How Do People Get Sucked Into A Cult?

John 5:37-40, “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

I think it is safe to say that nearly everyone has heard about the creepy Heaven's Gate Cult in California that claimed the lives of 39 people from mass-suicide in 1997. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the cult...

Heaven's Gate was an American new religious movement (often described as a cult), founded in 1974 and led by Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985) and Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997), known within the movement as Ti and Do, respectively. Nettles and Applewhite first met in 1972 and went on a journey of spiritual discovery, identifying themselves as the two witnesses of Revelation, attracting a following of several hundred people in the mid-1970s. In 1976, the group stopped recruiting and instituted a monastic lifestyle. 

Scholars have described the theology of Heaven's Gate as a mixture of Christian millenarianism, New Age, and ufology, and as such it has been characterized as a UFO religion. The central belief of the group was that followers could transform themselves into immortal extraterrestrial beings by rejecting their human nature, and they would ascend to heaven, referred to as the "Next Level" or "The Evolutionary Level Above Human". The death of Nettles from cancer in 1985 challenged the group's views on ascension, where they originally believed that they would ascend to heaven while alive aboard a UFO, they later came to believe that the body was merely a "container" or "vehicle" for the soul, and that their consciousness would be transferred to new "Next Level bodies" upon death. 

On March 26, 1997, deputies of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department discovered the bodies of the 39 active members of the group, including that of Applewhite, in a house in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. They had participated in a mass suicide, a coordinated series of ritual suicides, coinciding with the closest approach of Comet Hale–Bopp. Just before the mass suicide, the group's website was updated with the message: "Hale–Bopp brings closure to Heaven's Gate ...our 22 years of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion—'graduation' from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave 'this world' and go with Ti's crew." 

The name "Heaven's Gate" was only used for the final few years of the group's existence, and they had previously been known under the names Human Individual Metamorphosis and Total Overcomers Anonymous.

SOURCE: Heaven's Gate Cult

“Truth is stranger than fiction,” as it has often been said. I encourage you to read the rest of the story on Wikipedia, which is bizarre to say the least. You might want to sit down for some of this, because it is so crazy that it might make you feel weak. I did read it myself and my hair is standing up (what's left of it...lol). I took my time researching this subject, to try to find out how 38 intelligent thinking people allowed themselves to become victims of a psychotic religious madman!!!

As it turns out, the cult's leader and founder Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) was the son of a Presbyterian pastor. Go figure! The famous soulwinning evangelist, Billy Sunday (1862-1935), was also a Presbyterian minister. But like Marshall Applewhite, Billy Sunday's three sons caused him and their mother, Helen Sunday, much grief. Sunday's oldest son, George Sunday (1892-1933), was arrested for public drunkenness and for steaking a vehicle. He commit suicide in 1933, which broke his parent's heart.

Sadly, the Sunday's three sons were pampered and largely reared by strangers, because of Billy Sunday's busy lifestyle, embarrassed their parents with their errant lifestyles. George was arrested for drunkenness and auto theft before he committed suicide in 1932. Billy, Jr. died in an automobile accident in 1938; and Paul, a test pilot, died in an airplane crash in 1944. Furthermore, their oldest child, Helen Haines, though happily married, developed a degenerative disease and died of pneumonia in 1932.

The boys' ex-wives remained a continuing dilemma for the Sundays. Some blackmailed the evangelist to keep quiet about their son's infidelities. Others used gentler techniques to extract money, and Nell often provided friendly advice to the women when she responded with financial assistance. from Wikipedia on Hellen's bio Marshall was fired from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas after being exposed for having a homosexual relationship with a male student. The story gets a lot more bizarre...

