Cult Groups Part 1: The LDS Church. Pastor Benjamin Foster

well good evening and we welcome you to the Divine Encounter Church weekly Bible study we are always glad to look into God's holy word and to study it uh we are about getting into the word of God and growing in the knowledge of his word you don't know the word of God then how are you going to know God if you don't know the word of God then how are you going to share uh the good news about God with others so we want to know God's word and that's what we're here for it's a blessing to have you that are joining us it's a blessing to have you and we are going to go into God's holy word and gather some wisdom from the word uh and uh Divine Encounter Church our website address is www. divine encounter church.net and our uh meeting location for Sundays we meet in person on Sundays uh at the Wasau Community College and our Michigan we meet at the Morris Lawrence building room ml150 and that's at 300 p.m. that's 4800 East hon River Drive and that's Ann Arbor Michigan 48105 do come by and visit with us come by and meet us in person H we love God's word and we love the people of God and if you uh are a person who doesn't even know God we're going to help you to get to know God we're going to help you to come into a relationship with him through Jesus Christ so we're we are glad for anyone and everyone who is joining us on tonight uh and we're going to go tonight to 1 Timothy chapter 4 for our lesson 1 Timothy chapter 4 starting at verse number one 1 Timothy 4 starting at verse number one and our topic on today is dealing with c groups we want to deal with c groups so that we as Believers will know the word of God and we will know about the dangers of these groups and we will be able to avoid the pitfalls and The Traps that are associated with these groups so we want to teach this is going to be a series and we're going to deal with cult groups this is an opportunity for you as a Believer to get an understanding so that you can help somebody that's in a cult you can help them out of that cult and you yourself won't be deceived into following so that's what this is about we want everybody that is associated with Divine Encounter Church and anyone who is viewing this series to be so educated and enlightened in God's word that they are able to help somebody who is caught up in a caught group and help them to find the way out so that's what this is about and we got to know the word for ourselves so we don't get involved in these cult groups 1 Timothy CH 4: 1-3 says now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving he to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils okay uh and so let's stop right there uh and uh if you are a person who views the bible study on a consistent basis do make sure that you subscribe uh subscribe to the channel uh and like the video that's how you're going to help to get the word out to others we want uh this to grow so that others can be impacted through God's word so And subscribe go ahead and hit the Bell button as well so that way you get notified when we are doing something online and so it says the spirit speaketh expressly the Holy Spirit that's the spirit that it's referring to In this passage of scripture the Holy Spirit speaketh expressly the Holy Spirit speaketh clearly the holy spirit is not uh being unclear in any way concerning this the holy spirit is speaking this expressly and making this known okay and he's making known that in the latter times in the latter times what's going to happen some shall depart from the faith okay the latter times and we are living in the latter times that's the time period that we are living in uh the latter times the last days uh is a time period that began when the Holy Spirit was outpoured on the day of Pentecost okay because Peter quotes the prophet Joel on the day of Pentecost when he preaches he says this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel in the last times I'm gonna pour out my spirit upon All Flesh okay and your sons and your daughters are going to prophesy your young men are going to see Visions your old men are going to dream dreams Peter made it very clear that this is the last times these are the last times that we are living in and the evidence is the moving of God's spirit in the Earth the move of God in the Earth the move of the holy spirit is evidence that we are living in the last time times okay so Paul says In this passage he says the spirit is speaking expressly concerning the latter times concerning the last times and what is the spirit warning about what is God's spirit warning about and giving us some understanding and insight concerning he says some shall depart from the faith some not everybody not everybody but some people some people are going to depart from the faith they're going to walk away from the Christian faith it's a sad statement but it's just what the Holy Spirit has revealed he's made it very clear this is what's going to happen this is a part of the last days the latter times some people are going to depart from the faith they're not going to hold out to the end they're not going to hold on to the truth and endure till the end some people are not gonna make it when the times of testing and Trials come they're going to fade and they're going to make foolish decisions and they're not going to Value their salvation as much as they should and it won't be God's fault it's not that God in some way has failed them but the issue is the the people the people didn't keep their side of the bargain the people didn't do right the people didn't hold on and so