Professing Evangelicals Are Assisting the Pope in His Agenda to Reverse the Reformation
On July 16th, Pope Francis will be calling for unity among all Christians at an ecumenical prayer rally in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands of Christians will hear his video message along with messages from evangelical leaders Ronnie Floyd, Ravi Zacharias, Luis Palau, Josh McDowell, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, and others. Organizers of the event are attempting to gather one million Christians and Catholics in unified prayer and worship with a goal to bring unity to all who “love Jesus.” The event, called Together 2016, is about laying aside what divides us to lift up Jesus who unites us.
Nick Hall, the founder of PULSE, who came up with the idea for Together 2016, said adding the Pope to the lineup is the best news yet. He said, “We are humbled and honored by his involvement and are eager to share his message with the crowd that gathers. That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.” While some may admire Hall’s zeal, it is clearly not based on knowledge. For him to refer to a wolf in sheep’s clothing as “His Holiness” demonstrates his lack of knowledge of God’s Word. God alone is holy! Anyone who does not know Scripture cannot discern between holiness and depravity or between true and false prophets.
The evangelicals who will speak with the pope need to know that the Lord Jesus did not come to bring peace on earth but rather division (Luke 12:51). His Gospel has always divided believers from unbelievers. The Lord Jesus said He is the door that must be entered for salvation (John 10:9). Those words caused division among the people who heard them (John 10:19). Clearly, those who have been sanctified by the Gospel must avoid uniting with those who embrace another gospel and have deserted Christ (Gal. 1:6-9).
The evangelical leaders scheduled to speak with the false prophet of Rome either do not know the exclusivity of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, or they do not know the false and fatal gospel of Catholicism; or perhaps they know, but chose to be disobedient to Scripture. God’s Word gives us a clear command: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (2 Cor. 6:14-16). Evangelicals who worship God in Spirit and truth must have no agreement with Catholics who worship idols, relics and a false Christ. To do so would be seeking to please men over God (Gal. 1:10).
The evangelical leaders who are planning to stand with the Pope will betray the Gospel, the Reformation, and all those martyred by Rome. It was the Word of God proclaimed by the Reformers that broke the tyrannical hold of the popes over the visible church. Now these evangelicals are aiding and abetting the Pope’s attempt to reverse the Reformation. The truths that set the Reformers free from religious bondage and deception are being suppressed or ignored.
It is very disturbing to see evangelical leaders cooperating with the enemies of Christ and His Gospel. The apostate church of Rome has condemned Christians with over 100 anathemas for believing the infallible truths of God’s Word. We must wonder if these evangelicals know that the worship of the Eucharist and veneration of Mary is idolatry (Ex. 20:3-5)? Don’t they know that Rome’s plan of salvation is a false gospel that condemns those who teach it (Gal. 1:6-9)? Don’t they know that the sacrifice of the Mass and the dogma of Purgatory is a blatant denial of the finished, perfect, and sufficient work of Christ’s atonement (Heb. 10:10-18)?
As more and more evangelical leaders embrace the Pope as a brother-in-Christ,they must be warned and called to repentance. Those who promote unity with false teachers, without challenging their errors, leave their own convictions and beliefs open to question. Anyone who embraces false teachers is giving credibility to their heresies. All Christians will be held accountable to God for the souls that are misled by our unwillingness to contend for the faith. For more of Mike’s comments, read his interview conducted by Christian News Network.
Mike was also interviewed on the Crosstalk radio program that was broadcast on VCY America’s call-in show. You can hear the complete interview here.
The Tragic Decline of Discernment
The professing church is experiencing a marked decline in discernment because very few pastors are faithfully preaching the Word of God. There has also been an increase of false teachers who are attracting a growing number of gullible followers who want to be entertained. Some pastors are mistakenly calling this a revival because they do not know the difference between a movement of men and a movement of the Spirit.
We know from God’s Word that spiritual discernment is a discipline and a privilege that only Christians can exercise. Paul wrote: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things” (1 Cor. 2:14-16). Discernment is necessary for us to determine God’s way from man’s way, truth from error, good from evil, right from wrong, and apostles from apostates. As disciples of Christ we must all faithfully abide in God’s Word to know the truth (John 8:31-32). We must keep discernment alive in order to keep the Body of Christ strong and healthy. What’s at stake if we don’t?The glory of our Savior, the sanctity of His Church and the purity of His Gospel. May God help us all to fight the good fight of faith as we engage in the fierce battle for the souls of men.