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amen the title of the sermon tonight is the false teachings of Hinduism the false teachings of Hinduism and specifically I'm going to focus on this book right here which is one of the main Hindu scriptures probably the most famous of the Hindu scriptures known as the Bhagavad Gita and I'm gonna use this book to show the false teachings of Hinduism and I'm gonna use this book to show what the truth is from God's Word the Bible now lest you think that this is a rehash of my sermon that I did a year or two ago called Hinduism in light of the Bible this is a completely different sermon in fact I'm not going to cover anything tonight that I covered in that sermon I'm preaching totally different material tonight now first of all the question that might come to your mind is why is Hinduism even relevant to preach about in a Baptist Church on a Sunday night well I'll tell you why because there are about 1 billion Hindus in this world 1 billion people that we need to understand are lost and on their way to hell because they need the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior we should love those people we should want to get them the gospel before it's eternally too late so it's relevant because almost one out of seven people in the world subscribe to this false religion of Hinduism over a billion people secondly the teachings of Hinduism have crept into our culture today even right here in Tempe we see it all around us and not only has it crept into our culture through the yoga and the Ohm symbols and and all the New Age mysticism which really there's nothing new about it it's just a repackaged form of Hinduism which is the oldest false religion that there is but not only that even Baptist preachers today will often quote Hindus like Gandhi and their quotes are almost as authoritative as scripture unto them for example here are some quotes from Gandhi hate the sin and love the sinner people think that's in the Bible it came out of the mouth of Gandhi it is a Hindu teaching also an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind you'll hear Baptist preachers say these kind of cute teachings but they are from Gandhi who is a Hindu now the first thing I want to show you and if you would turn to Revelation chapter 12 I'm gonna make six points tonight about the false teachings of Hinduism that come from this book the Bhagavad Gita which is just another language for the song of the Lord that's what this means in Sanskrit number one the Lord because remember it's called the song of the Lord the Lord of the Bhagavad Gita the God of this book is not the God of the Bible okay a lot of people just think well hey as long as you're worshipping God as long as you're worshipping the Creator there's only one God so we're all worshipping the same God this is a philosophy that's out there with a lot of people especially as we approach the end times and we get into kind of a one-world religion New World Order type of a thing so this book teaches about a God that is not the God of the Bible and in fact the teachings of Hinduism are contrary to the teaching of the Bible so you're turning to Revelation 12 let me read for you some excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita where the Lord talks about himself and you tell me if this is the God of the Bible okay here's what he says get on the right page here I'm not as good at navigating this thing as I am navigating the Bible listen listen to what he says here I am the cow that fulfills all desires I am the cosmic serpent I am the god of death I am born among the demons okay this is chapter 10 verses 28 through 30 in the Bhagavad Gita that's what the Lord is saying that he's the king of snakes the cosmic serpent the god of death and that he is born among the demons he says shortly before that among words I am the syllable oh listen to this quote from the Bhagavad Gita and tell me if this is the same God as the God of the Bible the the Bhagavad Gita is speaking to a man named Arjuna here's what Arjuna says after being instructed by the Lord Oh Lord I see within your body all the gods and every kind of living creature I see the Creator seated on a lotus I see the ancient sages and the celestial serpents now let me ask you something does the Bible teach about celestial serpents is God ever called the Lord of the snakes and the cosmic serpent and the god of death listen to what the Bible says in Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 look down at your Bible and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceive with the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him so according to the Bible the great serpent is the devil it's Satan in the Bhagavad Gita the Lord says well I'm the cosmic serpent I'm the god of death I am the king of snakes and so forth so the God of the Bhagavad Gita is not the God of the Bible but he's actually Satan himself is what we get from them the second false teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is the teaching of reincarnation now let me just start out by explaining this book to you just a little bit the backdrop of this book is that there's a character named Arjuna and he has to fight in a war against some of his own cousins and relatives and uncles and some of his former teachers from his childhood because he's involved in a civil war in ancient India sort of like in the American Civil War they said you know it's brother against brother and father against son so at the beginning of the book he is expected to go to battle to fight to put the proper heir upon the throne and get rid of the guy who's the wrong king you know that shouldn't be on the throne so he has to go to war but he's very upset about this because he feels terrible about going into battle against his own friends and relatives and loved ones and he says man it would almost be better to die than to go out and kill these people who I know and love so he's very conflicted about killing these people so this is how the book starts and that's sort of the backdrop and the theme that's underlying the whole book the rest of the book is just this discussion where Lord Krishna is explaining to him everything about the soul and life and reincarnation and everything else but what's interesting is right at the beginning of this book as the explanation of why Arjuna should go into battle and fight and not really worry about killing these people it's not really a big deal to kill them is because they're gonna be reincarnated anyway now just listen to this okay he says to Arjuna you speak sincerely but your sorrow has no cause the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead as the same person inhabits the body through childhood youth and old age so too at the time of death he attains another body the wise are not deluded by these