Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
Scientology providing the grift of salvation, not the gift of
salvation. There's a reason why I would say
that the term grift, as it is defined in the dictionary, is a
group of methods for obtaining money falsely through the use of
swindles or fraud. And when I think of the Church
of Scientology, grift is exactly what I think of, because there
are many who will give thousands upon thousands, sometimes into
the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
To be able to go clear, we'll talk what that means in just a
moment. And then after going clear,
supposedly we'll continue to give money to maintain this
higher plane of living in existence of which they have
found. But yet really the only one who
benefits is the Church of Scientology.
And so I want us to look at that here today.
It has gained prominence through stars like John Travolta, Tom
Cruise, and the late Kirstie Alley.
Sometimes because of this, Scientology is called the Church
of the Stars because it is so ingrained into the Hollywood
would culture. Most recently it's had more
negative publicity. There was an actress named Leah
Remini who was on the TV show King of Queens who left
Scientology and has worked very hard at exposing many of the
secrets, much of the fraud, much of the abuses that have taken
place within the Church of Scientology.
And Scientology is dubious as it is both a religion and a cult.
As I just mentioned. It's a religion because as a
belief system, it is completely of its own.
There is nothing that Scientology can relate to.
There's no other religion. You could say, well, Scientology
is very close to this. It is completely invented from
the mind of 1L Ron Hubbard. But it's also a cult because for
almost 75 years, the 75 years it has been in existence, depending
on when you peg the date of it beginning, whether it was the
writing of Dianetics or whether it was founded as a religion
several years later. But for almost 75 years, it has
only had two leaders, one being its founder, L Ron Hubbard, and
then David Miskevich, who we'll talk about more in a few moments
as well. And if we were to summarize
Scientology in one sentence, it would be this.
Scientology, despite its glitz and glamour, will make you go
bankrupt before it sends you straight to hell.
That's not a great introduction to a religion, is it?
But that's what Scientology will do.
It'll make you go financially bankrupt before it sends you
straight to hell. Well, I do want us to look at
Colossians chapter #2 because I do think there's a passage here
that helps us understand a little bit of the problem of
Scientology. And certainly we're going to
have difficulty getting through this lesson.
This morning I have resigned myself to the thought or the
possibility that we may have to go into next week as well,
because there's some videos I believe you need to see to help
us set the foundation for what we're talking about.
And there's so many very, very strange doctrines that are
attached to this religion, as well as the fact that there are
many, many great abuses that have taken place in this
religion as well. There's no way I can cover them
all, but I do want to give you a good understanding of what it
is. So Colossians chapter 2 verse #6
says this, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walkie in him. Boy, that's good for us to
remember, isn't it? Don't just receive him, but then
once you've received Him, walk in His ways.
And it says in verse 7, rooted and build up in Him, established
in the faith as He had been taught, abounding therein with
Thanksgiving. And I love that outline.
First we're rooted, then we're built up, then we're
established, and then we're abounding.
That's the way walking in the Christian life works.
It's first rooted, then built up, then established, and then
what happens? You abound.
And then it says in verse 8, beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit.
After the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, that word rudiments means a first principle or a first
element, the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ, for
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily you say, What
does that mean? What means Jesus is God verse
#10 and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all
principality and power. And I think verse 10 certainly
goes very well with what we have learned in Colossians chapter 3
at Christ is all. And then we saw Colossians
chapter 3 that Christ is our life.
But look again at verse #8 where it says this just a second,
where lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit. After the tradition of mem,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
I think verse 8 May be the best way for us to be able to explain
what Scientology is all about. Philosophy.
Scientology has it vain deceit trying to trick people
physically trying to trick people and knowing that they are
yes they have it as well the tradition of men.
Scientology has it it may be wrapped up in new age
terminology. It may be wrapped up in L Ron
Hubbard science fiction background, but yet really the
things he's presenting are errors as old as time itself.
And in the rudiments of the world that the idea that there
are some of the basic elements that they are going to teach
you, well, they have that in their eight dynamics and they're
8 dynamics are again, falsehood as well.
So what's the origin of Scientology?
Well, Scientology was founded by 1.
