Religious man has for some 2000 years proclaimed that the Lord and His Word are the bases for his faith. This heart-set is in perfect agreement with the Lord. However, the church’s faith is highly selective in that her faith involves only those Scriptural passages with which she agrees. All others are at best ignored and at worst rejected. This in spite of Jesus saying that “Man must live by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4). The Words by which man must live in order to inherit eternal life were recorded by His prophets and apostles. God used them to form the foundation of His New Covenant church (Eph. 2:20). Paul reminded Timothy that “… from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament–the only Scriptures available at that time), which are able to make you wise UNTO SALVATION through faith that is in Christ Jesus. ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in RIGHTEOUSNESS, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good WORK” (2 Tim. 3:15-17). These are the same Old and New Testament Words by which every man will be judged as to whether or not he WORKED (obeyed) them (Jn. 12:48). Question: Why has there been a wholesale rejection of God’s Word by those who call themselves His people, the same people who claim agree with Jesus that His Word is Truth (Jn. 17:17)?

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments God warns His saints about those who would attack His church by concentrating on her foundation–His Old and New Testament Words. Near the end of his ministry the Apostle Paul penned a most prophetic warning to the church about those who would deceive them relative to God’s Word: “I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not failed to declare to you all the counsel (Word) of God. Take heed therefore to yourselves (church leaders) and to all the flock (parishioners) … which He has purchased with His own blood. For I know that after my departing (death) shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things (Gal. 1:6-9) to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29). These words perfectly describe the rise of Catholicism and Protestantism. One need only check any phone book under the heading of “Churches” to see that Paul’s warning has gone unheeded by the bulk of professing Christendom. I will briefly summarize the history of church apostasy.

Following a century or so of piecemeal splintering of God’s church, a pack of “grievous wolves” attacked the flock and pulled off a religious coup. Calling itself the Universal (Catholic) Church, the group officially departed from the Lord and, due to the backing of the Roman Empire, soon became the dominant religious force throughout much of the known world. Years later a small number of people separated from the renegade church in protest of her departure from God’s Word. However, power-hungry men among the “protestants” did what power-hungry men always do–the began to accumulate followers. Eventually the “Protestant Revolution” morphed into a multi-bodied (denominational) morass that differed little from her religious mother in terms of beliefs and practices. Only in appearance and ritual can there be found any substantial differences between the two “churches,” each of which claims to be “the body of Christ sent forth to win the world to Him.” Using just enough of God’s Word to make her feel “Christian,” “the church” continues to lure in victims as the end approaches. God condemns both heads of this religious snake (1 Cor. 1:10,11). See the introduction to this website for a partial list of the heathen doctrines and customs embraced by the Counterfeit Church. Those and other Satanisms distinguish the devil’s two billion strong global church from God’s tiny remnant church which numbers at most in the thousands world-wide (Mat. 7:13,14).

The world is rapidly running out of time. As we witness the disintegration of Western civilization–formerly God’s light beacon of light to dark world–we are seeing the literal take-over of the entire globe by the prince of darkness as he entices man to spiritually, physically, politically and economically destroy himself through the rise of liberalism in both the religious and social realms. Look back a few years and note the drastic changes that have taken place on the world scene. Actions that would not have been tolerated twenty years ago are now commonplace. The standard for determining right and wrong–the Bible–is now a loosely-applied guide to be followed when it is expedient. Anyone who stands against these practices is shouted down. And who has led the way in rejecting the tried and true ways of the past? The Institutional Church has summarily rejected vast amounts of Biblical Truth in favor of Satan’s perverted version of right and wrong. The fact that the societies in which the global church resides have followed her into the spiritual abyss proves the age-old adage: “As goes the church, so goes the nation.” To be continued. L.J.