The Role of the Cults

Elder O. B. Mink
      Now In Glory     

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. (I Timothy 4:1-2)

Since man's apostasy in Eden, theological error has steadily gained momentum, and now experiences unparalleled acceleration whereby the corruptive ''commandments of men'' have been supplanted by the damnable "doctrines of devils." In the last decade there has been a revival of witchcraft (exorcism, as practiced by the Catholic church is a form of witchcraft) . Soothsaying and sorcery have reached new heights of popularity. The veracity of this statement is seen by the wide acceptance accorded Jeannie Dixon. Necromancy, divination and astrology are all experiencing phenomenal success. There are more people in the world today who say, "I thank my lucky stars," than ever before. To augment his religious forces in the world, and to further confuse the already spiritually blinded minds of fallen men, Satan has preyed upon the element of curiosity inherent in depraved nature, causing man to delve into studies of the workings of supernatural forces. The result of this intensified research by lost man into the occult has brought about the ultimate evil: the worship of the devil. Hundreds of new cults have originated as a result of these studies of the occult, and the tide has not yet crested.
   
The most popular and widely read book on the subject in our contemporary period is entitled, Satan is Alive and Well on The Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. By this date there are probably a million copies of this book in print. It has been lauded by baptists and is considered by so-called fundamentalist christianity to be a literary masterpiece. While it is not my purpose to offer a review of Mr. Lindsey's book, I do want to point out some statements made by him which manifest his ignorance as to the power and program of the supernatural forces of righteousness.
   
Mr. Lindsey says on page 47 in reference to Ezekiel 14, "When this passage was written in the original Hebrew, it was a song of sorrow. God was mourning over this creature whom He had created and loved." The creature referred to in this text whom Mr. Lindsey says God loved, is Lucifer. If God loved Lucifer when this text was originally written, He yet loves him, and will, without ceasing, ever love him, seeing that God is immutable, and His attributes can suffer no change. The fact is: God never loved Lucifer. He was, from the beginning, a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction. Is it not strange that God would create hell for His beloved Lucifer? (Matthew 25:41).
   
On page 48, Mr. Lindsey says, "When God created Lucifer He took a calculated risk." The God of the Bible, and the God that can know risk are two different Gods.
   
On page 54 Mr. Lindsey says, "God loves each person." If this be true, then Esau, Jacob's twin brother was not a person, for God says in two places in the Scripture that He hated Esau, (Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13).
   
On page 58, the author says, "God did not want man to fall." Poor, helpless, feeble, failing God. To the contrary, the fall was an essential part of God's overall design for mankind. It came about by God withholding His restraining grace from Adam. Adam was not created in a state of moral equipoise, such a theory gives Adam a will which is independent of God. Neither angel, man nor demon ever knew or shall ever know that kind of independence. If God did not want man to fall, as Mr. Lindsey contends, how was it then that Adam fell, seeing whatever God's soul desireth, even that He doeth? (Job 23:13).
   
On page 63 the author says, Christ bore on the cross, "righteous judgment against the sin of the whole universe." If Mr. Lindsey is correct in this statement, then Satan will be in heaven, for there is no condemnation to them which Christ represented in His vicarious sufferings on the cross.
   
n page 248 Mr. Lindsey states, "Holy Spirit baptism is that ministry whereby a new believer is joined to the church." In this statement, Mr. Lindsey manifests that he has imbibed the double error of Scofield ecclesiology. That is, the Holy Spirit by regeneration baptizes the penitent into the universal invisible church. The two things wrong with this theory which constitutes it total error is: first, no where in the Scripture record was any person ever baptized by the Holy Spirit. Second, the universal invisible church theory is as alien to the Scriptures as night is to day. From the foregoing quotes it is apparent to the Holy Spirit-illuminated mind that Mr. Lindsey is a propagator of error as relates to soteriology, ecclesiology and his eschatology leaves much to be desired. For to allow Satan any measure of independence, or freedom from the will of God, is to say God's purposes could be aborted, His prophecies uncertain and leaves the future of the earth undecided.

The role of Satanic occult is to produce cults. The United States has been the birth place and breeding ground of all the major cults. By comparison with other religious denominations in the U.S. the cultist membership is small, but this fact alone is not sufficient ground for an apathetic attitude toward them. For while they are few in number, they are plenteous in zeal, and exert a wide and powerful influence over the whole country. Nearly every family in America has been grievously affected by one or another of the cults.

