1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,240 Hello, if you were watching online and we are at our Sunday 8 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,840 School hour and I'd invite you to turn your Bibles please to 9 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,880 Genesis chapter #3 this morning as we are in week one of our new 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,440 series. I am so excited about this 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:36,640 series. I had to be honest with you. 12 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,400 It seemed like there's a little bit of excitement from you about 13 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,520 this Sunday School series. And you know, when it comes to 14 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,040 Sunday school, Sunday School and excitement aren't 2 terms that 15 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,040 always go together. They ought to go together, but 16 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,320 they don't always go together. I'm a big proponent of Sunday 17 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:51,760 School. I think it's a wonderful time 18 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:53,040 for us to be able to be together. 19 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,760 It's not just for the children, it's for the adults as well. 20 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,840 But I'm really looking forward to this series on world religion 21 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,280 and cults. And I think it's important for 22 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,120 us to be broadcasting it online as well. 23 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,760 So for those who are unable to be here to be able to watch as 24 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,280 well. And if you're not able to be 25 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,360 here for a Sunday that you can catch up and stay up with where 26 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:13,800 we are. We'll make sure that this is 27 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,640 going to be on our podcast as well. 28 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,880 So you can catch it in podcast form if you don't get it on 29 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,360 video. But thankful for all these 30 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:21,800 opportunities that we're able to do. 31 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,960 And really all these opportunities are free for the 32 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,400 church pay to be able to live stream. 33 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,240 We don't have to pay to podcast. I'm thankful that the word can 34 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,840 go out at no charge. And to be able to let the 35 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,840 ministry of not just liberty, but the ministry of the word to 36 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,080 be able to go out. And I'm really, really thankful 37 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,600 for that. Well, I'm excited about this 38 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,520 series and we're going to be laying some groundwork for the 39 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:42,920 next few weeks. You say when do we get into the 40 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,320 specific religions or when do we get in the specific cult? 41 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,480 Well, it's going to take a few weeks for us to get there. 42 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:49,040 And so this isn't a bait and switch. 43 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,480 I'm not trying to trick you or anything like that. 44 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,160 But the idea is we have to kind of really get a base 45 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:55,760 understanding of what we're talking about. 46 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,080 What are we talking about when we talk about a religion, What 47 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,240 are we talking about? We're talking about a cult. 48 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,400 Where do these come from and why is it important for us to 49 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:04,920 discuss them? I do want to make something 50 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,720 clear before we begin. When it comes into our teaching, 51 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,759 when it comes to what we're going to discuss about these 52 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:12,720 things. We're going to attack the 53 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,040 articles of faith of these false teachings. 54 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,280 We're going to attack the authorities of these false 55 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,720 teachings. We're not going to attack the 56 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,680 adherence of these false teachings. 57 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,440 What I mean is this, we're trying to win someone who 58 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,280 happens to be involved in one of these cults. 59 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:28,520 We're trying to win someone that's involved in one of these 60 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,240 other religions. Does it really do us well to 61 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,480 talk about how stupid they are? So I'm just be, I'm being very 62 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,960 blunt right now. I'm being very blunt about this 63 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,240 and I hope you understand what I'm saying. 64 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,680 What, are we going to attack the articles of faith? 65 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,760 We will because they're heresy. They're straight from the devil. 66 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,480 Are we going to attack the authorities that are propagating 67 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,240 these things? Absolutely, we are. 68 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,120 But there's a lot of people who have just been, well, flat out 69 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,240 duped by a lot of these false teachings. 70 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:56,600 And we're not attacking these people. 71 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,320 We're trying to lovingly tell them Jesus Christ is the answer. 72 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,200 And we're not going to achieve that by telling them, Hey, what 73 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,960 kind, what a rube are you? I mean, what kind of a simpleton 74 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,240 are you that you would believe something like? 75 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,160 And there's going to be some really crazy things that we're 76 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,240 going to look at in a lot of these different religions and a 77 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,400 lot of these different cults. But we're not going to call them 78 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,360 out in the sense of how simple minded they are. 79 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,400 We're going to call them out to the love of Jesus Christ, which 80 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,520 is what saves the soul, the only thing that saves the soul. 81 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,040 Remember, these world religions and cults are not just other 82 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,360 ways to get to God. There's only one way to get to 83 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:29,840 God. That's Jesus Christ. 84 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,000 It's Christ alone. Jesus said that. 85 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,720 But at the same time, we're to look at these other types of 86 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,240 religions, faiths, thought processes, however you want to 87 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,760 look at it and realize they really all boil down to one 88 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:44,480 group, if you will, and that's error. 89 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,680 The truth is the Word of God. Error is, well, everything else. 90 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,640 And that's what we're going to look at this morning in our 91 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,080 series. And you'll see we're in week 1, 92 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,280 the difference between God and not God, God versus not God. 93 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,680 I asked you to go to Genesis chapter #3 because this is 94 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:01,600 really where a lot of the trouble begins, isn't it? 95 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,280 Well, it's really where all the trouble began, isn't it? 96 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,440 In the Garden of Eden. I know that you are familiar 97 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,400 with this passage, very likely. But I do think that it's good 98 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,200 for us to be able to look at it here in just a moment. 99 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,280 Now, I know that in preaching here at Liberty Baptist Church, 100 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,360 I've said many times that it's important for us to be more 101 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,040 familiar with the truth that it is with error. 102 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,080 You know, if you can't show a bank teller all the different 103 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,200 kinds of counterfeit bills that are out there because they're 104 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,440 constantly changing, but you can show a bank teller what real 105 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,000 money looks like, what it feels like, even what it smells like, 106 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,640 so that they are familiar with the truth. 107 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,240 So by being familiar with the truth, they can spot error. 108 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,920 I still believe that. I think that is the best way for 109 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,480 us to learn and grow about what falsehood is by knowing the 110 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:45,160 truth. Amen. 111 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:49,600 But at the same time, we would be remiss to say, you know, it's 112 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,240 not bad for us to understand what some of these other thought 113 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,120 processes are. And one of the reasons why is 114 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,040 because if I meet a Jehovah Witness and I want to help win 115 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,120 them to Jesus Christ, well, I should be able to know a little 116 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,480 bit of the thought process, a little bit of their doctrine. 