Coming: One World Religion #3

Fred R. Coulter—July 16, 2011

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services. Everyone wants to know what is going to happen in the world? How are the things at the end-time going to work out. Some of them are going to some as such a shock, as we're going to cover today. Everybody wonders how can that be and how is that going to come about. As we covered in the first two of this series, there is a beast that looks like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon—the false prophet! Let's understand something: There are only four references to it: Rev. 13, 17, 16, 19. There are only two places that he is called thefalse prophet: Rev. 16, 19. But when we look at things, how many times does God have to say something in order for it to be true? Once! Once is plenty enough.

Let's see what's going to happen and let's understand, what I'm going to show you and speak to you about has been going for a long, long time—well over a hundred years. And I have right here in my hands, it is called World Scripture, A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts. This is the world Bible. When do you suppose it was first published? 1991! I gave sermons on this some time ago, years ago, when it first came out, but I haven't given any since then. But the development and the movement of the one-world religion is in high gear. It is very much alive and growing and you will be surprised how far it has gone.

So before we get there, let's come to Matthew 24. What have I said concerning it? I've said this: That when God fulfills the Scripture, it is fulfilled to the 'nth' degree—maximum plus, not minimum minus.

So Matthew 24:24: "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect…. [That is quite a statement when you understand it—isn't it? Yes, it is!] …Behold, I have foretold it to you" (vs 24-25). This also helps answer the question that Jesus asked, 'When the Son of man returns, will He find the faith on the earth?' That is the true faith:

1. faith through His Holy Spirit
2. faith in the Scriptures

Let's give an example of how God is fulfilling a Matt. 24 Scripture; v 14: "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come."

Think of all the vehicles that we have today for getting the Word out. Think of all of those, whether in harmony with what God wants, or in contention with what God wants. How many are mentioning the name of Christ. Remember what Jesus said: 'If they are not against us, they are on our part.' But the dividing line is coming and there's going to be choices made for all the churches of the world. And the churches of the world are being taken down very rapidly.

The first two that I did on Coming: World Religion was that on June 26, there was the Chrislam Day, that's where supposed-Christians, Muslim, a Jewish rabbi, a Hindu priest, a Buddha priest, and I think a Sikh priest as well, they all got together in Christian churches and read from their texts.

What I want you to do in this, I want you to take these Scriptures and think big, just like the one I read. We have the printed Bible, we have the digital Bible, we have it available to download. Randy did it right during services to answer a question. God is going to make it that no one is going to have any excuse anywhere concerning the Word of God.

What is up to the Churches of God is to get out there and really preach it. My prayer is that everyone would get right with God so He can use them to preach the Gospel. We're not in competition or hostile to any of them. We want all of them to do well, but we also want them to also treat the brethren the way that God instructs in His Word, and to preach the Gospel the way that God wants it preached. But I want you to think big beyond that. Remember the book that we just published, Lord, What Should I Do? showing the demise of Christianity of this world. Why is it coming down?

We've applied this (2-Cor. [transcriber's correction]) to the Churches of God and well we should apply it to the Churches of God. However, let's apply it to all the Christian churches that name the name of Christ. Because remember what Paul wrote in 2-Tim. 2, he says, 'Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from unrighteousness,' or iniquity.

It starts out in the Church of God and then it expands toward the end. There are cycles repeating this. We've all lived through one cycle of this, but I don't think we grasp what is happening out in the world with the Christian churches of the world and with all the other religions of the world. They may find Jesus too restrictive. They'll just have another Jesus. They have done this for years, for years, they have been changing, they have been re-defining, they have been eliminating, they have been making it easier. They have 'dumbed' everyone down so that they do not know Truth from error, right from wrong, good from evil, because there's so much compromise going on.

2-Corinthians 2:14: "But thanks be to God, Who always leads us triumphant in Christ, and manifests the fragrance of His knowledge through us in every place.... [not everyone likes the fragrance] ...For we are Christ's sweet perfume to God among those who are being saved... [salvation is not once, fait accompli, done. You are being saved!] ...and among those who are perishing; to those who are perishing, we are a stench of death unto death..." (vs 14-16).

That's why people don't like the Truth. But the Truth is what they have to hear. If they don't hear the Truth, they don't have a warning. And if we don't stand for the Truth, and if we don't preach the Truth, and if the Churches of God and the ministers of God do not preach the Truth—and teach the brethren to believe the Truth and live by the Truth, and to love God and serve God, keep His commandments the way that God wants—then what are we doing?

Verse 17: "For we are not like the many, who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ." This is why at the end-time we have the whole Bible. This is why, because they want to deceive even the elect, which is the true Church of God. The true Church of God is composed of those who have the Spirit of God! Some of those who have the Spirit of God have let it wane down so much that they need to be careful that they do not end up being like the five foolish virgins.

