The Coming One World Religion
Pope Francis Hosts Muslim Prayers At Vatican
SEE: http://beginningandend.com/the-coming-one-world-religion-pope-francis-hosts-muslim-prayers-at-vatican/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Pope Francis is seeking to unify all faiths to achieve “peace and safety.”
In his ongoing effort to unify the denominations of the Christian faith as well as other religions, Pope Francis hosted a series of interfaith gatherings at the Vatican that saw Muslim prayers given from the pulpit for the first time in its history. The Pope’s efforts while seemingly noble, are in complete contradiction to Bible Scripture. But as Biblical Christianity is being abandoned in the contemporary church, public displays of “spiritual unity” will become more common. It is all prophesied in Scripture as the world moves closer to the coming one world religion of the Antichrist.
A Week of Interfaith Gathering
The Pope has also supported a division of Israel and Jerusalem.
Pope Francis was the host of two special interfaith gatherings at the Vatican in one week. According to reports:
Pope Francis waded into Middle East peace-making this evening by welcoming both the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to the Vatican for an evening of prayers.
Israeli President Shimon Peres was the first to arrive at the Vatican hotel where Pope Francis lives, followed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Francis warmly greeted both and met privately with each one before heading out to the Vatican garden for the service.It took place in the Vatican gardens in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the most religiously neutral place in the tiny city-state. It incorporated Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers – delivered in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Italian.
The prayers focused on three themes common to each of the religions: thanking God for creation, seeking forgiveness for past wrongdoing and praying to God to bring peace to the region.
Francis, Peres and Abbas were expected to deliver brief remarks, shake hands and plant an olive tree together in a sign of peace. The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians was also present to give a united Christian front. (source).
While the desire for peace in the Middle East is a noble cause, no Bible believing Christian should ever confuse political goals with the spiritual commands of God. While Christians can socialize, work with and conduct political negotiations with people of all faiths, religious activity is to be exclusively done in a Biblical manner. From the first commandment God gave to Moses, The Lord’s stance on joining in the worship of any of other god is clear:
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; – Exodus 20:1-5.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites, God’s chosen people to bring His Word and His law to the world, repeatedly fell into the sinful trap of mingling their faith with other religions. And each time, God warned them of the punishments to come for idolatry. The New Testament reiterated the need for separation spiritually from any other belief that it is not Christianity:
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. – 2 Corinthians 6:13-17.
Christians are not be “yoked” or joined spiritually with unbelievers. Again, this is not a reference to merely being around non-Christians. It is referring to joining in a manner that is spiritual. Allah, the god of Islam, is an idol. And for the Pope to hold a joint prayer service, is a direct fulfillment of being “unequally yoked.” In addition to many other unbiblical practices, the Vatican’s official position on Islam is that Christians and Muslims worship the game god:
The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting. –DECLARATION ON THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS. NOSTRA AETATE (source).
The Koran all on its own distinguishes itself from Christianity as it proclaims that Allah has no son:
It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. (Surah 19:35).Further, that He may warn those (also) who say, “Allah hath begotten a son”:[5] No knowledge have they of such a thing, nor had their fathers. It is a grievous thing that issues from their mouths as a saying: What they say is nothing but falsehood! (Surah 18:4-5).
It denies the crucifixion:
That they rejected Faith; That they uttered against Mary a grave false charge; That they said (in boast): We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, The Messenger of Allah. But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjunction to follow, for of a surety they killed him not. … And on the Day of Judgment He (Jesus) will be a witness against them (Christians).”(Surah 004:156-159)
Jesus Christ proclaimed His Sonship and equality with God the Father in no uncertain terms when He proclaimed: “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30). The crucifixion, in which Christ gave His life and took the penalty for all of the sins of the world, so that fallen humanity would have a chance for forgiveness, is the fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation of the world. It is the critical atoning work and the only means by which a person can go to Heaven. To deny the crucifixion is to deny everything about the Bible. And yet this is what the Koran does.
