UNFAITHFUL SHEPHERDS
by Bertrand L. Comparet

A few years ago, the then President of the National Council of Churches warned against what he called "the danger that the great religious awakening which is taking place in our country might become fanatical and be carried into our political and business life." This is perhaps a fair sample of the "lead­ership" of most of our churches: no leadership at all, because the leaders have no faith in the religion to which they give empty lip-service. For lack of faith in the Bible, they don't make it a force in our national life. For lack of faith, they pay no attention to what II Peter 1:19 calls "a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." But to these blind leaders of the blind, all is darkness: they cannot lead because they don't know where to go. They turn their backs on God, and tell us to become more "Liberal", and learn to get along with Red China.

Never were the word of prophecy, and the laws of God, more needed than to­day, with all civilization crumbling in the end of an age.  More Christians have been murdered within our own genera­tion than in all past history.

At such a time, what is the proper function of the Christian church and of all Christian ministers? Is it to waste all their power in the fatuous effort to save some gin soaked, skid row bum? Isn't it rather to try to save all Christian civilization? God Himself has clearly marked out their proper funct­ion as that of watchmen, to give warning of the approaching disaster. God ex­plained this very clearly to the prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 33:2-6, telling him " * * When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for a watchman: if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. * * But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take any person from among them I he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."

As far back as history goes, periods of apostacy of the churches have al­ways led to judgments---judgments caused by that very apostacy: truly, "God is not mocked." The only source of our real strength to resist invasion from with­out or corruption and revolution from within is our character, and this is en­tirely dependent upon our knowledge of our God and His lavs. Without this, it matters not what terrific new weapons we may have, for we will be like the nat­ions of Southeast Asia, completely lacking in the strength of character to de­fend ourselves: and in our own case, what nation will come to defend us then? No great civilization of history really was overthrown by force from outside: when it fell, it had already become so rotten within that it was an easy push­over for the ivading armies: so fell Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Are we to be next on this list?

I condemn our major churches today for two unpardonable sins: first, fail­ure to speak the truth which is in the Bible; second, speaking falsely in the name of doctrine. God Himself has convicted them on both charges, as we can read in the Bible.

Many of you know, by terrible experience, the price paid by those who dare to speak the truth on what are called "controversial" matters: the loss of for­mer friends, who now avoid you, calling you a "fanatic"---or even "a crackpot"; the slanderous rumors about you which are spread at first by those who do know better --- then repeated by those who have been deceived and who will not investi­gate to see for themselves whether the smear they spread Is true or not; expul­sion from your churches, because those churches are too corrupted to speak the truth --- or even to allow it to be spoken by their members; finally, the loss of business, or loss of your jobs, as the result of anti-Christian pressure brought upon those who deal with you. These things the corrupted clergy lack the cour­age to face. Far too many of them entered the ministry as a refuge from a com­petitive world they feared to face: but there is no human activity which has such great need of a real man's man. Yet today, only a pitifully few dare tell the truth, come what may.

But this is no surprise to God: twenty-six centuries ago, He spoke through the prophet Isaiah about the false shepherds (Isaiah 56:10-11): "His watchmen are blind: THEY ARE ALL IGNORANT, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleep­ing, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, THEY ARE GREEDY DOGS which can never have enough, and they are SHEPHERDS THAT CANNOT UNDERSTAND: THEY ALL LOOK TO THEIR OWN WAY, EVERY ONE FOR HIS OWN GAIN." Note those two condemnations: first, they are ignorant; and second, "every one for his own gain." But there is no excuse for their ignorance, for every clergyman has assumed the duty to know and to speak the word of God. The people rely upon them for it --- for where else can the people turn for instruction in such things? And the second condemnation --- that of false teaching for the greater money profit to be had thereby---that is truly unpardon­able. But they do know where the money is to be made: go into the bigger churches, where the minister is paid very well for his services --- find me just one of them where his unfortunate congregation hear anything but "sooth syrup" sermons. Oh, yes, they may sermonize in huge indignation against the man who drinks an occas­ional glass of beer---but when do they raise their voices against the Jewish in­fluence which has driven God out of our schools? They may speak with thunderous condemnation of the man who is "losing his soul" by smoking a cigarette---but when do they dare name the powerful race who have grown rich by selling those cigarettes? When do they dare expose the anti-Christian money which controls both of our major political parties and steers both of them straight down the road to Zionism  and the end of our civilization? They bemoan the bad morals of our youth --- but when have they ever dared mention the race who make the salacious movies which have led our youth into their present demoralized conditions? Ah, no.  They never mention such things, because they know the penalty of offending God s enemies --- and they have less fear of offending Gof Himself. But how bold they are to denounce anyone who does tell the truth about any of these evils.

