All right, well, I'd like to begin tonight, of course, by saying thank you again to Pastor
and Mrs. Taberner, and of course, they've been just great, great hosts and very hospitable.
We really enjoyed our time here and enjoyed getting to know you both and your family,
and I'm sure this is the beginning of a great friendship.
I hope it's the beginning of a great friendship for us, and of course, thank you to Pastor
and Mrs. Thompson, and of course, we love you both, and we appreciate your friendship,
and I want to say thank you to all of you for being here on Wednesday night.
It's a great crowd for Wednesday night service, and I appreciate you taking the time.
I know there's a lot of traffic and a lot of things that go into this, and not only
did you show up, but you brought food with you, so thank you very much, and we really
enjoyed, my family and I, we've enjoyed our time here.
Pastor Thompson and I were talking yesterday about just the fact that we both have a lot
of respect and admiration for the UK and for England, and I really enjoyed my time being
here.
I do want to say that I will be preaching at the missions conference at Faith Forward
Baptist Church later on this year in November, and I'm going to be preaching about this trip,
about the UK missions trip, so if you have any insight that you could help me with for
that sermon, let me know, and I would appreciate any help from people that live here.
If you've got any thoughts, I'd love to hear it, and we are going to be flying out tomorrow
morning, my family and I, so we've enjoyed our time, and we appreciate your prayers as
we leave.
Today, Pastor Tavener took us to do some Muay Thai training, and you know you've overstayed
your welcome if Pastor Tavener takes you to do Muay Thai, you know what I mean, because
it's like, one too many trips to London, bam, you know, it's just like, you know, so anyway,
but if you move the church to London, then I'll just move here, and I'm kidding, we really
enjoyed our time, and we appreciate just the time that we've had to be here, and of course
on this trip, Brother Tavener has been ordained, and is now Pastor Tavener, and the pastor
of Strong Tower Baptist Church, and it's great that this church is now an independent, autonomous
New IFB church here in the UK, and of course, you know, my understanding is that it's the
first New IFB church in this country, so I think that I was thinking about the fact
that it'd be the first of its kind here, and one thing that of course people often attack
us with, or an accusation that people make towards us, and when I say us, I'm talking
about New IFB churches, is we're often being accused of being a cult, and this church,
if it hasn't already been accused of being a cult, it's probably going to be, especially
since you're the only one in the UK, you're probably going to be accused of being a cult,
and you know, don't let that scare you, because that's a very common accusation that's hurled
at us, and pretty much any time that anyone goes to any church, not just the New IFB church,
but any church where someone begins to grow, and they begin to grow spiritually, and change
their lives, then people often just accuse them of being in a cult.
I know my wife, when she got saved at 17 years old, she didn't go to a New IFB church, there
were no New IFB churches back then, but she just went to an independent fundamental Baptist
church, what we would now refer to as an old IFB church, and she began to grow, she began
coming to church, she changed the way she dressed, she started going soul winning, and
her family said, you know, that she was in a cult, and they've changed their minds since
then, she's gotten most of her family saved, but this is something that's just often hurled
at us, where people accuse us of being in a cult, and I'm not sure if that's maybe just
the US, or maybe the UK, you know, let me just ask, just by show of hands, has anyone
ever been accused of being in a cult?
Yeah, I mean, you can see, you know, have you ever been accused of being a cult leader?
Okay, it's like three hands go up, you know, but yeah, I mean, it's a pretty common thing,
you know, many of you have been accused of being in a cult, and tonight I want to preach
on the subject of why the new IFB is not a cult, and today I was out soul winning with
Junior, and I enjoyed my time soul winning with him, and he asked me about the inspiration
for the sermon, and you know, the inspiration for the sermon is the fact that this is something
that we're often being accused of, being a cult, what I think is funny is that oftentimes
we'll kick people out of our churches, and then they'll act like they're some sort of
cult survivor, you know?
And it's just funny, and they're acting like they survived the cult, or they escaped the
cult, and it's like, well how did you escape the cult if we kicked you out?
But this is something that happens a lot, and what I want to do tonight is I want to
give you seven characteristics of a cult, I did a lot of research and read a lot of
different articles and things, and I'm going to read some articles for you tonight regarding
cults, and the cults that I'm going to be talking about, they're very famous and well
known in the US, I'm assuming they're also well known here in the UK, but if not, just
nod and smile and we'll get to the potluck, alright?
But I did a lot of research and I think everyone's going to agree that these are the seven characteristics
of a cult.
So I'm going to teach you the seven characteristics of a cult, and I'm going to show you how none
of these apply to the new IFB, and tonight, not only am I going to prove that the new
IFB is not a cult, I'm going to prove that the new IFB is the antithesis of a cult, and
of course, the word antithesis refers to something that is opposite of, and we are actually,
in my opinion, and I think I'll prove it tonight, the exact opposite of a cult.
We're not a cult, and we're anti-cults, we are the antithesis of a cult.
So I'd like to give you these seven thoughts tonight, and we'll start here in 2 John and
chapter 1, of course there's one chapter, you look down at verse number 7, the Bible
says this, for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ is come.
And of course, when the Bible says here that there are deceivers that confess not that
Jesus Christ is come, the meaning, of course, is that he has already come, or that he has
came for what we would call his first advent, or his first ministry.
Obviously every Christian believes in the second coming of Christ, the fact that he's
coming again, but here are deceivers who are confessing that they confess not that Jesus
Christ is come, and here's the key, in the flesh.
And when it says in the flesh there, the reference is that he's already come in his human mortal
body, because we know that when he comes again, he's coming in his glorified body.
Obviously Jesus died when he was buried, and when he resurrected, and when he resurrected,
he was now in his glorified body.
But this is a reference to the fact that Jesus already came in his mortal body.
The fact that there is no Messiah coming who is going to be born of a woman, there is no
Messiah coming who is coming in his mortal flesh.
Look at verse 7 again, for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ.
So here we are learning about deceivers who say, no, the next time Jesus comes, he's not
coming in his glorified body, but yet there are other comings where he's coming in the
flesh as well.
And I want to begin here, because I want to begin with the first characteristic of a cult
and how we know that the new IFB is not a cult.
And if you're taking notes, and I encourage you to take notes, I notice there on the back
of your sermon, of your bulletin, there's a place for you to take sermon notes.