So there is no question that the god of Islam is not the same as Yahweh, the God of the Bible. And certainly the Jesus of Islam is not remotely the same as the true Jesus Christ of Christianity. Yet none of this has stopped Pope Francis and the Vatican from not only embracing Muslim prayer, but fully endorsing their religion. Their position is clearly contrary to the Scripture and pure idolatry. Yet the media and many Catholics and Protestants are celebrating the interfaith prayer session and Pope Francis’ leadership. All in the name of “peace.”
Joel Osteen And Other Apostate Pastors Join The Push For “Unity”
Joel Osteen has thrown his support to the Pope’s push for religious unity.
Prosperity Gospel Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church, the largest church in America, also visited the Vatican for an inter-denominational meeting with the Pope.
Joel Osteen, bestselling motivational author and evangelical pastor of America’s fastest-growing megachurch, was among a small group that included Mormon Sen. Mike Lee, to meet privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome, this week.Osteen said he was honored to meet with Pope Francis, who leads the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.“I like the fact that this pope is trying to make the church larger, not smaller. He’s not pushing people out but making the church more inclusive. That resonated with me,” Osteen told the Houston Chronicle…..Francis had invited more than a dozen “North American Protestant leaders” to discuss the question: “Can we find common ground in order to advance the life and ministry of Jesus so more people can experience the joy of Christian faith?”The ecumenical meeting was a part of Pope Francis’ on-going efforts to bring unity among Christians, previously stating in public remarks, “Divisions among us, but also divisions among the communities: evangelical Christians, orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, but why divided? We must try to bring about unity.” (source).
Here is a video in which Osteen gushes over the Pope:
Beginning and End has already detailed the many false teachings of Osteen. In addition to the Prosperity Gospel – a false teaching based on acquiring material wealth, health and success, Osteen has also taught many New Age false doctrines. And seeing the most popular pastor in America endorse a Pope who is holding interfaith gatherings and endorsing a Muslim god, is a clear sign of the apostasy – the prophesied falling away in the church from Biblical Christianity to a watered-down, compromised, false Christianity that will help set the stage for the Antichrist.
Prophesied One World Order
While this message seems attractive, God calls on Christians to be separate.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3.
As the end times – the final years before the Second Coming of Christ – approach, the Bible warns of a time when society will proclaim “peace and safety!” The long-held desire of global peace will seemingly be achieved. But this will be a false peace. And it is at this time that God’s wrath will be unleashed upon a rebellious world that will be unified in one man – the Antichrist. The Antichrist is the satanically-empowered false messiah who will rule the governments of the Earth for 3 1/2 years before the Second Coming of Christ. And during this time, the world will be living in the New World Order. The Antichrist will head a global government, control the economy of the world through the one world currency Mark of the Beast system and be the god of a one world religion. The book of Revelation details this end times false religion:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy….. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. – Revelation 13:1-6.
The Antichrist will proclaim that he is god. And he will blaspheme the true God of the Bible and all Christian believers. By performing miracles, supernatural feats and even overcoming death, the world will worship this man of sin as god. And the Antichrist will have his religious cohort, the False Prophet, who will work to deceive the world into thinking that Satan’s man servant is actually the Messiah:
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. – Revelation 13:11-15.
The False prophet, who will also have supernatural abilities, appeared in John’s vision as “having horns like a lamb.” This spiritual leader will appear harmless, promoting peace, love and harmony. But he will direct the people of the world to worship the Antichrist. The False Prophet will then lead the world in erecting “the image of the beast” – some type of statue or figure that has “life” (either by occult power or artificial intelligence), for the world to worship. And this worship will be done under penalty of death.
How could all of the religions of the world, some who have been opposed for centuries, one day unify all over the globe? An easy path is by teaching that the gods of all the various faiths are the same – the precise message Pope Francis and the Vatican are preaching. The Antichrist could be presented as the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies of various religions. Share International, a New Age organization and branch of the United Nations is led by Benjamin Creme. Creme a disciple of Luciferian philosopher Madame H.P. Blavatsky, has long promoted the coming of the Maitreya, a messianic figure who will fulfill just such a role. Here is a commercial that Share International ran several years ago on CNN.
