Occult Organizations
by Dave Brown
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The Christian's Response to Occult Organizations
By Dave Brown
Please understand our title. We are limiting consideration to the American Heritage® Dictionary’s definitions of the word occult: 1. Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural or magical influences, agencies, or occurrences. 2. Available only to the initiate; secret or mysterious. These two definitions merge into one basic concept, since most secret organizations deal with the items listed within the first definition. Often called “the occult,” we resist using the article “the” because this would infer that they are all one large group. In reality, there are dozens if not hundreds of occult organizations of various size throughout the world. We can be thankful that their greed for money and power keep them at odds with each other and dilutes their power. But, while not working together, they all have so much in common that they obviously learn from each other. Please recognize that this article is ONLY about organizations that fit this definition. We understand that the mere fact that an organization has a secret does not make it evil per se.
Let us begin by discussing the nature of secrecy in any spiritually-oriented organization. If that organization is based on the teachings of the bible, there will be absolutely no doctrinal secrets among its members. We recognize that Matthew 18:15-17 requires those who are privy to the sins of others be discrete and not spread information (even if true) about these sins unnecessarily. These are personal matters that require love, decency and discretion, as opposed to secret doctrinal knowledge, which is the subject under consideration in this article.
The fact that Jesus Christ wants us to be totally open with all that the bible teaches should be obvious from the most elementary teachings of God’s word. For example,
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 Every scripture inspired of God (is) also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.
17 That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.
Can we say we love our fellow man and keep some of God’s word a secret from him? Of course not. Nor would we contrive secret things to entice followers. Preaching the entire truth is what Jesus commanded:
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
20 teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Similarly, consider the command Jesus gave to his apostles when he sent them out to preach the gospel:
Matt 10:25-27
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household!
[Note: The Pharisees (Mt. 12:24), scribes (Mk. 3:22) and others (Lk. 11:15) had accused Jesus (“the master of the house”) of sorcery in using the power of Beelzebub – the prince of demons (Mt. 12:24) – to cast out demons. This is a separate subject within itself, but for now let us see what Jesus said about his truth being fully revealed (Mt. 5:14-16).]
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the house-tops.
Thus, to keep anything secret regarding the doctrine of Jesus Christ directly violates these and many other commands of God, and it is a grave sin that can injure many people spiritually. Should religious organizations be about anything other than fully revealing the truth of Jesus Christ? Of course not.
Are there things that the bible does not reveal? Certainly, there are many questions of both a physical (i.e., scientific) and a spiritual nature that are not answered by the bible. Those things of a physical nature may be discovered in time by science. However, the true and virtuous things of a spiritual nature are only revealed by God, and 2 Tim. 3:16-17 quoted above tells us that what God has revealed is all that we need.
Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
The things that are not revealed by God are not revealed for a reason. The goal of most occult organizations is to use other (ungodly) means to learn about spiritual things, and this is a very dangerous, and sinful demonic practice. (Demonic means that it "pertains to an evil supernatural being.") We will have more to say about demons in future articles, but for now let us recognize that all spiritual knowledge must either come from God or from other lying demonic sources. It is totally essential that we recognize that there is no middle ground. It is either: (1) totally true, holy, righteous, just, and godly; or it is (2) evil, deceptive, wicked and a total abomination to God. One cannot dabble in occult practices ... if it gets a piece of you, it will control all of you. Thus, we have the command:
Ephesians 5:11-12
11 … have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them;
12 for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of.
Those who in whatever way have knowledge of some of the sordid things that are being done in darkness need to be discrete in their discussions of these matters. For one thing, they are impossible to know for sure unless someone has actually practiced these things themselves or directly observed the practices. And even then, it may not be possible for a person who escapes this evil to recognize if he is telling the truth or if he is not still under occult mind control. When we are discrete in discussing these things we are merely restraining our conversations to what we KNOW is the truth. We should not be sharing hearsay or allegations that cannot be totally verified.
The shame of speaking of these things is not in revealing their secrets, it is in bringing into people’s minds things that are of such a sordid nature so as to be needlessly offensive. We offer the opinion that some of the things going on in secret are of such a horrendously wicked nature that the people doing these things clearly have no sense of humanity; we say this because they are so far beyond what is typically recognized as being evil.
Let us not concern ourselves with having to know all of the details – this is an impossible task, and it is not something that the Lord has assigned to us. They will be revealed soon enough. Paul stated that when the judgment takes place, the following will occur:
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;
9(even he), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie :
12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
There are many who fit this definition, and once they take the first steps in the direction of an occult organization they find themselves enslaved into doing evil things that they never would have believed they were capable of doing. If that is their inclination (hopefully it is not yours), God will not restrain their deception. The passage above is intended to be a frightening thought to those who would be so deceived.
