Well, let's turn to Mark chapter 6 this evening. Mark's gospel chapter 6. Again, welcome in the Savior's name. We'll begin reading at the opening verse of the chapter. Mark chapter 6, let's read the first 13 verses of the chapter. Word of God says, and he, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, went out from Thames and came into his own country, and his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him? And even such mighty works are wrought by his hands. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around about the village's teaching. And he called on to him the 12 and began to send them forth by two and two and gave them power over unclean spirits and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only, no script, no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with sandals and not put on two coats. And he said on to them, In what place soever ye enter, and howce there abide till ye depart from that place? And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you when ye depart, then shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. And they went out and preached that men should repent, and they cast out many devils. anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. We'll end our reading there at the end of the verse 13 as I just indicated. You know brethren and sisters as I prepared for tonight's message I found Myself personally challenged by a statement made by the late Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones in his book, The Christian Warfare. Dr. Jones wrote on that occasion or wrote in that book, he said, the cults are a striking criticism of the Christian church. For if the Christian church were functioning as she should be, the cults would never have an opportunity at all. Hence, he said, the appearance of the cults is a condemnation of the Christian church and a mark of her failure. He went on to say, if the people outside see church members who are perfectly orthodox, but always miserable, always moaning, always complaining about their sins and their failures and to look wretched and unhappy. Again it is not surprising that they turn to the cults. How tragic to think that dead orthodoxy may be the reason why many turn from Christ's church and embrace the spurious teachings of a false religion or a cult. Now as previously announced tonight, I want to say a few things about one of these false religious groups. a group that is known as the Cuneites, the Cuneites. Now I wonder, just for my own information, with a raised hand, how many of you have heard about the Cuneites or know about the Cuneites? You can put up your hand. Quite a number, quite a number. Well, I must admit, I never knew much about the Cuneites until I found myself at Bible College, and we studied them there during my time at Bible College. Let me commence by saying that many who encounter the Cuneites find them to be a people of great morality, a people of great orthodoxy, a people of great charity, and a people of great kindness. They are known for their neighborliness, and they're also known for their friendliness, as well as their modesty and dress and in appearance. And yet I would say that there are many nice people in false religious groupings and in cults. And really the test isn't how nice they are, how neighborly they are, how pleasant they are, or how kind they are, but really the test is how their teaching correlates with the teaching of Holy Scripture. For that is always the benchmark, that is always the test. to the law and to the testimony. Now before we come to what they believe and what they teach, I want to give first of all a little bit of background and a little bit of history with respect to the Cuneites. Now the Cuneites do not publish any material with regard to their collective beliefs. I believe the only thing that they've ever published is their hymn book. That is the only publication that the Cuneites have ever published or produced because the movement is a loosely knit group of semi-autonomous house churches with no real central headquarters and those ministers, their ministers being traveling preachers, it's difficult to establish absolutely authoritative information with respect to this group. Now, officially, the Cuneites have no name. They have no name. However, those from the outside have attached certain names to them. Some refer to them, as I have already, they've referred to them as And really that name comes from one of their leading teachers, a man by the name of Mr. Edward Cooney, and we'll be thinking about him in a few moments time. They're also known as the two by twos, the two by twos. That name is based on Mark 6 in the verse number 7. And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. Luke 10 verse 1 is another proof text that they take. After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two, before his face into every city and place whether he himself would come. And so they're known as the two-by-twos. They're also known as the no-name church or the nameless house church. Cuneites do not congregate in buildings that are designated for worship, but rather they meet in Houses, that's why you'll not get a kuniite To come to a church meeting or it'll be hard for you to get them to come to a church meeting they believe that meeting in Designated church buildings is on biblical and they use proof texts like acts chapter 7 and the verse 48 if you want to turn their x chapter 7 and the verse number 48. Howbeit, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet. And then Acts chapter 17, it is a similar text. Acts chapter 17, verse 24. God that made the world and all things are in, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. hands. And these are