How could all of the religions of the world, some who have been opposed for centuries, one day unify all over the globe? An easy path is by teaching that the gods of all the various faiths are the same – the precise message Pope Francis and the Vatican are preaching. The Antichrist could be presented as the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies of various religions. Share International, a New Age organization and branch of the United Nations is led by Benjamin Creme. Creme a disciple of Luciferian philosopher Madame H.P. Blavatsky, has long promoted the coming of the Maitreya, a messianic figure who will fulfill just such a role. Here is a commercial that Share International ran several years ago on CNN.
The New Age movement is promoting and waiting for the exact figure the Bible is describing. Except instead of being a savior who will bring peace, he is a deceiver who will bring damnation. Do not be deceived.
Take A Stand for Biblical Christianity
There is only one God and one way to Heaven – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you are a Bible believing Christian, pray for Pope Francis and the other pastors involved in this ecumenical movement, to repent and believe in the Bible. As long as leaders in the church continue to put their own doctrines or feelings on par or above Scripture, the church will continue to fall into spiritual error and rebellion against God. Many Christians are already falling into spiritual compromise all in the name of seeking “world peace” or “harmony” with others. But that is not the message of the Bible. True unity can only come in accordance with God’s Word. And this current push for unity is far from that.
The Bible is clear that peace will not come from this sinful, fallen world. It only comes through Jesus Christ. And a Christianity that embraces other gods, ignores sound doctrine in favor of man-made rules and ideas and seeks worldly goals over preaching the Gospel of forgiveness of sin – is not a real Christianity at all. This is why so many churches are falling out of line with the Bible. And this should motivate Bible believing Christians to take that much stronger of a stance for the Gospel and to follow God and not men.
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POPE FRANCIS MEETS WITH ANGLICAN TONY PALMER,
PENTECOSTALS KENNETH COPELAND AND JAMES ROBISON
AND OTHER ECUMENISTS/APOSTATES
Pope Francis Meets Evangelical Delegation
SEE: http://www.trunews.com/trunews-exclusive-pope-francis-meets-evangelical-delegation/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
By Rick Wiles | June 27, 2014
Two prominent Fort Worth-based Christian ministers led a delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders to Rome to meet privately with Pope Francis.
James and Betty Robison, co-hosts of the Life Today television program, and Kenneth Copeland, co-host of Believer’s Voice of Victory, met the Roman Pontiff at the Vatican on Tuesday. The meeting lasted almost three hours and included a private luncheon with Pope Francis.
Mr. Robison told the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “This meeting was a miracle…. This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
Mr. Robison said he was impressed by Pope Francis’ humility and courtesy to the visiting delegation of Evangelical Protestant Christian leaders.
In a written statement, Mr. Robison said he believes “the prayers of earnest Christians helped lead to the choice of Pope Francis.” He described Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine Archbishop chosen as Pope, as “a humble man…filled with such love for the poor, downtrodden…”
In addition to Mrs. Betty Robison, the high-profile Protestant delegation included Kenneth Copeland, co-founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, TX; Reverend Geoff Tunnicliff, CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance; Rev. Brian Stiller and Rev. Thomas Schirrmacher, also from the World Evangelical Alliance; and Rev. John Arnott and his wife, Carol, co-founders of Partners for Harvest ministries in Toronto, Canada. Gloria Copeland did not travel to Rome because of a previously scheduled commitment.
POPE FRANCIS, ANGLICAN TONY PALMER, PENTECOSTAL KENNETH COPELAND
The ecumenical meeting in Rome was organized by Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer. Rev. Palmer is an ordained bishop in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a break-away alliance of charismatic Anglican-Episcopal churches. Bishop Palmer is also the Director of The Ark Community, an international interdenominational Convergent Church online community, and is a member of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Delegation for Christian Unity and Reconciliation.
