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We will begin this paper on the 4th Watch by first discussing their doctrine. Doctrine encompasses all of the beliefs, philosophies, and regulations of a religion. Use of the term "doctrine" is generic in this chapter. Religions often have an actual document known as a doctrine which lays out the beliefs, philosophies, and regulations of the religion. What we are going to examine here in this chapter is not the official 4th Watch doctrine, but those beliefs, philosophies, and regulations of the church that are already known, or have been observed or investigated by the Watchers of the 4th Watch. Also, this chapter is not meant to be a complete manual on 4th Watch beliefs, but it should provide anyone with enough knowledge of what these persons believe to understand their cultic presence.
It is important to understand that certain beliefs, philosophies, and regulations mentioned here are officially held by the 4th Watch, perhaps even in their actual doctrine, while some are not officially held, yet implied as being so, which have been interpreted by us to be a part of their doctrine, even if it is not official. In other words, there are many beliefs and such in which the 4th Watch states as true, while other statements and actions by them have shown to be conflicting to their doctrine.
Here are a couple of examples of what we mean. An official regulation held by the 4th Watch is that the Bible is to be followed literally. Yet, they don't follow the Bible in many instances, which shows that it is not an actual regulation of the church. Another example is donating money. Of course, the 4th Watch does not officially hold the philosophy that money should be given to the church in order to make their leader rich, but it is obvious to us that it is.
It is also important to understand that some of the beliefs, philosophies, and regulations that are official to the 4th Watch, we actually believe are true, but are stated in a misleading way, and we restate them with their true meanings as evident. For example, it is stated by the 4th Watch that money is to be donated to the church as instructed by God. We agree that that is held by the 4th Watch. However, in reality, all the money goes to the cult leader, which might or might not be handled by a treasurer, and which might or might not be used for expensive purchases for the leader's expensive lifestyle.
Also, there is somewhat of a significant difference between what the top leaders of the cult believe, and what everyone else in the cult believes. An example is that we have little doubt that the top leaders are in on the leader's scam to steal money from its followers, while the followers actually believe that the leader is a special man sent by God.
The Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) is a Pentecostal Christian religion, cult, and hate organization founded in the Philippines by its leader Arsenio Ferriol. The 4th Watch is also known as a charismatic church and prosperity church. It is this religious cult that is the focus of this project.
The PMCC 4th Watch is a religious cult that believes in and worships the Christian deity and such religious beliefs and practices are based on the Christian religion, which states that God is the creator of all things and that he sent his son Jesus to die for everyone's sins so that they may go to Heaven.
Pentecostalism is a denomination of Christianity that emphasizes a direct personal experience of God through baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals are already known for their unusual behavior and separation from mainstream Christianity. Such examples would include their speaking in tongues and the majority rejecting of the Trinity concept. As with all cults, the PMCC 4th Watch portrays highly unusual and potentially dangerous behavior. It is not surprising that a Pentecostal church would also be a cult.
4th Watch cult members believe that their leader was sent by God to be the sole authority on Christianity and that he received a special revelation from God as to about the time when the second coming of Christ will be. While disguised as an organization of love, the 4th Watch is a hate organization, which celebrates and promotes God's damnation of homosexuals, heathens, and atheists.
Pentecostal churches are also what are known as Charismatic churches, though not all Charismatic churches are Pentecostal. The PMCC 4th Watch is a Charismatic church that believes its followers can receive gifts from the Holy Spirit through baptism. Such gifts include the ability to speak in tongues, also known as glossolalia, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing, and recognition of spirits. Of course, none of these gifts are ever actually received.
The 4th Watch is also a prosperity church, which teaches tithing as an obligation, and preaches that tithing bring awards while not tithing brings punishment. Above all things, the 4th Watch is known for its overly aggressive enforcement of giving tithes, which is giving money to the church. Tithing is preached more than any other aspect of the religion, including salvation.
Here is a brief description from their website which sums up their beliefs:
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The Pentecostal Missionary CHURCH of CHRIST (4TH Watch) begun when Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol, then a pastor, received God's special calling in his life to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. God has never failed to demonstrate to him that he has been called to be an apostle. In 1972, the Pentecostal Missionary CHURCH of CHRIST (4TH Watch) was founded and registered in the Philippines. From a handful of faithful believers under his anointed leadership, the PMCC (4th Watch) grew and increased both in stature and membership in the Philippines and across the globe.
As an apostle of Jesus Christ, Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol received a revelation that clearly defines where we are now in God's timetable prior to the second coming of Christ on earth. This is the doctrine that clearly sets apart the PMCC (4th Watch) from the rest of today's backslidden faith of many Protestant groups. Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol has also espoused the significance of the perfection of the saints, the complete operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church, the work of global evangelization as well as other essential doctrines and practices of the early apostolic church.
We believe in one God, The Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live... in one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live and in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth who guides, teaches and reminds believers into all truth.
We believe that the true church of Christ was founded on the day of the Pentecost and there is the continuing operation of the complete gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church today, including the office of Apostleship and other gifts of the Spirit as mentioned in the Scriptures for the perfection of the saints.
We believe that the true church of Christ was founded with an evangelistic purpose that is to make disciples of all nations by preaching the Gospel of salvation, baptizing them, by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and by teaching those who are saved everything Jesus Christ Commanded.
We believe that man's salvation is through the finished work of Jesus Christ demonstrated by his suffering, death and resurrection. And this salvation is attained by grace - not of works by any man or religion.
We believe in the Bible as the inspired God's words and are therefore inerrant and infallible. That is the final authority on faith and morals for all men.