they depart from the faith okay this is what's going to happen uh Jesus said that he that endureth Until the End shall be saved the ible makes it very clear that it's about those that endure and hold on and don't give up not everybody that starts a race is going to finish a race the race is not given to the Swift and neither is it given to the strong but it's given to the one that endures till the end so the issue isue is that there's many people who have started out in this Christian faith that are not dedicated and determined enough to hold on to until the end the holy spirit is warning that some people are going to depart from the faith why they're going to be giving heed they're going to be giving heed they're going to be listening to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils that's what's going to lead people astray in these latter times that's what's going to cause people to get into error and sin they're going to be seduced okay they're going to give heat to seducing Spirits they're going to give heed to the siren Call of the principalities and powers that are at work in the earth they're going to give heed to the uh clever deceptive lullabies of death that are going to cause people to go astray and so that's the issue is that people are going to be seduced away from the truth you can start out in Jesus Christ and be sincere and be dedicated for a time period but if you're not careful you can be seduced by these spirits that this scripture is talking about okay seducing Spirits doctrines of devils that's what happens to many people okay this is what's going to happen in the church beware people don't be shocked when you see it don't be alarmed and don't be surprised but recognize that this is just something that the Bible warns about for the last times is just something that the Bible warns about why so that we don't get offended and so we're not uh caught off guard by it we're not shocked by it but we're ready and that's the desire in the heart of God is that the people of God be ready be ready uh for the troubles that are associated with our times okay and so this is just giving you a a portrait of some of the troubles that are going to hit during these last times okay some people are going to depart from the faith they're going to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils you see how do you survive how do you uh make sure that you don't get deceived you got to make sure that you don't give heed to these seducing spirits and doctrines of devils you got to make sure that you don't give heed to them uh just because uh they're seducing Spirits out there doesn't mean that you got to follow them or be deceived by them just because there's false doctrines out there doesn't mean that you got to be deceived and follow them but by the grace of God we've got to stand on the word of God stand on the truth of God's word the the basic principles of Truth he says some are going to depart they're going to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils what's going to happen to them after this they're going to end up speaking lies verse two speaking lies and hypocrisy people are going to start speaking things that they know are not even true they're going to start telling others falsehoods that are not true and they know they're not true because it says speaking lies in hypocrisy so they're going to know that they're wrong they're going to know that they're spreading lies but they're going to do it anyway because they don't fear God they don't have genuine reverence for God they're going to speak lies in hypocrisy what else are they going to do they're going to have their conscience seared with a hot iron the Searing process if you sear something with a hot iron basically what you do is you cut off you cause that thing that area of a person's body uh to lose uh its ability to sense you know because when you sear it you that that area ends up in in essence being almost like it's did because it doesn't feel as a normal doesn't feel the normal Sensations as other areas would well this is what happens with the conscience because of falsehood and lies and hypocrisy when people get involved in hypocrisy and they play around with God what ends up happening is that their conscience gets seared with a hot iron their conscience gets to the place where that is no longer sensitive to God and it's no longer sensitive to what is right and what is wrong when you're young and you're pure and innocent your conscience will tell you what is right and what is wrong but when you reject the conscience and you willingly and consistently go against the conscience what ends up happening is that your conscience is seared and it loses its uh nerve sensibility those nerves the spiritual nerves of the conscience are damaged and you don't have no fing you can uh you can can do evil you can do wrong and you have no real sense of remorse no real sense of guilt like a normal person you you've heard of the term a cold blooded murderer well what happens with coldblooded murderers is that they kill and ignore their conscience enough to where they just no longer feel any sense of remorse guilt or shame when they kill somebody they no longer feel that they don't feel any guilt like a normal person who who has a a strong conscience would feel they don't feel it they're not concerned in the least bit all they're concerned about is their own pleasure the thrill that they get from killing see that's what that can happen with the conscience the conscience can be damaged the conscience can be damaged utterly this is what happens when the conscience is