(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Matthew Stuck here from Verity Baptist Church in Manila providing you another video on the topic of reasons why we are not a cult. In an earlier video we talked about the key of knowledge. We talked about how we encourage people to read the Bible and to learn from themselves. Rather than just trusting what's being said by the authority, by the church, but actually just reading for themselves and finding what the Bible says. Kind of a side point off of that is the understanding that at this church, the things we do and the things we preach and the things we teach and the way we operate, it comes under the authority of the Bible. I can't just come up here and make some obscure rules that don't line up with what the Bible says. When you look at the crazy cults that have been out there, when you look at Jonestown, when you look at Charles Manson and all these different groups, they basically just put themselves above the authority of the Bible and they made the decisions and they came up with some obscure and crazy doctrines. They preached all kinds of weird things and perverted teachings and things that don't line up with what the Bible says. The bottom line is they said, well you can't question our authority because we're specifically chosen by God. We're the ones that can interpret scripture and you can't interpret scripture. The result is they come up with really obscure and strange doctrines that don't line up with what the Bible says. Now that's what you see is predominant with major cults and here's the thing about this, it's not just these obscure cults though. Very mainstream religions have some really bizarre teachings and the reason why they're able to teach all these really bizarre things that people just follow with and just go along with is the fact that they've taken away the key of knowledge from people and as a result they can come up with these crazy obscure doctrines or things that are just completely against what the Bible says and nobody's really going to question it because of the fact the person who runs that church or the person who is the head, they basically make up the rules. It's not based on what the Bible says. What are some examples of this? Well you can look at the Catholic Church which is very big and they're teaching on the Eucharist that they say the bread literally turns into the body of Jesus. Now that's just obscure, that's weird, that's not what the Bible says at all and yet Catholicism is a very major religion. Or you can look at speaking in tongues with the Pentecostals and how they just say, well you know we're speaking a heavenly language to God. The Bible clearly says that you're supposed to speak so people can understand you in the church. So when it's speaking in tongues, it's not a heavenly language, it's a real language on earth that people understand. And if people don't understand it, it shouldn't be said. And you can look at all these just different religions. You can look at the Amish that have all these obscure and weird rules for how you're supposed to dress and their clothing standards. And these are things that are outside of what the Bible says. So the problem is not that churches take a strong stand on various topics. We should preach hard against sin. The problem is you have these religions that teach all these really obscure and weird things and you're not supposed to question them. Why? Because they say that you don't have the ability to understand the Bible. But at Verity Baptist Church Manila, we will constantly tell people that you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. So as I preach these things, you're supposed to read the Bible and decide for yourself if what I say lines up with what the Bible says. And if it doesn't, then hey, you know, go with what you believe the Bible teaches. That's what we always teach and the result is that I myself am under the authority of the Bible. I can't just go out and just teach whatever I want. What these obscure cults do is they take away the key of knowledge from people. They don't let them read the scriptures themselves. And then they start teaching bizarre things and they put themselves above the authority of the Bible. That's what cults do. That's what these obscure and weird and crazy cults do. But you see mainstream religions do that as well. So once again on this, look, we at Verity Baptist Church Manila, we're by no means a cult because we don't take away the key of knowledge. And then the result is we're under the authority to teach what the Bible says. And look, every single thing that we teach, we have the Bible to back up what we believe. And the reason why this is so important is because churches don't look at the Bible as their authority. We at Verity Baptist Church Manila, the Bible is our authority. I'm not the authority. OK, so I can't just come up and make up my own doctrines. It must line up with what the Bible says. Thank you and God bless.