L Ron Hubbard. He was a science fiction writer
who had no biblical authority, obviously, or divine calling.
He was a science fiction writer who also had a very interesting
history. But I would also suggest that
his interesting history was nowhere as interesting as what
the Church of Scientology has presented.
And like all cult leaders, they have to be able to have a
biography that would cause people to want to follow this
person. L Ron Hubbard does not have the
type of life that people should follow his life.
However, they have carefully cultivated and crafted a
biography over the years to make this man that you see right
here, perhaps the most interesting man that ever lived.
And so we're going to look at why that is here in just a
moment. His teachings originate from
human philosophy. Rather than revealing God's
Word, Scripture warns against doctrines rooted in man's ideas.
As we read here in just a moment, everything that you find
in the Church of Scientology all comes from the mind of 1L Ron
Hubbard. Whether it is the writing of the
book Dianetics or whether it's the teachings that follow.
You will not find any thread of Scripture in that which he
teaches. It is all New Age teaching that
is really rooted, as I mentioned just a moment ago, in Old Age
Error. That's just repackaged purposed
by this gentleman right here. Now, I am going to show you a
little bit of a lengthy video here.
It's about 10 minutes. But I do believe it will help us
set the foundation of who L Ron Hubbard is.
And if, again, listen very carefully to his biography and
some of the things that are being said, because we're going
to find out here in just a few moments that pretty much
everything you're about to hear is false.
So let's go ahead and watch that and then we'll make some
comments. He was born Lafayette Ronald
Hubbard on March 13th, 1911 in Tilda, Nebraska.
He spent his formative years in a rough and tumble Helena, Mt
where he rode barely broken range Bronx at the age of 3 1/2.
As his mother was that rarity of her time.
A thoroughly educated woman, he was also reading well beyond his
years philosophy, science and the pillars of Western
literature, all in an effort to satisfy a rare and abiding
curiosity. As his father was a United
States Naval officer, he was further afforded to then rare
opportunity to travel, Criss crossing America's diverse
communities in the teens of the 20th century.
At the age of 12, he entered the Boy Scouts, first leading his
troop to victory in a regional Scout advancement competition,
then representing Scouting to United States President Calvin
Coolidge. But it was his 21 merit badges
that most distinguished L Ron Hubbard at this juncture of his
life. For just days beyond his 13th
birthday, he became the youngest Eagle Scout in American history.
It was another distinction entirely, however, that set him
on the first leg of his life's course, specifically when an
American naval officer who had studied under Sigmund Freud
introduced young L Ron Hubbard to the theories of
psychoanalysis. Although left with many
unanswered questions, here was the moment when his enduring
interest in unraveling the mysteries of the human mind was
born. His father's naval career
provided the next avenue of inquiry, in particular a Far
East assignment allowing the 16 year old L Ron Hubbard a chance
to visit Asia. It was land still steeped in
mystery and rarely seen by Westerners, yet pursuing very
fundamental questions on the origins of man and the ultimate
source of life. He trekked more than 1/4 of
1,000,000 miles through India, China, Japan and the Philippines
into many remote cultures and much arcane wisdom, including
Veda Kim's at the root of mankind's oldest beliefs.
It was also through these travels he gained entrance to
forbidden Buddhist llamaseries in China's western hills and
there witnessed wonders beyond any known scientific
explanation. Shortly after his return to the
United States in 1929, he entered George Washington
University as an engineering student.
It was a rigorous curriculum of scientific methodology, the very
tools he needed to examine human thinking with unerring accuracy.
Here, too, was one of America's earliest classes on nuclear
physics, through which he embarked on yet another
investigatory trail, this one to isolate a postulated life source
theoretically detectable in small energy particles.
Yet laboratory experimentation was by no means all that
occupied his university days. Beginning in June of 1932, he
organized the first of several expeditions to remote and
primitive lands, initially a 5000 mile voyage into the
Caribbean where he mingled with the people predating Columbus by
at least 10 centuries. Next came Puerto Rico, where he
not only conducted one of the islands first complete
mineralogical surveys, but also studied yet another ancient
culture deep within the hinterland.
Then, taking his thirst for adventure to the skies, he
became America's 385th licensed glider pilot.
