What is a Cult? | Coconote

hi there my name is Tian hes and in this little video I would like to discuss the question what is a cult because so many people don't understand is there a difference between the sect and the cult and what is it all about so we will need to see what the word of God teaches us and what is going on in the world outside because if we don't understand what the word says and if we don't compare these things to the word of God then people are misled or deceived but as it is always about our Lord Jesus Christ first let us pray together first so father in the mighty name of Jesus Christ we glorify your name thank you Lord we know the Bible says with two or three are gathered in my name I am in their midst so Lord we know you're here where we're busy with this video but you will also be there where people will be watching this video wherever they may be and we pray that you alone will be glorified we pray that your holy spirit will take me out of the way that I will not be the one Speaking Lord but that your holy spirit will speak in and through me and that all our hearts would be willing to receive the truth of the word of God and thank you Father that you give us the authority to say to Satan we bind your works now you will not steal this message from the ears of the children of God and you will live in the mighty name of Jesus Christ Lord Jesus thank you for your presence we ask that you will cover us with your blood now we ask that you will set up your angels all around us and that you yourself will be W of fire round about your children wherever we may be so that every place is a safe place wherever we may be busy with this video thank you Lord for your presence please take us by the hand and lead us now by your Holy Spirit we ask it in the mighty name of Jesus Christ amen now on this video we're going to discuss the following three points number one fundamental principles of the Christian faith number two definition of a cult and number three characteristics of a cult and all who know me know I always started with this verse in the King James version of the Bible 2 Corinthians 1 verse 13 that says for we write none other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end and so we will read today what the word of God teaches us regarding Cults and how we should follow the truth of the word alone and we can read what it says and understand what it says just as it is written because in Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them ye do not knowing the scriptures nor the power power of God and that is the problem with most of us Christians these days my brother and sister we are we are deceived we're being misled why because we do not know our scriptures and why do we not know our scriptures because in many instances we do not know the author of the scriptures we are not in a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ himself or with God the father or the Holy Spirit and so we are we are deceived we don't know what the scripture say so we need to read what the Bible says and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the scriptures to us because when we get to know the scriptures because we got to know the author of the scriptures we will get to know the power of God in our personal lives on a day-to-day basis at number one let us now discuss the fundamental principles of the Christian faith what are the few basic principles of the Christian faith so many people don't even know this yet they call themselves Christians but let us look at a few of these fundamental principles number one that God is a trinity as we read in 1 John 5:7 for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and that the word referred to there is Jesus Christ himself I also have a YouTube video on God is a trinity a Triune God that you can go and watch for yourself to get much more information regarding this and verses in the Bible confirming this if you would like the second fundamental principle is Jesus Christ is also God as we read in John 1 verse1 in the beginning was the word and the word as we said already Jesus was with God and the Word was God so that confirms to us that Jesus himself is also God number three he became flesh 1 John 4:2 hereby know ye the spirit of God every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and number four he walked upon the Earth John 1 ver14 and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory again confirming that that word is Jesus Christ because only Jesus Christ ever became flesh to dwell among men and to die on a cross for us so that is why we know this verse refers to Jesus Christ number five he died on a cross John 19:1 17 and 18 and he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of the skull which is called in the Hebrew golgatha where they crucified him number six he rose from the dead after 3 Days 1 Corinthians 15: 3 and 4 how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures number seven he ascended to Heaven acts 1:9 and when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight number eight to sit at the right hand of God mark 16: 19 so then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God number nine and he will return to Earth Matthew 24:30 and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and they shall see the son of man coming in the Clouds Of Heaven with power and great Glory number 10 to come and rule over the Nations Revelation 19:15 and out of his mouth goth a sharp sword that with it he should Smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron number 11 furthermore salvation is only found in Jesus Christ John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me number 12 and we are saved by grace not out of our own good works Ephesians 2:8 and9 for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of Works lest any man should boast my brother and sister those are 12 fundamental principles of the Christian faith some people will add some more some people take away a few but according to me to what the Lord showed me the past 25 years of my life since I met the Lord Jesus Christ personally in 1999 these are the fundamental principles of what we as Christians as children of God believe according to the word of God and that is what we must look at and that is what we must understand what does it mean to say we are Christians those are the things that we must believe in and stand on according to the word of God at number two let us now look at the definition of a cult the English Oxford dictionary says a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members and thirdly a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular thing or person that is according to a normal dictionary those are the definitions of a cult and as we go along on this video you need to ask yourself the question whether your little group that you belong to or your church of denomination do they tick any of these boxes if so you need to take heed of the warnings that we will discuss on this video and then many people will say but isn't a sect and a cult the same thing well not according to what I read in the Bible because I read in Acts 24:5 there are two verses in the King James version of the Bible that uses the word sect and both times they actually refer to the true followers of Christ look at this in Acts 24:5 for we have found this man referring to Paul a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ring leader of of the sect of the nazarin this is what they called Paul acts 28:22 but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest for as concerning this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against so here we see from these two verses referring to a specific sect that it actually referred to the true followers of Christ the New Testament Believers like Paul and the rest of the disciples after the Ascension of Jesus so we must beware to just show our fingers to other groups or people and say they are sects because then you're actually saying they are the true