117 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,760 So I would be able to talk to them in a way that would 118 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,560 resonate with them and help them to understand where their 119 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,880 doctrine differs from the Word of God. 120 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:15,360 If I talk to a Muslim, they might have regard for Abraham or 121 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,960 for Moses or even for Jesus, but we would show them that perhaps 122 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,240 their regard for them is not what the Bible teaches about 123 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,160 those same characters. And we will be able to, Lord 124 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,200 willing, lovingly be able to show them the truth of the 125 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,520 gospel, Jesus Christ. So there is value and 126 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,360 understanding error as long as we're not swayed by error. 127 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,880 There is value in understanding error as long as we're not 128 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,960 influenced by error. And my desire is for us to give 129 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,960 you this error, but then immediately give you an infusion 130 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,320 of the truth so that you understand this is where it's 131 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:47,000 wrong. But this is what the Bible says, 132 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,880 and this is where we should stand. 133 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,400 Where does all this come from? Well, our adversary, first Peter 134 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,560 5/8 you know this from our series. 135 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,360 Add to your faith, be sober, be vigilant, because your 136 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,680 adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about 137 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,080 seeking whom he may devour. That word adversary means an 138 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,760 enemy or foe, one who has enmity at heart. 139 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,440 Now, that word enmity is not one that we use very often. 140 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,480 It's a good King James word, but it's not one necessarily that 141 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,960 rolls off the tongue here in 2025. 142 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,520 But consider what this word enmity means, The quality of 143 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,760 being an enemy, the opposite of friendship, Ill will, hatred, 144 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:28,560 unfriendly dispositions. It expresses more than aversion 145 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,680 and less than malice, and differs from displeasure in 146 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,440 denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is 147 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,160 more transient. Do you hear what the definition 148 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:39,960 is saying there? Satan hates you. 149 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:44,360 Satan has no desire to be friends with you whatsoever, and 150 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,360 if his thought processes seem friendly, it's only to be able 151 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,600 to deceive you and to be able to draw you in to his own wicked 152 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,360 devices. Well, let's go and read our 153 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:56,840 text. We're in Genesis chapter #3 154 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:58,320 We'll look at this old serpent right here. 155 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,200 Genesis chapter 3 beginning verse one that says, Now the 156 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,680 serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the 157 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,840 Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yay 158 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,720 hath God said, A lot of Satan's issues come down to those 4 159 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,240 words, don't they? Yay hath God said, You shall not 160 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,520 eat of the tree or every tree of the garden? 161 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,800 And the woman said, Under the serpent, We may eat of the tree, 162 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,640 or the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the 163 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,640 tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You 164 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,160 shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. 165 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,000 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, 166 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,400 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your 167 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,000 eyes shall be open, and you shall be as gods, knowing good 168 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,080 and evil. When the woman saw that the tree 169 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,560 was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree 170 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,760 to be desired to make one wise, she took it the fruit thereof, 171 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,720 and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did 172 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,280 eat. And the eyes of both of them 173 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,080 were open. They knew they were naked, and 174 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,640 they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 175 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,280 Now drop down to verse #13 because the Lord enters the 176 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,400 picture here, and it says in the Lord God said unto the woman, 177 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,200 What is this that thou has done? And the woman said, The serpent 178 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,720 beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the 179 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,640 serpent, Because thou has done this, thou art cursed above all 180 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,920 cattle, and above every beast of the field. 181 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,040 Upon thy belly shalt thou go. Dust shalt thou eat all the days 182 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,240 of thy life. I'll remind you when it says 183 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,960 dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 184 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,280 I don't normally see a snake eating dust. 185 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:31,760 I don't think that's normally what they say. 186 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:33,360 But may I remind you where we come from? 187 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,760 We're just of dust, aren't we? And what does Satan do? 188 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,880 He wants to devour you, and he wants to devour me. 189 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,600 And go back to chapter 2, verse 7, and find that we're made of 190 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,560 the dust, of the ground dust. Shall you return to the ground? 191 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,720 Verse 15, I'll put enmity between there and the woman. 192 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,040 There's that word again. And between thy seed and her 193 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,880 seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 194 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,560 In this text we see two very clear things. 195 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:01,640 First of all, Satan's lies to Eve hath God said, and then you 196 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,880 shall not surely die. It isn't that the way Satan is. 197 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:05,800 He starts subtly. That's the word that's used in 198 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,840 verse #1 Hey, let me just question the Lord just a little 199 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:11,760 bit. But then once you get a little 200 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,840 bit deeper, he shows his true intentions. 201 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,400 He bears his teeth. He says, listen, God's 202 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,600 misleading you. God doesn't love you. 203 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:23,680 In fact, God is doing this because He knows that if you eat 204 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:25,320 of that fruit, you'll become like him. 205 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,600 He's being territorial, he's jealous, he he doesn't care for 206 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:31,840 you like he says. And are these lies that he's 207 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,040 still using today about, you know, 7000 years later, they're 208 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,320 still the same type of lies that he's using about the Lord. 209 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,000 So we see first Satan's lies to Eve, but secondly, we see the 210 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,320 enmity that God placed between Satan and mankind. 211 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,640 It says there in verse 15, and I will put enmity between thee and 212 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,520 the woman. So think about this. 213 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,240 At some point there was a friendly relationship between 214 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,880 the serpent and Adam and Eve. I have to believe that because 215 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,080 Eve does not seem startled that the serpent comes talks to her. 216 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,720 Eve does not seem surprised that this takes place, that there was 217 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,760 to some level a friendly relationship. 218 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:12,200 Of course, Satan certainly had no friendly ideals to have with 219 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,280 Adam and Eve. But at some point there was some 220 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,080 level of commonality or there was some level of relationship, 221 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,720 certainly that have things in common in the sense that, you 222 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,520 know, he was not a bad person. We know we're going to find out 223 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:26,560 just a second what his origin story is. 224 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,800 But whatever relationship there could have been immediately was 225 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,280 over. It was done. 226 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,480 Why? Because God says you are on 227 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,120 opposing poles. Never the two shall meet. 228 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:41,440 What Satan wants and what God wants for mankind do not match 229 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:42,840 up. They're on parallel tracks. 