Search Results

From Mr. Armstrong About Us Prospective Members Contact Us Admin Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Welcome to the Vigilant CHURCH of GOD The Vigilant Church of God presents the Truth directly from the scriptures to help and guide the scattered Churches of God. The work of KNOCKING AND MEASURING is the work that Jesus Christ is doing in this final era and the Vigilant Church of God is committed to being a tool as a Messenger in the Hand of Christ. Sabbath services are held in an on-line meeting room. To join this service, Contact Us. Latest Sermon on Spotify Visit Vigilant Radio podcast at: Spotify Featured video for former Worldwide Church of God members See all videos HERE View all YouTube videos Popular Videos Must Listen Jesus sends His leader Mr. Michael Venish 00:00 / 1:04:36 As a member of a Church of God which splintered off of the Worldwide Church of God - Please listen to this message Latest Sermons Our Modern Spiritual Warfare Mr. Gerhard Coetzer 00:00 / 56:47 The Bride has made herself ready Dr. Burrus Smith 00:00 / 39:53 Put on clean garments Mr. Mike Downing 00:00 / 30:44 The LOVE of God and YOU Mr. Michael Venish 00:00 / 52:44 Handwriting-is-on-the-Wall Mr Michael Venish 00:00 / 1:19:50 Important Message In John 5:17 Jesus says ".... My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. " To find out what He meant, listen to the audio below... The Knock of Jesus Christ - Rev. 3:20 Mr. Ellery Burgess 00:00 / 29:06 Follow this link Listen to all Audio here Vital Study Aid SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF GOD This listing was composed by ministers of the Worldwide Church of God approximately 1984 or before and was used in the Graduate Spokesman's Club in the Chicago area and is presented here unchanged. While this listing is very detailed, it is not an exhaustive listing of the doctrines of The Church of God. View Doctrines Follow this link

Holy Day Messages Unleavened Bread Pentecost Trumpets Atonement Feast of Tabernacles

Sermon Archive Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3). Below is a small selection of our Sabbath Sermon messages. Contact us should you require full access. Watch - Ellery Burgess 00:00 / 00:00 A Bond Slave - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 The Binding power of the AIR - Michael Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Acts 3 and the Gospel - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 LOT'S WIFE LOOKED BACK - MICHAEL VENISH 00:00 / 00:00 Be Illuminated by God's Word - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 UN MYSTERY OF THE AGES - GERHARD COETZER 00:00 / 00:00 Beware of Worldly Wisdom - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Time to CHANGE not FEAR - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Government - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Drunkards of Isaiah 28 - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Two Witnesses - M Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Suffer As Good Soldiers - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Human Nature the Hidden Enemy - Dr. Burrus Smith 00:00 / 00:00 What is Important? - M. Downing 00:00 / 00:00 The Sabbath Day Is Much More - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Thus Says The Eternal - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Salvation And You - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Put Your Trust in the Living God - D. Smith 00:00 / 00:00 Faith x 2 - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Physical Salvation for the Jews - B. Smith 00:00 / 00:00 God Declares Who We Are - M. Downing 00:00 / 00:00 It's Not AbouT Growth... But HIS Likeness - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Passover, Crucifixion and Resurrection Timeline - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Blessed Is He - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Becoming Moses - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 In Those Days - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Satan and Sin Before Man - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Becoming Moses - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Lessons From King Josiah - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Are We Preparing - J. Schiphorst 00:00 / 00:00 What Christ Did For US - M. Downing 00:00 / 00:00 God's Benefits Include Truth - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Our Children Refresh The Earth - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 A Royal Key - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Trust - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 What Is Better? - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 Reaffirming The Wonder Of Salvation - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 To Revive The Humble And Contrite Ones - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Resist Discouragement - G. Coetzer 00:00 / 00:00 The Knowledg Of The Real Jesus - M. Vnish 00:00 / 00:00 A Power Inherent - Michael Venish 00:00 / 00:00 Loyalty, A Zeal For God - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 At One - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 The Day Of Christ - M. Venish 00:00 / 00:00 The Tale Of Two Brides - B. Smith 00:00 / 00:00 Visit our Vigilant Radio Podcast at Spotify

7 Proofs of God's True Church by Herbert W. Armstrong, The Plain Truth, 1979 WHERE is the one and only true Church today — the Church founded by Jesus Christ in A.D. 31? Seven major eye-opening proofs identify it unmistakably. YOU LIVE in a world of religious confusion. WHY so many different religions? Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism, the Moslem religion and Christianity with its many denominations and sects. Religion is generally regarded as the worship of the Creator or the supernatural, although some Oriental religions are primarily philosophies. The largest religion in the world, in claimed number of adherents, is Roman Catholicism. It has won near universal acceptance in the Western world as being the original Church of Christianity. But where is the absolute AUTHORITY to identify the true religion and the one original Church of the Christian religion? Or is any authentic? Communism rejects religion, labeling it "the opium of the people." I seriously doubt if any has been put though the experience that came to me to settle this question with PROOF POSITIVE. WHY do most people believe the things they believe? The philosopher C. E. Ayers said truthfully that few, indeed, have ever stopped to ask themselves in retrospect why they believe the things they believe or HOW they came to believe them. I have answered many times that most people believe that which they have repeatedly heard, read or been taught, and have carelessly assumed those things to be true without question and without proof. Introduction: The duel challenge and research. Reading time: 9 min 35 sec The disturbing dual challenge I was born of stable and upright parents, with an ancestry in the Quaker faith that had emigrated from England to Pennsylvania with William Penn, a hundred years before the United States became a nation. At age 18 I dropped all but the most passive interest in religion. I had put myself through an intensive self-examination, coupled with a survey of the various occupations and professions to determine where I belonged — to avoid fitting the proverbial square peg in the round hole. This led into the advertising profession and a business life. I was unusually successful. I had continued through the years diligent study and application. I had planned that my business contacts were largely with the great and the near-great. Then, at age 34, I was assailed by very disturbing dual challenges. The first challenge - Sabbath My wife, after nine years of happy marriage, had begun keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. I was aghast! That, to me, was religious fanaticism! She claimed to have found this teaching in the Bible. My first upsetting thought was, What will my business contacts and friends say? It was a devastating thought, humiliating! All the arguments came quickly to my mind. They were of no avail. She said she found this teaching in the Bible. "But the Bible says," I protested, "'Thou shalt observe Sunday.'" "Can you show that to me in the Bible?" she asked. "No." I replied. "I don't know much about the Bible. My interest and studies have been in the area of business. But I know the Bible teaches Sunday observance because all these churches can't be wrong, and they receive their beliefs from the Bible." "If," she smiled sincerely — but to me exasperatingly — "you can show me where the Bible commands Sunday observance, I'll go back to it." There was no dodging the challenge. My marriage depended on it! The second challenge - Evolution Coincidentally a sister-in-law, newly married and fresh out of college, hurled at me a second humiliating challenge. "Herbert Armstrong," she accused contemptuously, "you are just plain ignorant! Everybody who has any education knows human life has come by evolution." I was proud. I had not neglected study and education. I thought I knew the facts about evolution, and I didn't believe in it. But now I had to admit I had never pursued a thorough, in-depth research of the question. The dual challenge drove me into a determined almost night and day research. That intensive study continued for six months before I found the proved answer. Yet the study to this day has never ceased. I was not only humiliated and angered by these challenges — I was determined to prove both my wife and sister-in-law wrong. Both challenges focused on a common starting point — the book of Genesis in the Bible — although that was only the beginning. These challenges came at a period in life when I had ample time on my hands. I plunged with intense concentration into the study. Evolution researched But I did not begin the research in Genesis. First I delved thoroughly into the works of Darwin, Lyell, Haeckel, Huxley, Spencer, Vogt, Chamberlin and Moore, and even into the earlier works of Lamarck and his theory of "Use and Disuse," which preceded Darwin's survival-of-the-fittest hypothesis. Immediately those writings appeared convincing. They necessarily are, to have won virtual universal acceptance in the world of higher education. I readily understood how the field of education had been gripped in the clutch of the evolutionary concept. Evolution, as I finally learned, is the atheists' attempted explanation of the presence of a creation without the pre-existence of a Creator. This initial stage of my research rudely shook my faith in the existence of God. It brought me to the realization that I had assumed the reality of God, because from childhood I had heard — and therefore assumed — it. For a while my head was literally swimming. Was all I had ever believed mere myth and error, after all? I was awakened to the realization that I had never seen PROVED the reality of God! Now I was determined to know the TRUTH! My mind was being cleaned out from ideas and beliefs previously taken for granted. Of all the writings on evolution, Moore alone had culled out many discrepancies in the theory. Yet he too went along with the doctrine overall. But now I had, first of all, to prove or disprove the existence of God. It was not casual or superficial study. I continued in this research as if my life depended upon it — as, in actual fact it did, as well as my marriage. I studied books also on the other side of the coin. Irrefutable proof of God. Suffice it to say here that I did find irrefutable PROOF of the existence of God the Creator — and I found proof positive of the fallacy of the evolutionary theory. I had the satisfaction of winning the admission of one thoroughly steeped in evolutionary thought — having spent years in graduate work at the University of Chicago and at Columbia — that I had definitely chopped down the trunk of the evolutionary tree, though like Dr. Moore, she had been so thoroughly brainwashed in it she had to continue in what she had seen and acknowledged was PROOF of its falsity. Also I had the enjoyment of being able to cause my sister-in-law to eat those words branding me as ignorant. All of which was mere vanity on my part, which I had not yet eradicated. I had proved the reality of THE GREAT MAJESTIC GOD! But my wife's challenge was still tormenting my mind. Already, in the evolutionary research, I had studied Genesis. I knew each of the world's religions had their own sacred writings. Once God's reality was proved, I had expected to continue in the pursuit of comparative religions — to see if any such sacred writings proved authoritative. Through which of these did GOD speak to mankind — if any? Research continues. Since I had to research the Sabbath question anyway and already I had delved into Genesis, I decided to continue my study in the Bible — intending to examine in-depth the writings of other religions afterward. In my biblical study I came across, early, the passage in Romans 6:23: "... The wages of sin is death..." I stopped, amazed. "Wages" is what one is paid for what one has done. Here I was staring at a statement diametrically opposite to my Sunday school teaching prior to age 18. "Why," I exclaimed, "how can that be? I was taught in church that the wages of sin is EVERLASTING LIFE — in an eternally burning hell." Another shock came on reading the last part of the same verse: "... but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. " "But," I questioned in disillusionment, "I thought I already had eternal life — I am, or I have, an immortal soul. Why should I need it as a gift?" I researched the word soul by means of a Bible concordance. Twice I found the words, "... The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4 and Ezekiel 18:20). Then I remembered I had read in Genesis 2 how God said to the first human, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." In Genesis 2:7 I read how God "... formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man (dust, matter) became a living soul." This stated plainly that a soul is physical — formed from matter. I found that the English word soul is translated from the Hebrew nephesh and that in Genesis 1 fowl, fish and animals, all three, were nephesh as Moses was inspired to write. Next, I happened to read where Jesus said, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man..." (John 3:13). I researched the heaven and hell teaching further. I saw where the inspired Peter, on the day he received the Holy Spirit said, "For David is not ascended into the heavens..." (Acts 2:34). Teachings opposite of the Bible I was, in utter astonishment, coming to realize that what I had been taught growing up in church was the precise opposite of what the Bible says in clear language. This is not the place for a lengthy, detailed account of my intensive search in the Bible — bent on proving to my satisfaction that "all these churches can't be wrong, for their teachings came from the Bible." The essential point here is the simple fact that I did find irrefutable PROOF of the divine inspiration and SUPREME AUTHORITY of the Holy Bible as the revealed Word of God as originally written. Even all the so-called contradictions evaporated upon unbiased study. Yet, to my utter dismay and chagrin, I was forced to "eat crow" in regard to my wife's supposed "fanaticism." It was not what I wanted to believe, THEN! But by now I had taken a real beating. I had proved truth contrary to what I wanted to believe. Let me pause here to add a point to what I wrote above, saying most people believe what they have repeatedly heard or read or been taught. There are two other psychological truisms in regard to WHY people believe what they do. One is, people carelessly accept what those around them believe. Most Thais are Buddhists because those around them in Thailand are Buddhists. There is the psychological tendency to go along with one's peers. One other reason for people's beliefs is that human nature tends to cause one to believe what he wants to believe, and refuse, regardless of proof, what he does not want to believe. There is the old saying, "One convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." God's Word is truth That is why I have said the experience I was painfully subjected to in this six-months' intensive study was UNIQUE in human life and conduct. I know of no world religious leader who arrived at his teachings in such manner. Perhaps that is why GOD'S INSPIRED WORD alone — as I proved — is TRUTH. Only GOD is infallibly correct! I was brought, by the spring of 1927, to a complete MIND-SWEEPING — my mind swept clean of previous assumptions and beliefs — surrendered to the WORD OF GOD, which by then I had proved TRUE, and the SUPREME AUTHORITY. More, I had been brought to realize my own inadequacy and nothingness. I had been brought to a real repentance — CONQUERED by the GREAT MAJESTIC GOD — and with a solid rock-based FAITH in Jesus Christ. I was baptized, and the infilling of God's Spirit opened my mind to the JOY UNSPEAKABLE of knowing God and Jesus Christ — of knowing TRUTH — and the warmth of God's divine LOVE! What I once hated I now LOVED. I found the greatest and most absorbing joy of my life in continuing to dig out those gold nuggets of TRUTH from God's Word. Now came a new enthusiasm in biblical study and receiving the REVEALED knowledge of God. Where is God's Church? Now came the urgent desire to find the ONE and ONLY true Church of God as founded A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ. He had said (Matthew 16:18 ) that His Church would not die but continue through the generations. My intensive biblical studies had shown me the basic evidences that would identify that continuing original Church. 1) It would have rightly discerned the revealed TRUTH of God as contained in His Word, the Holy Bible. I had learned that GOD is the Source of knowledge, and He REVEALS that knowledge through His written Word. This Word, remember, I had PROVED by irrefutable PROOF the divine inspiration and SUPREME AUTHORITY of the Holy Bible as the revealed Word of God. God is the supreme Educator — Revealer of TRUTH. 2) It would be, not a human secular organization, but a SPIRITUAL ORGANISM, yet WELL ORGANIZED on God's revealed pattern. It would be composed of begotten children of God — the "... household of God ... built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets," with Jesus Christ its guiding HEAD (Ephesians 2:19-20 ), as a "... building fitly framed together groweth unto an HOLY TEMPLE in the Lord" (verse 21) "... from whom the whole body [is] fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth ..." (Ephesians 4:16 ). It would have UNDERSTANDING of GOD'S TRUTH. And it would be PRODUCING ABUNDANT FRUIT. I did not find such a church immediately. But in His due time, God led me to find that ONE AND ONLY original Church of God. I now reveal SEVEN MAJOR PROOFS that identify it. Proof One: Who and what is God? Reading time: 9 min 34 sec It seems utterly unbelievable! The religions of this world do not know WHO or WHAT God really is! Yet religion is the worship of God. HOW can one worship what is UNKNOWN? The only answer is that the Bible reveals that ALL NATIONS have been deceived (Rev. 12:9). The true understanding of the very identity of God is one proof that the one and only Church founded A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ is, today, the Worldwide Church of God. It seems inconceivable—but you live today in a world of religious CONFUSION! Among the largest of the world's religions are Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, with its hundreds of denominations and sects. The latter is the largest in number of adherents. And yet only one religion, neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant, knows WHO and WHAT God is! Modern science does not know. Higher education does not know or teach it. The intellectuals of the world in the first century were the Athenians. Certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered the apostle Paul. "What will this babbler say?" queried some in ridicule (Acts 17:18). Others sneered sarcastically, "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods." They took Paul and brought him to Areopagus, the supreme tribunal, on Mars Hill. "May we know," they asked cynically, "what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears." Here were the world's most "scholarly." Paul was preaching the truth of GOD. "Ye men of Athens," said the apostle forthrightly and boldly, "I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions [idolatrous objects of worship], I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. GOD that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." WHO is GOD? CREATION is the basic proof of God. These Athenian Epicureans and Stoics did not even know that. Perhaps the adherents of many religions do not. But what of the real NATURE of God? Just WHO and WHAT is God? We need a more concrete understanding than to say, merely, that God is the Being who created all. That is the starting point. Only the one original Church Jesus founded in A.D. 31 has the full answer. It seems inconceivable that, of all the religions and churches in the world today, only ONE is unique in UNDERSTANDING the nature of the CREATOR of all that is! Mankind could know! God reveals Himself in plain language in His Word, the Holy Bible. But no book has been so distorted, twisted, and misrepresented as this ONE SUPREME AUTHORITY OF TRUTH! The generally accepted teaching of traditional Christianity is that God is a "Trinity"—God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is designated as a "Ghost." By about A.D. 59 the gospel Jesus Christ proclaimed had been suppressed (Gal. 1:6-7). A counterfeit "gospel" had replaced it. From about A.D. 70 there ensued "the lost century" of Church history. All historic record of the true Church of God had been systematically destroyed during that hundred years. The curtain had been rung down on Church activities, and when the curtain of recorded history lifted, an entirely different church appeared, calling itself "Christian." Extreme persecution by powerful forces had driven the true Church of God underground. The church by the fourth century was more like the Babylonian mystery religion, having appropriated the name "Christianity" (Rev. 17:5). There had been two heated doctrinal controversies—one called the Quartodeciman controversy between Polycrates and the bishops of Rome on the observance of the spring festival (should Passover or Easter be celebrated?). The other, between Arius, a priest of Alexandria, and the Roman bishops on the Trinity doctrine. Emperor Constantine, the supreme head of the Roman Empire, called the Nicene Council in A.D. 325 and made both the pagan Easter (named from the goddess Astarte) and the Trinity doctrine LAW! The Trinity doctrine limited God to three Persons. More of that later. The King James biblical scholars translated the Greek words for Holy Spirit as "Holy Ghost," under the delusion that the Spirit of God was a third Person. Also the translators of the 1611 version usually used the pronouns "he," "him," etc., in relation to the Holy Spirit, but not always: The pronoun "it" also is used. But how does God reveal Himself authoritatively? If one should ask, "Where, in order of time sequence, do we find the real beginning in the Bible?" the reply probably would be Genesis 1:1, beginning with the words, "In the beginning God... ." RIGHT? WRONG! In order of time sequence the earliest prehistoric revelation is in the New Testament, in John 1:1-3: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." The Word was one Personage. God was another Personage. Yet the Word was a Personage separate from God—as shown in verse 14: "And the Word was [much later] made flesh, and dwelt among us... . " The Word became Jesus Christ. The English "Word" is translated from the original Greek Logos, meaning "Word" or "Spokesman." That all things were made by Him is confirmed in Ephesians 3:9, where it speaks of God "who created all things by Jesus Christ." "He spake, and it was done" (Ps. 33:9). Here are TWO Personages, yet both are GOD. How is that? A man named David Smith may have a son named Paul. But Paul, though a separate individual, is also a Smith. However, Jesus Christ did not become the Son of God until about 4 B.C., when born in human flesh of the virgin Mary. Prior to that, He had ALWAYS existed, even as had God. Christ was originally "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life" (Heb. 7:3). Now come to Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God... ." This was written originally by Moses in the Hebrew language. The English "God" is translated from the Hebrew Elohim—a uniplural noun. It is uniplural in the same sense as the words "family" and "church"—denoting more than one component forming the whole. Not two Gods—but ONE God consisting of more than one Person. When, only nineteen hundred-plus years ago, Jesus was begotten of God in the womb of His human mother Mary, He was the only human ever so begotten prior to human birth! Yet, as we shall see later, humans may become begotten children of God—after human birth, but preceding a spiritual birth. Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew name of God is always the Hebrew Elohim, which denotes both the Word and God. But in chapter 2, Moses began adding another name for God—Yahweh in the Hebrew, usually combined with Elohim: Yahweh-Elohim. In the King James English translation, it is rendered "LORD God," which is somewhat misleading. It is interesting, at this point, to explain this name Yahweh. There is no one word in the English language which adequately translates it. It means "the self-existent, eternal-living, creative one." The Moffatt translation renders it "the Eternal." The Fenton translation uses "the Ever-Living." Personally, I prefer to use only the one word "Eternal," instead of "Lord." In any event, the English "LORD" in the King James translation refers to that Person in the Godhead who in John 1:1 is called "the Word"—the very one who later became Jesus Christ. Who Was the God of the Old Testament? That leads to an important point in the UNDERSTANDING of WHO and WHAT GOD is. Many if not most seem to believe the God of the Old Testament was the one Jesus prayed to as His FATHER. But many New Testament passages quoting from the Old Testament prove that the one of the Godhead who was born in human flesh as Jesus Christ was the Yahweh of the Old Testament and the Word of John 1:1. That knowledge is a portion of PROOF #1 identifying the true original Church today. Jesus came, among other purposes, to REVEAL the Father. Ancient Old Testament Israel knew of only ONE PERSONAGE in the Godhead—although their Scriptures contained the Hebrew Elohim. But to them, primarily, God was conceived of as not only ONE God, but only ONE Person! The truth is, Israelites generally knew nothing of God—the Person to whom Jesus prayed and the Father Jesus came to REVEAL. However, another technical point is: God only became the FATHER of the GOD FAMILY when Jesus Christ was begotten and born as a human. Yet He may become our Father in heaven when we are begotten by His Holy Spirit. More of that later. Now notice that God (Elohim) is more than one Person, even though only ONE GOD. In Genesis 1:26, Elohim said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... ." Notice! Not "Let me," but "Let US"—plural, or uniplural. Then, in Genesis 2:2-3, "On the seventh day God [Elohim] ended his work which he had made... . And God [Elohim] blessed the seventh day... ." Then, verse 4: "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God [Yahweh Elohim] made the earth and the heavens." Again it was through the Word, in the Hebrew named Yahweh, that the earth and heavens were made—as GOD created all things by Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:9). Does God Have Form and Shape? God reveals that He is spirit-composed (John 4:24). Unless supernaturally manifested, spirit is invisible to human eyes. Jesus said to His disciples, "Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape" (John 5:37). Later "Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus answered, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:8-9). WHY? Because God the Father—if human eyes could see—looks like Jesus. And what did Jesus look like? Certainly NOT like artists' renderings you have seen which are supposed to picture Him. For one thing, HE DID NOT HAVE LONG HAIR (I Cor. 11:14). He looked like other Jews then in Judea, else the chief priests would not have paid Judas Iscariot 40 [sic] pieces of silver to identify Him. Now notice once again Genesis 1:26: "God [Elohim] said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness [form and shape]... . " God is described in the Bible as having eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, arms, legs, fingers, toes. Jesus was "the express image of his [the Father's] person" (Heb. 1:3). What Is the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is not a Person—a "Ghost"—then what does the Bible reveal about the Holy Spirit? The natural carnal mind of man simply cannot grasp an understanding of spirit. It is not matter. The Hebrew word for spirit, ruach, and the Greek pneuma both are often translated into the English "wind," "air," or "breath"—because these physical words perhaps most closely explain spirit to the human mind—yet spirit is not physical or material. The Holy Spirit is the spirit (not Ghost) that emanates out from both God and Christ everywhere in the universe. Through His Holy Spirit, God projects Himself, in spirit, everywhere in the universe—yet both God and Christ have form and shape, even as man. The Holy Spirit is many things. It is the very LIFE of the immortal God, which, entering into a human, begets him with God-life. It is the POWER of God by which, when Christ "spake," it was done. It is the POWER by which God stretched out the heavens—created the vast endless universe. The Holy Spirit, entering into man as God's gift, opens the mind to UNDERSTANDING of spiritual knowledge, unknown to the human mind otherwise. It is the LOVE of God "shed abroad in our hearts." It is the FAITH of Christ which may be given to God's begotten children. It is the POWER of God, begotten within humans, enabling us to overcome Satan and sin. "How Great Thou Art" We have covered the nature of God. Now consider HOW GREAT He is. King David was meditating on this, and man's insignificance by comparison. He wrote: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:3-4.) Isaiah was inspired to write: "Who hath measured the waters [oceans] in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? ... Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance... . All nations before him are as nothing ..." (Isa. 40:12-17). Then God is quoted: "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? ... Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power ..." (verses 25-26). Yet, there is much more to come, in relation to David's comparison of God to man, and why God should be concerned about us, in a later installment—and fantastically thrilling it is! NONE but the Worldwide Church of God today possesses the REVEALED TRUTH and knowledge of WHO and WHAT God is! Proof Two: The government of God and creation of holy righteous character Reading time: 4 min 14 sec The most important feat of creation is holy, righteous CHARACTER. That is so stupendous an accomplishment that even the GREAT MAJESTIC GOD, in all His matchless supernatural power, cannot create such character instantaneously or automatically by fiat. That ought to take the reader's breath! Is there actually something that even GOD cannot do—by Himself alone? Such character is the ability of a separate conscious, thinking entity with free moral agency—capacity for free choice—to come to KNOW the right from wrong, good from evil, to make the decision, and then with God's help exercise the WILL to DO the right or good, even contrary to self-desire. Angels Created First Now for the moment go back to John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That is the very earliest prehistoric record. It could have been millions or thousands of millions of years ago. The two eternally living Spirit Personages, who together constituted the ONE God, were ALONE in empty space. There was no physical universe—YET! But, even as man thinks, and designs and plans before making—so did God, who much later made MAN in His own image. God—with the Word—first conceived the plan and design to create angels, also immortal spirit beings, composed wholly of spirit. So God created angels before creating the material universe, as revealed elsewhere in the Bible. The Duality in Creation There is the DUALITY principle in God's creative process. Angels were the first thinking, reasoning, separate entities created by God. Angels were created with minds—ability to know, reason, make choices. But their creation could not be a finished creation until CHARACTER—either good or evil—was developed in them. And this is a PROCESS, to be EXPERIENCED. That character development was the second part of the DUAL stage of their creation. God initially INSTRUCTED them in His WAY—that of righteous character. It was THE WAY of God's spiritual law—the basis of God's GOVERNMENT. Then came the time of the creation of the PHYSICAL UNIVERSE. There was a vital connection between the creation of angels and the creation of the material universe. For that, too, was created on the DUALITY principle. To illustrate, I compare this physical creation to the manufacture of unfinished furniture—sold in stores of most cities. Such furniture may be of fine quality, but lacks the finishing polish, paint or whatever. So God created the heavens and the earth—the universe with its countless planets in innumerable solar systems and galaxies, including planets such as our Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc. Genesis 1:1, where "heavens" is in the plural in original Hebrew and modern translations, together with Genesis 2:4, which speaks of "... the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Eternal God made the earth and the heavens," indicates the earth was created as part of the material universe—all simultaneously created. Other scriptures imply this. But, like the unfinished furniture, the universe, including the earth, was not at that time completed. Angels had been created prior to the universe, because they sang together and shouted for joy at earth's creation (Job 38:4-7). A Double Duality Now we come to the fact of a double DUALITY in the creation of angels and of the earth. For the earth was inhabited by angels prior to the creation of man. Apparently God placed a third of the created angels on earth. They were given opportunity to share in God's creating activities by FINISHING the earth—working in and with its many elements, improving, beautifying, completing it. This required harmonious teamwork—all working together toward the common God-ordained goal. The earth was the proving ground to QUALIFY them, by righteous CHARACTER development and finishing earth's creation, to share with God the same creative participation in completion of the myriads of planets of the vast universe. To regulate this effort of the angels, God placed on earth's THRONE the archangel, the cherub Lucifer, to administer the GOVERNMENT OF GOD over the angels. I repeat: That GOVERNMENT is based on God's spiritual laws—as all governments are based on a constitution of foundational law. God's spiritual law is the way of God's holy, righteous CHARACTER. Angels Led into Rebellion The third of the angels (Revelation 12:4) on earth completed their creation by developing evil character—sinning (II Peter 2:4). The super-archangel Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-14) had been perfect in all his ways from the day of his initial creation, till iniquity—lawlessness—was found in him. "Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering ... in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee" (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Lucifer was not satisfied with rule over only the one planet—as the testing ground to prepare him for all planets. He wanted to rule all at once. He said, "... I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ..." (Isaiah 14:13). He had been created with exceeding beauty, which "lifted up his heart" in vanity (Ezekiel 28:17). He became lustful, jealous and envious of God, decided on a WAR of invasion, attempting to overthrow God on the heavenly throne of the universe. He led his angels into rebellion. These angels "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitations"—meaning this earth! (Jude 6.) But Lucifer and his angels were cast back down to earth (Revelation 12:4). The creation of this third of all angels was finished—creation of evil character within them completed. Once their creation was completed, being spirit, they could never change! And they are immortal! The GOVERNMENT OF GOD no longer was operative on earth! Lucifer's name was changed to Satan the devil. His angels became demons. Their minds had become perverted for eternity. Proof Three: What and Why is man? Reading time: 11 min 31 sec It must be as shocking to the reader as it was to me to learn that NONE of the religions or churches but the Worldwide Church of God understands both WHAT man is and WHY humanity was put on the earth! Science cannot give you the answer. Modern higher education does not know or teach the answer. And, along with these basic and important questions, WHY all the evils in this chaotic and sick world, now facing the number-one problem of whether human life can survive through the remainder of this 20th century? I ask, HOW can even the most highly educated be so IGNORANT of SO IMPORTANT a TRUTH? Earth's Face in Devastation Instead of improving, beautifying, completing earth's creation, the sinning angels brought it to desolation and ruin. Come now again to Genesis 1:1-2: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep... ." The original Hebrew for "without form and void" is tohu and bohu—meaning "waste, desolate, deteriorated." The word "was" may also be translated "became." All was oceanic surface —and light had been by angel lawlessness turned into darkness. Let me here interject a biblical principle. The entirety of a subject is often not stated within the context of one place. There is this instruction in Isaiah: "Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? ... For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:9-10). But most who try to apply this principle in biblical understanding take each "little" out of context, in order to interpret their own idea into it. Much directly concerned with what is revealed in Genesis 1 is filled in by other passages of Scripture in various parts of the Bible. So now, let's UNDERSTAND the background. Earth's angels had not completed the creation of this planet by improvement, development and beautification. Rather, they had brought it to desolation and ruin. The GOVERNMENT OF GOD had been nullified on earth. And now only God could be certainly relied upon never to depart from the way of His law and His government. No higher, more perfect kind of being could be created than Lucifer—and he had rebelled. Since GOD ALONE would never deviate or turn from GOD'S WAY, God now determined (or probably had already predetermined) to accomplish the SUPREME creative feat—to REPRODUCE HIMSELF! In God's supreme wisdom He knew this must be brought about through matter! Man in God's Image To prepare the earth for the creation of MAN, God first renewed the face of the earth. This is explained in Psalm 104:30: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth." Now back to Genesis 1:2. The earth was in a state of ruin. "... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The first thing God did was turn darkness back into LIGHT as originally made. God said, "... Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). So in six days God RENEWED THE FACE OF THE EARTH (the six days in Genesis 1 is not the time of earth's original creation), preparing it for the creation of MAN! Once again the earth was a perfect creation—but lacking the finishing touches. The Purpose of Man on Earth WHY did the Creator God put man on the earth? To improve the physical earth as God gave it to man, finishing its creation, which sinning angels had deliberately refused to do; and in so doing to restore the government of God, with God's way of life, and, further, in this very process, TO FINISH THE CREATION OF man by the development of God's holy, righteous CHARACTER, with man's own assent. Once this perfect and righteous character is instilled in man and man converted from mortal to immortal spirit, then is to come the INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL—man being BORN INTO the divine FAMILY of God and then participating in the completion of the CREATION of the entire endless expanse of the UNIVERSE! So, on the sixth day of that (re)creation week, God (Elohim) said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26). Man was made to have (with his assent) a special relationship with his Maker! He was made in the form and shape of God. He was given a spirit (essence) to make the relationship possible. Much more of that a little later. The Soul Is Mortal But God made MAN wholly of MATTER! This was necessary for the supreme accomplishment God willed. "And the Eternal God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [air] of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Man, formed from material dust of the ground, upon breathing air BECAME a living soul. It does not say man is or has an immortal soul. What was formed from material ground BECAME a soul. Therefore the SOUL is physical, composed of matter, and can die. This is a TRUTH believed by very few denominations and probably by no religions other than Christianity—another PROOF that identifies the one true Church of God! How Human Mind Functions Now we come to another truth, so far as I know exclusive in the one true Church. Did you ever wonder about the vast difference between human mind and animal brain? This incidentally is another PROOF of the falsity of the theory of evolution! The physical brain of vertebrates in the animal kingdom is almost precisely the same in physical form, design, and constituents as human brain—and the brains of whales, elephants, dolphins are larger, and of chimps almost as large. Yet the output of human brain is indescribably greater. Few indeed know WHY! Many passages of scripture show that there is a spirit in man. Spirit is not matter, and man is wholly matter. But, as there could be a small metal object swallowed by mistake in man, yet no part of the man himself, so with the spirit within each human. It is in the form of essence—not a ghost or being of itself, and to distinguish it from God's Holy Spirit, I designate it as the "human spirit." Nevertheless, it is spirit and not matter. This "human spirit" imparts the power of intellect to the human physical brain. The spirit cannot see, hear, taste, smell or feel. The brain sees through the eye, hears through the ear, etc. The "human spirit" cannot of itself think. The physical brain thinks. What, then, is the function of the "human spirit"? It is NOT a "soul." But it 1) imparts the power of intellect, of thinking and of MIND power to the human brain; and 2) it is the very means God has instilled to make possible a personal relationship between human MAN and divine GOD. Two Stages of Man God creates, as previously mentioned, by the principle of DUALITY. So it is with the creation of MAN. It is accomplished in TWO STAGES: 1) the physical phase, which began with the first man, Adam; and 2) the spiritual stage, which begins with the "second Adam," Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:45-46). So also, man was made from creation (and birth) with the one "human spirit"—but he is INCOMPLETE. He was made to need another Spirit—the HOLY SPIRIT of God, and when that gift of God is received, His "Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16)—in the begotten or first stage of the spiritual creation. This is most clearly explained in I Corinthians 2. "... Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart [mind] of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (verse 9)—spiritual knowledge. The natural mind can know only what the brain can physically see, hear, taste, smell or feel. The natural mind is confined to physical, material knowledge! "But God hath revealed them [spiritual things] unto us by his Spirit..." (verse 10). "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? ..." (verse 11). A cow, sheep or dog cannot know the things a MAN knows—and neither could a man, except by the spirit of man which is in him. Likewise, the natural man with this one spirit is limited to material knowledge: "... even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (verse 11). ONLY when the Holy Spirit enters, combining with the "human spirit," can a man come to know that which is spiritual. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (verse 14). That is WHY the most highly educated are overall the most ignorant. They are confined to knowledge of the material. Knowledge of God and the things of God are foolishness to them. But, of course, God says, "... the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (I Corinthians 3:19). World Cut Off from God Now back to the first human, Adam. Remember God's PURPOSE in creating man on the earth: 1) to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth, and by regulating human life through that GOVERNMENT, to complete the physical creation of earth where angels turned it to ruin, and in the process to complete the creation of MAN by developing righteous spiritual CHARACTER; and 2) to establish the KINGDOM OF GOD and eventually the incredible human potential of finishing the creation of the vast UNIVERSE. This supreme PURPOSE required: 1) that MAN reject Satan's WAY, embracing GOD'S WAY of LOVE, based on God's spiritual law; and 2) that man be made first of matter so that if he were led into Satan's way of GET, he could be CHANGED, converted to GOD'S WAY of LOVE. Spirit, once a finished creation, cannot be changed! That is why the one-third of the angels who followed Satan are forever demons. Spirit is constant and eternal—not subject to change. But physical matter is constantly changing. Through God's master plan for His spiritual creation, to be covered later, it had been determined by God and the Word that the Word would divest Himself of His supreme glory, and in due time take on Him the likeness of human flesh as Jesus Christ, making possible the spiritual phase of the creation of MAN—God REPRODUCING HIMSELF! What a MASTER PLAN for the extreme ULTIMATE in creative accomplishment! How GREAT is our God—in mind, purpose, planning, designing, as well as CREATING—from the tiniest germ or insect to the most huge sun, dwarfing our own great sun to insignificance! And the incredible human potential is that the GREAT MAJESTIC GOD is, in MAN, reproducing Himself—man can be born into the GOD FAMILY! The first human, Adam, was created with the potential of qualifying to replace Satan, the former Lucifer, on earth's throne, restoring the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. But it was necessary that he resist and reject Satan's GET way and choose GOD'S WAY of His law—the way of LOVE (GIVE)! His Maker talked first to Adam and Eve—instructed them thoroughly in the GOVERNMENT and spiritual LAW of God—even though in Genesis 2 only the most condensed summary of God's instruction to them is revealed. Satan was restrained from any contact with them until God first had completely taught them. Two Symbolic Trees In the gloriously beautiful Garden of Eden, in which God placed them, were two symbolic trees. One was the "tree of life." Taking its fruit, freely offered, symbolized obedience and faithfulness to God's law of outgoing LOVE and receiving the gift of God's Holy Spirit. The other was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Taking of its fruit was taking to themselves the knowledge of what is good and what is evil—deciding for themselves what is right and what is sin. This, of course, meant rejection of GOD'S LAW, which defined for them the right and the wrong. The glorious archangel Lucifer, as God originally created him, was the pinnacle of God's creative power in a single being. Few today remotely realize the great power, now turned to cunning deception, possessed by Satan. Apparently Adam completely underestimated him. The wily Satan got to Adam through his wife Eve. He did not say, "CHOOSE MY WAY." He appeared as a subtle serpent. He cleverly deceived her. He put DOUBTS in her mind about God's veracity. He deceived her into believing God had been unfair—selfish. He subtly injected vanity of mind. He misled her into thinking it was right to take of the forbidden fruit. Adam, not deceived, nevertheless went along