Heralded by newspapers of the day as Flash hovered for his
aerial antics, while as a barnstorming sensation of
powered flight across rural America, he mixed with still
another slice of society. Then, leaving university in the
depths of the Great Depression, he began his career as a
professional author, turning his true to life exploits into high
action tales for magazines of the day, tales of adventure,
tales of intrigue, science fiction, fantasies, westerns,
and even the occasional romance. As an undisputed legend of
American Pulp Fiction, L Ron Hubbard wrote it all.
Indeed, with more than 300 novels and novelettes to his
credit, so prodigious was his output, he was eventually
authoring stories under 15 pen names and so filling whole
magazines with his work. He was also scripting matinee
blockbusters for Hollywood and otherwise leaving an indelible
stamp as an author whose career would span 50 years.
Then just as exploits fueled story ideas, so his stories
funded still more exploration until he was regularly Criss
crossing the country to live extreme adventures and mix with
people as far afield as Native American tribes along the
Alaskan Panhandle. In recognition of discoveries in
the field, he was further honored with a place in the
prestigious and invitation only Explorers Club and so went on to
captain expeditions beneath 3 club flags.
But the real point of such adventures was the fact he was
mixing with life to fathom life. The first decisive breakthrough
came in 1937 when he isolated the single common denominator
between all living things, a dynamic principle of existence.
It was recorded in a manuscript entitled Excalibur and presented
the basis for all future research into the mind and
source of life. But then came an interruption to
that research, the Second World War.
As he had since earned a rare master mariner's license to
captain any vessel in any ocean, he received numerous
recommendations for Commission as a naval officer.
In particular, he was described discreet, loyal, honest, and
without peer in the art of getting things done.
So it was. Lieutenant L Ron Hubbard
commanded warships in both the Atlantic and Pacific.
He was highly decorated for duties under fire and ended his
service in a military hospital where he was treated for wounds
suffered in combat. But that's also where he
embarked on his final Rd. of discovery, working with injured
servicemen who had failed to recover despite intensive
medical care. He began employing all he had
learned through the previous decades, spiritual principles
from the East as well as scientific methodologies from
the West. What he then discovered were
mental factors inhibiting recovery and preventing
medicines from taking effect. And when in fact those mental
blocks were addressed, the medicine began to work and
patients swiftly returned to health.
He then continued refining procedures on people from all
walks of life, actors and writers in Hollywood's film
community, St. gang members whom he treated as a special officer
with the LAPD, even deeply troubled patients at a Georgia
institution. And so it was.
Having developed a workable technology of the mind, he
authored A definitive text on the subject, a work detailing
all underlying theory, discoveries and techniques.
That book was Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health.
Published on May 9th, 1950. It sparked a storm of popular
enthusiasm and immediately hit the New York Times bestseller
list for 26 consecutive weeks. As such, it was the biggest
selling book on the mind ever written and remains so today.
Contained within was the discovery of the reactive mind,
the hidden source of nightmares, unreasonable fears, upsets, and
insecurity. Yet L Ron Hubbard never
considered Dianetics an end to his research, but rather a
stepping stone to the discovery and isolation of that long,
elusive life source. And indeed, the techniques of
Dianetics provided the means by which practitioners soon began
discovering past lives, pressing application and research.
Even further came the accomplishment of what is known
as exteriorization. Demonstrating the spirit was
indeed separable from the body and mind, The Scientology
religion was born. Thereafter, L Ron Hubbard delved
ever deeper into the spiritual nature of man, documenting his
discoveries in thousands of recorded lectures, articles and
books. While to present those
discoveries, he literally circumnavigated the globe.
And so churches of Scientology opened on 4 continents,
headquartered at his long term residence in Southern England.
Through ensuing years, L Ron Hubbard continued advancing the
subject until his passing in 1986.
His legacy comprises 10s of millions of published words and
3000 recorded lectures, while with over 250 million copies of
his books and lectures in circulation, he has inspired a
movement spanning all continents and all cultures.