changes therefore Arjuna fight in this battle verse 19 of chapter 2 one believes that he's the Slayer another believes that he's the slain both are ignorant there is neither Slayer nor slain you were never born you will never die he says later on as one abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones so when the body's worn out a new one is acquired by the self who lives within later he says knowing this you should not grieve you should not grieve death is inevitable for the living birth is inevitable for the dead since these are unavoidable you should not sorrow what is there to lament in this now basically what he's saying is you know what if you kill people so what they were gonna die anyway and you know it's just pretty much like changing clothes because they die and then they just get a new body now you can see how dangerous this teaching is because it could lead people to easily just have no respect for human life by thinking to themselves well you know if I kill somebody I'm just moving them on to the next stage it's like here let me change your clothes for you now this is not what the Bible teaches about life the Bible teaches a great sanctity for human life and not only that but the Bible teaches that you only get one shot at this life there's no reincarnation in the Bible it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment now go back where we started to are you in Revelation stay in Revelation 20 because we're gonna be back there keep a finger there and go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 9 as well now Gandhi when people brought up to him the fact that you know you're saying that the Bhagavad Gita is your main scripture because Gandhi said this is my spiritual dictionary this is the book that I live by every day the Bhagavad Gita you know not the Bible not the New Testament but rather this book people brought up to him the fact well you know if you're so into non-violence you know why is this book your main teaching when chapters 1 & 2 is all about how hey going to war and killing people is not even a big deal because it's just like changing clothes no big deal here's what he said to that he said well don't get stuck in chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita you know don't get stuck in that because you know it gets better and and don't get too hung up on that because if you read the whole book it totally takes a different direction after that but here you can go way forward into the book into chapter 11 and it says the same thing listen this this is what the Lord is saying there will who's their Lord by the way yeah it's not God it's not the God of the Bible it's the king of the snakes the cosmic serpent here's what he says I am time the destroyer of all I have come to consume the world even without your participation all the warriors gathered here will die therefore arise Arjuna conquer your enemies and enjoy the glory of sovereignty I've already slain all these warriors you will only be my instrument kill those whom I have killed do not hesitate fight in this battle and you will conquer your enemies so what's he saying well everybody's gonna die eventually anyway time is gonna eventually kill everybody so you might as well kill him now I mean that's a pretty weird philosophy that's a pretty weird teaching but when you have this attitude that Hinduism teaches well that you're just gonna be reincarnated and you're just gonna keep coming back so what's the big deal if you die someone else dies if you kill somebody you know whatever they're coming back anyway don't sweat it is that what the Bible teaches look at Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 the Bible teaches and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were open and another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire now according to verse 10 of this chapter the lake of fire is a place where when people go there they're tormented day and night forever and ever do you see that the end of verse 10 that's what happened to the Antichrist or the Beast and that's what happened to the false prophet who went there they're tormented day and night forever and then we go down a few verses and whosoever his name is not found written the book of life they are cast into that same lake of fire back in chapter 14 the book of Revelation taught that if anyone worshipped that the Beast and his image that they would go to the lake of fire and that they would be tormented there forever and ever and that they have no rest day or night that's found in chapter 14 verses 10 and 11 well look at the book of Revelation and see how many people are worshipping the Antichrist it's people all over the world it's the vast majority of people and the Bible said all those people are going to that same lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever never so the Bible teaches an eternal punishment of hell the Bible teach that those who do die without Jesus as their Savior they don't just switch clothes into another body and get reborn there is no reincarnation they go to hell and they stay there for all eternity that's what the Bible teaches whereas those who believe on Jesus Christ Jesus said whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die so yeah if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ sure then you do just discard this body and you go to be with the Lord and eventually you receive a new glorified resurrected body but that's not for everybody we can't look at a battlefield of soldiers and say hey no big deal all these people are coming back all these people are just changing clothes no big deal if they just transition a little sooner rather than later no no we need to understand that that death is serious you know and when we look at things like abortion that's murder that's serious that's that's you're taking away that child shot at living life and it's not right it's it's wicked the Bible said thou shalt not kill not this teaching of well no big deal about that very strange teaching right away from the Bhagavad Gita especially since these people who claim to believe in this stuff believe in total non-violence but then the whole premise of the book is violent a little bit of a contradiction there I must say but number three one of the main teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and if you would turn to or wait you're already in Ecclesiastes 9 aren't you okay one more point on reincarnation they teach that the thing that brings you back is that when you die all of your desire and all of your emotion and all of your love and hate and feelings lives on after you know and goes into the next body but what does the Bible teach the Bible says in verse 4 of Ecclesiastes 9 for to him that is joined to all the living there's hope for a living dog is better than a dead lion for the