Bishop Palmer developed a friendship with Pope Francis when the future Roman Pontiff was a Catholic official in Argentina. Prior to becoming a CEEC bishop, Rev. Palmer was the director of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ office in South Africa. He is married to an Italian Roman Catholic woman. He later moved to Italy and began working to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestants. Kenneth Copeland Ministries was one of Mr. Palmer’s first financial contributors over 10 years ago in support of his ecumenical work in Italy.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis called Bishop Palmer to invite him to his residence in Vatican City. During the meeting, Bishop Palmer suggested that the Pope record a personal greeting on Mr. Palmer’s iPhone to be delivered to Kenneth Copeland. Mr. Copeland showed the Papal video greeting to a conference of Protestant ministers who were meeting at Mr. Copeland’s Eagle Mountain International Church near Fort Worth, TX. In the video, Pope Francis expressed his desire for Christian unity with Protestants.
Later, James Robison telecasted the video on his daily TV program, Life Today. “The pope, in the video, expressed a desire for Protestants and Catholics to become what Jesus prayed for — that Christians would become family and not be divided,” Mr. Robison said the response to the video was very positive, and that Pope Francis asked Bishop Palmer whether a meeting could be arranged with Evangelical Protestants seeking Christian unity in the world.
In his written statement released after the Papal meeting, Mr. Robison said he was “blessed to be part of perhaps an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.” He described the Protestant delegation’s private meeting with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church as “an intimate circle of prayerful discussion and lunch to discuss not only seeing Jesus’ prayer answered, but that every believer would become a bold, joy-filled witnesses for Christ.
In describing the ecumenical gathering as a miracle, Mr. Robison said, “This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
During the luncheon on Tuesday, Mr. Robison got a high-five from Pope Francis after the Pope and Protestant guests talked about the need for all people to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. According to the Life Today host, the Roman Pontiff did not know what a high-five was until Bishop Palmer explained it to him in Italian. Mr. Robison said, “The Pope made it very clear that he wanted every believer to become Spirit-filled, joy-filled witnesses.”
JAMES ROBISON & POPE FRANCIS EXCHANGE A "HIGH FIVE"
Mr. Robison said Pope Francis had written recently, “Too many Catholics look like they’ve been to Lent with no Easter. It’s a mistake for them to look like they’ve been to a funeral” as he challenged Catholics to witness and never try to control the Holy Spirit, but yield to Him.
Mr. Robison said he received a divine call from God to seek Christian unity while he was hospitalized several years ago with a serious staph infection following hip surgery. Robison recalled, “[I] was so weak I could not lift a cup of water to my lips…God got my full attention…He spoke to me through Isaiah 58:6-12 and I saw the importance of living in freedom, touching the suffering, the hungry, poor, and downtrodden. I recognized the promise that our prayers would be answered quickly and we would become a free-flowing stream and a well-watered garden, restoring the foundations upon which we must build. During that time God instructed me to focus my attention on Jesus’ prayer and encouraging others to begin fulfilling it through us in our day.”
During that time, he said, he was impressed by a prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, pleading that all Christian believers be one. “We’ve tried to focus on being an answer to Jesus’ prayer,” Robison said. “We want to see Jesus’ prayer for unity answered in our day.”
Aware that the meeting with the Pope will be troublesome among staunch Protestants, Mr. Robison said he and the other visiting Evangelical Christian leaders talked about diversity and their belief that Roman Catholics and Protestants could work together without compromising their beliefs.
“The world is suffering,” said Robison. “We as Christians have too much love to share without fighting one another.”
Mr. Robison said he and other “respected Evangelical leaders and Spirit-filled Catholics began meeting together to pray for God’s will to be done and to bring true believers together in supernatural unity….We have been commanded to love God with all of our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. The enemy has kept many Christians from loving one another as Christ loves us and have failed to recognize the importance of supernatural unity even with all of the unique diversity.”
