It is written:
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.” 17 Therefore “COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU.” 18 “I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
One of my first encounters with the Masonic Lodge involved a threat on my life.
While living in West Virginia, I had ordered a hundred dollars worth of books on the Lodge on CD-Rom (back before the days of Kindle). They were books written by prominent members of the Lodge. You can always find something that someone says AGAINST others; I wanted to see what the Lodge had to say for itself.
Telling no one of my purchase of these books and my investigation into the matter, I waited somewhat impatiently for my books to arrive in the mail. The day that they did, I had a phone call from a friend in another state, who had had a call from a friend of his in another state. My friend’s friend had a message for me:
“Tell Mark Tabata: we will kill for our secrets.”
Oh, yes I forgot to mention: my friend’s friend was a 32nd degree Mason.
Someone may say, “Maybe the guy was crazy and wasn’t speaking as a member of the Lodge.”
To which my simple response is: how did this guy find out that I was studying the Lodge?
Even with this happening, I have known many Christian men who are members of the Masonic Lodge. I want to share with you some reasons here from God’s Word why Christians should not be members of the Lodge. My prayer is that you will carefully consider these things and leave the Lodge, committing yourself fully to Jesus Christ.
First, Christians have no business being involved with the Lodge because of what the Lodge teaches about God.
In the Masonic Lodge, any profession of faith in any deity is acceptable for membership.
“The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth.” (Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys Of Freemasonry, p. 27-28 (Kindle Edition)) -also note that Hall was a 33rd degree Mason).
“For Masonry knows, what so many forget, that religions are many, but Religion is one-perhaps we may say one thing, but that one thing includes everything-the life of God in the soul of man, and the duty and hope of man which proceed from His essential character. Therefore, it invites to its altar men of all faiths, knowing that, if they use different names for “the Nameless One of a hundred names,” they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all; knowing, also, that while they read different volumes, they are in fact reading the same vast Book of the Faith of Man as revealed in the struggle and sorrow of the race in its quest of God.” (Masonic Bible, pages 5-6).
“You have learned that Freemasonry calls God “The Great Architect of the Universe.” This is the Freemason’s special name for God, because He is universal. He belongs to all men regardless of their religious persuasion. All wise men acknowledge His authority. In His private devotions a Mason will pray to Jehovah, Mohammed, Allah, Jesus, or the Deity of his choice. In a Masonic lodge, however, the Mason will find the name of his Deity within the Great Architect of the Universe.” (Allen E. Roberts, The Craft And Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism, 6).
“There never was a false god, nor was there ever really a false religion, unless you call a child a false man.” (Max Muller, as quoted in Louisiana Masonic Monitor).
“Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above ALL the Baalim, must needs leave it to each of its initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the written scriptures of his own religion.” (Albert Pike, Morals And Dogma, 161 (Kindle Edition); Prepared For The Supreme Council Of The Thirty-Third Degree For The Southern Jurisdiction Of The United States And Published By It’s Authority; Public Domain Book).
In light of what the inspired Apostle wrote to our brothers and sisters in Corinth regarding fellowship with pagan gods and their worshippers, can anyone really logically affirm that there is no contradiction here between Freemasonry and Christianity?
Consider that according to the Lodge, one of the secret names of God is Jah-Buh-Lun.
Notice:
“They then balance three times three, bringing the right band with some violence down upon the left. The right hands are then raised above their heads, and the words, Jah-buh-lun, Jehovah, G-o-d, 76 are given at low breath, each companion pronouncing the syllables or letters alternately, as follows…” (Malcom C. Duncan’s, Duncan’s Masonic Ritual And Monitor Or Guide To The Three Symbolic Degrees Of The Ancient York Rite And The Degrees of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, And The Royal Arch, 225 (Kindle Edition); New York; Dick & Fitzgerald [1866] Kindle Edition published by Evinity Publishing Inc, 2009).