living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them is forgotten also their love this is obviously referring to the unsaved that die without Christ also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished neither have they any more apportion forever in anything that is done under the Sun they're never coming back they're done even their emotions die with them the Bible teaches anyway go if you would to Matthew chapter 16 the third point tonight of the false teachings of Hinduism is that one of the main teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and of Hinduism is that we must be completely disinterested from the fruit of our labors this is one of the main things that this book just goes on and on and on talking about we must renounce the product of our works and we should only work for the greater good not for any individual benefit to ourselves so think about this we're supposed to live our lives doing work good work but nothing should be motivated by any desire to receive anything for the work that we do and we shouldn't care whether we succeed or fail because we're just totally detached from the fruit of our labor the fruit of our works we're only ever working for the common good that's what this book teaches that we should do everybody understand and the reason why is because in Hinduism they teach well everything that we do creates karma right we do good things it's good karma bad things bad karma and this is what I mean about this kind of philosophy infecting our culture you even hear people talk about this all the time and you go out soul winning and you tell them you know hey you're gonna reap what you sow and instead of saying oh yeah like the Bible says they say oh you mean like karma is that like karma say what do you know about karma you're a white person living in America this is karma but these teachings of Eastern mysticism and Hinduism they get to us through the TV through movies through our culture it creeps in and infects us with false teachings so this idea of karma of you know everything good I do gets me good karma bad I do bad karma well the goal in Hinduism is to get no karma you don't want any karma because you don't want to keep coming back they want to just become one with the universe become one with the Lord you know never come back that's their goal so here's what they say well as long as you they say you can do works but as long as you don't care as long as you don't care what the outcome is you don't care whether you succeed or fail and as long as you don't want any reward or there's no benefit to you you don't care whether you succeed or fail then the karma is just like water off a duck's back it doesn't stick to you it's like water that hits a lily pad and just rolls right off so that's why they teach you know and that's what like half of this book is about it's just about how like you know just you you shouldn't care and you should just not want any reward for anything you do now the Bible teaches the exact opposite of that okay let's look at some scripture and see what is the Bible teach on the subject of the works that we do and the fruit of our labor or the product of our work we don't even have time to go to all the scriptures on this because there are so many but look at Matthew chapter 16 verse 27 the Bible reads for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will reward us according to our works and that that is something that we should look forward to and it's something that should motivate us to work harder as Christians knowing that God's gonna reward us makes us want to do more that's why he said the same thing in Revelation 22 12 and behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be Ruth chapter 2 verse 12 the Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust 2nd Chronicles 15 7 be ye strong therefore and let not your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded this is supposed to motivate us job chapter 7 verse 2 as a servant earnestly desire at the shadow and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work Jeremiah 31 16 thus saith the Lord refrain thy voice from weeping and that eyes from tears for thy work shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come again from the land of the enemy 2nd Timothy 2 6 the husband men that labor it must be first partaker of the fruits not just you go out and you plow a field and it all goes to everybody it all belongs to everybody you know what this really is communism you see how this can influence us even in the West even in our modern American society when people are socialist they're communists it comes from this book this ancient teaching of Hinduism and look it sounds good on the surface doesn't it you know we all just put aside our own self interest right and we all just work toward the common good we all just out of altruistic motives just work hard and do good deeds with no regard of any reward or benefit for ourselves it's all for the common good you know what the only colossal problem is it doesn't work it doesn't work it's been tried all over the world and communist countries and socialist countries it doesn't work because people don't work hard unless there's a reward for working hard period and you can sit there and say well that isn't right they should just work hard because they want to but guess what that's human nature and in fact it's not even bad because God even tells us that we should be motivated by the reward the Bible says that Jesus for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and now he's set down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty and I even Jesus Christ when he went to the cross and when he was obedient unto death even the death of the cross yes he did it for altruistic motives and that he loved the world and was dying for the world but he also for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame even he was motivated by the joy that was set before him why did Moses live for God why did Moses forsake Egypt why did Moses refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter for he had respect under the recompense of the reward Esau was one in the Bible who didn't care about his birthright he didn't care about the reward he didn't care about inheriting what his fathers had had set aside for him and he's a bad example in the Bible we're supposed to care about the reward God motivates us with rewards he wants to reward us but what this produces is a culture of people who do not excel and they do not succeed and they do not work hard and they do not thrive that is a fact and if it's not a fact then tell me something why is India not led the whole world why are they not some shining beacon to the world of how we should be let me ask you something would you rather live in the United States or India why because of the fact that our country was founded