We believe in the imminence of Christ's return in our time - the 4th watch. We do not believe in the practice of predicting the exact hour, day, month and year of His return. Those true believers who are waiting for this blessed hope must live their lives on earth in holiness and service unto God.
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The Holy Bible is the main source of Christian knowledge and teachings for most Christians and their religions. The Bible is comprised of several smaller books, written by men who lived thousands of years ago who wrote their stories down in an attempt to share their view of the world as they felt they understood it, as well as to create order among societies and to have rule over their people.
There is a misunderstanding in the world regarding the Bible and cults. Few persons in the world regard the Bible and learning from it as cultic, but this is because most do not truly understand what the Bible consists of. Many persons think of the Bible as a moral and accurate book. While it does contain some positive things, the truth is, most are unaware of the overwhelming immorality and factual inaccuracies within it, only applying those few positive things that it might have to offer. But with anything beyond this, Biblical practice becomes cultic practice. In fact, there are persons who believe that the entire Bible is morally perfect and is completely factually correct, to be followed and believed without question and with passion, with every word to be taken literally. This is called fundamentalism, and it is the conviction and practice of fundamentalism which is most cultic.
The idea that the Bible is without errors is not only extremely incorrect, but it is extremely dangerous. Science has already destroyed most of the Bible's credibility. Even many mainstream religions, including Christian denominations, admit that there are plenty of mistakes in the Bible. We have been discovering how incorrect the Bible has been for many years now. For instance, we have known for quite some time now that the Earth is not flat, that it is billions of years old, that life evolved from previous life forms, and that there was no great flood as described in the Bible. And believe it or not, there are in fact no talking serpents or men who can survive three days inside the bellies of whales. By believing in such fallacies, we are hidden from true knowledge, limiting our progress in our civilization due to negative consequences such as being technologically impaired and less knowledgeable in the field of medicine, which ultimately will lead us as a people to suffer by experiencing more difficult and less enjoyable lives, which will never get better.
Further more, the idea of the Bible as being the authority on morality is a great perversion of common sense, and poses an even greater danger than its factual errors. Again, even mainstream religions, including Christian denominations, admit that there is a lot of immorality in the Bible, and is not to be practiced. Not everyone agrees on everything when it comes to ethics, and we still have ways to go in developing our morality even further, but we as a people in developed societies have come to understand certain fundamental values for everyone. And in doing so, any person of any moral society should be able to understand just how immoral the Bible is. For instance, the Bible teaches hatred and evil, calling upon its followers to kill innocent persons, including atheists, non-Christians, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, women who aren't virgins on their wedding day, and animals for sacrifices, while advocating slavery, violence, and torture unlike any other religion. By following such absurdities, we hide ourselves from true morality, once again limiting our progress in our civilization, by engaging in extreme consequences such as being hateful and intolerant, which ultimately leads us to more difficult and less enjoyable lives, and a world that will forever be full of suffering.
The 4th Watch cult is a fundamentalist organization. They believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Straight from the 4th Watch website, they state:
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We believe in the Bible as the inspired God's words and are therefore inerrant and infallible. That is the final authority on faith and morals for all men.
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The 4th Watch certainly makes the absurd claim that the Bible is to be followed literally, and thus poses a very real danger to society. Many of the immoral concepts found in the Bible are indeed followed by the 4th Watch. Fortunately, while they dangerously follow the Bible in this literal manner, this is not always the case. In fact, the 4th Watch, despite what they say, do not always follow the Bible as literally as they say they do. For instance, the Bible specifically forbids women to preach the gospel, yet the 4th Watch goes against this and allows female pastors. Yet, as the Bible commands to hate homosexuals, the 4th Watchers fully comply. This just goes to show how the 4th Watch picks and chooses what will be believed, as most other Christians do. Now, while this is the case, they still hold the belief that the Bible is inerrant and will deny that they teach unbiblical principles. For instance, they make excuses to get around the Biblical command that women are not to teach. But regardless of their selective Biblical truth, their fundamentalism is still strong and they still hold the idea that the Bible is without errors and is the final authority on morality, which causes them to make immoral decisions and believe in inaccurate ideas, which ultimately makes them dangerous.
Despite the many versions of the Bible, the 4th Watch favors the New International Version. It is somewhat ironic that the Apostle strictly teaches that he is the only one with the authority to teach the word of God, and yet uses someone else's Bible to teach it. It is surprising he has not written his own yet, complete with a third testament which would include the Gospel according to the Apostle Arsenio Ferriol. But perhaps that would be going too far and even his own followers would back down.
Before we discuss anything else about the cult, we will discuss the subject of their worship. Deityship refers to the deity or object of worship in a cult. Not all cults have such a being, but most do. In some cases, this is merely the actual cult leader, but cults, even if they worship and praise their leader, usually believe in and/or practice the worship of a higher power such as a deity, aliens, supernatural spirits, even nature, or the like.