As to the meaning of the name, Jah-buh-lun, Duncan goes on to explain:
“JEHOVAH. Of the varieties of this sacred name in use among the different nations of the earth, three particularly merit the attention of Royal Arch Masons: 1. JAH. This name of God is found in the 68th Psalm, v. 4. 2. BAAL OR BEL. This word signifies a lord, master, or possessor, and hence it was applied by many of the nations of the East to denote the Lord of all things, and the Master of the world. 3. ON. This was the name by which JEHOVAH was worshipped among the Egyptians. I have made these remarks on the three names of God in Chaldaic, Syriac and Egyptian, Baal, Jah, and On, in the expectation that my Royal Arch Companions will readily recognize them in a corrupted form.–Lexicon.” (Malcom C. Duncan’s, Duncan’s Masonic Ritual And Monitor Or Guide To The Three Symbolic Degrees Of The Ancient York Rite And The Degrees of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, And The Royal Arch, 281 (Kindle Edition); New York; Dick & Fitzgerald [1866] Kindle Edition published by Evinity Publishing Inc, 2009)
Can a Christian support an institution which claims that the God of the Bible is in some kind of unholy league with the gods of the Old Testament that demanded the ritualistic rape and slaughter of children?
Christians who undertake to join the Mystic Shrine (also known as the Shriners) must be willing to pay an oath of allegiance to Allah, the god of Islam:
“and may Allah, the god of Arab, Moslem and Mohammedan, the God of our Fathers, support me to the entire fulfillment of the same, Amen, Amen, Amen. (Shrine Ritual Monitor, Allen Publishing, pp. 35-39)
I still remember the day when a member of the Lodge heard me talking about this at a local restaurant while in a Bible study with some friends. Filled with indignation, he told me in no uncertain terms that the Shriners have no connection to Islam. I was lying and spreading slander about a great institution!
Really?
Perhaps the gentleman was unaware that a copy of the Shriner Initiation Manual can be downloaded online?
But to be sure, I ordered a copy of the Shriner Initiation Manual in paperback as well.
Here were some other references to Islam in the Shriner Initiation Manual:
“By the existence of Allah and the creed of Mohammed; by the legendary sanctity of our Tabernacle at Mecca, we greet you, and in commemoration of the Arab’s faith in purity and innocence, we accept your answers as sincere, and you will now be permitted to proceed in the rites and ceremonies of the mystic Shrine.”
“________, of my voluntary desire, uninfluenced and of free accord, do here assume, without reserve, the Obligation of the Nobility of the Mystic Shrine, as did the elect of the Temple of Mecca, the Moslem and the Mohammedan. I do hereby, upon this Bible, and on the mysterious legend of the Koran, and its dedication to the Mohammedan faith, promise and swear and vow on the faith and honor of an upright man, come weal or woe, adversity or success, that I will never reveal any secret part or portion whatsoever of the ceremonies I have already received, that are about to be communicated to me or that I may hereafter be instructed in, to any person in the world, except it be to a well-known member of the Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and I, knowing to an absolute certainty that he or they be truly and lawfully such, and of standing with such Nobility. That I will not be present, aid or countenance the conferring of the Order of the Mystic Shrine upon any person who is not a Masonic Knight Templar or a thirty-second degree A. And A. Scottish Rite Mason in good standing.”
“In willful violation whereof may I incur the fearful penalty of having my eyeballs pierced to the center with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed and I be forced to walk the hot sands upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea until the flaming sun shall strike me with living plague, and may Allah, the god of Arab, Moslem, and Mohammedan, the god of our fathers, support me to the entire fulfillment of the same, Amen, Amen, Amen.”
“Priest (approaching to East and raising both hands)-“And may Allah protect and support you, that you be not cast into ‘al hotama’ (hell).”
“This is the place where our brethren stop to sprinkle the Devil’s Pass with urine. You will contribute a few drops of urine to commemorate the time and place where all who pass here renounce the wiles and evils of the world to worship at the Shrine of Islam. Only a few drops will do.”
Friends, don’t take my word for it: look it up for yourselves!
The gentleman who spoke up that day declared that he was a Christian and would never violate the Holy Bible of 1611. However, he certainly had no trouble trying to deceive us about the connections between the Lodge and Islam. Was he unaware of the Bible teaching regarding deception (Colossians 3:8-14)?
Can Christians swear an oath to the false god whose teachings and influence were what led to the attack on our country on September 11, 2001?
Second, think about the compromises that Christians must make in regard to the Holy Bible when joining the Lodge.