2-Corinthians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted." Now is the time for us not to be fainthearted, brethren. I tell you, that's very important. Here's how Paul did it, and this is recorded for us so we know what to do, and we know how to be on guard, and we know what to recognize as those things that are not right, though they're very sweet-sounding. Remember, Satan the devil promised Adam and Eve that 'you will be gods.' God told them, when you're ready. Satan said, 'Now!' That sound good?

Verse 2: "For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain, not walking in cunning craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully..." How do you handle the Word of God deceitfully? By making it say something it really doesn't say! By reading one verse and not another!

"But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (vs 3-4).

Can you think of two verses, one in Matthew and one in Luke, that are numbered 4:4? What does that say? 'You shall live by every Word of God.' So the true Christ says, 'Live by every Word of God.' The false Christ will come along and say, 'Well, as long as you have a religion, and as long as you're spiritual, you're okay.'

Let's also expand this out to all the Christian churches in the world that are Sunday-keepers. Because there are some Sunday-keeping churches that are not happy with what's going on. But they're also going to have to pay attention to the Word of God and God is going to have to call them to repentance, too, because if they don't change their ways, they're going to get swallowed up in this. What God is doing right now is creating the dividing line. We will see that the dividing line is getting more defined and sharper.

2-Corinthians 11:1: "I would that you might bear with me in a little nonsense; but indeed, do bear with me. For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God because I have espoused you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ…. [Not corrupted by the religions of this world. Not corrupted by their philosophies.] …But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (vs 1-3).

The simplicity in Christ is what? 'Obey My voice!' And speaking of words, what did Jesus say? Matt. 7, 'The one who hears My words and practices them, I will liken him to a man who built his house upon the rock. The one who hears My words and does not practice them will be likened to a man who builds his house on the ground with no foundation.' They both build beautiful edifices. But the one who thinks he's got it made, when the rains come and the wind blows it falls immediately. Those who are built on a rock, who are Christ's, will be able to endure.

But notice what they were doing there, v 4: "For indeed, if someone comes preaching another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel, which you did not accept, you put up with it as something good." That's exactly what they are doing with all the churches that have participated in the June 26 reading of the different texts from different religions on Chrislam Sunday.

Verse 13: "For such are false apostles... [Remember false Christs, false prophets. A prophet is anyone who claims to speak for God, whether it is the true God or a false god. Whether it is for the Lord God and Jesus Christ or whether it is for Baal.] ...deceitful workers who are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light" (vs 13-14).
Let's also understand something here, too. Rev. 12:9 tells us what? Satan is deceiving the whole world! That's going to come down to the dividing line for the few that are in the true Churches of God and the rest of world. What's going to happen to them? I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but notice the warning and the result of what's going to happen if they don't heed the warning.

2-Thessalonians 2:1: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present. Do not let anyonedeceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first, and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition" (vs 1-3).

That is not as some Churches of God have said, that they changed the doctrines within the Church of God. This is the apostasy and the rebellion against God by all the religions of the world—the height of the apostasy against God. Why will they believe it? He's going to come with all signs and lying wonders. We saw that, Rev. 13, calling fire down from heaven, raising the beast back to life.

Verse 10: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved." I just read to you what happens when you don't receive the love of the Truth, right here. We'll see some other things that are going to happen.

Let me read you a little bit of what they have done here. I won't read you much, but I'll read you some from the introduction to it. And, of course, what do they have putting this together? The leading religionists of the world, doctors—doctor doctors—from all the different religions.

World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (unification.net) Some of the chapters of the Table of Context.

Part I: Ultimate Reality and the Purpose of Human Existence

• Chapter 1: Ultimate Reality

Sound good? Doesn't everyone want to know why they're here? Yes, indeed!

• Chapter 2: Divine law, Truth, Cosmic Principle

So they work in 'truth.' Truth to them is a set of lies. Truth to us is the Word of God.

• Chapter 3: The Purpose of Life for the Individual
• Chapter Four: The Purpose of Life for Family and in Society
• Chapter Five: The Purpose of Life in the Natural World
• Chapter Six: Life Beyond Death and the Spiritual World

See how people are going to be sucked into this? Only three in ten believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Now someone comes along and says, 'Look, look at this. What's wrong with this? Isn't this nice? Let's get along with one another. Let's quit fighting and warring.'