230 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:44,680 They never connect with one another. 231 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,040 They cannot connect with one other because Satan wants you 232 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:48,720 destroyed and God wants you to live. 233 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:50,960 And it's just as simple as that, isn't it? 234 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,840 And so this origin story of Satan, how this all came to be, 235 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,360 helps us understand this issue. So we're going to turn our Bible 236 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:00,720 to several different places this morning. 237 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,040 Isaiah chapter 14, if you will. Isaiah chapter 14. 238 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:05,920 You might be familiar with some of these passages. 239 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,320 And that's OK because we're really setting the groundwork 240 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:14,920 for what's to come. Isaiah chapter #14 Blue verse 241 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:27,040 #12 Isaiah 14, verse 12. Says, How art thou fallen from 242 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,200 heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? 243 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,800 How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the 244 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,080 nation's? For thou has said in thine 245 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:36,920 heart, I will ascend into heaven. 246 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:39,920 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 247 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,280 I will sit also upon the mountain or the mount of the 248 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:44,880 congregation in the side of the north. 249 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:47,360 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 250 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,200 I will be like the Most High. You see Satan having an eye 251 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,120 problem here. It's all about I will, I will, I 252 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,080 will. And ironically, I know I've said 253 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,840 this before, but ironically, just the fact that he said I 254 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,960 will become was the admission that he was not right in what he 255 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:03,560 said. He was admitting he was not God 256 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:05,880 because God. God didn't have to grow up to 257 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,480 become God, He just always was. And here's Satan saying, Well, I 258 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,720 will become. That is a admission on his part 259 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:14,880 that he is not and will never be gone. 260 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:20,240 But yet in his absolute insanity he thinks that he will become 261 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,000 like God himself. Yet thou shall be brought down 262 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,280 to hell, to the sides of the pit. 263 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,040 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and 264 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,120 consider thee saying, Is this the man that made the earth to 265 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,120 tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as 266 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,280 a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof that open not the 267 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,240 House of his prisoners. I truly believe that when we get 268 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,040 to heaven and we see this scene unfold that we find at the end 269 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,520 of the Book of Revelation that we'll look upon Satan and 270 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,320 realize that's the guy who caused all this trouble. 271 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,520 Like we're thinking of this big old monstrous muscle bound, you 272 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,640 know, mammoth looking character and it's going to be something 273 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,440 like him. He caused all this trouble. 274 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,320 Now listen, we know he's powerful. 275 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:05,600 We understand that he causes great problems. 276 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,680 But when we are in heavenly splendor and look at him and 277 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:12,240 kind of do one of these, thank God and look at him, say, why 278 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,600 were we ever worried about him? We just sort of stayed close to 279 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:17,920 him our whole life and we would have been fine. 280 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,600 And so we see here that there is this issue here that he started 281 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,600 before the fall as this. I will, I will, I will. 282 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,400 Ezekiel chapter 28. So go a few pages further in the 283 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:35,400 Old Testament Ezekiel chapter #28 You're gonna find it after 284 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:41,120 Jeremiah, Ezekiel 28 as we continue this origin story here, 285 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,360 Ezekiel 28, beginning of verse #11. 286 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,400 It says this. Moreover, the word of the Lord 287 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,680 came unto me, saying, Son of Man, take up a lamentation upon 288 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,200 the King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, 289 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,880 thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty 290 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,160 that has been an Eden, the Garden of God. 291 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,760 Every precious stone was I covering the sardius, the Topaz, 292 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,360 the diamond, the barrel, the Onyx, the Jasper, the sapphire, 293 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,560 the emerald in the carbuncle and gold. 294 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:20,640 The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in 295 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,480 thee in the day that thou thou was created. 296 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,280 Now may I remind you that is also being told to us that Satan 297 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,440 is a creative being. Lucifer, the Angel who ended up 298 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,840 falling. Thou art the anointed cherub 299 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,160 that covereth, and I have set thee so. 300 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,680 Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. 301 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,640 Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 302 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,080 Thou was perfect in Thy ways from the day that Thou was 303 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,560 created till iniquity was found in thee by the multitude of that 304 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,240 merchandise. They have filled the midst of 305 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:51,960 thee with violence, and thou has sinned. 306 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,840 Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of 307 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,280 God, and I will destroy the O covering cherub from the midst 308 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,000 of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up 309 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,960 because of thy beauty. Thou has corrupted thy wisdom by 310 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,240 reason of Thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground. 311 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,960 I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 312 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,560 Thou has defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine 313 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,240 iniquities. By the iniquity of thy traffic, 314 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,320 therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee. 315 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,400 It shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the 316 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,040 earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 317 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,640 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished 318 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,480 at thee. Thou shalt be a terror, and 319 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,600 never shalt thou be anymore. I believe Satan, or Lucifer if 320 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,760 you will, was created as an absolutely beautiful angelic 321 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,080 being. You see just how he was made-up 322 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,560 and his components there, but yet he lifted himself up in 323 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,120 pride again. He tried to be able to have his 324 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,760 wisdom exceed that of God and he corrupted his wisdom. 325 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:58,000 He defiled the sanctuaries. Here's a man who is all about 326 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,480 himself, if you will. Here is 1. 327 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,480 I think maybe better to say the man that to say here is a being 328 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,680 that is all about himself. He has no desire for you. 329 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,720 He has no desire for me other than our complete and utter 330 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,000 downfall. Pastor, I thought we were 331 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,760 talking about world religions and cults. 332 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:20,480 Why on earth are we spending time in Genesis and Ezekiel and 333 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,000 Isaiah? Wouldn't we be better talking 334 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,400 about all of these other world religions and cults? 