And maybe you can jot this down, because look, someday, if it hasn't happened already, and
it's happened to a lot of you, somebody is going to accuse you of being in a cult, and
you could have seven reasons to tell them, hey, I'm not in a cult.
I'm in the emphasis of a cult, and let me explain to you why that is.
Here's point number one, how we know the new IFB is not a cult.
Cults have unquestioned, messianic-type leadership.
This is probably the number one characteristic of a cult.
They have leaders that are not just pastors or spiritual leaders, but they often begin
that way, but they eventually turn themselves into some sort of messiah.
And they often will say that they are the reincarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ or
some other version of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the Bible calls these people deceivers because Christ has already come in the flesh.
Jesus is not coming again.
There is no other ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ where he's going to be reincarnated
or he's going to come down as some other man.
The next time Jesus comes, we will all see him coming in the clouds of glory in his glorified
body.
Look at verse 9, 2 John 1 and verse 9, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ.
What's the doctrine of Christ?
So the context tells us that the doctrine of Christ is that he has already come in the
flesh.
The fact that he's already come in a human mortal body, not a glorified body.
The Bible says whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not God.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
Look at verse 10, if there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine.
What doctrine?
The fact that Jesus Christ has already come in his earthly ministry in the flesh, it's
already happened, he's died, he's been buried, he's resurrected and he's not coming again
in his mortal body but he's coming back in his glorified body.
The Bible says if they bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God speed.
And by the way, this is a good verse when somebody knocks on your door and they're a
Mormon and a Jehovah's Witness, don't say God bless you.
Don't bid him God speed.
They are false prophets.
They are preaching a false gospel.
But I want to apply this to the idea of a cult.
Why?
Because cults have unquestioned, messianic type leadership.
Let me read from a couple of articles for you just to kind of make the point.
Here's an article entitled Nine Things You Should Know About Jim Jones and the Jonestown
Massacre.
Who's ever heard of Jim Jones?
All right, good.
So it's not just a U.S. thing.
Here's what the article says.
It says, by early 1970s, excuse me, by the early 1970s, Jones abandoned all pretense
of being a Christian minister.
James also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Buddha, Gandhi, Vladimir
Lenin and Jesus Christ.
And look, that's a lot of people to be reincarnated.
He was reincarnated and he had like, you know, multiple personality disorder or something.
Sometimes he was Buddha, sometimes he was Lenin, sometimes he was Gandhi.
And then he also just blasphemously says that he is the reincarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
But this is a common thing that cult leaders do.
They begin as just normal ministers and Jim Jones pretended to be a pastor, was ordained
to be a pastor.
But as his ministry became a cult, he began to say that he was the Messiah, that he was
some sort of a messianic figure.
But this is not just Jim Jones.
Here's an article about Charles Manson.
Who knows who Charles Manson is?
I mean, he's from California.
He's locked up in California where I'm from, but yeah, he's pretty famous.
Here's an article from Charles Manson.
Manson convinced a number of his followers that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ
using a combination of drugs and genuine charisma to bring the family, which is a reference
to his cult, mainly young middle-class women under his control.
Here's an article about David Koresh.
If you remember the Waco Massacre and all of that.
It says, during the standoff between the federal agents and the Branch Davidians in 1993 at
the Branch Davidians property outside Waco, Texas named Mount Carmel Center, David Koresh
proclaimed that he was the end time Christ who would reveal the meaning of the seven
seals of the book of Revelation.
So I want you to notice this is a common theme with cult leaders where they begin to not
only say that they're the leader or that they're the spiritual leader or that they're
the ordained leader, but they begin to say that they are the Messiah.
That they are a reincarnation of the Messiah.
And I'd like you to keep your place there in 2 John.
We're going to come back to it, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there, but go with
me if you would to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 17.
Towards the beginning of the New Testament, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and
then the book of Acts, Acts chapter 17.
Acts chapter 17.
And do me a favor, when you get to Acts, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there
because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it.
I'd like you to be able to get to Acts and 2 John fairly quickly if you would.
Acts chapter 17.
And let me just say this, does the new IFB teach that we just have unquestioned messianic
leadership?
Look, we don't teach that.
You say, what do we teach?
We just did it this weekend.
We believe what the Bible teaches, that there's ordained leadership.
That there is spiritual leadership that is ordained where a man is trained and he's prepared
and he's watched and then he comes to a point where an ordained leader lays his hands on
him and ordains him into the ministry.
Let me tell you something, on Sunday when Pastor Thompson laid his hands on your satellite
leader Brother Ian Tabiner and ordained him, something changed in that man in the sense
that now he's your pastor.
And by the way, and I've seen many of you do this properly and praise God for it, but
make sure that you make the effort to call him pastor.
He's not Brother Ian anymore.
He's not just your buddy anymore.
He's your pastor and there is a level of respect that should be given to him as such.
But if he starts telling you that he's Jesus, then you got a problem.
Do you understand the difference?
Nothing wrong with ordained leadership.
And you might think like, oh well this is just, maybe there was something really weird
back in the 70s or back in the early 90s with men like David Koresh or men like Charles
Manson or Jim Jones.
But let me tell you something, idiots are doing this today.
There might be one idiot that you're familiar with by the name of Tyler Doka, who tried,
Tyler Doka tried to be in the new IFB, got rejected for being a flat earth idiot.
Which what does that tell you about flat earthers?
And now he's literally going around telling people that he is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean telling people that he's like the John version of Jesus, which doesn't even make
any sense.
And you know, people told me this, so I just wanted to verify this for myself.
And I went on his website, and like you go on a normal church website, like you go on
our website, I'm sure it's your foundation, I'm sure your guys' website is the same way.
You go to the statement of faith and it says things like, we believe that salvation is
by grace through faith.
We believe that the King James Bible is the word of God.
We believe in the eternal security of the believer.
You go on his website, you go to the statement of faith, the first thing, we believe that
Tyler Dokka is Jesus Christ.
It's like, what in the world?
But let me tell you something, that's what a cult leader does.
And if anybody goes to his church, they're in a cult.
I mean, thank the Lord that I don't think too many people are stupid enough to follow
Tyler Dokka.
I think his own wife said that he's a devil, and she's right.
But let me tell you something, that is a cult, because cults have unquestioned, messianic
type leadership.