Part II: Evil, Sin and the Human Fall
Part III: Salvation and the Savior
Part IV: The Religious Life

• Chapter 12: Responsibilities and Predestination
• Chapter 13: Self-cultivation and Spiritual Growth
• Chapter 14: Faith
• Chapter 15: Wisdom
• Chapter 16: Worship
• Chapter 17: Offering and Sacrifice
• Chapter 18: Self-Denial and Renunciation
• Chapter 19: Live for Others

Part V: Providence, Society and the Kingdom of Heaven

Isn't that a clever counterfeit? Here's the foreword. Let me read you a little bit of the foreword and this sounds so good. We're living in a world that is a one-world thing—right? Isn't that what the book of Revelation talks about? All nations, the whole world, all peoples and languages, kindred and tongues—right? Yes!

Here's the foreword (by Dr. Ninian Smart) and see how nice this sounds, especially for those who have rejected the true Christ. Especially for those who have been deceived by the false teachings in Christianity and have given up on them and are willing to accept New Ageism

It is obvious that as we move into a world civilization, in which so many cultures and spiritual traditions will impinge on one another, it is vital for us all to have an understanding of one another. This does not necessarily mean agreement—how could it given the diversity of human values evident in the world? But it can mean some growing convergence and complementarity between the faiths, large and small, of our shrinking planet. It is therefore good to have sources of comparison between traditions: and one obvious place to look is in the scriptures and sacred writings of the various cultures.

That's what they have done. They have pulled it together. Now here's another one:

All the great religions of the world revere sacred scriptures. (footnote #116 World Scripture, supra note 37, at xiii)

Then it lists all of the different scriptures that they have. And so what do you have in here? You have all the different religions—laws, codes, readings, that agree with one another.

Let me read you a little bit about the organization behind this, which is the International Religious Foundation. You ever heard of that? That's a huge organization:

The United Communities of Spirit: A Global Interfaith Initiative(origin.org/ucs/home.cfm)

Inner Spirit is a collaborative inter-faith networking system interconnecting with many groups and organizations working for cultural understanding in a better world.

As of Wednesday, July 13, the Inter Spirit Network includes 57,242 members, 336 groups, 443 subgroups, 3,690 organizations. We anticipate the emergence of new relationships and projects based on our inner-spirit connection.

That is the spirit of Satan the devil. Let's tie that in with Ephesians 2, because Satan is out there as the prince of the power of the air. That spirit, as it says here:

Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked in times past according to the course of this world... [that's what this is, the religions of the world] ...according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience; among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world" (vs 1-3).

They have hundreds of websites. They have thousands of cooperation-spheres. Yesterday I went into a Whole Foods, and outside there was man collecting money for a cooperative organization right in Pasadena and that's part of this worldwide one-religion. I'll just read them quickly:

• Gather the Women
• Global Residence Network
• Residence Project
• NAIN (North American Interfaith Network)
• National Association of Ecumenical and Interfaith Staff
• Southern California Interfaith Network
• Global Network
• Council for a Parliament of World's Religion

How many have heard of the Parliament of World's Religions? When did that first come to the United States? 1893! They have been at this 100 years. I'm going to read to you some from the Parliament of World's Religions, which is another organization, you see.

• Visions of Peace Among Religions
• World Interfaith Congress
• Interfaith Voices of Peace and Justice
• Conscious Evolution Network

and that's right in Santa Barbara.

• The Wheel of Religion

Now then, it states all about what they're doing here. What it is, they're fostering world peace, everyone get along and go along together. It is an amazing thing. So here is the Parliament of World's Religions, which in 1993 they had their 100th anniversary. They've been meeting every five years since then. The last country they met in was in Australia. They have thousands of participants, thousands of ministers from the so-called Christian churches. So here's their mission:

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (www.parliamentofreligions.org)

Mission: The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Isn't that something? I'm getting material on the vision of the Lady of Fatima, because that's the key to bring the Muslims and Christians together. That will be a great, great accomplishment. Remember how Satan works.

• thesis—the current status
• anti-thesis—challenges to it
• synthesis—to blend together

And every time you get a synthesis, you come back and that becomes the new thesis and you get an anti-thesis and then you get a new synthesis and the process goes over and over and over until everyone is deceived.

Our Vision: The vision of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions is of a just, peaceful and sustainable world in which:

• Religious and spiritual communities live in harmony and contribute to a better world from their riches of wisdom and compassion
• Religious and cultural fears and hatreds are replaced with understanding and respect
• People everywhere come to know and care for their neighbors
• The richness of human and religious diversity is woven into the fabric of communal, civil, societal and global life

Now tie that all in with what we've covered—a coming world banking system, out of which will come a world government. And in order to get everyone to live together peacefully, you've got to have the religions of the world melded into one. That is the great apostasy of 2-Thessalonians 2.

