Yesterday’s blog closed with “make sure you are actually trusting and standing firm on God’s word. Why? Because 1 Corinthians 10:12 “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 2 Peter 3:17 “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” If you are standing firm on God’s word, you can stand still in the face of the enemy and have nothing to fear, you will not be deceived and deluded, but it must be God’s word you are standing firm on. We are also told 1 John 4:1 “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Peter said 2 Peter 2:1 “there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies.” The church is filled with false teachers and their teaching, and this has been the case ever since Jesus warned us to Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Paul also said, Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” He also warned us about other gospels. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” These false prophets / teachers are not going to tell you they are a false prophet, nor will they tell you they are teaching other gospels as most actually believe they speak truth. This is why discernment and testing the spirits based on the word of God is crucial. Many people who think they have stood on God’s word will find out when it is too late that they have been deceived. These prophets and their followers will not accept being told they are a false prophet who teaches other gospels. The proof is based on the word of God, not just a feeling or a disagreeing doctrine.
Right away the church began to fall and much of that downward spiral was because of the Catholic church, and then the Eastern Orthodox after the Great Schism 1054. The two separated, but both continued teaching other gospels. Then came the Reformation with an explosion of differing beliefs and the church has been dividing ever since with many distinct groups with differing doctrines and theology. All of these factions continued to teach other gospels. To reform something means “changes are made in order to improve something.” That did not happen but instead, the church got worse. If this had been done according to scripture, it would have been called restoration. To restore means “a return to an original state after depletion or loss.” Acts 15:16 “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— 18 things known from long ago.” Jeremiah 33:11 “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.” But they did not return to God’s word, the ruins were not rebuilt but continued to go their own way and add their own words, meanwhile the church remained powerless. While their efforts were mainly against the beliefs of the Catholic church, they did not focus on returning to the church Jesus started. When you look at the church since the Reformation, the number of distinct beliefs is astounding. Each group has their own distinct doctrines and rules that they follow. When someone doesn’t like those, they leave and start another, with yet again different doctrines and beliefs. The false prophets and teachers teach these beliefs, and they turn into doctrines. These distinct groups usually were based on a man and their intellect such as Martin Luther or John Calvin or John Wesley or John Darby to name just a few. Instead of returning to the beginning and starting over, they created new doctrines and theology. One writer said about this time we are in, “There's likely more denominational splitting and forming to come. On judging the differences between them,” this writer “offered advice from Jesus himself: Matthew 7:15 “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 thornbushes, 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.” That is, you can learn about them "in terms of what they do, their behavior." I included the whole passage as he just said by their fruit you will recognize them.
The problem, which has been the problem since the early church, is that the fruit is not the same fruit that we see in scripture. Matthew 3:10 “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” John 15:4 “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Most churches say they have remained in Him, but there is no fruit at all, meaning there is no power. No power means the church has not remained. As Habakkuk waited for God to defeat their enemies, he said Habakkuk 3:16 “I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” The enemy was Babylon. Habakkuk 1:5 “For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people.” Because the church has rebelled, our enemy is the abomination that causes desolation and has done just as Babylon and Assyria did to Israel and Judah. The church can keep splitting, but there will not be any power unless the church returns to the word of God. Protestantism split from Catholicism but there still was no power. The splitting continued and it just got worse. Today people have been so deceived and deluded that they think the church as we know it (whatever one you attend) is how it is supposed to be, but it is not the true church because the church has failed to follow the word of God. Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” Mark 7:7 “They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” Because the church did not turn away from their wicked ways, and return to the word of God, God has allowed satan to continue to decimate the church just as we read in Daniel. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” Even though the church was given the power and authority to destroy the work of the devil, the church decided to continue in their own strength therefore could not continue to do as Jesus did. 1 John 3:8 “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” satan continues to decimate the church.