seared with a hot iron people that are in cult groups that are preaching false doctrines their conscience can get seared with a hot iron because they're preaching something that their conscience is telling them is wrong don't think that everybody that's in a court group is just deceived some people in that court group know the truth they know the way but they just don't want truth they've had the truth offered to them but they don't value the truth they'd rather hold on to uh the falsehoods of a cult group hold on to the the lies associated with that cult rather than to grasp the truth to lay hold on the truth of the word of God so this is what happens with people that get involved in group so it says speaking lies and hypocrisy people that are in these false groups they're teaching others and leading others astray they end up knowing that what they're doing is wrong they end up knowing that they are a hypocrite okay it says speaking lies in hypocrisy see they speak lies in hypocrisy hypocrisy is when you know the truth you know what is right but you won't walk in it you know what God requires but you won't walk in it instead you seek to deceive people as though you are walking in the truth this is what can happen when you get involved when you play around with false Doctrine if you play around with it you can end up going around speaking lies in hypocrisy and then when you speak lies in hypocrisy and you keep doing it you can have your conscience seared with a hot iron get to the place where that you have no regard for right or wrong you don't care because your conscience has been deadened then it says forbidding to marry commanding to abstain from Meats which God hath created to be received with Thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth so this is the key okay the key is we've got to be aware of the danger of false teachings and we've got to be aware of what those teachings are are and we've got to make sure that we do our part to avoid the teachings avoid the falsehood okay we've got to as the scripture says abhor that which is evil and cleave cleave to that which is good cleave to it don't don't uh uh don't let the truth just depart from you but cleave to that which is good as one scripture says buy the truth and sell it not pay the price to have the truth is what that scripture means buy the truth and sell it not you have the truth today don't Veer away and hold on to God so you can make it in the end now what are we talking about uh when we talk about cults what exactly is a cult let's define it for you what I'm referring to when I speak of a cult is I'm speaking of a group of people that are gathered uh around a specific person or person's misinterpretation of the Bible okay they're gathered around an organization that has a false interpretation of the Bible or they're gathered around an individual person that has a false interpretation of the Bible they're gathered around such persons and what ends up happening is that this person or this organization replaces Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is not their Shepherd but they're being shepherded by another person or an organization they're being led astray by someone else that is standing in the position that Jesus should be in for the church they're not looking to Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith but instead they're looking to an organization they're looking to a man a human being rather than God so that's what happens with a c group they get gathered around someone else other than Jesus a true church follows Jesus and we follow the Bible but a false group like a a cultic group they follow someone else and Jesus is not the Apostle okay and he's not the high priest of their faith someone else has stepped in and replaced Jesus okay and so today we want to talk about the Latter Day Saints excuse me the LDS church or the latterday Saints also referred to as the Mormons okay and we want to look at them on today and learn about what they believe so that we can uh stand against uh their teaching and we'll be strong enough uh to withstand when they come at us with something that's false okay so Mormons I'm sure you may have seen Mormons at some point in your life they usually come around they usually have on white shirts they ride around on bicycles uh and they come into your community door too usually two of them they have Mormon missionaries and they come 2 by two riding around on bicycles they come into communities and they are very bold and daring and attempting to lead people to follow the teachings of Joseph Smith over the Bible that is the ultimate that's the ultimate goal of a Mormon missionary to get you to follow the teachings of Joseph Smith as more important than the Bible so that's the issue there they've replaced Jesus with Joseph Smith so Mormons they're very diligent in promoting their ideologies they work very hard it's required that you do a two-year uh Mission missions trip Evangelistic trip Trip 2 years is the requirement for Mormons I don't think that they just have to do that but but it's pretty strongly suggested in a Mormon house so that you go out and do a two-year missions journey and so they do that and uh there's is calculated that there's about 300,000 Mormon conversions per year 300,000 people getting sucked into the LIE of the LDS church every year 300,000 it's a lot of people and when they get sucked into that lie and really become a part of it it's a lot harder to lead them out of it than if they had never become a part of it becomes a lot more difficult because they've gotten wrapped up in all kinds of