Mr. Robison, whose ministry digs water wells and supplies food for impoverished people in third-world nations, recounted that he was christened as a fatherless boy in an Episcopal Church. As an adult, he joined the Southern Baptist Church. In the 1980s, he became one of the first prominent Southern Baptist ministers to openly proclaim he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
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Faithful pray in a special event dedicated to the Virgin Mary
at the Vatican Gardens on May 31, 2014
SEE:
POPE CALLS MARY THE “STAR OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION”;
PRAYS:
“Star of the new evangelization, help us to shine with the testimony of communion, of service, of ardent and generous faith, in justice and in love for the poor, so that the joy of the gospel may reach to the ends of the earth and no periphery may be deprived of its light.”
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- One World Religion
- As the church awaits the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ we are witnessing the formation of a global religious system that will one day worship the Beast (Rev. 13:12). Jesus warned that a widespread dynamic deception would be one of the signs of His return to the earth. His word reveals there will be many false teachers who will prepare an unsuspecting bride for the anti-Christ. This counterfeit religious system will give her allegiance and worship to one who will blaspheme God.
There is currently a dialogue among world religious leaders who are seeking common threads of truth as a basis for unity. As diverse as some religions appear, there are some common bonds of unity. One is the teaching that salvation is attained by what men must do for God, instead of what God has already done for man through His Son. All religions, with the exception of biblical Christianity, arrogantly deny that salvation is by grace, the unmerited favor of God.
Several organizations have been working diligently to unite the people of the world but none as aggressively as the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council made this clear when it stated: The Catholic Church endeavors "to gather all people and all things into Christ, so as to be for all an inseparable sacrament of unity... expressed in the common celebration of the Eucharist."
The Vatican has been building strategic bridges to all Christian denominations and non-Christian religions for the purpose of bringing all people under the papacy. In a 1998 speech to the leaders of Islam, Pope John Paul declared: "Dialogue between our two religions (Islam and Catholicism) is more necessary than ever. There remains a spiritual bond which unites us and which we must strive to recognize and develop." Later in January of 2002 many of the most influential religious leaders of the world responded to the pope's invitation to gather in Assisi, Italy to discuss unity and peace. The pope, whom Catholics believe is the supreme head of the entire Christian Church, made all the leaders of non-Christian religions feel comfortable by removing all the images, crucifixes and icons of Jesus Christ.
Strategy for Christian Unity
The Vatican has a well defined and aggressive strategy for uniting all of Christianity under the papacy. Some of the elements of this master plan are outlined below:
I. Promote the opinion that Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants are all brothers-in- Christ and therefore must be reunited. This is why the Vatican is urging all "separated brethren" to come back home to Holy Mother, the Church, to enjoy the "fullness of salvation." Rome believes the salvation of Protestants cannot be complete unless and until they receive the transubstantiated Christ in the Eucharist.
II. Another important part of their strategy is to redefine evangelical terms in vague and ambiguous words to make them accept- able to both Catholics and Protestants. This strategy has been used effectively in their recent unity accords with Evangelicals and Lutherans. They have also been effective in identifying and seducing highly visible and influential evangelicals to promote Catholicism as a valid expression of Christianity.
III. The Vatican's strategy also involves exploiting post-modernism and the emerging church movement, which has gained widespread popularity. These movements have caused confusion, biblical ignorance and a lack of discernment within Protestant churches. In turn, these have produced fertile soil for seeds of deception and compromise to grow. Many who are uncertain of the true Gospel are easily deceived and willing to embrace the false gospel of Catholicism.
IV. Rome is also encouraging tolerance of all faiths because tolerance unifies and brings peace, while doctrinal truth divides. Whenever doctrinal truth is suppressed there can be no distinction between believers and unbelievers. One example of the Vatican's push for tolerance is seen in a statement from the 1997 accord: The Gift of Salvation. It reads: "All who truly believe in Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters in the Lord and must not allow their differences, however important to undermine this great truth." Some of the differences cited that should never divide Evangelicals and Catholics were listed as: baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, sacramental grace, justification, purgatory, indulgences, Marian devotion, the assistance of the saints in salvation, and the possibility of salvation for those who have not been evangelized. Clearly, each of these differences can not be tolerated because they all oppose the Gospel and bear eternal consequences for those who are on the wrong side of truth.
