The Final Showdown is Coming!
Are we going to chose to follow and obey God and his kingdom or are we going to choose to follow the ones of this world?
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The Falling Away – Missionary Spencer Smith
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“There is always truth in what they say but they use truth as a hook, then comes the line and the sinker pulls you down. Truth is used as a bait and hook.” T. L. Gambill
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“The people who can see Satan in everything aren’t LOOKING to see Satan in everything. They are AWAKE to the DECEPTION because he IS in everything. The people who can’t see it are walking WITH the WORLD and don’t want their ILLUSION destroyed because they would have to CHANGE their WALK!”
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James 4:4 – Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
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1 John 2:15–17
15 eLove not the world, neither the things that are in the world. fIf any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, gthe lust of the flesh, and hthe lust of the eyes, and ithe pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And kthe world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth lthe will of God abideth for ever.
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Exposing the evils of this world will make you an enemy of many “professing” Christians because you are treading upon that which they truly love.
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Luke 14:26-27 King James Version (KJV)
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
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John 12:25 King James Version (KJV)
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
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Luke 14:26-27 King James Version (KJV)
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
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“What will be the end times, one-world religion?”
The one-world religion described in Revelation 17:1–18 as “the great harlot” will be part of the end-times scenario. The term harlot is used throughout the Old Testament as a metaphor for false religion. The actual identity and makeup of the religion has been debated for centuries and has resulted in a number of different views among Bible commentators and theologians. There are convincing arguments for the one world religion being Catholicism, Islam, the New Age movement, or some form of religion not even invented yet, and an internet search will produce many more possibilities and theories. There is no doubt that some sort of one-world religion under the false prophet will be a part of the end times, perhaps made up of a number of different religions, sects, and isms that are around today.
Revelation 17:1–18 gives us several characteristics of the one-world religion. The false religion will dominate all the “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” of the earth (Revelation 1b, 15), meaning that it will have universal authority, no doubt given by the Antichrist, who rules the world at that time. Verses 2–3 describe the harlot as committing adultery with the “kings of the earth,” referring to the false religion’s influence among the world’s rulers and influential people. The reference to being drunk with the wine of her adulteries may refer to those who are drunk with the power they receive from worshiping the false god of the false religion. Satan frequently ensnares those whose lust for power drives them away from the worship of the true and living God. The alliances forged by the false religion will unite church and state as never before.
Verse 6 describes the harlot as being “drunk with the blood of the saints” and the blood of those who testify of Jesus. Whether they will be martyred at the hand of the Antichrist or by being systematically starved, believers who are on the earth during the tribulation will experience the wrath of the harlot and her power source, the Antichrist. Those who oppose the worldwide religion will be killed, and those who refuse to worship the Antichrist by accepting his mark will be unable to buy and sell, thereby making survival very difficult (Revelation 13:16–17).
Eventually, the harlot will lose favor with the Antichrist, who will want to receive the world’s worship for himself. He will not share the adoration of the world with the prophets and priests of the false religion, no matter how obsequious or fawning they may be. Once the Antichrist gains the world’s amazed attention by his miraculous return from the dead (Revelation 13:3, 12, 14), he will turn on the false religious system and destroy it, establishing himself as God. The deception, Jesus tells us, will be so great that, if it were possible, even the elect would fall for it (Matthew 24:24).
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“What is the National Council of Churches?”