Lies doctrines and false beliefs they've been deceived is what has happened so it becomes very hard uh Mormons they promote good works they promote clean living you know they're not into smoking and things like that uh I don't believe they even drink alcohol uh they will go into the rough parts of town and try to advance their false teachings Mormonism tends to appeal to people that are educated they have many adherents who have great prominence in America many people that are caught into the Mormon cult people that have great prominence they have a prominent place in American society there's a lot of Mormons that in scientific honor societies uh they have become powerful leaders and branches of the US government I think if you can remember Mitt Romney Mitt Romney was a presidential candidate he was a Mormon he was part of the Church of uh Saturday Saints and he got to the position where that he could run for president of the United States so they are a group of people that we should know about we should be aware of them and if you haven't had them come knock on your door the day may come when they'll come right to your door their white shirts and they're they're riding on their bik bikes come right to your door knocking on your door wanting to discuss the Bible with you the Mormon church was founded in 1830 it was founded by Joseph Smith okay 1830 was when it was founded it was founded by Joseph Smith who was a polygamist okay so if you just look at their their founder you'll see powerful evidence that something is wrong with the LDS church their founder as I said he was a polygamist this is something that is undeniable historically he was a polygamist he had many wives and he believed in that and that is part of the early beliefs of the LDS church they believed in polygamy so that's one that right there to me that's enough to show clearly that you shouldn't follow the LDS church okay polygamy is just wrong biblically in the New Testament we we we know that there is no polygamy Paul the Apostle saidin order to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband he didn't say let every man have his own wives and he didn't say let every woman have her own husbands no he said One Singular okay polygamy is wrong in the New Testament it's clearly wrong it was permitted in the Old Testament before Jesus came it was permitted we see examples of men of God in the Old Testament before Christ came that were polygamist they had multiple wives we know that but after Jesus came when Jesus came and died on the cross and paid the price for our sins and he uh brought about Grace and Truth the law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ Jesus did away with that and he established a higher standard the standard uh under Jesus Christ is higher than it was under the law of Moses and so polygamy was in no way permitted in the early New Testament Church by the founding fathers of the church the apostles and and the prophets of the New Testament they did not support polygamy you can't make a case for polygamy and so the very Foundation at the very Foundation at the and at the very root of the LDS church is a powerful piece of evidence against it their support for polygamy in their history if the founder was off then uh how can you trust his doctrines if the founder was that off as to be a polygamist and how can you trust uh the teachings that he put forth how can you trust that this man was a genuine uh prophet of God and what has happened in the Eld s church is that Joseph Smith has replaced Jesus Christ Joseph Smith is sitting in the position that Jesus is supposed to be sitting in they're looking to Joseph Smith and his writings instead of looking to Jesus and the Bible that is the issue that's my primary indictment against the LDS church that's how you can know that it's off and it definitely is a caught group now so Joseph Smith the polygamist was the founder of the LDS church there's two groups of LDS that exist today two groups the first group is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that's based in Salt Lake City Utah which claims over 10 million adherence okay that's the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints the LDS church based in Salt Lake City Utah then there is the Community of Christ rld DS which means reformed Latter Day Saints okay rld DS reformed Latter Day Saints which is based in Independence Missouri okay they're based in Independence Missouri so if Mormons come to your door one way to identify which group they're part of is say where where's your head headquarters at are you based in Independence Missouri or are you based in Salt Lake City Utah okay and the Community of Christ rld DS Church they still hold evidently they still hold to polygamy they still hold to it whereas the LDS they they they don't hold to it they're not pushing it and advancing it uh today it's not something that they're really holding on to okay I believe that there there may there's likely polygamy in both sex to some degree there's likely polygamy in the LDS as as well as in the rld DS the reformed LDS uh but the reformed LDS is the one that is more noted for polygamy and the Community of Christ headquartered in Independence Missouri uh they have about two just 250,000 adherence about 250,000 adherence [Music] worldwide okay so we're focusing on on today uh to make it to simplify this is we're going to focus on the LDS church which has the 10 million adherents okay we're focusing on them because they they're the bigger group in Mormonism what they say concerning the Bible is this they say the Bible is the word of God in