The belief in a god, someone who created the universe and everything in it, is a popular idea among the majority of persons in this world of ours. The idea that there is a supernatural being who is all-powerful and perfect in every way, and who uses magic to do what it does, is a very cultic belief to hold. Any adult can understand how absurd believing in Santa Claus is, a man traveling the world in one night with flying reindeer, one with a lit nose to guide the way, in order for him to drop through the chimney and leave a child a present. If this idea seems impossible to you, then the idea of an almighty spirit in the clouds creating humans and answering prayers with miracles should be just as absurd. However, despite how much this goes against scientific evidence and common sense, as we mentioned, it remains a popular belief; But most persons these days who say they believe in God do not believe in the Biblical stories; they believe in the big bang, abiogenesis, evolution, etc.; they just feel that a god had something to do with starting it all. Also, many persons who say they believe in a god, in reality do not. They often say that they do because that is how they were raised, and they simply say this out of habit, or only beleive that they believe this because they have never thought of the alternatives, or even realized that not believing in a god was an option. Because of all this, we do not think of or generally consider most persons who say that they believe in a god to be thinking in a cultic way; but those who believe in a supernatural, all-powerful, and perfect god who uses magic, and worships this being with no evidence to support this belief, along with evidence that goes against it, are definitely harboring cultic beliefs.
The PMCC 4th Watch cult believes in and worships the Christian god, as explained in the Holy Bible. The Christian god is considered by Christians to be a supernatural being, all-powerful, and perfect in every way. Using his magic, he created the entire universe and everything and everybody within it. While all Christian religions have their own idea on what their god is like, the 4th Watch's perspectives on this god are not uncommon among the general and popular views shared by other Christians. In other words, while their beliefs in this god might be cultic, it is not their beliefs about it that make them stand out as a cult. You will see what does as you read more about them.
The Christian god is difficult to explain, especially since there are thousands of different religions within Christianity that have different beliefs about him; But an average explanation of this god would be that he is a spirit, but a male spirit, yet he is made of three different forms; a spirit that cannot be comprehended by humans, known as the Father; a spirit which apparently lives in all Christians, known as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost; and a human man, who supposedly the son of God, and who taught humans about God, and who saved them from damnation, known as Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
There are several disagreements among Christians about how God is made of these three forms, but the 4th Watch sees it this way: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirt are seperate persons, each a god, but maintain that they are all part of one "nature" of God. In other words, they believe in three different gods, but together make a concept of one being, known as God; kind of like how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together form one marriage, known as Bragelina. Yes, the PMCC 4th Watch believes in three different gods, which means that their religion is a tritheistic religion and not a monotheistic one. However, Christianity has forever been identified as a monotheistic religion, and they know darn well that if they ever claimed to believe in more than one god, that just about every Christian in the world would think of them as a cult. To get around this, even though each of these three persons are seperate gods, they form one "concept", known as the "nature" of God, and it is this nature of God that is one, and it is this idea that makes them feel that they are allowed to call their religion monotheistic. Of course, logical persons know that it is a tritheistic religion.
A fellow ex-4th Watcher agrees with our assessment of this mulitple god concept. He shared his thoughts about this subject and shared a story about talking with a 4th Watch pastor about it:
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I was reading the Bible, and another friend of mine who also had suspicions, had a KJV, and we also noticed that while singing praise and worship songs, they would constantly remove the word, Trinity, and Godhead, or anything to do with that teaching. My friend, then quickly noticed and asked a Pastor, Why does 4th Watch erase the words Godhead, and Trinity from the worship songs?.. and the Pastor replied "In the 4th Watch we believe that the Father is God, and the Son is God, seperate beings, but together in unity, ONE! PLURAL!, but the Holy Spirit is power we have inside us that God gave us to encourage us to have the faith, and do His will".. And then I stated to the Pastor.. "Well that must mean we believe in two Gods, if the Father and Son are seperate beings?.." and he replied "Well the word Trinity, dosnt exist in the Bible, so if its not in the bible it isnt true right?"
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There are many names for the Christian god, but he is most commonly referred to as just "God". Jehovah and Yahweh are probably the most popular after God. 4th Watchers however, rarely refer to him by any name other than God. They also sometimes refer to Jesus as Immanuel, as mentioned in the Bible.
Here is what the 4th Watch says about their belief in God as taken from their website:
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We believe in one God, The Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live... in one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live and in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth who guides, teaches and reminds believers into all truth.
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This piece was to inform you about the role of the 4th Watch deity. To learn more about this deity personally, you can go here.
Here we will discuss the cultic properties of 4th Watch leadership. Leadership is important to every organization or group. Every organization has a leader or some form of leadership. There is certainly nothing cultic about leadership, nor having a single leader within that leadership; But while having a leader is not cultic by itself, it is perhaps the single most typical characteristic of any cult. In fact, the cult leader is even more common among cults than God. Further more, there are certain characteristics concerning leadership that make it cultic. While many organizations like businesses and charities consist of such characteristics, for significant organizations that promote government or lifestyle, like a congress or church, such characteristics are not appropriate. In fact, these characteristics involving leadership of such an organization are some of the most common ways to help identify it as a cult. Like having a leader itself, not all of these characteristics are necessarily negative, but many are.
First of all, cults characteristically have one main leader. While many organizations do, most legitimate organizations either have a panel of leaders, and/or one leader who is above everyone else but who is still subject to checks and balances from other leaders. In any case, no leader is the sole and/or final authority of the organization. Such legitimate leaders are most often appointed or elected by others, and have term limits, or can be removed from office by the other leaders if necessary. All of this is to help everyone have a voice in the system and to prevent a leader from becoming too powerful, and/or to make the leadership more effective. Further more, leaders of cults often make similar claims that they were chosen or sent by God to lead, and/or that they are the sole authority on the teachings of that god, and/or through him is the only way to achieve some sort of salvation. Additionally, cult leaders often demand complete loyalty and require money for membership but do not pay their members for any services that they might provide to the leader, such as pastoring or promoting his religion.