So to those who would ask what kind of man could have founded
the only major religion of the 20th century, the answer is
simple enough. A man who lived life from the
top down and the bottom up. A man who would see much wisdom
and great suffering. A man who spent a quarter of a
century bridging the gap between East and West, science and
religion. A man such as L Ron Hubbard.
All right, that video was sponsored by Oscar Mayer.
Because there's a lot of baloney there, all right?
There's no other way to be able to put that.
The main foundation of that was to understand life.
You have to live life. And that's why L Ron Hubbard's
biography has to be so incredibly effusive as far as
how much praise is given to him. But yet, let me just give you a
short list of some of the false claims that were made in that
video. And I do mean that this is a
short list. The video falsely claims L Ron
Hubbard was the youngest Eagle Scout in American history by
joining at age 12 and then becoming the youngest at age 13
with 21 merit badges when younger boys had already earned.
It. Asserts he was a naval officer
who studied under Freud who introduced him to psychoanalysis
when no such officer or contact is documented.
Exaggerates that he traveled 25250 thousand miles across Asia
studying ancient cultures when his teenage trips were only
brief port stops covering a tiny fraction of that distance.
Presents his 1932 Puerto Rican trip as a major expedition to
study ancient cultures when it was actually a short failed
amateur mineral hunt. States that he wrote over 300
novels and novelettes when his published Pulp Fiction totals
only about 140 or 150 works. Asserts he commanded warships in
the Atlantic and Pacific during World War 2 when he only briefly
led to small non combat support vessels and was relieved of both
commands. Portrays him as a heroic combat
veteran with significant wartime action when he had no combat
service, no wounds, and only standard non combat metals.
Said he discovered during World War 2 that mental factors block
physical healing when no wartime records support.
This implies he held a rare near unlimited Master Mariner license
for any vessel on any ocean when his actual 1940 Masters license
was standard commercial credentials with normal
restrictions. States Dianetics.
Auditing naturally led to past life discoveries that birth
scientification when past lives were not even formally part of
Scientology until 1952 to 1954. And that's the short list of the
problems of what is here. The fundamental disconnect is
that to know life and to live life is not to know life.
To know God is to know life. That is what truly understanding
life is all about. And how do we know God?
Well, we know God from His Word, what He has revealed to us in
the 66 books that we have here in the Bible now in 1950, L Ron
Hubbard. Did write the book Dianetics
claiming to explain the true cause of all human problems.
Now I found it interesting as I was looking at some of the
images and putting these slides together.
Why do most of the books really from I believe the 1970s or so
and on have this volcano at the front of Dianetics?
And the reason why is because this is the belief of L Ron
Hubbard that very, very far back in Earths history, there was an
alien named Xenu who brought his people to the Earth to be able
to have them to die and then put H bombs inside all the volcanoes
of the Earth and had them explode to be able to kill his
own people. And that is why there's a
volcano on the front. Now look it up if you don't
believe me, because I'll be honest with you.
It's even coming out of my mouth.
And it sounds as crazy as the planet Kolob with the Mormons.
But it's again this fanciful science fiction writer who has
brought these ideas from his mind.
It is trying to portray them into the culture of Scientology.
He claims that that the true 'cause of all human problems can
be found in this book, Dianetics.
Dianetics teaches that man's issue is mental damage rather
than spiritual sin. Now Scripture identifies the
heart as the real problem, doesn't it?
Jeremiah 17/9. The heart is deep, deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? You don't just find the deep
problems of the heart and then root them out yourself.
The problem is sin, and only Jesus Christ can save us.
And so that's very clear that this is not according to the
word of God. That's just one facet of it that
is different from the word of God.
When Dianetics failed in 1950 as both science and medicine, and
it was on the New York Times bestseller list for some period
of time, but immediately fell out of favor as a self help book
because many of the common authorities of the time said
this is bunk. There is nothing here
whatsoever. And then because of legal issues
as well that he was having from his self help book, it was
easier for him to turn Dianetics into a religion, which came the
Church of Scientology. Because with that religious
exemption placed upon him, there were legal protections that he
had as a nonprofit, including being able to amass large
amounts of funds and not having to pay any taxes on them.
And so Scientology was never what L Ron Hubbard was trying to
found, but he founded it because of the difficulties he was
having with Dianetics in those early years.