the texts that they will use and employ with respect to not coming to a public meeting place, to a church building. God does not dwell in buildings made with hands. Obviously their knowledge of scripture isn't very good at all because Christ dwelt in the tabernacle. He dwelt there. He displayed his glory, the Shekinah glory, the cloud above the tabernacle, revealed that Christ had come or God had come to dwell above the mercy seat. And again, he came and he filled, his glory filled the temple when Solomon had built the temple. You see, Paul was using these texts in both Paul and Acts chapter 17, at least in the verse 24. was using these texts, or these were Paul's counter-argument to the Jews, who were stating that God only dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. Paul was reminding his listeners that God was omnipresent, and so that he couldn't be confined to a building made of simply bricks and mortar, but that is not to say that he cannot be present in his church. We see that very much represented in the book of the Revelation when The Son of Man, the one in Revelation chapter 1, He is in the midst of the candlesticks. The candlestick. And this is a representation of the seven churches. And so Christ is in the midst of them, where two or three, the Savior would say, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Christ would say to the woman at Jerusalem, there will come a time when he'll not only be worshiped in the Mount in Jerusalem, but across the world. That's what he was really saying there in John chapter four. You worship in this mountain, but there will come a time when all will worship him in spirit. and in truth and so that'll be why if you ask them to a gospel mission they'll probably not attend a church building but they'll attend maybe an orange hall if a mission is happening there. I was speaking to a ministerial colleague and he has cuneite relatives and he had a mission some time ago in an orange hall and his relations did come to that meeting on that particular occasion but as to come to a building like this you'll not get a kuniite through probably the doors of this building. They're also known as go-preachers. This name is based on words in Matthew 10, verse 7, where the Lord Jesus Christ instructed his disciples, and as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They're also known as dippers. Dippers. That's really in relation to their practice of full immersion when it comes to the Christian ordinance of baptism. And so they got the name Dippers. Other names by which they're referred to, either as workers or collectively as a group, include the Jesus Way, Trump Preachers, or the Irvineites. The Cuneites, however, maintain that they are the nameless ones. They abhor all kind of denominational tags. They abhor it. Now as to the founder and founders of this movement, we have to go to Scotland. The man's name is William Weir Irvine. He was a Scotsman born in 1863, and he professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in Motherwell in 1893. Two years later in 1895, Irvine joined the faith mission. established by John Govan. And in 1896, he came as a pilgrim of the faith mission to County Antrim, God's own beloved county. County Antrim, the county in which we're in tonight. There's someone said amen. I got an amen for County Antrim, so I did. And then he went eventually to County Clare. Now, records show that Irvine had great and tremendous and considerable success as he preached the gospel as a faith mission pilgrim. At times, whole families would come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Irvine felt that the established churches were somewhat deficient in their ability to disciple new converts. And so it was his practice to disciple the converts outside the church. Without realizing it, Irvine was really starting to establish himself as a special leader with a group of followers around him. It wasn't long before Irvine started to denounce every Christian church to be deficient of the truth. So serious was this viewed by the faith mission that they would sever their ties with him in the year 1901. And so consequently, Irvine began his own ministry in a town called Neha, Neha in County Tipperary. County Tipperary in Ireland. And he succeeded in gathering some people around him who really would become the nucleus of this newfound sect. He would hold meetings in schoolhouses and in Methodist churches that were given to Irvine in good faith and had a number of people who profess faith to his views or conversion to his views, which really gave him then the additional support that he required to travel from place to place. He would launch a strong attack on Methodism and he denounced all churches and ministers. This resulted in permission being withdrawn by the Methodist church to use their buildings. Those who followed Irvine sold everything in order to support him and they believed him they believed that he was the prophet spoken off and predicted in deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18 and 19 let me read those words and i will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like on to thee And when I put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. These are words speaking of none other than the great prophet Jesus Christ himself. But these people started to believe that Irvine was the prophet of Deuteronomy. chapter 18. He would demand of his converts that they would give up all of their money. He referred to it as going the Jesus way. Since Christ lived and worked as a poor man, then he said that all his followers should be also poor. Divergence from this kind of lifestyle was viewed by Irvine as being worldly and being sensual. Only those who were