God knew it, and prophesied it many centuries ago. In Micah 3:5-7, He said this: "As for the prophets, the Eternal says, who lead My folk astray, and who cry 'All's well' if they get food to eat --- and open war on any who deny them: --- it shall be might for you, and devoid of vision, so dark that you cannot divine; the sun shall set upon the prophets, daylight shall darken over them, till seers are shamed and the diviners blush in mourning, because no answer comes from God." (Moffatt's translation). Isn t this true, today? Into which church can you go today and expect to really hear the word of God? Look in the church page of your Saturday newspapers, and read the subjects listed for Sunday's sermons. What do you find? Book reviews; amateur psychiatry on how to relieve the strain of the day's tensions; why we should abandon our principles in order to get along with the forces of evil without conflict, both at home and abroad; in fact, not long ago in one of the largest churches here in San Diego, California, the announced subject for the Sunday morning sermon was "The Horse That Played Baseball1l, I have looked in vain through the Bible to find which prophet wrote on that subject!

I was amazed at the number of prophets who spoke God's condemnation of the ministers who have refused to teach His word because it always meets the opposi­tion of the wicked, and instead have taught false doctrine because it is always popular and profitable. It is written throughout all the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, as we shall see. Few things--- if any---have received so much mention: because this is the true root of all evil. If the churches never failed to teach God's truth, then other evils would never get a secure foothold. Therefore, the Bible prophesies the eternal doom of these false shepherds who lead God's flock astray.

Another thing worth noting is this: so often, the Bible's condemnation is directed toward those who mislead the people into pacifism in the face of evil attempts to conquer the world---the very situation which we face today. The min­isters today tell us that we must neglect our defenses, think only of peace, and try to reason with the monsters who rule Communism, to settle everything by treat­les with those whose openly stated policy is that they never make a treaty in good faith, but only as a means to deceive their intended victims, and whose record is that they never keep any treaty. There cannot be any result of this but the most terrible disaster for our nation, So in Jeremiah 6:13-15, God has briefly summed it up thus: "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one deal­eth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of My people but slightly, saying t Peace, peace , when there is no peace. Were they ashamed, when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: there­fore the shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down.

Suppose that all of the churches had spoken the word of God, had warned this nation in 1945 to keep out of the United Nations, that "Palace of Strangers" cur­sed by God: suppose that they had read to their congregations what the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, says against it. If they had reminded our Senate and had all of their congregations join in reminding the Senate --- that in II Cor­inthians 6:14-18, God warns us, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelie­vers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what com­munion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? * * Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a father to you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty"; if they had pointed out that our own nation, which is seeking after righteousness, could have no fellowship with the Soviet Union, the most vile conspiracy against all good in human history; if they had done this, could Harry Truman, Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White have prevailed against the united wrath of the two-thirds of our population which are Christian? Suppose these ministers had read to their congregations the warning in Isaiah 8: 4,14, "Associate yourselves, 0 ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces * * Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand. * * For the Lord spake thus to me, with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this eople, saying 'Say ye not "A confederacyl" to all them to whom this people say A confederacy neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts, Himself, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary."' If they had done this, we would not now be caught in this death-trap where just the negro cannibals alone outvote us 25 to 1 --- outvote all the civilized nations of the world, in fact --- and the Afro-Asian Bloc is rapidly becoming our master.

But let's go back to their still earlier failure to speak the word of God. Suppose that in the 1920's and early 1940's the so-called Christian ministers had told all their congregations the truth about what is in the Bible, warning us not to join ourselves with the wicked and help the ungodly? If they had done that, and aroused the nation, then do you think that Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins and their Communist fellow-conspirators could have built up Russia into the mon­ster which today threatens all civilization with destruction? No, indeed: our people would never have allowed it if they had known the truth.

