Dear Pastor Ron: Please say more on the actions of God’s remnant church.
In calling people back to the recognition of the relevance and importance of God’s word, the Bible, there are heavy responsibilities. As all the churches seek to unite under one religion with the Catholic Church as the leader of this union, the world must be warned whither this endeavour is headed and the consequences of such a union.
God’s remnant church has to inform the world that such a union has been predicted in the Bible, and that this union will not be based chiefly on the Bible. Because of the calamitous times the world is moving into, it will be decreed that survival of the human race will depend upon unity of all religions. When we look at the violence of Islam we are witnessing today, the war and bloodshed in many parts of the world presently, and the decadence of western society aided and abetted by Christians, a desire for religious unity will become paramount. And this is where God’s remnant church has to become the vanguard of a counter movement that calls men and women back to fidelity to God and to His teachings which alone can save our society from self destruction.
To be sure, unity is a good thing. Even Christ prayed that His church be united in the world, and that by this unity they may reach people with the gospel of Christ, John 17:21, 23. The scriptures, however, make it plain that we must look to the Bible only for guidance in any religious unity. In Isiah 8:20 we read that if men do not work according to God’s Word, then all their efforts will be in vain. And in 2Tim. 3:16, 17 we read that the Scriptures were given to make humanity perfect in all godliness and holiness. Nothing else will work.
It is the task of God’s remnant church to make this point most clear to society. True Christianity makes it clear that the survival of our world is based on its adherence to the principles and teachings of the Bible. We do not have a problem with that. The problem we have, and hence the necessity of a remnant to make this clear, is that the churches are compromising their biblical beliefs as they seek to unite, and in turn are uniting with the world in its rebellion against God’s teachings. Listen to the words of Jesus: “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1John 2:15.
It is true that in order to be effective in leading men to God the churches should be united. Pope Francis together with the late archbishop Tony Palmer of the Anglican church, and Kenneth Copeland of the Evangelical churches of America, recognized this fact. They claimed, however, that the ‘protest’ of the Protestant churches against the teachings of the Roman Catholic church was over, and so unity of religions stood a chance! This however, is far from the truth, and this is where God’s remnant people have to set the record straight! The responsibility of the remnant church is to bring the teachings of the Bible back into focus in today’s syncretistic and compromising churches. My next articles will look at other important biblical teachings that have been lost over the years. God bless.
Pastor Ron is a retired Adventist pastor; reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com with your comments.