TOPIC:“Witnessing - The Problem of the Cults”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Acts 1:1-8
“And you shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8)
One of the major problems that the soul winner faces in their witness for Christ is that of the non-Christian cults. Wilbur M. Smith, the great evangelical theologian of the 20th century, brings this fact to light when he writes: “Apart from sheer unbelief and the deep paganism of our modern civilization, the greatest hindrance to an acceptance of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ is the teaching of those false cults which, on the periphery of Christianity, deceivingly and inaccurately use many of the sacred terms of the true Christian faith.”
There are at least four major cults and an endless array of smaller ones active in our world today. The major cults include the following: Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Mormons, and Seventh-Day Adventist. Almost on any continent of the world and upon every street corner in any major city of the United States and Canada, these cults are on the march and are growing with phenomenal speed. Millions of people are being led astray by these false cults. Now an understanding of the major teachings of these groups and how to deal with them is imperative for every soul winner.
I.
Consider, first of all, the SYSTEM to use against the cults. It is interesting to note that Christ anticipated that the time would come when various cults would rise to contradict His very teachings as found in the Bible. He not only predicted their rise, but prescribed the course to be followed by Christians in dealing with them. Christ proclaimed: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:4, 5, 24).
The soul winner must have an accurate knowledge of what each of these cults believe. We must know what our enemy teaches. We must recognize their points of truth and realize their points of error. But often this is not the case. Again quoting Wilbur M. Smith who writes: “The danger is that too many in the Church, unacquainted with, and really uninterested in the history and actual teachings of these groups are lulled into a state of indifference toward them, or even worse, into believing that these false religions are also a true way to God, whereas they lead to nothing else but eternal death.” How tragic! But in our desire to witness to people trapped by these false cults, there are certain things the Christian worker must never do. The wise Christian will not attack any of these groups with which they disagree, but will try intelligently to show them from the Bible why they believe them to be wrong. The soul . . .