so far as it is correctly translated they say yeah the Bible is the word of God in so far as it is correctly translated and so that gives them a loophole to where they can claim well that passage might not be correctly translated and they can fight if they need to against something that is in the Bible okay they say that's their belief okay the three other books that are associated with the LDS church that are in addition to the Bible that they look to as well as the Bible are the Book of Mormon and that's the book that they're trying to get you to read they're trying to get you to look at an extra biblical book when they come to your door and they talk with you they try to act so innocent yeah we like the Bible and all of that but their goal is to get you to get into the Book of Mormon their goal is to get you to read something that is outside of the Bible that is at odds with the Bible their goal is to get you to try to well their goal is to attempt to get you to look to another source for the word of God and they want to give you that Book of Mormon here can we give you a book of Mormon is what they'll tell you this is the Book of Mormon you need to read this we we know you've read the Bible but there's some other things that Jesus did that are not recorded in the Bible and the Book of Mormon records that did you know that Jesus went to America he went to America and did some work as well see this is what they do they will try their best to get you to read the book of Mormon they'll leave you a copy of it something that's outside of the Bible okay so the Book of Mormon is one book then another book that they look to is called Doctrine and Covenants Doctrine and Covenants is another book and then they also read another book called the pearl of great price the pearl of great price so they look at all these books which are extra biblical and these books contradict the Bible they do not agree with the Bible That's the error that is causing them to go astray they're looking to another source God has given us his word his word is the Bible these three books that they have added on these three Dums are what uh they use to lead many people astray the devil knows if he can get you to trust something outside the Bible that he has you just where he wants you he can deceive you and tell you anything if he can get you to believe something and Trust in something that's outside the Bible we got to make sure that our faith is in the Bible and the Bible alone we can't be deceived by other books God has given us his word he's not adding he's not going to add anything to it this new gospel that the Mormons are preaching doesn't agree with our gospel and Paul warned he said if I or an angel from heaven preach unto you another gospel he said let him be a cursed if I were an angel from heaven so this supposed angel that appeared to Joseph Smith came to Joseph Smith and it was proclaiming to him another gospel it was something that didn't agree with the original gospel we have the original gospel and we will make it if we'll hold on to it we'll make it if we hold on to that original gospel so these three books are what the Mormon the LDS church has faith in they believe that uh the Earth is one of several inhabited planets that are ruled by gods and goddesses see this is not something they will tell you openly you have to know what they believe and be aware of it they're not going to just tell you this upfront but they believe that the Earth is one of several inhabited planets they don't believe that God is the only God they believe that there's gods and goddesses who were once humans on other planets totally in total contradiction of the Bible Bible does not teach that at all Bible teaches there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus one God doesn't say that there's many gods and goddesses the very core of the LDS church is polytheistic multiple gods they don't they're not a monotheistic Christian uh Church they're not they believe there's many gods uh the they believe that the Trinity that we Christians know about and the Bible reveals they believe concerning the Trinity that the Trinity is three different gods that are born in different times and places that's what they believe concerning the Trinity that is three different gods born in different times and places they believe that the father begot the Son and the Holy Spirit through a goddess wife in heaven see see the error of their teaching the father somehow begot the Son and the Holy Spirit through a goddess wife in heaven they believe that the father had a beginning they believe that the father was an Essence a man before he became a god you see they have some strange beliefs strange doctrines be aware of their strange beliefs be aware of their strange doctrines don't allow yourself to be uh allured by the seduction associated with the Mormon LDS church so uh they believe that the father begot the Son and the Holy Spirit through a goddess wife in heaven so the father had a beginning the son had a beginning and the Holy Spirit had a beginning is what they believe and the Bible says from Everlasting to Everlasting lasting you are God from everlasting God was God he didn't have a beginning okay he's the Alpha and the Omega he's the beginning and the end he is the very source of all life without him was not anything made that was made there's just one God he's eternally existed in three persons it's God the Father God the son and God the Holy Ghost the Bible says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made and then if you jump down it tells you who the word is it says