• The world's most powerful and influential institutions move beyond narrow self-interest to realize common good
• The earth and all life are cherished, protected, healed and restored
• All people commit to living out their highest values and aspirations.

and they are committed to promote inter-religious harmony rather than unity. The 'daughters' come home and they get along with 'mother' on an adult basis. There are other things that they have here. Let's see what else I have. Here it talks about the Parliament of World Religions down in Australia. It was held in a huge convention center in Melbourne, Australia.

The Parliament of the World's Religions 2009 by Kusumita Pedersen (interreligiousinsight.org/January 2010/Jan10pedersen.pdf)

…The huge lobby of the Convention Center was alive with Chinese Buddhist drumming, an auspicious lion-dog deity from Bali called the World Peace Barong, dancers and chanters, groups of people in conversation, announcements of all kinds hung up or piled on tables, snack bars, and several information stations including the Council Hub. At the Hub, Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions were on duty to meet a steady stream of visitors and inquirers, sign people up for PeaceNext, the Council's new social networking site, talk about CPWR, and enjoy being together informally. Almost six thousand people from over two hundred religious traditions and sub-traditions gathered from all over the world for what some said was "The best Parliament ever."

Let me read another one. Here they have all the prayers for peace from all the different religions.

Actions for Interfaith Solidarity
Ideas to counter hostility toward Muslims in North America and beyond
(uri.org/files/resource_files/Actions)

Put out by CAIR, the Council of American-Islamic Relations. It shows everything that they are doing there.

Let me read another. In Tulsa, Oklahoma a chief of police was ordered to attend a mosque meeting. He refused and was demoted.

URI—United Religions Initiative: Let me tell you about this. These things are all interconnected. They are working with all churches trying to get as many as possible to sign up and cooperate, but because they don't know their Bibles, because they do not understand the Truth, they are all going to be merged into this one great religion, which will be diversity—unity through diversity—haven't you heard of that? Yes, indeed! This is separate from the Parliament of World's Religions.

URI—United Religion Initiative
(uri.org/about_uri)

URI (United Religions Initiative) is an internationally recognized interfaith network active in 78 countries with its global office in San Francisco, California. We cultivate and connect grassroots change-makers across religious, cultural and geographic boundaries, harnessing their collective power to take on religiously motivated violence and social, economic and environmental crises that destabilize regions and contribute to poverty.

Here's their goal:

As the new teachings are combined with new adaptations of older teachings, a new synthesis can take place...

What did I just say? Thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis!

...We do need a global ethic that increasingly gets the approval of the world's peoples so that there can be once again reliable guidance for what is ethical and what is not.

Israel was to do that in bringing the laws of God to the world. The twelve tribes of Israel were to do that. They failed.

A new understanding of spirituality is also needed.

How do you worship Satan? Now Randy Vild just got done doing the segment I did on Church at Home concerning Satan the Devil #8. {if you're online look that up.} You will see this generation has been prepared for it—

• by the terrible education they've been given
• by the atheistic teachings they have been given
• by the satanic teachings that they have been given
• all of the occult spirituality that comes through all of their
  • movies
  • games
  • activities
  • everything that they talk about and think about

—plus the degeneration in their sexual values. This generation has been set up to really take the fall.

…reliable in our understanding of what is called god, spirit, oneness, or by any other name or no name.

You ever heard of the unknown God?

These take time in an emerging democracy so that we cannot expect that everyone will have the same understanding or the same use in terminology. When we finally can accept the fact that not everyone needs to believe in the same way or follow the same path, then we will have discovered the meaning of faith and democracy and able to communicate to others.

Remember the book that came out years ago, I'm Okay, You're Okay. What has the 'High Priestess' Oprah, preached? New-age religion. 'If it feels good to you, do it. If you think it's right, it's right.' And she rejected God when she read the Ten Commandments and it said that He was a jealous God. Here's part of their charter. I think that this will become very interesting.

The idea for URI came to California Episcopal Bishop William Swing in 1993, after an invitation by the United Nations to host a large interfaith service in San Francisco...

I think we have that on a VHS. I don't know if we have it converted to a DVD yet. But they had that in 1993.

...marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. He asked himself, "If the nations of the world are working together for peace through the UN, then where are the world's religions?

Since then it has grown to a very large network and organization. See what else we have. I think that's about all we have.

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Now Randy with his Smartphone, checked out the latest Harry Potter movie, which started at midnight, fitting day for the power of darkness. People dressed up as witches, evil people, and the world is prepared for open-Satan worship. That's what it's coming to. Remember Rev. 13 says, 'They worshipped the dragon.' Yes, indeed! Where did that start? We're actually going way back in time. Who was the first one to replace God, this side of the Flood? Nimrod! And what did he bring in? He brought in a totalitarian dictatorship! He was the first beast this side of the Flood.