Most Christians will die zealously holding on to their beliefs, even though those beliefs are not the sound doctrine of the word of God but the words / doctrines of man about God’s word as they see it. There is a huge difference. Most Christians have been indoctrinated to believe a certain set of views of which they do not verify, nor do they test the spirits. To be indoctrinated means to “to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.” When you join a church most just accept those sets of beliefs. When you hear the word indoctrinated, you usually think of cults. “A cult is an organized group whose purpose is to dominate cult members through psychological manipulation and pressure strategies.” To indoctrinate means “to teach someone to fully accept the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group and to not consider other ideas, opinions, and beliefs.” Everyone in this world is looking for God, they just don’t always know it. So people are searching to fill that void but most fill that void with something other than Jesus. Everyone needs water to survive but the water we really need is living water. Jesus was asked, John 4:11 “Where can you get this living water? 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Usually, people are looking for something to fill the void that is missing in their lives, but instead of seeking God and submitting to His word, they seek community, wealth, freedom, happiness, peace, healing and in many cases a spirituality but not God himself. They find a group who offers this, and the leader becomes their god, and many even say they are the messiah or similar such as a prophet, but sadly there is usually drugs and sexual abuse involved and under the control and benefit of the leader. Often these groups grew out of a church background. These two cults are extreme but show what happens when people have been indoctrinated. Jim Jones led people to believe he was God, so much so that his followers literally “drank the Kool aide” to their deaths. Heaven’s Gates members also committed suicide, thinking they would leave their bodies and enter an alien spacecraft. How brainwashed would you have to be to believe that, yet there were 39 victims. “A Kenyan court has charged cult leader Paul Mackenzie with “terrorism”-related crimes over the deaths of 429 of his followers. The self-proclaimed pastor was charged along with 94 others on Thursday over the deaths of followers whose bodies have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest near the Indian Ocean. Authorities allege that Mackenzie, the head of the Good News International Church, incited his acolytes in southeastern Kenya to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven before the world ended.” Cults are even labelled as new religious movements. Again, true Christianity is not a religion and not supposed to be a cult. Other cults that are often confused as the church, are the Jehovah’s Witness with 8,816,562 and the Mormons - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 17,002,461 members worldwide and growing. The JWs have their own bible and the Book of Mormon basically is the Mormon’s bible, even though they use the bible also.
Today’s blog is not about cults specifically but the similarities between the cults and the church. The word doctrine means “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Doctrines in the church are specific to each group (some overlap) and you are required to believe what is being taught. One teaches one doctrine about Jesus, and another teaches a differing doctrine about Jesus; that would be a different Jesus. Paul said 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” If you are in ministry, then you are expected to follow and teach those doctrines. The reward is heaven, and the punishment is hell. Repentance is about choosing to follow the doctrines as laid out by the church and repentance is also for when you have done something to offend that particular church. You will also see that money is expected to be given so that many of these leaders can live a lavish lifestyle. Even if the leader does not live lavishly, most of the money goes to keeping the ship afloat such as salaries and expenses. Joining a church is like joining a cult, as you are expected to be totally committed. Just to be clear I am not talking about committing your life to Jesus Christ but to an organization claiming to be the church. Yes, following Jesus Christ is supposed to be wholehearted and nothing else can come between you and God, but that is not what is happening in most churches. Most commitments are made to the leader or the organization. Some are born into them, and some have been recruited or discipled. There are lots of people transitioning between differing groups depending on who can put on a better show Sunday morning. Each church has their own set of beliefs, traditions, and rules and yet wrongly say they all believe in Jesus Christ. The verse above about a different Jesus explains that. That is impossible as Jesus said there is only one way, truth and life and He is that way, truth and life. Ephesians 4:4 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” He gave us one word, not many. We are supposed to be led by the Spirit and if the church was led by the Spirit we wouldn’t have all of these differing opinions. Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Jesus said John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” Because God has turned His face from the church, people do as they feel is right and interpret scripture the same way. The church has not been guided into all truth because the church has rebelled against God’s word. As we read above, Jesus and Paul warned us about false prophets, but the church refused to listen and for two thousand years the church has gone after other gods / other gospels and turned away from God’s word. After all these divisions, the church is further from the truth and more powerless than ever. We were told this would happen. Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” Those days are here, but these next verses have been happening for centuries. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” Now combine the deception with famine. Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”
Every church organization will say they follow sound doctrine, and they believe it with all their heart, and they will recruit or disciple people to believe the same. Jesus said to the Pharisees, Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Many that end up joining have no idea what the doctrines actually are, but they will perish because of a lack of knowledge and because they did not test the spirits. Paul said to Timothy “you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” He told Titus, Titus 2:1 “You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.” 1 Timothy 4:16 “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
Each church truly believes they are teaching sound doctrine and will also teach why the others are not teaching sound doctrines. The Baptist will teach their doctrines, the Catholics theirs, the Methodists theirs, the Charismatics theirs, the Reformed theirs, the independents theirs and so and so on. They are all different and none of them look like the Gospel Jesus taught. They also do not have the power that was given to the church. If you are teaching sound doctrines, you will do as Jesus did, preach the Good News, heal the sick, cast out demons or you will be calling people to repent so that God will turn His face back to the church once again so that once again the church can do as Jesus did and truth will be found again. But here is the problem; there is no such thing as a Baptist, Catholic or Methodist Christian. Therefore, the doctrines being taught are not the sound doctrines as taught in scriptures, therefore there is no power. If they were sound doctrines, then this would be happening. This is also a warning! Hebrews 2:1 “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, (that is not refereeing to the teachings of a particular church) so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” Mark 16:20 “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” That same power is available to the church.