Is that what the New York City teachers, do we teach, hey, just follow us unquestioningly,
just everything, do we teach have blind faith?
Well notice Acts 17, because here's what we teach, Acts 17 verse 10, and the brethren
immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming hither went into the
synagogue of the Jews.
There were these, verse 11, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily
whether those things were so.
You know what the new IFP teaches?
The new IFP teaches this, you ought to come to church and be ready to receive the word
with all readiness of mind.
You ought not show up to a church service with your arms crossed and your brow furrowed
and just kind of looking for a mistake that the pastor's going to make or looking for
something you can be upset about or looking for something you can disagree with.
Hey, that should not be your attitude when you come to church.
And oftentimes troublemakers come to church with that attitude.
They show up just looking for something to be upset about, to get angry about, to cause
division about.
The Bible says that you should come to church with all readiness of mind.
You should come to church ready with a mind that's ready, a heart that's open, ready
to receive the word of God.
But you know, you should not just follow things blindly because they received the word with
all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
And I don't know of a movement in this world that emphasizes Bible reading, Bible knowledge,
Bible memorization, Bible study more than the new IFB today.
The new IFB doesn't teach unquestioned, messianic type leadership.
You know what we teach?
We say, hey, we're preaching the word of God, we're men of God, we're doing our best to
teach you the word of God and help you understand the word of God.
But know something, we're just men.
We make mistakes.
You need to search the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
I often tell our church family back home, if somebody is in your life is asking you
a question of the hope that is in you, you need to be ready to answer.
And if your answer, if they're asking you why do you do this or why do you do that,
why do you knock doors or why do you dress that way or why do you do this in your life
or why do you not drink that, look, if they're asking you a question and your answer is because
that's what the pastor says, wrong answer.
That's the wrong answer.
You ought to know what you believe and why you believe it.
You need to search the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
That's what the new IFB teaches.
That's the opposite of unquestioned, messianic type leadership.
We don't say, hey, just do what I say, don't ask questions, don't read the Bible, you can't
understand it.
Look, a lot of churches today, that's what they teach.
And look, this is why I say the new IFB is the antithesis of a cult because we're the
even, even churches that I don't believe are cults, but I would say of the normal churches,
we're the least cult-like.
Because you know what some good churches, I'm talking about churches where the pastor's
saved and they're preaching the right gospel, but you know, they still get up and say, well,
the Bible says, but you know, the Greek really, and what are they doing when they say that?
They're trying to tell you, you can't understand it.
I mean, even churches that we would say are not a cult are still trying to play this game
where they're like, you need me, you can't understand it.
Is that what we teach in the new IFB?
We say, hey, you speak English, you're English, you're from England, you speak English, you've
got a King James Bible, he's your king, if you've got the Holy Spirit of God, hey, let
me tell you something.
Every Christian who's got the Holy Spirit and has a King James Bible ought to be able
to read it, understand it, and we should all be able to come to just the same major doctrinal conclusions.
Now, obviously, when you're a neo-Christian, there's going to be things that you don't understand.
Obviously, you're probably not going to preach out of Ezekiel 37 when you're a brand-new Christian.
But you know, the truth is this, that you've got the same Bible, you've got the same Holy
Spirit, go to 1 John chapter 4, if you would, if you kept your place there in 2 John, just
flip over, go backwards to 1 John chapter 4.
While you turn there, let me read to you from this article called How Cults Work.
And you know, I hope Tyler Doka hears this sermon, because he's a piece of crap, he's
a piece of garbage, and if he's Jesus, I don't want to go to heaven.
And it's just blasphemous beyond belief to even allow those words to come out of your mouth.
Here's an article called How Cults Work.
There's no cult without a powerful charismatic leader.
This is for every cult except Tyler Doka's.
A charismatic leader has the uncanny ability to get people to follow him unquestioningly.
The phrase cult of personality refers to the type of group dynamic.
Cult members are devoted to the leader, not to the leader's ideas.
The leader has complete control over his followers.
There's no questioning of his decisions, and he is accountable to no one within the group.
And let me tell you something, that is the opposite of a Bible church, that is the opposite
of the new IP, because your commitment and your loyalty ought to be to the Word of God,
ought to be to the King James Bible, ought to be to the doctrines that we believe, not
to a man.
And look, you ought to love the men of God that lead you, you ought to respect your pastor
and his wife and appreciate them and love them and esteem them highly for their work's
sake.
But let me tell you something.
If any man ever quits on you or fails you in any way, you ought to still go forward
for God, because our loyalty is not to a man, it's to the Word of God.
Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ.
And if Paul stops following Christ, we still follow Christ.
I may fail you, but Christ will never fail you.
The truth is this, that we don't follow any man blindly, we have respect for the men of
God and we receive the Word with all readiness of mind, but we also search the Scriptures
daily whether those things were so.
1 John 4, 1, look at what it says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
You ought to try every spirit, the word try means to test, try the spirits whether they
are of God.
Just because someone shows up to your house with what looks like a Bible in their hand
does not mean that they're a true prophet.
Many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And we here at the New IFB and within New IFB churches, we don't teach unquestioned
messianic type leadership.
All of us pastors say, hey, we're just mad.
We're not God, we're doing our best, but you better know what the Bible says and you
better know what you believe and you better know why you believe it and you better be
fully persuaded in what it is that you're doing because you're going to stand before
God one day at the judgment seat of Christ and your pastor's not going to be standing
next to you holding your hand and answering questions.
You better know what it is that you're doing with your life.
And if anybody has to send this to Tyler Doka for him to know that I'm preaching against
him, that proves you're not Jesus, idiot.
Go to 2 Peter chapter 1 if you would, 2 Peter chapter 1, 1 John, and then you got 2 Peter.
If you go backwards, you've got 2 Peter right before 1 John.
I said, number 1, how do we know that New IFB is not a cult, that New IFB is not a cult?
Well, first of all, cults have unquestioned messianic type leadership.
Cults are not telling people, hey, you read the Bible.
You study it for yourself.
You memorize it.
Cults aren't telling you, hey, let's memorize all these verses in a certain amount of time
and we're going to give you a prize.
Cults aren't having challenges like when we're saying, hey, we're going to read the New Testament
in this amount of time.
Cults aren't telling people to read the Bible.
