For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:4).
Billy Graham has been admired and praised repeatedly over the years by various denominations as a great evangelist and a man of God. For many people, Graham's ministry was compelling, and yet his methods generated public opposition from a number of his contemporaries due to his compromise with ecumenism. In 1963 Graham invited Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones to chair the first World Congress on Evangelism, the predecessor to Lausanne. However Lloyd-Jones objected to the presence of Roman Catholics and liberals on Graham's crusade platform. He stated publicly that visible unity with those who are opposed to essential matters of salvation was sinful. Lloyd-Jones also stood against the invitation system (altar calls) that Graham had adopted in his crusades, saying that he believed the invitation system was a source of mass-delusion and harm to churches. {1} For the same reasons, in March of 1966, Bob Jones Jr. said that Graham was "doing more harm to the cause of Jesus Christ than any living man". {2}
The Ecumenical Movement is the quest for unity throughout the three main Christian denominations and their various offshoots i.e. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church is at the forefront of these efforts. Doctrinal differences go far beyond superficial squabbles amongst Christians. (1 Timothy 4:16). Critically sound doctrine verifies the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and His claims as the one and only Son of God, the Saviour of the world. The question: "Who do men say that I am?" (Matthew 16:13) is still the most important question that echoes throughout history. Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:20). Peter's confession constitutes the sum of the Christian confession i.e. by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is the only way to the Father. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus confirmed this when he declared Himself to be ..the door of the sheep: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.." (John 14:6). This is the truth that Roman Catholicism denies at its very core by insisting that submission to itself, the RC Church and its sacraments are additional requirements necessary for salvation. Roman Catholicism is intensely hostile to the real Jesus Christ! They have added to the scriptures and by doing so they have denied the very gospel itself. (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; 1 John 2:22). The scriptures are clear enough on this vital subject, and yet all the main denominations are now ecumenical, including the majority of those who claim to be "evangelical". The ecumenical "Jesus" is none other than the usurper, the New Age Christ of Theosophy and the United Nations. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3) ..the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Billy Graham has been admired and praised repeatedly over the years by various denominations as a great evangelist and a man of God. For many people, Graham's ministry was compelling, and yet his methods generated public opposition from a number of his contemporaries due to his compromise with ecumenism. In 1963 Graham invited Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones to chair the first World Congress on Evangelism, the predecessor to Lausanne. However Lloyd-Jones objected to the presence of Roman Catholics and liberals on Graham's crusade platform. He stated publicly that visible unity with those who are opposed to essential matters of salvation was sinful. Lloyd-Jones also stood against the invitation system (altar calls) that Graham had adopted in his crusades, saying that he believed the invitation system was a source of mass-delusion and harm to churches. {1} For the same reasons, in March of 1966, Bob Jones Jr. said that Graham was "doing more harm to the cause of Jesus Christ than any living man". {2}
The Ecumenical Movement is the quest for unity throughout the three main Christian denominations and their various offshoots i.e. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church is at the forefront of these efforts. Doctrinal differences go far beyond superficial squabbles amongst Christians. (1 Timothy 4:16). Critically sound doctrine verifies the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and His claims as the one and only Son of God, the Saviour of the world. The question: "Who do men say that I am?" (Matthew 16:13) is still the most important question that echoes throughout history. Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:20). Peter's confession constitutes the sum of the Christian confession i.e. by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is the only way to the Father. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus confirmed this when he declared Himself to be ..the door of the sheep: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.." (John 14:6). This is the truth that Roman Catholicism denies at its very core by insisting that submission to itself, the RC Church and its sacraments are additional requirements necessary for salvation. Roman Catholicism is intensely hostile to the real Jesus Christ! They have added to the scriptures and by doing so they have denied the very gospel itself. (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; 1 John 2:22). The scriptures are clear enough on this vital subject, and yet all the main denominations are now ecumenical, including the majority of those who claim to be "evangelical". The ecumenical "Jesus" is none other than the usurper, the New Age Christ of Theosophy and the United Nations. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3) ..the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Billy Graham repeatedly and fundamentally misrepresented the exclusive salvific purpose of Jesus Christ. He actually went even further than ecumenism because he recognised other faiths as well as pseudo-Christian denominations. His various affirmations that people can be saved apart from the name of Jesus Christ are a fundamental contradiction of the scriptures. The confusion lies in the fact that Graham did preach the true gospel during his crusade presentations. However many supposed converts were immediately thrown to the wolves i.e. the RC Church, Jewish synagogues and other apostate denominations. Thus Graham and his wicked associates used the invitation system to covertly facilitate the failure of the supposed aim of the crusades. In fact, they did everything possible to ensure that the word would be snatched away from many potential converts before it could take root. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. (Matthew 13:19). It is debatable how many people were actually saved through Graham's duplicitous crusades.