with his wife. With her, he took to himself the determination of what is right and what is wrong—thus DISBELIEVING what his Maker had said, REJECTING God as Savior and Ruler—rejecting God as the Source of revealed BASIC KNOWLEDGE. He believed and followed Satan's WAY! Man's Sentence Pronounced When the Eternal God "drove out the man" from the Garden of Eden and barred reentrance—lest he go back and receive eternal life in sin (Genesis 3:22-24)—God PRONOUNCED SENTENCE! God said, in effect, "You have made the decision for yourself and the world that shall spring from you. You have rejected me as the basic Source of knowledge—you have rebelled against my command and my government—you have chosen the GETTING, TAKING way of Satan. Therefore I sentence you and the world you shall beget to 6,000 years of being CUT OFF from access to me, my revealed knowledge, my WAY of life—EXCEPT for the comparative exceedingly few I shall specially call for special service preparatory to my Kingdom. Go, and produce your own fund of knowledge with your carnal, hostile minds. Produce your own carnal scholarship and system of disseminating it. Go, and create your own gods and religions. Go, FORM YOUR OWN HUMAN-DEVISED GOVERNMENTS. Satan, in all this, will deceive your world into receiving his ATTITUDE of vanity, lust and greed, envy and jealousy, suspicion and disbelief, competition and strife and violence—into unrealized REBELLION against me and my WAY of outflowing LOVE! After your world has written the lesson of your WAY in 6,000 years of evils, troubles, frustrations, sickness, sorrow, suffering and DEATH, I will INTERVENE! I will by supernatural divine POWER take over the government and education of the whole world, calling all to me—to repentance from your false way, and to eternal salvation." Except for those specially called for special duty preparing for God's KINGDOM, ALL HUMANITY HAS BEEN CUT OFF FROM GOD THESE 6,000 years! I know and privately discuss world conditions with many heads of state—kings, emperors, presidents, prime ministers, ambassadors, men high in governments. They all have to deal with problems and evils with which they are utterly unable to cope. WHY? Few indeed know. But I have just told you the cause. This knowledge makes the one true Church of God unique in the world! The TRUTH that all are CUT OFF from God except those specially called by God was emphasized by Jesus. He said, plainly, "No MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which ... sent me draw him ..." (John 6:44). No scripture contradicts that. The Only Day of Salvation? The most universal false teaching, believed by virtually all churches called Christian, except the one and only true and original Church of God, is that ALL are automatically lost unless they profess Jesus Christ as Savior and that now is the only day of salvation. Those cut off from God are NOT lost—unless called and then lost. They are simply NOT YET JUDGED! All so far called since Adam have been called, not for salvation alone, but primarily for a special mission—and salvation goes along automatically if they do repent, believe, receive and are led by the Holy Spirit. All still living will be called during the millennium, with Christ ruling all nations—and all others previously uncalled will be resurrected and called in the "great white throne judgment" following the millennium. There will be no Satan to overcome then. Just as Adam was required to reject and overcome the pull of Satan to qualify to succeed to the throne of the earth, so was Jesus Christ, the second Adam. Jesus Christ did qualify. Those converted prior to His return must also qualify, in order to sit with Him on His throne (Revelation 2:26-27 and 3:21). Proof Four: The truth about Israel Reading time: 9 min 26 sec The Holy Bible is essentially the book of and concerning the nation Israel. It is concerned with other nations only as they come into contact with Israel. But the answer to WHY God called that nation and the fact of their division into the TWO nations — the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah — and the present-day identity of the house of Israel forms another vital PROOF that identifies the one and only original, true Church of God. God's true Church knows that ONLY those specially called by God for a special purpose have had access to Him from Adam until now. Certainly it is almost without exception that those called did not first seek God — He sought out and called them. Noah was not seeking God, but God called Noah to build a great ship on dry land away from any ocean. Noah carried out the assignment amid persecution and jeers. Abraham was not seeking God, but God called him — and without protest or question he obeyed and went on to become the "father of the faithful," to whom the promises of both the national birthright of Israel and eternal salvation through Christ were given. Moses was not seeking God, but God called Moses at the burning bush. He made excuse, protesting the assignment — saying he could not do it because he had an impediment of speech. But God called his brother Aaron to speak for him. The children of Israel, 430 years after Abraham, were groaning and crying out because of their slavery in Egypt — but there is no statement recorded that they were seeking a relationship with God. However, God heard their groanings and delivered them by supernatural miracles out of Egypt under Moses. There must have been two to four million of them — for there were 600,000 men, not counting women and children. At Mt. Sinai God proposed to them His covenant that they become His nation and His congregation ("... the church in the wilderness ..." [Acts 7:38]). God offered them, for obedience to His government, material and national rewards — but no spiritual salvation. The Holy Spirit was given only to the prophets whom God called and chose. Wonderful Abilities of Natural Mind Now WHY did God call a carnal, unspiritual people into a husband-and-wife relationship, designating them as His nation and giving them His government? Natural carnal MAN, with only the "human spirit" to impart materialistic intellect, has been — even without contact with and help from GOD — able to accomplish wonders in the physical realm. This is not testimony to the goodness of MAN, but to the wonderful creative ability of man's Maker! At the tower of Babel God said: "... this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do" (Genesis 11:6). Invention and production of the modern computer and sending men to the moon and safely back are two modern examples. Cut off from GOD — having only the one "human spirit" that empowers intellect — MAN has developed a scholarship that says, "Given sufficient KNOWLEDGE, we can solve every problem." The modern university is a KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION factory. Yet, I have said the most highly educated are the most ignorant — because their development of knowledge has been LIMITED — confined to the physical and material. Without the Holy Spirit of God, they are, in the vernacular, "not all there"! God says of this "intellectual" human mind, that it is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9); and, "... the carnal mind is enmity [hostile] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). God had shut man off from God's revealed knowledge. Why Carnal Israel One reason God raised up ancient Israel was to eventually prove to all humanity, the vast majority of whom do not yet realize it, that the carnal mind with all its intellectual accomplishments simply will not accept and live by the revealed knowledge of GOD — even though God should reveal it to them (Romans 1:20-21). Other nations were cut off completely from God's revealed knowledge. But, as stated previously, God retained the prerogative of calling out of man's world a certain few in preparation for His Kingdom. So God deliberately called a NATION, and through Moses revealed to them the knowledge of HIS LAW, His WILL, His WAY OF LIFE, which is outflowing LOVE! God DID NOT give them His Holy Spirit. He gave that only to Moses and the prophets — all specially called. But God did give them His spiritual LAW. As a substitute for the shed blood of Christ, He gave them animal sacrifices, which could not remit sins — they were only a reminder of sin. He gave them also, as a temporary substitute for the Holy Spirit, a law of physical rituals, meat and drink offerings and carnal ordinances. These instilled the habit of obedience. Then, of course, He gave them, as a civil nation. His GOVERNMENT, with its basic spiritual law and its statutes and judgments. He gave them His SYSTEM of government — authority from the TOP DOWN. God Himself was their congress, parliament, knesset and diet. He, through Moses, was their Lawgiver. Under God was "the Word" — Yahweh — who was to become Christ. Under Him was Moses. Under Moses were captains over thousands, captains over hundreds, over fifties. When Moses' brother Aaron and their sister Miriam wanted equal authority in the government with Moses, God punished! When Korah and his group wanted equal say-so and authority, God destroyed them. It was GOD — not the people — who chose and put Moses in authority. There was no democracy. How Did Carnal Israel Respond? But how did carnal-minded Israel respond to God's great generosity, love and blessings? Let God answer! He says: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Eternal hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Eternal, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward" (Isaiah 1:2-4). After Moses After Moses, the Israelites were led into the promised land by Joshua. Israel served God — to a degree — until Joshua died at age 110. Then, true to human experience, when that generation died, "... there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Eternal... . And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Eternal, and served Baalim [a pagan god of the Canaanites]" (Judges 2:10-11). Repeatedly they would forsake God, turn to idolatry of neighbor nations, go into captivity, and cry out to God for deliverance. Then God would raise up judges (heroes, leaders) by whom He freed them, but then, after a degree of peace, idol worship was resumed, and when the judge died, God allowed them to be taken into captivity again. This continued for some few generations. Then Israel was ruled by the priest Eli. Eli had two sons, also in the priestly service. These sons were taking unlawful gain from the people, misleading the people, having immoral relations with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle. Now Eli was very old — near 90 — and said to his sons, "... Why do ye such things? ... Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father ..." (I Samuel 2:22-25). The sons continued the evils, and the priest Eli did not put them out of the priesthood. When Sons Go Wrong God said to Eli, "Wherefore ... honourest thy sons above me?" (I Samuel 2:29) and decreed they should die. When news came to Eli that his sons had been killed and the ark of God taken in battle, Eli fell backward, broke his neck and died! Perhaps another evidence of the Worldwide Church of God being the one original Church of God is that its apostle did remove his son, who was secularizing God's Church and college, besides other sins. It is a difficult and heartbreaking thing for a father to have to do. Eli honored his sinning sons, holding priestly office, above God. God's apostle of our day, crushing and heartbreaking though it was, was given the courage by the Living Christ to do the very difficult task of removing his son. Samuel had been trained as a prophet from a child under Eli. He was Israel's next leader. But the people rejected God as King over them and demanded a human king "that also we may be like all the nations" of Satan's world (I Samuel 8:4-7, 20). God gave them Saul, tallest man in Israel. But in due time Saul disobeyed God and sinned. God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse where God had chosen Jesse's youngest son David to be the next king over Israel. Samuel's sons had not continued in Samuel's ways. And now King David had sons who conspired to take their father's throne. First, Absalom, having been exiled for committing murder, on being received back by kind-hearted David, conspired to steal his father's throne. Later another son, Adonijah, conspired to seize it and overthrow his father. But God had chosen David's son Solomon to succeed to the throne over Israel. After Solomon's death his son Rehoboam became king. Solomon had reigned in splendor. Not only had he built the world's finest edifice, the Temple (as God had willed and approved), but he spent lavishly on great public works, buildings and other projects. He lived in gorgeous splendor, exceeding every king before him. For this he grievously overtaxed the people. He plunged, in old age, into idolatry and turned to women. After Solomon's death the people sent a delegation to King Rehoboam. "Reduce the excessive taxes," the people's delegation said, "and we will serve you" (I Kings 12:4). Rehoboam consulted the older, wiser men, who advised him to heed the complaint of the people. Then he sought advice from the younger men, whose advice he followed, saying to the people, "... My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions" (I Kings 12:11, 14). Again, a younger son departed from the wisdom of older men and willfully sought to lead God's people on his own rebellious way. But the nation thereupon rejected King Rehoboam and made Jeroboam king. However, the tribe of Judah, with Benjamin, seceded in order to maintain David's dynasty and formed the new kingdom of JUDAH. Jeroboam established the capital over the kingdom of Israel at Samaria, north of Jerusalem. And so the Israelitish nation was now divided into TWO NATIONS — the kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria and the kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem its capital. Often, in biblical history, they were called, respectively, the "house of Israel" and the "house of Judah." Jeroboam immediately led Israel into idolatry. After a succession of 19 kings and seven dynasties of continuous idolatry and other sins, God drove the house of Israel into captivity. King Shalmaneser of Assyria conquered them in a siege from 721 to 718 B.C., removing them from their land, carrying them as slaves to Assyria on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Shalmaneser thereupon "brought men from Babylon" — and other cities following the Babylonian mystery religion — "and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof (II Kings 17:23-24). Kingdom of Israel Not Jews! So here is another TRUTH unknown in the teachings of most churches called Christian: Israel was divided into two nations — and the people of the kingdom of Israel were NOT Jews, nor are they ever called Jews in the Bible! The first place where the word "Jew" or "Jews" occurs in the Bible is in II Kings 16:5-6, where Israel and ally Syria were at war against the Jews! But those of the house of Israel did not remain more than a generation or so in Assyria. They migrated northwest. They became known as "the LOST Ten Tribes." And indeed they were doubly lost — lost in identity until they themselves, after a generation or more, did not know who they were — and also lost spiritually from God. The knowledge of this, from the Bible, is ANOTHER PROOF of the one original true Church today! This mystery is cleared up in a substantial booklet, The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy — sent free upon request. It is one of the most amazing, exciting, eye-opening accounts ever written. Shocking — but TRUE! Meanwhile, the house or kingdom of JUDAH (the Jews) continued to an extent in God's ways, but within a hundred years were sinning more flagrantly than Israel had. Judah Driven Out By about 604 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar had become king over the world's FIRST EMPIRE — the Chaldean Empire, often called Babylon. From 604 to 585 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar's armies captured the kingdom of Judah and moved the Jews into Babylonian territory as slaves. Seventy years later, the Persian Empire had succeeded the Chaldean. God caused King Cyrus, by "stirring up the spirit of Cyrus" (Ezra 1:1) — his "human spirit" — to issue a decree sending a contingent of Jews back to Jerusalem to build the second temple. Zerubbabel was the governor of the contingent and builder of the temple to which Christ came at His first appearing on earth as the human Jesus. Also, prophetically, this Zerubbabel was the type of one to come in the LAST DAYS of this world whom Christ would use in building the temple to which the glorified all-powerful Christ shall come at His second appearing. Apparently none but God's Church understands the truth of the building of this temple. Some of Judah remained in and near Jerusalem — others were scattered into Russia, Poland, Yemen. Most of the Israelis in today's Israel have migrated into the original "promised land" from these countries. Proof Five: The True Gospel Reading time: 18 min 14 sec Could anything sound more unbelievable? To say the true gospel of Jesus Christ was not proclaimed to the world during 19 whole centuries—from the middle of the first century until the middle of the twentieth—may sound preposterous! Incredible! But TRUE! The world has heard much preaching about Jesus Christ as a person. That is good—but the gospel of Christ is the MESSAGE Christ proclaimed and taught. Jesus Himself said that many would come in His name—claiming to represent Him—saying that He, Jesus, is the Christ—and deceiving the MANY (Matt. 24:4-5). Good News Proclaimed But the gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news—the message—He proclaimed and taught. The word gospel means "GOOD NEWS." Jesus brought the GOOD NEWS of the world's ONLY and SURE HOPE! And I do not mean an ethereal, spiritualized unreal hope. He brought the good news of a coming entirely new and real world. A time when the earth will be filled with PEACE, HAPPINESS, JOY and ETERNAL SALVATION! God's one original true Church is virtually alone in proclaiming that GOOD NEWS today! What was that gospel message? One of the proofs that identifies God's one true Church in our time is the fact that, as Jesus foretold, His Church would at this crisis end time be proclaiming that same gospel at last! But first, notice what was written in the book of Galatians around A.D. 53 to 58 to the churches in Galatia: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6-7). Again, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness SUPPRESS THE TRUTH" (Rom. 1:18, RSV). No wonder we read of "the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). Gospel Prophesied The prophet Malachi foretold the proclamation of the gospel, saying, "... the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant ..." (Mal. 3:1). Jesus Christ was that Messenger of the New Covenant. Actually Malachi here is referring to the TWO appearings of Christ on earth—but verses 2 to 6 definitely refer to His yet-future SECOND coming. Yet, he did refer also (in verse 1) to Christ's first coming, because this prophecy is quoted in Mark 1:1-2: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." Actually, this latter statement applies to both Jesus' appearing more than 1,900 years ago and to preparing the way before His second coming in power and glory as WORLD RULER. The latter is now being prepared from within the one true Church of God! That is another evidence of its identity! However, in Mark 1, verses 14-15, the account continues describing John the Baptist preparing the way before His first appearing then: "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Gospel of the Coming Kingdom The gospel Jesus brought from God, which Christ proclaimed and taught His apostles, was the prophetic message of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD. Jesus went all over the Holy Land teaching this same gospel. "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom ..." (Matt. 4:23). He taught in parables about the KINGDOM OF GOD. Jesus said, "... Unto what is the KINGDOM OF GOD like? ... It is like a grain of mustard seed ..." (Luke 13:18-19). Again, the KINGDOM OF GOD "... is like leaven ..." (Luke 13:21). Again: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the KINGDOM OF GOD, and you yourselves thrust out" (Luke 13:28). Jesus sent His twelve disciples out to proclaim the KINGDOM: "And he sent them to preach the KINGDOM OF GOD, and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:2). He sent another seventy disciples out on a special mission: "... the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two ... into every city and place, whither he himself would come... ." And He said to them, "... heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (Luke 10:1, 9). After His resurrection: "... unto the apostles whom he had chosen ... being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to [concerning] the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:2-3). The apostles proclaimed the gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD. Philip, who became an evangelist, proclaimed it: "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God ..." (Acts 8:12). Gospel Proclaimed to Gentiles The apostle Paul proclaimed the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles: "And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the KINGDOM OF GOD, shall see my face no more" (Acts 20:25). Again, Paul "expounded and testified the KINGDOM OF GOD" (Acts 28:23) and "preach[ed] the KINGDOM OF GOD ..." (verse 31). To the Corinthian church Paul, wrote: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the KINGDOM OF GOD ..." (I Cor. 15:50). To the Galatians Paul wrote: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8). And in verse 9 it was made a DOUBLE curse to preach any other gospel! Yet THAT GOSPEL was SUPPRESSED about or just past the middle of the first century and was not again proclaimed to the world until 1953—19 centuries later—and THEN by the present living generation of that same ONE and ONLY true original Church of God, established by Jesus Christ in A.D. 31! The proclaiming of that only true gospel message taught by Jesus identifies the one and only true Church of God TODAY! What Is the Kingdom of God? IF "traditional Christianity" has NOT proclaimed that gospel—when the Bible is replete with passages showing that was the gospel Jesus preached—HOW DO THEY EXPLAIN IGNORING IT? The Roman Catholic Church simply claims that their church is the Kingdom of God. It is not generally realized, but the pope's title, "Vicar of Christ," means, literally, "in place of Christ." Not one merely serving Christ, but one who has REPLACED Christ! The Kingdom of God was already here! The papacy had come IN PLACE OF Christ, to rule the nations for 1,000 years. And the papacy did rule the "Holy Roman Empire" of Europe 1,260 years—A.D. 554 to 1814! But the popes and all Catholics are flesh and blood, and flesh and blood cannot inherit or enter into the Kingdom of God! Many Protestant churches have simply designated the Kingdom of God as "the church" in general, not necessarily their particular denomination. Others have spoken of the Kingdom of God as an ethereal something (or nothing) "set up in men's hearts." But none of those ideas square with the teaching of Christ and of Paul about what the Kingdom of God is. The Prophet Daniel Knew The prophet Daniel, who lived 600 years before Christ, knew that the Kingdom of God was a real kingdom—a government ruling over literal PEOPLE on the earth. Jesus Christ brought additional knowledge about it, which the prophet Daniel might not have known. Still, Daniel knew there was going to be a real, literal Kingdom of God on the earth. Daniel was one of four extraordinary and brilliant Jewish lads in the Judean captivity. These four men were stationed in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean Empire, in training for special responsibilities in the Babylonian government. Daniel was a prophet who had been given special understanding in visions and dreams (Dan. 1:17). Nebuchadnezzar was the first real world ruler. He had conquered a vast empire, including the nation Judah. This king had a dream so impressive it troubled him—moved him to tremendous concern. He demanded that his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers tell him both what he had dreamed and what it meant. They could not. They were baffled. Then Daniel was brought before the king. Daniel