on Christian principles and look our country is drifting away from that and going downhill and unfortunately I'm bracing the stupid philosophy of socialism which is no new thing under the sun that we can go thousands of years ago to this book right here of oh we all just work together for the common good and we all just you know try together through no benefit it doesn't work people don't do it you know what people end up doing is not excelling not doing much because it's self-interest that motivates people to work hard you know if you are given a bonus for working harder at your job you're going to work harder and there's nothing even wrong with that actually it's biblical so this is a major false teaching of Hinduism and it explains a lot of inactivity amongst people in India and look I'm not criticizing all Indians I'm not being you know racist or something against India you know because I'm talking against a religion you know India has Christians in it India has Muslims it not everybody in India is a Hindu let me tell you some Hinduism is a false religion it's a wicked religion and it does not motivate people to excel just like Buddhism doesn't motivate people to excel it holds people back it slows them down and it causes them to fail in life not to succeed in life the biggest problem with india today is Hinduism and another big problem is Islam righteousness exalted the nation the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible his teachings when they're put into practice they'll cause a society to thrive and do well in our personal lives we're going to excel and thrive and do well through the teachings of the Bible but if we get these philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism they screw up our lives and India by and large is a screwed up place because of Hinduism and that's why there's so much poverty and you know people like Gandhi and Mother Teresa all their day they're helping poor but you know what the best thing you could do and I'm all for helping the poor but you know the best thing you could do to help poor people is to teach them the Bible because I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread in the Bible say seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you and all these things as food and clothing the Bible promises to give food and clothing to those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ with their lives he didn't promise to feed and clothe every Muslim Hindu Buddhist or atheist but he did promise to feed and clothe his children he said if God would so close the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow's Cassidy haven't shall he not much more clothes you owe you little faith I mean if you believe that then the best thing you could do is get somebody the gospel and teach them the Bible and get them worshipping the Lord and seeking after him but you know what Hinduism and other false religions is gonna do nothing but drag people down and especially the philosophy of Hinduism that states that whatever station in life you're born into you're stuck there the caste system which is alive and well in India today in 2017 even though it's technically against the law culturally it's still there where you know whatever status they are they're stuck they can't really necessarily climb out of that according to the teachings of Hinduism because if you're born a poor person you're supposed to just stay poor the rest of your life you know if you're born into the the wealthier caste then you know you must have done some good stuff in your last life you know to to get that good karma this is what they teach and it doesn't teach people to excel or climb the ladder or make something better of themselves the Bible teaches that those who work hard to be rewarded and listen we need to apply the teachings of the Bible to our views today in 2017 and if people work hard at a job they should be paid more pay them more if they work hard and if they work less pay them less and if they're ineffective and inefficient pay them less that's biblical and you know what that does it causes people to figure out a way to be better at their job this kind of teaching of just well we're all kind of working together the unionized mentality just says well I show up I go through the motions and we're all equal and we're all blah blah blah it's false go to 2nd Peter chapter 1 the fourth false teaching of the Bhagavad Gita let me give you a quick review of the false teachings we've seen so far number one we've seen false teachings about the Lord that he's some kind of a god of serpents and snakes and a god of death and a cosmic serpent it's false the serpent is the devil number two the false teaching that when somebody dies it's no big deal doesn't matter because they're getting reincarnated anyway so we shouldn't mourn at all now the Bible says that if we're saved and they're saved we don't mourn like those who have no hope but we still mourn the Bible still commanded morning the Bible tells us to mourn it's normal if you lose a loved one to mourn to cry about it to weep not to just say who cares doesn't matter it's a false teaching that could lead to people just destroying human life and just thinking that it's not a big deal right you say well Hindus don't do that but guess what that's what it says in the book here you can read it yourself okay number three false teaching of Hinduism is that we shouldn't care about the outcome of our work when the Bible says whatsoever thy hand find it to do do it with thy might why because God's gonna reward us according to our works our labor shall be rewarded and we should reward others based on the work they do not just everyone equal communist we all work together for the common good hey just doesn't work that way it doesn't work number four the fourth false teaching from this book the Bhagavad Gita this book teaches that your own personal experiences mystical experiences or spiritual experiences or encounters they trump scripture so this book even their scripture they're teaching like your personal mystical experiences trump what the scripture says that's what Hinduism teaches but the Bible teaches the exact opposite that actually the Word of God trumps our own personal experiences now this is a great scripture on this look at 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 16 it says for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of his majesty this is Peter talking and saying look we're not following a cunningly defies fable we saw it we saw Jesus were eyewitnesses of his majesty for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased this is when Peter James and John are at the Mount of Transfiguration and they saw Jesus in his glory and a voice from heaven this is my beloved son hear ye him they were at his baptism when the Spirit descended like a dove