Unity in the Body of Christ is one of the indications to the world of Christ’s reality and divine love for them. “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” (John 17:23 KJV). As important as unity is, Christians need to be even more careful about the teachings or “principles of the doctrine of [concerning] Christ” (Hebrews 6:1), because “whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of [concerning] Christ, hath not God” (2John 1:9). Since “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1Corinthians 5:5-6; Galatians 5:9), once those in our Christian fellowship adamantly maintain doctrines about Christ contrary to the truth, either they depart from our fellowship or you depart from them. “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2John 1:10-11).
For instance, if in your attempt for ecumenical unity and cooperation, you found one of the church participants, such as the Roman Catholic Church, teaching Mary as “Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all Graces and Advocate,” i.e., “Mary’s singular and unique sharing with her Son in the saving work of Redemption for the human family,” then you must reject your association with that church. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The purity of your devotion to Christ requires you to “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Corinthians 6:17). If our actions represent our devotion to Christ, then we are defending Christ, not just words, teachings, or doctrines about Christ. Father, cause our devotion to You to be greater than our attempt to prove the correctness of our doctrine or the incorrectness of anyone else. Preserve Your people in loving obedience and cast out the bondwoman who would draw us back to Babylon. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Ecumenical Unity
The Great Whore and the Beast (Revelation 17:7)
Religion in bed with politics is the one world ecumenical movement riding the Antichrist. In the Revelation, John shows us the final development of the world’s religious aspirations fully engaged with the power of the world’s governments. “I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Revelation 17:1 KJV). In A Woman Rides the Beast (56:28), Dave Hunt historically connects papal Rome with ancient Babylon — though often ignored or discounted by modern scholarship — then he prophetically links Rome’s ecumenical leadership — “that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:22) — with the whore riding the beast.
In the Book of Revelation, John describes a woman: (1) of great power and spiritual corruption, i.e., “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (Revelation 17:4), (2) with a harlot’s forehead, designating her as the explanation for the occasion, source, and widespreadness of spiritual corruption, i.e., “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (17:5), (3) responsible for the martyrdom of countless True Believers, i.e., “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (17:6), (4) sitting at ease at Rome, the City of Seven Hills, i.e., “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth” (17:9), and (5) reigning and influencing world governments from papal Rome, i.e., “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (17:18). If Babylon the Great is here identified with the religious world system, then papal Rome would be more representative of the beast “out of the sea” (13:1), which is the False Prophet, and would not be the Antichrist. Hence, the Whore rides the Beast. Father, the signs of Your Son’s soon appearing are around us and ominous. Cause us to walk carefully but powerfully. Come quickly. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.