But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8:3

Have you ever met a member of a cult who told you that they once attended a church? Sadly, I have heard this many times. Most often it is Jehovah’s Witnesses who say something along the lines of… ‘I used to be in false religion but then I found the ‘Truth’.’

Sharing more of their story, it may transpire that such people had been brought up in a church, and maybe even had a role, perhaps teaching Sunday School. What are we to make of this?

Firstly, it should be noted that though such people may have attended a meeting in a church building, they were never ‘in’ the church.

The Greek word translated church is ecclesia (ἐκκλησία) which means ‘assembly’ or ‘called-out ones’; it does not refer to the building where such called-out ones gather to worship, it has always referred to the people themselves. The church then is not a building, but rather the body of Christ, of which He is the head.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23

This church is made up of all those who have repented and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such ones have been born again of the Spirit of God.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see kingdom of God.” Jesus – John 3:3

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” Romans 8:9

It may be that the church these cult members attended never taught the gospel, or never spoke about or explained the importance of biblical doctrine. This would explain a comment I once heard: ‘Well that Trinity doctrine never made sense to me anyway’.

As we can see, it is evidently possible to attend a church building and even be involved in that church’s ‘ministries’, yet never be ‘in’ the church.

Such ones have never repented and put faith in Christ alone. They have never been born again by the Spirit of God – they have never truly known Him and been saved. These people are ripe for the picking by so-called ‘Christian’ cultists who knock on their door.

Saul a cult member?

As I read the verse above from Acts 8, it made me think of such cult members.

Saul was an extremely zealous religious man, who believed he was doing God’s work – but he wasn’t. He was actually working against God. His zeal had blinded him. Later, after his conversion to Christ, he was to speak of his fellow Jews as being the same as he once was.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:1-4

Like his fellow Israelites, Saul was zealous and adamant he was right. But he was acting in ignorance. Because he was unwilling to come to Christ he sought to establish his own righteousness. He was working to earn God’s favour and surely God would be pleased with his efforts to exterminate those troublesome Christians.

Jesus warned his disciples that such a time would come:

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. John 16:1-4

Friends, religious zeal doesn’t prove anything. Fervour is no evidence of truth. Satan will happily use religious zealots to distort and deny truth. Saul, though he believed he was truly serving God, was being used by Satan in an attempt to destroy the fledgling church, but God’s work can never be thwarted or frustrated.

Ravaging the church

We are told that Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. Isn’t this what Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons seek to do? They go from house to house, believing that they are on a mission from God, celebrating whenever they ‘drag’ a member of the ‘church’ into their cult.

The verse tells us that Saul was ‘dragging men and women off and committing them to prison’. Isn’t this what cults do?

People who are going about their daily business, receive an invite to have a free home Bible study with the Jehovah’s Witnesses or lessons with the Mormons. They are blind to the fact that they are being ‘dragged off’ and put in a prison, a prison they will find almost impossible to escape.

Saul was the original JW/Mormon. He was arrogant, zealous, and striving to please a God he did not truly know, in the hope that he would somehow find favour with Him.

Praise God that Saul’s endeavour to wipe out the church failed miserably. It was always destined to do so. No weapon formed against God’s church will ever prosper (see Isaiah 54:17).

Jehovah’s Witness literature loves to show church buildings on fire at Armageddon but their ignorance, like Saul’s, cause them to overreach. The JWs equate the church with buildings and completely reject that the church of God is the body of Christ. But there is hope for members of these groups.

From Saul to Paul

Acts 8 is not where the story ends for Saul. Acts 9 shares with us one of the most famous conversions ever to take place. The chapter begins by telling us that Saul was still ‘breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord’ and he was on his way to Damascus to capture and imprison more people. But God had other plans.

All testimonies are wonderful, but especially wonderful are testimonies of cult-members who, having been dragged off, now find themselves freed from prison. How does this happen?

Whilst still zealous for their ‘truth’, whilst still believing that they are serving God, a chink of light appears that will ultimately lead them to Christ. This may be, as it was for Saul, a direct hit from the Lord, but more likely it will be a loving Christian sharing biblical truth with them. This may be on the doorstep, on the street, through literature or social media. Something that God takes and uses to wake ‘Saul’ up.

We are told what happened to Saul:

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Acts 9:3-6

In that amazing moment, Saul ceased to be a lost cult-member and became a found, saved, redeemed, justified, member of the body of Christ (the Church). He went from reviling Christ to loving Christ and being in Christ. Friends, if this can happen to Saul from Tarsus, it can happen to the Mormon from Utah and the Jehovah’s Witness from (insert your own town/city).

Let me close with a most challenging quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

‘Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.’

Friends, let’s not give up sharing the wonderful gospel of grace. If God can reach a Saul, He can reach anyone!