Cults are telling people, don't read the Bible, just listen to me.
Cults have unquestioned messianic type leadership.
Does the New IFB have that?
No.
The New IFB is telling you, you better read the Bible for yourself.
You better know what you believe for yourself.
You better be fully persuaded in your own mind.
Here's the second point, how we know the New IFB is not a cult.
Number 1, cults have unquestioned messianic type leadership.
Number 2, cults teach that they are the only source of truth.
Here's an article about the Mormons.
And I'm going to try to pick on as many cults as I can think of.
When the Mormons are a cult, in 1830, Joseph Smith established the Church of Christ in
the belief that it was the restoration of original Christianity.
In 1831, he declared it, talking about the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints,
the Mormons, he declared it to be the only true and living church upon the face of the
whole earth.
That's what Joseph Smith said.
He said, I started a church and it is the only true and living church upon the face
of the whole earth.
The guy baptized himself because he couldn't find anybody worthy enough to baptize him.
I wish somebody would have baptized him and just left him down there.
But he couldn't find anybody because he was the leader of the only true and living church
upon the face of the whole earth, according to him, and he just baptized himself.
Cults teach that they are the only source of truth.
Look at 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 20, 2 Peter 1-20, knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
We've already covered it, but let me say it again.
Any Christian with the Holy Spirit of God and the King James Bible should be able to
read the Bible and come up with the same major doctrinal conclusions.
Obviously, are we all going to see eye to eye?
No.
I mean, on every little thing, on every just specific thing, obviously, there's going to
be opinions.
We're going to argue about who the two witnesses are.
We're going to argue about whatever, little things.
But the major things, anybody who's saved and has the King James Bible, they're going
to believe in the virgin birth, they're going to believe in salvation by grace through faith,
they're going to believe in eternal security, they're just going to believe the normal,
major, obvious things in the Bible.
Why?
Because the prophecy of the scriptures is of no private interpretation.
There's nothing in the Bible that you're ever going to find and just say, well, here's something
I found that no one's ever seen.
Here's something I found that only I could teach you.
Here's something I found that you could never understand it without me.
Look, Bible-believing Christians in England should be able to read the King James Bible.
Isn't this room a testimony to the fact that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private
interpretation?
I mean, is it a coincidence that Christians reading the King James Bible in North America
are like, yeah, soul winning, yeah, God hates the fags, yeah, Jews are bad.
And then Bible-believing Christians in England are like, yeah, soul winning, yeah, God hates
the fags, yeah, Jews are bad.
I mean, how can that be?
It's because there's no prophecy of scripture that is of any private interpretation.
Anybody who's actually saved and actually reading the Bible and actually just wants
the truth is going to come to all the same major conclusions.
They're going to see all the same major things.
You know why?
Because the Bible says that there is no new thing under the sun.
What about cults?
They teach, no, we're the only source of truth.
We're the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.
Is that what the new IFB teaches?
Well, let me just explain a couple of things to you.
First of all, the new IFB has no unique beliefs that are exclusively to our movement.
Do you understand that?
Think about the major belief.
Obviously, we believe a lot of things that all Christians, all saved people believe.
Everything migrates to the faith, the virgin birth, eternal security.
But just think about the things that make the new IFB unique and ask yourself, are those
unique to the new IFB like we came up with those?
Think about the things that make us unique, the post-trib pre-wrath rapture.
You know, millions of Christians throughout the ages and even now believe in the post-trib
pre-wrath rapture.
Not every Christian believes in the pre-tribulation rapture.
How about being family integrated?
There are many non-new IFB churches who believe in being family integrated.
How about being anti-birth control?
I mean, the Catholics believe that.
How about homeschooling?
There's lots of Christians that are not in the new IFB who homeschool their children.
How about being anti-dispensational?
Many non-new IFB churches are anti-dispensational.
How about being against selling in church?
Lots of non-new IFB churches are against selling in church.
How about the reprobate doctrine?
Look, the Calvinists think we're all reprobates.
We're not the only ones that believe in the reprobate doctrine.
How about church discipline?
There's lots of non-new IFB churches.
How about being anti-Zionist?
There's Muslims all over the world that believe that.
I'm just saying, when you think about the major characteristics of the new IFB, you're
just like, this is what makes up, this is what the new IFB is known for.
None of those are unique to us, all of those are believed by people all over the world.
You say, how can that be?
Well, because there is no new thing under the sun.
Because knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation.
And look, religions with bad doctrines, they have some good doctrines.
Because even a broken clock is right twice a day, they're going to have something right.
And really what makes the new IFB unique is not that we have unique doctrines, but is
that we have compiled all of the right doctrines.
That's what makes us unique, is that we have not been a respecter of persons, and we haven't
just been, instead of being loyal to some Bible college or some alma mater, we've been
loyal to the word of God, and we've said, yeah, that's what the Bible says.
These are the doctrines that the Bible teaches, and we're loyal to the word of God.
So what makes us unique is not that we have a unique doctrine, it's that we have so many
good and right doctrines, but every doctrine that we believe in is believed by people that
are non-new IFB all over this world.
So if cults teach that they are the only source of truth, how are we a cult if everything
we believe is believed by other non-new IFB people all over the world?
How about this?
The new IFB teaches that people should go to the best church in their area.
I mean, have you ever heard us teach that before?
Obviously in Europe that can be difficult because there's not a lot of good churches,
but look, we encourage people to go to the best church in their area, and many of you,
if you're visiting, you probably go to a church that's not a new IFB church, but you
go there because of the new IFB.
I don't know of a movement in this world that has put more people in other churches than
our movement, because we reach people through the internet, through the videos, we get them
watching, but then once they start watching, we tell them, get your rear end in church.
Go to church.
I don't have a new IFB church.
Just go to a good church.
Find a church that's saved, find a church that's right on the scriptures, find a church
that will let you go soul-willing, and just go there.
And what do we tell people?
We tell people, shut your mouth, sit down, be a blessing, and go to church.
That's not a cult.
Cults teach that they're the only source of truth.
Cults teach that the only place that you can get truth is our church.
We're telling people, hey, we're not the only good church.
We might be the best churches, but we're not the only good church.
There are other good churches out there.
And if you can't be part of one of our churches, find a church that you can go to and go to
it.
And here's the point that I'm making.
