no one else has any or that no one should have any. Now, strangely enough, this kind of union so abhorrent to a Bible- believing Christian is predicted in the Scriptures. In the 17th and 18th chapters of the book of Revelation the "scar let woman" is depicted— a portrayal of the final unifica tion of all religions of the world. While the anti-christ will be seeking world-wide empire, he will make use of this huge religio-political system for his own purposes. At first he will flatter her and bestow favors upon her; but once he gains universal rule, he will destroy this world church by which he built himself up, and will demand instead that all the world worship him. All of this is clearly fore told in the Scriptures. Let us take a sharp look at this idea of church mergers in our day. On the surface it sound brotherly, sentimental, "sweet." !0n the surface it sounds as if it were the fulfill ment of Ephesians 4:5 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." The unsuspecting, spiritually-undiscerning person, as well as the one without convictions about his beliefs, will be taken in readily by this ideology and trapped in a com pletely false type of Christianity. True, the time will come when there will be indeed such unity but it will not occur in this dispensation and it will not be brought about by church mergers. It will take place when the Lord Him self comes for His blood-bought ones and w,e are all forever "together with the Lord." The only possible basis for Chris tian unity is complete agreement on the fundamentals of the Word of God. Consider what happens when the question of church merg ers arises. At once the plea is made that the fundamentalist give up his "narrow ideas," and that we should get together with everyone else on the great unifying beliefs we hold in common. We are told that the first ones with whom we should unite are the liberals. But who is giving up what? It is never the modernists who give up their denials of the faith. It is the Bible believer who is asked to surrender his distinctive doctrines. For instance, we believe in the infallibility of the Bible— that it is indeed the inspired Word of God; the liberals do not. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, conceived of the Holy Ghost, was born of a virgin; they do not. We believe that when Christ was upon the earth He performed mighty miracles of healing and even raised the dead; they do not. We believe that after three days the Lord Jesus actually and literally rose from the grave ; they do not. We believe that the only way by which a man can be saved is through faith in the ^toning, substitu tionary work of Jesus Christ, wrought out on Calvary's cross ;they do not. These truths (and others) are the founda tion upon which Christianity is built. The modernist will not accept these teachings for the sake of a union; the fundamentalist will not surrender them, as they are dearer than life itself to him. So where is there any possibility of ecumenicity? Church union sounds "Christ-like" to the unthinking person who is unaware of what is involved. Actually, it is a Satanic trap for the purpose of destroying the very vitals of Christian truth itself. It is not to be wondered at that the idea of such ecumenicity comes in large measure from those who have few convictions of their own. They have a vague feeling that such a get-together would be "nice." They are not interested in determining what the basis of such union would be. They only know that it must not consist of the great historic doctrines of the Christian church which are so "controversial"! (continued on page 34)
Th is will in terest YOU . . . Our field representatives meet Christian men and women quite frequently who are looking lor places to invest their money. Most of them need a return on their savings. Some are considering investments in stocks. But, because of their limited knowledge of stocks and bonds, they are reluctant to buy. Others hesitate because of market fluctuations, uncertainty of dividends, etc. And some tell us of disappointing ex periences on their investments. * * * Without exception, all are looking for security . . . a guarantee that they will be assured of a generous income. Some thing they can count on as long as they, live . . . in good times or bad . . . regard less of whether the stock market is up or down. But they’re interested in something else, too. * * * You should see their faces light up . . . when we tell them about the d o u b l e d iv id e n d s provided by Moody Annui ties. When we tell them that Moody Annuities assure them of a generous, guaranteed income as long as they live (up to 8H% depending on their age) . . . plus a share in the Lord’s work . . . they’re overjoyed! And when we tell them that every annuity is backed by all the resources of Moody Bible Institute, and that MBI has never missed a single payment in almost 50 years . . . they are convinced that it’s the plan for them! WOULD YOU LIK E TO RECEIVE DOUBLE DIVIDENDS ON YOUR MONEY? We’ll be happy to send you the f r e e book let, d o u b l e d iv id e n d s , which explains the Moody Annuity Plan in detail. Contains a chart showing income rates for all ages, explains tax bene fits and tells you all about the many ministries of Moody Bible jj Institute in which you’ll have a share. C L I P A N D M A I L C O U P O N T O D A Y ! MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE 820 N. LaSalle Street * Chicago 10, Illinois Please send me, without obligation, information relating to: Q M oody Annuity Plan. Q Wills. Name— -A ge- Address— City ___ _ Zone- S ta te— ^Annuity Department Dept. K-I-36-6
JULY, 1961
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