnivals but also in cults and even churches!
P.T. Barnum said correctly, “Never underestimate the gullibility of the public…there’s a sucker born every minute.”
Parents and grandparents – be on your guard! If you know of a child that is vulnerable to these ways, guard and properly instruct that child! If you don’t, the devil will!
3. The Grammatical System of Cults.
I ask – is it possible that the modern theologian could use biblical terminology in an entirely different sense from what the apostles intended? Absolutely!
This is the problem with today’s scripture counterfeiter!
In seminaries they teach pastors and teachers how rightly interpret the Bible. They call this “Hermeneutics”.
“Hermeneutics” = the science and art of biblical interpretation.
Dr. Bernard Ramm a great professor of Hermeneutics, he wrote concerning cults, “Such biblical notion of sin, guilt, damnation, justification, regeneration, all come out retranslated into a language that is foreign to the meaning of these concepts in the scriptures themselves.”
Cults capitalize on the inability of the average Christian to understand their own Bible terminology!
Remember, cults use our terminology but they don’t use our dictionary!
The Jehovah Witness is the best examples of this principle. Their massive grammatical abuse of the Bible is alarming.
In their New World Translation of the Bible that was first published in 1950 show deliberate misinterpretation of key phrases by their so-called scholars. I call it “scheming scholarship” is a joke!
On November 24, 1954 Fredrick W. Franz, their leading representative on the NWT Bible translation committee said under oath…
Q: Can you yourself, translate that into Hebrew?
A: Which?
Q: That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis.
A: You mean this?
Q: Yes
A: No!
You see, if the American Medical Association will not tolerate confusion of terminology, Christians also have the right not to tolerate gross perversions and redefinitions of historic Christian terminology!
Using the word “Truth” in an acrostic, I want to help you recognize when cults try to twist the words of the Bible to suite their cause.
Test Grammatically
There are all kinds of aids out there in bookstore that will arm any Christian that is serous about staying firm to the Word! The computer programs that are available are incredible compared to just 10 years ago!
The point is, there is no reason for the average Christian to fall for the deception waiting them!
Rely on The Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 2:12 “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
Unity of Scripture
Remember that the Bible really has one author – God! And God will not contradict Himself! Be sure to use scripture with scripture!
Teaching Ministry
Ephesians 4:11 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry.”
Historical Context
This is basically what you witnesses for 3 weeks when I taught - “Exposing The Da Vinci Code”!
Blaise Pascal the great 19th century Christian thinker wisely said, “Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”