That is the antithesis of a cult.
As I said, number one, cults have unquestioned, messianic-type leadership.
New IFB says, search the scriptures daily, whether those things are so.
Cults teach that they are the only source of truth.
We tell people, there's other good churches out there.
Don't go there and cause division.
Just shut up.
It doesn't matter.
Look, the post-Rapture is an important doctrine, but it shouldn't keep you from going to church.
Dispensationalism is important, but it shouldn't keep you from going to church.
We're the ones telling people, just don't make a big deal about it.
Just ignore it.
If they're right on salvation, they're right on the scriptures.
If they're right on soul winning, just go there.
That's the opposite of a cult.
Number three, go to 1 Corinthians 5.
If you kept your place in Acts, you have Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians.
I've got seven of these, and I've got to move quickly because I'm going to pull up Pastor
Thompson here.
I'm joking, of course.
I love Pastor Thompson.
I like all his sermons.
Here's the third point.
How we know that New F.B. is not a cult, number one, cult type unquestioned, masonic type
leadership.
Number two, cults teach that they are the only source of truth.
Here's point number three.
I think this is my favorite point out of all of them.
I've got seven.
Here's the third one, and this is my favorite.
Cults do not allow people to leave.
Here's an article about Scientology.
Scientology is a cult.
It says, in a lawsuit filed in California, actress Leah Remini, I don't know who that
is, is accusing the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, of harassment,
stalking, infliction of emotional distress, and interfering with her ability to work.
The lawsuit filed on August 2nd in the Superior Court of California alleges that the Church
of Scientology institutionalizes retaliation, activities against those it deems suppressive
persons who speak out against the organization.
The article goes on to say the Church of Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, the author
of Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health.
The religion follows his writings.
Remini alleges in the lawsuit that Scientology hires outsiders and uses its own members to
stalk, surveil, harass, threaten, and intimidate her and others who have spoken out.
So here's a characteristic about a cult.
They do not allow people to leave.
And when people leave, they stalk them, they do surveillance on them, they harass them,
they threaten them, they won't let them go.
You know, one of the things that the new IP is known for is that we believe and we carry
out church discipline.
First Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 9, the Bible, not only does the Bible not tell us
to not allow people to leave, the Bible tells us that we should force some people to leave.
First Corinthians 5, 9, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.
Look at First Corinthians 5, 11, but now I have written unto you not to keep company.
To keep company means to hang out with, not to keep company if any man that is called
a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner
with such and one know not to eat.
Look at verse 13, but them that are without God judgeth, therefore Paul is telling the
church at Corinth, put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
The Bible teaches church discipline.
What does that mean?
That means that we kick people out of church.
Go to Second Thessalonians chapter 3.
Second Thessalonians chapter 3.
If you can find the T books, they're all clustered together, First Second Thessalonians, First
Second Timothy and then you've got the book of Titus.
Second Thessalonians chapter 3, look at verse 6.
Second Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6, now we command you brethren in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ that ye, notice these words, that ye withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly and not after the traditions which he received of us.
Look at verse 14, same chapter, Second Thessalonians 3, 14.
And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, notice what it says, note that man, identify
that man, give that man's name and have no company with him that he may be ashamed.
We so often will attack our churches and say, oh, you're in a cult or I was in a cult
or I'm a cult survivor.
But here's what I say, cults won't let people leave.
We don't let people stay.
We tell some people, you got to go, withdraw yourselves.
We note that man and have no company with him.
We have no company with fornicators.
We note them and keep no company.
So look, cults do not allow people to leave.
We sometimes don't allow people to stay.
We tell them, you got to go.
And you know, what's interesting is what I found is that oftentimes when we kick people
out of church, you know what they do?
They surveil us.
They watch every sermon we preach.
That's surveillance.
They harass us, send e-mails and make videos against us.
They stalk us.
They threaten us.
They intimidate us.
And I got to ask the question, who's the cult here?
We're telling you, hey, just go and we don't want anything to do with you.
And they just won't.
They're like that, you know, crazy ex-girlfriend who just can't get over.
We're like, look, it's over.
It's not us.
It's done.
All right?
There's no future here for you.
Go and take your friends with you.
And they're just like, we can't let you go.
And then we the cult.
Well, let me tell you something.
Cults don't let people leave.
We don't let people stay.
That's literally the antithesis of a cult.
We don't go around telling people, hey, you got to stay here.
No, you can't even harass you.
We're like, bye.
Don't let the doorknob hit you where, you know, whatever.
Cults do not...
Look, I'm just proving to you that we're not a cult.
And I'm proving to you that we're like the opposite of a cult.
Because cults have unquestioned, messianic-type leadership.
New IFB says, hey, we're just men.
You need to search the scriptures daily, whether those things are so.
Cults have...
They teach that they're the only source of truth.
We say there's other good churches.
If you can't get to a new IFB church, find a church in your area and go there.
Cults do not allow people to leave.
We don't allow some people to stay.
That's the opposite of a cult.
Here's number four.
Now, I told you that number three was my favorite, and it is my favorite.
But number four is a close second to my favorite.
Are you there in 2 Thessalonians chapter three or...
Yeah, chapter three.
Flip over to chapter two, 2 Thessalonians chapter two.
Here's point number four.
How we know that the new IFB is not a cult.
Number one, cults have unquestioned, messianic-type leadership.
Number two, cults teach that they are the only source of truth.
Number three, cults do not allow people to leave.
Here's number four.
Cults promote a pending apocalypse.
This is a common theme with cults.
Let me read to you from an article about doomsday cults.
It's called Notorious Doomsday Prophets and Cults.
The Waco Branch Davidians based their faith
on apocalyptic teaching.
The action of this religious sect were predicated
on the notion that they lived in the final times
according to the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible.
David Koresh claimed himself their final prophet.
The Davidian movement went up in flames
during a siege in Waco, Texas, in 1993.
Koresh named the group's headquarters
Ranch Apocalypse.
His followers lived with him waiting for the apocalypse,
but instead met a fiery end fighting the FBI.
During the siege, 76 Branch Davidians, including Koresh,
died barricaded in their building
when it caught fire.
Look, this is a common theme with cults
where they promote this pending apocalypse.
Obviously, I believe that we're living in the end times,
but you know, the Bible teaches that the end times
started at the ascension of Christ.