Paul said to Titus, Titus 1:9 “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” As it has been taught is the key. Paul also said, 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” By the way, even though I said Paul said, it is God saying it. 2 Peter 1:19 “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Paul said to Timothy, 1 Timothy 1:3 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” As you can see what we are talking about today is not new. The church is filled with people who have no idea what they are talking about, even though they appear quite intelligent. They are so convinced, that they will follow and hold tightly to the way they have chosen or have been brought up in till the day they die. They are zealous for their beliefs unto death Paul described himself before he stood before Jesus. Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.” Romans 10:1 “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” They are also zealous to get others to believe as they do. Galatians 4:17 “Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. 18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.
Today those who teach false doctrines are still crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace (Hebrews 6) and trampling the Son of God underfoot (Hebrews 10), just as the Jews did to Jesus. Mark 10:33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Mark 12:38 “Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Jeremiah 8:8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? 9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?” Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Jesus had much more to say about theses blind guides who were hypocrites which is why they wanted Him dead. Millions of people have been deceived by false teaching. Titus 1:10 “For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 13 Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” The church is filled with these people and whole households that have been led astray.
These teachers of the law were nothing like Jesus, much like those who teach other gospels today. Matthew 7:28 “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” They were also opposed to the miracles Jesus performed just as many in the church are today and who are teaching miracles, signs and wonders are not for today. Many are opposed to the Charismatic movement and they should be but they should not be opposed to the power of God that is available to the church as described in scripture. Their opposition is really about the power God made available to the church. Matthew 21:14 “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.” Luke 13:10 “On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” How many people today are still bound by satan because of the powerless church? Mark 3:22 “And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Many in the church today think that signs and wonders are of the devil. This is why teaching correct doctrine is so important as you need to know the difference between signs and wonders that come from God and signs and wonders that come from satan. Instead, most in the church just teach that the church is better off without them.