followers of Christ what does that make you then now there's a difference between a sect and a cult so what is a cult all about and I always give the necessary and due credit to all the people whose work I use in my research for any specific topic and you will see the Links at the bottom of the different slides Christians Define religious culture from a different perspective simply a cult is any religious group that deviates from the fundamental teachings of the historic bible-based Christian faith as confirmed through the ancient ecumenical Creeds and those are the fundamental principles that I referred to under Point number one when we started generally if a religious organization follows Jesus Christ but denies or distorts essenti Christian doctrines such as the Trinity the resurrection or salvation by grace alone that organization is considered a cult a concise definition of a cult of Christianity is a cult of Christianity is a group of people which number one look at this now although claiming to be Christian number two Embraces a particular doctrinal system number three taught by an individual leader group of leaders or organization number four this is the important part which system or organization or leader or group of leaders which system denies either explicitly or implicitly one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian faith as taught in the 66 books of the Bible so my brother and sister again I ask ask you as we go along through this video it's not a very long video please look at each one of these points and just ensure whether you are not part of such a group or a denomination in which case the Bible says come out of her don't belong to that don't be a part of that don't participate in that but ensure that the group that you belong to or the church or the denomination if they are true to the fundamental principles according to the word of God then that is fine otherwise beware that you are not deceived and pulled into a cult by any kind of lack of knowledge number three let us now look at a few characteristics of a cult what makes a cult a cult number one they believe that all Christian churches are wrong and only their group or of course only their church or only their denomination is a special group that has the full truth of God which only they as a group or as a specific church or as a specific denomination can maintain but contrary to that view the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:9 for we know in part and we prophesy in part there is no church across the globe that has the full truth of God which only they can maintain number two they deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ and reduce him to the status of a mere mortal man or they try to raise mortal man to the status of a God so many people don't mind if you say Jesus Christ is just a prophet or he was just a good teacher or he was just a guru or whatever the case may be they don't mind that but don't tell them that Jesus Christ is God then they take offense then they are offended because they don't want to hear the truth of the word of God so these cultic groups either deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ and reduce him to the status of a mere mortal man or they will turn around and say but we are little Gods we as men they try to raise mortal man to the status of a god which is against the word of God number three they deny that man can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ they believe man must justify himself through good works and by being obedient to their groups or their churches or their specific denominations specific doctrines number four they believe the allegations by their leaders that only they those leaders have new interpretations or Revelations of the Bible so thus they put their trust in those leaders because they get these new Revelations or these new interpretations whereas the Bible warns us in Jeremiah 17:5 to8 to say thus saith the Lord and remember if you read Lord like that in the King James version L O R D in capital letters in the Hebrew it is written yod VAV he because our father's name in Hebrew is Yahweh thus sayith Yahweh cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord depart from Yahweh so my brother and sister do not put your trust in man because they tell you only they have new interpretations or only they have new Revelations of the Bible test the prophets the Bible says and you must always test them according to the word of God number five many Cults claim that they believe in the Bible but the contents or interpretations of the Bible are twisted to fit their own views regarding man whether man is a God or whatever regarding God regarding the Holy Spirit Heaven and Earth salvation and other important aspects and you know Paul also warned the Galatians in Galatians 1:6 to8 where he said I Marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ 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 a cursed my brother and sister beware that you are not removed from the true gospel of Christ to another gospel because there is a lot of deception out there in the world there are so many voices calling out to the children of God in these end times we live in don't be deceived but to ensure that you're not deceived my brother and sister you need to know your own scriptures you need to know what the word of God teaches so that you can can compare that which that person says to what the word of God says and that is why you must not follow after another gospel because so many people out there even many Christian leaders of denominations say but Angels appeared to them and gave them this and this and this new revelation but those Revelations are contrary to the word of God don't listen to such a preacher turn away from such a man don't put your trust in such a man otherwise there will be a curse in your life and don't allow that my brother and sister not for any mere mortal look to God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of his scriptures in your life so that you can know where you stand and what you stand upon so that you will stand on the word of God and the truth of the word of God alone and what I have now just explained under point five includes groups like The Following Roman Catholicism I also have a whole YouTube video on Roman Catholicism versus the Bible that you can go and watch if you would like to see what the problems are there Jehovah's Witnesses the Church of Scientology Unitarianism Old and New Apostolic churches the New Age movement Mormonism also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Christian Science seventh day Adventists the unification Church also called the Moonis Christian identity movement that's the Aran Nations or the CLS Clan Etc and many other smaller groups building their own little kingdoms under the name of Christianity but they pull people after themselves after the specific leader or groups of leaders and they don't want you to leave their group ever they don't allow you to leave ever they just want to bind you to them as a person or persons now psychiatrist Robert Jay lifton who once taught at Harvard Medical School wrote a paper titled cult formation in the early 1980s he delineated three primary characteristics which are the most common features shared by destructive Cults and my brother and sister there are also Cults calling themselves Christian which are destructive Cults and you need to beware and need to know your scriptures and need to compare what they teach to what the word of God says number one a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power you know they start this little group and this leader of theirs is very charismatic and he knows the word you know and he's prophetic or he's Apostolic or whatever they call it these days under the New Apostolic reformation and so many people eventually starts to actually worship this person it becomes human idolatry you know they start to see this person nearly as a God because look at all the new interpretations