Same Story Different Verse
Rome attempted to reunite Catholics and Protestants in Germany in 1541 but Martin Luther gave this stern warning: "Popish writers pre- tend that they have always taught, what we now teach, concerning faith and good works, and that they are unjustly accused of the contrary, thus the wolf puts on the sheep skin till he gains admission in the fold." Three hundred years later another great preacher warned against unity with the Roman Catholic Church. Charles Spurgeon said: "There is a deep and indelible sentence of damnation written upon the apostate church...the curse is registered in heaven...its infamy is engraved in the rock forever...followers of Jesus, for their own sake as well as for their Lord's, should oppose it with all their might." The 21st century church needs more Luthers and Spurgeons to contend earnestly for the faith against the fatal errors of Catholicism.
Apostasy is Fueling the Push for Unity
In spite of the numerous Scriptural warnings of apostasy, many Protestants are returning "home to Rome." Nearly every documented case of Protestant apostates who departed to join the Catholic religion, gave one of three reasons. They were either convinced by some "early church fathers" that Catholicism is true, or they were compelled to become Catholic in order to marry a Catholic, or they joined because of pleasurable experience. We have never heard of anyone who became a Catholic because the Bible convinced them to do it.
Tragically, we seldom hear warnings against apostasy from our pulpits. Rarely are false teachers who lead people away from the true faith ever exposed. Apostates, who appear as ministers of righteousness, are facing very little opposition. They successfully deceive the undiscerning because pastors and church leaders are not contending against them. Very few Christian leaders are warning the church of these ferocious wolves dressed in sheep's clothing. The twenty-first century church needs strong leaders like the apostle Paul. He warned the early church, "even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears" (Acts 20:30-31). Throughout the Scriptures we are exhorted to test every spirit, every teacher and every doctrine because men are so easily deceived.
Two Kinds of Unity
Doctrine is what divides the true church from the emerging world religion. The Bible condemns any unity that is not founded in God's word. False unity is based upon man's ambitions and is always independent of God (Gen. 11:1-9). This type of unity will be a tool of the Antichrist (Rev. 17-18). On the other hand, biblical unity is based on apostolic truth and is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of man (Eph. 4:3,13; 1 Cor. 12:13).
One of the greatest dangers to Christianity today is the deliberate suppression of biblical truth for the sake of unity. The danger intensifies as we see influential Christian leaders jumping on the Vatican's ecumenical bandwagon. Instead of warning believers of this false unity, they applaud those who are creating it. Instead of obeying biblical exhortations to keep the Gospel pure, they are tolerating those who preach another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). Rather than hating every false way, they are allowing the devil's lies to go unabated (Psalm 119:104). Instead of exposing false christs and lying spirits they put up with them (2 Cor. 11:4).
What Are Christians To Do?
Christians must not tolerate anyone who willfully misrepresents the character or attributes of almighty God or His Gospel. A sound and loving rebuke, using scripture, is necessary to earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3). To remain silent shows, either an indifference toward the Lord Jesus, or a greater loyalty to another person or institution.
We are commanded to separate from those who persist in false teaching (Rom.16:17; Titus 3:10). For some, this may mean finding another church. For others, it may mean with- holding support from ministries that continue to compromise the Gospel. The apostles warned us that if we do not separate from false teachers we could either be disqualified for service, become identified with them and their error, or risk being partakers of their fate (2 Tim. 2:20; 2 John 10-11; Jude 11-13). May God help us all to stand firm and not be carried away by every wind of doctrine!