335 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,960 And my question to you is, where do you think they came from? 336 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,000 Where do you think their origin derived from? 337 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,760 So these texts bring us to a place of understanding of the 338 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,360 basis of our series. Now, there's a commentator named 339 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,400 Bodie Hodge. And I will tell you that if you 340 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,240 are interested, there's a book that I have used called World 341 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,840 Religions and Cults. And it is not necessarily a book 342 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,040 that is a book of lessons. It's not a a book in that type 343 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,520 of way, but it is a book on, well, world religions and cults, 344 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,920 hence the name that I am using extensively to help in some of 345 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,640 my preparations for the series. And so you're going to hear me 346 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,839 quote him every once in a while, a couple times I think here in 347 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:07,079 this lesson. And the reason why is because he 348 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:11,040 just lays these issues out in a very logical but very biblical 349 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,960 way as well. And so Bodie Hodge, the 350 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,599 commentator and writer of that book, World Religions and Cults, 351 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:18,640 says this. There are really only two 352 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,000 religions in the world, Gods and not gods. 353 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:23,800 That's really what it boils down to. 354 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,359 There really only two religions in the world, Gods and not gods, 355 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,440 meaning that gods originates with God. 356 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,800 That's the gospel. That's where we get the word of 357 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,120 God. Not gods is well, everything 358 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,240 else. Because where do you think they 359 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:38,920 came from? Where do you think they 360 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,680 originated from? Again, I'm not trying to be 361 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,160 unkind to those who are in other belief systems. 362 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,200 I'm not trying to say, but to those that that they are 363 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,560 worshipping Satan or they that they understand that Satan is 364 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:53,040 the originator, Here's just the fact. 365 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,000 If it don't come from God, that's where it comes from. 366 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,320 That's just the bottom line. And so while some others might 367 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,200 think that the origin of their belief system comes from some 368 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,520 other source, really what the heart of man is apart from God. 369 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,000 Well, how did that heart of man get away from God? 370 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,160 Well, it's because Satan has seduced him or her into 371 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,400 believing a lot. Now let's be clear about 372 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,080 something. Religion itself is not the 373 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,080 enemy. I know a lot of times we use 374 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,120 phrases like, you know, I don't have religion, I have a 375 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,800 relationship. And I get that because truly 376 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,880 what we believe boils down to a relationship with Jesus Christ. 377 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,080 But the word religion in and of itself should not necessarily be 378 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,760 the enemy. It's often misused, isn't it? 379 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,920 It's often grossly misused. But the Bible tells us there is 380 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,920 such a thing as pure religion. I preached on this before here 381 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,720 at Liberty James 127 Pure religion and undefiled before 382 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,680 God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows 383 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,720 and their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the 384 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,360 world. So there is such a good thing as 385 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:51,920 good religion. What does it do? 386 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,440 It looks out for the needs of others and it respects the 387 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,960 holiness of God. Much of what's called religion, 388 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,480 even in Christian religion really doesn't have a lot to do 389 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,520 with that, does it? It's formalities, it's 390 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,440 traditions, it's all of these different things. 391 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,480 So religion in and of itself is not the enemy. 392 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,560 Pure religion is this. I am the way, the truth, and the 393 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,720 life. No man cometh under the Father, 394 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,840 but by me. That's Jesus Christ and John 14 395 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,080 verse 6. So where do all these other 396 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,960 religions come from? Well, they come from man which 397 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,800 is inspired by the Father of lies. 398 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,840 Psalm 118 verse 8. Is better to trust in the Lord 399 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:32,200 than to put confidence in man. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 22 CC 400 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,880 from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to 401 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:41,320 be accounted of? Man is so backwards today that 402 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,240 somehow man has tried to convince himself that he created 403 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,000 God in the 1st place. Now think about that for a 404 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,800 second, that the whole belief system of there being a God with 405 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,800 the invention of mankind. Now I have a quote here from 406 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,360 Charles Darwin from the Descent of Man and it says this. 407 00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:59,160 I know you might be a little bit difficult for you to see, but 408 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:00,880 I'm going to read it. I'm hoping it will just give you 409 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,880 a little bit of visual stimuli as I read it. 410 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,160 The same high mental faculties which first led man to believe 411 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,480 in unseen spiritual agencies that in fetishism, polytheism, 412 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,800 and ultimately in monotheism, would infallibly lead him, as 413 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,720 long as his reasoning powers remain poorly developed, to 414 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,720 various strange superstitions and customs. 415 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,800 Many of these are terrible to think of, such as the sacrifice 416 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,280 of human being to a love, blood loving God, the trial of 417 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,680 innocent persons by the ordeal of poison, of fire, witchcraft, 418 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,120 etcetera. It is well occasionally to 419 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,280 reflect on these superstitions, for they show us what an 420 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,920 infinite debt of gratitude we owe to the improvement of our 421 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,800 reason to science and to our accumulated knowledge. 422 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,000 Now listen, I have no problem with science if science is 423 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,680 anchored in the truth of who God is. 424 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,280 Science is not the enemy. But much of what is considered 425 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,400 science today believes that God is not. 426 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,840 And so when you start from faulty premise, you get faulty 427 00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,680 answers. And this is part of it right 428 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,280 here. The fact that Charles Darwin in 429 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,640 the Descent of Man about 150 years ago said something along 430 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,840 these lines, that man has just invented God because there's so 431 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,560 many things he doesn't understand. 432 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,960 But as we become more enlightened, as we learn more, 433 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,480 as we see more of a science, we will realize that God is not. 434 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,400 And I'll be honest with you, the more I see of science and the 435 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,840 more I see of the heavens and the earth, the more I realized 436 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,280 it didn't just come here by accident. 437 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,640 That we didn't just delude ourselves into there being a 438 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,480 God. It's that a creation has to have 439 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,080 a creator, and that it didn't just get here by accident. 440 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,640 But the world believes that the more you learn, you will outlive 441 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,880 the usefulness for God. But yet I would submit to you 442 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,920 that if you look at it with a true heart and you look at it 443 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,160 with a willing mind that you will realize, and it's had to 444 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,520 come here from somewhere. And is there hard questions? 445 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,400 There are hard questions. Are there some things about it 446 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,080 they're difficult to understand? Well, sure they are because, 447 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,000 well, God is. As we talked about on Wednesday 448 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,400 night, the the, the thought process of Jesus Christ and 449 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,240 salvation is so simple. A child can understand it, but 450 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,200 yet it's so deep that you could live your whole lifetime and 451 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,800 never really scratch the surface of who God is. 452 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,760 So but no, we're not going to out learn God the more we learn. 