A leader who shares none of its power with other leaders, and/or is not subject to checks and balances from other leaders, and is the sole and final authority of all decisions, one who is self-appointed, has no term limits, and cannot be removed from office, and someone who claims that they were chosen and sent by God to lead and/or are the sole authority on the teachings of that god, and/or that salvation can only be achieved through him, while demanding money for membership and not paying their members for their services, is the strutcture of your typical cult leader. Almost always, cults are established by the leaders themselves. Also in cults, leadership is typically passed down to family members, most often to a son of the leader.
The PMCC 4th Watch consists of your typical cultic leadership, and it is mostly this leadership which helps to identify the 4th Watch as a cult. The 4th Watch consists of one top leader who does not share his power with anyone else, and is the sole and final authority of the cult. Thus, he is the supreme ruler of the cult and does not have to answer to anyone within it. This leader was not elected by anyone, but is self-appointed. He has no term limits, and cannot be removed from his position; He will remain the leader until his death or until his successor claims that God wants him to take over. Further more, this 4th Watch leader makes the cultic claim that he was chosen and sent by God, to be the leader of all Christians, and that salvation can only be achieved through the teachings of this particular leader and those who the leader approves to teach. According to the 4th Watch, only the leader is qualified to interpret the Bible's true meaning. Additionally, the 4th Watch leader demands money from his members, and does not pay any of his members for any of their services.
The PMCC 4th Watch cult was established by this one leader. When the leader dies, it is most likely that his son will be taking over the cult, as he has already begun to take on major duties, overshadowing his father in many ways, obviously preparing for the day when he will become the new supreme leader of the cult.
As you will learn, the 4th Watch believes in apostleship, that an apostle is necessary to lead the true Christian church. An apostle is a special messenger sent by God. According to the 4th Watch, the cult leader is an apostle and thus the Apostle of the church. Basically, apostle with a small a is like his job within the church, and apostle with a capital A is like his rank. In any case, he's still just a cult leader. There's no such thing as an apostle because there is no God to appoint one.
While the Apostle is the main leader and dictator of the church, having final say on every decision, leadership in the cult is made of many sub-leaders who are appointed by the main leader. These sub-leaders assist the main leader through various duties, such as pastoring, promotion of his religion, and running his churches. In the 4th Watch, the Apostle is the only one qualified to interpret the Bible, and no one will achieve salvation unless they learn the Gospel through this one man. However, learning the Gospel does not have to directly from the leader himself. The leader and sub-leaders can approve others to teach the Gospel to others. Thus, in order to achieve salvation, someone must learn the Gospel through the Apostle or one of his approved teachers. It doesn't matter if you hear or understand the correct meaning of the Bible; if you did not hear it from an approved teacher in the 4th Watch, as interpretted by their leader, you will not achieve salvation; But as long as what you heard somehow derived from the Apostle's teaching, salvation is possible. In the case of the 4th Watch, the most important thing about the Gospel is who you hear it from, not the actual message that the Gospel is relaying. Basically, in order to accept Jesus, you must first accept the cult leader.
The 4th Watch will claim of course, that the true leader of the church is Jesus Christ, who is their god, maintaining that this one true church was established by God himself, and that no one, not even the 4th Watch leader are above God. While this is certainly what they might say, this is not actually the case. First of all, the 4th Watch cult is not the church as described in the Bible. The structure and difference in rules are not compliant with what the Bible teaches. It is the leader's religion. It is this person's structure and rules and it is this person that is in control of every aspect of the religion. In fact, the words of the leader come before the words of the Bible. The more you study the cult, the more you will learn that God has little to do with the church. God is merely a tool that the leader uses to build an organization to scam the public. Using God and Christianity is already a proven way to build an organization where persons are foolish enough to give you their money, and is thus more effective than completely making up a different religion. Although the PMCC 4th Watch is the cult leader's own religion, it is merely a modification of Christianity.
The cult leader who calls himself the Apostle, which his 4th Watch members see as an apostle sent by God, is a man named Arsenio T. Ferriol, a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian, and native of the Philippines. 4th Watchers truly believe that he is God's Sent One and true apostle. They praise him and they glorify him. They truly believe that without him, they would be doomed for Hell. You can learn more about this man in a piece about the cult leader personally in the membership area, which you can see here.
Here is the information about the Apostle from the 4th Watch website:
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The Pentecostal Missionary CHURCH of CHRIST (4TH Watch) begun when Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol, then a pastor, received God's special calling in his life to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. God has never failed to demonstrate to him that he has been called to be an apostle. In 1972, the Pentecostal Missionary CHURCH of CHRIST (4TH Watch) was founded and registered in the Philippines. From a handful of faithful believers under his anointed leadership, the PMCC (4th Watch) grew and increased both in stature and membership in the Philippines and across the globe.
As an apostle of Jesus Christ, Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol received a revelation that clearly defines where we are now in God's timetable prior to the second coming of Christ on earth. This is the doctrine that clearly sets apart the PMCC (4th Watch) from the rest of today's backslidden faith of many Protestant groups. But this is not the only defining mark of the church. Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol has also espoused the significance of the perfection of the saints, the complete operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church, the work of global evangelization as well as other essential doctrines and practices of the early apostolic church.
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The 4th Watch's Word website, the site for their magazine, also provides a clear explanation for the church's leader:
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Apostolic Mission is the mission given by God to His apostles. Carrying this mission and vision from God, the apostle leads the church in authoritatively and correctly fulfilling God's will. Without the proper person leading them, no group or person will be recognized by God. God's will can only be followed through the leadership and guidance of His Sent Ones.
