LIVING BY A DO AND DON'T LIST (11 OF 18)

LIVING BY A DO AND DON’T LIST
Colossians 2:20-23
Dr. Jerry Vines
4/5/98

LifeWorks, #11

The book of Colossians sets forth the absolute sufficiency of Christ and now by
way of contrast, it shows us the deficiency of cults. In Chapters 3-4, we will look at the
efficiency of Christianity, how it applies to every area of our lives.
Colossians 2:20 reads:
"Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world,
why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances
(Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and
teachings of men?
Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh."
You may recall several months ago, thirty-eight people were willing to follow their
leader in suicide. The Heaven's Gate Cult had been followers of Marshall Applewhite for
a period of time and we raise the question how is it that a man can get people to do
something as drastic as this. When you study the cult and find how they operated, you
find that they operated in classic cultic fashion. They had a series of rules and regulations
they went by. He orchestrated every area of their life. Every portion of the day was under
absolute control of this leader. They wore certain cloths, ate certain foods and refrained
from doing certain things. Everything was according to rule and regulation. They
believed that if they could go by enough rules and obey enough guidelines, that somehow
this would qualify them for a higher level of spiritual existence. It brought them to the
point of suicide.
Several years ago on an even larger scale, there was a man named Jim Jones who
got several hundred people to follow him in suicide in Guyana. How is it that several
hundred people will follow a man all the way to suicide? Well, when you study the cult
you wi ...

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