453 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,680 I mean, you could try, but you will not. 454 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,360 God is not the invention of man's fancy. 455 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,280 God is, well, God. So know this. 456 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,040 All false religions are based on man's opinions as they 457 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,200 inadvertently or sometimes intentionally elevate man's 458 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:36,320 reason to be greater than God and greater than the 66 books of 459 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,920 his word. All these false religions, these 460 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,160 not God religions come down to this. 461 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:45,480 We know better than God. Well, who said that? 462 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,600 Well, that was Satan, wasn't it? That he was the one pulling the 463 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,680 strings all the way back in the garden and is still doing so 464 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,560 today. Again, quoting Bodie Hodge, he 465 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:02,160 says this humanism, the religion of man in its broadest form 466 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,480 would encompass all religions that oppose God. 467 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:10,280 This word When a religion elevates a book, books, or extra 468 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,920 teachings to be scripture, then they are taking man's opinions 469 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,960 and elevating them to be supersede or be equal to God's 470 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,120 word. When a religion deletes a book 471 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,280 or books, or otherwise subtracts teaching from scripture, then 472 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,240 they are taking man's opinions and elevating to supersede or be 473 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,960 equal from God's word. Listen, if you take away from 474 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,680 this, you say I know better than God. 475 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,520 If you add to this, you were saying I know better than God. 476 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:40,520 Why do we want to be Bible believers? 477 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,360 Because well, this is everything that we know about God here 478 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,000 within our hands. It's been preserved for us. 479 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,640 It was inspired. We'll get to look at some of 480 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,480 that this morning in second Peter chapter 1 and even more so 481 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,160 next week in the 11:00 hour. But when we take away or we add 482 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,600 to it, we are saying, God, I know what you have put here, but 483 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,640 I know a little bit more. Thomas Jefferson who famously 484 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,000 took the Gospels and believed that if he was to cut and paste, 485 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,520 and that was in the days before, you know, using a mouse and 486 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,360 cutting and pasting. But if he was only to take a 487 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:17,920 Bible and to cut out and paste the religious maxims that would 488 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,560 make a person moral but yet remove all the miracles, that to 489 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,520 him was just unbelievable. There was something that could 490 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,800 not be understood and certainly something that was not true. 491 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,920 He figured if he could take just the the religious teaching, the 492 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,640 Sermon on the Mount, those types of things, and put it in the 493 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,520 book, that would be a much better book than the Gospels. 494 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,320 And my question is, well, you know who died and made Thomas 495 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,800 Jefferson the president? Well, I made the president, but 496 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,960 you understand what I'm saying? I said that on purpose, but you 497 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,480 understand what I'm saying is that he may be present, but he's 498 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,720 not God and that we can't just take away what we don't think is 499 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,560 palatable and we can't add to smooth things over that we don't 500 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,000 necessarily care for because then we've said God, I know what 501 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,960 you said, but I know a little bit more. 502 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,760 Again, that's man's hubris saying I know more and where did 503 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,960 that come from? I will, I will, I will, I will. 504 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:14,520 And it's a corruption of wisdom is what it's called in Ezekiel 505 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,960 chapter 28. It's taking the pure wisdom from 506 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,080 God and corrupting it. And it defiles the sanctuary, 507 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,240 defiles true worship because it takes people away from God. 508 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:25,680 Let's look at 2 examples of this. 509 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,120 Go back to Genesis and go to Genesis Chapter 11. 510 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:38,800 Genesis Chapter 11 again, we can't just jump into religions 511 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,440 and cults without laying some groundwork here. 512 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,280 So I hope you understand that as we go through the next few 513 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,280 weeks. But I think this is important 514 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,960 for us. Genesis Chapter 11, I think 515 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:50,600 you'll recognize this. Look at verse one. 516 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,400 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 517 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:54,800 What are we talking about? The tower? 518 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,160 What Babel. That's right, the tower of 519 00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:58,760 Babel. And it came to pass as they 520 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,920 journey from the east that they found a plane in the land of 521 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,200 Shinar, and they dwelt there. They said one to another, go to 522 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,080 let us make brick, burn them thoroughly. 523 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,040 And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 524 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,160 And they said, go to let us build a city and a tower whose 525 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,040 top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name that's BB 526 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,040 scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. 527 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,120 You say, Pastor, what's the big deal about this? 528 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,280 I mean, come on, It never really says that they wanted to become 529 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,960 like gods. It may not explicitly say the 530 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,200 fact that they were trying to become like God, but here's what 531 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,200 they were trying to do. They were trying to go to 532 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,320 heaven. They were trying to make 533 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,080 themselves a name. And they knew that God had 534 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,840 commanded that they were to scatter and that they were to go 535 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,320 and to repopulate the world. But instead they said, we know 536 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,160 what God has said, but we're going to do our own thing. 537 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,720 How is that not becoming like your own God? 538 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,040 This is what takes place here. And we know this is the case 539 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,280 because God takes a very dim view of what's happening here 540 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,120 with this construction project. And the Lord came down to see 541 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,480 the city and the tower which children, men build it. 542 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,840 And the Lord said, behold, the people is 1. 543 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,920 And they have all one language. And this they begin to do it. 544 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,520 Now nothing will be restrained from them which they have 545 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,440 imagined to do. Go to let us go down, and there 546 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,160 confound their language. They may not understand one 547 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,280 another's speech. So the Lord scattered them 548 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,960 abroad from hence upon the face of all the earth, and they left 549 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,400 off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it 550 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,680 called Babble, because the Lord did their confound the language 551 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,240 of all the earth, and from thence did the Lord scatter them 552 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,360 abroad upon the face of all the earth. 553 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,680 I was recording some of my Liberty Homes a few weeks ago 554 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,160 and those you don't know, Liberty Home is our five minute 555 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,040 devotional that Easton community access television broadcasts in 556 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,760 town and that we are able to put on YouTube. 557 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,520 And we've gotten some good response from it over the last 558 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,360 couple years. Done almost 70 episodes just at 559 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,160 ECAT before the about 100 or so we did, you know, on my phone 560 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:57,240 here at the church during the pandemic. 