<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

Joe Crews

Ecumenical Religion

The trend to greater centralized power in the federal government has already changed the lives of millions of Americans. Some political leaders believe that individual initiative will be curbed increasingly by government directives. Will ecumenical religion bring the same result for churches? More in a moment. Hello this is Joe Cruz on the Amazing Facts Broadcast, facts which affect you. Well the world today is swamped in a wave of ecumenical gestures and speeches. The religious news headlines are dominated by new concessions toward unity. For the first time in history, the Archbishop of Canterbury requested an audience with the Pope and representatives of the Lutheran Church have held formal discussions with the Roman Catholic Church. Now friends, what does it all mean? Are we headed for an actual consolidation of religious forces? If so, will it be a blessing or a curse? Let's see what the Bible says about unity in Ephesians 4 verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Now friends, I like the ringing sound of the unity in this scripture. God never intended that there should be many ways to heaven. He says there is just one Lord, one faith, one baptism. I think of Jesus who prayed constantly to His Father that His disciples might be one, that His church on earth might be one, as He and His Father were one. And yet there is so much confusion today. It's perplexing to see this church crying out one thing and another church crying something else, this one disagreeing with that one. How can a person tell what is right? There's so much confusion in the religious world today. Babylon is the word used in the Bible to describe the confusion that will exist in the religious world in the last days. And we're seeing an actual fulfillment of that prophecy on every hand. There's confusion in the religious world. It's like one little girl said when she was invited to go to Sunday school by another little girl. She said, I'm sorry, I can't go with you to your church because my parents belong to a different abomination. Now friends, why is it with one Bible and one Lord that we have so many different voices crying out in the world today? Well the answer is simply this, if men were only willing to follow in the light of truth, there would not be these many voices. If people, when the truth came to them, would simply be willing to step out and follow the light, there wouldn't be confusion, there wouldn't be many voices, Christianity would be united in speaking with one voice only. Now the Bible reveals to us that truth is progressive. In Proverbs 4, 18, the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Now when is that perfect day? Well that's when the Lord Jesus will be revealed in the clouds of heaven. And God says that the truth, the path of the just, is just as a light that shines more and more on the pathway until finally Jesus comes in a great blaze of glory. Now I know full well that the truth was corrupted and suppressed during the dark ages. I know about those many who had to flee back into the mountains to escape their persecutors. But they took the truth of the scriptures with them and preserved those scriptures. Then the Reformation came. Martin Luther was willing to step out and take his stand boldly and firmly for the truth. And the light has continued shining since that time. It's true that the church went down into the dark ages. But now truth has been coming back until today we live in the accumulated light of the ages. God says that His message is going to go in the last days with great power until the whole world is lightened with His glory. Revelation 18, 1 says, And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. I am so thankful that this world is not to remain in darkness. And I am thankful that His message is going to the ends of the world today. Now notice what the message will be. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people. Now you may remember this is talking about Babylon. And out of this confusion in the religious world God is calling His people. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Verse 4. Now that message is going out, friends, and it's going to ring throughout the world. The unfortunate thing is this. While truth is progressive, people, unfortunately, are not. The majority of people simply are not progressive. They're not willing to follow the truth as it leads. They're not willing to walk in the light and go on to know the full truth that God has for them. They're too willing to follow a leader, to follow some man, some church, or some preacher, and not Christ and His message of truth. Do you know that most people can't even give a reasonable answer for the hope that's in them? You ask, Why do you belong to a certain church? And they simply shrug their shoulders. Maybe they say it's because of some particular belief they have in their church. But when you ask them what the belief is, they can't even define that. You know, an old man was sitting by the pot-bellied stove in the crossroads store one day, and a preacher came in. And in the course of conversation, he asked, Say, what do you believe anyway? Well the old gentleman thought a minute, and then he said, Well, I'll tell you. I believe the same thing that the church believes. Well that's interesting, replied the minister. What does your church believe? Well that stumped the old fellow for a moment, but then he said, Well, the church believes just what I believe. And the next question, of course, was, Friend, what do you and the church believe? And he hardly knew what to answer. But after thinking for a moment, he said, Well, we believe the same thing. And that's about all some people can give when you ask them why they believe as they do. Listen to this interesting article taken from a local newspaper. It's entitled, Why I Belong, Churchgoers Tell. If a poll taken by the magazine Journal of Lifetime Living is correct, a lot of folks are a bit hazy as to why they belong to a certain church. Now I'm quoting from this paper article now. Churchgoers were polled in a score of American cities. Author Roger Reese says, The people were asked why they attended the church of their choice. As might be expected, as the reason most often cited, 62% of the people gave this answer, because of its particular beliefs. However, when asked to name one or two of the religious beliefs for which they said they preferred their church, they answered with the broadest generalities. Most people didn't even know just what their church stood for in point of specific doctrine. He says, Incidentally, among the various reasons cited for belonging to a certain church were these. 