These churches and their doctrines may not be as bad initially as those cults who lead people to suicide, but in the end just as bad because by following other gospels they will hear, Matthew 25:41 “‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” How agonizing this will be when they find out that what they thought was truth, was not God’s word. (Read Luke 16:19-31) By being indoctrinated into a particular doctrine, people unknowingly have turned against God’s true word. Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” The Mormons are a good example of why the church can be compared to a cult. The Mormons have additional teaching to the bible, which is more important than the bible. Without the Book of Mormon, the bible would just be the bible. This comes from their website. I find it interesting how much emphasis they place on believing whether or not the Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ) is true or not. It is not but they said, “The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion. It provides powerful evidence for the divinity of Christ. It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith. (Not the restoration I talked about earlier – They believe, again from their website, “When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established His Church among His followers. After His Crucifixion and the deaths of His Apostles, the fulness of the gospel was taken from the earth because of widespread apostasy. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, restored the fulness of the gospel. The true Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again. Because of the Restoration, the teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation are available to all people.” That would be the Book of Mormon) Notice how satan uses partial truth to deceive people. Yes, the church turned away and rebelled and lost its power, but Joseph Smith is a false prophet and the Book of Mormon is false teaching and the Mormons look nothing like Jesus nor do they do as He did, so there is no way restoration happened. They go on to say “An essential part of conversion is receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the Book of Mormon is “the keystone of our religion” “In the Book of Mormon we will find the fulness of [the doctrine] required for our salvation. And [it is] taught plainly and simply so that even children can learn the ways of salvation and exaltation.” “A central purpose of the Book of Mormon is to convince all people that Jesus is the Christ.” “You should use the Book of Mormon and the Bible to support one another.” “Use the Book of Mormon to clarify and explain Bible passages.” “As we gain faith that the Book of Mormon is true, we can begin to answer questions about the purpose of life and the hope of eternal life. The Book of Mormon describes the plan of happiness, which gives meaning and perspective to life.” “Teach doctrine and principles using the words and phrases of Book of Mormon prophets.” “Trust the Lord’s promise that every person who sincerely reads and prays about the Book of Mormon will know of its truthfulness by the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Those are just a few excerpts from their website. As I said, they spend a lot of time trying to convince themselves and others that the Book of Mormon is true. It is not! All you have to do is look at the cover and no I do not recommend reading it. The cover says, Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ. That is all you need as we were warned Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” Jesus warned us not to be deceived and we were warned with these words. Revelation 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” I had a Mormon tell me this verse only applied to the book of Revelation, but this verse is also found in Deuteronomy 4:2 “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” Joseph Smith is a false prophet and as we were warned above, men would come in sheep’s clothing and are savage wolves. I did find this humorous. The angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. If you drop the “i” you will see my sense of humor. Millions have been indoctrinated into their fold.
I focused on this Book of Mormon for a reason because every church does the same. Remember that line above - “Use the Book of Mormon to clarify and explain Bible passages.” Every church does this. I have a book of discipline on my shelf from when I was a Wesleyan (no longer) that did the same. Not everyone is as blatant as to name themselves after a man but in most cases there is a man or woman somewhere along the line that is worshipped other than Jesus, like John Wesley or John Calvin, Aimee Semple McPherson and even modern-day gurus and many more whom they follow as if they were sent by God to clarify His word. As I have said before, the seminary I went to has even idolized John Wesley and others with statues of them. The doctrines are centered on their teaching and every denomination has them, even the independents who say they are not a denomination still follow the same doctrines. These doctrines are placed in a handbook or guidebook that specifically give the rules and regulations and exactly what they believe. If you are part of that group, you are to believe all that is written. There will also be included reasons why the others are wrong. Yes, the Mormons are a cult but when the church follows other gospels, they are doing the same thing. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” Yes, the Mormons will not see eternal life, but neither will those in the church who teach other gospels and doctrines of demons. Luke 13:25 “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’”
Today people want to be told what they want to hear. They want their lifestyles approved of and they want to be told it is okay to continue to sin and yes, they will find those that will scratch their ears. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” There will always be someone who will tell you what you want to hear. But if you had a preacher in a church start teaching what the bible actually says and called on people to repent and turn from their wicked ways, tell them what they have heard all their lives is wrong and tell them to completely submit their lives to Jesus Christ and even took it a step further and said as Jesus said, Mark 10:21 “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” There would be a mass exodus, he would be fired or run out of the building. Luke 4:23 “Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Too many ministers treat ministry as a profession and a way to earn income. They are more worried about offending the hierarchy or upsetting the status quo and the people who pay their salary than they are about offending God.
No matter what happens to you, it is important to return to scripture and turn from the doctrines of man and satan. Your eternal life depends on it. In this day of deception and delusion in the church, that is what needs to be taught. Paul said to the Jews Acts 13:46 “Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.” We were warned to follow truth and stay away from falseness. Hebrews 13:7 “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.” Since the church is so far from the truth, we have to go back to the beginning and imitate their faith as Paul said, 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” A person can believe with everything they have, but still be heading down the wrong path. Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Millions have already been lost to deception and delusion; don’t be one of them. When you escape a cult, you need to be deprogrammed which means “release (someone) from apparent brainwashing, typically that of a religious cult.” The best way to do this is to return to God’s word and seek God with everything you have. God said, Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” We have this hope so repent so that the kingdom comes near. Ezekiel 36:33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”