Applewhite and Nettles pondered the life of St. Francis of Assisi and read works by Helena Blavatsky, R. D. Laing, and Richard Bach. They kept a King James Bible and studied passages from the New Testament focusing on Christology, asceticism, and eschatology. Applewhite also read science fiction, including works by Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. By June 19, Applewhite and Nettles's beliefs had solidified. They concluded that they had been chosen to fulfill biblical prophecies, and that they had been given higher-level minds than other people. They wrote a pamphlet that described Jesus' reincarnation as a Texan, a veiled reference to Applewhite. Furthermore, they concluded that they were the two witnesses described in the Book of Revelation and occasionally visited churches or other spiritual groups to speak of their identities, often referring to themselves as "The Two", or "The UFO Two". They believed they would be killed and then resurrected and, in view of others, transported onto a spaceship. This event, which they referred to as "the Demonstration", was to prove their claims. To their dismay, these ideas were poorly received by other religious groups.

SOURCE: Heaven's Gate Cult

The story gets a lot more bizarre...

The Two would gain their first follower, Sharon Morgan, in May 1974, abandoning her children to join them. A month later Sharon left The Two and returned to her family. Nettles and Applewhite were arrested and charged with credit card fraud for using Morgan's cards, despite the fact that she had consented to their use. The charges were later dropped. However a routine check brought up that Applewhite had stolen a rental car from St. Louis nine months earlier, which he still possessed. Applewhite then spent six months in jail primarily in Missouri, and was released in early 1975, subsequently rejoining Nettles.

SOURCE: Heaven's Gate Cult

I'll let you read the rest of the crazy story if you want, but I have shared enough of the ungodly lives of Marshall Applewhite and his wife to make my point. Why did 37 people end up following these cult leaders? Sadly, I see this same deception in many Baptist churches today. Case in point is the Independent Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida. Their cult leader is named Sam Adams, who preaches hardcore Lordship Salvation (i.e., Calvinism). You can find his damnable videos on YouTube on false repentance, in which he requires people to forsake a sinful lifestyle to get to Heaven. Pastor Adams insists that no one can go to Heaven who hasn't surrendered to the absolute Lordship of Christ in every area of your life. That is WORKS!!! I agree 100% with Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) that Lordship Salvation is a PERVERSION OF GOD'S GRACE!!!

So, the SAME reason why Pastor Sam Adam's church members are following him into the fires of Hell, is the SAME reason why Marshall Applewhite led his followers into the fires of Hell. There is no difference! So how do people get sucked into a damnable cult? The answer is found in our text Scripture passage...

John 5:37-40, “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

Jesus said to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES!!! Dear reader, if you always SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES you won't be led astray into a cult. Carefully notice in the preceding quotes from Wikipedia about Marshall Applewhite that he carried a KING JAMES BIBLE everywhere he went. Unfortunately, he also studied the occult writings of Satanist Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891). As we read earlier, scholars have described the perverse theology of Heaven's Gate cult as a mixture of Christian millenarianism, New Age and ufology, and as such it has been characterized as a UFO religion. In other words, Marshall Applewhite was once messed up puppy! Dear reader, only a fool adds to what God has said in His Word. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

An idle mind is the Devil's workshop! Or as a popular 1990 country song by Aaron Tippin says: "You've Got To Stand For Something, Or You'll Fall For Anything." If you SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, and do not add men's words to what God has said, then you won't be misled and deceived to follow a cult. It saddens me to hear Pastor Sam Adams brainwash these people in his cult, wickedly bidding Godspeed to Pastor John MacArthur (2nd John 1:10-11). Lordship Salvation is NOT the Gospel of free grace. Lordship Salvation says that salvation is a trade, or an exchange. John MacArthur even uses those terms!!!

You may be sucked into a deadly religious cult, and end up burning in the Lake of Fire forever, if you place more weight upon the words of some man, instead of the inspired Word of God. Please use only the King James Bible, because ALL modern Bible revisions have been corrupted by Satan. Also, I encourage you to read the helpful book by Michael P. Bowen titled: 'I NEVER KNEW YOU.' Thank you for reading. Remember, eternal life is a free gift from God, that you can only obtain through FAITH ALONE in the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen for YOUR SINS and MINE...