561 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,280 But I I talked a few weeks ago about Jesus Christ being the 562 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,320 same yesterday, today and forever that he's unchanging. 563 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,400 And as soon as I was done recording, I usually record 3 or 564 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,040 4 episodes together just so you know the magic of television. 565 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:12,520 I just changed the shirt in between each one. 566 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,600 That's all it is. But I know it's some of you are 567 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:16,600 really some of you like I don't care. 568 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,720 But anyway, I just want to think some of you are really wondering 569 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,160 how that works. But that's OK. 570 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,200 I understand. But change shirts in between. 571 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,680 But when I was done, I, I went to the control room and they had 572 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,120 two interns from the high school that were there two really nice 573 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:33,040 young men that I got a chance to talk to over the course of much 574 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,400 of the year. And one of them said something 575 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,000 like this. You know, Pastor, let me ask you 576 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,840 a question. Let me tell you, there's nothing 577 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,040 that starts getting the mind racing immediately. 578 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,560 Like pastor, let me ask you a question because I don't know 579 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,760 where it's coming from. I don't know what direction it's 580 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,680 coming from, but here it comes like a fastball right down the 581 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:49,640 middle. Let's get ready. 582 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,640 And so he says, if God never changes, then why was he upset 583 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,040 at the people for building Babble? 584 00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,560 But yet we build skyscrapers today. 585 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,800 You know, to me, I don't know about that question. 586 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,040 That's kind of, but you know what? 587 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:07,240 To him, that was a real question. 588 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:09,560 He was really curious about this. 589 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,800 If God never changes, why was he mad about that? 590 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,600 But he's not mad about us building skyscrapers today. 591 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,160 I said, you know, it really wasn't about the issue of it 592 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,480 being a building project. It was really about the issue of 593 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,240 the heart, I said, because everything that deals with the 594 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,160 Lord always comes back to the heart. 595 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,760 The issue was not that they were building the issues why they 596 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,880 were building and what they were trying to do. 597 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,600 They were trying to elevate themselves as gods. 598 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,800 And he seemed to be happy with that answer. 599 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,160 Well, it was the truth because that's what the word says here. 600 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,520 What's going on? Man made religion. 601 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,760 We know what God wants, but we have our own way. 602 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,040 We're going to become like Him. We are going to go to His 603 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,520 dwelling place. We are going to take our own 604 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,160 counsel instead of doing what God has commanded us to do. 605 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,480 That's false religion right there in Genesis Chapter 11. 606 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:01,040 Now go to 1st Kings chapter #12 First Kings chapter #12 We're 607 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,720 trying to give your Bibles a workout in the series. 608 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,320 I think that's a good thing. First Kings chapter #12 look at 609 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,920 verse #25 and I know with a lot of these texts that we're not 610 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:16,240 going to be able to give full explanation, like we're going 611 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,600 through a sermon. But at the same time, I hope 612 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,240 that you understand a little bit of where we're going and how it 613 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,560 all connects. Jeroboam is king. 614 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,840 You remember that Solomon was the king and then Rehoboam took 615 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:28,720 the throne. And Rehoboam was a fool. 616 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,480 He wanted to make things harder for the people instead of 617 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,800 easier. He took counsel from his young 618 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,320 friends instead of from the wise older men. 619 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,840 And so because that the nation splits in two, there's one 620 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,600 problem. Jeroboam is now the king of the 621 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,360 top 10 tribes, or the when I say top 10, not like the top ten 622 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,720 list, but the northern tribes, if you will. 623 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,880 But there's only one problem. He may have more people, but he 624 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,320 lacks Jerusalem. And everything in the life of 625 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,600 Israel is around Jerusalem in the temple. 626 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,640 So he realizes, well, look at this here. 627 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,200 Verse #25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and 628 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,760 dwelt therein, and went out from thence and built Penuel. 629 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,680 And Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the Kingdom return to 630 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,880 the House of David. If these people go up to do 631 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,600 sacrifice in the House of the Lord of Jerusalem, then shall 632 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,720 the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even 633 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,120 under the Rioboam, king of Judah. 634 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,080 And they shall kill me and go again to Rioboam king of Judah. 635 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,280 He says, I got to do something. Because the first time they go 636 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,120 back to Passover, back in Judah, they'll remember how good the 637 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,240 times used to be, and they won't want me, they'll want Rio Bohm, 638 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,680 and the Kingdom will be back together again. 639 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,520 And that means I'm dead. So instead of doing the right 640 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,160 thing, what does he do? Well, where? 641 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,960 Until the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, because 642 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,840 that always worked well, right? And said unto them, Is it too 643 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,400 much for you to go up to Jerusalem, the old by gods, O 644 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,120 Israel, which brought the up out of the land of Egypt. 645 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:58,280 And he set one in Bethel and the other he put he and Dan, those 646 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:02,000 would be the northern and southernmost parts of his 647 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,920 Kingdom. And this thing, look at this, 648 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:10,080 became a sin for the people went to worship before the one even 649 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,400 unto Dan. They made a House of high places 650 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,920 and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not 651 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,480 the sons of Levi. What did he do? 652 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:18,640 He made his own religious system. 653 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,280 He said, hey, remember these calves? 654 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:22,920 He was hoping they'd be biblically illiterate. 655 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,600 By the way, if you want to get involved in another religion or 656 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,120 cult, we don't know the Bible because that's what happens 657 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:30,400 here. Hey, remember those calves? 658 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,640 Like, I remember something about calves in Egypt. 659 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,800 I don't remember what it was. I guess it's good. 660 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:37,960 And they said, you know what, We'll go worship these calves. 661 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,920 We don't have any priests. The priests are down in in Judah 662 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:41,960 and Jerusalem. What do we do? 663 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,440 Well, we'll just pick anybody. They took the lowest of the 664 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,080 people. And that's not talking about, I 665 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,680 believe, money or social status. I means that it was of low 666 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,240 character people that were yes men. 667 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,400 They, they knew this was wrong, but they were in it because they 668 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,160 were going to get something in return. 669 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,160 And So what did he do? He created his own religious 670 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,240 system. And so we see this throughout 671 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,680 the word of God and it is still continuing today. 