Scientology has been marketed since to Hollywood.
Of course, L Ron Hubbard was, I would say, a Barnacle on the
whole of Hollywood. He certainly was not a major
part of Hollywood, but he was part of the Hollywood culture
and seen enough that he realized very quickly that the best way
to be able to have Scientology to grow is to be able to market
to Hollywood elites. Why?
Because those are the cultural tastemakers, if you will.
They are the ones that are out there.
They are the Tom Cruise's. And by the way, when you look at
Tom Cruise's life and some of the extraordinary feats that he
does do, I have to wonder if he's trying to emulate the life
of 1L Ron Hubbard, which, ironically enough, is not
grounded in reality. But to be able to do these
incredible stunts, to be able to pilot aircraft that civilians
shouldn't even be able to pilot, But he has the ability to.
And he does these things, and he credits Scientology for it.
But it does seem like he's trying to scratch an itch that
maybe was placed there by looking at the biography of 1L
Ron Hubbard of many Scientologists come from
Hollywood. And the reason why is now there
is such an undercurrent of Scientologists in Hollywood.
There are many struggling actors, there are many
struggling musicians who find that by going into the Church of
Scientology, they have a support group that can help them,
producers, directors and otherwise can get them into TV
shows, into movies, recording contracts.
And it's almost as if it's the Rotary Club club.
It's almost as if it's the Lions Club for Hollywood for you to
enter in. Maybe just think that there's
really nothing to it. There's just a group of people
that want to do some nice things, some good things.
They're all part of Hollywood. But not realizing how absolutely
sinister the Church of Scientology is now.
Its current leader is 1. David Miscavige.
As soon as L Ron Hubbard passed away in 1986.
Miscavige, who was 25 years old at the time, took the reins of
power through some very Machiavellian type ways to be
able to take control from others who would have been next in
line, but instead has taken over and has been the leader ever
since. He has substantially increased
their financial holdings. Estimates rage that they make
anywhere from some on the low end 150 to $200 million a year
on the high end up to 1/2 a million or rather half a billion
dollars a year comes in. And from what I have seen
personally, I would say would probably be more on the higher
end and that's just calling their liquid assets, not
counting the substantial holdings that they have in real
estate as well in California and Clearwater, FL.
And also my familiarity with Scientology goes back to living
in Tampa as long as I did and seeing Scientology basically
take over downtown Clearwater, FL.
And when that process was taking place in the early 2000s, I
remember in the newspaper, yes, I subscribed to the newspaper
back in the early 2000s in the Saint Pete Times.
They did a great number of exposes on the Church of
Scientology and the Church of Scientology and David Miscavage
is really part of this is very much attached to their image.
They very much do not want the truth of what Scientology is to
come out. And if you were to remove
yourself or to be able to come out of within the Church of
Scientology, particularly if you're in some of those most
inner part groups like the C org, that would be one of them.
Those people will come after you.
They'll come after your family, they'll come after your assets.
They'll come after you in court. They are very vindictive in many
ways when you consider what I would call organized crime.
There are a lot of similarities in the name of religion with the
Church of Scientology with that man in his leader.
He's a very mysterious man. He's only given one interview
since 1986. That interview was on Nightline
in the 90s with one Ted Koppel. Now interestingly enough, he
handled himself so poorly in that interview that he has never
given another interview since. You cannot find this man
speaking other than today on the Church of Scientology YouTube
page or website. That's the only place that you
can hear him now. Interestingly enough, because
it's a cult, he has been set up as a deity.
He has been set up as much as L Ron Hubbard and I would even
argue even more. Doing an inspection of their
YouTube page this week and finding some of the videos that
I was looking for. I found that, well, if you were
to look at the Church of Scientology, this is their
actual YouTube channel. Out of these 12 videos that are
there, you have 123-4567 videos. What are they?
This guy is awesome. This guy is great.
What does it say? He inspires respect.
He sets the example. He feels like a friend.
He welcome to me, says Alice. Inspires real admiration, has
our full support, leads with unwavering purpose.
What you see here is the very actions of a cult lifting up its
leader more than the teachings itself.
And by the way, the teachings itself are pretty bad.