he gets and he's such a charismatic leader and if you say anything negative about their leader they actually willing to wack you against the head if necessary they are willing to fight for their leader but they're not always so willing to fight for the word of God number two a process of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as coer of persuasion or thought reform commonly called brainwashing the culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader you see people that would in the past not have participated in specific things that are actually wrong which they know in their Spirit are wrong are so indoctrinated over time by these coercive persuasion or the process of indoctrination that is used by this specific charismatic leader or group of leaders or church denomination that they will start to do things that are not in their own best interest but always in the interest of their group or their church or the denomination they would die for their church or their group or their leader or their denomination but they don't always know what the Bible says what we should actually be living for number three economic sexual and or other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling ceri you see this is another one many churches or little groups say to their members that they must bring their um salary sheets every month so that the church can see how much they got as an income and then the church will decide how much they must give to the church and how much the church WIll deduct from them or there are certain sexual favors that ladies in the congregation must give to the leaders it's Etc it happens all over the world my brother and sister even these huge churches we see the reports everywhere the videos are viral all over the world because people are doing these kinds of things and those people the members did not see what the Bible said they just went after this charismatic leader and this group of leaders and then they get hurt because it is not according to the word of God it is a destructive cult in the end this author writes some groups may not fit the definition of a cult but may pose potential risks for participants here are 10 warning signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader and my brother and sister I would really ask you if you are in any kind of church or little group or denomination and some of the things I've said so far have rang a little bell then I ask you please take note of these 10 warning signs as well and pray about this and ask the Holy Spirit if it is him now talking to you through these warning signs that I'm giving you on this little video number one absolute authoritarianism of a single person or group of leaders without meaningful accountability they make their own decisions they are not accountable to anybody else to anybody else in the body of Christ or to any other churches or brothers or sisters in Christ they deem themselves to be a any other authority they are in absolute control of their little group at number two no tolerance for questions or critical inquiry so the moment that you question the leader or anything he or she may have said there is no tolerance for your questions because who do you think you are you're not spiritually mature enough you don't have the same knowledge they have you're not as learned as they are you don't have the same degrees they have and all these kinds of things so there is no Toler for questions or critical inquiry in such a group number three no meaningful Financial disclosure regarding budget or expenses such as an independently audited financial statement number four unreasonable fear about the outside world such as impending catastrophe evil conspiracies and persecution so they will always indoctrinate their followers to think they will not be able ble to go anywhere out there because they will definitely fall into an imminent catastrophe or there are certain evil conspiracies that will take them out because they were part of this specific group and they will be persecuted because they were part of this specific group and all that in that way they keep people bound to themselves and the members are too afraid to leave the group and go to other groups number five they will tell the people there is no legitimate reason to leave former followers are always wrong in leaving or they are negative or they are even called evil because they left the group and in this way again fear is instilled in the other members of the group when they are so indoctrinated to think no other groups out there no other churches no other systems out there Christian I'm talking Christian now remember I'm not talking to other things that are not related to the word of God I'm not talking about Christian groups but they tell them no other groups out there are valid or they may not go to any other group they may not listen to the material of any other person or any other group they are not even allowed to listen to any other music if their leaders have not approved of that music ETA etc etc so the members are indoctrinated through fear and by telling them there is no legitimate reason to leave and those other members who were set free by the Lord Jesus Christ who got out of that group they are always wrong beware of groups like these my brother and sister and if you hear the same kind of thing being taught by your leaders or by your group or members in your group beware cut your losses and run in the name of Jesus Christ number six former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances is that coincidence or the fact that these are the things that they do people are abused not not physically necessarily but emotionally and verbally which can be worse than physical abuse in some instances but former members often relate the same stories of abuse and you can listen to other members and say but the same thing happened to me but listen the same thing happened to him or to her then you must understand you are in a destructive cult you need to get out of there no matter how they call it Christian or try to justify through certain Christian principles that they twist to fit their beliefs or to indoctrinate you there with you need to stand on the word of God and ask the Lord Jesus to help you get out of that group and be set free number seven there are Records books news articles or broadcast reports that document the abuses of the group or the leader there are many such groups in South Africa and in other parts of the world where there are TV programs warning people about these specific so called Christian leaders and the cult followers and what they do and the abusers and all that and yet people still stay bound to them still stay loyal to them why because we do ear not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God number eight followers feel they can never be good enough because that is how they are indoctrinated they are never good enough to either become leaders in the group or to grow spiritually or to become mature spiritually they not taught how to do that because the group leader or leaders keep them in subjection through this kind of indoctrination so if you are always told you can never be good enough my brother and sister that is not true according to the word of God then you need to get out of them number nine the group or the leader is always right he never makes a mistake she never makes a mistake and even if he does make a mistake it's most probably your problem and not his now if you're in such a group where the leader never admits that he or she can also make mistakes then you must understand you are in a distructive cult and number 10 the group or the leader is the exclusive means of knowing truth or receiving validation no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible so you cannot go to any other Christian group or any other Christian brother and sister and ask him to compare what you've been taught to the word of God because then you are going outside of the group only your group and your