So as not to overlook Unitarianism and other lesser cults which now exist, we will double the number of the total membership of the five major cults to give them fully the benefit of all doubt. This brings their total membership to just over five million. So as to accommodate any exaggerated figure they might bring forth, let us double their membership again, which makes them ten million strong. With the inflated membership of the cults as given above they are yet two million less than the Southern Baptist Convention membership. This information should not serve as a means of minimizing the importance of standing against these weird, and wicked workers of spiritual whoredoms. It might help if we remembered it was thirty million communists which took half of the world away from eight hundred million professing Christians.

Satan is the culprit behind the cult and he is the one who has given rise to the worlds interest in the occult. But a question has arisen in my mind: Why is it that all of a sudden there is unbounded interest by mainline christendom in the occult powers?
   
The presses of fundamentalist Christianity are running night and day producing books and pamphlets by the hundreds of thousands in an effort to counter the advances of the cults. I believe this newly created interest in the cult and occult is a satanic stratagem. Satan is the ultimate strategist in the war against God. He is generating interest in the cult and occult, and using it as a diversion to draw God's people away from the main front of battle. While this maneuver of Satan is having a great measure of success, there is yet a people who "are not ignorant of his devices," and who know what the Scriptures teach concerning the consummation of this age. They know that the cult and occult movements do not have a principle part to play in the closing out of this age. They know that all the cults in one form or another deny the deity of Jesus Christ, and they invoke the word of God (I John 7-11) in keeping their doors closed to the cults. Holy Spirit enlightened people will not be deceived by this satanic stratagem and concentrate all of their spiritual energies on this mock front and neither will they become apathetic toward the cult, but will keep their spiritual weapons deployed according to the strength of the enemy, in its place. The Ecumenical Movement    
The gigantic and main religious thrust Satan is going to use in his effort to overthrow God at the close of this age is the One World Church, or Ecumenical Movement. The One World Church in its ultimate state will be comprised of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, including the nominal and mediocre baptists. Ten years ago there was some strong opposition against the Ecumenical Movement, but it seems now that the fronts have been shifted and the resistance once used against the advances of the Ecumenical Movement are all rallied in an effort to stem the tide of the cultist flood.
   
Let us note a few facts about the Ecumenical Movement in the United States.
   
1. There are twelve million members in the S. B. C. and the S. B. C. has one foot already on the ecumenical band wagon.
   
2. The United Methodist Church, with its ten million members, is a strong pillar in the ecumenical movement.
   
3. Combine the other Protestant bodies in the U. S. and you will arrive at a figure above 75,000,000 who either directly favor, or indirectly favor the ecumenical movement.
   
4. Add to these figures the 50,000,000 Catholics in the U. S. and you will get the sum of 125,000,000 professing christians who are already incurably addicted on the wine of ecumenism.
    What is true regarding the Ecumenical Movement in the United States is true of the whole western world. It is these great masses in so-called christendom brought together in a one world church that Satan uses in bringing to power the false prophet, and the personal Anti Christ, (Revelation 13:5-17).
  
 I hope NO one after reading this paper will conclude that the cults are not a serious threat against New Testament churches, for to do so would be equally destructive as seeing them as the primary danger.
    Baptists believe in a personal devil, not as one in whom they may place their trust and confidence, but as one who is the arch rival of righteousness. They know that the devil is more than an evil influence. They know that he is a mighty spirit, the father of lies, and they know that the cults are off springs of the devil, and are borne along by this most evil of all spirits. Baptists, being exercised by the admonition to "try the spirits" have weighed the cults on Scriptural scales and found them fatally wanting.
   
The heresies of the cults are infinitely obnoxious to the spirit regenerated by God, and the heresies of ecumenism are equally absurd when viewed in the proper light. We could detail the pernicious beliefs of the cults, but will not subject the readers to a belaboring of the obvious. Instead, we will share with you a satirical rhyme which goes a long way in rebuke of this diabolical system.

While the devil uses the cults to deceive thousands of people, and cause the would-be defenders of the true faith to spend themselves opposing cultist advances, the Ecumenical Movement goes merrily on its way. The Ecumenical Movement is too wise to adopt the blatant heresies of the cults, but they are the perpetuators of the ancient heresies which are just as effective in damning souls as cultist doctrine.
   
The least degree of affinity with the Ecumenical Movement calls for an irreparable compromise on the part of the regenerate person. Every solicitous overture extended by ecumenism toward the Lord's true churches should not only be refused, but rigidly repulsed, so as "not to be condemned with the world," the Ecumenical Movement. (Sovereign Grace Advocate - October, 1977)