Now, Miscavige also has another issue.
Well, he has many issues, but one would be his wife, Shelly
Miscavige. She has disappeared since 2007.
The Queen Mother, if you will, of Scientology, she disappeared,
quote UN quote, and has never been seen since.
Leah Remini, when she left Scientology, actually put out a
missing persons report for, excuse me, Shelly Miskevich.
She reported it to the Los Angeles Police Department and
within hours the case was closed.
Now, I'm not saying that I know exactly what happened here.
But when you look at the mystery of what takes place, when you
look at the abuses of what takes place, including in a location
that is called the hole, where people in are taken to Los
Angeles if they do not obey the Church of Scientology.
Where you're living in a place that what I have read by all
accounts is worse than prison and run by the Church of
Scientology surrounded by razor wire to make sure people don't
get in and to make sure that people don't get out.
There's a lot here to be said for the Church of Scientology.
Now we're going to look at some of the unique terms that you
find in Scientology. And as a former science fiction
writer, L Ron Hubbard's teachings resemble what he wrote
for a living. Fiction.
What you are hearing is something that you might hear in
Star Wars or Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica, maybe
because this is coming from the mind of one who wrote that type
of fiction for several years. Dianetics teaches that there is
both an analytical mind and you might have heard it and saw it
on that video we saw a few moments ago, but there's also a
reactive mind as well. The analytical mind is what
you're using right now according to Scientology.
You're thinking about what I'm saying.
You're thinking about what's for lunch.
You're thinking about when is it ever going to warm up.
These are the things that you're thinking about right now in your
analytical mind. But the reactive mind is
different. The reactive mind allegedly
stores all painful memories that control behavior.
That can be memories from this life, that can be memories from
a past life, from any of your past lives.
And so you can see the rabbit hole that you can immediately go
down when you are suffering from difficulties, when you're
suffering from issues and you go to the Church of Scientology and
they say you are something in your reactive mind.
And it could be in this life. It could have happened in the
womb. Yes, I said that, right?
It could have been prenatal or it could have happened in a
previous life. And only we can help you.
And guess what? It's going to cost a lot of
money. So how do they help treat these
types of issues? Well, they start with N grams.
And N grams are those traumatic mental recordings that are
stored in the reactive mind. Scientology claims these cause
sickness, fear and immorality. Interestingly enough, you might
have remembered a well. Tom Cruise had several very
famous interviews, one jumping on the couch with Oprah, but
another one on the Today show many years ago where he was
talking about drugs and talking about particularly drugs that
would help with mental conditions and things like that.
And it made very clear that those were not to be taken under
any way, shape or form. Why was he saying that?
He was saying that because he was getting to the point that
really any type of mental issue, yes, any type of mental issue
that someone is dealing with is because of the engrams that they
have stored within them. Again, from this life, from
prenatal life, from a previous life.
This is what they teach and they need to have those end grams be
able to have rise to the surface so that you can eventually go
quote UN quote clear and you can be free of all of those types of
things. But scripture teaches evil
proceeds from where the heart mark 721 through 23 from within
out of the heart of men predicts precede evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness and evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile the man. Scientology teaches at engrams
can be formed again before birth or even while unconscious, and
this removes moral responsibility for the Sinner.
You're not the fault for your own sin.
It was someone else who in a different body, but with your
soul, your theaton soul that was able to do those things and now
you are paying the price. But yet we understand scripture
teaches what personal accountability.
Each of us are accountable for our own actions.
And I just mentioned that word theaton, but that is also
another word that is used theaton your theaton mind or
your theaton life. It's really what your essence is
called. It can be used in many different
ways, but scripture clearly denies reincarnation and teaches
that there is one life and after this what the judgment is
appointed on demand wants to die, but after this the judgment
and grams replace sin as the root of the problem.
So without sin there is nothing to be saved from.
There really is no problems. You have these N grams from your
your feet and spirit and your essence and they have to be
brought out. Now how are these N grams
uncovered? How do Scientologists learn
about their your most self? Well, they get together in what
they would call a form of worship, if you will.
And So what happens when Scientologists come together?
What are some of the things that they do?