group leader or group leaders only they have the exclusive means of knowing truth because remember they usually get new interpretations or New Revelations from God that are mostly extra biblical they're not bound to the word so in many cases of course it is demonic because it does not come from God it comes from the devil so my brother and sister if any of you find yourselves in a cult like this with all these characteristics that I've given you and you need to watch it again on this video and see if your group your church your denomination if they tick any of these little boxes that I've given you then you must really pray and ask the Lord to set you free from such a group in his strength and in his power and to lead you through to be set free from that that kind of indoctrination and abuse now we will end with and the Bible says in Matthew 24:4 and 5 when the disciples asked Jesus what will be the signs of the times before he returns he said the following and Jesus answered and said unto them take heed that no man deceive you so many people are being deceived by Cult leaders cult groups cult denominations like the ones I already referred to they are being deceived and the Bible says Jesus says take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many so many people say but I am the anointed one and I am the anointed one of this group now that is what the word Christ also means anointed so is your group leader says but I'm the only anointed one in this group beware take heed that no man deceive you Jesus says Ephesians 5:1 says and and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them the word there in the Greek for reprove also means expose them have no fellowship with them don't be part of them don't participate in what they are doing rather expose them reprove them by bringing out the truth of what they are saying because the Bible also says that which is done in secret will be proclaimed from the rooftops so we need to reveal these things to expose these things so that people outside will not be deceived in future by groups like these 2 Timothy 4:1 to4 says I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exort with all longsuffering and Doctrine you see you must reprove you must exhort you must rebuke with all longsuffering and Doctrine standing on the doctrine of the word of God for the time will come and my brother and sister we are living in those times these end times for the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own lusts shall they Heap to themselves teachers having itching ears you see they don't want to hear what they must hear they want to hear what they want to hear so they would go after teachers or leaders who tell them what they want to hear but through them those leaders start to indoctrinate them and start to build a following for them as cult leaders and then people don't understand why they can't receive the truth of the word of God any longer because they are going after men and not after God anymore and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables and the word fables there in Greek is muthos that is where the word myths come from my brother and sister we need to stand on the doctrines of the word of God we need to know our scriptures we need to stop being deceived and being misled because we do not know our scriptures we need to study our scriptures for ourselves on a daily basis in John 16:7 and8 Jesus says nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you and that comforter of course is the holy spirit but if I depart I will send him unto you and when he is come he will reprove and the word there also means convict or convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment you see my brother and sister you and I as human beings cannot convince or convict anybody else about Sin righteousness and judgment only the Holy Spirit can do that so we must pray if we know of people being part of these Cults or family members friends brothers and sisters that we had in the past that went after these Cults or these charismatic leaders following this cultic group we must pray for them for the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin of righteousness of judgment we must also pray for those leaders who are so deceived pulling all these people after them making people follow them instead of the word of God but only the Holy Spirit can do that kind of conviction so we must pray that conviction into the because the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but he is longsuffering to us W meaning he is patient not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that is what God wants from any cult group he wants them to repent to turn away from their Twisted views of Christian doctrine and to return to the truth of the word of God that they should all come to repentance to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives and to walk lives of sanctification in righteousness according to the word of God and not pulling people after them indoctrinating people with another gospel that is not what God wants he wants everybody to turn around he does not want anybody to perish but he wants that all should come to repentance and that is what you and I must also pray pray for these people my brother and sister you know we need to stand up for the truth of the word of God but to be able to stand up for the truth of the word of God we need to know the word of God we need to spend time with the word of God and the god of the word and not just a few minutes reading one or two verses before you fall asleep at night really studying your scriptures and listening to what other people say like these cult leaders checking whether you might be part of such a group going and speak speaking to your leaders regarding this and if they don't want to listen because you're the one that's wrong and how can you dare question me and all that you better get out of there in the name of Jesus Christ because Jesus wants you to be set free and to come after him so that you can be fixed to him we cannot fix any people to us cult leaders will always fix you to themselves because they want so many followers after them instead of taking their followers leading them to Christ now we must lead everybody to Christ it's never about any one of us it's always about our Lord Jesus Christ because my brother and sister he is not a dead God and therefore he says in Revelation 1: 17 and 18 I'm the first and the last I'm he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forever more amen and all honor and Glory goes to Jesus Christ of Nazareth so let us pray together father in the mighty name of Jesus Christ we glor GL ify your name thank you Lord that we know you are the God wants to set the captives free and I pray that in this little video Lord your holy spirit will take this message and touch the hearts of people who may be caught up in different kinds of Cults that they will be set free that they can come out of those Cults and walk after the truth of the word of God in a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ so that you can be glorified through that and that they will follow you in eternity and not be fixed to any people and put their trust in people but Lord I pray that you will give your people a hunger for your word that they will read the scriptures for themselves compare it to what their leaders may be teaching them that are not in line with your scriptures and then stand up for the truth of your word and not for what the leaders or the group may say and Lord Jesus we know you are true to your word and so we also know your coming is very close at hand and that is why we keep on crying out marata come Lord Jesus because the spirit and the bride say come for we love you Lord in Jesus name amen you are you are you are fa to the end you are fath you are you are the you are you are you are are you are