following the Jesus way were regarded by Irvine as being Christians. Any profession of faith through another preacher was regarded as satanic. And such people were viewed as having been converted by false prophets and by hirelings. whenever Irvine went out on his own. He was joined by another man by the name of, and we've already mentioned his name, Mr. Edward Cluny, or Cuny. Mr. Cuny, he gave up his secular employment. He sold his stake within the family business in Enniskillen, and he joined Irvine and his group. Cuny was a vibrant, fiery man. with a strong personality. He would have been termed as a dynamic speaker and a dynamic preacher. And he joined Irvine by attacking all denominations. And he warned his followers to have nothing more to do with the churches, whatever church they were. Cluny's sermons were provocative and hostile against the existing churches. As he proclaimed that members of all other churches were doomed to hell. All other churches were doomed to hell. He denounced all ministers who received any kind of financial support. He believed that ministers shouldn't receive a wage. In their evangelistic endeavors, the Cuneites, they seem to stay away from large population areas. You'll not find them in the cities. prefer more to, as it were, be established in country districts. They will state that they have come to preach the gospel in the real Jesus way, and that they don't belong to a cult. Often their advertising literature will say this. You've maybe got it through your door. They'll say it somewhere on their advertising literature, non-denominational and free. non-denominational and free. They'll not take up an offering. Because they do not believe in that at the end of a meeting. They are known to preach in places for up to three months in order to make a single convert. And at the close of their meetings they will appeal for those who attend to turn to the Lord. And this is seen as turning from the wrong way to the Jesus way or to the testimony of Jesus. Converts. are required to then be baptized and then to renounce all former religious connections and convictions. They'll gather on a Lord's Day for their fellowship meetings, not in a church building, but in the homes of their elders, and there they will break bread. In addition, they will attend a midweek Bible study and frequent gospel meetings, which are evangelistic in their eyes with regard to their outreach. long four-day conventions which are held annually as well as a mid-year spring or special meetings which really will gather together numerous household churches within the area. And they expect strict attendance at all the meetings except on the grounds of severe illness. And so that's just a little flavour of the history and of the background, the personalities and the practices of the cuneites. But what do they believe? What does a cuneite believe? Well, that brings us to think about a second and a final matter. We're thinking here about their teaching and doctrine. You know, whenever you ask a cuneite what they believe, they'll be very vague, very vague in what they'll say to you, if they say anything at all. I was listening to my brother-in-law. He preached on the cuneites himself, and I was listening to his message. helping me with a little bit of research and he said that down through his life he has met many many kuniites he met one when he was working in Lisbon and then when he went to Australia he met a couple of kuniites when he was fishing off a pier and then when he came home again he met another kuniite young man and whenever he asked them what they believe they really said nothing to him they simply said well come to one of our meetings come to one of our meetings and then you'll understand what we teach. And so it's very vague in their response. What adds to the difficulty in getting an official outline of their doctrines is that, as I've said, they refrain from printing books or tracts for circulation. They're also They're also banned from reading other books and tracts themselves. Although difficult to decipher what they exactly believe, let me give you just some of their beliefs. First of all, they strongly believe in exclusivity. Exclusivity. The Cuneites are extremely exclusive. They believe that they alone, they alone are the true disciples of Christ. And they alone are those who truly walk the true Jesus way. They boldly state that there are no true servants of Christ in any other church, and that they are all false prophets, and that the only way to become a Christian is to attend one of their gospel meetings, hear one of their preachers preach, and then make one's choice to walk in the Jesus way. The Cuneites believe that only through them, only through them can a person be saved. This is known or is called as the living witness doctrine. A person, they say, can only be saved through hearing one of their preachers. It must be a Cuneite preacher. for you to be able to believe the gospel. They'll take the text, so then faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. How then shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And so they'll take that and say, you must hear the gospel from one of our preachers and unless you do so, you cannot be saved. My brethren and sisters, I would hope that there is no one in this meeting who would think that people could only be converted in this house or born again under the ministry of a free Presbyterian minister. The gospel of Jesus Christ, thank God, reaches many a soul, not only from this pulpit but from many a pulpit. Many have come to faith in Jesus Christ outside our denomination. We must not be parochial or sectarian in a religious way. We must, thank God, yes, separatist, but never isolationist. Thank God there's many who's come to faith apart from us. And really it's Christ that saves, not the preacher, not the preacher. Secondly, they believe in asceticism. And asceticism is really the practice of strict self-denial. The Cuneites take literally the words of Matthew chapter 10 and the verse number 9 and 10. Matthew 10, verse 9 and 10. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples here. Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor script for your journeys, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat." And so they take these words literally and the Cuneite preacher, he will live or she will live, because you'll find sometimes that it's two ladies who will be speaking at their meetings. They will live in poverty. At the beginning, They only had one change of clothes. They take it literally. They take no money with them, and they would have lived in other people's homes. You see, there is a problem with taking these words literally, brethren and sisters, because if you take the words of verse 9 and 10 literally, then you're going to have to take the words of the verse 5 and 6 literally. And what are those words? Well, these are the words of Christ. He says, "'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans. Enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'" If the Cuneite takes verse 9 and 10 literally, then they need to take these words literally. And that means that then they need to confine their evangelistic efforts in the land of Israel, to the lost sheep of Israel, and not coming and evangelizing Gentile Northern Ireland. go not in the way of the Gentiles. And so they take partially, they take the teaching. Note also, though that is good enough grounds, but note also that the Lord Jesus Christ revoked He revoked this initial command to his disciples. Later on in his earthly ministry, turn now to Luke chapter 22, and you'll know when we come into that chapter, we're coming to the conclusion or near the end of the Savior's earthly ministry. Put your eye down there to the verse 35. Lord Jesus Christ said, and he said unto them, when I sent you without purse and script and shoes, lacked ye anything, and they said nothing, See, the words in Luke chapter 22 indicate that the Savior's initial injunction was only to be temporary and to be preparatory in nature. It was never intended to be permanent. The Lord Jesus Christ tells them now to take a purse, whereas before he tells them not to. He tells them to take a script, whereas before he told them not to. Then we have this thought of two witnesses or two preachers. The Cuneites will only preach and go out in pairs to preach. The way they do that Apostolic behavior in the book of Acts proves that the apostles and those that assisted them did not continue to go out in twos to preach the gospel. Whenever Peter was in the city of Joppa, remember he was there alone. Remember he was up in the housetop praying and then individuals were sent, servants, soldiers I think they were, sent from Cornelius' household and they came to get Peter and to bring Peter and for Peter then to preach the gospel to them in Acts chapter 10. And so whenever Peter comes to Cornelius' home, he's preaching alone. He's there alone preaching. And so Peter doesn't go out with two. Remember Philip the Evangelist whenever he went to the city of Samaria? It was just Philip. Remember, he was told to leave the city of Samaria and then go down to the way, the way to the south that leadeth to the desert. Remember, he met the Ethiopian eunuch. It was only Peter who preached Christ on to that Ethiopian eunuch. Just Peter, not two. Whenever Paul preached the gospel in Damascus, he preached alone. And when he went and was sent to Tarsus and Chapter 9, we read that he preached alone. He preached in the synagogue. Christ, we're told, after his conversion, he was there alone. Now, there were times that they did go out in twos, Paul and Silas, Paul and Barnabas, but there were also times when they went out in threes and fours, sometimes seven and eights. And so this need for two preachers, well, Apostolic behavior proves that such was not practiced just after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You know, there is confusion or at least a lack of clarity on the part of the Cuneites regarding whether or not the Lord Jesus Christ is God. Some Cuneites will affirm that Jesus is the Son of God, but He is not God the Son. Regarding the deity of Jesus Christ, Cuneites profess to believe it, and yet comments such as, Jesus overcame his own flesh, indicates that they believe that the Lord Jesus Christ had sinful flesh that needed to be overcome. And yet the Bible teaches us that in him is no sin. He came, yes, in the likeness of sinful flesh, but not with sinful flesh. He is. the sinless one. Concerning the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, Cuneites question if the blood of Christ can atone for sin. Such statements like, how can the blood of a dead man save anyone, has been quoted to have been said by Cuneite preachers. How can the blood of a dead man save anyone? A person who spent some time in Iran stated that they only heard from one of their preachers one time about the blood of Christ, just once. Regarding the work of Christ, they state that it is not a finished work. Yet the Bible informs us that Christ said, I have finished the work that was sent me to do. Kuleites teach that Christ only died for the sins of their members. and that it was Satan and not God who made Christ suffer on the cross. They insist that God the Father would never punish His Son. They speak of the penal substitutionary death of Christ on the cross as unbiblical and mistaken. Yet Isaiah 53 verse 10 tells us, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He hath put him to grief. Consider their belief in God, the Holy Spirit. The Cuneite ignores the sovereign work of the Spirit of God within the hearts of men. They prefer the term regeneration rather than conversion. With them, it is simply a turning from the wrong way to the Jesus way. They claim that there cannot be a new birth without human agency. In other words, there needs to be a Cuneite preacher in order for a new birth to take place. Rather than being God, they believe that God the Holy Spirit is, and I quote, a mystical force from God, comparable to man's spirit, only much superior, perhaps even God's attitude. The Holy Spirit is seen then really as a force, as a power emanating from God, not as a person from within the Trinity or within the triune Godhead. What about their teaching about the Bible, the Word of God? The Cuneit will say that the Bible is a dead book, and it only comes alive through the mouth of one of their preachers. Cuneites, therefore, they deny Scripture. For my Bible tells me that the Word of God is quick and powerful. and sharper than any two-edged sword. So convinced was the Apostle Paul about the efficacy of the Scriptures that he would write to Timothy, and that from a child that was known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus." How many people have come to Christ by just reading the Bible for themselves? Or a gospel track? And yet the Cuneite will say that it's a dead book until it's spoken and preached by one of their preachers. Consider, finally, their teaching on salvation. Their beliefs about salvation are somewhat ambiguous. According to Cuneite teaching, salvation comes not through grace alone. But by self-effort, some ex-Cuneite state that only individuals who hear the gospel from Cuneite workers can be saved. And then, only if they join the faith group, continue to be a member in good standing, live according to the Cuneite standards of lifestyle and appearance, and faithfully attend Cuneite events, will they then be saved. And so they add all of these things to a profession of faith. They teach that a person can lose their salvation at any time, and that so there is no assurance of salvation, and that a person's salvation status is only determined at death. Well, how can that be, brethren and sisters? Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, thank God my salvation isn't going to be settled at my death. My salvation is already settled. The work is done. Thank God for that. The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone was originally opposed by the Cuneites, but now it's just ignored. Irvine called those who preached the cross, this is what he called them, Calvary ranters. Calvary ranters. Calvary ranters. Well, I'd rather be a Calvary ranter. than anything. And so the cross work of Christ, it really has little place in the church's teaching. Even references to the forgiveness of sins, I'm told, have been removed from their hymn book. For members, salvation is dependent on being a worthy disciple of Christ to keep faithful to the way. The way is to follow the example of Christ. This entails being separate from the world, practicing simplicity by abstaining from worldly pleasures, to be devoted to itinerant preaching, preferably personally or at least in the support of the workers. You know, like every other cult, the way of salvation for the Kuniite can only really be achieved by an outward conformity to a particular lifestyle rather than an inward experience of the new birth through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren and sisters, teaching that is absent of grace inevitably leads to extreme legalism. Legalism. which we must be ever on our guard against, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of grace, grace, grace alone. And thank God for that, the grace of God. not of works, all of grace, all of grace. As I close, let me say, don't fall into the trap of the cuneite. The trap of believing by self-effort, by conforming yourself merely to a set of religious rules and regulations, by having the right appearance, that that merits you heaven. Heaven is secured when God does a radical work within the heart and the soul of the sinner, a radical work. He regenerates the heart. He converts the individual. Make sure that such a work is wrought in your life. If you know not Christ this evening, maybe you're watching him. May God help us to remember that it is by grace that we are saved. Through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. May God bless our studies together. Let's stand for a word of prayer, and then we'll come to the Lord in prayer, having made a few announcements. Loving Father, we come now before thee in Jesus' name, and thank thee now for O God, the help given in the preaching of thy word. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt help us always to take what is taught by others to the scriptures and find what the scripture saith. We pray, O God, that such who are decent and kindly individuals within our nation, that they may understand that it is by grace alone that men and women are saved. And it's not a simple outward conformity to rule and regulations. We know, Lord, that there are commandments and laws that we are to obey. We know that, Lord. We know that our liberty in Christ doesn't bring us into a place where we are free to do anything we like and be anything that we like. We understand that. But we recognize, Lord, that just because we would wear a suit or have a hat on our head, to also make us a Christian. And Lord, therefore, help we pray. And Lord, open the hearts of many within our nation. We offer now prayer in and through Jesus' precious name.