Introduction
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When I was growing up whenever someone was caught telling a lie we always said "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!". Childish, yes, but very appropriate if you think about it. All cults have several things in common. First, they mimic Christianity, though they are only a pseudo-form of the truth. Several of the cults, like the Mormon Church, have gone so far into mimicry that they are actually considered a separate denomination like the Presbyterian or Methodist Churches. Second, the cults twist the Scripture to suit their platform of belief, rather than conform what they believe to what the Scripture teaches. Many of the cults, though not all, use various forms of brainwashing techniques to gather and retain their converts. They use holy deception, as they call it, to trick a person into their midst, then on tearing down the barriers of the person's old belief system they slowly inculcate the new, cultic doctrines.

"Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" is a true saying, for those deceived by cults are walking a pathway that can only lead to eternal damnation in the next life. Jesus said,  "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". (John 14:6). The cults would have you believe there are other ways to God, but our Lord teaches only one way: Faith in the historic and Biblical Person of Jesus Christ. Anything that distorts that simple Gospel message is cultic, and leads to anything but Heaven.

In this and eight other studies we will be looking at various cults, and how they twist the Scripture into something outside of the truth. All Scripture quoted is from the King James version, and this research was compiled from various sources. Two of the best sources I used were The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error by Keith L. Brooks (Moody Press) and Larson's Book of Cults by Bob Larson (Tyndale Publishing House, 1982). I have also had personal contact with several of these cults myself, which "flavors" this writing.

Be aware, this series of studies is not meant to be a personal attack on any person, for all people are precious and need to hear the Gospel of Christ. These studies are designed to attack the lies that the cults are propagating, leading men and women to damnation and away from peace in Christ. If you know anybody who is involved in these cults, please don't use the material to attack them. Use the material, in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit, to try and lead them out of the lies of the cult and into the Truth of God's Word. Redeem that soul for Jesus!
 

Leviticus 20:6, 27 "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.  ... A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."

For some reasons Americans are fascinated with this macabre practice. The "Psychic Friends Network" routinely shows "real psychics" that will, for free, tell you all sorts of things about yourself that you already knew. One one woman was recently shown on such a commercial crying because, she said, "It's so real ... it just feels so real".

Spiritualism/ Spiritism (S&S) is mankind's oldest false religion, associated with Voodoo, Ouija, Psychics, even to the ritual human sacrifices of the ancient Canaanites and Chaldeans. S&S is often characterized by ghostly emanations, rapping in old "haunted" houses. Though Spiritualism is an outcropping of the more ancient Spiritism, both are founded in pagan, not Christian theology. Followers of S&S have the following seven principles they follow (Larson's Book of Cults, Tyndale Publishers, 1982, pp 321-322):
 

1. The Fatherhood of God
2. The Brotherhood of Man
3. Continuous existence
4. Communion with spirits and the ministry of angels
5. Personal responsibility
6. Compensation and retribution hereafter for good and evil done on the earth
7. A path of endless progression

S&S also affirms nine articles of belief:

1. We believe in Infinite Intelligence.
2. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence.
3. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith, constitute true religion.
4. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continues after the change called death.
5. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism.
6. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: "Whatever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye unto them".
7. We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that he makes his own happiness or unhappiness as he obeys or disobeys nature's physical and spiritual laws.
8. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul here or hereafter.
9. We affirm that the precept of Prophecy contained in the Bible is a divine attribute proven through Mediumship.

Luke 16:19-26 "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."

God has a great gulf fixed between death and life, a gulf that no man (even a Medium) can breach. This gulf is there for our own good. So if S&S cannot, Biblically, claim to reach the dead, how do we explain their proofs? Quite simply:

John 8:44  "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

If Jesus is true (and I believe He is) then that which S&S engages in is manifested from the Father of Lies, Satan. But if Jesus is false, which I deny, then He lied when He proclaimed a great and unbreachable gulf was fixed between the living and the dead.

Quit playing in the devil's playground, lest you be burned!
 