hi there my name is Tian hes and in this little video I would like to discuss the question what is a cult because so many people don&#39;t understand is there a difference between the sect and the cult and what is it all about so we will need to see what the word of God teaches us and what is going on in the world outside because if we don&#39;t understand what the word says and if we don&#39;t compare these things to the word of God then people are misled or deceived but as it is always about our Lord Jesus Christ first let us pray together first so father in the mighty name of Jesus Christ we glorify your name thank you Lord we know the Bible says with two or three are gathered in my name I am in their midst so Lord we know you&#39;re here where we&#39;re busy with this video but you will also be there where people will be watching this video wherever they may be and we pray that you alone will be glorified we pray that your holy spirit will take me out of the way that I will not be the one Speaking Lord but that your holy spirit will speak in and through me and that all our hearts would be willing to receive the truth of the word of God and thank you Father that you give us the authority to say to Satan we bind your works now you will not steal this message from the ears of the children of God and you will live in the mighty name of Jesus Christ Lord Jesus thank you for your presence we ask that you will cover us with your blood now we ask that you will set up your angels all around us and that you yourself will be W of fire round about your children wherever we may be so that every place is a safe place wherever we may be busy with this video thank you Lord for your presence please take us by the hand and lead us now by your Holy Spirit we ask it in the mighty name of Jesus Christ amen now on this video we&#39;re going to discuss the following three points number one fundamental principles of the Christian faith number two definition of a cult and number three characteristics of a cult and all who know me know I always started with this verse in the King James version of the Bible 2 Corinthians 1 verse 13 that says for we write none other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end and so we will read today what the word of God teaches us regarding Cults and how we should follow the truth of the word alone and we can read what it says and understand what it says just as it is written because in Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them ye do not knowing the scriptures nor the power power of God and that is the problem with most of us Christians these days my brother and sister we are we are deceived we&#39;re being misled why because we do not know our scriptures and why do we not know our scriptures because in many instances we do not know the author of the scriptures we are not in a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ himself or with God the father or the Holy Spirit and so we are we are deceived we don&#39;t know what the scripture say so we need to read what the Bible says and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the scriptures to us because when we get to know the scriptures because we got to know the author of the scriptures we will get to know the power of God in our personal lives on a day-to-day basis at number one let us now discuss the fundamental principles of the Christian faith what are the few basic principles of the Christian faith so many people don&#39;t even know this yet they call themselves Christians but let us look at a few of these fundamental principles number one that God is a trinity as we read in 1 John 5:7 for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and that the word referred to there is Jesus Christ himself I also have a YouTube video on God is a trinity a Triune God that you can go and watch for yourself to get much more information regarding this and verses in the Bible confirming this if you would like the second fundamental principle is Jesus Christ is also God as we read in John 1 verse1 in the beginning was the word and the word as we said already Jesus was with God and the Word was God so that confirms to us that Jesus himself is also God number three he became flesh 1 John 4:2 hereby know ye the spirit of God every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and number four he walked upon the Earth John 1 ver14 and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory again confirming that that word is Jesus Christ because only Jesus Christ ever became flesh to dwell among men and to die on a cross for us so that is why we know this verse refers to Jesus Christ number five he died on a cross John 19:1 17 and 18 and he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of the skull which is called in the Hebrew golgatha where they crucified him number six he rose from the dead after 3 Days 1 Corinthians 15: 3 and 4 how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures number seven he ascended to Heaven acts 1:9 and when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight number eight to sit at the right hand of God mark 16: 19 so then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God number nine and he will return to Earth Matthew 24:30 and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and they shall see the son of man coming in the Clouds Of Heaven with power and great Glory number 10 to come and rule over the Nations Revelation 19:15 and out of his mouth goth a sharp sword that with it he should Smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron number 11 furthermore salvation is only found in Jesus Christ John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me number 12 and we are saved by grace not out of our own good works Ephesians 2:8 and9 for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of Works lest any man should boast my brother and sister those are 12 fundamental principles of the Christian faith some people will add some more some people take away a few but according to me to what the Lord showed me the past 25 years of my life since I met the Lord Jesus Christ personally in 1999 these are the fundamental principles of what we as Christians as children of God believe according to the word of God and that is what we must look at and that is what we must understand what does it mean to say we are Christians those are the things that we must believe in and stand on according to the word of God at number two let us now look at the definition of a cult the English Oxford dictionary says a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members and thirdly a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular thing or person that is according to a normal dictionary those are the definitions of a cult and as we go along on this video you need to ask yourself the question whether your little group that you belong to or your church of denomination do they tick any of these boxes if so you need to take heed of the warnings that we will discuss on this video and then many people will say but isn&#39;t a sect and a cult the same thing well not according to what I read in the Bible because I read in Acts 24:5 there are two verses in the King James version of the Bible that uses the word sect and both times they actually refer to the true followers of Christ look at this in Acts 24:5 for we have found this man referring to Paul a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ring leader of of the sect of the nazarin this is what they called Paul acts 28:22 but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest for as concerning this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against so here we see from these two verses referring to a specific sect that it actually referred to the true followers of Christ the New Testament Believers like Paul and the rest of the disciples after the Ascension of Jesus so we must beware to just show our fingers to other groups or people and say they are sects because then you&#39;re actually saying they are the true followers of Christ what does that make you then now there&#39;s a difference between a sect and a cult so what is a cult all about