Turning our backs on God puts us on a very slippery slope that can lead us to do things of an evil nature far beyond our imaginations. Let us be satisfied with what God has revealed to us, and not venture into occult organizations and practices that are an abomination to our Creator. If you belong to a secretive organization that in any way fits the definition of an occult organization, the only assurance of eternal salvation is to get out of it now, and obey the Lord. If you are even considering breaking free at this point, you are not beyond hope; may God bless you by helping you to escape.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Retun to the Pilgrim's Page
By Dave Brown
Please understand our title. We are limiting consideration to the American Heritage® Dictionary’s definitions of the word occult: 1. Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural or magical influences, agencies, or occurrences. 2. Available only to the initiate; secret or mysterious. These two definitions merge into one basic concept, since most secret organizations deal with the items listed within the first definition. Often called “the occult,” we resist using the article “the” because this would infer that they are all one large group. In reality, there are dozens if not hundreds of occult organizations of various size throughout the world. We can be thankful that their greed for money and power keep them at odds with each other and dilutes their power. But, while not working together, they all have so much in common that they obviously learn from each other. Please recognize that this article is ONLY about organizations that fit this definition. We understand that the mere fact that an organization has a secret does not make it evil per se.
Let us begin by discussing the nature of secrecy in any spiritually-oriented organization. If that organization is based on the teachings of the bible, there will be absolutely no doctrinal secrets among its members. We recognize that Matthew 18:15-17 requires those who are privy to the sins of others be discrete and not spread information (even if true) about these sins unnecessarily. These are personal matters that require love, decency and discretion, as opposed to secret doctrinal knowledge, which is the subject under consideration in this article.
The fact that Jesus Christ wants us to be totally open with all that the bible teaches should be obvious from the most elementary teachings of God’s word. For example,
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 Every scripture inspired of God (is) also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.
17 That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.
Can we say we love our fellow man and keep some of God’s word a secret from him? Of course not. Nor would we contrive secret things to entice followers. Preaching the entire truth is what Jesus commanded:
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
20 teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Similarly, consider the command Jesus gave to his apostles when he sent them out to preach the gospel:
Matt 10:25-27
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household!
[Note: The Pharisees (Mt. 12:24), scribes (Mk. 3:22) and others (Lk. 11:15) had accused Jesus (“the master of the house”) of sorcery in using the power of Beelzebub – the prince of demons (Mt. 12:24) – to cast out demons. This is a separate subject within itself, but for now let us see what Jesus said about his truth being fully revealed (Mt. 5:14-16).]
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the house-tops.
Thus, to keep anything secret regarding the doctrine of Jesus Christ directly violates these and many other commands of God, and it is a grave sin that can injure many people spiritually. Should religious organizations be about anything other than fully revealing the truth of Jesus Christ? Of course not.
Are there things that the bible does not reveal? Certainly, there are many questions of both a physical (i.e., scientific) and a spiritual nature that are not answered by the bible. Those things of a physical nature may be discovered in time by science. However, the true and virtuous things of a spiritual nature are only revealed by God, and 2 Tim. 3:16-17 quoted above tells us that what God has revealed is all that we need.
Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
The things that are not revealed by God are not revealed for a reason. The goal of most occult organizations is to use other (ungodly) means to learn about spiritual things, and this is a very dangerous, and sinful demonic practice. (Demonic means that it "pertains to an evil supernatural being.") We will have more to say about demons in future articles, but for now let us recognize that all spiritual knowledge must either come from God or from other lying demonic sources. It is totally essential that we recognize that there is no middle ground. It is either: (1) totally true, holy, righteous, just, and godly; or it is (2) evil, deceptive, wicked and a total abomination to God. One cannot dabble in occult practices ... if it gets a piece of you, it will control all of you. Thus, we have the command:
Ephesians 5:11-12
11 … have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them;
12 for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of.
Those who in whatever way have knowledge of some of the sordid things that are being done in darkness need to be discrete in their discussions of these matters. For one thing, they are impossible to know for sure unless someone has actually practiced these things themselves or directly observed the practices. And even then, it may not be possible for a person who escapes this evil to recognize if he is telling the truth or if he is not still under occult mind control. When we are discrete in discussing these things we are merely restraining our conversations to what we KNOW is the truth. We should not be sharing hearsay or allegations that cannot be totally verified.
The shame of speaking of these things is not in revealing their secrets, it is in bringing into people’s minds things that are of such a sordid nature so as to be needlessly offensive. We offer the opinion that some of the things going on in secret are of such a horrendously wicked nature that the people doing these things clearly have no sense of humanity; we say this because they are so far beyond what is typically recognized as being evil.
Let us not concern ourselves with having to know all of the details – this is an impossible task, and it is not something that the Lord has assigned to us. They will be revealed soon enough. Paul stated that when the judgment takes place, the following will occur:
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;
9(even he), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie :
12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
There are many who fit this definition, and once they take the first steps in the direction of an occult organization they find themselves enslaved into doing evil things that they never would have believed they were capable of doing. If that is their inclination (hopefully it is not yours), God will not restrain their deception. The passage above is intended to be a frightening thought to those who would be so deceived.
Turning our backs on God puts us on a very slippery slope that can lead us to do things of an evil nature far beyond our imaginations. Let us be satisfied with what God has revealed to us, and not venture into occult organizations and practices that are an abomination to our Creator. If you belong to a secretive organization that in any way fits the definition of an occult organization, the only assurance of eternal salvation is to get out of it now, and obey the Lord. If you are even considering breaking free at this point, you are not beyond hope; may God bless you by helping you to escape.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Retun to the Pilgrim's Page