sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit (Isaiah 14:12-15). Satan would have his religion regarded as the true religion throughout the earth, the masses of people being deceived by virtue of the fact that the idea of God and heaven should be included in it. It is common among the religions of the world that heaven is attainable through the efforts of man. In fact, this idea is more popular today than is God’s way of reaching heaven, namely, that man is powerless to save himself and must accept the grace and mercy of God apart from human effort. Tell man that he can get to heaven by making his own bricks and lay ing them with his own hands, 'and man’s ecumenical church will not want for active members. The pride of man’s heart is seen in his own words, “ Let us make us a name.” His ecumenical church feeds his own pride and acquires a reputation for himself. H. C. Leupold says, “No effort is to be spared. If stones are not available, they must be manufactured. Nothing shall deter these men, so greedy of enhancing the glory of their own name. This also is a part of their ungodly purpose.” THE TIME IS SHORT The time is short! If thou wouldst work for God it must be now; If thou wouldst win the garland for thy brow, Read the forty-ninth Psalm and you will see how David, bv inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warns against such blind inordinate desires. But from Nimrod’s day to ours, this blighting cupiditv has fastened itself upon each suc ceeding generation. Death alone reveals the folly of men’s minds and the insignificance of their bodies. This tendency toward a man-made ecumenicity grew out of fear as well as pride. Thev gave as a reason for their action, “ lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” Had they continued to trust God and not shut Him out, there would have been no occasion to fear. They had God’s promise, after the flood, of preserva tion and the perpetuity of seasons for man’s provision. There was no need to fear as long as God was honored and trusted. The first world government and world church grew out of fear resulting from a departure from the ways and will of God. There is nothing wrong with the idea of one world and one church if it is run according to God’s plan. But when God and His revelation are dethroned and made to give way to man and his ideas, only confusion will follow. God said, Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one an other’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth (Genesis 11:7-9). (continued) Redeem the time. With His reward He comes; He tarries not; His day is near; When men least look for Him will He be here; Prepare for Him! — Horatius Bonar
council is listed for special prayer during March, 1960. The account said that the Pope omitted mention of the terms under which Protestants could unite, but various other prayer topics, among the twenty-four listed, implied “that reunion would have to occur as a return to the one true faith of Catholicism.” It remains to be seen just how the majority of Protestants will respond to this. And we might add that there are many other problems such as Mariolatry; sacerdotalism (those beliefs and prac tices often referred to as priestcraft, in which Roman Catholic priests supposedly change a wafer into the literal body of Christ, and wine into the actual blood of Christ); and iconolatry (the worship of images). ECUMEN ICALISM IS NOT NEW We must not look upon this desire for one world and one church as a modem idea. It dates back centuries before Christ. However, the desire was never stronger than at this present hour. I remember Mr. Wendell Wilkie, a candidate for the office of President of the United States, making a strong appeal for “ One World.” At the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam, Dr. Douglas Horton, speaking on the subject, “ Priorities in the Movement Toward Church Unity,” said, An effective welding of the Christian Churches of the world into a single unit characterized by Catholic continuitv and Protestant freedom in Christ is the burden of our hopes as we gather. The desire for one world and one church is so strong, some men have said that unless we obtain it we shall not survive. But is the idea of ecumenicalism wrong? No, the idea in itself is not wrong. It seems from the Scripture that God planned it to be that way. Turn in your Bible to Genesis, chapter eleven. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech (Genesis 11:1). For some time after the flood mankind was blessed with one language, which served to preserve peace among men and the one tme religion of Jehovah preserved through Noah. The old world ended in judgment, and the new world, after the flood, was one world. But Nimrod, the third from Noah, the grandson of Ham, “ began to be a mighty one in the earth” (Genesis 10:8). Up to this time the earth was undivided. But, led by Nimrod, men were incited to lust for territorial gains and power. No doubt, God had his own plan for allocating the earth as the population grew, as is indicated in Deuteronomy 32:8 and Acts 17:26. But Nimrod’s project, prompted by pride and fear, was not in harmony with God’s. The expedition of Nimrod is identical with the events recorded in Genesis chapter eleven, as is indicated by the name Babel re corded in both chapters (10:10; 11:9). The beginning of Babel (confusion) was the result of a daring act of rebel lion against God. Now Nimrod and his followers did not banish religion from their program. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven (Genesis 11:4). That Satan has desired such a religious system whose top would reach to heaven is clear from other passages in the Bible. It was this very sin that brought about Lucifer’s expulsion from heaven and occasioned his be coming the devil. How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
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NOVEMBER, 1959
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