Republished October 29, 2003 (first published November 1994) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following report is from the Digging in the Walls section of O Timothy magazine, Volume 11, Issue 1, 1994. David W. Cloud, Editor. The author holds all rights to this material. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail). FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. 

Jack Van Impe, who once walked in fundamental Baptist circles, rejected separatism in the late 1970s, and it has been amazing to see how quickly he has lost his spiritual discernment. He has joined the company of many other modern-day Samsons.

Van Impe has accepted the false ecumenical concept of the church and Christian unity. In the introduction to his 1984 book, Sabotaging the World Church, Van Impe gives "hundreds of positive declarations concerning the unity of the body of Christ, the world church for whom Jesus suffered, bled, and died." There is no such thing as a "world church" or an ecumenical body of Christ composed of all professing Christians.

In a November 21, 1993, telecast, Van Impe even used the favorite proof text of ecumenism, John 17:21--"Jesus said in John 17:21 that he wanted all of us to be one." We know, of course, that the Lord Jesus had nothing like modern ecumenism in mind when He prayed that prayer. Six times in that passage He mentioned the Word and the Truth. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (Jn. 17:17). When Truth and the Word of God is exalted as the basis for Christian fellowship, modern ecumenism goes out the window!

It is not really surprising, then, to see the Van Impe's recommending the Pope of Rome. The ecumenical rivers are running powerfully in the direction of that old harlot (Rev. 17), and if a man does not aggressively paddle against the current, he will quickly be swept down stream. Van Impe stopped fighting the current some 15 years ago, and he is a long way down the ecumenical river.

The new Van Impe video is entitled Startling Revelations: Pope John Paul II. The pope's photo adorns the cover, with advertising blurbs announcing, "Authoritative, reliable, stunning ... the most shocking report in 2000 years of Christianity!" Full page ads appeared in such popular magazines as Charisma, Moody Monthly, and Christianity Today.

In this video Van Impe treats the Pope as a genuine Christian. He would have us believe that the Roman Catholic Church is only now beginning to go apostate, and John Paul II is the intrepid defender of the faith who is attempting to stem the tide of error. What a farce! The Roman Catholic Church has been apostate for the duration of its notorious life. John Paul II is not a genuine Christian. Though he names the name of Christ, he is actually a worshiper of the false Catholic Mary. He has "Totally yours" inscribed in Latin on his clerical robes, referring to his consecration to Mary. He is a blasphemer who accepts worship and titles of divinity. Jesus Christ said to "call no man your Father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9), yet the Pope is h5(2 constantly called father in direct rebellion to Christ's command. He is even called "holy father," a clear biblical reference to deity. In actuality, the Pope is not holy and he is not a father!

Friends, if Romanism is not apostasy, there is no such thing as apostasy. This unbelievable blindness on the part of Van Impe is a warning to every preacher. It is not easy to "fight the good fight" (2 Tim. 4:7), to "earnestly contend for the faith" (Jude 3), to "rebuke them sharply" (Titus 1:13), to mark and avoid those who teach error (Rom. 16:17).

These certainly are not pleasant tasks, and such negative activities plainly limit one's ministry and fellowship and decrease the size of one's church. When you attempt to obey the Bible in these areas, it can become wearisome. You are misunderstood. You make mistakes. You know your own manifold imperfections. You are despised. You are lonely. You are called unloving and mean-spirited. You are labeled as ignorant and backwards and stubborn. After we had butted heads over doctrine, a new-evangelical preacher in South Asia once told me that either I was a prophet of God, or I was the most stubborn man he had ever met!

A battle is RAGING today between truth and error, between right and wrong. The Bible preacher is right in the center of the battlefield. To grow weary of the battle is understandable, but to quit the battle is treachery to the cause for which we fight and to the Captain of the Lord's armies.

It's not time to retreat or smoke the peace pipe with the enemy; it's time to attack. Let's "lift up the hands which hang down" and hit the enemy a few more licks before the Lord comes!