But these clergymen were, as the Bible says, "covetous, every one for his own gain, and dealt falsely" with the word of God. For the sake of the support of the wealthy anti-Christians, they went eagerly along with Roosevelt, helping to herd the people down the trail to Communist slavery and death, telling the people what great humanitarian policies Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins and Alger Hiss had, telling their congregations that the United Nations was the world's only hope for peace and safety. Had they never heard of Jesus Christ as our one true hope for peace?

No, they went along with the conspiracy. And God knew it, and told us of it, 25 centuries ago, In Ezekiel 22:25-26, saying, "There is a conspiracy of her prophets In the midst therftof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey, they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and the precious things; THEY HAVE MADE HER MANY WIDOWS IN THE MIDST THEREOF. Her priests have violated My law and have profaned My holy things: THEY HAVE PUT NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY AND PROFANE, NEITHER HAVE THEY SHOWED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE UNCLEAN AND THE CLEAN. And this is true: those who joined in this conspiracy of the clergy were prosper­ous, "they have taken the treasure and the precious things", as Ezekiel said; they put no difference between the holy and the profane, between Christianity and the evil schemes of the anti-Christians to bring  Zionism to full power. As a result, they conditioned the minds of the people to follow traitorous leaders into the sit­uation which developed into World War II and the Korean War. As the Bible said, "THEY HAVE MADE HER MANY WIDOWS IN THE MIDST THEREOF." Scores of thousands of fam­ilies of our people have lost a father, a son or a brother in those wars, which would not have occurred if the churches had taught our people the word of God, given them the prophetic warning of these things before they happened. As God again said in Zephanian 3:4, "Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law."

But God also said, in Ezekiel 22:25-26 and Zephaniah 3:4, that the priests "have violated My law, and have profaned My holy things" and they "have polluted the sanctuary." God's condemnation of them on these grounds is well justified. Let's take a look at the record. You have seen many instances of Jewish Rabbis invited to speak in the pulpits of Christian churches, despite all the vile slan­ders about Jesus Christ in the Talmud, on which Judaism is based. Likewise, I have known of instances where supposedly Christian churches have allowed Jewish synagogues to use the Christian church auditorium as a meeting place. How will these Christian" ministers ever answer to Jesus Christ for doing this? The Bible tells us, in Jesus' own words, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?and in Thy name have cast out devils?

And in Thy name have done many wonderful works?' And then will I profess unto them,'I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity I "' Matthew 7:22-23

Again, God condemns them, in Ezekiel 22:25-26, because ,neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean." This is true: in their churches, they have preached integration and mongrelization, the unpardonable sin, for which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Didn't you know that this was the cause of the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah? They were immoral, of course: but so were Babylon, Assyria, Greece and Rome, and.no such severe judgment fell upon them. But Jude 7 tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah, because of their "going after stranp flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. I Yet this is exactly what many preachers are urging in their pulpits today: integration and mongrelization of the White and Black races!

Truly, "by their fruits ye shall know theml" You know that several of the major churches, in their national conferences, have officially decided that their ministers do not have to profess a belief in the divinity or virgin birth of Jesus Christ; they are now recognizing the equality of all religions, and teaching "universal brotherhood" with the children of Satan-thereby admitting who their own father is.

This, in what claim to be Christian churches! Yes, Psalm 74:2-4 says it truly: "Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast purchased of old; the rod of Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. THINE ENEMIES ROAR IN THE MIDST OF THY CONGREGATIONS.

But they lead God's people astray by their apostacy; they get the help of the Jews, those whom Jesus Christ, Himself, identified as Satan's children in John 8:31-44; they make it profitable and easy for themselves. And the terrible truth is that our people are all too easily led astray: it is really quite popul­ar. We who tell our people the truth, who give them warning of the terrible judg­ments which they have earned, are --- as always --- feared and hated, we are called "hate mongers" in the official Communist Party Line which has been taken it up by so many. And this, too, was prophesied by God: listen to Isaiah 30:9-10--- * * this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that ill not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, 'See notl'; and to the prophets, 'Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits."' But this turning of our backs to God must have its disastrous consequences, as we are warned in Jeremiah 9:31---"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it sol AND WHAT WILL YE DO IN END THEREOF?"