and I always give the necessary and due credit to all the people whose work I use in my research for any specific topic and you will see the Links at the bottom of the different slides Christians Define religious culture from a different perspective simply a cult is any religious group that deviates from the fundamental teachings of the historic bible-based Christian faith as confirmed through the ancient ecumenical Creeds and those are the fundamental principles that I referred to under Point number one when we started generally if a religious organization follows Jesus Christ but denies or distorts essenti Christian doctrines such as the Trinity the resurrection or salvation by grace alone that organization is considered a cult a concise definition of a cult of Christianity is a cult of Christianity is a group of people which number one look at this now although claiming to be Christian number two Embraces a particular doctrinal system number three taught by an individual leader group of leaders or organization number four this is the important part which system or organization or leader or group of leaders which system denies either explicitly or implicitly one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian faith as taught in the 66 books of the Bible so my brother and sister again I ask ask you as we go along through this video it&#39;s not a very long video please look at each one of these points and just ensure whether you are not part of such a group or a denomination in which case the Bible says come out of her don&#39;t belong to that don&#39;t be a part of that don&#39;t participate in that but ensure that the group that you belong to or the church or the denomination if they are true to the fundamental principles according to the word of God then that is fine otherwise beware that you are not deceived and pulled into a cult by any kind of lack of knowledge number three let us now look at a few characteristics of a cult what makes a cult a cult number one they believe that all Christian churches are wrong and only their group or of course only their church or only their denomination is a special group that has the full truth of God which only they as a group or as a specific church or as a specific denomination can maintain but contrary to that view the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:9 for we know in part and we prophesy in part there is no church across the globe that has the full truth of God which only they can maintain number two they deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ and reduce him to the status of a mere mortal man or they try to raise mortal man to the status of a God so many people don&#39;t mind if you say Jesus Christ is just a prophet or he was just a good teacher or he was just a guru or whatever the case may be they don&#39;t mind that but don&#39;t tell them that Jesus Christ is God then they take offense then they are offended because they don&#39;t want to hear the truth of the word of God so these cultic groups either deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ and reduce him to the status of a mere mortal man or they will turn around and say but we are little Gods we as men they try to raise mortal man to the status of a god which is against the word of God number three they deny that man can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ they believe man must justify himself through good works and by being obedient to their groups or their churches or their specific denominations specific doctrines number four they believe the allegations by their leaders that only they those leaders have new interpretations or Revelations of the Bible so thus they put their trust in those leaders because they get these new Revelations or these new interpretations whereas the Bible warns us in Jeremiah 17:5 to8 to say thus saith the Lord and remember if you read Lord like that in the King James version L O R D in capital letters in the Hebrew it is written yod VAV he because our father&#39;s name in Hebrew is Yahweh thus sayith Yahweh cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord depart from Yahweh so my brother and sister do not put your trust in man because they tell you only they have new interpretations or only they have new Revelations of the Bible test the prophets the Bible says and you must always test them according to the word of God number five many Cults claim that they believe in the Bible but the contents or interpretations of the Bible are twisted to fit their own views regarding man whether man is a God or whatever regarding God regarding the Holy Spirit Heaven and Earth salvation and other important aspects and you know Paul also warned the Galatians in Galatians 1:6 to8 where he said I Marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ 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 a cursed my brother and sister beware that you are not removed from the true gospel of Christ to another gospel because there is a lot of deception out there in the world there are so many voices calling out to the children of God in these end times we live in don&#39;t be deceived but to ensure that you&#39;re not deceived my brother and sister you need to know your own scriptures you need to know what the word of God teaches so that you can can compare that which that person says to what the word of God says and that is why you must not follow after another gospel because so many people out there even many Christian leaders of denominations say but Angels appeared to them and gave them this and this and this new revelation but those Revelations are contrary to the word of God don&#39;t listen to such a preacher turn away from such a man don&#39;t put your trust in such a man otherwise there will be a curse in your life and don&#39;t allow that my brother and sister not for any mere mortal look to God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of his scriptures in your life so that you can know where you stand and what you stand upon so that you will stand on the word of God and the truth of the word of God alone and what I have now just explained under point five includes groups like The Following Roman Catholicism I also have a whole YouTube video on Roman Catholicism versus the Bible that you can go and watch if you would like to see what the problems are there Jehovah&#39;s Witnesses the Church of Scientology Unitarianism Old and New Apostolic churches the New Age movement Mormonism also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Christian Science seventh day Adventists the unification Church also called the Moonis Christian identity movement that&#39;s the Aran Nations or the CLS Clan Etc and many other smaller groups building their own little kingdoms under the name of Christianity but they pull people after themselves after the specific leader or groups of leaders and they don&#39;t want you to leave their group ever they don&#39;t allow you to leave ever they just want to bind you to them as a person or persons now psychiatrist Robert Jay lifton who once taught at Harvard Medical School wrote a paper titled cult formation in the early 1980s he delineated three primary characteristics which are the most common features shared by destructive Cults and my brother and sister there are also Cults calling themselves Christian which are destructive Cults and you need to beware and need to know your scriptures and need to compare what they teach to what the word of God says number one a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power you know they start this little group and this leader of theirs is very charismatic and he knows the word you know and he&#39;s prophetic or he&#39;s Apostolic or whatever they call it these days under the New Apostolic reformation and so many people eventually starts to actually worship this person it becomes human idolatry you know they start to see this person nearly as a God because look at all the new interpretations he gets and he&#39;s such a charismatic