TESTIMONY DYNAMITE 4
Theme: Testimony Dynamite
Topic: Jehovah’s witness - cult or salt
Classic symptoms of cultish error
Claim you MUST belong to their organization to get it right (exclusive)
They misinterpret one verse and twist other scriptures to fit their primary misinterpretation
They ignore historic Christianity and claim to supersede it
They rewrite the Bible and/or add additional books, which they claim to be of greater authority than the Bible.
They are generally, like all other false religions, works trips.
They deny the Trinity in one way or another and numerous other key Biblical theological points
They preach a gospel that doesn’t require people to become a new creation to enter God’s kingdom
They represent a false spirit, particularly, they reject the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit with it’s key signs of speaking in tongues and prophesying.
The most important and dynamite thing we can do to ensure that we don’t get deceived is to know the real thing - the standard Bible
FALSE TEACHERS
Matthew 24: 5-14, 23-24
5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 Forfalse christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whetherthey are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Corinthians 11:12-13
12 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Galatians 2:4
And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)
Different Jesus? Or an Imperfect understanding of Jesus?
THE BIG CULTS -
Jehovah’s Witness
The name:
JEHOVAH (Yahweh[1]), in the Bible, the God of Israel. “Jehovah” is a modern mispronunciation of the Hebrew name, resulting from combining the consonants of that name, Jhvh, with the vowels of the word ădōnāy, “Lord,” which the Jews substituted for the proper name in reading the scriptures. In such cases of substitution the vowels of the word which is to be read are written in the Hebrew text with the consonants of the word which is not to be read. The consonants of the word to be substituted are ordinarily written in the margin; but inasmuch as Adonay was regularly read instead of the ineffable name Jhvh, it was deemed unnecessary to note the fact at every occurrence. When Christian scholars began to study the Old Testament in Hebrew, if they were ignorant of this general rule or regarded the substitution as a piece of Jewish superstition, reading what actually stood in the text, they would inevitably pronounce the name Jĕhōvāh.
- They think Christ and Michael the Archangel are the same guy
- For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Trinity is a satanic dogma of apostate Christianity that prevents people from knowing the true God, Jehovah.
- they believe the “end” started in 1914.
- They think the Holy Spirit is God’s “Force” and not a person.
- They say Christ is divine but not a deity
- works based 144,000 highest level of salvation
- They’re run by the watchtower in NYC. 12 dudes who spout demonic nonsense
- The Watch Tower teaches that Jesus passed out of existence at death, that God disposed of his body and that on the third day God created him once again as the archangel Michael.
- They deny hell and embrace annihilationism
- The New World Translation is their bible and it is WACK
LDS “The Latter Day saints” - Mormons.
- They call themselves Christians.
- They read the same bible as us
- they say they believe Jesus to be god.
- founded by Joseph Smith, a Racist convicted conman who’s writings have been proven to be fanciful.
- No trinity belief - outright denial
- They’ve added to scripture with the Book of Mormon claiming it to be equal with the Bible.
- The Book of Mormon has an insane false history about the americas and the native Americans.
- they have failed attempts at prophecy that simply never happened as predicted
- they focus enormously on works and “feelings”
- they believe the father is a materialistic being who “ascended” into his form of divinity (and that we can all follow that path)
- Fundamental misunderstanding of Melchizedek. They believe they are the priests of Melchizedek and forbade ordination of black people until 1978
- you have to add works to be saved.
Christian Science
- Considers the Bible authoritative but not inerrant
- Believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus
- Rejects the deity of christ, but calls Him divine.
- sees Christ as having achieved a certain level of materialistic spirituality that anyone can apparently aspire to and achieve in their own strength. SO, Another works trip.
- Have paid faith healers called “Christian Science practitioners” who are basically
- strongly oppose much medical treatment.
- They follow neither Christ nor Science.
- Salvation is gained by increasing knowledge about christ, you guessed it, a works trip.
- Universalists
United Pentecostal Church
- Also know as “oneness” Pentecostal
- a historical rupture from and rejected by the AOG
- Deny the trinity
- in 1914 John Scheppe had what he believed was a divine revelation from God. As he meditated that night, he believed God revealed to him that baptism must be done in the “name of Jesus only” and not in the name of “the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
- They are Modalists - Furtick and T.D. Jakes follow this.
- Oneness denies the preexistence of Jesus. They believe the father BECAME Jesus when Jesus was born and that was the beginning of Jesus.
- Super legalistic, especially with women.
- ANOTHER works trip requiring Baptism and tongues for salvation.
Seventh Day Adventists.
- Ellen G. White - writings are equal with the Bible.
- Sabbath works trip (And other OT laws)
- Started with a failed rapture prediction from a baptist in the 1800s
- People were so disillusioned they made up some doctrine to explain why it didn’t happen, denying a literal return from Jesus.
Claim:
"From his ascension until 1844, Jesus had been applying the forgiveness he purchased on the cross in the first compartment of the sanctuary, but in 1844, he entered the second compartment and began to investigate the lives of those who had received forgiveness to see if they were worthy of eternal life. Only those who passed this judgment could be assured of being translated at his coming. This doctrine gave rise to what later became known as the sinless perfection teaching (perfect commandment-keeping in order to find acceptance in the judgment). Following the investigative judgment, Christ would come out of the heavenly sanctuary and return to earth bringing to every man his reward, and ushering in the great and terrible day of the Lord. It is 1844, and the events described above, which mark the beginning of SDA.”
- They believe in the Trinity, Christ’s deity, and His resurrection. So, they’re either the most deceptive Church of a different Jesus, or they’re the Christian denomination with the worst doctrine.
ANTI- Christian movements that use the bible.
Islam
- they’re called Muslims.
“Biblical fan fiction”
- treat Jesus as a “prophet”. Deny resurrection and deity.
- Muslims believe several prophets were sent to teach Allah’s law. They respect some of the same prophets as Jews and Christians, including Abraham, Moses, Noah and Jesus. Muslims contend that Muhammad was the final prophet.
- Muslims deny Israel was Abraham’s son of promise and instead claim Ishmael from whom they claim to descend from.
- Another works-based religion.
Nation of Islam
- The Nation teaches the existence of a succession of mortal gods, each of whom is a black man named Allah. It claims that the first Allah created the earliest humans, the Arabic-speaking, dark-skinned Tribe of Shabazz, whose members possessed inner divinity and from whom all people of color descend. It maintains that a scientist named Yakub then created the white race; lacking inner divinity, the whites were intrinsically violent and overthrew the Tribe of Shabazz to become globally dominant. Setting itself against the white-dominated society of the United States, the NOI campaigns for the creation of an independent African American nation-state and calls for African Americans to be economically self-sufficient and separatist.
Black Hebrew Israelites
-Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. To varying degrees, Black Hebrew Israelites incorporate certain aspects of the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism, though they have created their own interpretation of the Bible.
- Black Hebrew Israelites are not associated with the mainstream Jewish community, and they do not meet the standards that are used to identify people as Jewish by the Jewish community. They are also outside the fold of mainstream Christianity, which considers Black Hebrew Israelism to be heresy
- Founder said Jesus would return in 2000.
- They claim William Shakespeare was black.
- They claim that Israelites being slaves in Egypt is metaphor for the trans-atlantic slave trade and say that’s proof that they’re Israelites. It’s bogus.
- Religiously, they believe in works-based salvation.
BID
WHAT SHALL WE DO?
Matthew 24:45
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.