672 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,800 So with all that being said, what is a religion? 673 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,680 What is a cult? So we see some background here, 674 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,480 but what is a religion? What is a cult? 675 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:17,840 Well, let's start with a religion. 676 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,840 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a religion is a 677 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,320 system of beliefs and practices, often centered around questions 678 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:29,000 of existence, morality, and the supernatural, typically 679 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,480 involving worship of a divine being or beings, moral code, 680 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,160 rituals, and often a community of adherence. 681 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,920 Now, again, we're talking about religions in general. 682 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,560 Understand this. We're talking about anything 683 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,120 that calls itself religion. I believe that's probably a 684 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,440 pretty good definition, a pretty good working definition of what 685 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,720 a religion is. There's questions about 686 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:57,080 existence, about what is moral, the supernatural, codes, 687 00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:00,120 rituals, a community of people coming together. 688 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,000 You're going to find all of these in pretty much any 689 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:04,680 religion. There's a lot of world 690 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:06,000 religions. I don't know if you're aware of 691 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,880 this, but there's a lot of religions that are out there 692 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,560 today. For instance, there is, well, we 693 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,520 are thankful for biblical Christianity and I'm very 694 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,440 careful in the way I say biblical Christianity because 695 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,440 we're not talking about counterfeit Christianity. 696 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,000 But there's biblical Christianity, there's Islam, 697 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,760 there's Judaism, there's universal Unitarianism, 698 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:28,400 Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikism, Shintoism, Witchcraft, Taoism, 699 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,800 the Baha'i faith, the Unification Church. 700 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,800 Some of you are know the Moonies from back in the day say are 701 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,400 that really a thing anymore still around today? 702 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,920 There's still adherence. In fact, it wasn't just, I think 703 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,560 about 5 or 10 years ago that there was a large Conference 704 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,560 Center and camp up in New Hampshire that was for those who 705 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,960 were still part of the Unification Church, Deism, 706 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:53,560 Satanism, Scientology. You realize that just scratches 707 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,239 the surface. I mean, that's just a very small 708 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:58,840 sampling of the types of religions that are out there. 709 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:03,440 Some of them are more organized, some of them are more thought 710 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,080 processes, then they are actual organized religions. 711 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,600 But all of them, I think we could argue a religious systems 712 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,200 in one way or another. Now religions can also be 713 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:14,640 slaughtered in different categories. 714 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:16,680 I think most of them could be slaughtered into three different 715 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,360 categories. First of all, there's the 716 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,080 mystical religions. The mystical religions, that's 717 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:26,160 Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Gnosticism, the Kabbalah, which 718 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,280 is a mystical offshoot of Judaism. 719 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,720 These are more mystical. They're more states of mind than 720 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:36,560 they are anything else, that there's lots of different paths 721 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:38,840 even within those belief systems. 722 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,840 They're more mystical religions. Then there's moralistic 723 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,480 religions, which would be Confucianism, Judaism, 724 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:50,520 Christianity, Islam, Jainism. These are dealing with more of 725 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,040 morals that they are setting down moral laws. 726 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,760 And again, this is Christianity would be, I believe, a 727 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,880 moralistic religion that the Bible tells us who God is, tells 728 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,480 us what holiness is, tells us how we are to be saved, tells us 729 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:07,800 how to live. But our moralistic religions, 730 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,760 there's also materialistic religions, secular humanism, 731 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:16,160 Marxism, scientism, atheism, objectivism. 732 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:19,840 These are more materialistic and they deal more with the here and 733 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,160 the now than they do necessarily the hereafter. 734 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,960 Marxism doesn't really deal with the afterlife, does it? 735 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,560 But I would say this, it's a religion just as much as Islam 736 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,040 is. When you start to study how the 737 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,560 thought processes work and all those different things, those 738 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:37,520 are religions in and of themselves. 739 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:39,680 I'm not saying we're going to study all of these ones that 740 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:41,640 we've just mentioned. I'm just telling you there are a 741 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,160 lot of them that are out there and they come from all kinds of 742 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,640 different angles. So we ask ourselves then what is 743 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:49,200 a cult? OK, that's a religion. 744 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,320 Then what is a cult? Well, the cult is typically 745 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:57,680 defined as a religious offshoot of a major world religion that 746 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,400 no longer holds the core tenants of that world religion. 747 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,520 A cult is typically defined as a religious offshoot of a major 748 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:09,640 world religion that no longer holds to the core tenants of 749 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,120 that world religion. Now again, in his World 750 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,280 Religions and Cult series, Bodie Hodge further explores this 751 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,320 concept by examining groups that claim Christian identity, but 752 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,480 they deviate from foundational doctrines like the Trinity, the 753 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,480 deity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith. 754 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,640 These groups are considered counterfeits of Christianity 755 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,240 because they distort biblical truths. 756 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,000 They might even use a Bible. They might even use some of the 757 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,080 same phrases that we use. But at the same time, you got to 758 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,840 talk to them about exactly what they believe and you start to 759 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:43,240 realize they deviate quite far from where we are. 760 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,000 I'll be honest with you, if you watch a video from the Church of 761 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,760 Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, if you were 762 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,880 to just watch a general video, they are very sly in the way 763 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,440 they present themselves. They want to be considered 764 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:57,760 mainline Christians. That's why they're moving away 765 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,000 from the term Mormonism. They don't want to be called 766 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:01,400 Mormons. They want to be called the 767 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,280 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 768 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,320 You see that on all their materials. 769 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:09,600 Now Mormonism is being phased out in anything official out of 770 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:13,120 Salt Lake City, but they want to be considered mainline. 771 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,200 You watch some of their videos, they see mainline. 772 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,960 I mentioned a few weeks ago or maybe a few months ago now, the 773 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,880 back around Christmas time in Times Square, there was this 774 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,760 beautiful video about Jesus Christ and you watched it and 775 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,760 his birth and you thought this is absolutely amazing until you 776 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,520 get to the end and it says that it's from the Church of Jesus 777 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,440 Christ, the Latter Day Saints, that you do not present any of 778 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:38,760 their beliefs that are different from what we believe is mainline 779 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,240 Christians is biblical Christians. 