from heaven light lit upon him they're like we were eyewitnesses we've seen the truth of this and this voice which came from heaven verse 18 we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount talking about the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17 but look what he says in verse 19 we have also a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation for the prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost so the Bible is saying here that Peter James and John they saw Jesus transfigured they heard the voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son but they said we have a more sure word of prophecy in the scripture they said that the scripture is a more sure word of but they're saying even more sure I'm even more sure about what the Bible says than what I even saw with my own eyes at the Mount of Transfiguration I know that the Bible is true this according to Peter himself who saw those things he said that the Bible is a more sure word of prophecy you say man I wish I would have been there and and and seen the transfiguration then I'd believe but here's the thing this is even more believable right here this book has so much power God's Word has so much power in the Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God even more so than being there and actually seeing the miracles this is more trustworthy right here the scripture the Word of God that's what the Bible Jesus you know that's exactly the opposite of what this book teaches which says hey trust your mystical experiences and you know what there are a lot of people today that have a lot of mystical experiences that are actually of the devil they're not of God like for example the Mormons they have a burning in their bosom and they say oh I know the Book of Mormon is true because I had that burning in the bosom and I've sat and spent two hours with a Mormon that was my friend at school when I was in high school I showed her for two hours she was actually my second cousin once removed and I showed her for two hours the Word of God and she said no matter what you show me nothing can change what I believe because I know what I felt and a lot of Mormons will tell you the same thing the burning in the bosom is what they're trusting but the Bible says that the devil does lying signs and wonders that are so convincing that they would even deceive the elect if it were possible okay so there are lying signs and wonders out there the Word of God is the rock on which our faith should stand this is what we should build our faith on this is the anchor of our soul right here the Word of God so if we look at the false teacher number one the god of this book is the serpent the devil number two the god of this book says kill destroy no big deal sounds like something the devil would say to me number three one of the main teachings is hey renounce the works of your the fruit of your labor it doesn't matter what you do it doesn't matter what the consequences are and then number four we see that according to this book mystical experiences trump scripture even their own Hindu scripture they say well trust your experience more then you trust even this book no no I'm gonna trust this book and there are plenty of Charismatics and Pentecostals they can tell you all kinds experiences but when you look at the doctrine of their church it doesn't line up with scripture and you know what I'm not gonna trust those false miracles and and lying signs and wonders I don't care what you know instead of saying I don't care what scripture you show me we should say you know I don't care what signs and wonders you show me right I know what the Bible says and this is a more sure word of prophecy number five false teaching and this and look what do all of these or almost all of these points have in common is and this is kind of the the one great truth of this sermon is that Hinduism is demonic at its core it is demonic and a lot of these points all have that in common of you know the Bible says that the devil will produce lying signs and wonders and and and different experiences and so forth it's the devil that's the serpent it's the devil who wants to kill and to destroy he's a murderer from the beginning so of course he's gonna downplay killing and death but number five according to the Bhagavad Gita the entire goal of our lives the entire goal of our existence why we're even here is self-realization okay this just comes up over and over again on scores of pages in this book self-realization that's our goal according to this so Hinduism teaches us to worship the self which they call in Sanskrit the Atman and they basically teach that the self is God that the Atman is God now what does the Bible say about that well the Bible says he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool we shouldn't look within to find God we need to look outside ourselves to find God because guess what you're not God now if you go to Isaiah chapter 14 you'll see that it's actually Satan who teaches us that we can be as gods or like unto God now this goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where the devil comes the serpent comes in Genesis 3 and what does he say he says you shall be as gods if you eat of this forbidden fruit if you commit this and he said you shall be as gods knowing good and evil that was the temptation well in Isaiah chapter 14 we see where Lucifer wanted to be like God says in Isaiah 14 12 how art thou fallen from heaven Oh Lucifer son of the morning how art thou cut down to the ground which this week in the nation's for thou has said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the most high yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit so it's Lucifer who wants to be like the most high and even in the beginning he's tempting them you shall be as gods so this idea that your God or that you can become God or that you will merge with God this is satanic teaching it's demonic it's of the devil as is clearly senior and whether the Mormons are teaching it or whether the Hindus are teaching something similar it's of the devil now let me read for you some some of the excerpts from this book right here the Bhagavad Gita about the self and and you know I'm I'm just gonna pick a few things because there's so many places in here that talk about this they talking about people who have achieved the goal of this life they are completely fulfilled by spiritual wisdom and self-realization through constant effort they learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the self thus they attain the state of union beholding the self by means of the self an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfillment did you hear that beholding the self by the means of the self an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete full fillness the practice of meditation