Text:
(Gal 1:6 KJV) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
(Gal 1:7 KJV) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
(Gal 1:8 KJV) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
(Gal 1:9 KJV) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Title: Ten Warnings to our Church lest we become a Cult!
By the Webster’s dictionary definition of a cult, every spiritfilled born again Christian might be considered by some to be a cult member. That is, every born again Christian should have a fixed devotion to a person and a principle. That person is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the chief principle of our faith is the gospel that was given unto us by the apostles.
A better definition of a cult would be: A cult is a perversion of the gospel, based upon an unholy devotion to a person, a principle, or both.
The purpose of this message is to caution our Bible preaching churches, lest we become cultist in our character. There are many things about the cults that are rooted in core of our fundamentalist movement. Please heed the following ten precautions:
Warning Number One:
Having authority but not being authoritarian.
A cult leader makes of himself the judge, jury, and the executioner. He is the supreme leader. The cult leader sees himself as the ultimate authority.
In true Christianity, the pastor of the Church is to preach with the authority of the scriptures. We see Christ and his Word, as the final authority of all truth.
A good example for us to follow is to note the change in the apostle Paul. This change sets us apart from a cult like mentality. Before Paul came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, he saw himself as the judge, jury, and executioner of anyone who disagreed with his doctrine. Following his conversion experience, he preached with meekness and trembling the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If others did not agree with his message, he would simply wipe the dust off of his feet (or the rocks from off his head, in some cases) and move on. He believed that Christ himself would be the judge on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, he left that final judgment in the hands of the Lord.
And that ought to be the way of those in Church leadership today! The Pastor should never think of himself as a Baptist Pope.
Warning Number Two:
Being loyal without becoming a blind follower.
Christ has asked us to follow him. To be a good Christian is to be a good follower of Christ. So loyalty to leadership is a wonderful fundamental quality for all believers to have.
But let me illustrate the point of my precaution with the Old Testament story of Moses and the children of Israel.
Were the Children of Israel followers of Moses? In reality, Moses was instructed by the Lord to follow a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. If Moses had stopped following the cloud and the pillar of fire, then the children of Israel would have been foolish to have continued to follow Moses! It would have been clear to them that Moses was no longer following the leadership of the Lord. He had forsaken the way of the cloud and fire.
When a Pastor or Church leader is no longer following Christ, the people of that Church need to stop following that lead, lest they follow blind leaders of the blind!
Warning Number Three:
Being independent but not becoming independent of God.
In Acts 15:5 there is a word used that we need to reacquaint ourselves with. It is the word “sect.” This word was used to denote a group of men who had not yet made the transition between the Old Testament law and the New Testament liberty that we have in Christ. By failing to do so, they became independent of the apostles doctrine and that of the teachings of Christ himself.
I am the pastor of an independent Baptist Church, but that does not mean that I see myself as the only hope of America! I need the help of all of those who have come to claim the promises of Christ. I should see myself as a dependent independent Baptist preacher!
Again, I would ask you to study the text in Acts 15. When Paul could no longer stomach the harassment of this sect of the Pharisees, he and Barnabas took a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to confer with the other apostles in the matter. He did not see himself as independent of the wisdom of others!
While it is true that my Church is independent of denominational controls, but must continue to see ourselves as affiliated and dependent on other Churches of like faith.
The cult world is a world unto itself.
Warning Number Four:
Having standards without becoming a legalist.
Once again, take note of the sect mentioned in Acts 15:5. They insisted that the gentiles were to follow all of the laws of Moses. They had made the keeping of the law mandatory for salvation.
Much of the Old Testament Law was there as to point us in the direction of our need for Christ. Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law, and then handed his diploma of righteousness to those who would place their faith in him for their salvation.
Let me use a hypothetical church picnic to illustrate this point. If the Church that I am pasturing were to have a Church picnic at a park located in a difficult place to find, I would strive to make a map for my membership and place various signs along the way to help them find the park. Once the event was over, it would behoove me to take down the signs that I had placed along the roadway. These signs would no longer be needed as the picnic would have become a past event!
In a similar way, much of the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament had come to a conclusion following the death, burial, and the resurrection of Christ.
Another important thing to note is that the gentile Church is not under the Law of Moses. We are to be under the laws of the “lawgiver from the tribe of Judah.” That lawgiver could not have been Moses. Moses was from the tribe of Levi. Christ is the lawgiver from the tribe of Judah. And the law of Christ was simplified to that of loving God with all of your heart, mind, and soul, and loving your neighbor as yourself.
In our zeal to be holy, we must be careful not to unhinge the doctrine of the grace of God. Those who would teach that a person is not saved unless he lives according to their definition of what they perceive the moral standard should be have made their “standard” the means of salvation. That is not the gospel. That is a perversion of the gospel, and cultish by the definition of a cult. It is extremely dangerous for a Church to teach that a born again Christian is no longer under grace if they should step outside of the parameter of works.
Warning Number Five:
Being generous without being foolish.
It is true that Christ should possess all of your possessions, but there is a danger in placing all of that which we possess into the hands of a man. God wants us to be stewards of all that we possess.
There is a fine line between being generous, and being generous to a fault of foolishness.