Each day's newspapers carry to us the news that we are drifting nearer and nearer to "the end thereof", when we must face the consequences of these false teachings which have corrupted most of our churches. Is it any wonder that our golf courses are better attended on Sunday mornings than the churches? If there were only the true spiritual leadership in the churches, people would not be turn­ ed away hungry of soul. But, again, God foresaw this, for Jeremiah 23:2 tells it so very clearly: "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people: ye have scattered My flock and driven them away behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

Haven't you personally seen the truth of Jeremiah's jtatement: why do you come to our meetings, listen to our radio program, read our printed literature and buy our tapes? Isn't it precisely because you can't get these Bible truths in the other churches? You have gone to other churches, and left with the feeling that your soul's great need of spiritual food has not been satisfied, you have been given only a little part of God's great truth, not all of it; you have been searching, and you come here because you get the whole truth.

But all are responsible to our God for their actions: and the ministers have taken upon themselves a far more terrible responsibility than anyone else. They have voluntarily assumed the duty to speak God's word-all of it, without omis­sion and without dilution. Other civilizations have perished because they were not told God's truth until it became a part of their nature: ours will be no ex­ception, if we follow down the same path. That is why it is so important to give this warning while yet there may be time. Our churches send missionaries to the African and Asiatic heathen---when there is more need that someone send mission­aries to the churches.

Accordingly, Jeremiah 23:11-12 says it: "For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring calamity on them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord."

Why do I harp so much upon this theme? Because God Himself thought it im­portant enough to place it all through the Bible: over a period of many centuries God kept insisting upon this point. He knew that so many would preach the Unfaithful Shepherds - page 5 doctrines which are popular and financially profitable, leaving out the stern and bitter truths which are necessary to our very survival. Listen to Malachi 2:1-8, "And now, 0 ye priests, this commandment is for you: if ye will not hear, and if' ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to My name, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye did not lay it to heart. * * And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, * * For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. But ye are departed out of the way: ye have caused many to stumble at the law: ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, eaith the Lord of Hosts."

Isn't this true of today's churches? They teach that all of God's laws have been abolished; that His promises to His people have been cancelled; that we must not remain separate, but must integrate with all races and all religions in "univ­ersal brotherhood"; that we will find peace in the United Nations, which is domin­ated by pagan and satanic nations, working for the purposes of Satanl Have they never heard that the only Prince of Peace is Jesus Christ? That He alone can bring in righteousness, peace and prosperity? Don't they realize that every time they tell us to recognize all the pagan religions as the equal of our Christianity in order to secure complete harmony with them, they are leading us to turn our backs upon the only true God? They must pay for this: and so must we, if we fol­low them!

Most of the major churches of today have failed to preach the real word of God as found in the Bible: instead, they preach what some call the "social gospel---or to be more truthful i the socialist gospel. The things which they falsely tell their people are God s will are really the direct opposite of what the Bible actually says --- the doctrines of Satan are preached in many churches under the false guise of Christianity.

But God foresaw all this thousands of years ago, and He warned us not to be deceived by it. Jeremiah 23:16-17 is very clear in Ferrar Fenton's modern English translation: "ThuT says the Lord or Hosts: Listen not to the message of the prea­chers who preach to you. They preach nonsense to you---a vision from their own hearts. They do not preach from the mouth of the Ever-Living. They Tay to the despisers of the message of the Ever-Living, 'Peace will come to you; and to all who follow the ideas of their own minds they say, 'No harm will come upon you. III And so they do: they tell us that peace is to be had from treaties made with Rus­sia in the United Nations --- even though no peace has ever come from that source. Jeremiah 14:13-14 again gives the warning: "Then said I, 'Ah, Lord Godl Behold, the prophets say unto them, "Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place."' Then the Lord said unto me, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught and the deceit of their own heart.'" Again, Jeremiah 23:21- cont-inues the warning: "I have not sent these prophets: yet they ran. I have not spoken to them: yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have turn­ed them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. * * I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in My name * * How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart."

