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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?

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.

Are we headed for an actual consolidation of religious forces?

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 1 another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit, and the bond of peace.

There is 1 body and 1 spirit, even as you are called in 1 hope of your calling, 1 Lord, 1 faith, 1 baptism, 1 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 1 Lord, 1 faith, 1 baptism.

I think of Jesus who prayed constantly to His Father that His disciples might be 1, that his church on earth might be 1, as he and his father were 1.

And yet there is so much confusion today.

It's perplexing to see this church crying out 1 thing and another church crying something else, this 1 disagreeing with that 1.

There is 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 are seeing an actual fulfillment of that prophecy on every hand.

There is confusion in the religious world.

It is like 1 little girl said when she was invited to go to Sunday school by another little girl.

She said, I am sorry I can't go with you to your church because my parents belong to a different abomination.

Now friends, why is it with 1 Bible and 1 Lord that we have so many different voices crying out in the world today?

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 1 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.

Well, that is 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.

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 is 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, verse 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.

Now that message is going out, friends, and it's going to ring throughout the world.

While truth is progressive, people, unfortunately, are not.

The majority of people simply are not progressive.

They are not willing to follow the truth as it leads.

They are not willing to walk in the light and go on to know the full truth that God has for them.

They are 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 is 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 crossroad store 1 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 am quoting from this paper article now.

Churchgoers were polled in a score of American cities.

Author Roger Rees 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 1 or 2 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 percent 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.

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 pole.

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.

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 is 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 1 thing, because some people err on this very point.

We are to give that reason with meekness and fear.

There are some people that are always going around arguing.

You will see them with a little cluster of people around them and they will always be arguing.

That is not the way God says we should give an answer for the hope that is in us.

We ought to do it with meekness and fear, not going around condemning people and pointing out as wrong.

We are to do it in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.

I think it is 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 are building on the solid rock, the rock of Christ Jesus and His truth, or whether we are 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?

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