and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth see that's the truth we got to hold to the truth and be caught up into this lie this deception of the Mormon church if you're meeting with Mormons if somehow you've built a connection with them you need to break that con connection because they'll Lead You astray if you follow them if you have the Book of Mormon in your house you need to take it and burn it because that is a book that's leading many astray get rid of it you got to hold to the Bible you got to hold to the truth of God's word so it's just there's no validity to the notion that the Holy Spirit and the son Jesus Christ had a beginning and they were born from a goddess wife in heaven there's no validity there's no scripture whatsoever that supports that in the Bible no support for it whatsoever they believe that God begat all humans in heaven as offspring of his wife or wives it's getting really bizarre if you really uh study what they believe it gets really bizarre All Humans everybody born into this world God begat them through his wife or wives so they think that even the father God might be a polygamist that he might have have wives they believe that humans are sent to Earth for a potential exaltation to godhood see that they think that we as humans have the potential to become gods that are worshiped see this is their thought they think okay if we do good in this world we could become a God that's part of the Allure that draws the foolish and the naive into this cult group that's part of the Allure that draws them they think they're going to become a god oh if I follow this religion and follow the tenets and principles of it one day I can be a God over my own Planet this is a lie okay God is God alone and the Bible makes that very clear it doesn't say that we're going to be Gods it makes it very clear that we're going to reign with God God is going to give us a measure of authority to reign with him but it doesn't say we're going to become Gods God is the uh um ageless uh being and source of everything he's the only God he's not uh one of many gods he's not training us to be Gods we will never be worshiped as he is God God Alone is to be worshiped and praised so uh we got to follow the word we got to follow the Bible it's our only hope it's the only hope for a wicked world only way we're going to make is we got to hold to the Bible so they believe that God begat All Humans from his wife or wives Mormons believe that humans are sent to Earth for a potential exaltation to godhood Mormons believe that salvation is resurrection but they believe that exaltation to godhood for eternal life uh has to be earned through self- meriting works okay so this is another false teaching that they have salvation is resurrection but exaltation to godhood for eternal life has to be earned through self- meriting work the Bible says for by grace are ye saved Ephesians chapter 2 for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of Works lest any man should boast your salvation is not based on works of righteousness which you have done your salvation is based on the works of righteousness which God has done is what God did for you that's going to ultimately save you and none of us is going to be able to boast in our Salvation that we saved ourselves through our own good works by grace are you saved through faith they believe that they alone represent true Christianity the Mormons actually believe that they are the true Christian and all these other Christian groups that believe the Bible and hold to the Bible they believe that all of us are off and they're the true Christians because they believe the Book of Mormon and the teachings of Joseph Smith they believe that the church fell into a complete apostasy in other words the church fell away from from the truth is what they believe and they believe that that made it necessary for a restoration and so therefore they send missionaries to other Christians this is what the Mormons believe the LDS church false Church a cult group okay they can uh cause many people to be led astray if we are not wise to resist their false teachings and to not be deceived by The Book of Mormon and the teachings of Joseph Smith we've got to stand against that stand for the truth stand for what is right and uh realize that they have gotten way off okay so you learn some principles about them I I would advise you that you listen to this take some notes on this learn these things about the LDS people so that when you encounter them and you are speaking with them you have some knowledge about what they believe okay they won't tell you all of this stuff they'll keep it hidden and they'll try to act like they believe as you believe but they have a lot of weird and strange beliefs as we bow our heads dear father we thank you for your word we thank you for this time of Bible study thank you thank you thank you now help us today oh God to hold on to the truth to hold on to what is right and to not deviate from it oh God help us to hold to the word of God and not be deceived and let astray keep us protect us preserve us till we meet again oh God uh uh we ask these rich blessings in the mighty name of Jesus Christ and amen we thank you for viewing the Divine Encounter Church online Bible study uh we're going to continue this series next time telling you about uh these false groups so that way you are aware of what they believe we're going we want you to be equipped and fortified and strengthened to stand may God bless you please like share And subscribe so we can get the word out there God bless you and we'll see you next time