And what did they have? They had an all-inclusive pagan religion—correct? They were technologically so advanced, even at that point after the Flood, that they were building the Tower of Babel and God came down to see what they were doing. What did He say? He said, 'Now that they begin to do this, nothing that they imagine to do cannot be done. They can do it. They can do whatever they imagine to do.' Right now, we're right back into the same place—aren't we?

And don't you hear that all the time? 'What men imagine to do, they can do.' Who would have thought that we could have phones like this? Mention something during service and you sit there, press some buttons—and here it is right here. But remember, you can be the smartest person in the world with all of that technology, but if you don't have it here [in your mind] with God's way—and remember when the electricity goes off or your battery goes dead, you just lost your brains.

Here's where we are. Here's what's happening in the world. At the same time the morals of the world go down in preparation for worshiping Satan the devil and the Harry Potter thing is not going to end with this last movie. Guess how much they are going to take in the first week of the last Harry Potter movie? Over a billion dollars!

And they're all set up for it. As I mentioned when I went to the first Star Wars with all the kids. I said, 'This is nothing but satanism.' Ah, Dad! But was it? Yes! Is it still going on? Yes! And even down here in the auditorium, after people saw that they were going through the auditorium and saying, 'Let the force be with you.' How about the nice little movie, Mary Poppins, the nice little witch! That's how Satan gets everybody involved.

But here's what they're doing. Come to Isaiah 5:18. Now there are a total of seven woes here to people who go against God. I won't go through the first two because I want to concentrate on the last five here. Then we will see something that the world is going to be confronted with, just like Israel was confronted with it. And, brethren, that's going to involve us. Like I mentioned, the dividing line is here. It is now. And people are going to have to decide:

• What are they going to do?
• Where are they going to go?
• Who are they going to believe?

And unless all the Churches of God are prepared to really preach the Truth, and to really call things as they really are, then God is going to have a lot of judgment against us and it isn't going to be pretty. Think of all the judgment that has been upon us already. Everything that the Church worked for

• is gone because of sin
• is gone because of compromise
• is gone because of politics
• is gone because of handling the Word of God deceitfully

We hope that all the Churches of God can recover from that. That's our prayer, but we need to understand what happened. No one can go against God, especially the Churches of God and think that they can get away with it. Isn't going to happen.

Isaiah 5:18: "Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin with cart ropes; Who say, 'Let Him hurry... [Let God hurry. 'Come on, God, show Yourself! Come on, God!] ...and hasten His work, so that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know!'" (vs 18-19). But when we tell it to them, they don't want it—do they? No, they don't!

Verse 20: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil... [That's what they're doing with this. 'All the religions of the world are good.' No, they're not, they're all Satan-derived, straight out of the cauldron of Babylon!] ...who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (vs 20-21). 'Oh, we can get along. Aren't we really nice? Let's keep our diversity, but in unity. Let's all collectively work for the good.' And that is the deception that is coming upon the whole world.

Verse 22: "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.... [Think of that spiritually, to mingle all the religions of the world into one mosaic of a satanic concoction to drink.] ...Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!" (vs 22-23). They've done that. They've caused a lot of people to stumble and fall. You ought to read some of the letters that I get and some of the emails that I get of the experiences that people have gone through in the Churches of God. Brethren, it's pitiful. It is pitiful!

Verse 24: "Therefore... [Here's what's going to happen.] ...as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame burns up the chaff; their root shall be like rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up like dust because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel." And that's what they're doing.

They're challenging God: Where are You? Where are Your promises? Well, when that sixth seal opens, Christ is going to answer—BAM! 'Here I am. You want to fight Me?'

Now, let's come back here to 1-Kings 18[corrected], because just as the challenge was given to the children of Israel, so the challenge has got to be given to the world, brethren. We need to ask God to help all of His churches, bring every one of them to the understanding that they need to have to preach the Gospel that has been given to them to preach. And to do so in strength, in Truth, in the way that God wants.

You know what happened here. The drought came for three and half years and God hid Elijah away for three and a half years. He stayed with a gentile woman in the city of Sidon and her son. They lived off a cruet of oil and flour for three and half years. Then God says, 'Okay, it's time to go show yourself to Ahab.' So he did.

1-Kings 18:17: "And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, 'Are you he that troubles Israel?'.... ['You're the one who's causing the problems.'] ...And he answered, 'I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed Baalim'" (vs 17-18). We'll have a lot to say about Baalim and the prophets of Baal, because what is happening with this united religion thing that's coming around the world, that's coming all back to Baalism again.

"'Now therefore, send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.' Then Ahab sent to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together to mount Carmel" (vs 19-20).

Verse 21: "And Elijah came to all the people and said... [And here's what he said, and this is what we're going to have to preach, right here:] ...How long will you vacillate between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him' And the people did not answer him a word."