leader and if you say anything negative about their leader they actually willing to wack you against the head if necessary they are willing to fight for their leader but they&#39;re not always so willing to fight for the word of God number two a process of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as coer of persuasion or thought reform commonly called brainwashing the culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader you see people that would in the past not have participated in specific things that are actually wrong which they know in their Spirit are wrong are so indoctrinated over time by these coercive persuasion or the process of indoctrination that is used by this specific charismatic leader or group of leaders or church denomination that they will start to do things that are not in their own best interest but always in the interest of their group or their church or the denomination they would die for their church or their group or their leader or their denomination but they don&#39;t always know what the Bible says what we should actually be living for number three economic sexual and or other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling ceri you see this is another one many churches or little groups say to their members that they must bring their um salary sheets every month so that the church can see how much they got as an income and then the church will decide how much they must give to the church and how much the church WIll deduct from them or there are certain sexual favors that ladies in the congregation must give to the leaders it&#39;s Etc it happens all over the world my brother and sister even these huge churches we see the reports everywhere the videos are viral all over the world because people are doing these kinds of things and those people the members did not see what the Bible said they just went after this charismatic leader and this group of leaders and then they get hurt because it is not according to the word of God it is a destructive cult in the end this author writes some groups may not fit the definition of a cult but may pose potential risks for participants here are 10 warning signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader and my brother and sister I would really ask you if you are in any kind of church or little group or denomination and some of the things I&#39;ve said so far have rang a little bell then I ask you please take note of these 10 warning signs as well and pray about this and ask the Holy Spirit if it is him now talking to you through these warning signs that I&#39;m giving you on this little video number one absolute authoritarianism of a single person or group of leaders without meaningful accountability they make their own decisions they are not accountable to anybody else to anybody else in the body of Christ or to any other churches or brothers or sisters in Christ they deem themselves to be a any other authority they are in absolute control of their little group at number two no tolerance for questions or critical inquiry so the moment that you question the leader or anything he or she may have said there is no tolerance for your questions because who do you think you are you&#39;re not spiritually mature enough you don&#39;t have the same knowledge they have you&#39;re not as learned as they are you don&#39;t have the same degrees they have and all these kinds of things so there is no Toler for questions or critical inquiry in such a group number three no meaningful Financial disclosure regarding budget or expenses such as an independently audited financial statement number four unreasonable fear about the outside world such as impending catastrophe evil conspiracies and persecution so they will always indoctrinate their followers to think they will not be able ble to go anywhere out there because they will definitely fall into an imminent catastrophe or there are certain evil conspiracies that will take them out because they were part of this specific group and they will be persecuted because they were part of this specific group and all that in that way they keep people bound to themselves and the members are too afraid to leave the group and go to other groups number five they will tell the people there is no legitimate reason to leave former followers are always wrong in leaving or they are negative or they are even called evil because they left the group and in this way again fear is instilled in the other members of the group when they are so indoctrinated to think no other groups out there no other churches no other systems out there Christian I&#39;m talking Christian now remember I&#39;m not talking to other things that are not related to the word of God I&#39;m not talking about Christian groups but they tell them no other groups out there are valid or they may not go to any other group they may not listen to the material of any other person or any other group they are not even allowed to listen to any other music if their leaders have not approved of that music ETA etc etc so the members are indoctrinated through fear and by telling them there is no legitimate reason to leave and those other members who were set free by the Lord Jesus Christ who got out of that group they are always wrong beware of groups like these my brother and sister and if you hear the same kind of thing being taught by your leaders or by your group or members in your group beware cut your losses and run in the name of Jesus Christ number six former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances is that coincidence or the fact that these are the things that they do people are abused not not physically necessarily but emotionally and verbally which can be worse than physical abuse in some instances but former members often relate the same stories of abuse and you can listen to other members and say but the same thing happened to me but listen the same thing happened to him or to her then you must understand you are in a destructive cult you need to get out of there no matter how they call it Christian or try to justify through certain Christian principles that they twist to fit their beliefs or to indoctrinate you there with you need to stand on the word of God and ask the Lord Jesus to help you get out of that group and be set free number seven there are Records books news articles or broadcast reports that document the abuses of the group or the leader there are many such groups in South Africa and in other parts of the world where there are TV programs warning people about these specific so called Christian leaders and the cult followers and what they do and the abusers and all that and yet people still stay bound to them still stay loyal to them why because we do ear not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God number eight followers feel they can never be good enough because that is how they are indoctrinated they are never good enough to either become leaders in the group or to grow spiritually or to become mature spiritually they not taught how to do that because the group leader or leaders keep them in subjection through this kind of indoctrination so if you are always told you can never be good enough my brother and sister that is not true according to the word of God then you need to get out of them number nine the group or the leader is always right he never makes a mistake she never makes a mistake and even if he does make a mistake it&#39;s most probably your problem and not his now if you&#39;re in such a group where the leader never admits that he or she can also make mistakes then you must understand you are in a distructive cult and number 10 the group or the leader is the exclusive means of knowing truth or receiving validation no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible so you cannot go to any other Christian group or any other Christian brother and sister and ask him to compare what you&#39;ve been taught to the word of God because then you are going outside of the group only