disclaimed any more human ability to interpret dreams than the Chaldean magicians. "BUT," he said, "there is a GOD in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days ..." (Dan. 2:28). First, God's purpose was to reveal to this world-ruling human king that there is a GOD in heaven; that GOD IS SUPREME RULER over all nations, governments and kings; that God RULES THE UNIVERSE—even though, during the past 6,000 years, God has allowed nations generally to be left altogether to their own devices. But God was giving Nebuchadnezzar a special opportunity to accept His rule. This Chaldean king knew only about the many pagan demon gods. He knew nothing of the true living ALMIGHTY God. Like people and rulers, even today, he did not know that GOD is the living, REAL, active, RULING and GOVERNING PERSONAGE who actually and literally governs not only what is on earth, but the entire UNIVERSE! The whole purpose of this DREAM was to reveal GOD'S GOVERNMENT: the fact that God RULES, the truth of THE KINGDOM OF GOD—the very thing that is the one and only true GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! And, secondly, to reveal—preserved in writing for us TODAY—what is to happen "in the latter days"—probably within the next two decades—this last half of the twentieth century! For Us Today This is no dry, dull, dead writing for a people of 2,500 years ago. This is living, tremendous, big news for our day! It is advance news for us, now. News before it happens—of the most colossal event of all earth's history. Read, in your own Bible, Daniel 2, verses 28 through 35. In his dream, this king had seen a stupendous statue—larger than any image or statue ever built by man—so tremendous it was terrifying, even in a dream. Its head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, legs of solid iron, feet and toes a mixture of iron and clay. There was a time element. Nebuchadnezzar had viewed it until a supernatural STONE came from heaven, smashing the statue on its feet. Then the whole of the statue broke into small fragments and was actually blown away by the wind—it disappeared! Then this STONE expanded miraculously and quickly became a great MOUNTAIN—so great it filled the whole earth! What did it mean? Did it have meaning? Yes, because this was God's doing. Unlike ordinary dreams, this one was caused by God to convey the message of God's sovereignty to Nebuchadnezzar—and, because it is part of the written Word of God to us today—to reveal important facts of the TRUE GOSPEL! "This is the dream," said Daniel (verse 36), "and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king." This, then, is GOD'S interpretation. Men ought never to interpret the Bible. The Bible gives us GOD'S OWN INTERPRETATION! Here it is (verse 37): "Thou, O king, art a king of kings [he was the first real WORLD RULER over a world empire]: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory." God was revealing Himself to this human world dictator as the MOST HIGH Ruler over all. today, like this Chaldean king, seem not to think of God as a RULER—as the Supreme One who GOVERNS—as the Head of GOVERNMENT. The Eternal was revealing Himself through Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar—and through the Bible to you and to me TODAY—as a sovereign, all-powerful, governing God who is to be obeyed! This knowledge is another PROOF of the modern identity of God's one true Church! "Thou," continued Daniel to this human emperor, "art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another KINGDOM inferior to thee, and another third KINGDOM of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth" (verses 38-39). What Is a Kingdom? Notice! This is speaking of KINGDOMS. It is referring to kingdoms that bear rule over the people on earth. It is speaking of GOVERNMENTS! It is not speaking of ethereal sentiments "set up in the hearts of men." It is not speaking of churches. It is speaking of the kind of GOVERNMENTS that bear RULE and AUTHORITY over nations of PEOPLE here on earth. It is literal. It is specific. There is no misunderstanding here as to what is meant by the word "KINGDOM." There is no misunderstanding the interpretation. GOD gives His own interpretation through the prophet Daniel. The great metallic image represented national and international GOVERNMENTS—real, literal KINGDOMS. It represented a succession of world-ruling governments. First was the head of gold. That represented Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom—the Chaldean Empire. After him—later in time sequence—was to come a second, then a third, KINGDOM, "which shall bear RULE over all the earth"—world empire! Then, verse 40, the legs of iron represent a fourth world empire. It was to be strong, even as iron is strong—stronger militarily than its predecessors. Yet, as silver is less valuable than gold, brass than silver, iron than brass, though each metal was harder and stronger, the succession would deteriorate morally and spiritually. The two legs meant the fourth empire would be divided. After the Chaldean Empire came the still larger Persian Empire, then the Greco-Macedonian and fourth, the Roman Empire. It was divided, with capitals at Rome and Constantinople. Now—verse 44! Read it! Get your Bible. See it with your own eyes in your own Bible. Here, in PLAIN LANGUAGE, is God's explanation of what the KINGDOM OF GOD IS: "And in the days of these kings... ." It is here speaking of the ten toes, part of iron and part of brittle clay. This, by connecting the prophecy with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17, is referring to the new UNITED STATES OF EUROPE, which is now forming out of the European Common Market before your very eyes! Revelation 17:12 makes plain the detail that it shall be a union of ten KINGS OR KINGDOMS that (Rev. 17:8) shall resurrect the medieval "HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE." So, mark carefully the time element! "In the days of these kings"—in the days of these ten nations or groups of nations that shall, in our time, resurrect briefly the Roman Empire—notice what shall happen: "... shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ... but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever"! Yes, in Our Time Now here we have described FOUR universal world empires—the only four that ever existed! Revelation 17 shows that after the fall of the original Roman Empire there would be SEVEN revivals that would be ruled over by a Gentile CHURCH—the "daughter" of ancient BABYLON—a church claiming to be Christian, but actually named by God "MYSTERY BABYLON the Great"—or, more plainly, BABYLONIAN MYSTERIES! Six of those have come and gone. The seventh is now forming—the last, final, brief resurrection of the "Holy Roman Empire" by ten European groups or nations. These are the ten toes of iron and clay mixed. In their days—and they shall last but a very short space, possibly no more than two to three and a half years—shall the GOD OF HEAVEN SET UP A KINGDOM. This, then, shall be THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Compare with Revelation 17. Here is pictured a church. Not a small church—a GREAT church. She rules over "many waters" (verse 1), which are described in verse 15 as different nations speaking different languages. She posed as the Church of GOD—which Scripture says (Eph. 5:23; Rev. 19:7; Matthew 25:1-10) is the affianced bride of CHRIST, to be spiritually MARRIED to Him at His second COMING. But she has committed fornication. How? By having direct political union with HUMAN GOVERNMENTS of THIS WORLD! She "sat on" (Rev. 17:3) all seven of these resurrections of the Roman Empire—called the "Holy Roman Empire." She RULED OVER the human kingdoms—as a common-law and unmarried "wife" ruling her paramour "husband"—a totally unnatural and ungodly relationship. She is, therefore, to "sit on" this last "head of the beast"—this final resurrection of the Roman Empire. It will be a union of church and state. It is to endure but a very short time. It is to FIGHT AGAINST CHRIST at HIS SECOND COMING! That will be its END. We see it in process of rising now. Therefore we are CLOSE to the coming of Christ! We are now very near the END of this world! When Christ comes, He is coming as KING of kings, ruling the whole earth (Rev. 19:11-16); and HIS KINGDOM—the Kingdom of God—said Daniel, is to CONSUME all these worldly kingdoms. Revelation 11:15 states it in these words: "... The kingdoms of this world are become THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD, AND OF HIS CHRIST; and he shall reign for ever and ever"! This is THE KINGDOM OF GOD. It is the END of present governments—the governments that rule Russia, China, Japan, Italy, Germany—yes, and even the United States and the British nations. They then shall become the kingdoms—the GOVERNMENTS—of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, then KING of kings over the entire earth. This makes completely PLAIN the fact that the KINGDOM OF GOD is a literal GOVERNMENT. Even as the Chaldean Empire was a KINGDOM, even as the Roman Empire was a KINGDOM—so the KINGDOM OF GOD is a government. It is to take over the GOVERNMENT of the NATIONS of the world. Jesus Christ was BORN to be a KING—A RULER! When He stood, on trial for His life, before Pilate, "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world... ." But Jesus also said to Pilate: "... My kingdom is not of this world ..." (John 18:37, 36). His Kingdom is of THE WORLD TOMORROW! Have you not read what the angel proclaimed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, prior to His birth? Jesus told Pilate He was born to become a KING. The angel of God said to Mary: "... thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the THRONE of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be NO END" (Luke 1:31-33). These scriptures tell you PLAINLY that GOD is supreme RULER. They tell you in plainest language that Jesus was born to be a KING—that He is going to RULE ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH—that His Kingdom shall rule eternally. But all this is only part of the fantastic, amazing, actually SHOCKING TRUTH about the KINGDOM OF GOD. The KINGDOM OF GOD will rule over the peoples and nations of the earth. Yet these mortal peoples and nations will NOT be the Kingdom, not even in the Kingdom of God. They shall merely be RULED BY IT! We still have to learn OF WHAT or OF WHOM it is composed. Can YOU, as an individual, ever become a part of this Kingdom? Can Be Entered In Jesus' day, the religious leaders knew He was a teacher sent from God with GOD'S TRUTH. They branded Him a false prophet, heretic and seditionist. Yet they knew His was the voice of GOD! One of them, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, occupying an office of authority over the Jews, came secretly by night to see Jesus. "Rabbi," said this Pharisee, "we know that thou art a teacher come from God" (John 3:2). Yes, we Pharisees, he said, know that! He did not say, "I know it." He said, "We know"—we Pharisees! They knew He spoke the TRUTH—yet they not only rejected it, they crucified Him! But Jesus hewed straight to the line! He told Nicodemus about THE KINGDOM OF GOD. He told him some things you need to UNDERSTAND! Notice! "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Yes, notice! The Kingdom of God is something that CAN be seen, but only by those who have been "born again." It is something others cannot see! Request our free booklet Just What Do You Mean—Born Again? But what about the CHURCH? Can carnal people SEE A CHURCH? Of course! But they cannot see the Kingdom of God! So SAID JESUS! Then, if you believe Jesus, the CHURCH cannot be the Kingdom of God! Notice further: "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (verse 5). The Kingdom of God is something that can be entered into—BUT, only those "born of water and of the Spirit" can enter into it! He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh IS FLESH; and that which is born of the Spirit IS SPIRIT" (John 3:5-6). Notice further! In the resurrection chapter of the Bible, we read: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption" (I Cor. 15:50). The Kingdom of God is something no human, of flesh and blood, can enter or inherit! In Hearts of Pharisees? Let's take a good look at this. First realize, if the Bible does say the Kingdom of God is found in men's minds or hearts, it is contradicted by all the other scriptures I am giving you in this article. If the Bible does contradict itself, you can't believe it anyway—so then it still would prove nothing. First, to whom is Jesus speaking? Read it! "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21). He was speaking to the unconverted, carnal, hypocritical, lying Pharisees. Notice, "He answered them and said... ." It was the Pharisees who asked Him the question. Were they in the CHURCH? No, never! If one thinks the Kingdom was "within" the Pharisees—was THE CHURCH within the Pharisees? Such an assumption is rather ridiculous, now, isn't it? Notice again precisely WHAT JESUS SAID. Remember the CHURCH had not yet been set up. Jesus did not say, "The Kingdom of God shall be set up in your hearts." He said none of the things people interpret into this verse. He said to the Pharisees that "the Kingdom of God IS"—present tense, NOW! Whatever He was saying the Kingdom of God is, He made it present tense, not future. Luke wrote these words, originally, in the Greek language. The Greek words he wrote were translated into the English words "within you." But, if you have a Bible with the marginal references, you will notice that this is alternately rendered "in the midst of you" or "among you." The context indicates that this indeed is the better translation. If your Bible is a Moffatt translation, you will notice that the translation recognized that Jesus was talking of His reign or rule, at the head of government. This is the Moffatt translation of the same verse: "He answered them, 'The Reign of God is not coming as you hope to catch sight of it; no one will say, "Here it is" or "There it is," for the Reign of GOD IS NOW IN YOUR MIDST.' " The Revised Standard translation renders it: "... the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." All these translations render it present tense. Jesus was not talking about a church soon to be organized. He was not talking about sentiments in the mind or heart. He was talking about His REIGN as the Messiah! The Pharisees were not asking Him about a church. They knew nothing of any New Testament Church soon to be started. They were not asking about a pretty sentiment. They knew, from the prophecies of Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, that their Messiah was to come. The Two Fateful Alternatives This world trouble began in 1914, with World War I. There was a recess from 1918 until 1939. We are in a second recess now—although we have been in what we call "the COLD WAR." But now at last we have nuclear energy. We have hydrogen bombs stockpiled in such power and volume that they could blast all human life off this planet several times over. There are two other destructive weapons today in existence, either of which could erase humanity from the earth. Today world-famous scientists say only a super world government can prevent world cosmocide. Yet MEN cannot and will not get together to form such a world-ruling government. It's time we face the hard, cold, realistic FACT. Humanity has two alternatives: Either there is an almighty, all-powerful GOD who is about to step in and set up THE KINGDOM OF GOD to rule all nations with supernatural and supranational FORCE to bring us PEACE—or else all human life would be obliterated (Matt. 24:22). If the deceived religionists who think the CHURCH is the Kingdom of God were right, and there is not going to be any supernatural and all-powerful WORLD GOVERNMENT, which is the Kingdom of God, then humanity is utterly without HOPE. All human life is in danger of extinction. But notice what Jesus Christ said! Can you BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST? Where is your trust—in the Word of God or in paganized, empty, deceiving teachings falsely labeled "Christianity"—inherited as "Christian tradition"—which say the CHURCH is the Kingdom of God, or that the Kingdom is merely a meaningless, frothy and ethereal sentiment "set up in our hearts"? It's about time you come to know who are the false prophets, and WHO is speaking the true Word of God faithfully! Proof Six: What and Why the Church? Part 1 When we come to the question, WHAT and WHY the Church, it is indeed astonishing that the one original true Church of God, still extant after 1,900 years of persecution, opposition, martyrdom, remains UNIQUE in having the answer. The real PURPOSE and function of the Church is as little understood as the knowledge of who and what God is, what and why MAN is, what was the gospel of Jesus Christ, the government of God and His supreme creative achievement—holy righteous CHARACTER. Isn't it incongruous? Man invents numerous religions for the worship of God—yet doesn't know WHO or WHAT God is. Man does not know what HE is! Or WHY! Seven hundred million who do not know the purpose or function of the church join "Christian" churches! True, indeed it is, that the whole world has been DECEIVED! Church Error Number One The first and most widespread false belief in this world's churches is the assumption that this is God's world—that God is desperately trying to get everybody "saved," while Satan is trying to keep everybody "lost." If that is true, Satan is surely winning that battle! But 1) God is NOT trying to "get everybody saved" spiritually, now! And 2) those uncalled are NOT "lost"—just not judged—YET! We need first to understand the world out from which God's Church has been called to be a separate, holy people. Let me restate it briefly. The first man Adam was given two MUSTS: 1) to reject Satan's way of "GET" and 2) to give himself to God's way of "GIVE"—the way of God's law—outflowing LOVE, thus developing the holy, righteous CHARACTER to qualify to restore the government of God on earth. But Adam rejected God's way. He rejected God as the Source of basic knowledge and as the God to be worshiped and obeyed. But let it now be emphasized that when God sentenced man, on Adam's choice, to 6,000 years of being cut off from God, the Eternal retained the prerogative of specially calling to Himself those He chose for special service. And, ALWAYS—in every case—those specially called were called for a mission PREPARATORY TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Understand this! Everyone God called was chosen for a special mission PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD! God is no respecter of persons. He called no "favorites" merely to bestow upon them His gift of eternal salvation. Each has been called for service to prepare for the KINGDOM OF GOD. BUT, understand this also: That special mission or service to which each called-out one has been chosen was GOD'S MEANS of developing in him the holy, righteous CHARACTER to QUALIFY him to reign and rule with and under Christ in God's KINGDOM—in THE WORLD TOMORROW! In ancient Old Testament Israel only the prophets were called in this sense. The Holy Spirit was never made available to others in Old Testament Israel. The purpose for the special calling of that nation has been covered in proof number four. Remember, God creates in DUAL stages. The first stage of man's creation was the physical stage. It began with Adam. The second phase of man's creation is the spiritual phase and begins with Christ. As a group or nation, Israel was called under the physical stage of man's creation. The SPIRITUAL stage began through Christ with righteous Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets in Israel. But as a group-calling, the Church of God begins the spiritual phase. The Church was called for a very special PURPOSE in preparation for the KINGDOM—a purpose not fully realized from the first century until the present generation. Adam's Creation Not Complete The first Adam, formed altogether from the dust of the ground, was given a spirit to empower the human brain with intellect. This was explained fully in proof number three. But he was incomplete—he was created to need also a second Spirit—the Holy Spirit of God. Old Testament Israel was not given God's Holy Spirit. Man, possessing only the one "human spirit," is, truly, "not all there"—yet he is unaware of the fact. He is a natural-born carnal person. He has only the physical, carnal mind. And what says God of the carnal mind? It is hostile against God and not subject to the law of God, "... neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). Also, as Jeremiah explained, this natural carnal mind is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Hundreds of years of Old Testament Israelitish experience proved this! They were given God's revealed knowledge which was hidden from other nations, yet they rebelled and sinned even above other nations! The World into Which Jesus Came It was into such a world—and to such a people (Judah)—that Jesus came. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). First, before teaching or preaching His gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus had to QUALIFY to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD and establish the KINGDOM OF GOD. In the most titanic battle ever fought for the greatest stakes in the universe, Jesus overcame Satan, rejected Satan's "GET" way, proved 100 percent obedient and loyal to God (Matthew 4:1-11). He called and chose the disciples He trained to be His apostles. Then He said, "... Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee [His chief apostle] the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19). Plainly Jesus was speaking to one man, His chief apostle, when He spoke of binding and loosing—not to the Church. For 3 1/2 years Jesus taught His apostles-to-be about the Kingdom of God. Church Members Must Qualify The first Adam, in order to qualify to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth, had to overcome Satan—Satan's way ("GET")—and prove obedient to God. Adam failed. Christ, the second Adam, had to qualify by overcoming Satan and proving loyalty to God and God's way. He QUALIFIED! Each one in the Church must also qualify in order to sit on Christ's throne with Him! "And he that overcometh [Satan], and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron ..." (Revelation 2:26-27). Again, "To him that overcometh [Satan] will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame [Satan], and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21). I have shown that the whole world, except those specially called by God, is CUT OFF from God—cut off from access to Him who has eternal life to give. Jesus CONFIRMED THAT plainly and definitely. He said, "No MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him ..." (John 6:44). No scripture can or does nullify that! All others are CUT OFF from God. No one of them CAN COME to Christ! The Church of God Founded Jesus was crucified, resurrected after three days and three nights in the tomb (another incidental proof of the one true Church), and after 40 days ascended to the right hand of God in heaven. Then, on the day of the Feast of Firstfruits (Pentecost), A.D. 31, God sent the Holy Spirit in an amazing display, founding His Church! The number of disciples who still believed after Jesus' 3 1/2 years of preaching was a mere 120 (Acts 1:15). "... They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-3). I have purposely emphasized certain words in this scripture, because it was a ONE-TIME-ONLY incident. It never occurred before. It never has since. Modern "Pentecostal" meetings and "tongues speaking" are emphatically not the same thing at all. Notice carefully! First, they were all of one accord—something often not true today. Second, the Holy Spirit came suddenly—they did not "work it up" by emotionally shouting, as is usual in such meetings today. Third, the Holy Spirit came with a sound—they heard it—like a blast of a rushing mighty wind. No such thing occurs today. Fourth, the Holy Spirit is here twice called "it," not "he"—not a ghost or personage. Fifth, they saw the Holy Spirit. It appeared as divided tongues like fire. This was actually seen, sitting on each of the 120. No such thing is ever repeated in so-called "Pentecostal" meetings today! Now, further, do they today speak with the same kind of tongues? Here again the REAL Pentecost experience is not. in any sense duplicated today. Read on: "... There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad [word spread rapidly of this once-only amazing experience—hearing and seeing the Holy Spirit], the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them [the 120] speak in his own language" (Acts 2:5-6). Study this again carefully. The Mede among these devout Jews who came running in heard them—the 120—speaking the language of the Medes. And he understood what they were saying! The one Mede heard and understood 120 Galileans speaking the language of the Medes! But the Parthian heard them—the same 120—speaking his Parthian language! And so on! It was not a gibberish—unintelligible—as "tongues people" speak in their meetings today! And it needed no interpreter. I well remember experiences in such meetings, where in service after service the same man rose to interpret—and although the gibberish of different ones was entirely different, the "interpretation" had been memorized, and in every case was the same! I saw that kind of experience drive sincere people hungry for God's truth away in disgust! Let me add here that God's Holy Spirit is the Spirit of a SOUND MIND (II Timothy 1:7). The one and only original Church of God was founded that day of Pentecost, A.D. 31. They were all of SOUND mind—like-minded—of ONE accord. God Adds to His Church The multitude who came running in were all amazed—in wonderment doubting and asking, "What does this mean?" Then God's chief apostle, Peter, stood up to explain—to deliver to these thousands the first inspired sermon by an apostle. These devout Jews were "pricked in their heart" by Peter's sermon and asked, "What shall we do?" Peter gave no twentieth-century "altar call"—pleaded with none to talk them into conversion—but answered their question, saying, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). It was the power of the Holy Spirit that had struck straight in their hearts. GOD HAD CALLED THEM! "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine ..." (verse 42). Note here this important point! They did not appoint among themselves a "doctrinal committee" to decide intellectually in which doctrines they could believe God's apostle. God gave them the true doctrine through His apostle, and they continued together with one accord in "the apostles' doctrine and fellowship." Now WHO added members to the Church? Not apostolic or evangelical salesmanship—but "the LORD added to the church daily such as should be saved [were to be saved]" (Acts 2:47). Apostles Preached; Church Backed Them But what was the FOUNDATION of the Church? It is referred to as a "building," and a solid building must be built on a solid foundation. Of course Jesus Christ is the foundational Rock. But the Church is built on the FOUNDATION of the apostles (New Testament) and prophets (Old Testament), Jesus Christ Himself being the chief CORNERSTONE (Ephesians 2:20). Jesus taught the apostles. The CHURCH followed the apostles' doctrine. Lay members were not free to set, change or decide doctrinal TRUTH—but only to receive and believe it. A day or two after the Church was founded, Peter and John went up to the Temple. At the Beautiful Gate entrance was a crippled beggar, lame from birth. Peter, being asked for alms, took the cripple by the right hand, lifted him up, saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:1-6). "And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple ..." (verse 8). The beggar was known to all. This miracle drew a huge crowd. Peter, explaining, preached to them about the resurrection of Jesus. He proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom, saying the heaven had received Jesus until the time of restoration of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD by the KINGDOM OF GOD (Acts 3:20-21). As Peter spoke, the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them and threw them into prison for the night. Next morning, Peter and John were brought before the rulers, elders, scribes, the high priest and his family. Peter spoke briefly but boldly to them. They then threatened the apostles, forbidding them to preach any further about Christ and His Kingdom. Peter and John, though now inspired by the Holy Spirit, were human, and naturally were somewhat shaken up and frightened. Being released, they went immediately for moral support and encouragement to "their own company" (Acts 4:23), the Church. The Church "lifted up their voice to God with one accord" (verse 24). And when they (the Church) had prayed, God answered by shaking the place where they were assembled, filling them with His Spirit, courage and power. Another incident: The apostles had continued preaching, healing the sick and performing miracles. God added to the Church, but also the persecution grew. Peter again had been imprisoned. Steven had been stoned to death. In Acts 8:1 "... there was a great persecution against the church ... and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." By the following Passover, persecution had mounted. "About that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison ... intending after [Passover] to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison ..." (Acts 12:1-5). Why Members Called Now came another example of how the Church stood back of the apostles. Remember, the word apostle means "one sent forth." Jesus had given the great commission to Peter and the apostles. The other members of the Church were not sent forth with the gospel. They were called to support and encourage the apostles in getting out the gospel message, as GOD'S MEANS of developing in them God's holy, righteous CHARACTER, qualifying them for places as kings and priests in the KINGDOM! So here came another incident showing how the Church supported the apostles. Continue, verse 5 of Acts 12: "... but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him"—Peter. The brethren stood loyally 100 percent back of God's apostles. What happened when the Church so unceasingly prayed? "... The same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands" (verses 6-7), and Peter followed the angel on out of the prison. Peter fled on to Caesarea. Jesus gave His GREAT COMMISSION to the apostles—those sent forth with the message. The lay brethren were added to the Church to support the apostles. The Great Commission Notice the GREAT COMMISSION as recorded by Matthew: "Now the eleven disciples [Judas had left them] went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them... . And Jesus came and said to them [not the whole Church], All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. GO, THEREFORE, and make disciples of all nations ... . " Notice, "make disciples OF," or within all nations. A disciple is a student—one learning, being taught. "... baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... ." Notice here, this does not and cannot refute Jesus' own statement that "NO MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." The GREAT COMMISSION was not a commission to try to persuade ALL in those nations to come to Christ. Jesus said plainly, "... make disciples OF [within] all nations." He referred to those whom God had called—and they were, comparatively, exceedingly FEW by proportion to the whole population. Then Jesus continued, "... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:16-20, Revised Standard Version). The apostles were NOT sent forth on a soul-saving crusade, but to TEACH those whom God had called and made willing to listen. That is what God's apostle does to this day. Today we are able to utilize modern methods of MASS COMMUNICATION—radio, television, the printing press. We TEACH the good news of the coming KINGDOM to those whom God calls and makes willing to listen. In this way we TEACH and PROCLAIM the true GOSPEL MESSAGE to many MILLIONS worldwide. Our magazine, The Plain Truth, has more than TWO MILLION subscribers, and estimates are that each copy is read by at least three people—actually reaching six or seven MILLION people! And we teach all who willingly listen to observe all that God commanded His apostles! Now notice Mark's account of the GREAT COMMISSION: "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven... . And he said unto them, GO YE into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:14, 15). Naturally Jesus did not mean every human being on earth—but all they might reach who would hear. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved... ." Yet only those God called would be able to believe—for Jesus meant they should believe what was SAID—believe the GOOD NEWS! However, this is quoted from the 1611 King James Version, but nearly all other translations omit it, saying Mark did not write the words beginning in verse 9 through the end of the chapter, but that they were added by some later editor trying to make it harmonize with Matthew 28:18-19. But the great commission was given to the apostles—not the Church as a whole—although as cited above, the Church completely, prayerfully, wholeheartedly backed up and supported the apostles. That was their part in the great commission. Reading time: 13 min 13 sec Part 2 Now let's get our bearings and understand the PURPOSE of the Church—its function. Remember, the Church was called out of a world CUT OFF from God—a world, as Jesus said, in which "NO MAN CAN come to me, except the Father draw him." The Church was the "called-out ones"—called out from the world. "Wherefore come out from among them [of the world], and be ye separate, saith the Lord..." (II Corinthians 6:17). REMEMBER, too, that from Adam God had called out of this world only those He chose to USE in a mission PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM! The archangel Lucifer and his angels had been disqualified—changed into Satan and demons. Adam had chosen Satan's WAY of "GET" and rejected God as Source of basic knowledge, as Ruler and as Savior. According to Adam's decision, God cut THE WORLD off from access to Him. BUT, since God cut them off before they were born, God does not hold them responsible—they have not been judged; the responsibility is GOD'S—not theirs—for that which has been hidden from their minds. But now the time had come when the "second Adam"—Jesus Christ—had overcome Satan and QUALIFIED to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD to earth and establish the KINGDOM OF GOD—which is the divine FAMILY OF GOD, ruling the world—and ultimately the UNIVERSE! Jesus DID NOT come on a soul-saving crusade. Those uncalled and unsaved were NOT "lost." Just NOT JUDGED—yet! They shall be in the millennium and great white throne resurrection and judgment. Jesus came 1) to overcome Satan and QUALIFY to establish the KINGDOM OF GOD; 2) to call and teach His future apostles; 3) to proclaim the GOOD NEWS of the coming Kingdom of God; 4) to pay the penalty of the sins of the world by His death on the cross with His shed blood, thus reconciling those called to God the Father; 5) to be resurrected from the dead after three days and three nights in the tomb, making the resurrection to IMMORTAL LIFE possible for those who are God's; 6) to ascend to the throne of God in heaven, and there, as the HIGH PRIEST of the Church and ITS LIVING HEAD, to direct the Church and intercede for it with God; and 7) having received the Kingdom from God, to COME AGAIN as the KING of kings and LORD of lords, in supreme almighty POWER and GLORY, to set up and rule THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Jesus ANNOUNCED the fact of the coming Kingdom, which, by His overcoming Satan, was ASSURED! He specially called and trained His apostles, started the Church with them and the 120, and then ADDED to the Church such as He needed to back up the apostles' ministry to THE WHOLE WORLD. To those He called, upon complete repentance and faith, He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus they became partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). The PURPOSE and FUNCTION of the Church is: 1) to back up with loyal support the apostles, as their part in the GREAT COMMISSION—and as GOD'S MEANS of, allowing them 2) to overcome Satan, developing God's holy, righteous CHARACTER within them through the Holy Spirit, thus qualifying them also to sit with Christ in His throne in Jerusalem, with power for ruling the whole earth (Revelation 3:21; 2:26-27). This latter promise applies to those CALLED OUT OF THE PRESENT WORLD—not to those who shall be called (as ALL will) during the millennium! Church a Spiritual Organism—Yet Well Organized At this point a bit of personal experience will help the reader to UNDERSTAND. Jesus had called His apostles and taught them IN PERSON. Jesus Christ is the WORD OF GOD in person. The Bible is the Word of God IN WRITING! As the personal Word of God taught the original apostles, so He called and taught His modern-day apostle by the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD—the same TEACHING—the SAME TRUTH! After calling, giving His apostle the initial teaching, having him ordained, God added the 19 members that started His Church of this Philadelphia era. Then Christ had opened before His apostle, as one "SENT FORTH" with the gospel message, the means of MASS COMMUNICATION of the printed word, radio and later television. With such vast mass communication facilities, one apostle could reach many times more people with the gospel message than the original twelve, plus the apostle Paul and others sent to Gentile nations. I soon saw the need, as God's Word sets forth for the CHURCH, of evangelists, pastors, other elders and teachers—as well as people trained in ADMINISTRATIVE responsibilities. So God raised up Ambassador College to provide training for the supportive functions behind the apostle in the GREAT COMMISSION. Remember, the Church is still in the six-millennia era of this PRESENT EVIL WORLD. We are "called-out ones"—called to be SEPARATE! Just as the angels on earth (pre-Adamic) needed the GOVERNMENT OF GOD to synchronize the various functions into a team unit, so was this necessary in God's Church. The operation of the GREAT COMMISSION, especially in this twentieth century, requires, as the New Testament clearly states, organization. So God set His GOVERNMENT in His Church. And God's government is authority from the TOP down. God the Father is in supreme authority over all. Next in authority under Him is Jesus Christ, living Head of the Church. On the human and earthly level, next in authority under Christ is His chosen apostle. God organized ancient Israel, under Moses, with captains over thousands next under Moses, then under them captains over hundreds, over fifties, etc., as God led Moses to choose. I will here inject an incident in point. Christ had led His apostle to appoint the apostle's son next under him, because he was the best qualified, in the office of executive vice president. Perhaps it was a mistake to use such a modern business title. Nevertheless the son, like David's sons, Absalom and Adonijah, began to simply take over. He initiated policies he was not authorized to set. He wanted to secularize the college, the magazine (The Plain Truth), and even the Church. He wanted this world's accreditation for the college. He demoted or shanghaied the top-ranking ministers who had been trained under and were loyal to Christ's apostle. Meanwhile, the apostle, as "one sent forth" with Christ's gospel message, was going into all the world—and was away from headquarters up to 300 out of the 365 days in the year. As the son departed from the ways of his father and of God (as did the sons of Eli and of King David), he SHUT OFF ALL AUTHORITY ABOVE HIM. He threatened with loss of their positions in the Work any under him who in any manner contacted or revealed to his father how he was departing from God's ways, watering down doctrines and teachings—first in the college, then starting also in the Church. Cowed with fear, those who knew how the son was destroying the Work of the living GOD kept silent. Finally, four leaders under him took courage and came to God's apostle, saying, "God forgive us for keeping silent so long, but we were afraid for our jobs. But now we have to report to you that your son is systematically destroying all that Christ has built through His apostle and is building something for himself. Like a spoiled child, he wants his own way." God's apostle, to be not guilty of Eli's sin, removed his son from all authority and disfellowshipped him from the Church. The son had represented that no one dare "take it over his head" by going to Christ's apostle—that ALL authority in a then great worldwide Work of God stopped with him!—that he had SHUT OFF all authority above himself. But even Christ's apostle has no authority to SHUT OFF the authority above him. In God's government, the one in lesser authority is still UNDER the authority of those over him. Authority does not END at any point under God the Father. The end of this incident in point is that all in God's Church now know that the door to Christ's apostle is always open to ALL under him! God's Church is NOT a worldly ORGANIZATION—it is a SPIRITUAL ORGANIZATION, called out of this world and its ways by Christ. Yet it is WELL ORGANIZED—it must be to function. The Church consists of the begotten children of God—the DIVINE FAMILY-TO-BE! The Household of God Actually the Church is, on the human level, the BEGOTTEN FAMILY OF GOD. To the Gentile converts at Ephesus, God inspired Paul to write: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God"(Ephesians 2:19). In other words, of the begotten FAMILY of God. Continue: "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles [New Testament] and prophets [Old Testament], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy TEMPLE in the Lord" (verses 20-21). So God reveals here that the Church is: 1) the HOUSEHOLD or begotten FAMILY of God; 2) a building—a HOLY TEMPLE—fitly joined together—that is, well organized (and, of course, on GOD'S pattern). As a building—the HOLY TEMPLE to which Christ will come—it is built on a FIRM FOUNDATION: the apostles, chosen by Christ, and the prophets. MUCH of the New Testament is simply quotations, or citations, from the writings of the prophets of the Old Testament. The things written in the Old Testament were "written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Corinthians 10:11). Again the apostle Paul reminded Timothy: "... from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures [the only Scriptures Timothy could have known from a child were those written by Old Testament prophets], which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 3:15). The writings of the Old Testament prophets are part of the FOUNDATION of the Church of God! And, of course, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone—the very HEAD of the Church. The Temple to Which Christ Will Come There has been much perplexity and discussion as to when the temple will be built to which Christ shall come. Malachi's prophecy speaks of Christ's second coming to His temple (Malachi 3:1-6). In Haggai's prophecy it is referred to prophetically. Zerubbabel had been sent as governor of a colony to build the second temple 70 years after the destruction of Solomon's temple. He built the temple to which Jesus came, though it had been enlarged and embellished by the Roman Herod. But speaking of this temple, as a type and forerunner of the temple to which Christ shall come at His second coming, it is written, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:9). It is inconceivable that the Israelis, in the present international turmoil over their possession of old Jerusalem, could ever demolish the Arab Moslem Dome of the Rock—now standing on the site of Solomon's temple—and build a new one there of greater splendor and glory than Solomon's! However, as the second temple Zerubbabel was building was a typical forerunner of the temple to which Christ shall come, even so Zerubbabel was the typical forerunner of one Christ would use in building the far more glorious temple to which Christ shall come in His GLORY! Zechariah 4:9: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it...." And as Zerubbabel's hands did finish that second temple, so shall the one Christ uses in building the temple to which He shall come in His GLORY! And the Church of God of the present day shall be a "building fitly framed together [and growing] unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). Church the Bride of Christ The one and only true Church, a spiritual organism well organized by Christ, is the affianced Bride of Christ—to MARRY Christ, after His coming and after the resurrection and change of the Church into immortality. In Ephesians 5 this is shown by analogy. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.... For we are members of HIS BODY, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:25-32). The Church is made up of the BODY of Christ. More on that a little later. But the BODY presented to Christ will not be a dismembered body, with an arm, a leg or other parts being separated! It is ONE Church—fitly framed together—not dismembered into many parts following many different men seeking to draw away disciples after them. This coming marriage is again referred to in II Corinthians 11:2: "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." The New-Covenant MARRIAGE will take place at Christ's coming in GLORY: "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, ALLELUIA: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb [Christ] is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:6-7). It is enlightening at this point to remember Jesus came as "the messenger of the covenant" (Malachi 3:1). He came as the Messenger of the NEW Covenant. The Old Covenant was a CONTRACT entered into between the children of Israel and the Word (who was to become Christ)—the God of the Old Testament. It was a MARRIAGE covenant. God "proposed" and Israel "accepted" (Exodus 19:6, 8). That "marriage covenant" also set up the kingdom of Israel as one of earth's nations. The New Covenant also will be a MARRIAGE covenant marrying the Church, then changed to spirit immortality, to Christ. But that covenant also will set up the KINGDOM OF GOD, ruling all nations with the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. The Old Covenant was made with a carnal-minded people on their PROMISE to obey. The New Covenant will be made with a Spirit-begotten and Spirit-born people who have ALREADY PROVED THEIR OBEDIENCE! Modern Facilities for Mass Communication Today The Church members, as a whole, are not called to "GO FORTH" with the gospel message, but to back up, help, support the apostle in carrying the message into all the world. I mentioned that one apostle today, with modern facilities for mass communication—the printing press, radio, television, even the telephone by which one may reach another in any part of the world in a matter of minutes or less—can reach more people by far than all of the first century apostles combined. But this use of modern facilities in our day necessitates a considerable organization of people in various administrative capacities, besides evangelists, pastors and assistants, elders, deacons and deaconesses in local churches worldwide. In Jesus' parable of the talents (Matthew 25), He pictured Himself as giving talents to various ones left here on earth while He was in heaven. "And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability..." (verse 15). These "talents"—pieces of money—symbolized spiritual gifts and a measure of the Holy Spirit given each. He gave according to the natural ability of each. The twelfth chapter of I Corinthians reveals that there are various offices of administration in the Church—and that God gives various spiritual gifts for those various functions. The SAME PRINCIPLE holds, since God is consistent and never changes. He gives, through the Holy Spirit, special abilities, according to one's own natural abilities. I have often talked about "fitting the square peg into the round hole" to illustrate human failure because so many are NOT doing what by natural ability they are fitted to do. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:4). All these various special talents, abilities or aptitudes, though several, are all given by the same Holy Spirit. "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all" (verses 5-6). It is GOD working in us. "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is ONE, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are ONE BODY: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY..." (verses 11-13). "And now are they many members, yet BUT ONE BODY" (verse 20). What about those who follow a MAN, outside that ONE BODY? God says we are not to follow a MAN. Paul said that "of your own selves shall men arise... to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:30). The apostle Paul had to correct the Corinthian church because they were following individual MEN: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing..."