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And here are a few words from the cult leader's own mouth:
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Faith without work is dead. But even if people has work if they are not it the true faith their work is still in vain. For a work to be acceptable before God, the person needs to be in the true faith.
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God has given gifts to the church...namely, firstly...Apostle.
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And here are some quotes from the Apostle's cult members that talk about his holiness:
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We are thankful to God for He has called a true living apostle in our time that we might share in his ministry...
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It is not enough that we believe what we are taught, we must also believe who teaches it...
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a very happy birthday to our beloved Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol!!!what would our life be if not for u'r ministry that led us to be a part of His true church.truly u'r birth was a manifestation of God's enduring love,thru you we obtain the gift of being in the true church and received true salvation.PTL!!!
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As believers in the true church of the Lord, we have a leader whose life and ministry is worthy of our celebration and emulation. He is our shepherd, our leader, our brother, our apostle...
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And if that wasn't enough for you, we have another snippet from their website which talks about him here:
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Medicine is bitter and taking it is hard for a child, and especially for a parent. When we were children, we too abhorred taking our medicine, they were bitter and they made us feel sleepy. But despite how we protested against taking our medicine, our parents still made us take them. Why? Because they were good for us.
Christ did the same thing when He came to us in the form of man. He was here to heal us of our ignorance so we will know the truth which is needed in receiving the right faith.
And the word of God which is brought by His living apostle is the prescription remedy for our wrong faith.
Sometimes, however, the words of God become bitter. Not because they are bitter in themselves but because we do not readily accept them as the truth that Doctor Jesus prescribes, the words of God become hard for us to believe.
Despite this, God's teachings through His apostle continue. Like a loving parent, He continues to teach us even though we might not like what we are getting at first, because He knows what is best for us.
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You can read an outstanding article on refuting Arsenio Ferriol's apostleship and church here.
This piece was to inform you about the role of the 4th Watch leader. To learn more about this leader, you can go here.
One of the more cultic features of the PMCC 4th Watch is something that is more of a characteristic of theirs than it is for other cults. The 4th Watch holds the idea that the true church of God must be led by what's known as an apostle, a special teacher especially and directly appointed by God himself. The doctrine involving apostleship is a core belief in the 4th Watch, so we are dedicating a whole section that will educate others on a subject that 4th Watchers hold dear. It is their beliefs regarding apostleship that help them to stand out as a cult even to other Christian religions.
So what exactly is an apostle? Basically, an apostle is a special teacher appointed and sent by God himself to teach others about him and the future events that he has planned. You might remember that the twelve disciples of Jesus were called apostles. According to the 4th Watch, God in the Bible uses both prophets and apostles for various purposes. The difference between the two are minimal and are almost the same. Prophets are usually thought of as persons who foretell future events, known as prophecies, which come from God, and these persons teach what they prophesize. Apostles are pretty much the same, but they are viewed as being directly sent by God. According to the 4th Watch, God used prophets in the Old Testament, and apostles in the New Testament. In fact, the similarities between the two are so close that you might just call any such persons used by God in the Old Testament as prophets, and any such persons in the New Testament as apostles.
The 4th Watchers believe that a man named Arsenio Ferriol is an apostle. They believe his claim that God had appeared to him in a vision, appointed him as Christianity's one true apostle, and told him to lead the church. So are apostles a cult feature? You bet they are. Think about it. Both prophets and apostles are making extremely bold and ridiculous claims, that they are special messengers appointed and sent by God. They claim that God talks to them, gives them commands, haunts them even, if they do not carry out his will. Not only is this a psychotic issue, it is a cultic feature of any religious church, that persons claim that they are a prophet or an apostle. Of course, perhaps more often than not, such claims are fraudulent, and those who make them are scammers. When you hear about a church consisting of prophets and apostles, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that they might be a cult.
But it is not merely the fact that such persons claim to be sent by God that makes an organization a cult. There are other properties involved. One, are such persons who claim to be a prophet or apostle merely members of a church, or is the leader itself one of these persons? In other words, does the leader itself claim to be a prophet or an apostle? If the answer is yes, then you are probably dealing with a cult leader, and thus you are probably dealing with a cult.
But there is another factor that can cause persons to see a group who claims to have somebody who is a prophet or apostle as a cult. In fact, this particular characteristic often even makes other Christian churches view such churches as cultic. Some Christian churches today, often which are cultic, make a claim that states that there must be a living apostle at all times within a true church according to the Bible. It is a pretty bold claim to make, and it is a claim that nearly all Christian religions reject. Because so many Christians reject this idea, and because it is the leaders of churches who make such claims, mainstrean churches treat such persons as cult leaders of their own cults.
All of this is especially true if the church makes the claim that an apostle must lead the church and that only they and/or teachers approved by the apostles can teach the word of God. Some churches, usually cults, teach that an apostle is needed to have a functioning church, that it cannot be a true church of God without a living apostle leading it. These views are what make even other Christian churches see the organizations like this as cults.
And to add to all of that, many cult leaders who claim to be prophets or apostles make the additional claim that they are the only true apostle and that their religion is the only true religion. When you hear someone talking about how there is only one way to salvation, their way, then it is a good guess that you are dealing with a cult.
The PMCC 4th Watch religion not only has an apostle, but consists of all of these cultic characteristics about apostleship. They have a fraudulent (or super superstitious) man who claims to be an apostle sent by God. This man who claims to be an apostle also claims that he is the supreme leader of the religion, as well as the whole of Christianity. His religion believes that a living apostle is needed to lead any true church of Christ. According to the 4th Watch, only the Apostle or his approved pastors and such can properly teach the word of God. Further more, Arsenio Ferriol, the man claiming to be the 4th Watch apostle, claims that only he is a true apostle, and only he and his approved pastors can teach the word of God.