We're going to watch video #2 and this is probably the last
video that we're going to show this morning, gentlemen.
We'll go into next week. But why don't we go ahead and
show the second video we can see?
What do those Scientologists do when they gather together?
I could understand how you'd be curious.
I mean, you walk in, you go, what is it?
What is this place? Walking to a Church of
Scientology is very much a new kind of experience.
It's not like a, a church that I was used to walking into.
You know, it's very modern looking, you know, very, very
clean. You know, it was a very friendly
atmosphere. People come in every day, all
the time, just walking in, hey, what is this?
What is this place? I'd like to know.
One of the things that you definitely see is a lot of
displays. We have panels, there's video
displays that are just designed just to answer questions.
It answers every question that they could possibly have about
what is Scientology. They can just literally push the
button, watch that 2 minute display and know exactly what
that concept is. You know, you can come spend 10
minutes, spend 2 hours, grab a coffee, just kind of come as you
are, check it out, walk. Through Scientologists have a
church because it's a a place where we can go to study, to
have Sunday service. We do the same types of things.
We have our Sunday services. We do marriages of naming
ceremonies. We have all kinds of services
that we do as a group, but one thing that's particular about
Scientology is that there's also a personal aspect to it.
You can kind of choose like OK what do I need help with in my
life? The first thing probably most
everyone does is a course. That's actually the theology in
Scientology. That's where you're learning
about the actual philosophy itself, and it is a religious
philosophy, but it's also an applied religious philosophy.
See, go apply it Kind of like a spiritual college.
I have tons of courses on pretty much any subject you really
think of. There are courses on how to
communicate better, how to get along with others, how to handle
negative people, how to raise children.
It's not just a philosophy where you sit and think about it.
It's taking the spiritual nature of man and it's combining it
with something that's really practical.
It has a way of being very, very simple and easy to come across
to the reader and easy to apply, but also extremely powerful.
You come in, you pick and share, you like, you sit down, you
study there. It's really quite simple.
You feel good when you're studying there.
You don't need to be a Scientologist and you can be any
religion really to come check it out.
The whole point is you're yourself in a Church of
Scientology. You're the one doing the
learning. Nobody's preaching to you or
teaching it to you. You're learning it yourself.
Well, here at the church we deliver courses, we deliver
personal counseling called auditing, and we deliver the
purification rundown. The Purification Rundown
actually opens the way to spiritual progress.
It's an all natural regimen which frees one from the harmful
effects of drugs and toxins. Old drugs that you took,
pesticide. You sweat all those things out
of your system and you feel so much more alive, revitalizing.
The simplicity. And the.
Power of it is immeasurable. There's also something called
auditing, which is Scientology counseling, and that is
extremely unique. That is where you actually get
rid of the unwanted emotions and unwanted habits, psychosomatic
illnesses. There's no hypnosis involved in
it. There's no analyzation, no.
One tells you what's wrong with you.
It finds the roots. It finds the cause, what's going
on, and it handles that spiritually for you.
You are giving back yourself. You start to recognize really
who you are, and that's really spiritual enlightenment.
What they use in auditing is an instrument called an E meter,
which really helps a person to locate areas of pain and trauma
that you may not be totally aware of.
Anybody can walk into a Church of Scientology and just write
off reception, get a demonstration of the E meter for
themselves. I mean, literally the person can
walk up and see for themselves how that actually works.
Tools and Scientology are used for you to help you with the
areas of your life that you're having trouble with.
It's a personal experience for an individual and.
It's not lumping everyone into the same ball of wax because we
all know it. We're all different.
Any person that walks in my course room is a totally new
person with their own story, with their own life.
And as you take that journey, you become more and more you.
You become more and more an individual.
After all, that's what we have to offer.
The world is our own unique view.
There's searches in Paris, in London, in New York.
Moscow, Germany. All over Europe, in Madrid, in
Africa. The best way to find out about
something. Is really to?
Look for yourself. It's as simple as opening the
door. You're always welcome.
We'll admit having a sauna in the church on a day like today
would be something that would be nice.
But you can see that everything in the video deals with you.
What do you want? What are you going to become?
You can become a better form of you.