your group and your group leader or group leaders only they have the exclusive means of knowing truth because remember they usually get new interpretations or New Revelations from God that are mostly extra biblical they&#39;re not bound to the word so in many cases of course it is demonic because it does not come from God it comes from the devil so my brother and sister if any of you find yourselves in a cult like this with all these characteristics that I&#39;ve given you and you need to watch it again on this video and see if your group your church your denomination if they tick any of these little boxes that I&#39;ve given you then you must really pray and ask the Lord to set you free from such a group in his strength and in his power and to lead you through to be set free from that that kind of indoctrination and abuse now we will end with and the Bible says in Matthew 24:4 and 5 when the disciples asked Jesus what will be the signs of the times before he returns he said the following and Jesus answered and said unto them take heed that no man deceive you so many people are being deceived by Cult leaders cult groups cult denominations like the ones I already referred to they are being deceived and the Bible says Jesus says take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many so many people say but I am the anointed one and I am the anointed one of this group now that is what the word Christ also means anointed so is your group leader says but I&#39;m the only anointed one in this group beware take heed that no man deceive you Jesus says Ephesians 5:1 says and and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them the word there in the Greek for reprove also means expose them have no fellowship with them don&#39;t be part of them don&#39;t participate in what they are doing rather expose them reprove them by bringing out the truth of what they are saying because the Bible also says that which is done in secret will be proclaimed from the rooftops so we need to reveal these things to expose these things so that people outside will not be deceived in future by groups like these 2 Timothy 4:1 to4 says I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exort with all longsuffering and Doctrine you see you must reprove you must exhort you must rebuke with all longsuffering and Doctrine standing on the doctrine of the word of God for the time will come and my brother and sister we are living in those times these end times for the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own lusts shall they Heap to themselves teachers having itching ears you see they don&#39;t want to hear what they must hear they want to hear what they want to hear so they would go after teachers or leaders who tell them what they want to hear but through them those leaders start to indoctrinate them and start to build a following for them as cult leaders and then people don&#39;t understand why they can&#39;t receive the truth of the word of God any longer because they are going after men and not after God anymore and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables and the word fables there in Greek is muthos that is where the word myths come from my brother and sister we need to stand on the doctrines of the word of God we need to know our scriptures we need to stop being deceived and being misled because we do not know our scriptures we need to study our scriptures for ourselves on a daily basis in John 16:7 and8 Jesus says nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you and that comforter of course is the holy spirit but if I depart I will send him unto you and when he is come he will reprove and the word there also means convict or convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment you see my brother and sister you and I as human beings cannot convince or convict anybody else about Sin righteousness and judgment only the Holy Spirit can do that so we must pray if we know of people being part of these Cults or family members friends brothers and sisters that we had in the past that went after these Cults or these charismatic leaders following this cultic group we must pray for them for the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin of righteousness of judgment we must also pray for those leaders who are so deceived pulling all these people after them making people follow them instead of the word of God but only the Holy Spirit can do that kind of conviction so we must pray that conviction into the because the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but he is longsuffering to us W meaning he is patient not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that is what God wants from any cult group he wants them to repent to turn away from their Twisted views of Christian doctrine and to return to the truth of the word of God that they should all come to repentance to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives and to walk lives of sanctification in righteousness according to the word of God and not pulling people after them indoctrinating people with another gospel that is not what God wants he wants everybody to turn around he does not want anybody to perish but he wants that all should come to repentance and that is what you and I must also pray pray for these people my brother and sister you know we need to stand up for the truth of the word of God but to be able to stand up for the truth of the word of God we need to know the word of God we need to spend time with the word of God and the god of the word and not just a few minutes reading one or two verses before you fall asleep at night really studying your scriptures and listening to what other people say like these cult leaders checking whether you might be part of such a group going and speak speaking to your leaders regarding this and if they don&#39;t want to listen because you&#39;re the one that&#39;s wrong and how can you dare question me and all that you better get out of there in the name of Jesus Christ because Jesus wants you to be set free and to come after him so that you can be fixed to him we cannot fix any people to us cult leaders will always fix you to themselves because they want so many followers after them instead of taking their followers leading them to Christ now we must lead everybody to Christ it&#39;s never about any one of us it&#39;s always about our Lord Jesus Christ because my brother and sister he is not a dead God and therefore he says in Revelation 1: 17 and 18 I&#39;m the first and the last I&#39;m he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forever more amen and all honor and Glory goes to Jesus Christ of Nazareth so let us pray together father in the mighty name of Jesus Christ we glor GL ify your name thank you Lord that we know you are the God wants to set the captives free and I pray that in this little video Lord your holy spirit will take this message and touch the hearts of people who may be caught up in different kinds of Cults that they will be set free that they can come out of those Cults and walk after the truth of the word of God in a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ so that you can be glorified through that and that they will follow you in eternity and not be fixed to any people and put their trust in people but Lord I pray that you will give your people a hunger for your word that they will read the scriptures for themselves compare it to what their leaders may be teaching them that are not in line with your scriptures and then stand up for the truth of your word and not for what the leaders or the group may say and Lord Jesus we know you are true to your word and so we also know your coming is very close at hand and that is why we keep on crying out marata come Lord Jesus because the spirit and the bride say come for we love you Lord in Jesus name amen you are you are you are fa to the end you are fath you are you are the you are you are you are are you are

Transcript for:What is a Cult?

Transcript for:
What is a Cult?