The Holy Bible Says:	Spiritualism Says:
The Person of God Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  Deuteronomy 4:35  Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.  Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Matthew 3:16-17  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:   And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Genesis 11:7-8  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  Isaiah 48:13-16   Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.	The Person of God The spark of Divinity dwells in all (What Spiritualism Is and Does, Spiritualist Manual, 1940) "Just as I am, nor poor nor blind; Nor bound by chains in soul or mind; For all of Thee within I find; O God of Love I come, I come." (Spiritualist Hymnal)
The Lord Jesus Christ John 1:1-4  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 any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  Matthew 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  John 1:14  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. Romans 1:4-6  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:  Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:  1 Corinthians 15:13-17  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Hebrews 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Acts 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.	The Lord Jesus Christ The teaching of spirits supersedes and is an advance upon the teachings of Christianity (Spiritualist Telegraph, Number 37) Christ was no divine. He is now an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere. He never claimed to be God manifest in the flesh and does not at present (Weisse, Demonology or Spiritualism, p. 141) His identification with the Father was the oneness of Mediumship. He was a medium or mediator (Colville, Universal Spiritualism, p. 234) Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God, as also we are Son of God (Many Mansions, p. 107) The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale (Weisse, Spiritualism, p. 141) .. The Death of Jesus is an illustration of the martyr spirit, of that unselfish and heroic devotion to humanity which ever characterized the life of Jesus, but no special atoning value in his sufferings and death (The A.B.C. of Spiritualism, Q. 19) Spiritualism accepts him as one of many Savior Christs, who at different times have come into the world to lighten its darkness and show by precept and example the way of life to men. It recognizes him as a world saviour but not as the only name given under Heaven by which men can be saved (The A.B.C. of Spiritualism, Q. 17)
The Personage of the Holy Spirit John 15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:  John 16:8, 13-14  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.  John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  Romans 8:11-15  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.  Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.	The Personage of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit from God is the spirit of some holy person who has once been in the flesh (Hastings, p. 91)
The Nature of Sin Romans 3:10-12  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  Romans 3:21-25  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  1 John 1:9-10  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  1 John 3:4-5 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  1 John 5:17  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.  Romans 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.  James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.	The Nature of Sin Whatever is, is right. Evil does not exist. Evil is good. No matter what man's path may be, good  or bad, it is the path of divine ordination and destiny (Childs, Whatever Is, Is Right) A lie is the truth intrinsically: it holds a lawful place in creation; it is a necessity (Andre, The True Light, p. 162) Death is not a violent result of sin. It was neither friend nor enemy. It is a part of the divine purpose (Spiritualism Manual, 1940)
The Nature of Salvation Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Revelation 1:5-6  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  Hebrews 9:22-26  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Colossians 1:20-22  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  Hebrews 10:12-18  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.  John 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  Titus 3:5-7  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Ephesians 2:8-9 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.  Romans 3:24-27  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.	The Nature of Salvation There is no atoning value in the death of Jesus Christ (Childs, Whatever Is, Is Right) Salvation by vicarious atonement is a wicked and soul destroying delusion (Ethics of Spiritualism, p. 99) Every soul will progress through the ages to heights sublime and glorious, where God is love and love is God (What Spiritualism is and Does, Spiritualist Manual, 1940) There are no two worlds at all, there is but one inter blended, interrelated world, closely interwoven by memory and the love of life. Consciousness could not die. Personality could not be destroyed (Bach, They have Found a Faith, p. 116) Man becomes a spirit after death, doing both evil and good, but he may be saved as he progresses from one spirit level to the next. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul, here or hereafter (Declaration of Principles, Numbers 7-8) Leaving the physical body does not change the condition of the spirit, which is the actual personality. It must learn to desire and to progress to higher and higher conditions, just as we do on earth (Spiritualist Manual, p. 182) Each must work out his own salvation; each has an equal opportunity to do this when he shall have atoned for the wrongs and overcome the temptations and allurements to the sense gratification of earth life (Spiritualist Manual, p. 184) Even the most degraded personality can in time attain the greatest heights. It is easier, however, to begin progression in the earth life (Spiritualist Manual, p. 184)
The Nature of Hell Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  Revelation 20:12-15  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  2 Thessalonians 1:8-9  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;  Mark 9:45-48  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Matthew 13:41-42  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.	The Nature of Hell When you believe in spiritual manifestations, you will feel far happier than you do now. You will not fear the threats of damnation and hell .. such doctrine is wrong (Doyle, The New Revelation, 1918, p. 68) We do not believe in such places as Purgatory and Hell. Communicating spirits have merely graduated from this form of life into another. That life can be heaven or hell like, just as each spirit chooses to make it; the same applies to our life here (Spiritualist Manual, p. 183)

 

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