The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), delivered by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13), given to holy men of God as the Spirit moved them (2 Peter 1:20-21). The evidences are abundantly clear that the Bible is the inspired Word of God (from such fields as the supernatural unity of the Bible, prophecy and fulfillment, equidistant letter sequencing phenomenon, scientific foreknowledge of the Bible writers, archaeological and miraculous attestation, etc.), which sets the Bible in a class by itself among alleged Divine revelations.
Nevertheless, Christians who enter the Lodge must be willing to affirm things such as the following:
“And yet, like everything else in Masonry, the Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol—that is, a part taken for the whole. It is a sovereign symbol of the Book of Faith, the Will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years—that perpetual revelation of Himself which God is making mankind in every land and every age. Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere every book of faith in which men find help for today and hope for the morrow, joining hands with the man of Islam as he takes oath on the Koran, and with the Hindu as he makes covenant with God upon the book that he loves best. For Masonry knows, what so many forget, that religions are many, but Religion is one—perhaps we may say one thing, but that one thing includes everything—the life of God in the soul of man, and the duty and hope of man which proceed from His essential character. Therefore it invites to its altar men of all faiths, knowing that, if they use different names for “the Nameless One of a hundred names,” they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all; knowing, also, that while they read different volumes, they ale in fact reading the same vast Book of the Faith of Man as revealed in the struggle and sorrow of the race in its quest of God.” (Joseph Fort Newton & Albert Mackey, Michael R. Poll, The Freemasons Key: A Study Of Masonic Symbolism, 4746-4757 (Kindle Edition); New Orleans, LA; Cornerstone Book Publishers)
The Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Satanic Bible, the Hindu Vedas, the Wiccan book (s) of shadows, etc. are considered as authoritative in the Lodge and Masons are to be reverential of all these books.
Can a Christian take such an oath?
Can a Christian betray the Word of God by telling people that all religions and religious creeds are equal?
If you truly follow Jesus Christ, you know the answer!
Matthew 7:21-23-Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Mark 8:38-For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
John 14:6-Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Maybe all these things are new to you, and you have been in the Lodge for some time.
The Lodge itself acknowledges that it frequently misleads people about its’ teachings-even its’ own members!
“Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, CONCEALS ITS SECRETS from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses FALSE EXPLANATIONS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS of its symbols to MISLEAD those who deserve only to be misled; to CONCEAL THE TRUTH, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it. So God Himself incapacitates many men, by color-blindness, to distinguish colors, and leads the masses away from the highest Truth, giving them the power to attain only so much of it as it is profitable to them to know. Every age has had a religion suited to its capacity. The Teachers, even of Christianity, are, in general, the most ignorant of the true meaning of that which they teach. There is no book of which so little is known as the Bible. To most who read it, it is as incomprehensible as the Sohar. So Masonry JEALOUSLY CONCEALS its secrets, and INTENTIONALLY LEADS CONCEITED INTERPRETERS ASTRAY” (Albert Pike, Morals And Dogma, 79 (Kindle Edition, emphasis added); Prepared For The Supreme Council Of The Thirty-Third Degree For The Southern Jurisdiction Of The United States And Published By It’s Authority; Public Domain Book).
“[The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is INTENTIONALLY MISLEAD BY FALSE INTERPRETATIONS. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them.” (Albert Pike, Morals And Dogma, 584 (Kindle Edition, emphasis added); Prepared For The Supreme Council Of The Thirty-Third Degree For The Southern Jurisdiction Of The United States And Published By It’s Authority; Public Domain Book)
My latest example of dealings with the Lodge involves a sad situation. A young lady that our church helped out of a difficult situation had a strange and unexpected factor. The gentleman who was involved with the lady informed her that he was a member of the Lodge, that she was being surveilled, and that if she stepped out of line they would make her disappear. Well, one night when I was taking this lady home from work to the safe place she was staying, a car pulled out behind me and followed me all the way to her house. It pulled off on the shoulder, and then after we dropped her off, it proceeded to follow me all the way to my house (some fifteen miles away).
Oh yes, this all took place at about one in the morning.
Coincide?
I’m not sure, but I doubt it.
But here is what I am certain of: Christians should not be members of the Masonic Lodge.
Christian friends, please leave the Masonic Lodge.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
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