Fatal Progress
Bishop Samuel L. Smith
At a time when two of the most prominent Apostolic organizations worldwide are experiencing turmoil relative to the conservative versus liberal debate, the AWCF believes the following article defines clarity to Apostolic purpose with regards to maintaining doctrinal integrity while pursuing world evangelism.
Jesus said:
" . . . Take heed that no man deceive you . . . For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (
Matthew 24:4, 24). If we indeed believe that our Lord provided sufficient warning to be informed relative to the "end-time," certainly the spirit of "deceit" cannot be ignored!
Paul warned:
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering unto him . . . Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first. . . " (
II Thessalonians 2:1-3). I ask a sincere question, was Paul beside himself with end-time paranoia? I am convinced, after years of experience, observing the present state of the Apostolic Church, against the backdrop of the signs of the time, that the end-time battle will be won or lost upon the basis of one’s successful struggle with the "spirit of deceit!"
Amos proclaimed,
"Prepare to meet thy God!" Daniel warned of the flattery spoken by, and the marvelous words of, the Prince of Darkness, whose spirit would pervade the last days. Peter predicted,
"Scoffers shall arise in the last days." John identified Jesus as the true God, and admonished us to stay away from idols! Were these Bible heroes "false alarmists?"
Frank Bartleman, contemporary of William Seymour and converted newspaper writer, whom God chose to become the recorder of the famed Azusa Street Revival, predicted an end-time church that would be swayed by a "Christless Pentecost." Can we discount Bartleman’s prophetic warning?
After the
advocates of advancement and critics of caution have had their say; after the tug of war between conservatives and liberals has played out; both the despisers of compassion and the unifiers at any cost, have one thing in common, they have drunk from the common cup of religious poison.
Christian compassion is not compromise nor is mindless unification, progress! We must ask these questions: "When did Satan change his grand design, and when did the Harlot Church and her daughters get saved?" We are amply warned of an end-time Harlot Church, where doctrine is polluted by an unholy affair with the world; a system drunk on the blood of the saints, totally adrift, indulging in the pleasures of the flesh; so worldly and so unheavenly, it is called
"The synagogue of Satan." That despicable monster whom the Bible calls the "Great Whore," and powerful preachers, from Luther, Spurgeon, and countless others, even our dear Apostolic forefathers, granted no quarter. That
Mother of Harlots draws little notice from most today, nor do the daughters she has birthed, except that too often, too many try to craft their claims to success in
her’s and
their scarlet images.
When a well-known Pentecostal preacher declares that the Pope’s message on universal brotherhood was one of the best sermons he has ever heard . . .
Beware! When the leading full-gospel magazine in the entire world speaks favorably of Charismatic and Catholic union . . .
Beware!
Call me an "alarmist," I rest my case upon the pages of end-time prophecy! In my life-time I have been challenged by my mentors,
Holy men of God, to pursue Bible Revival!
In light of the Holy Scriptures and influenced by those anointed pathfinders who have articulated the vision, our Apostolic heritage diligently pursued the
Promise;
doctrinal integrity and
world-wide Bible Revival! Why now, among so many, the "drag and the drift?" Must the flame flicker and die out? Are we doomed by either extreme; hostility to evangelism; or, an ambitious quest to free ourselves from the last vestiges of classical "Pentecostalism" to the point of abandoning Sacred Landmarks and Holy Revelation?
In the Quest for big-time "interdenominational" Pentecostal unity, we can never "trade off" the
Revelation of the
Mighty God in Christ; the
power in His name; the
masterpiece called the "Acts of the Apostles";
and the role of water baptism in the new birth.
I propose this question for those who feel it meritorious to forfeit doctrinal integrity for strength in numbers: why stop with unifying with non-Apostolic Pentecostals; the numbers would be even greater if we continued further and merged with all neo-conservative/fundamentalists? The fact remains the strength of numbers would
really be significant if we unified with mainline Protestantism. The numbers would
really be staggering if we continued further and rejoined worldwide Christian Orthodoxy. And really, couldn’t we make an awesome statement in the face of the perils of Islam, heathenism, atheism, cultism, and possibly reemerging communism, if we returned to that part of Rome that is
charismatic? But wait a minute, I’ve heard that before! It is the echo in my memory, ringing forth from the pages of Holy Writ, screamed forth from the lips of Paul,
"Come out from among them, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (
II Corinthians 6:17).
Our forefathers in the "faith", from Charles Parham at Topeka, until recently, warned us of the perils of
Mystery Babylon/Roman Catholicism and the magnetic pull of her wayward, gifted, and ever so lovely daughters. In the "1960’s" my heart pounded, when at a sweltering, hot, July Texas camp-meeting, with real sawdust, my young preacher’s soul was warned: "While the church-world prepares to return to Mother Rome, we Apostolics are preparing to go home to Father, the Mighty God in Christ." Read
Isaiah 9:6.
Paul’s warning to the Galatians is more than applicable to our time:
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth" (
Galatians 3 :1).
Our faithful watchmen on the wall, a generation ago, predicted the inevitable effects of
ecumenicalism upon the Church, they recognized the "puppeteer" and his "puppets;" but very few words are spoken today about this fatal threat! Why? Because the
extremes are shouting so loud in both ears, right and left, conservative and liberal; must we make a choice to either split hairs and fight "straw-men" or trash our holy heritage?
When I hear of Charismatic-Catholics who speak with tongues, and claim that the spiritual gifts make the sacraments of the Church of Rome more dear, and mother Mary more real to their lives, I am troubled! When I hear a minister, widely accepted in some Apostolic circles, boast that he has Catholics in his church who still pray to Mary, but that doesn’t bother him; . . .I am bothered!
Are we trading our birth-right for a "morsel?" Why the rush for numbers, acclaim, fame, riches, leisure and luxury? Every item I mentioned in the preceding sentence is an enemy to
real, soul saving "
Revival." The fans of the beer-swilling "Christian" athlete, the world-loving Charismatic Hollywood star, to the tongue-talking country-western singer, sit comfortably in many of our churches today! Our claim to fame is not who attends our churches, but who
died for our Church!
Jesus said, "
. . . this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (
Matthew 24:14). If the commonly accepted version of the "gospel" that so many Apostolics are now rushing to embrace, were the real "gospel," then Jesus would have returned by now! That version of the gospel (which Paul called another gospel) has been bounced around the world by monks, conquistadors, denominal missionaries for centuries, (and of late, famed televangelists), to every continent and aisle of the seas.
I affirm that
the Gospel unveils the revelation of the Mighty God in Christ, in the Old Testament concealed, in the New Testament revealed!