You know what happened. Elijah said, 'Okay, since you are many, all the prophets of Baal, you go first. You set up your offering. You get it all ready and all of you call on Baal.' They did it from morning till noon, couldn't wake him up. So, Elijah got up and said, 'Well, maybe he's on a trip. Maybe he's sleeping, so call out a little louder.' They started cutting themselves and bleeding the blood on the ground, jumping up and down on the altar. 'Baal, hear us. Baal, hear us.'

That's one song I don't like to hear in Elijah by Mendelssohn, because the song is real tricky. It goes like this, 'Hear us, O Baal.' It's really something. When I listened to that whole thing through, it took me three days to get that out of my mind, so I don't want to get it back in there again.

After it was all done, about the time of Elijah's oblation, he said, 'All right. We'll set up an altar for the Lord.' Set it up with whole stones, put the wood upon it, doused it with water three times to where the water came down, ran in the trenches. Then Elijah prayed.

I want you to time this prayer. If you have faith, if we have faith, and we ask God in faith, it's not a matter of great length of time in praying. It's a matter: Do we believe? Do we trust in God? Notice what he said here. Then they went through the whole thing and they tried.

Verse30: "And Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me.' And all the people came near him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. And Elijah took twelve stones..." (vs 30-31). He set it up, built the altar, arranged the wood, put the water on three times.

Here is his prayer, v 36: "Now, it came to pass at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their heart back again'" (vs 36-37).

How long is that prayer? Twenty seconds? Thirty seconds? I'm not saying reduce your prayers to that every day, but if you believe, it doesn't take hours in dancing, and shouting, and screaming, and bloodletting. No!

Here's how God answered, v 38: "Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw, they fell on their faces. And they said, 'The LORD, He is the God! The LORD, He is the God!'" (vs 38-39).

There's a dividing line. In the New Testament the dividing line is now with the Word of God. Let's come to 1-John 4, and we will catch the significance of this and how important it is for us today. Because of all the people going out saying, 'Here's the way to God, here's the way to God. Let's all be together and be good people. Let's quit fighting and warring one another.' And after all the troubles and difficulties we've gone through, everyone's going to say, 'Well, isn't that good? Why are you against that? Why are you against having peace among everyone?' It's peace under the auspices of Satan the devil and not peace under God. We look for a kingdom that is coming, not one here on earth.

1-John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits... [That's what we're doing with this. Does it agree with the Word of God or not?] ...because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Now they're multiplied. There are thousands, ten thousands, there are millions of false prophets around the world.

Verse 2: "By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." That means, has come in the flesh the way the Bible describes that He came in the flesh. A lot of people say, 'Well, I believe that Jesus came in the flesh and He's the Son of God.' But they don't believe the message that He brought and they don't believe what God requires for them to do.

Verse 3: "…And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard was to come, and even now is already in the world" (v 3). Look at what it is. We are coming to the whole world worshiping Satan and it's going to be thought of as a wonderful and grand and glorious thing.

A little sidebar: Remember what I've talked about with Glenn Beck, how he was warning about the financial things and how I said, 'Beware of his religion.' Well, he's promoting harmony among all religions. So guess where he is eventually going to go? He's right now in Israel, but he's going to go to promote religions to work together. Always remember this: It's not how you start with speaking some Truth, it's whether you speak all the Truth and whether you live by it and how you finish! Always keep that in mind.

Verse 4: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He Who is in you than the one who is in the world." Never forget that. Brethren, I just want to tell you something. We do not have to be afraid of the evil forces of this world, because if we are on God's side, we have greater strength than they do! That's something we really need to grasp and understand.

Verse 6: "We are of God; the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not of God does not listen to us. By this means we know the Spirit of the Truth and the spirit of the deception." And the spirit of deception comes from Satan the devil and he's going to come and make it look grand and loving and wonderful and solutions to the world. It's going to be back to old Baalism, but there it is. That is how we know. That's why we need

• the Spirit of God
• the Word of God
• the Truth of God

with everything that we do, brethren.

Come back here to Jeremiah 23 because we're going to see this again with the modern Baalism, 'worship the ultimate reality' and for the world who is the ultimate reality? Satan the devil, because he's the 'god of this world.' And what is his purpose? He will lie to you! His purpose is that you be absorbed into the spiritual reality that he presents you.

Jeremiah 23:10, this is quite a section of Scripture here: "For the land is full of adulterers.…" Isn't that true today? How many have ever watched CNBC or MSNBC where they have the fellow who finds all of the predators that are online. And even some of them know that they're subject to being trapped and they still go. And every one of them says, 'Well, I knew it was wrong.' So they know right from wrong—right? But they are given to sexual predatory practices because of the way of this world.