And we've been in the end times for like 2,000 years.
But they teach a pending apocalypse.
And it's not just David Koresh.
Remember Charles Manson?
He had the Helter Skelter,
this coming race war where,
his words, not mine, all right?
He taught that Helter Skelter was a race war
where, his words, not mine,
the whiteys would fight the blackys,
and somehow that had something to do with the Beatles,
and I'm not really sure how all that works.
But, you know, they had this pending apocalypse.
You know, nuclear war is coming.
The end times, you know, tribulation period is coming.
All these Helter Skelters coming.
Cults promote a pending apocalypse.
What does the new IP teach?
Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Look at verse 1.
Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now what's the context of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1?
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The second coming or what we would refer to as the rapture.
You say, how do you notice the rapture?
Notice, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and by our gathering together unto him.
That's the rapture.
What does the new IP teach?
Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and by our gathering together unto him
that ye be not soon shaken in mind
or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word
nor by letter from us.
Notice these words.
As that the day of Christ is at hand.
The day of Christ is a reference to the rapture.
He says, look, we don't want you to be soon shaken in mind
or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word
nor by letter as from us
as that the day of Christ is at hand.
That phrase at hand means nearby or close in time.
He says, look, it's not at hand.
At hand means like it's the next event.
Now are there people who teach
that the rapture is the next event
in the prophetic calendar of God?
Yeah, there are people who teach that.
Does the new IP teach that?
No.
Say, what does the new IP teach?
Verse three.
Let no man deceive you by any means
for that day shall not come.
Did you see what I said?
That day shall not come.
Let no man deceive you by any means
for that day shall not come
except there come first a falling away,
excuse me, except there come a falling away first.
And look, I don't have time to get into
all the anti-prophecy, but the falling away first
is a reference to the mark of the beast.
When people take the mark of the beast
and become reprobates, that's the falling away first
and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition.
That is a reference to the anti-Christ.
You know what the Bible says?
The Bible says, let no man deceive you by any means
for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first the mark of the beast
and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition
until the anti-Christ is revealed.
Cults promote a soon coming pending apocalypse.
What does the new IP teach?
We say, let no man deceive you.
It's not at hand.
It can't happen tomorrow.
It cannot happen tonight.
There's some things that still need to happen.
There needs to be a falling away first
and the man of sin needs to be revealed.
We're the antithesis of a cult.
Pre-tribbers are more cultist than we are.
They're saying, it could happen tonight.
It could happen before the end of the service.
Let's take another offering.
Put it on the offering plate.
It could happen at any moment.
We're like, it can't happen.
And look, when you're a pastor,
if you go to an old IP church that says that,
you know, just be good.
He's like, it could happen tonight.
You're like, it can't happen tonight.
The day of Christ is not at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means
for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first.
Cults promote a soon coming pending apocalypse.
Cults promote a pending,
because they need to motivate people.
They motivate them by fear.
They say it's coming.
The whiteys are coming.
Or the blackys are coming.
Or in America, we say the British are coming.
But you know, they're like,
it's going to happen any moment at any time.
And we're like, it's after the tribulation.
We're like, it's not going to happen today
and it's not going to happen tomorrow.
Let no man deceive you.
So how are we a cult, is the question I have.
If cults promote a pending apocalypse,
and this is what we're known for.
This is where we've made our name,
after the tribulation.
We're the opposite of promoting a pending apocalypse.
We're like, don't worry about it.
Just read your Bible and go soul winning.
Let no man deceive you.
Number five.
You're there in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Go to John, if you would, John chapter 17.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, John chapter 17.
I'm sorry to be such a bother,
but could I get a refill on this peppermint tea?
If someone could help me with that, I'd appreciate it.
Thank you.
You don't have to do, I'm just asking,
I'm not a cult leader, you don't have to.
But, thank you, I appreciate it.
You don't have to.
We won't harass you if you don't.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Number four.
Talking about how we know the new IP is not a cult.
Number five, excuse me.
Cults isolate people from society.
I'm going to keep reading to you from this notorious
doomsday prophet and cult.
Also known as the Mad Messiah,
Jones was founder and leader of the People's Temple.
In 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be
engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967.
When that didn't happen, Jones went about establishing
his communist commune in Jonestown in Guyana.
The isolated jungle land leased by Jones
from the Guyanese government was used as the location
of the People's Temple.
Jones is notorious for the November 18, 1978 mass murder
of more than 900 temple members there.
Recorded on audio tape, the cult leader convinced
members to commit revolutionary suicide by ingesting
cyanide poisoning in protest against capitalism
that the incident was the single greatest loss
of American life in a non-natural disaster
until September 11, 2001.
Thank you very much.
This isn't Kool-Aid, is it?
Jones died alongside temple members
of a self-inflicted gun wound.
You know what cults do is they isolate people from society.
They say, let's get away from people.
Let's not be around people.
The new IP emphasizes spiritual separation,
not physical separation.
This is what Jesus taught, John 17, 15.
Are you there?
John 17, 15.
I pray not, this is Jesus praying,
I pray not, this is Jesus speaking to the Father,
that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Jesus did not pray that Christians would go off
and become Amish or something and go live in some
community and commune by themselves.
He said, I pray not that thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the world.
Now when the Bible says, come out from among them
and be separate, saith the Lord,
that's not a physical separation,
that's a spiritual separation.
Like your life should be different than your
unsaved neighbors, than your unsaved co-workers,
than the unsaved people around you.
There should be a separation between us and them
because we're separated from the world unto God.
But that's not a physical separation.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.
You say, well why does the new IP not emphasize
spiritual separation?
Because oftentimes people will come into a movement
like ours and they'll watch a documentary like
After the Tribulation and they'll be like,
I don't know why people do this,
but they watch After the Tribulation and they're
like, we should go buy property and go live somewhere.
And I'm just like, did you watch it?
It's, yeah, you know, they get all freaked out like,
we gotta go build a bunker and do this.
Listen, Charles Manson.
The whole point of the documentary is that it's
after the tribulation.
Don't worry about it.
You're gonna be fine.
You don't have to go out, live in the middle of nowhere.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.
Now, why is it that the new IP,
if the new IP does not isolate people,
then what does the new IP do?
Well, look at Mark 16.
If you go backwards, you have John, Luke, Mark, Mark 16.