—and where did the Church receive that one same thing they were all to believe? From THE APOSTLES! And the apostles received it from CHRIST. And Jesus Christ received it from GOD the Father! Continue: "... that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (I Corinthians 1:10). The apostle reproved them, saying, "... there are contentions among you" (verse 11). "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ" (verse 12). CHRIST is NOT divided (verse 13). Reading time: 12 min 33 sec Part 3 What about the "loner" Christian who says, "I will serve Christ in my own way"? What about the one who leaves God's Church to have his own private relation with Christ—to get his own salvation—without giving his part of the Church's effort to send the true gospel into ALL THE WORLD? Or, what about the one who follows a MAN because of that man's personality, charisma or attractiveness, or some other group? Stop and THINK! Is Christ going to marry a number of differing groups, not in complete harmony with each other—yet all "professing CHRIST"? Jesus said, "He that is not with me [and since He is the Head of God's one and only Church, He plainly meant with Him where HE is working—in God's one Church] is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" (Matthew 12:30). Jesus Christ is going to marry THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE CHURCH—not a number of scattered groups or scattered individuals. God's law and way of life may be summed up in the one word "LOVE"—which is outflowing—the way of "GIVE"—while Satan's way is that of "GET." The one who tries to GET his salvation apart from the one Church Christ is going to marry is on the "GET" way. Those loyally in the Church are GIVING of their prayers, loyalty, encouragement and support to Christ's chosen apostle in GIVING the GOOD NEWS to the world—its ONLY HOPE! In other words, he that seeks to GET his own salvation without GIVING his part in the team effort of the Church—or who follows a man or some other group—is surely NOT BUILDING ON THE ONE SURE FOUNDATION of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Again, "Except God build the house, they labour in vain that build it …" (Psalm 127:1). The Church is the HOUSEHOLD OF GOD and a BUILDING—the glorious TEMPLE to which Christ shall come! How Well Organized? Notice again how well organized is the one true Church for getting the GREAT COMMISSION to the whole world: "In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). Again: "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted [pressed together, knit or drawn together, consolidated] by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part …" (Ephesians 4:16). "And he [Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, TILL we all come in the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13). The true Church of God has these offices, as the living Christ put them in His Church. A Tithe-Paying Church God's continuing original Church is also a tithe-paying Church. The Church receives that ONE SAME THING they all are commanded to believe—even as the Church beginning in A.D. 31 did—from the APOSTLES who received the doctrines and teachings FROM CHRIST! The Church of God under Peter, Paul and the first-century apostles was a Church which gave not only tithes but offerings! Tithing started BEFORE Moses and the Old Testament Israel. It started with Abraham, who, after the slaughter of the kings, gave the tithe of all to Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God (actually the one who became Christ). Write for the free reprint article "The Mystery of Melchizedek Solved." Tithing to God—PAYING a tenth of one's "increase"—became a law in Old Testament Israel. After both Israel and Judah had gone into captivity and slavery, the prophet Malachi, writing about 450 B.C., as one of the prophets who with the apostles and Christ form the FOUNDATION of the Church, wrote PROPHETICALLY concerning our time today: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? IN TITHES AND OFFERINGS. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8-9). Both the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah had long before been taken out of their land as slaves. A comparatively small contingent was sent back to Jerusalem 70 years after Judah's captivity by King Cyrus of Persia under governorship of Zerubbabel to build the second temple. Some of these Jews were still in Judea when Malachi wrote, but the two nations, as a whole composing ancient Israel, were not there. THIS WAS NOT MOSAIC LAW—this was PROPHECY for OUR DAY! Malachi continued, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH, saith the Eternal, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (verse 10). That is not "Old Testament stuff," as God's true Church KNOWS—and because it has TITHED, it has had God's blessing and prosperity. Speaking of tithes, Jesus said, "… these ought ye to have done …" (Matthew 23:23); Hebrews 7:4-12 binds tithing in the New Testament. I Corinthians 9:1-14 definitely upholds the principle of tithing and GIVING. Knowledge of God's Master Plan Of all the religions—and of all the denominations and sects in "Christianity"—God's true Church alone has understanding of the master plan of God for His spiritual creation of man. This is forcibly reminded every year in the Church by the seven annual holy days and festivals Christ instituted in the Church. Small as the Church is in numbers—Jesus spoke of it as the "little flock" and said that as they had persecuted Him so would they His Church—nevertheless the Church's great annual autumnal Feast of Tabernacles is the LARGEST church conclave, convention or festival held on earth! As God made the weekly Sabbath FOR MAN (Mark 2:27) when man was made, so He gave His Church seven annual Sabbaths and seven annual festivals when He first established the Church. In Acts 7:38, you will find the Old Testament congregation of Israel called "the church in the wilderness." It was composed of the human-born children of Israel; the Church of the New Testament is composed of the begotten children of GOD. As the Old Testament church was called the congregation of Israel, so the New Testament Church is called the Church of GOD. To the Church—both Old Testament under Moses and New Testament under Christ—God gave these annual occasions to emphatically remind His people, annually, of His master plan. No other church or religion, to our knowledge, observes these festivals or knows their tremendous MEANING! It has been stated before that as the physical creation of man began with the physical Adam, so the SPIRITUAL creation of man begins with the spiritual Christ. The first of these annual festivals is the Passover, observed on the eve of the fourteenth day of the first month of the sacred year. This is the year's most solemn service, on the anniversary—as a memorial—of the death of Christ to reconcile those called to God. This is immediately followed by the next seven days—the Festival of Unleavened Bread. All leaven must be put out of members' houses, and nothing leavened may be eaten. Leaven is a symbol of sin. It emphatically reminds God's called-out ones daily for seven days through their stomachs that we must put sin out of our lives. Also it is a memorial, on the anniversary of Israel's exodus out of Egypt. Egypt also is symbolic of sin—and Israel was taken out by God with miracles, as He delivers His people today from the bondage of sin. There are two annual holy days in this festival—the first and the last of the seven. The third annual festival is the Feast of FIRSTFRUITS, called in the New Testament of the Bible "Pentecost," because this is the one set-apart time of year when the Church COUNTS to calculate the proper day. It is 50 days, counted beginning on the "morrow after the weekly Sabbath" which occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. "Pentecost" is simply the Greek for "fifty-count." This pictures the coming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, begetting the "firstfruits"—those relative first few called to spiritual salvation. The Holy Spirit came on the very fiftieth day—the first time the Holy Spirit was given to a group, which formed the Church of God. This annual festive occasion reminds God's people yearly that they are merely the first to be called to spiritual salvation; that the world, except the few called, is CUT OFF from God—neither "saved" nor "lost"—just not yet called! Therefore not yet judged. Another incidental proof of the identity of the one true Church is the knowledge, that with the foundation of the Church of God, "the time is come that JUDGMENT must begin at the house of God." Those called into God's Church are now being judged. Others are not—YET! These annual festivals are built around the annual harvest seasons in Jerusalem. The first three portray the early grain harvest, typical of the first early spiritual harvest in the conversion of man. The last four correspond to the final great autumnal harvest. They all come in the seventh sacred month. Festival number four is the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah in Judaism), on the first day of the seventh month of the sacred calendar. The Feast of Trumpets pictures and reminds the Church yearly of the SECOND COMING of CHRIST to reign over all the earth. Largest Convention on Earth The fifth festival is the Day of Atonement, called in Judaism Yom Kippur—a solemn fast day. No food may be eaten from sunset to sunset. It pictures to God's people restoring man to AT-ONE-MENT with God. The world, cut off from God these 6,000 years, has been deceived and led by the god of this world, Satan. Jesus Christ QUALIFIED to replace the former Lucifer on the THRONE of the earth. When He comes as KING of kings, Satan shall be deposed, bound, shut up (Revelation 20:3) for 1,000 years. Without Satan, who has "worked IN the people of the world" (Ephesians 2:2), humanity at last may be made AT ONE with the true Creator GOD! The sixth festival is the Feast of Tabernacles—a seven-day festival, with the first day the sixth annual Holy Day. The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) is followed by an eighth day, a one-day holy day—making in all an eight-day festival. This pictures the millennial reign of the KINGDOM OF GOD, ruling all nations for 1,000 years. During this millennium, ALL living will be called to repentance and faith and eternal salvation through the reigning CHRIST—with no Satan to overcome. More of the details of this time will be given under PROOF number seven, to follow. This seventh and final holy day begins at sunset just as the Feast of Tabernacles is ending. As stated earlier, small though the Worldwide Church of God may be in numbers, this is the largest church convention or conclave held annually on earth—with festival sites all over the world. When the Billions Shall Be Called The final eighth day (the seventh festival) brings to mind again every year what is in God's master plan for the BILLIONS of people who have lived and died since Adam—cut off from God—UNjudged—neither "lost" nor yet "saved." They will be resurrected after the millennium in a special resurrection (Revelation 20:11-13). This is also described in Ezekiel's prophecy of the "valley of dry bones" (Ezekiel 37). All previously uncalled will be resurrected MORTAL, and with the 7,000 years of humanity now history, will face up to what their experience in sin really proved. All then will be called to repentance and ETERNAL LIFE. Final Fate of the Incorrigible There shall then be one more resurrection—of those who were called to salvation, but rejected it—the incorrigible wicked. They will be resurrected MORTAL to realize their fatal decision. They will be "cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Revelation 20:14-15). This "lake of fire" is pictured by Peter in his second letter. "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets [Old Testament] , and of the commandment of us the apostles [New Testament] of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:1-10). Malachi adds, of that final destruction of the willful rebellious into unconscious (Ecclesiastes 9:5) annihilation: "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch… . for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 4:1-3). The Name of the True Church The NAME of God's true Church is important—but not alone the exclusive proof of identification, because a small number of professing Christian sects use the name. Yet the one and only original Church founded A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ most certainly will have the true NAME! God names things and people what they are. The "church in the wilderness"—the Old Testament church (or congregation) was named the "congregation of Israel" because it was composed of the physically born children of Israel. The two-letter word of denotes ownership or origin. The New Testament Church organized by Christ is called, twelve TIMES in the New Testament, "the CHURCH OF GOD," sometimes with a modifying word or phrase such as "the Church of God, which is at Corinth," or the "Churches of God in Judea." Today it is known as the Worldwide Church of God. The English word "church" is translated from the Greek ekklesia, and the Greek word used in the original writing of the New Testament means, simply, a group, an assembly, etc., without specific reference to a church. At Ephesus, for example, the city council—political—was called an ekklesia, with no religious connotation at all. The ONLY FACTOR that makes the word "church" sacred is when it refers to the Church of GOD—in other words, the group, congregation, assembly or church that BELONGS TO GOD. It is GOD'S name connected with it that lends sanctity to the name. For example, the name "Roman Catholic Church" means a universal (catholic) church of Rome. The "Lutheran Church" is that group or body of people following or established by Luther. The "Methodist Church" means (in its name) a group or body of people following a certain method. The "Baptist Church" by name means a group or combination of groups who believe in baptizing and who follow John the Baptist. The name "Congregational Church" simply implies a group of people who believe the lay people ought to have the authority. The name "Presbyterian Church" means an associated group who believe the "presbytery" of officiating clergy have the authority. The name "Church of God" means that group of "called-out ones," called out from this world, who look to GOD as the authority—and who submit to government from God through Christ, through (on the human level) apostles chosen by Christ—NOT elected by the people! So there is vital MEANING to the name of the true Church. And the name is IMPORTANT! In Jesus' last prayer to God before being crucified, He prayed, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world… . And now … I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be ONE, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name … " (John 17:6, 11-12). Reading time: 11 min 50 sec Proof Seven: The reign of the Kingdom of God Reading time: 9 min 28 sec How incongruous! The churches calling themselves "Christian" do not know that the true gospel is the GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. They know nothing of what the earth will be like under the rule of the KINGDOM OF GOD! They know nothing of the only GOOD NEWS in today's world—of the world's only and sure HOPE! Don't laugh at the word "utopia"! It is regarded in today's troubled world as an impractical, impossible JOKE! Webster's dictionary defines it: "an imaginary and indefinitely remote place; a place of ideal perfection, especially in laws, government and social conditions; an impractical scheme for social improvement." Jesus Christ was no impractical dreamer. His gospel was the GOOD NEWS that a coming UTOPIA is REAL—it is SURE! Stop and THINK! WHY should it be impossible to have ideal perfection—in laws, government and social conditions? WHY? "Human nature," you answer? Yes, but as shown in a previous installment, human nature was NOT created in us by GOD—was NOT born in us. It has been injected into humans by the "prince of the POWER OF THE AIR," Satan, who is so powerful that he surcharges the air with his morbid attitude of gloom, resentment, rebellion, selfishness, vanity, strife. Satan broadcasts in self-centered attitudes, and the "human" spirit in every human is tuned in on his wavelength! Thus Satan is now actually WORKING IN the people of this disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). But when the glorified CHRIST comes in supreme POWER and GLORY to rule all nations, Satan will be totally restrained from humanity. ALL will be called to salvation and eternal life—and, as God's people now are, will become partakers of the divine nature! (II Peter 1:4). "Human nature" will be GONE! The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Eternal as the ocean beds are full of water (Isaiah 11:9). Science's Postulate of the Future World-famous scientists foresee three possibilities for the future. 1) Some optimists think we shall soon have the magic push-button century 21—with such an array of gadgetry produced by technology that human labor will be all but eliminated, and the world shall be entranced and bedazzled by material technology. But, of course, this would not rid us of human nature. Crime would escalate, family life would break down completely, morals would sink even lower—if possible! 2) We shall have more and more evils, and, with nuclear power and other means of mass destruction, humanity will soon be erased from the earth. 3) Some say the world's only hope, now, to escape cosmocide is to form one gigantic world government, controlling the only military power and weaponry—yet in the same breath they admit the impossibility of it. WHO would sit on the throne RULING the world? The United States and Europe would never accept a Communist in supreme command. The Communists would never accept an American or Western European. WHY?—yes, WHY should we have a world where more than half of all its people live in illiteracy, abject poverty, filth and squalor, racked with diseases and pains and without hope? WHY?—when the human mind can produce the marvels of technology, the computer, send men to the moon and back, transmit photographs from the surface of Mars and Jupiter to the earth? Can't we realize there has to be a CAUSE for all these evils—and that the GREAT MAJESTIC GOD has power to eradicate the causes and usher in a REAL Utopia? Don't sell God short! The Two Alternatives Let's face it! Right now there are two alternatives. Either there does exist the living almighty GOD of supreme mind and power, who will very soon intervene and SAVE HUMANITY FROM ITSELF, or else HUMAN EXTINCTION is now imminent! There is no other alternative! But thank God, there is the GOOD NEWS of the soon-coming PEACEFUL, HAPPY WORLD TOMORROW! When the supreme Creator-RULER comes again to earth, already crowned as KING of kings, in supreme POWER and GLORY and all the holy angels with Him, the Gentile nations actually will FIGHT to resist Him! But "... their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth" (Zechariah 14:12). The living CHRIST is coming to RULE WITH DIVINE FORCE! And one of His first acts will be to depose Satan! The CAUSE of the world's evils will be removed! Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended to heaven, in clouds taking Him up out of sight. He shall return in clouds. The mighty Lord shall descend with a SHOUT!—with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ shall rise in a glorious resurrection to SPIRIT IMMORTALITY! The living in Christ shall then be caught up in the air with them, changed to spirit immortality—to MEET the descending Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). Christ's feet shall stand that same day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4). The immortal saints shall be continually with the Lord—reigning with and under Him from Jerusalem over all nations! With Satan gone, the KINGDOM OF GOD shall be set up in power. Everyone whom God has called out of this world of Satan's has been called to a special mission preparing for this Kingdom! The GOVERNMENT OF GOD will be restored, worldwide! The humans left on earth will be ruled over. No mortal humans will rule—only those who PREPARED and QUALIFIED to rule during their earthly life after receiving God's Spirit. The Government Organization God has not revealed in specific detail how His government will be organized. He does reveal that it shall be government from the TOP down. Christ will be KING of kings over all nations. It is specifically revealed that King David of ancient Judah, resurrected, shall be king over the nations descended from the 12 tribes of ancient Israel (Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24-25; Jeremiah 30:9). Jesus Himself revealed that the 12 original apostles shall sit on 12 thrones, each ruling one of these nations (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). As a theocracy, with government from the top down, it also is revealed that God the Father is the supreme LAWGIVER, and head over Christ and therefore ABOVE ALL. The Kingdom of God is the FAMILY OF GOD—and the Father is supreme head over His family! Jesus Christ is coming as KING of kings and LORD of lords, so the Kingdom of God shall combine church and state, as did ancient Israel—with Christ earthly King and LORD. NOTE WELL THIS PRINCIPLE: In a world cut off from God, God has called out of the world those predestinated. And in every instance the call has been to a definite DUTY, and also in every case that duty has been one PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. God called Abraham. All the PROMISES of our eternal salvation were given to Abraham, and we inherit them from the fact Abraham is the "father of the faithful." This reveals that Abraham will have higher position in the Kingdom than David. He will be NEXT UNDER CHRIST. Then again, the Scriptures use the phrase "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," grouping them together as a team. All the PROMISES were repromised also to Isaac and to Jacob. This indicates they shall be a headquarters TEAM—next under Christ—over both church and state, with Abraham chairman of the team. In Luke 13:28, Jesus said definitely that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shall be in that glorified Kingdom. One Government Over All When the KINGDOM—the divine FAMILY of God—reigns on earth, it shall be the ONE GOVERNMENT over ALL nations. There shall be ONE God, ONE government, ONE religion. In the transfiguration vision, Peter, James and John saw Christ transformed into the GLORIFIED Christ, His face shining as the sun (Matthew 17:1-7), and with Him in the Kingdom Moses and Elijah. These two, in the vision, represented the offices of church and state. Both Moses and Elijah, in their human lifetime, qualified for chief positions in church and state, respectively, next under Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—Moses over all national GOVERNMENTS—Elijah over church. It was Elijah who restored KNOWLEDGE of the worship of the true God. All these men, who were CALLED to special missions by God during their physical human life, were prepared and qualified for these positions in the KINGDOM. Actually, the preaching of the gospel and spread of religion IN THE KINGDOM will be primarily RELIGIOUS EDUCATION—since ALL shall be called, and the decision will be made individually by each person. It is significant that Elijah had founded THREE COLLEGES (II Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38) at Bethel, Jericho and Gilgal, teaching God's TRUTH in a world corrupted by false paganized education. The one original true Church of God is UNIQUE in the knowledge that THIS WORLD HAS BEEN CUT OFF FROM GOD—its inhabitants who were uncalled are therefore NOT BEING JUDGED—yet! They have been neither "saved" nor "lost." But THEY HAVE BEEN DECEIVED! As Jesus said, many would go out claiming to represent Him, proclaiming that Jesus was the CHRIST (Messiah)—yet DECEIVING THE MANY! (Matthew 24:4-5, II Corinthians 11:13-15). Millions have been deceived into a FALSE SALVATION. What about all these sincere people—are they "LOST"? Of course not. But neither did they receive the "salvation" they were deceived into expecting. They simply were not—YET—judged. THEY SHALL BE—all who have died—in the resurrection of the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-13). Salvation shall surely come to all who—once the TRUTH is revealed, and they are undeceived—are as willing as they thought they were in the false salvation they were deceived into accepting! This will include many whom our readers may have supposed were "lost." It is a GLORIOUS HOPE! Now notice Matthew 25:31 on. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Combine that with other scriptures already covered. When Jesus comes in His glory, He will come as He went to heaven—in clouds. The dead shall rise first—in a resurrection—then the living in Christ shall be instantly changed to spirit immortality and be caught up in the air with them to meet the descending Lord. His feet shall stand that same day on the Mount of Olives. The resurrected and changed saints shall be continually from then with Him. Then He shall sit on the throne of His glory—in the City of David, Jerusalem. All the holy angels will be with Him. In Revelation 12 we find that a third of the angels followed Lucifer into rebellion. But what about all these HOLY angels—the other two-thirds? I have said angel creation was not COMPLETE until by their own decision CHARACTER—either righteous or evil—had been formed in them. What about this two-thirds of angels, here called HOLY! God does not reveal HOW their character, and therefore their creation, was completed. But, in some manner not revealed, it is apparent the two-thirds had formed holy and righteous character, for here they are called HOLY angels, and in many parts of both Old and New Testaments they are described as definitely holy and in God's service. All Nations Gathered Now continue, Matthew 25:32, "And before him [Christ] shall be gathered all nations ... ." This can refer only to the people in all nations still remaining alive at that time—all MORTAL, human, flesh-and-blood people. Remember, many who had been called and truly converted will then be sitting with Christ in His throne at Jerusalem. Continue: "... and he shall separate them one from another ... ." Remember the dead and living IN Christ had already been separated and risen to meet Christ in the air. This separation refers to the still-living MORTALS—who had not previously been called—who had, up to now, been cut off from God and from salvation. But now, with Christ on the throne and Satan gone, ALL are spiritually called! Now continue, still verse 32: "... as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then [verse 34] shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." All then still living will be called. Those who decide for God's Kingdom—with Satan then out of the way—will INHERIT the Kingdom of God—be BORN INTO IT! "Then [verse 41] shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels [demons]." That fire is described in 2 Peter 3:10-12—the face of the earth becoming a molten inferno—burning up the mortal incorrigible. However, this fire will not take place until the end of the millennium. Verse 46, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." That "everlasting punishment" has been construed by the deceived to mean "everlasting punishING—but it is punishMENT—and the wages of sin is DEATH (Romans 6:23). True, some few scriptures speak of the fire NOT BEING QUENCHED—and the deceived misconstrue this to mean an eternally burning hell. Often I have illustrated this before audiences by placing a small piece of paper in a metal pan and lighting it. I say to the audience, "Now watch! This fire shall not be quenched!" Then I put the remaining ash on the floor, step on it and quote Malachi 4:3, "... they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet ... ." WHAT A FABULOUS POTENTIAL lies ahead of all humans willing to BELIEVE when called! WHAT WONDERFUL TRUTH God has revealed to His one and only true original Church, small and persecuted, yet vigorously ALIVE with God's WONDERFUL TRUTH! The Plain Truth - 1979 The Seven Proofs written by Herbert W Armstrong as seen in the following issues: Plain Truth - Feb 1979 Proof One Plain Truth - March 1979 Proof Two and Three Plain Truth - April 1979 Proof Four Plain Truth - May1979 Proof Five Plain Truth - Jun/Jul 1979 Proof Six - Part 1 Plain Truth - Aug 1979 Proof Six - Part 2 Plain Truth - Sept 1979 Proof Six - Part 3 Plain Truth - Oct/Nov 1979 Proof Seven

Explore our in-depth churches of god bible study resources to gain insights into God's word. Discover the truth with churches of god bible study. Bible Studies Below is a small sample of our Bible Studies. To access the full collection, contact us The Book of James "Study to show yourself approved" "Study to show yourself approved" "Study to show yourself approved" "Study to show yourself approved" The Armor of God The Armor of God - Part 1 The Armor of God - Part 2 The Breast Plate of Righteousness - Part 1 The Belt of Truth - Part 2 12 Rules for Bible Study Pray for guidance Be willing to accept correction Prove all things Realize the Bible never contradicts itself Be sure to read the Bible as it is written Check the context carefully, that is read all the scriptures around the verse in question Get all the scriptures "let God be true and every man a liar" Don't put vague scriptures first Use several translations Don't establish doctrine with Bible helps Mark your Bible Why is the Bible the most misunderstood book in all history? The most twisted, distorted, maligned, misrepresented and lied-about book there is? Because people refuse to believe it means exactly what it says! This second installment explains twelve simple, basic rules to help you understand the plain truth of God's Word! Do YOU understand the Bible when you read it? Or, have you not even bothered to study your Bible because you felt it was out-of-date? Because the old English is difficult to understand? Or because you felt the Bible was supposed to be mysterious? You Can Understand! The Bible is the instruction book of the One who created you. It is His instruction TO YOU, explaining clearly and plainly how you can have a happy, filled-with-interest, abundant and successful life! God's Word reveals the purpose for your being! It explains the REASON for human suffering. It explains WHEN and WHY and HOW GOD IS going to intervene to relieve that suffering! It therefore ought to be the one book everyone should understand! But why has it been so grievously misunderstood? Because almost no one, it seems, has been willing to apply the twelve rules of Bible study. The First Six Rules To summarize, briefly, before going on to the seventh rule of Bible study, here are the first six rules: Rule 1 — Pray for guidance. Rule 2 — Be willing to accept correction. Rule 3 — Prove all things. Rule 4 — Realize the Bible never contradicts itself. Rule 5— Be sure to read the Bible exactly as it is written. Rule 6 — Check the context carefully — that is, read all the scriptures around any particular verse in question. This brings us to rule number seven. Up In last month's PLAIN TRUTH, the first six of the twelve simple, basic rules of Bible study were explained thoroughly. If you are a new reader and missed this first article because you were not on The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list last month, just write and ask for the August issue of The PLAIN TRUTH — it will be sent to you just as freely as you received this issue. Click on image for detailed first six rules. Click on Image for the last six rules. Bible Study Plain Truth Aug 1964_0033, _0034, _0043 and _0044 Rule 7 Get All the Scriptures No one scripture can OF ITSELF, taken OUT OF CONTEXT, be used to establish the Truth. "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any PRIVATE interpretation" (II Pet. 1:20 ). God has put His Bible together in a very unusual manner. He has written it so that men could study it intricately in its original languages, poring over its pages for their entire lifetime — AND YET NEVER COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. Many people have memorized great sections of the Bible and yet not come to realize what those sections mean. You must take the whole Bible in its entire context, getting ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES in that Bible ON ANY ONE SUBJECT BEFORE you can come to the knowledge of that particular subject from God's point of view. "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little...." That is how the converted mind is to study the Bible. Yet, when the unconverted study God's Word a little here and a little there they are STILL NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND the Message of God's Truth because they do not have His Holy Spirit guiding them. That Holy Spirit — the very mind and understanding of God — is the power that inspired those words in the first place, and WITHOUT THAT SPIRIT TO INSPIRE THE UNDERSTANDING, THE DOOR TO THE WORD OF GOD REMAINS SHUT! (The Holy Spirit is given ONLY to those who OBEY God — Acts 5:32 .) Continuing from Isaiah: "... But the word of the Lord WAS unto them {those who DISOBEY} precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isa. 28:9-10 , 13 ). Oftentimes people think that the Bible is CONTRADICTING itself when actually all it is doing is SUPPLEMENTING itself. A good example of this is found in Matthew 27:37 as compared to Luke 23:38 . Here Matthew and Luke APPEAR to contradict one another in their statements as to what was written on the sign affixed to the stake upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. Now while you're going through this article, just take time to GET YOUR BIBLE and USE this example to PROVE that getting ALL of the scriptures on any one subject WILL give you God's understanding on it. In order to find out WHAT was written on that sign, WHO wrote it, and HOW MANY languages it was written in, you will need to put at least four scriptures together, not just two. So turn first to Matthew 27:37 , and WRITE DOWN what the Bible says was written on that sign. Then, GO RIGHT ON to Mark l5:26 and write beneath what you have written what MARK says was written on that sign. Then do the same with Luke 23:38 and also John 19:19 . Put them all together and you will see what was written on that sign. If ONE of these scriptures were left out you would not know that it was PILATE who did the writing. If TWO of these scriptures were left out you would not know that the writing was originally done in THREE LANGUAGES. These four bits of information, each from a different author, supply us with a complete record of what was written there originally. No one scripture contradicts the other — each only serves to complement and round out the information of the other. Click on Image for the last six rules. Bible Study Plain Truth Sept 1964_0014, _0015 & _0018 Up Rule 8 Let the Bible Interpret the Bible So many people write in to The WORLD TOMORROW and comment how much they enjoy MR. ARMSTRONG'S INTERPRETATION of the Bible. Over and over again you will hear Mr. Armstrong explain to the radio audience that it is NOT HIS INTERPRETATION that is being heard over The WORLD TOMORROW, BUT ONLY PLAIN BIBLE TRUTH! In your edition of the King James Bible the book of Revelation will probably be entitled, "The Revelation of ST. JOHN THE DIVINE." This is an excellent example of MAN'S INTERPRETATION. Now in order for you to understand WHAT the book of Revelation IS — WHOSE revelation it is, TO WHOM it was written and WHAT it is about — all you have to do is read the first few verses of THE BOOK ITSELF! In fact the very first words of the very first verse DIRECTLY CONTRADICT MAN'S INTERPRETATION of the Bible with the plain Bible statement that this book is, THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!" (Rev. 1:1 .) Romans 3:4 is a good clear principle to live by in this EIGHTH rule of Bible study — "... let GOD be true, but every man a liar." This book of Revelation has long been an enigma to the people of the world — GOD SAYS it is a book of REVELATION. THE WORLD SAYS it is a book of HIDDEN MYSTERY. PEOPLE have come up with many weird interpretations for the book of Revelation — yet the book of Revelation is VIVID in its own clear description and needs no interpretation! Continue in Revelation 1: As you read in verse 12 that John saw seven GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS, you don't have to WONDER what these seven golden candlesticks are — all you have to do is READ ON until you come, in the CONTEXT, to verse 20 and that verse tells you plainly that the seven candlesticks ARE the seven churches. In verse 16 it states that John saw SEVEN STARS in the hand of the Son of man. There is no need to go into great, eloquent illustrations of what the seven stars are, because again verse 20 reveals the plain Bible truth — no interpretation necessary — that the seven stars ARE the angels of the seven churches. And so it goes through the rest of the Bible. All you have to do is be patient and search God's Word and you will come up with God's clear answers to the muddled questions of mankind. Up Rule 9 Don't Put Vague Scriptures First Perhaps a better general statement of this NINTH RULE of Bible study would be: NEVER ESTABLISH A DOCTRINE BY A VAGUE OR DIFFICULT-TO-BE-UNDERSTOOD SCRIPTURE. Too many people ASSUME that the vision which Peter had regarding the unclean beasts lowered to him on a sheet affirms that God "cleansed" unclean meat. Because they TAKE OUT OF CONTEXT a verse, unclean of itself, that says, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" (Acts 10:15 ). However, all they need to do is read on TWO MORE VERSES and verse 17 very plainly says that PETER HIMSELF DOUBTED what the vision meant when he saw it — he didn't jump to any conclusions, but vague-scripture quoters are eager to! Further reading in the same chapter will explain what Peter finally came to understand about the vision — read verse 28: "God hath showed me {by means of this vision} that I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN COMMON OR UNCLEAN." Don't overlook TENTH rule. Up Rule 10 Use Several Translations In Matthew 27:46 Jesus Christ, while hanging on the stake before He died, used the ARAMAIC translation of the first verse of Psalm 22. Even though the original Word of God was inspired in the Hebrew or the Greek, God has allowed it to be translated into nearly every language spoken by mankind. If we were going to be particular about which language we used or which translation, then we would all have to learn Hebrew and Greek and study the Bible in its original languages. The King James Version was written 353 years ago. In the time since, the English language has undergone many changes. Sometimes those texts which are vague and unclear in the King James can be cleared up very easily by just reading a MORE MODERN TRANSLATION, such as the Moffatt or the Revised Standard Version. There is one thing to note about the King James translation and that is regarding italics. This word ITALIC is written in italics. Words that look like this in your King James Version are NOT in the original languages but are SUPPLIED by the translators. So everywhere in the King James Version where you notice words in italics they are supplied to help you understand the meaning of the sentence. However, since the translators were carnally minded, they did not always supply the words correctly. So some of these words in italics are incorrect and do not help but rather hinder your understanding. On the other hand, NOT ALL OF THE WORDS WHICH ARE SUPPLIED by the translators are in italics. Take I John 5:7 for instance, where the reference to three who bear witness in heaven is a completely erroneous reference inserted by a monk-copyist in the Middle Ages. The fact is this particular verse appears only in the King James Version and is in NONE of the other translations of the Bible. Often these difficulties will be cleared up by merely reading another translation and comparing it to the King James. Any questions arising after a thorough reading through several translations of any one verse will be few, and can be handled by studying further in Bible helps. If there are WORDS that you have difficulty in understanding, remember not only to look them up in an English dictionary such as Webster's, but if possible in A BIBLE DICTIONARY OR IN STRONG'S CONCORDANCE so that you can see what the meaning of the word in the original is. Sometimes people will look up a word in a modern dictionary and find a definition that is not at all the SENSE of the word as used in the King James Version. Take for example the word "conversation" in I Peter 3. Conversation to us today means talking between two people. A modern dictionary will give this definition. However, in the time of King James this particular word meant THE ENTIRE CONDUCT of a person and that is the meaning in the BIBLEusage of this word. In order to understand it then, you need to understand the meaning of the ORIGINAL word, and not just the meaning in a modern dictionary. But this leads to our ELEVENTH rule. Up Rule 11 Don't Establish Doctrine With "Bible Helps" "Clarke's Commentary" and the commentary by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown are good reference works — as is Halley's "Pocket Bible Handbook". Sometimes in the back of Bibles there will be sections called "Bible Helps." Even the marginal references in your Bible, which SOMETIMES prove to be very helpful, are often misleading. These "helps" often turn out to be the insidious instruction of Satan himself and they may lead you astray. Therefore, all of these Bible helps should be used ONLY to establish historical or grammatical facts related to the Bible and MUST NOT be used TO ESTABLISH DOCTRINE OR TO INTERPRET THE MEANING OF THE BIBLE ITSELF. The chain reference in my Bible in the center of the two columns at Revelation 1:10 says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day..." and by the Lord's day there is a little "z". In the column by the "z" there are two scriptural references — one to Acts 20:7 and the other to I Corinthians 16:2 which both refer to the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK but have nothing to do with the Lord's day which is explained in the rest of the book of Revelation. Yet to find out what the BIBLE says about what day Jesus Christ is Lord of, read Mark 2:27-28 ! "And he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore THE SON OF MAN IS LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH." So, with Bible helps you must remember to use them only for technical facts and not for interpretative facts. And now, rule TWELVE: Up Rule 12 Mark Your Bible! Perhaps you have thought the Bible should not be marked. But realize that what is HOLY about the Bible is not the paper, ink and leather out of which it is made, but the WORDS OF TRUTH the SPIRITUAL FACTS! Any PHYSICAL tool you can employ — such as marking with a pen or colored pencils — to help you remember and apply the spiritual truths in your life, is right with God! He expects you to USE His written Word to worship HIM — not physical paper ant ink! Sometimes we hold back from marking the Bible and think that we'll do it later — especially when we're listening to a point that we need to remember about a particular scripture — but we never seem to get around to it. It's always so difficult to get out the pencil and ruler, and have our hands clean. So I have found over years of experience that the best way to mark the Bible is to JUST MARK IT! When you find out for instance that the word "conversation" in I Peter 3:1 ought to be "conduct," the thing you need to do is to IMMEDIATELY WRITE DOWN "conduct" in the margin and draw a little line and circle the word "conversation" in the verse. This way you will always remember. Use These Rules Apply these twelve rules diligently, and your Bible study will be both interesting and rewarding. And if you are not already one of the nearly SEVENTY THOUSAND students of the "Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course " — Click Link for it NOW! Don't put it off! This course is designed to help you study YOUR BIBLE. It employs all of these twelve rules of Bible study — it can help YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR BIBLE as you never have before. This course is entirely free of any cost to you! You'll always be glad you did! Up

Messages to the Churches of God And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein (Rev 11:1). Latest Video Previous Videos Where Does Their Mission Come From Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied All VCG Videos On Youtube The Last Apostle-2nd Peter Measuring the Church of God - Part 1 Measuring the Church of God -Part 3 Do you Remember Measuring the Church of God -Part 5 Mystery of the Ages WHO Lays the FOUNDATION? Hold fast to 20th Century TRUTH Measuring the Church of God -Part 2 Measuring the Church of God -Part 4 The Bride Measuring the Church of God -Part 6 The Church Measuring the MINISTRY

Prophetic Q & A 2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Greetings friends and brethren... the Vigilant Church of God is not a prophecy website. Our duty is to feed the flock of Jesus Christ, "occupying" until His return. However, the Bible instructs us not to be negligent regarding prophecy, at least from an observer's point of view. There are no true prophets alive today, although many would like to present themselves as such. This page is intended to educate visitors regarding the most pertinent view presented on platforms such as Youtube, where a host of true and false information is available. We present Truth straight from the Bible and therefore do not endorse OR reject any of the views presented by outside "experts". We hope you will enjoy this page as we explore prophetic questions and answers, occasionally giving our opinion, based on the only source of Truth - The Holy Bible. Who is currently seen as the Antichrist? Some of the current candidates are: Klaus Schwab Founder of the World Economic Forum Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: Europe Civil Founder of the World Economic Forum, 2025 non-executive role at the World Economic Forum Global agendas, address social issues alongside corporate and political leaders. View Video "In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish, it's the fast fish which eats the slow fish" King Charl es III Monarch of United Kingdom Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: View Video "On an increasingly crowded planet, humanity faces many threats – but none is greater than climate change. It magnifies every hazard and tension of our existence". Europe Royal Monarch of UK, Prince of Wales, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, “Defender of the Faith”(s). Global agendas. Symbolic head of Commonwealth Vladimir Putin President of Russia Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: Europe and Asia Political President of Russia, Global Diplomat Energy leverage. Large Military and Nuclear power. In War with Ukraine. View Video "A great leader is that which defends his people" Donald Trump President of the United States Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: North America Political President of United States, Global Diplomat Leading Economy and Military power. Global peace talks. Foreign policies have global impact. View Video "As president, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world." Pope Leo XIV Leader of Roman Catholic Church Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: View Video Europe (born in USA) Religious Leader of Roman Catholic Church, Sovereign of Vatican City Global religious influence over a billion Catholics, prioritized global peace and unity, also the "Jubilee of the Poor". "I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world" Elon Musk CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, xAi, "X" Continent: Leader: Role: Influence: North America (born in RSA) Tech/Business CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and xAI. Owner of X (* twitter) Global tech influence, including AI, global communications platforms, space exploration View Video “The least scary future I can think of is one where we have at least democratized AI…[also] when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die. But for an AI, there would be no death. It would live forever. And then you’d have an immortal dictator from which we can never escape.”