January 1978 interview with James Michael Beam of McCall’s magazine: 'I Can’t Play God Any More'. “I used to believe that pagans in far-off countries were lost — were going to hell — if they did not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe that. … I believe that there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God—through nature, for instance—and plenty of other opportunities, therefore, of saying ‘yes’ to God.” {3}
In 1985, Los Angeles reporter David Colker asked Graham: “What about people of other faiths who live good lives but don’t profess a belief in Christ?” Graham: “I’m going to leave that to the Lord. He’ll decide that” {4}
During his infamous television interview with Robert Schuller on Saturday, May 31, 1997, Graham once again affirmed that people can be saved apart from the name of Christ:
SCHULLER: Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?
GRAHAM: Well, Christianity and being a true believer—you know, I think there’s the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. I think James answered that—the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God’s purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that’s what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think that they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.
SCHULLER: Well, what I hear you saying, that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?
GRAHAM: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they’ve tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.
SCHULLER: This is fantastic! I’m so thrilled to hear you say that! There’s a wideness in God’s mercy!
GRAHAM: There is. There definitely is.
Part II of that interview was broadcast on Sunday, June 8. In the following excerpt confirms Graham's close association with the Roman Catholic Church:
SCHULLER: You knew ... Fulton Sheen. You knew these men. Your comments on both of these men [Fulton Sheen and Norman V. Peale].
GRAHAM: The primary way of communicating is to live the life, let people see that you're living what you proclaim.... [comments on his friendship and conversations with Fulton Sheen] I lost a very dear friend, and since that time, the whole relationship between me and my work, and you and your work, and the Roman Catholic Church has changed. They open their arms to welcome us and we have the support of the Catholic Church almost everywhere we go. And I think that we must come to the place where we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, not on what denomination or what church or what group we belong to. {5}
Graham's rhetoric absolutely lined up with the New Age Christ promoted by the United Nations and the Roman Catholic Catechism which states: "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation." (Paragraph 847). {6}
The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 by Satanist and channeler Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Alice Bailey subsequently claimed that her teachings were a continuation of Blavatsky. A publishing company, initially named Lucifer Publishing Company (now Lucis Trust), was established by Alice and Foster Bailey in the State of New Jersey, in May 1922 in order to publish the book, Initiation Human and Solar. {7} Like Blavatsky, Bailey’s teachings were also channeled from supposed "ascended masters", and revolved around the central concept of the Second Coming of a personal Christ, the so-called “Lord Christ-Maitreya” aka the “World Teacher” for humanity. This is none other than the Antichrist, the false New Age Christ of ecumenism.
The Christ has been for two thousand years the supreme Head of the Church Invisible, the Spiritual Hierarchy, composed of disciples of all faiths. He recognises and loves those who are not Christian but who retain their allegiance to Their Founders—the Buddha, Mohammed and others. He cares not what the faith is if the objective is love of God and of humanity. If men look for the Christ Who left His disciples centuries ago, they will fail to recognise the Christ Who is in process of returning. The Christ has no religious barriers in His consciousness. It matters not to Him of what faith a man may call himself.
The Son of God is on His way and He cometh not alone. His advance guard is already here and the Plan which they must follow is already made and clear. Let recognition be the aim. Alice Bailey
He is that Great Being Whom the Christian calls the Christ; He is known also in the Orient as the Bodhisattva, and as the Lord Maitreya, and is the One looked for by the devout Mohammedan, under the name of the Imam Mahdi. He it is Who has presided over the destinies of life since about 600 B.C. and He it is Who has come out among men before, and Who is again looked for. He is the great Lord of Love and of Compassion, just as his predecessor, the Buddha, was the Lord of Wisdom. ... He is the World Teacher, the Master of the Masters, and the Instructor of the Angels, and to Him is committed the guidance of the spiritual destinies of men, and the development of the realisation within each human being that he is a child of God and a son of the Most High. Alice Bailey {7}
{1} Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), P76.
{3} McCall's Magazine, January 1978.{4} Los Angeles Herald Examiner, July 22, 1985.
{5} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axxlXy6bLH0
{6} http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm
{7} https://www.lucistrust.org/resources/the_christ
What times we live in!! Have been looking at lucis trust myself and this "new group of world servers" and find it very very interesting their phrase about the "coming Kingdom of God" which to me sounds like kingdom now dominionism in disguise which seems to point to the kingdom of antichrist!! Massive red flags needed for pastors and church leaders, as I put in my prayer notes - WOE - what on earth!!! Surely the second coming isn't far away now, the level of deception is unbelievable ...I simply try and stay in the Bible every day now ... Angela
ReplyDeleteWe need to rely on the Lord for discernment more than ever during these perilous times. I agree that the Second Coming cannot be far away - deception is everywhere. God bless you Angela x
ReplyDelete