frees one from all affliction this is the path of yoga follow it whenever the mind wanders restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without lead it within train it to rest in the cell this is what meditation is all about this is what yoga is about say well I just do yoga for exercise look I'm not saying there's anything wrong with stretching and exercise but you know I personally would pick a different kind of exercise you know and and and here's the thing I used to think it wasn't really a big deal I guess so why it's just exercise but honestly and look you know you got to make your own decisions about what you're gonna participate in you know I'm not up here to try to tell you what to do in your life that's your own decision but I'll tell you is you know once I started looking into some of the stuff and learning about Hinduism you know it it'll really ruin yoga for you there's plenty of other exercise programs and plenty of other ways to stay fit and everything there's a lot of baggage with you with yoga okay because yoga is Hinduism okay and especially with the breathing and the meditation and the clearing your mind everything this is all a gateway into this demonic world of Hinduism it's what it is this whole idea of stealing your mind and and blocking out everything around you and kind of shutting off the senses and going inward with the self meditating on the self uniting with the self well they teach that basically the self is God within you okay so here here's what they teach and you know it's it's weird okay but I let me just explain it to you here's what they teach they teach that deep down inside of me is the real me and that's known as the self myself the Atman and deep inside of you is the self but get this myself is the same as yourself isn't that weird and like a dog has the same self as me or a cow or an elephant the same so and God is that same self so like we're all God I'm God you're God I mean look I don't see how anybody could read this book and walk away with any other conclusion than I'm God I mean I read this book and if I actually believed this garbage and didn't believe the Word of God and wasn't anchored in the Holy Bible I would walk away from this book saying I'm God I'm not kidding that's what this book teaches because the Atman that's inside me myself is the same as God because we're all one I'm one with the universe I'm one with God and and all I have to do is is is get past all this you know physical body and all this other stuff that makes me who I am and just kind of merge with the Almighty that's what this book teaches now this is demonic this desire to become one with God or to become God or to realize that you're God and this is what the New Age teaches and it's there's nothing new about it it's it's Hinduism okay and meditation is communing with this other spirit of the Atman but I believe that many cases people commune with devils because they do have mystical experiences spirit they open themselves up you know unsaved people go down and they they practice all this transcendental meditation and yoga and they get in this state of mind where they're being led into this frame of mind where they're sort of opening themselves up to commune with the Atman communing with the Brahman and you know who they end up communing with is a demon in many cases so then they come back and tell you about their mystical experiences and all their feelings of that there's nothing godly about this there's nothing it's not compatible with Christianity well you know what the Bible talks about meditation it's not blanking out your mind and focusing on your breathing you know what it's about it's about meditating on the Word of God day and night that's the only meditation that we as Christians should be involved in meditating on the Word of God day and night that's what the Bible says so that's why this book says you know they see people who've realized this self realization they see the self in every creature and in all creation in the self so they look at a dog's face and they see the self they look into a pig's face and they see the self they look in the mirror they see the self and if they could just realize the self they could become one with God and one with the universe you say well you're making it sound stupid but it is stupid because the Bible says the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God it's foolishness should not look within ourselves for the answer because who so trusted in his own heart is a fool we should look to the Word of God for answers outside of ourselves I am NOT God I am NOT going to become like God I'm not going to merge with God and you know you say well it's obscure teaching but here's the thing even branches of Christianity have become influenced by this false teaching Hinduism most notably the Orthodox Church and listen don't fall for this lie that Russian Orthodox Church isn't that bad or that Romanian Orthodox or Coptic Orthodox that it isn't that bad a lot of people are being sucked into this now because of the fact that people like Putin are being lifted up in the truth movement you know you'll see articles praising him for being a godly Christian and then they start looking into Orthodox look there have been people who went to our church who were these kind of conspiracy truther types which you know a lot of there's a lot of truth in that stuff but who left our church and joined the Orthodox Church no joke now to me that proves that they were never saved in the first place because I don't believe that any saved person would fall for that if they have the Holy Spirit living inside of them that's another spirit down at the Orthodox Church but not only is the or and look orthodoxy is another huge religion with hundreds of millions of people in it very relevant to preach against and listen to me the Orthodox Church has a lot in common with Roman Catholicism but they have one doctrine that's even weirder than Roman Catholicism they have a doctrine in the Orthodox Church called theosis or deification where you can become deified you can merge with God and basically become like unto God in fact one of their Saints that they look to as their spiritual forefather St. Athanasius said this God became man so that man might become gods that's what the church father you know the church fathers what I don't care what the so-called church father says because the Bible says not to call any man upon this earth father but people in the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church they look to these so-called church fathers instead of scripture all I care about is what this book says but the church father St. Athanasius said well God became a man so that men might become gods that is a blasphemous statement and I don't care how you sugarcoat that or what context you put that in that's blasphemy