The website for their Word magazine makes this message clear:
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Apostolic Mission is the mission given by God to His apostles. Carrying this mission and vision from God, the apostle leads the church in authoritatively and correctly fulfilling God's will. Without the proper person leading them, no group or person will be recognized by God. God's will can only be followed through the leadership and guidance of His Sent Ones.
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Here are some quotes from 4th Watchers that also relay that message:
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This is the original doctrine according to the truth of the bible concerning being a born? again as not all believers are born again,only those who accept the gospel preached by the sent one of God,the Apostles were born again by his gospel(spirit as the word of God)and baptism(water)and were born again and the Apostle stands us our Father in faith that through him we were born again 1Corinthian 4:14-15 and automatically become an adopted sons of God
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"It is not enough that we believe what we are taught, we must also believe who teaches it..."
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We're so proud to be in this Church, the Real Church of Christ in the 4th Watch Whom Our Lord Jesus Christ builded upon the foundation of His Apostle, and the gates of hell will not prevail agants it. Matt. 16:18
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a very happy birthday to our beloved Apostle Arsenio T. Ferriol!!!what would our life be if not for u'r ministry that led us to be a part of His true church.truly u'r birth was a manifestation of God's enduring love,thru you we obtain the gift of being in the true church and received true salvation.PTL!!!
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Sounds like a cult to us. What do you guys think so far?
You can read an outstanding article on refuting Arsenio Ferriol's apostleship and church here.
Fellowship inside a cult is usually no ordinary fellowship. First of all, does membership cost money? If so, this does not necessarily signify a cultic organization, but you have to ask what you get in return. Are these dues for a charity group or do they simply go to the group's leader? Followers of cults often act as servants rather than basic members. Instead of contributing to society in a positive way, cult members often waste their lives working for the cult, and many of them, sometimes all of them, are required to fulfill some sort of duty, whether it's helping to build a church or recruit new members. Further more, they are not paid for this work. They are often encouraged to give much of their money to the leader, sometimes including all of the money that they have, including their life savings and any income that they continue to receive.
So what is cultic about the servitude under the leadership of the 4th Watch? Well for starters, followers are required to give money to the church; specifically ten percent of their income every week, though they are aggressively pushed to give even more than that. If membes do not do this, they are threatened with suffering on Earth, and Hell after death.
The leadership of the 4th Watch treats their followers like servants. While 4th Watch servants are taught to worship God, you will see that there is a level of blur when it comes to who is more important; God, or the cult leader.
All members within the cult, as they are servants, are expected to fulfill some sort of duty. This could be as basic as evangelizing by walking the neighborhood, setting up car washes to raise money, and designing websites for the church, or more significant duties such as helping to run a church itself. Among these duties are pastoral services. Even though all members are servants, pastors do take on minor leadership roles to help run a church and to teach the cult's doctrine. Among them are head pastors who teach the cult's beliefs and the lower pastors who preach at local churches of the cult.
No members, not even the pastors, are paid for their services. In fact, whether you are a pastor or fulfill any kind of duty for the apostle, they are all instructed to give money to the cult leader. They are denied any salary and are expected to work and to offer all of their service unto the leader for nothing in return, except for the promise that they will make it into Heaven when they die. The cult and its leaders provide very little for the needs of the followers. When requested to fly to their camp where they receive more training on how to be a 4th Watcher, the cult does not pay for the plane ticket or any travel expenses. It takes a lot of programming to achieve this level of servitude and slavery, but this is an area where the 4th Watch excels. Members are willing to do this because they mistakenly believe that they are doing this for God.
Here's a little something from the 4th Watch website about its followers:
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Holiness and Service unto the Lord" is PMCC (4th Watch)'s motto. Every member is taught and trained to live their lives free from both spiritual and moral evils plaguing the lives of many today. Members are also constantly encouraged to live with the attitude that they are servants of God and thus, must use every opportunity and means to advance the will [of] God in this world.
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This piece was to inform you about the role of the 4th Watch followers. To learn more about these 4th Watch followers personally, you can go here.
Oneness of truth refers to the idea that there is only one truth. In religion, this often means that a particular religion is the only true religion, whether according to the Bible or not. Such religious groups will consider their religion to be the only way, whatever goal that way might lead to. Usually, that refers to the way of such things like happiness or enlightenment, but most commonly, salvation, which in most cases, means to be saved from being tortured in Hell. Religions that have a oneness of truth doctrine believe that their religion is the only true religion, that their way is the only way to achieve salvation. Anyone who doesn't agree with them is wrong, and they cannot be saved unless they are in the one true religion.
This is a cultic way of thinking and is a doctrine that is almost always practiced by a cult leader. In fact, this is perhaps the most dominant cultic feature behind the leader itself. Cult leaders after all, want everyone to follow them. They don't want anyone giving their money to somebody else, or their praise to somebody else. They want it all, so they naturally make the claim that only their religion will get persons into Heaven. If they choose not to be part of their "true" religion, then they will surely go to Hell. Cult leaders who claim to be apostles embrace oneness of truth, because not only do they get others to believe that they need an apostle, but that it is only the apostle's religion which can give them salvation.