Here's another thing the new IP is known for.
Mark 16, 15.
And he said unto them, look at it,
go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature.
Not only does the new IP not isolate people from society,
I don't know of a movement in this world that is telling
people to go into the world more than us.
We're telling people go ye into all the world,
not come out of the world physically.
No, you go into the world and you preach the gospel.
You preach the gospel to your neighbors.
You preach the gospel to your coworkers.
Look, we had 101 soul winners on Saturday from people
from all over Europe. Why?
Because we emphasize going to the lost with the gospel.
We don't emphasize isolation.
We emphasize going out into our communities
and confronting the lost with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
So look, we're doing a litmus test, right?
Because everybody keeps telling me I'm a cult leader.
Everybody keeps telling me that all of our churches are cults
and people that we throw out, they're cult survivors
and they're this and that.
So I'm just, you know, I got a little worried.
I'm like, man, are we a cult?
And I just started figuring out like, well, what is a cult?
Cults have unquestioned messianic type leadership.
No, we don't do that.
Cults teach that they're the only source of truth.
No, we don't do that.
Cults don't allow people to leave.
We don't let people stay.
We don't do that.
Cults promote a pending apocalypse.
We don't do that.
Cults isolate people from society.
We bring people from Sacramento, California,
from Vancouver, Washington, over to England to go soul winning.
Number six, cults take, we give.
Here's an article entitled The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power.
This is about Scientology.
I know I already brought up Scientology, so I don't know.
Sorry to you Tom Cruise fans.
By all appearances, Noah Lodick of Kingston, Pennsylvania,
had been a normal happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world.
On the day last June when his parents drove to New York City to obtain his body,
they were nearly catatonic with grief.
This young Russian studies scholar had jumped from a 10th floor window
of the Milford Plaza Hotel and bounced out of the hotel.
And bounced off the hood of a stretch limousine.
When the police arrived, his fingers were still clinching the $171 in cash,
virtually the only money he hadn't turned over to the Church of Scientology,
the self-help philosophy group he had discovered just seven months earlier.
Hubbard wrote one of Scientology's sacred texts,
Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health, in 1950.
In it he introduced a crude psychotherapeutic technique he called auditing.
He also created a simplified lie detector called an E-meter
that was designed to measure electrical charges in the skin
while subjects discussed intimate details of their past.
Hubbard argued that unhappiness sprang from a mental aberrations or engrams
caused by early traumas.
Counseling sessions with the E-meter he claimed could knock out the engrams,
cure blindness, and even improve a person's intelligence and appearance.
Today the Church invests costly new services with all the zeal of its founders.
Scientology's doctrine warns that even adherents who are cleared of engrams
face grave spiritual dangers unless they are pushed to higher and more expensive levels.
According to the Church's latest priceless recruits,
raw meat, as Hubbard called them,
take auditing sessions that cost as much as $1,000 an hour
or $12,500 for a 12 and a half hour intensive.
And look, this is a very common thing with cults.
When you find real cult survivors that actually ran away from cults,
not the losers that get thrown out of the new IFB,
you know what you'll find that's common in their stories
is that they were manipulated into signing over their homes,
signing over their property, signing over their retirement accounts,
giving all of their money.
Because cults, this is something that cults are known for, they take.
Now people say that we are a cult, but here's what's interesting.
Cults take and we give.
We give everything away.
Look at John chapter 2 and verse 13.
John chapter 2 and verse 13,
And the Jews passed over was that hand,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple,
this is of course the house of God at this time,
those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and changers of money sitting.
And when he had a scourge of small courts,
he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen,
and poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables,
and he said unto them that sold doves,
take these things hence, make not my father's house and house of merchandise.
You know one thing that the new IFB is known for is that we don't charge for anything.
We don't take anything.
Go to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8.
I mean, correct me if I'm wrong,
but I didn't see Pastor Taberna back there with some sort of a table set up,
you know, handing out fish and chips and taking pounds for it.
I mean, all of that was free.
We went out to a soul winning marathon on a Saturday.
Pizza was free.
And by the way, Domino's Pizza in England is really good.
Don't go to America and get Domino's Pizza, okay?
It's not the same thing.
In the United States, it tastes like the cardboard box it comes in.
Here it's actually really good.
So that had nothing to do with the sermon.
The sermon was brought to you by Domino's Pizza.
We're selling slices after the sermon. I'm just kidding.
Look, can somebody order Domino's Pizza?
We don't sell anything.
Everything's free.
You want documentaries? They're free.
You want fish and chips? It's free.
You want Domino's Pizza? It's free.
That whole potluck, I declare free.
It's all free.
You know what the Bible says in Matthew 10, 8?
He who will seek, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils.
Freely ye have received, freely give.
Now obviously, we're a church, so we receive tithes and offerings.
But nobody forces you to put anything in the offering plate.
And that's something that every church does.
And here's the truth.
In a new IFB church, you could come to a church like this for weeks and months
and never hear preaching on giving.
So like, this is what I mean by we're the antithesis of a cult.
Cults take, we give.
We tell people, hey, everything's free.
We don't charge for anything.
We're not going to make the house of God a house of merchandise.
And here's all I'm saying is, people look at us and they say, we're a cult.
But then they'll look at the mainstream church and they'll say, oh, but that's a real church.
But those mainstream churches are more cultist than we are
because they've got bookstores where they're selling.
They're telling you the rapture could happen at any moment.
They're telling you, don't read the Bible.
You don't understand Greek.
Let me explain it to you.
Isn't that more cultish?
Cults take, we give.
Here's number seven.
Go, you're there in Matthew chapter 10.
Go to Matthew chapter 20 if you would.
Excuse me.
No, you're there in Matthew 10.
Stay in Matthew 10.
I apologize.
Stay in Matthew 10.
Let me give you the seventh point.
We'll be done.
I said, number one, cults have unquestioned masonry type leadership.
Number two, cults cease that they're the only source of truth.
Number three, cults do not allow people to leave.
Number four, cults promote a pending apocalypse.
Number five, cults isolate people from society.
Number six, cults take, we give.
Here's point number seven.
How we know that the new F.B. is not a cult.
The cults have secret teachings only for their followers.
Here's an article about the Freemasons.
Ask the Freemasons today about secrecy and you will receive a pat response.