men do not become gods and we do not merge with God we do not become deified through theosis that is a very bad false religion orthodoxy don't sugarcoat it and say oh it's not that bad it's sort of it's sort of halfway Protestant or Baptist or no it isn't and you know what mr. Putin needs to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as a savior he doesn't need to be deified as an Orthodox believer it's a false religion and he's no more saved than a Roman Catholic is saved if Vladimir Putin is saved than every Roman Catholic is saved if brother Nathaniel saved than every Roman Catholic must be saved because it's the same false religion teaches a workspace salvation has nothing to do with the true gospel of Jesus Christ the last point that I want to make tonight is that according to this false scripture of Hinduism the Bhagavad Gita it says basically that if you as long as you do good work she'll be fine so it gives a false hope that as long as you do good deeds in your life you're gonna be okay you might not make nirvana this time around but you'll be okay here's a real famous quote if you would turn to Luke chapter 13 Luke chapter number 13 Luke chapter 13 I'm gonna read for you one of the real famous quotes from this book the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna remember this is the guy that has to go to battle against his own relatives he's conflicted about it and he's learning all these teachings from the Lord supposedly but we know it's not truly the Lord here's what he says what happens to one who has faith but who lacks self-control and wanders from the path not attaining success in yoga so you say you know what if I have faith but you know I lack self-control and I wander from the path and I don't have success in yoga what happens to me here's what the Lord answers in Arjuna my son such a person will not be destroyed listen no one who does good work will ever come to a bad end either here or in the world to come when such people die they go to other realms where the righteous live they dwell there for countless years and then are reborn into a home which is pure and prosperous or they may be born into a family where meditations practiced to be born into such a family is extremely rare the wisdom they have acquired in previous lives will be reawakened Arjuna and they will strive even harder for self realization so what is he teaching hey as long as you do good work you're fine no harm is gonna befall you don't stress about it don't worry about it just do good works do your best and isn't this what people in America think like hey just do good do good works and on Judgment Day you're gonna be fine they're saying hey you're gonna be fine cuz you're gonna go to it you're gonna go to heaven for a little while and kind of benefit from some good karma then you're gonna be born into a really happy prosperous home you might even be lucky enough to be born into a home where your parents are hippies who are into meditating I mean that'd be really good for you or a Hindu or whatever home but does the Bible teach that as long as you do good deeds and good works there's nothing to worry about is that what the Bible teaches no the Bible actually says in Matthew 7 we'll look at Luke 13 a moment Matthew 7 that he said many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name of cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me that work iniquity you see if Jesus Christ doesn't know you and your name's not in that book of life you're doomed the Bible says he that believeth not is condemned already and the context is believing on the Son of God it says he that believeth not is condemned already because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God and no matter how much good work you do if you have not believed in the name of the Son of God you're doomed you're damned here's a parallel passage in Luke 13 with Matthew 7 Matthew 7 is the one where he said hey we've done all these wonderful works and Jesus said I never knew you depart from me here's the parallel passage in Luke 13 he said in verse 27 but he shall say I tell you I know you not when she are depart from me all you workers of iniquity there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth you know what that doesn't sound like a place you want to go there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out and that thrust out there is in the outer darkness into the lake of fire to be doomed and damned for all eternity and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night you know that's a really scary thing to happen to somebody and that is the fate of those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and there's none other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved this teaching that says well as long as you do good work you'll be fine elsewhere in this book it said well you know it's just do whatever religion you're born into it says whatever Dharma but that's what it means just stick with whatever Dharma and just do your best at it you know it's better to just stick with your Dharma that you're born into than to then to try to excel at another Dharma you know no no that's not what the Bible says Jesus is the Lord of all the earth Jesus is the only Savior Jesus is the only way to heaven and unless you believe on Jesus you're doomed so we need to realize that the Hindus are not saved they're not Christian even sometimes they'll even say like well we we also believe in Christ also they do in fact in this book itself because this is this is kind of the main translation of the Bhagavad Gita the guy who translated it I don't know how to pronounce name exactly but Eknot s war on okay he he puts all his thoughts his introduction to each chapter and over and over again he's bringing up Jesus and Moses and the Apostles and you know what he's saying just over and over again in this book he's saying oh well you know what Christians practice the same thing Christians believe the same thing as well we believe I mean it's kind of like when Paul said this it's kind of like when Jesus did this kind of like when Moses did this so sometimes you'll run into people who think that they can be Christian and Hindu that we're all worshipping the same God no my friend make no mistake about it this is of the devil this is demonic this is evil that's why I don't want anything to do with its teachings or philosophies I don't want to quote Gandhi on spiritual things I don't want to do yoga I don't want to talk about things from a Hindu perspective and you know through Star Wars and and other movies and TV shows a lot of this mysticism becomes a part of who we are and you know we grew up with with the teachings of Hinduism whether we know it or not of you know anger hatred this is the path to the dark side you know this stuff is all just lifted from Eastern