The National Council of Churches (NCC) is an organization dedicated to ecumenical cooperation among churches “of every Christian tradition.” From their official website: “Since 1950, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA has served as a leading voice of witness to the living Christ. The National Council of Churches unifies a diverse covenant community of 38 member communions—over 40 million individuals—100,000 congregations from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African-American, and Living Peace traditions—in a common commitment to advocate and represent God’s love and promise of unity in our public square. The National Council of Churches partners with secular and interfaith partners to advance a shared agenda of peace, progress, and positive change” (all quotes are from www.nationalcouncilofchurches.us, accessed 5/6/19)
Here is a list of the National Council of Churches member communions:
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Churches in the USA
Armenian Church of America, Eastern and Western Dioceses
Assyrian Church of the East
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Church of the Brethren
Community of Christ
Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America
Ecumenical Catholic Communion
The Episcopal Church (USA)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Hungarian Reformed Church in America
International Council of Community Churches
Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, American Diocese
Mar Thoma Church
Moravian Church in America, Northern and Southern Provinces
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
Orthodox Church in America
Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA
Polish National Catholic Church
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Reformed Church in America
Religious Society of Friends, Friends United Meeting
Religious Society of Friends, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America
The Swedenborgian Church of North America
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, Archdiocese of the Eastern United States
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
United Church of Christ
The United Methodist Church
The National Council of Churches understands this ecumenical cooperation as a fulfillment of Christ’s prayer for unity among His followers in John 17:21. They agree on things they can agree on and agree to disagree on things they can’t. “Through their covenant as the NCC, the member communions grow in understanding of each other’s traditions. They work to identify and fully claim those areas of belief they hold in common; they celebrate the diverse and unique gifts that each church brings to ecumenical life; and together they study issues that divide the churches. And they cooperate in many joint programs of education, advocacy, and service that address critically important needs and witness to our common faith in Jesus Christ.”
The National Council of Churches statement of faith is as follows: “The National Council of Churches is a community of Christian communions, which, in response to the gospel as revealed in the Scriptures, confess Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, as Savior and Lord.
“These communions covenant with one another to manifest ever more fully the unity of the Church. Relying upon the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the communions come together as the Council in common mission, serving in all creation to the glory of God.”
This unity finds primary expression through social action and “social justice.” The goals of the National Council of Churches are clearly delineated:
“In faith, responding to our Creator, we celebrate the full humanity of each woman, man, and child, all created in the divine image as individuals of infinite worth, by working for:
• Full civil, political and economic rights for women and men of all races.
• Abolition of forced labor, human trafficking, and the exploitation of children.
• Employment for all, at a family-sustaining living wage, with equal pay for comparable work.
• The rights of workers to organize, and to share in workplace decisions and productivity growth.
• Protection from dangerous working conditions, with time and benefits, to enable full family life.
• A system of criminal rehabilitation, based on restorative justice and an end to the death penalty.
“In the love incarnate in Jesus, despite the world’s sufferings and evils, we honor the deep connections within our human family and seek to awaken a new spirit of community, by working for:
• Abatement of hunger and poverty, and enactment of policies benefiting the most vulnerable.
• High-quality public education for all and universal, affordable and accessible healthcare.
• An effective program of social security during sickness, disability and old age.
• Tax and budget policies that reduce disparities between rich and poor, strengthen democracy, and provide greater opportunity for everyone within the common good.
• Just immigration policies that protect family unity, safeguard workers’ rights, require employer accountability, and foster international cooperation.
• Sustainable communities marked by affordable housing, access to good jobs, and public safety.
• Public service as a high vocation, with real limits on the power of private interests in politics.
“In hope sustained by the Holy Spirit, we pledge to be peacemakers in the world and stewards of God’s good creation, by working for:
• Adoption of simpler lifestyles for those who have enough; grace over greed in economic life.
• Access for all to clean air and water and healthy food, through wise care of land and technology.
• Sustainable use of earth’s resources, promoting alternative energy sources and public transportation with binding covenants to reduce global warming and protect populations most affected.
• Equitable global trade and aid that protects local economies, cultures, and livelihoods.
• Peacemaking through multilateral diplomacy rather than unilateral force, the abolition of torture, and a strengthening of the United Nations and the rule of international law.
• Nuclear disarmament and redirection of military spending to more peaceful and productive uses.
• Cooperation and dialogue for peace and environmental justice among the world’s religions.
“We—individual Christians and churches—commit ourselves to a culture of peace and freedom that embraces non-violence, nurtures character, treasures the environment, and builds community, rooted in a spirituality of inner growth with outward action. We make this commitment together—as members of Christ’s body, led by the one Spirit—trusting in the God who makes all things new.”
The National Council of Churches also seeks to strengthen understanding and relationships between Christians and those of other faiths as they work for the common good of humanity.
Certainly, the concepts of unity, justice, and cooperation are noble ideals. The problem is that the National Council of Churches focuses on relationships between people without addressing the key problem of sin and humanity’s relationship with God. The reason that people treat each other badly is that they are sinners at heart and need to be made new in Christ. No amount of organization and mutual understanding can change the human heart. The National Council of Churches allows for different ideas on how we are reconciled to God and suggests that Scripture is not clear on this issue or on what place the work of Christ may play in the lives of people in other religions. However, for the National Council of Churches these are secondary issues; the primary issue is showing love to other people regardless of their position or religious persuasion.