Let me suggest this to be the correct line of thinking. Every Christian needs to dedicate all of his possessions to the person of Christ by making them available to God for the ministry. Although you have given the reigns of what you possess into the hands of Christ. You still have the stewardship obligation of insuring that they are used in such a way as it would bring honor and glory to him. My home, my car, my life, is to be a ministry unto the Lord.
I am not suggesting that the Church should be neglected. Certainly we need to support our local Church with our tithes and offerings, but only God is worthy of the total Lordship of our lives and of all of our possessions.
Warning Number Six:
Taking a stand on the Bible without knowing the Bible.
The Devil can quote a lifted verse of scripture, but only to insure his cause. And the cause of the devil is deception. His cause is the utter destruction of the eternal soul.
Most cults snare their naive victims into their movement with a Bible study. Soon their study will not be a study of the Bible, but a study on “their commentary” of the Bible, and, from that point to their commentary on the founding philosophy of their divinely led cult leader.
We are told to study the scriptures! We need to know them. We need to live by them, lest we become carried away with every wind of doctrine!
There is another danger that should be considered. It is the danger of placing to great an emphasis on our own commentary. That was the error of the sect of the Pharisees mentioned in Acts 15. Jesus said that the Pharisees had made the traditions and the doctrines of men of greater value than that of the Word of God.
Let me illustrate this point with the teaching on the Sabbath. God said that the Sabbath Day was to be a day of rest. The Pharisees interpreted rest to mean a thousand things and lost the intention of God. God meant for man to set a day aside as to enjoy the fruit of his labor. The Sabbath was not to be a day of repression. It was to be a day of celebration!
Warning Number Seven:
Treating the Pastor with respect and yet not making a god out of him.
The Pastor is the under shepherd. Jesus is the chief shepherd!
I have always loved this verse of scripture, “There was man sent from God whose name was John…” John 1:6. John was firstly a man, and secondly, a man of God. The Pastor of the Church is a man likened unto all other men. We are men of like passions. Although a Pastor may way a robe, that robe is not accessorized with a halo!
While we should honor the position of the Pastor of the Church, we also need to uphold in prayer. He is a man.
Warning Number Eight:
Attempting to be original without forsaking the old old story.
We need to be careful in our efforts to increase the size of our Church membership. In our desire to take into our membership all stripes of people, we may be including those yet unconverted. It is possible to water down the gospel in such a way as that repentance in no longer seen as a need. If we are not careful, our music loses its message. Our message is the gospel of repentance into the grace of God. It is not simply a love song of Gregorian chants, and incessant drumbeats!
Please do not misunderstand me. I am all about wonderful new songs of praise and worship. But I am very concerned, as well, that we do not lose sight of the “Old Rugged Cross!” Of all things, I am first a preacher of the gospel and the theme of my heart’s ought to be the message is the cross.
The Bible says that in the latter days, that men will forsake preaching and heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears. (1 Tim. 4:3) In our quest to become wise, they have become fools. (Rom. 1:22)
Warning Number Nine:
Being evangelistic but not having a gospel message.
What is the message of the cult? The message of every cult appeals to the five senses and to intellectualism, but their message makes no biblical sense! Think about it. The grace of God can only be revealed to the heart of man by divine revelation.
The just are to live by faith and not by sight. (Rom. 1:17)
While I admire the zeal of many of those in a cult, I admire their sincerity, but they lack the truth. If I were deceived by a cult leader who told me that in order to come into paradise I had to convert others by getting them to also believe in my cult leader, I would do so.
A good Bible example of this point of caution is found in the Old Testament story of Ahimaaz and Cushi in 2 Samuel 18. Following the death of Absalom, Joab was to notify King David as to the success of the battle. He had a choice of one of two runners. Ahimaaz was the runner of good news, and Cushi was the runner of bad news. For Joab, it was good news that the rebellion had been stopped, but bad news to the King in that his Son had been put to death in the conflict.
In great discernment, Joab sent Cushi running first. The necessity of the bad news is to be conveyed first. For example, all men are sinners in need of salvation. There is a Hell. The good news can now follow after the explanation of our desperation. The good news is that Christ has died for our sin, that he was buried, and that he rose again, and that by personal faith in Christ we can be set free from the Law of Sin and Death.
In the story of 2 Samuel 18, Ahimaaz outruns Cushi. He is the messenger of good news. But the only news that King David desired to hear was the fate of his Son. Ahimaaz in all of his zeal ran fast, but he had no message to deliver to the King. He was unaware of the dimensions of the Cross! The King would have to wait for the word. Cushi came with the message of the cross.
Our Churches need to boldly preach both repentance and faith in Christ.
Warning Number Ten:
Believing in the coming Kingdom without making this world the Kingdom come.
While we do have the Kingdom of God in our hearts, our kingdom is not of this world. Our message is that we need to escape from the wrath which is to come.
Read through the book of Revelations. There will not be much left standing once the destruction of the Antichrist, and the wrath of God has commenced to fall upon this world.
We cannot have a Kingdom without a King. The god of this world is the Devil. The Kingdom that is to be established by Christ on this earth will not happen until after the destruction of the Great Tribulation.
The caution here is that we need to careful in not building monuments and cathedrals unto ourselves that speak of our personal greatness. We ought to see ourselves as bridge builders for others to transverse as to flee from the coming storm. The only bridge that can take people to the side of safe harbor is the cross of Christ!
It would be best if we were known for making him known!
Amen.