II Peter 2:1 reminds us, "But there were false prophets also among the people, EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG You., Matthew 7:15-16 give the same warning: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's cloth­ing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, Ye shall know them by their fruits: do men gather grapes of thorns? or figs of thistles?"

We have found them so: they have been false teachers, who taught that the laws of God have been set aside and nobody need obey them now; they have openly doubted the inspiration of the Bible; they have denied the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and denied His divinity, honoring Him only as "a great teacher"---among many other great teachers. They even include the minister of a New York church who distributed copies of a pornographic novel to his congregation, claiming that it was no more pornographic than the Bible! They have laughed away all of God's warnings about the present time which is so near the very end of this Age; they see no danger in Communism or in the threatening armies and missiles of China.

But all this false teaching sounds very comforting to those of weak charact­er who dare not face the realities of this time of crisis. It is so much easier to just stick our heads in the sand and say that there is no danger as long as we just give China whatever she wants and try to show them what good fellows we really are. And when they do this, they inwardly realize that they must face the stern anger of indignant God; so the next step is to close their minds to this, also, and tell themselves that, "If we just do the best we know how, that is all that God can require of us." They conveniently forget that if we would only study the Bible, we would know how to do much better, for we would know how to obey God.

Again, this is all in the Bible, written 19 centuries ahead of time. II Timothy 4:2-4 (Moffatt's translation): "I adjure you to preach the word; keep at it in season and out of season, refuting, checking and exhorting men; never lose patience with them, and never give up your teaching; for the time will come when people decline to be taught sound doctrine; they will accumulate teachers to suit themselves and tickle their own fancies; they will give up listening to the truth and turn to myths." New Testament? Yes; but isn t this exactly what the Old Testament warned us would happen? Remember Isaiah 30:9-10 , "this is a rebellious people, lying children, children what will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, 'See nott' and to the prophets, 'Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits."' And again, Jeremiah 5:31, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so: AND WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE END T HEREOF? "

These unfaithful shepherds must make some pretence of finding some of their doctrines in the Bible, else their congregations would finally notice that none of their teaching came from the Bible. For this purpose, they like to quote a few words from the Apostle Paul, taken out of context. For some reason, Paul chose to write in a style which is difficult to understand, and therefore easily twisted by quoting limited parts out of context.

But this, also, is nothing new: it was done for the same purpose back in Bible times. The Apostle Peter warned of this, in II Peter 3:16. Speaking of the writings of Paul, Peter says, "As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard for to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction."

So, in short, as Solomon said, "There is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, tSee, this is new'? It hath been already of old time, which was before us." God knew from the beginning, and He warned us repeatedly over thousands of years, to beware of these false teachers, these unfaithful shepherds, who would come in these last years of this Age. False doctrines preached by mere politicians cannot do as much damage, because they are always doctrines of mere expediency, against which men of high principle stand firm. It is when the unfaithful shepherds are speaking from the pulpit that the damage is greatest, because they undermine the moral fibre of the best part of the nation. Therefore, Paul identifies them in II Corinthians 8:13-15 (Moffatt's translation is clearest on this): "A~ostles? They are s~urious apos­tles, false workmen --- they are masquerading as Apostles of Christ, No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So it is no sur­prise if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness."

To sum it all up: we are confronted, these days, with unfaithful shepherds who have infiltrated and corrupted many of the major churches, teaching false doctrine, repudiating the divinity and virgin birth of Jesus Christ, ignoring prophesy, teaching compromise with all the evils of Zionism, teaching that we should look to the United Nations, that Parliament of Evil, as the only hope of peace. Do not be deceived by any of them. Look to Godts word, the Bible, as the test of all truth; repudiate all who seek to substitute ffmodernism" for the great revelations made by the prophets in ancient times. Turn back to the ancient landmarks, and these unfaithful shepherds cannot then deceive you. We will continue to point out to you on this program the many messages God has given through the prophets for your true guidance: in this alone is safety, as this Age proceeds rapidly to its end.