50% of the people said, I grew up in it. Others, My parents belong. My friends go there. It's right nearby. I like the ministers, because of its Sunday school facilities, to please my husband or wife. No other church is near. I like the building. Then the person writing this says, We suspect there may be some good material for sermons and some thinking by congregations on this poll. It makes a good sermon illustration anyway. Yeah, it's a sad thing, isn't it, friends? People are willing to hide behind the churches and say, Oh, I believe in this church because of its particular beliefs. It stands for the truth. And then you ask them what the truth is in that church, and they don't even know how to answer. Oh, I believe we ought to be able to give an answer for the hope that sent us, friends, don't you? The Bible says we should, in 1 Peter 3, 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Now there's a command that we ought to be able to answer when people ask us. When they say, What do you believe in your church? We ought to be able to answer from the Word of God. And I want you to notice one thing, because some people err on this very point. We're to give that reason with meekness and fear. There are some people that are always going around arguing. You'll see them with a little cluster of people around them, and they'll always be arguing. That's not the way God says we should give an answer for the hope that's in us. We ought to do it with meekness and fear, not going around condemning people and pointing out as wrong. We're to do it in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. I think it's time, my friends, to look at the foundations upon which we base our hope of eternal life. I think we ought to take a good look at the underpinnings to find out whether we're building on the solid rock, the rock of Christ Jesus and His truth, or whether we're on the sands of tradition. We ought to be able to tell. Now God says we must be able to give an answer for our beliefs. Now someone asks, How can I find out which is the true way to believe? And the answer to that is very simple. Make a list of the doctrines that Jesus taught, and then look for the church that teaches those same doctrines. Examine the churches. Examine their teachings. Don't look at the people. That's not fair in any church, because there are good and bad in every congregation. There are good people also in every church. For I read in the text here in Revelation 18, verse 4, Come out of her my people. So that means God has people in all those churches, even in Babylon. So there are good people in all churches, but there are also bad people, even in the best of churches. And it's not how many good people there are or how many bad people. I suppose you could tally it out and say that in this church 90% of the people are good and 10% bad. And then I suppose you could do just about any church and say, Well, I guess I found a good church because 92% of the people are good and only 8% of them are bad. But that is not the way to find the true church, because you will find in the best of churches those that are not living as they ought to live. Jesus said that this was so when He gave that parable of the wheat and tares. He said the wheat and tares will be growing together till the very end, the harvest, and then they'll be separated. He also said the kingdom of heaven was like a net that brought in fish, both good and bad. So you can't do it by looking at the people in a church. They may be imperfect people, but the teachings of that church ought to be true to the Word of God. Well, you say, Aren't all these churches, these many churches, and I think there are probably over 300 of them now, aren't they all roads leading to the same place after all? Well, let's turn to the Word of God and find out. Let's see if that's so. In John 14, 6, Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Now friends, there's just one way to the kingdom of God, not many. Remember Ephesians 4, 4 and 5, one body, one spirit, all right. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. The Bible doesn't recognize a dozen or a hundred or 250 or 500 different ways to heaven. There's just one way, and there was to be only one church. It was never intended that there be the disunity we see in the world today. In John 10, 16, Another sheep I have, Jesus said, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now there's the purpose of God, friends. That's the will of God for the world, that there be just one fold, one shepherd, not 500 different folds. Jesus said that the sheep will hear His voice and follow Him. So God's calling and shedding light on the pathway of this generation. The full light of truth is shining upon us today, and Jesus said, I'm calling my faithful sheep. I'm calling them out. I'm calling them into the one true fold. And Paul said, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And then, of course, that invitation of God in Revelation 18, Come out of her, my people, that ye receive not of her plagues, and be not partakers of her sins. So when you're in one of the churches that's teaching contrary to the commandments of God, friends, actually tramping on any of the commandments of God, you are a partaker of the sins of that church. These verses in Revelation make that very, very clear. Now somebody will ask, Well, how may I know which is the true church? And Dr. Milner said, There's just one inquiry to make, and namely, which is the true church? If we solve that one question, we'll answer every religious controversy that's ever been agitated. And I think we can all agree that that's true. You've been listening to a Joe Cruz classic produced by Amazing Facts Ministries. Call us right now for a free booklet called The Search for the True Church. Discover for yourself, using only biblical standards and not commonly misdirected traditions, how to find the church you've been looking for. I promise you will be challenged and deeply blessed at the same time. Call now, toll free, 877-JOECRUZ, that's 877-JOECRUZ, spelled C-R-E-W-S, and ask for the free booklet called The Search for the True Church. This free booklet is not for people who are comfortable with the status quo, but who earnestly search for truth and righteousness. Until next time, remember this amazing fact, Jesus loves you.

Back to Menu

Ecumenical Religion

Sponsor

Recorded

Sound Doctrine