Common Bonds For Unity
The True Church
♦ Receives divine revelation from Scripture alone (2 Peter 1:20)
♦ Is called by God their Father, saved by Jesus Christ and sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Col. 1:9; Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 1:3)
♦ Is saved by God's grace for good works (Eph. 2:8-10)
♦ Is intolerant, believing there is only one way to God (John 14:6)
♦ Is baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body (1 Cor. 12:13)
♦ Is alive in Christ and abides in Hisword (Rom. 6:11; John 8:31-32)
♦ Contends for the apostles' faith (Jude 3) ♦ Is the Bride of Christ, united in lovefor the Savior (Rev. 19:7; Jn 13:35)
♦ Will worship and serve the true Christ when He appears in glory (Titus 2:13-15)
♦ Will rejoice in God's peace (Rev. 21:4)
The World Religion
♦ Receives "divine" revelation from demonic sources (1 Tim. 4:1-4)
♦ Is blinded by their father the devil, deceived by false Christs and bonded by another spirit (2 Cor. 4:4; John 8:44; Rev. 9:20)
♦ Teach they are saved by works, but their works deny God (Titus 1:16)
♦ Is tolerant, believing there are many ways to God
♦ Is ensnared by another Spirit to do his will (2 Tim. 2:24-26)
♦ Is spiritually dead and abides in the world (1 John 2:16)
♦ Seeks common truth among all faiths. ♦ Is the harlot of anti-Christ, united inhatred for the saints (Rev. 17:6)
♦ Will worship and serve a false Christ when he appears in deceit (Rev. 13.12)
♦ Will weep in an eternal fire (Mat. 13:42) - ________________________________________________________________________
- Also from Mike Gendron's Proclaiming The Gospel:
- Why Can't Born Again Christians Remain in the Catholic Church?This is a question we have been asked many times in our 23 years of ministry. We must answer it with the authority of God's Word. When Catholics repent and believe the Gospel of God, they are born again and the indwelling Holy Spirit will lead them out of spiritual darkness into the glorious light of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15; Eph. 1:13-14). As they abide in God's Word, they will know the truth and the truth will set them free from religious bondage and deception (John 8:31-32). Then they will look for a church that worships God in Spirit and truth because that is the kind of worshippers God seeks (John 4:24). Anyone who says they have been born again, yet refuses to leave a false religion that deceives people with another gospel, must examine themselves to see if they have genuine saving faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Christians are called to walk according to the truth which means, as they become more and more passionate for the truth, they will turn away from any falsehood that stands opposed to God's Word.
One of Catholicism's false practices is described as a doctrine of demons in the Bible. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul wrote that some will "depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences have been seared whoforbid people to marry" (1 Tim. 4:1-4). Catholicism is the only religion that names the name of Christ and forbids its clergy to marry, thus proving that some of its teachings are directly opposed to Scripture.
Another reason true converts must leave Catholicism is that it demands submission of every person's will and intellect to the bishops' teachings. Catholic bishops are said to be the only authentic instructors and teachers of the faith, and Catholics are bound to adhere to their teaching with a religious submission of the mind (Canon Law, 753).
A third reason to leave is that the Word of God condemns the Catholic clergy for preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). The Catholic plan of salvation nullifies God's saving grace by adding works, sacraments, purgatory and law-keeping to the Gospel. Not to be outdone, Catholic bishops responded by condemning born again Christians with over 100 anathemas from the Councils of Trent and Vatican II. Read more about anathemas.
Mike's Comment: The first Jesuit pope is on an accelerated pace to reverse the Reformation. That is what the Jesuits were commissioned to do in 1540. While many believe the counter reformation is over because their are no more bloody inquisitions, the Jesuits have a new strategy. They are calling "separated brethren" back home to Rome for the fullness of salvation through the pope's Eucharistic Evangelization appeal. The counter reformation has also been successful through education and government. According to "The Jesuit Way," there are now over one million people living in America who have graduated from Jesuit high schools and universities. This Jesuit pope also continues to seek and find soft spots among protestant leaders to beguile them into his web of deception that will form the one world religion. This counterfeit church worships a false Christ, preaches a false and fatal gospel, is led by another spirit and a false prophet who has stolen titles given to the triune God - Holy Father, Head of the Church and Vicar of Christ.
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Berlin House of One:
The first church-mosque-synagogue?
EXCERPT:"Berlin thinks it is making religious history as Muslims, Jews and Christians join hands to build a place where they can all worship. The House of One, as it is being called, will be a synagogue, a church and a mosque under one roof."