The PMCC 4th Watch and its apostolic leader practice this onness of truth doctrine. The 4th Watch believes that there is only one true church, and guess which one that is. Likewise, Arsenio Ferriol is the only true apostle and teacher of Jesus Christ. Yes, they believe that their religion and apostle make up the only true church according to the Holy Bible. They stress that their way, is the only way. No other religion or path will make you achieve salvation. Belieivng in God is not enough. Accepting Jesus is not enough. Being a good person is not enough. No, you have to be in their church. You have to live by their doctrine. And you have to accept their leader, the Apostle Arsenio Ferriol as the only true leader and teacher of the Christian faith. And who said this wasn't a cult?
In case that information didn't quite sink in, consider this: The Apostle of the 4th Watch says that he alone is the sole authority on the Bible and it is only through him that you can achieve salvation from Jesus. He states that this is because God has appointed him to teach and that he is the only one who can. Thus, in order to be saved and avoid hell, you must learn from him or one of his approved teachers, and you must be a member of his church. If you are not a member of Arsenio's church, you will go to Hell. Men, women, children...it doesn't matter who you are, you are doomed without the acceptance of Arsenio Ferriol as your apostle. Even if you are a part of a church which teaches the exact same things as they do, you are still going to Hell. It is clear that the 4th Watch is a cult from these beliefs alone. The one true church? You decide.
And to help you make the decision to believe whether or not the 4th Watch actually has this doctrine, take a look at some of the things members say. First, from the cult leader himself:
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Faith without work is dead. But even if people has work if they are not it the true faith their work is still in vain. For a work to be acceptable before God, the person needs to be in the true faith.
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The Word, the 4th Watch's official magazine's website, makes it very clear that they believe they are the one true church:
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Vol. 5, Issue No. 29, December 1994, page 23:
It is only in us the true body of Christ who are equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to lead them back to Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
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We found this previous passage from one of their issues on the web from another site calling the 4th Watch a cult. Unfortunately, we have not seen this passage ourselves, so we cannot confirm the truth of this passage's existence right now, and without seeing the article from which it came, we cannot verify if we are using it in the correct context; but it is consistent with everything we do know about them. This next passage also comes from the Word magazine itself that supports their oneness of truth doctrine:
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Apostolic Mission is the mission given by God to His apostles. Carrying this mission and vision from God, the apostle leads the church in authoritatively and correctly fulfilling God's will. Without the proper person leading them, no group or person will be recognized by God. God's will can only be followed through the leadership and guidance of His Sent Ones.
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And here are several quotes from members who seem to back all of this up:
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Prepare to meet the LORD! There is only ONE WAY!!! John 14:6JESUS answered, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the FATHER except through ME."
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Jesus Christ is my Savior, and He can be yours too. He is the only way.
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We're so proud to be in this Church, the Real Church of Christ in the 4th Watch Whom Our Lord Jesus Christ builded upon the foundation of His Apostle, and the gates of hell will not prevail agants it. Matt. 16:18
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As believers in the true church of the Lord, we have a leader whose life and ministry is worthy of our celebration and emulation. He is our shepherd, our leader, our brother, our apostle...
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TRULY GOD'S WORK IS SO TRANSPARENT IN HIS CHURCH...I MEAN THE REAL, THE TRUE, THE EXACT PROPERTY CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THIS END TIME MISSION NO OTHER THAN PMCC 4TH WATCH TO GOD BE THE GLORY! AMEN!!!
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This is the original doctrine according to the truth of the bible concerning being a born? again as not all believers are born again,only those who accept the gospel preached by the sent one of God,the Apostles were born again by his gospel(spirit as the word of God)and baptism(water)and were born again and the Apostle stands us our Father in faith that through him we were born again 1Corinthian 4:14-15 and automatically become an adopted sons of God
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It is not enough that we believe what we are taught, we must also believe who teaches it...
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Now, for us it is clear that the 4th Watch Apostle teaches that he is the only "true" apostle and that his church is the only true church. However, one of the 4th Watchers has told us that that is not the case. According to this person, the 4th Watch believes that they are a true church, and not the true church. Same with their apostle. Basically, this person is saying that while they believe that they are a true church, there can be other true churches in addition to the 4th Watch. According to them, the 4th Watch only teaches the correct teachings of the Bible, and it is only through what it teachces that persons are saved. But they say that the 4th Watch does not have to be the only true church and Arsenio does not have to be the only true apostle...that God can appoint more than one apostle and there can be more than one church. This person even went on to say that it would be incredibly unlikely that there would only be one true church.
Here is what this 4th Watcher said: (As the 4th watcher was kind enough to address our questions, we did not use a zombie icon to represent them.)
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..."one true church" concept? You might think it's "The PMCC 4th watch is the only true church". But that is incorrect. Our belief is that we are a true church, but NOT the only. When we find other church groups that are also true churches, we are still considered 1 church, even though we are 2 or more.
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While we appreciate the input from this 4th Watcher, we have to say that this just doesn't seem to be consistent with our research. Just take a moment to have another look at what these 4th Watchers said about their church.
The only way? The true church? Only those who accept the sent one of God?...They are referring to their church in each one of these instances. It is clear that the members of the 4th Watch believe or are at least under the impression that they are the only true church. Again, notice that they almost never say a true church, but that they are the true church. It is difficult to arrive at any other conclusion based on the things that they say. So we asked this 4th Watcher a few questions, and you can see them here with their responses:
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As far as the one true church concept, if you are saying that you do not consider yourselves to be the only true church, then we need to look into this and adjust our information if this turns out to be true. We want all of our information to be accurate. However, our research has found that this does not seem to be the case. In order to know for sure, I will need to ask you a few questions.
First, if you do not consider yourselves to be the only true church, how many true churches are there?