mysticism straight into pop culture and it becomes a part of people's beliefs the Jedi is really if you if you look at what they're saying it's Buddhism and Hinduism which are by the way very similar to one another so what's the conclusion of the matter what what do we take away from the sermon today we know we've seen six wicked false teachings from this book right six wicked false teachings of Hinduism here's what we walk away with we need to make sure that all of our philosophies opinions political ideas religious ideas cultural ideas everything that we believe should come from this book why because a lot of what we think of as worldly philosophy worldly wisdom the wisdom of this world it actually came from somewhere where the worldly stuff come from I'll tell you where a lot of it came from whether you realize it or not it came out of Hinduism and it came out of Buddhism it came out of Eastern mysticism and falsehood a lot of the weird stuff in the Catholic Church came out of Hinduism it came out of Buddhism and I proved that in my sermon Catholicism and Buddhism where I showed all the similarities where they're borrowing from the Buddhists and we need to make sure that we get all of our beliefs about everything from the Bible why because we're constantly being bombarded with quote worldly philosophies which really are the philosophies of the devil because if they're coming from Hinduism they're coming from the devil they're coming from the cosmic serpent right they're coming from the god of death and the the lord of the snakes that's where they're coming from and a lot of this is being repackaged as a trendy cool new age right I mean it's big you know especially those of us who kind of eat healthy and and and and and do you know alternative medicine and stuff you know anytime you go to like a health food store don't you see this stuff everywhere you know hang out long enough around Whole Foods and around around the office of your midwife or the office of you know whatever the chiropractor or whatever the the herbal dealer or whatever you know and I'm saying you know obviously there's there's you know it's good to get nutritious food and herbs and and sometimes the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light when it comes to certain you know medical or nutritional things but let me tell you something we got to be careful to not let this stuff become a part of who we are and I'm not saying that we should withdraw from the world and never set foot in these establishments and never set foot over no but we're to be in the world but we're not to be of the world so we need to make sure that we don't let these philosophies creep in and become a part of our life we need to renew our mind with God's Word and make sure everything we believe comes from this book and not get into this socialist communist political garbage that's out there the left-wing philosophy which is not in accordance with this book and we need to make sure not to get the religious teachings or philosophy and look don't tell me it's not happening because then why why are people quoting Gandhi to me on a weekly basis to tell me I'm wrong about the Bible and you know that's true who's had someone quote to you wait a minute the Bible says to love the sinner and hate the sin and they said that's what the Bible says no no that's what Hinduism said that's what Gandhi said or how about this teaching hey we should love everyone equally we should love everyone the same love God loves everyone equally that's what this book that I could show you chapter and verse on that in the Bhagavad Gita because we're all the same self a dog is the same as me or you or a cow or a hippo or the most enlightened guru to the most degenerate outcast we're all the same we're all want love them all the same treat them all the same no no we need to get back to the Bible get a biblical philosophy and not let worldliness corrupt our minds with that which is demonic let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the Bible Lord and help us to read it every day Lord and make sure that all of our beliefs come from the Bible Lord help us to love the Hindus these many people they don't think to evangelize the Hindus Lord but help us to love the Hindus and to preach the gospel to them and to win as many Hindus to Christ as we can because without Christ they're doomed Lord help us to bring the the light of the gospel to them and to realize that this is a billion people that need Jesus and it's in Jesus name that we pray amen and by the way let me just say one more thing before we sing our last song if you want to know how do you witness to a Hindu the same way you witness to anybody else you know we don't need a customized soul winning plan for every religion because you know what the gospel is a one-size-fits-all the Romans Road is a one-size-fits-all you know the same gospel that I give to a Catholic or a Mormon or a Jew or a Buddhist or an atheist or a Hindu it's it's the same gospel it's the same plan as salvation I just went soul winning a month or two ago in Trinidad and I went to a neighborhood where everyone was Hindu literally everyone was Hindu and they were serious Hindus they had all the idols and the flags and all the stuff and I I preached the gospel to more than 10 Hindus one-on-one door-to-door just for hours given the gospel given the gospel to Hindus and you know what I did I said let me show you Romans 3 23 Romans 6 23 John 3 16 Romans 5 8 you know revelation 21 8 I went through all my same scriptures and I preached the gospel to him because it's the it's the Word of God I didn't pull out the Bhagavad Gita and start showing them did you know you're worshiping the cosmic serpent you know it's the Word of God that has the power and the gospel has the power so when we give them the gospel just give them the gospel but just love them and care about them and realize they're not saved and give them the gospel that's what I'm trying to say this sermon tonight is not to evangelize Hindus because I don't think there are any Hindus here tonight is there any Hindu tonight in the building no the purpose of tonight's sermon is to warn you about Hinduism so that you can steer clear of it and beware of its philosophies but let's go out and get Hindus saved using the normal gospel the plan of salvation and you know what it's possible because you know our buddy Ram Angad down in South America that we're working with on the 40-day revival guess what religion he was raised in his whole life Hinduism he was a Hindu his whole life and at 17 years of age he received the Lord Jesus Christ as a Savior and I ran into many people while in Guyana that were raised Hindu and received Jesus Christ as Savior as adults so they can be reached it's tough but they it can be done gospel is powerful let's sing our last song and be dismissed