What to Know When a Cult Member
Knocks on Your Door!
Intro:
1. ILL: Couple at Glendale, AZ Church absorbed into the JWs.
2. All cults have another source of divine revelation besides the Bible, have a charismatic leader & deny the deity of Lord Jesus.
3. Muslims accept the virgin birth of Jesus, but deny His deity. Strange!
4. If you understand fully the deity of Lord Jesus, you should not fall prey to the cults.
5. The following is my research about what the Bible says about our Lord’s deity.
Philippians 2:5-11
I. The Term “Lord”
A. Was the favorite term for addressing God in the Old Testament.
1. God gave Himself a divine name before Moses at the fiery bush - I Am - (Ex 3:14).
2. This divine name is represented by four Hebrew consonants יְהֹוָה in the Old Testament.
3. Whenever Jews read this name aloud, they substitute the word “Lord” in its place.
B. Was the favorite term the Lord’s disciples used for addressing Him (Lk 6:46).
II. The Bible Calls Jesus God
A. The Old Testament prophesies call the Messiah God.
1. At the virgin birth, Jesus is called Emmanuel = “God is with us”.
2. Prophesy: Is 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the govern- ment will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
3. Fulfillment: Matt 1:23 - “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” —which means, “God with us.”
B. The Old Testament scriptures quoted in the New Testament. (SEE CHART)
C. Passages recorded by John.
1. Jn 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word - the expression of God’s thoughts - was God!
2. Jn 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word became flesh - a man - Lord Jesus!
3. ILL: Thomas’ post resurrection response My Lord & my God! - Jn 20:28.
D. Passages recorded by Paul.
1. Tit 2:13 - while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
2. Rom 9:5 - Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!
3. Col 1:15-16 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and in- visible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
E. Passages recorded by Peter. II Pet 1:1 - To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.
III. Jesus is Described as God
A. Jesus is described as God.
1. Phil 2:5-11 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
a. Jesus existed at one time in the form of God.
b. He emptied Himself, taking on the likeness & appearance of a man & the form of a servant.
c. Then, He became obedient to the point of suffering & dying on a cross.
d. So, He has been exalted with a name above all other names.
e. When His name is mentioned in a future time, every knee will bow before Him & every tongue will acknowledge Him as Lord.
2. Col 2:9 - For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
B. Jesus is described with God’s attributes.
1. Matt 28:18 - Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
2. Talking about Jesus, Paul said, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. - I Tim 1:17.
IV. Jesus Claimed to be God
A. Passages recorded by John.
1. The Lord said, Before Abraham was born, I am (Jn 8:58).
2. The Lord said, I & the Father are one (Jn 10:30).
3. The Lord said, The Father is in Me & I in the Father (Jn 10:37-38).
4. The Lord said, When he (a man) looks at me, he sees the one who sent me (Jn 12:44 -45).
5. Jn 14:7-11 - Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
B. Passages recorded by Mark.
1. ILL: The 4 Carrying the Paralytic Man (Mk 2:1-12).
2. v7 - The Pharisees’ question: “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blasphem- ing! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
3. v8-10 - The Lord’s response: “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
C. The Lord’s enemies correctly understood what He claimed!
1. Jn 5:18-19 they wanted to kill Him because He was calling God His own Father, Making Himself equal with God.
2. Jn 10:33 - they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy . . . being a mere man, claim to be God.
So - was Jesus just a good moral man? If He claimed to be God, He was either a liar, a psychotic who believed he was someone he wasn’t - or God Almighty, Creator & Sustainer of the universe!
https://www.biblelifemessages.org

Old Testament Passage	New Testament Quote
Is 40:3 - A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.	Matt 3:3 - This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, / ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
Ps 24:7 & 10 - Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. . . Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.	I Cor 2:8 - None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Is 6:1-3 - In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”	Jn 12:41 - Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Is 8:13-14 - The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy . . . he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.	I Pet 2:8 - Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, ” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
Prov 16:4 - The LORD works out everything for his own ends.	Col 1:16 - For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Joel 2:32 - And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.	I Cor 1:2 - To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.