This is what it is really. You are a good person.
You really have no type of sinful habits that need to be.
You need to be safe from no, no. What is the real issue?
The real issue is you need to find the better you.
And we find that in that video, there were several things that
were mentioned, as we saw from the first video, now kind of
distilled in the second video as we see these things being put
into practice that I want to show you quickly.
The 1st is auditing the idea of being audited.
What is that? Well, it's a counseling process
meant to erase those harmful engrams.
Freedom is promised through repeated sessions rather than
forgiveness, because that's what we do need, isn't it?
Forgiveness. Scripture teaches cleansing
comes through the blood of Jesus Christ first.
John 17 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins.
So how is the auditor able to be able to tell what the end grams
are and how they can be removed? Well, it's through the use of
what you saw a few moments ago as well.
Oh, by the way, this is an auditing session right here.
We saw that on the video, but it's really through the use of
the E meter. The E meter measures skin
response during auditing. Scientology claims it reveals
spiritual and mental problems as you hold what sometimes are
colloquially called the cans. You saw those two things that
they're holding. It measures electrical response,
and as you talk during the auditing session, as that meter
goes up and down, it's supposed to show some areas where there
are harmful engrams that need to be removed.
And we can take a picture or look at an E meter right here.
Now, scientifically, medically, whatever way you want to look at
this, this has been uncovered as really nothing more than bunk.
There is nothing that can be found here that would be helpful
in any way, shape or form. There's no scientific basis for
this. Literally they have to take by
faith that this is actually helping them.
And it's another reminder that this is a faith-based system.
There is nothing here that can be looked at as anything that is
grounded on science. Well, and we look at ourselves,
we believe by faith, but it's also reasonable that we believe
by faith as well because we look around us and we see what God
has done and what God has created and the heavens declare
the glory of God in the firmament show of this
handiwork. That's not really a a leap for
us to be able to realize that faith is what we need to have.
This is unreasonable faith. It's putting your faith in
something that cannot help you in any way, shape or form.
The E meter replaces conviction by the Holy Spirit mechanical
reading substitute for divine truth.
And as you are using the E meter for months and years, it is
hoped that eventually you will go clear.
Going clear is the process of using auditing to completely
eliminate the reactive mind once and for all.
That's the idea is that the reactive mind and all the end
grams that it contains will eventually be taken away
completely and you have finally gone clear.
Now the first clear quote, UN quote was in 1950, Ron Hubbard
presented a student named Sonia Bakani as the world's first
clear during a presentation in Los Angeles.
Again, this was before it became an actual religion.
Interestingly enough, the first real clear was in 1966 because
years later Hubbard officially designated of South African man
named John McMaster as the first true clear under the religion's
evolve criteria. So even his criteria of what it
meant to be clear changed over time, which meant more sessions,
which meant what? More money.
But interestingly enough, he went clear in 1966, but John
McMaster left the organization three years later.
And so think of he's a man that finally made it to the pinnacle.
And three years later he goes, I'm out.
I can't do this anymore. It tells you of the absolute
egregious nature of this both religion and a cult named
Scientology. Well, it is true that I will not
be able to make it through all that I want us to look at here
this week. And so we'll continue our look
at Scientology and finish our look at Scientology by God's
grace next week. I would encourage you if you
want to look at some reading this week if there's something
that would interest you. There is a book called Going
Clear. I read it last year.
That was an expose is an expose on the Church of Scientology is
written by a gentleman named Lawrence Wright.
I would highly recommend it. Leah Remini has several
documentaries. I cannot necessarily recommend
them on the basis of the language that's contained within
them, but understand that as a documentary and as a teaching,
it does give some understanding of what she came through from.
And then also a man named Mike Rinder, who is also very high in
the sea organization, how he came out and is trying to expose
those things. And literally, if you go online
and just type in Tampa Bay Times and then Scientology, you'll
find about 20 years of articles that the Tampa Bay Times used to
be called the Saint Pete Times have written in about
Scientology again, because of of its secondary home base in
Clearwater, FL. And I can tell you, you can go
down the rabbit hole and find some very enlightening articles
there as well. Thank you for listening to the
sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday
at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.