780 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:43,400 But yet that's what they want you to do. 781 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,000 They're going to give you a little bit of truth to be able 782 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,440 to allow the hook to set. And that's when they pull and 783 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,280 that's when it's too late. So these cults are versions of 784 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,560 Christianity that deny traditional Christianity. 785 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,560 Walter Martin said this in the Kingdom of Cults, which is 786 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:02,680 considered a definitive evangelical resource. 787 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,240 He says a cult, as defined from a theological perspective, is a 788 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:09,560 group of people gathered about a specific person or person's 789 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,080 misrepresentation of a Bible of the Bible. 790 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,480 He emphasized that cults reject orthodox Christian doctrine, 791 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,440 particularly regarding the nature of God and the Gospel. 792 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,760 Scholars like sociologist Roy Wallace and religious studies 793 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,960 expert Jay Gordon Melton distinguish cults from religions 794 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:28,400 based on these 4 characteristics. 795 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,920 And this isn't in the Bible, but this is just kind of a way that 796 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,480 you can tell what a cult is. First of all, novelty cults are 797 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,640 often new movements. Jehovah Witness, Mormonism, 798 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,800 they've not been around very long, 100 years or so, some even 799 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,600 less than that. Deviation from mainstream 800 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:48,400 religious norms, meaning that they reject the core tenants of 801 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:52,120 the Word of God, a level of control over members, the cult. 802 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,880 And we talk about the cults, right, and how there's a cultish 803 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,720 like following in, well, cults. And there's that level of 804 00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:03,120 following, the level of control. And usually there's charismatic 805 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:04,640 leadership. And we're not talking about a 806 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,720 pastor who enjoys preaching the Word of God or anything like 807 00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:09,640 that. We're talking about someone who 808 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,240 has absolute control over a group. 809 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,720 That is often the case. I will give you one name and for 810 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,280 many of you, it'll settle the matter right there. 811 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:22,640 Jim Jones, When you think of Jim Jones and he started as a 812 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:29,280 preacher, that was not a great preacher, but certainly not what 813 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,440 he ended up being. By the time he got to Guyana, he 814 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,080 absolutely morphed into a A. Basically, he says it, you do it 815 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,320 to the point of drink the kool-aid. 816 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,200 You ever heard that phrase drink the kool-aid? 817 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:45,400 It came from somewhere. It's because that there was 818 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:50,160 going to be a federal agents coming in and trying to take 819 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:54,120 care of some very, very dark things that were taking place 820 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:57,560 there on that compound. And he said this, you die with 821 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,640 me and we'll all be together in celestial realms. 822 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,520 That's disgusting, but that's what we're talking about, 823 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,960 cultish leadership. There's oftentimes A charismatic 824 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:13,800 leader, a Joseph Smith who was the first leader of Mormonism, 825 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,640 or a Brigham Young. You ever heard Brigham Young 826 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,600 University and you think of maybe football or basketball. 827 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:23,480 That's a Mormon school that is gathered around the second 828 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:28,160 leader of Mormonism, Brigham Young Christian cults include 829 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:31,160 we'll finish up here shortly. Christian cults includes Jehovah 830 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,600 Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or 831 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,520 Mormons, Christian Science, Church of Christ, Scientists the 832 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,920 way international 12 tribes. So that's a that's a group that 833 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:45,280 actually is out in Plymouth. They have a, a store, a deli out 834 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:51,160 there, some delicious food, but I'm just saying there's some 835 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:55,160 literature there that is is very much apart from the word of God 836 00:41:55,240 --> 00:41:58,000 and the people's temple, which would have been Jim Jones. 837 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:00,400 So what's the answer to all this? 838 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,640 Because this could be quite overwhelming. 839 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,960 We just scratched the surface. We just scratched the surface. 840 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:07,720 This could be overwhelming. What's the answer? 841 00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:11,120 Well, the good news, the answer is our text for this morning 842 00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:13,840 here at church. Second Peter one verse 16 843 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:16,160 through 21. For we have not followed 844 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,320 cunningly devised fables. We made known unto you the power 845 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,280 and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of 846 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,640 His Majesty. For he received from God the 847 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,040 Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him 848 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,960 from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, and whom 849 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,360 I am well pleased. And this voice which came from 850 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,560 heaven we heard, and we were with Him in the Holy Mount. 851 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,560 We have also a more sure word of prophecy. 852 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,800 Where until you do well, that you take heed as unto a light 853 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:45,360 that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn of the day 854 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:47,760 star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no 855 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,600 prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, For 856 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,920 the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but 857 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,040 holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 858 00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:00,280 Consider this quote. Some religions mimic God's Word, 859 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,000 but do not respect God's Word as coming from God. 860 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,880 Only those who stand on God's Word as the absolute authority, 861 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:10,680 inerrant, inspired, and sufficient in any way will be in 862 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:14,880 a position to see God's true religion from God's perspective. 863 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:19,680 God will never be wrong and what He records in His Word, but man 864 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:25,680 can and will be wrong as he seeks to stand in God's place. 865 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,960 In the end, there's two religions, There's God, and 866 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:32,520 there's not God. Now that doesn't make us 867 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:35,400 haughty. It should make us proud. 868 00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:39,280 It should just make us understand we stand for 869 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:43,280 something, that we believe something and we believe. 870 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,720 If what we believe is true, it's to the exclusion of Satan's 871 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:49,040 teachings. Consider these verses and we're 872 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:50,960 done. Galatians 51 Stand fast, 873 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,240 therefore the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. 874 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,480 Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 875 00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:59,400 Psalm 119, verse 160 Thy word is true from the beginning, and 876 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:02,920 every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. 877 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,600 And as we close this morning, I just wanted to say once again, 878 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,440 this is not an attack on any adherent of any type of false 879 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:14,000 teaching. This is an attack on the one who 880 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,480 it all comes from, which is Satan and the authorities and 881 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:20,200 the articles of Faith, of which those false doctrines rest. 882 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,640 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 883 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,520 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 884 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,000 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 885 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:34,600 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 886 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:39,440 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 887 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,080 MA. May the Lord bless bless you as 888 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:43,440 you grow in His Word.