Talked to a man the other day and I think on the last DVD for Church at Home we had Obsessed With Sex, Parts 1-9 and he said, 'Man, you sure laid on the line with them.' He said, 'There are going to be people who don't want to hear it.' I said, 'Yes, but there will be people who want to hear it. People that don't want to hear it, that's up to them. But those who do want to hear it, maybe God will call them.' But there has to be that dividing line.

If we go out to try and witness to new people, and we bring a love song and dance that's nothing but marshmallow and puffiness and fuzziness, it isn't going to convict them. God wants people convicted of Truth, convicted of right and wrong. He doesn't want somebody, 'Oh, well, that's a nice message. I agree. Those were a lot of pretty words.' God says, 'Repent!' Remember, they hated Jesus.

Verse 10: "…Because of swearing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried... [we could add burned up] ...and their course is evil, and they wield power unjustly.... [Sound like the governments of this world, the churches of this world? Yes, indeed!] ...'For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yea, in My house I have found their evil,' says the LORD" (vs 10-11).

That's why the Protestant churches are going down. They have not preached the Truth. Let me tell you about 1893, you can read it in Appendix N in the Faithful Version, Rome's Challenge to the Protestants. In 1893 that was right at the height of Westcott and Hort changing the New Testament. That was right at the time of the challenge of the Protestants to close down the World's Fair, I believe it was in Chicago. The Seventh Day Adventists sued that Sunday was not the Lord's Day and that it shouldn't be shut down. And they won the suit. In 1893, that's when Rome's Challenge to the Protestants was written. You need to mark and understand, there are certain things in history that take place that God causes to be done and from that point God makes His judgment.

You read Rome's Challenge. It was every Sabbath in a row for four Sabbaths that that was published in the Baltimore Mirror written by Cardinal Gibbons saying to the Protestants, 'You are really Catholics, because you don't keep the Scripture and you don't keep the Sabbath and you are on a suicide mission because God says if you take His word and you don't live by it, then you are doomed.' And he said, 'Take the better course, quit being hypocrites and come wholly on Catholic ground, because the Roman Catholic Church in all of its arrogance is going to rise against you at a time you don't think of. 'And that has happened.

The Protestants have been destroyed from within through corruption, sexual morals, through the destruction of the Church of England, that the Catholics have been working to destroy for 500 years. They are destroying the Episcopal Church. They are destroying every Christian church in the world through infiltration and false doctrine and even the Southern Baptists. And I said years ago, the day is going to come when the Southern Baptists are going to have to choose the Truth or not and sure enough, from within, there was a false prophet who became one of their leading theologians. He worked his way up in the Southern Baptist conference down in the southeast of the United States. I forget his name, but I mentioned it on one of the other ones there.

After 27 years, when he had the reign of power, then he brings our all of the false doctrine and denying Christ, and denying salvation. So, this is a big deal that's happening, brethren, and here it is right here.

Verse 12: "'So their way shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall in their way; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their judgment,' says the LORD.

Verse 20: "The anger of the LORD shall not return, until He has executed and until He has performed the purposes of His heart in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly." Are we living in the latter days? Yes, indeed! We don't know how long we have, but let me tell you something. However long we have is still a short time compared to how much time has gone on since Christ has been here—correct?

And if we aren't zealous, and if we're not doing what God wants us to do, woe to us, because judgment is always upon the house of God.

• we can't hide from God
• we can't manipulate things like the world is
• we can't become like the world

—because they are going to be deceived. This is really down to things here.

Verse 21: "'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words... [I've read this verse quite a few times and it's true. Anyone who preaches the Truth of God as it is, that is the Word of God.] ...caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings'" (vs 21-22).

God would have recognized that, but now they're all being rejected. People go into those churches and say, 'Where is God? Where is the difference? We have the same number of addicts, we have the same number of alcoholics, we have the same number of pedophiles within this church group. How are we different from the world?' What are we going to do? Let's not become like them!

God says, v 23: "'Am I a God Who is near,' says the LORD, 'and not a God afar off?.... [Yes, He's near, close as your knees.] ...Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?' says the LORD. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' says the LORD. 'I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed" (vs 23-25). That includes everything that I have read to you today, because they come to pretend to show a god that can bring this world together and it's not Jesus Christ and God the Father. They are eliminating Them. So they are all prophets of Baal.

Verse 26: "'How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart? They scheme to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams...'" (vs 25-27). Remember what Jesus said, 'There shall be false Christs and false prophets that shall, if possible, even deceive the elect.' And look around. How many people were with us that we thought were part of the elect? Where are they? What has happened to them? Brethren, pray for them!