It cannot be denied that good works are biblical, but they are not the primary unifying factor for Christians. Paul emphasizes that the facts surrounding the gospel are primary: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–5). The books of Romans and Ephesians also emphasize this priority. The first half of each book is all about sin and how a person can be right with God through Jesus Christ. It is only after laying the doctrinal foundation that practical matters of interpersonal behavior are addressed. In Galatians, Paul condemns others who were claiming to preach Christ but were adding to the gospel (Galatians 1:6–9). He had no interest in unity with “Christians” who took a different view of the gospel, nor did he feel that his strong condemnation of “a different gospel” was in violation of Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers. In fact, Paul says, those who hold to a “different gospel” are not believers. Paul describes them as “false believers” (Galatians 2:4).
Within Christendom, there are two basic “approaches” to Christianity. Many churches and religious bodies believe that the primary message of Christianity deals with relationships between people. Love is the operative command. The National Council of Churches falls into this camp. The other basic approach sees that the primary focus of the Bible is the relationship between God and man. Therefore, evangelism and preaching the gospel take priority. Evangelical churches fall into this category. The churches of the National Council of Churches find unity in what they do. Evangelical churches find unity in what they believe; however, evangelical churches are increasingly emphasizing the need for practical good works as the logical outcome of their faith.
It is the sad but inevitable conclusion that many within Christendom who want to love their neighbors and make the world a better place are preaching a false gospel of human effort and are therefore not true believers. While some (though not all) of the goals of the National Council of Churches are noble, we cannot help but conclude that it is not a Christian organization in the biblical sense of the word.
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“What is the World Council of Churches (WCC)?”
The World Council of Churches is an international, interdenominational fellowship of Christian churches. Denominations within the WCC include mainline Protestant, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches. The WCC is intentionally ecumenical and inclusive.
The World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam in 1948; its current headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. The World Council of Churches has member churches in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 560 million individuals.
The stated aim of the World Council of Churches is “to pursue the goal of the visible unity of the Church. This involves a process of renewal and change in which member churches pray, worship, discuss and work together” (from the official WCC website). There is, in fact, much written about unity in Christ and the Holy Spirit in the council’s publications. However, it is a unity maintained at the expense of the absolute truth of the Word of God.
For example, the World Council of Churches accepts the ordination of women, approves the ordination of practicing homosexuals, and tolerates an amazing variety of heretical beliefs. At a “Re-Imagining” Conference in Minneapolis in 1993, the deputy general secretary of the WCC, Mercy Oduyoye, taught that we all have “spirit mothers” who avenge us and that the spirits of the dead surround us “in the rustling of trees, in the groaning woods, in the crying grass, in the moaning rocks.” The same conference also featured Kwok Pui-Lan, a WCC member who defined salvation as “bringing out what is within you” and quoted the Gnostic gospels. Pui-Lan justified her use of Gnostic texts by stating that, since it was men who decided the canon of the Bible, she was not obliged to accept it.
Historically, the World Council of Churches has been led by those who hold to liberal theology and who promote “progressive” social policies (such as abortion) and leftist political agendas.
Of course, not every member church of the WCC approves of the council’s stance on every issue. And no doubt there are many genuine believers within the WCC. However, the WCC’s willingness to tolerate departures from foundational doctrine is troubling. Yes, the Lord wants His church to be unified (John 17:22), but not at the expense of foundational doctrine. Truth wields the sword of division (Matthew 10:34).
Revelation 17 symbolically describes an end-times apostate religious system. The apostate members of the World Council of Churches will have no problem joining the false church of the end times, in the spirit of ecumenicalism and inclusion.
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Matthew 7:21-23 King James Version (KJV)
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
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Matthew 7:15-20 King James Version (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
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| Galatians 4:16 “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” |
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2 Thessalonians 2:11
“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”
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2 Corinthians 11:13-15 King James Version (KJV)
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
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Psa_104:4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
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Heb_1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
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2 Thessalonians 2:3-7 King James Version (KJV)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
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The Systems of Man Vs God’s Eternal Kingdom…Which Will You Choose?
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