In 1Timothy 4: -1-2, the bible expressly warned us that "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies in hypocrisy and having their conscience seared with a hot iron." Esotericism is any secret knowledge held by a small group of people usually originating in, or inculcating, studies of Gnosticism, Yoga, Alchemy, Magic, Spiritualism, Hypnosis, Astrology, Meditation, Mysticism, and Occultism. It is esoteric because it claims that the 'divine' is to be discovered within the human identity therefore it has a mystical point of view intended for, or likely to be understood by, only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. Charismatic witchcraft is the teaching and practice of these esoteric knowledge within mainstream Christianity in order to blur the line between light and dark, hench apostle Paul warned that its proponents are hypocrites whose conscience are dead. Often times in Christianity, we misinterpret another saying of Jesus Christ that we should not judge others so that God will not judge us to mean that we should not correct the errors in others. God cannot contradict Himself. The very fact that He expects us to be our brother's keeper presupposes that He expects us to speak out against deception with the view to either prevent fellow believers from it, or to bring back those already deceived. So, what Jesus actually meant by 'judge not so as not to be judged' is that correction must never be hypocritical, i.e., make sure that you are not practicing the very thing that you are trying to correct in others before attempting to check their perceived error. Only the person on the right tract can effectively redirect those on the wrong path, hence Paul said that we should imitate him as he, in turn, imitates God. We this in mind, understand that this is not a biased criticism of any denomination, neither is it meant to cast aspersion on any individual; dead or alive, but this book is written to critically examine people, doctrines, denominations, and religions based on the word of God. So, what is a cult? a cult, since the Bible is our yardstick for measuring truth in Christianity, may be defined either as a group of people gathered around a particular person's misinterpretation of the bible and, or their misrepresentation of either Christ or the God-head.In the book of Revelations 2: -13-17, God warns that "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there, those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." The fact that the doctrines of Nicolai are placed alongside that of Balaam in the above citation presupposes that the two are similar in orientation, i.e., they are basically a "mixture" of different belief systems epitomized today in the term new age doctrines which is deceptively deadly because while it gives the outward appearance of piety, it, nevertheless, inwardly denies the sovereignty of the One true God of the bible over both man and the earth.