We are not a secret society, they will say.
We are a society with secrets.
Even moderately skeptical non-Masons will still wonder what secrets.
What are they hiding?
In his initiation rites, a Mason learns many secrets such as the strange handshake that vouches for his masonic status called the grip.
I think Pastor Tabern tried to do that to me at Thai fighting today.
The symbols whose real meaning Masons learn are also secret just to make sure new Masons also have to swear secret blood freezing oaths not to betray the secrets they have learned.
Masonic rituals consist of secrets wrapped in secrets wrapped in secrets.
And look, they learn all these secrets, right?
They got all these secret handshakes where they're like playing patty cake.
And look, secret societies are cults.
By the way, this is why the Mormons are a cult.
Because they've got all their little secret rituals in their temple and their secret underwear they wear that they never take off.
Which is not only a cult, it's also disgusting.
But, you know, cults have secrets, right?
And then the Masons, every level, right, because there's 33 degrees, every degree you're being revealed with more truth and what they call truth.
And they're telling you more secrets and more secrets.
And by the time you get to the 33rd degree, they're like, the final reveal is you've been worshipping the devil this whole time.
And they're like, I know.
It's just, they have secrets.
Cults have secret teachings only for their followers.
Here's a question I have for you.
Does the new IFB have secrets?
Look at Matthew 10-27.
This could be like the life verse for the new IFB.
You know what a life verse is?
Somebody has like a life verse, they're like, this is my verse, this is kind of my verse that I really like for my life.
This is the life verse of the new IFB, Matthew 10-27.
Jesus said, what I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
You know, one thing about the new IFB, whether you like it or not, and I'm not even necessarily saying this is a good thing, I'm just making an observation.
We are open about everything.
We're even open with our drama.
We've often been accused of having too much drama.
But you know, the truth is, we don't have any more drama than any other church or any other movement of churches.
We're just really open about our drama.
Sometimes we fight and we fight publicly, and I'm not saying we should fight publicly, but sometimes pastors fight publicly.
I mean, I'm not on Facebook, but I hear there's a lot of public fighting on Facebook.
And we're open with our drama even to a fault.
And I'm not saying that's a good thing, I'm just saying that's not a cult.
A cult's like, everything's secret, don't tell people everything, it gotta be hidden.
Our secret handshake.
The new IFB is open about everything, even our drama, to a fault.
And you may say, well that's not good.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, I'm just making observation.
We're not secretive people.
But here's another observation.
Go to Acts chapter 20.
Look at verse 20.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 20.
Here's what Paul said.
Acts 20, 20.
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.
Look at verse 27.
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
You know the new IFB, we are open with our drama to a fault, but you know we are also open with our doctrine to a fault.
We're just open about everything.
There's nothing that it's like, hey, you know, you gotta be in the new IFB for two years before we tell you this, or three years before we tell you that.
We tell you everything we believe right up front.
You all know what we believe about the homos?
It's not a secret.
Just Google me.
You all know what we believe about the Jews?
You all know what we believe about the rapture?
You all know what we believe about the King James Bible?
You all know what we believe about dress standards?
Look, everything we believe, we're not secretive about it.
We preach it from the house tops.
By the way, we're not ashamed and embarrassed about it either.
I'm not ashamed of the Bible.
I'm not ashamed to be a Baptist.
I'm ashamed of some Baptists, but I'm not ashamed of being a Baptist.
Look, I like people, they're like, oh, don't you like John 3.16 and Psalm 23 and 1 Corinthians 13?
And I love those, but I also like Romans 1 and Genesis 19 and Judges 19.
I like it all!
I like all of it, and we preach all of it, and we don't hide any of it, and we preach.
Look, we're trying to get it out there, and YouTube's like, no.
Do you see how we're like the opposite of a cult?
We're like, hey, can we put everything we believe on YouTube
so that the vast majority of people can know what we believe?
And YouTube, the cult, says no.
They're like, no, we're going to cancel you.
We don't want to hear what you have to say.
They're the cult, not us!
We're open about our drama, and we're open about our doctrine.
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
So I've got to ask you the question, who's the cult?
Because all day long, people are telling me, you're a cult leader.
Well, look, if I'm a cult leader, I'm not a very good one.
I mean, I effectively got peppermint tea.
Manipulated somebody into doing that.
But nobody's signed over any property to us.
Everything we have at Verity Baptist Church, we work for.
And look, I'm just telling you, people say, you're a cult, you're in a cult.
Everything about the New IFP is cultist, and here's the truth.
The reason that people say the New IFP is a cult
is because most people have never seen a real Bible church.
What they've been looking at is churches that have more cultist practices than we do.
And then a real church shows up and says,
you want to know what we think about the sodomites?
They're like, you're in a cult.
It's like, no, we're not hiding it.
We don't got secret societies around here.
We don't got secrets.
Look, cults have unquestioned messianic-type leadership.
You know what? We have pastors.
But you know what we tell you?
We tell you, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father.
You got a question? Ask him.
Just make sure you're respectful when you ask him.
But we don't say, follow us blindly.
We say, try every spirit, whether it's of God.
We say, search the scriptures daily, whether those things are so.
Cult sees that they're the only source of truth.
We say, we're not the only source of truth.
There's other good churches out there. Go there.
Cults don't allow people to leave.
We don't allow people to stay.
And then those people harass us.
How are we the cult?
Cults promote a pending apocalypse.
We say, it's after the tribulation. Let no man deceive you.
Cults isolate people from society.
We take people into the world, into the community, to preach the gospel.
Cults take, we give.
Cults have secrets. We're open about everything.
So I hope you understand tonight that you're not sitting in a cult.
In fact, you're sitting in the emphasis of a cult.
You're sitting in a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church.
And you ought to thank God for it.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you, and I do thank you for this church.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to realize that there are cults out there.
There are people out there who teach a pending apocalypse, who have secrets,
who try to rip people off from their resources and property.
There are bozos out there who blasphemously claim to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, there are cults, but we're not one of them.
In fact, we're fighting them.
And I pray you'd help us to understand that, help us to understand the Bible,
help us to understand what we believe and why we believe it.
Thank you for this great church, and thank you for Pastor Tavener and his leadership and his wife here.
Lord, I pray that you'd bless this church and continue to bless it as the years go on.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.