Remember this: As long as there's life, there's hope! They can be like the prodigal son coming home and when they come home, come back to God, then they better get their lives squared around the right way. We don't want to castigate those people and say, 'You've committed the unpardonable sin.' We don't know, but ask that through all the events that are transpiring God would prick their hearts and prick their minds that they would come back and seek God, that they can be brought back. God is in the redemption business. They can be redeemed.

Verse 28: "'The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully.…'" That's what has to be, brethren. That's one of the motivating factors as to why we have the Bible.

Seeing all of this go on in the '90s and there we were just a very small group. At that time Dr. Dorothy was still alive and I would talk to him almost every day on the phone and we would go through sections of the New Testament and the Greek. And he said, 'Fred, translate. Fred, translate.' And so I did. When I saw the homosexual Bible coming out, when I saw the NIV, when I saw the TNIV, when I saw this thing in 1995. I said, 'If we don't handle the Word of God faithfully and if we don't teach the Word of God faithfully, and if what God has taught me and let me learn, and I know about the Word of God, if I don't handle the Word of God faithfully, where we all be? We were just a small group at that time, about twelve people. That was it.

With the help of Michael Heiss, we've got the whole Bible because he brought the expertise that we needed to do the Old Testament. I didn't have enough knowledge of Hebrew to do it. We're very thankful continuously for what Mike did. And as he said in one of his sermons that he gave here of all the studies that he had in going to University of Judaica and the Hebrew Union College, he wondered when he would use that knowledge. Now he has, we've got it right here.

Brethren, I think if we look at all the translations that are in the world today, this one stands head and shoulder above them all for the Truth. Not that it's perfect. God never lets a man do anything perfect, but He lets it be done in a manner of the highest quality and inspiration that it will preach the Word in Truth.

Let's go on here. That's why we hold it faithfully. Now here's what's going to happen, here's what's going to happen in the world. You want these ministers who are supposed to be preaching the Gospel, supposed to be preaching about Christ, if they don't do it, here's what's going to happen.
Verse 29: "'Is not My Word like a fire?' says the LORD; 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?.... [These men are not going to prosper. This thing is not going to work. It may prosper at first, because there's prosperity and there's joy in sin for the time being until the penalty comes.] ...Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets who steal My words each one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, "He says," when I did not say. Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies and by their wantonness. Yet I did not send them nor command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,' says the LORD" (vs 29-32).

That's what's happening in the world. That's where we are, and it's going to come to the fore even more. Brethren, I'm going to probably give one more sermon on this, Coming: World Religion, but let's go back and review Rev. 13 and see that it is coming and that the world is going to accept it.

• They have rejected the true Christ
• They have rejected the true God
• They have rejected the Bible

And whenever you say the law is abolished, you reject Christ; you reject the Bible. Whenever you do a mistranslation, whenever you take something out of the Bible, or add something to the Bible, you are rejecting God!

Revelation 13:11: "And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon; and he exercises all the authority of the first beast before him; and he causes the earth... [This is going to a worldwide thing, a global thing, covering the whole earth, all nations.] ...and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performs great wonders... [as Jesus said] ...so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet was alive" (vs 11-14).

So think about all the instant communication and think about all the things that are taking place and what we need to do!

Scriptural References:

1. Matthew 24:24-25, 14
2. 2-Corinthians 2:14-17
3. 2-Corinthians 4:1-4
4. 2-Corinthians 11:1-4, 13-14
5. 2-Thessalonians 2:1-3, 10
6. Ephesians 2:1-3
7. Isaiah 5:18-24
8. 1-Kings 18:17-21, 30-31, 36-39
9. 1-John 4: 1-4, 6
10. Jeremiah 23:10-12, 20-32
11. Revelation 13:11-14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 17; 16; 19
• 2-Timothy 2
• Matthew 4:4
• Luke 4:4
• Matthew 7
• Revelation 12:9

Also referenced:

Sermon Series: Coming: One World Religion #1-2

Church at Home:

• Satan the Devil #8
• Obsessed With Sex #s 1-9

Books:

• World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts by Andrew Wilson
• Lord, What Should I Do? by Fred R. Coulter
• I'm Okay, You're Okay by Thomas A. Harris

Articles:

• World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (unification.net)
• Foreword by Dr. Ninian Smart
• United Communities of Spirit: A Global Interfaith Initiative (origin.org/ucs/home/cfm)
• Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (parliamentofreligions.org)
• The Parliament of the World's Religions 2009 by Kusumita Pedersen

(interreligiousinsight.org/January 2010pedersen.pdf)

• Actions for Interfaith Solidarity (uri.org/files/resource_files/Actions)
• United Religious Initiative (uri.org)

Appendix N The Holy Bible in Its Original Order—Rome's Challenge to the Protestants

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 7-25-11
Formatted: b0-7-26-11