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One of our first thoughts from reading this person's original passage to us about their church not being the only true church was how many true churches are out there then.
Here is the 4th Watcher's response:
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We don't know. Actually, we are looking for other church groups that have valid doctrines.
We do believe our church is a true church. But we strongly disagree that we are the ONLY true church. So we don't know, but were searching for other groups, for it is impossible for
there to only be 1 true church.
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This person didn't know? Did that mean that there were too many too count, or because there were too few to know about? We would ask later, but here was our second question.
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Second, if you find a church that is a "true" church, does Arsenio Ferriol assume leadership of that church, or does the leader of that other church assume leadership? Does no one assume leadership over the other?
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And his response to this question:
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So when we find other church groups, we still believe Christ is the head. But with the apostles, just like what happened in the bible, no apostle assumes leadership over the other. They're equal in leadership. But Christ is still remains the head.
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Okay, reading this 4th Watcher's words ("so when we find a true church"), it is obvious that the 4th Watch must know other churches which they consider to be true. So perhaps we were incorrect in our understanding that the 4th Watch considers themselves to be the only true church...or were we?
Our next question:
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Third, our research has shown that the 4th Watchers believe that while anyone can learn the gospel, if it is not preached by the 4th Watch Apostle or one of his ordained pastors, then such persons will not receive salvation. Is this true? If it is, then how can there be other "true" churches if they did not study under Arsenio Ferriol? If it is not true, then why do so many 4th Watchers seem to believe that this is the case?
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That is not true. Our belief is only whoever is sent can preach, so that means the apostles, ordained pastors etc. But not of just our church alone, but of any true church. And also we believe that salvation isn't through listening to God's words though his sent ones alone, but rather through...
1. Believing and accepting Jesus Christ,
2. Repenting to God,
3. Being baptized,
4. Be added to a true church.
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Okay, so the 4th Watch does believe that persons must learn the gospel from an apostle or sent one. So it's true, that you can learn the exact same gospel, but that if you do not learn it from a particular person, then you are not saved. But apparently, there are other apostles and sent ones that can teach you. First of all, regardless of whether or not there are other true apostles and churches out there, the idea that you cannot be saved from Hell unless you follow one of them is still pathetic. But now, the real question is, how many true churches and apostles are there? Remember when we asked how many true churches there were, and they kept telling us 'when they find a true church', or 'when two or more true churches find each other'? We really wanted to know about these true churches, because we sure never heard of any of them when we were in the church.
So this time we said to the 4th Watcher:
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Please provide the names of at least five churches that your church has found to be true.
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We were under the impression that there would be a lot, so we didn't expect this person to know them all, so we requested just five of them. We would then go on to do more research and decide whether or not we were incorrect. But when we asked how many churches did they find to be true, this was their reply:
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In our modern time, we haven't yet, but we do still believe that we are not the only true church.
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And we also said:
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Please list the true apostles you have found.
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Their response:
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All I can say, is the 19 apostles mentioned in the bible, but of course you don't believe in the bible, so in our modern time, we don't know any. But we still do believe Arseniol Ferriol isn't the only apostle.
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That's right. Despite all of this talk about there being other true churches, and the unlikeliness that there aren't other true churches, they have yet to find any. You might believe that in thirty years of having this religion in existence, that another true church would have been found, but no. And concerning the apostles, this 4th Watcher could only mention the apostles in the Bible, which means that no one has ever heard of a true apostle since Paul and his gang of apostles in the Bible...the Bible! That means that only about two-thousand years have past since anyone's ever heard of a true apostle. And today, there can only be one found? We smell a cult.
So, what can we conclude from this? It is obvious that the PMCC 4th Watch do in fact consider themselves to be the only one true church, and Arsenio the only one true apostle, regardless of whether or not they believe that there can be more, though it is also obvious that many are under the impression that only the 4th Watch can be a real church. But you know what? Forget that. Because even if there were more true churches, how many can there possibly be when the 4th Watch has not even heard of them? And, it is still ridiculous that all of these persons who are not in a true church would be going to Hell, sent there by a loving god.
But, if there can be other true churches and apostles out there, perhaps they never hear about this possibility, and that would make sense, because that is probably exactly what Arsenio Ferriol wants. Let's face it, Arsenio teaches that he is a true apostle in his true church, and he doesn't want anyone going to other churches and giving money and glorification to other leaders. Yet, he probably teaches that there are other true churches out there, just so he doesn't look like a cult leader when this issue is addressed. But yet, he has nothing to worry about, because more than likely, he has no intention or care to ever find another true church. And the fact is, no one ever will. No two churches are alike, and Arsenio knows this. Even if by some odd chance, there was another church out there which taught the same exact things, all Arsenio has to do is tell his members that their apostle is not really sent by God. 4th Watchers wake up, Arsenio will never consider another church to be true, or accept another apostle as his equal. He wants you to believe only in his way and to follow him. It's been a long time and they have never found another true church. At this point in time, if they ever did, it would most likely be a manufactured church from a 4th Watcher in disguise who made another church just to help the 4th Watch church from looking like a cult, and Arsenio, a cult leader.
But let's get real 4th Watchers. The PMCC 4th Watch church is a cult, and Arsenio Ferriol is a cult leader. How can you ever expect normal persons in the world to ever think otherwise? Perhaps you don't need them. Perhaps there are enough fools in the world to keep giving your cult leaders money. But that, is why we are here with the PMCC 4th Watch Truth Project.
You can read an outstanding article on refuting Arsenio Ferriol's apostleship and church here.
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