How many times have I, and possibly some of you older people, heard a religious person lament that he/she misses “… that old time religion like we had back then.” Some will add that we need to hear some of that old time “… hell fire and brimstone preaching” again. Consensus among these people is that the combination is just what is needed to straighten out this sin-soaked world. This makes for a good sound- byte and it looks good on paper, but a close look at the messages preached and the doctrines put forth then and now are basically the same. The only difference is in manner of presentation and equipment used in presenting it.

Old time evangelists along with local fire-breathers held sway over the religious world for many years back in the hay day of Christianity when everyone, even the avowed irreligious, gave the Word of God at least verbal validity. Much like today, congregations, be they in the local church or at huge evangelical meetings, were so enamored with the personalities of the speakers, combined with the joy of hearing what they already knew (only louder and longer) that they failed to do what hundreds of millions fail to do today–CONDUCT A BIBLICAL TRUTH CHECK OF WHAT THEY WERE BEING TOLD, which God commands. Within professing Christendom there is a reason for mass rejection of God’s command to study His Word, check the fruit of the ministers, hold onto that which is good and reject everything and everyone else. The Catholic tradition of accepting without question anything and everything coming from the pulpit holds sway throughout Catholicism/Protestantism to this day. And if some Truth-seeker should have the temerity to seek out God’s Truth and bring it to the attention of church leadership, such a one is scolded at best and disfellowshiped at worst. This in spite of the fact that either reaction proves that the seeker is on the right track. See Persecution.

Preachers of yesteryear were very adept at bringing people “under conviction”–an action in which one would realize his spiritual condition and his need for a Savior. Such a one would then “walk the aisle,” perform a prescribed ritual, “make a public profession of faith,” “join the church,” “get baptized” and presto, the deal was sealed–instant salvation leading to life-long obedience to the doctrines set forth by whichever sect one had embraced. But there was one life-and-death problem–THE WALK TO THE AISLE THEY TOOK, THE FAITH THEY PROFESSED, THE SALVATION THEY RECEIVED, THE CHURCH THEY JOINED, THE BAPTISM THEY UNDERWENT AND THE LIFE THEY LED THEREAFTER WERE NOT BIBLICAL. Since the high-jacking of the church by what came to be known as Catholicism, little has changed in the institution which calls itself “the church.” The only real differences between the Old Time Religion and the New Time Religion are cosmetic. The foundations of professing Christendom in both eras are identical–both are grounded in heathenism; both stress man’s version of the Bible over God’s Word; both usher the unwitting God-seeker through the wide gate and along the broad way that leads to destruction (Mat. 7:13,14). See Bait and Switch. False prophets, in obedience to the spirit of Antichrist, preached a perverted gospel then and continue to do so today as this website reveals to the seeker of Truth. Those who refuse to seek out God’s Truth are operating under the power of Satan and are known Scripturally as “goats.”

We are warned about the spirit of Antichrist in, among other places, First John 2:18-29. In verse 18 we learn that within a generation of the founding of the Church of God, the spirit of Antichrist had already infiltrated her and was wreaking havoc. In verse 19 we learn that many people who had embraced the spirit of Antichrist were revealing their Satanic heartsets by leading church people to establish their own different brands of Christianity. Notice that “… none of them were of us”–the Body of Christ.

Paul wrote extensively about this problem. One of his most powerful statements was made in First Corinthians 1 where he warned the church about those who created divisions (denominations) within her. This, he stressed, was Satan’s attempt to separate his followers from Jesus Christ and His Body. See Denominations. Having proved successful in the Garden of Eden, the devil’s “divide and conquer” strategy has increased in effectiveness with the passage of time. Thanks to the spirit of Antichrist working with machine-life efficiency in religious man, there are today literally hundreds of denominations/divisions in the Counterfeit Church. With each new “improvement” to God’s inspired Word a new denomination/sect/faith/cult/church appears. As was the case anciently, each new religious group reveals the distinction between those who are “of us” and those who are of Satan.

In verses 20 and 21 Paul introduces us to those who comprise the “us” group John wrote to and about. “We/us” have an anointing from God so that we “… know all things concerning the Truth”–God’s unchanging word (Jn. 17:17). In verses 22 and 23 we are introduced to one of the ways a believer can determine who is operating under Antichrist power–examine other people’s belief concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus had recorded 13 times in the four gospels that He would be in the tomb exactly THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS. This was His “sign” that He was the Son of God. Yet the church rejects His only sign of Sonship and embraces the “sign” of Tammuz who supposedly was buried on Friday afternoon and raised on Sunday morning–one day and two nights. God calls “liars” and “antichrists” those who deny His sign, thereby denying both Himself and the Father. Such liars/antichrists have embraced Tammuz who was supposedly born on December 25 and who returned each year on that date to leave presents under a tree that the family had brought into the house and propped up with nails. This most prized church holiday is condemned by God in Jeremiah 10:1-5. God commands His people not to do for Him what the heathen do for their gods because they are an abomination to Him. The Institutional Church ignores His command to her peril.

In verses 24-28 we are told that the only defense against deceiving antichrists in the church is belief in and obedience to God’s Word. We are to “let” (our choice) His Word “abide” (remain) in us, thereby enabling us to abide in both the Father and the Son which, if continued to the end, will result in eternal life. In verse 29 we are told that God is righteous, and that in order to be righteous we must “practice righteousness,” which will prove that we are “born of Him”–converted (not to be confused with “born again”-see Born Again).

In summary, those people in the Institutional Church who operate in the spirit of Antichrist are readily identifiable–they are affiliated with either Catholicism/Protestantism or one of the other “isms” found throughout the world. It is only through God’s Word that God’s saints can identify Satan’s people and keep themselves separated from all others on a spiritual level. L.J.