APOSTLES AND TRUTH By Ellery Burgess Why did God create the office of apostle? What does that office have to do, with truth in the true Church of God? What does that have to do, with you personally? The answer to these questions concerns your eternal salvation. Until Jesus Christ came and paid the ransom price for humanity and until the birth of the New Testament Church of God on Pentecost in 31 AD, the office of apostle did not exist. When God brought the spirit begotten Church of God into existence, He created the office of apostle in it, but why? Exactly what is the office of apostle, in the Church and within the government of God? Does this office have anything to do, with the truth that is placed in God’s own Church? THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH Apostles are foundational. They, along with the prophets, form the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:19-21). The prophets mentioned here are the prophets of the Old Testament. The one who became Jesus Christ, revealed the word to the prophets through the Holy Spirit and they delivered those words to the people. In like manner, Jesus Christ reveals His word to the apostles of the New testament Church and they reveal them to the people today. Together they, both the prophets of the Old Testament Church in the wilderness (Act 7:38) and the apostles of the now spirit begotten Church of the New Testament, form the foundation of the Church, with Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner Stone. WHAT DOES “APOSTLE” MEAN? The word apostle comes from the Greek word apostelos. Vines Greek-English Dictionary says “Apostelos = apostle, one sent with a special message (truth) or commission”. Apostles are sent to reveal the truth FOR THE FIRST TIME, to those whom God chooses to call. Many may hear the apostle’s message, but only those whom God chooses to open their eyes (mind), can see the truth when they hear it. It is like a person being in a dark room and God turns on the light switch. Suddenly they can see, they could not see before, but now they can see. Read Rom. 15:21, then read verses 18 through 20, then read verse 21 again. The apostle Paul was sent to bring the truth, to those who had not heard it before. He understood, that he was not supposed to go in and lay a foundation where another apostle had already laid the foundation. Apostles (sent), are given the commission from Jesus Christ, to reveal God’s own words, to those whom God the Father chooses. He does not bring his own words, but reveals the words that God has revealed to him. Jesus Christ gave the commission to the apostles, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God and also “all things”, that He had given them (Matt. 28: 16-20). This was before the New Testament Church of God even came into existence. The commission was given to apostles. If Christ had wanted to give the commission to the entire Church, He would have given it ten days later, when the spirit begotten Church was born. Instead, He gave the commission to those that He sent (apostelos) with the message. Does the whole Church have a part in the spreading of this great commission? Yes, it surely does , the part of the Church is to back up and support the apostle (one sent) in doing this job. Not to take the job of God’s chosen apostle upon themselves, but to stand behind and in full support of him, as he does the job that God assigned to him. If the leaders of the various groups that are calling themselves the Church of God, would only understand this one paragraph, it would go a long way in helping to remove much of the confusion that we see today. HOW DOES GOD REMOVE SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS? There is an account in the 9th chapter of John, that has been mostly overlooked. Let’s look at it in some detail. Christ and His disciples saw a man who was blind from birth (v.1). The disciples asked Christ, whose sin caused the man to be born blind, his or his parents (v.2)? In answer to their question, Jesus makes an amazing statement. “Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (v.3). Now, get this, Jesus said that this man was born blind, for the express purpose, of revealing (made manifest) how God works. “I must work the works of Him that sent (apostelos) me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (vs. 4 – 5). As long as he, Jesus Christ , was in the world, he personally, brought light to those that the Father chooses to call. But now, in the remainder of this account, he reveals (makes manifest) how the light would be brought, once He was no longer physically in the world. Here, Jesus explains how God brings light (reveals truth), once Jesus Christ returns to heaven to be with the Father. Now, according to Jesus’ own account, here is how He does it. Remember, this man was born blind; he had always been blind, even as all humans are born blind to the spiritual things of God. In verse 6, Jesus spat on the ground and made clay and put it on the man’s eyes. Jesus did not go to a source of water to make the clay, He was the source that made the clay. Now the blind man’s eyes were covered with the physical mud, that he was composed of, even as our eyes were blinded before being called, by the physical matter, mud , that we are all composed of. Now in verse 7, Jesus reveals the whole matter of, why this man was born blind and what its significance is to us today. “ And he ( Jesus ) said unto him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, sent ) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing”. The word “sent”, is from the Greek word apostelos, meaning apostle! So what Jesus Christ told the blind man, was for him to go to apostle to receive his sight. Remember, Jesus said this man was born blind, to reveal how God would work after Jesus was no longer on this earth in the flesh. This whole account was to show that after Jesus returned to heaven, He would reveal truth to His apostles and they would give that revealed word, to those whom the Father calls to Christ. If one will read John 9: 1 – 7 , that is clearly what Christ is saying there. The blind man had to go exactly to where Christ told him to go. Not to just any pool that he might select, but only to Siloam (or apostle). The message is unmistakable; we must go to God’s apostle, to remove our blindness so we can see God’s truth. APOSTLES LAY FOUNDATIONS II Cor. 10: 13 – 16 in the NKJV says, that Paul understood, that he was not to try to lay foundations where others had already laid them. Connect that with Acts 16: 6 – 12. Here we see, that Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit, from going into part of Asia and Bithynia. That area was where many of the “lost tribes” were and Andrew, the brother of Peter, was already working there ( Where did the 12 Apostles Go ? H.L. Hoeh – Plain Truth- May, 1964). This clearly shows, that Christ does not have an apostle go in and lay a foundation, where another apostle has already laid the foundation. A building only needs one foundation, it cannot have two. Read I Cor. 4:14–16. Here, the apostle Paul is telling the converts at Corinth, that they were begotten (converted), by the gospel (truth) brought through him. They were not converted by him, but through his preaching. They were called by God and received their understanding of the truth from Jesus Christ. It came through Paul, but not from him. He faithfully taught them as he had been taught by Christ. Paul told them to be followers of him, “ Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: The seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord”. (I Cor. 9:1-2 ). The very fact that Paul had been the one whom Christ used, to lay the foundation (reveal the truth for the first time) to this Church at Corinth, was the proof of his apostleship to them. Paul was their apostle, through whom they first heard the word of truth. Herbert W. Armstrong was the apostle, through whom all of us, either directly or indirectly, first heard the truth. God opened our minds to the very truths, that He had revealed to and restored through his end-time apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. He is our apostle. The very fact that we are in the body of Christ, is the proof of his apostleship. The very same thing, that was the proof of Paul’s apostleship. If I Cor 9:1-2 is the proof for Paul, it is also the proof for Mr. Armstrong. We may have many teachers, but Mr. Armstrong is our father in the gospel, just as Paul was to the Church at Corinth. Any who try to lay another foundation where the true foundation has already been laid, is off track. The fact that Mr. Armstrong is dead, has no bearing on the foundation and government of God, that Christ set through him. In II Peter 1:13–15, Peter tells us what we are to do after an apostle dies. Peter said, “to have these things always in remembrance”. But, it seems today, that almost everyone has forgotten! THE WORK IN THE 1ST AND 20TH CENTURY We know, that Christ sent the original apostles to the lost sheep, of the house of Israel ((Matthew 10: 5 – 6). Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. The only way they had to travel was by horseback, boat, or walking. These apostles were limited on how much territory they could reach. That is why it took so many of them to do the job, that Christ had given them. They were each assigned a certain area and they faithfully went to their assigned area and preached the gospel in that area. They then fed those whom God called and brought to conversion. In the 20th century, God raised up just one apostle, to go to his assigned area. His job was to “restore” the same foundation, that had been laid by the original apostles. Over the course of 18 centuries, after years of persecution, the true Church of God had lost most of the great truths, that made up the foundation of the Church. Some truths remained, but much had been lost. This lone apostle was used by Christ, to restore all of the foundation on which God’s Church is founded. Just like all of the apostles before him, he faithfully performed the job given to him. This apostle faithfully went to his assigned area. But, as Christ had to use many apostles in the 1st century to do the job, now in the 20th century, Christ could get the job done, by using just one apostle. That apostle was Herbert W. Armstrong and his assigned area, was the whole world ! Mr. Armstrong had many things available to him, that those before him did not have. He had the printing press, radio, television, computers, automobiles, trains and airplanes, with which he was able to reach the whole world. And he did reach the whole world, regardless of what some might say. For a period of two 19 year time cycles, he preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God, to Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of the “lost tribes” of Israel. Then Christ sent him personally to the gentile countries of the world. Jesus Christ opened doors and gave him special favor with Rulers, Kings, Emperors, Princes, Prime Ministers around the whole world. That was an unprecedented act, that was never done before and many who are reading this article now, saw it happening right before their eyes. I wonder how many can remember what they did see? Mr. Armstrong clearly understood what his job was . I will include here, just one quote by Mr. Armstrong, but there are many more, “God has called me to do a job, to do a commission. I think when God lets me die, the thing He has called me for, will have been completed, preparing the way for the second coming of Christ, carrying the gospel of the Kingdom of God, to the world for a witness to all nations and if I have been someone in the power and spirit of Elijah, remember, there is no prophecy that God will have an Elisha following Elijah. But the job that God has called me to do is a prophesied job”. That from The Worldwide News, March 6, 1981. Mr. Armstrong, as Christ’s apostle, was the one who was to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, to lift away the blindness and restore the “all things”, that had been lost. He faithfully did the job set before him. He understood that he had fulfilled the prophecy of Matt. 24:14. With the use of the printing press, radio, television, computers, modern transportation and the open door to take the gospel to the gentile world, he was able to reach the whole world. He carried the gospel around the whole world and there was a time that the entire Church understood that fact. In Mystery of the Ages, chapter titled, “Mystery of the Church”, page 291 hardback, he wrote, “These prophecies (Matt. 24:14 and others) HAVE NOW DEFINITELY BEEN FULFILLED. The true gospel has been restored and has now gone in power into every nation on the face of the earth” (emphasis mine). Now, consider, Jesus Christ uses apostles, to lay the foundation of the truth, for the first time to those in the specific area where He sends that apostle. Because of distance and means of travel, Christ used many apostles, to reach the areas where He wanted it done in the first century. But in this end time, because of the modern means of communication and travel, specifically air travel, the specific area that He sent this end time apostle to, was the whole world. Jesus Christ used Mr. Armstrong to restore the foundation of the Church of God and to preach the true gospel to the whole world, fulfilling Matt.24:14, at which time we completed entering the time of the end. Then Christ let that apostle die, but the foundation that Christ had laid through him, still exists today. We still have all of it with us. His audio sermons, videos, all of his books, booklets, articles and magazines are available today. And the gospel has been preached into all of the world. All of the leaders today, who have taken it to their own selves to complete that commission, are sorely mistaken! They are trying to set in the seat of an apostle, if they have claimed that title or not. That is an office and commission that Christ has not given to them. Jesus Christ has already done that job and He did it through His apostle, just as Jesus said he would. The people of God, are now in the time described in Rev.3: 20 – 22 and Rev. 11:1 – 2. , measured in “holding fast”, to what was restored through that end time apostle and practicing and living by it. The end can and will come, when Jesus Christ completes getting His people ready, to meet Him and meet Him, we will! The ministry of the churches of God, have become delinquent in their duty toward God's heritage. Their responsibility as instructed by Christ, to never LORD it over God's heritage, His Church. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD (Jer 23:1) .

Who Feeds The Flock? ... Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep (John 21:17). In this age of the Laodicean Church of God, many lay-members have taken it upon themselves to enter the Temple of God to perform the work of a priest. Why this lack of understanding of who works at the Altar, who lights the Lamps and who makes the Shew bread? How serious does Jesus Christ, the Head of His Church take these infringements in His Temple? Jesus warned His disciple Peter, that Satan the devil wanted to sift him like wheat, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32). This same Peter–an Apostle–once he was converted, did go on to strengthen his brethren. Prior to this warning by Jesus, there was contention among the disciples (Luke 22:22-26), we can be sure with a certainty, the irritated feelings which that contention caused, prepared the way for the testing and sifting of Peter. Satan desired to try Peter; to place trials and temptations before him; “to agitate him” like agitating wheat in a sieve to see whether he had faith and if it would remain. Satan used the same tactic with Job in chapters 1 and 2, therefore like Job, God allows Satan to test our faith as well. Strengthen Thy Brethren Notice how John described what took place the same evening that Luke spoke about in Luke 22, ... “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17). The responsibility to feed the flock of God was place squarely on the shoulders of an Apostle. Once converted, Peter took that responsibility very seriously. In his epistle of I Peter ch. 5, this faithful Apostle encourages the ministry of Jesus Christ to do the same... “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Pet 5:1-4). The ministry were to be types of the Great Shepherd. They stood in place of Jesus Christ, feeding the flock as He inspired them. Another apostle, one “born out of due time” Paul, also encouraging the ministry to feed the flock... “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Act 20:28). Paul went on to warn these ministers... “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). And “grievous wolves [did] enter in among the church, not sparing the flock” as we have witnessed soon after an apostasy in the church of God! That apostasy in the twentieth century, ushered in the Laodicean era, an era wherein the people decide, Judge and want to rule. It was during this time–of the Laodiceans–that men who were once deemed faithful, men who love the truth, began to scatter the flock of God, bringing about in many members the attitude of “every man and every woman will do what was right in their own eyes.” This evil attitude of self-indulgence, espoused by the devil, gave birth to the rejection of the government of God, which Jesus inspired and revealed to the “last” apostle Herbert W. Armstrong in the 20th century. Feed the Flock in the 20th Century During the twentieth century Jesus Christ raised up the Philadelphia era of His church to do the final work of preaching the true gospel to the world (Matt 24:14; Rev 3:7-8). Like Paul, a great and effectual door was opened to to Mr. Armstrong (1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3). Once that apostle, Herbert W. Armstrong, took the gospel to all the world, and completed his prophetic assignment, the door to preaching the gospel as an organized work was closed and darkness once again covered the earth. Please read the Worldwide News, March 6, 1981 for in it, Mr. Armstrong wrote on page 12... “I think that when God lets me die, the thing He's called me for will have been completed, preparing the way for the Second Coming of Christ carrying that Gospel of the Kingdom to the world for a witness to all nations.” This same apostle was inspired to distinctly teach the membership of Worldwide Church of God the reason Jesus Christ was building His church. Notice what he wrote in Mystery of the Ages page 228... “The Church may be called God’s teachers’ college to prepare rulers and teachers for the kingdom of God when God does offer redemption and eternal life to the world as a whole. The CHURCH was planned to be God’s instrumentality for calling predestinated human beings out of this world to be trained for positions of leadership in the world tomorrow, when they shall teach and train others. That is why in the New Testament, the Church is called the firstfruits of God’s salvation. All this necessitated certain vital steps-one at a time-in the procedure of God’s supreme master plan!” Mr. Armstrong continued to explain the church on page 230... "So, once again, WHAT and WHY is the CHURCH? The Church is the called out (from this world) begotten children of God. It is the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:23). It is the spiritual organism that shall be the “Bride of Christ”– after its resurrection to immortality. Then it shall be married to Christ! It is the spiritual TEMPLE to which Christ shall come at his second appearing” (Eph. 2:21). The Church is the Spiritual Temple (1 Cor 3:16-17; 2 Cor 6:16) and Paul tells us, it is only the ministry who are typed, as temple priests and it is only the priests who live off the temple, serve at the altar, and who are partakers thereof (1 Cor 9:13). Mr. Armstrong wrote in a Worldwide News June 24, 1985 under the title: “Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God”.... “Little groups, splintering off, centered in Washington, D.C.; Eugene, Ore.; Tyler, Tex.; Monterey, Calif.; and other places with groups too small to mention. They are not bearing fruit for the Kingdom. They are not pleasing God or being blessed by Him. Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them." They usually claim to be "branches" of the Church of God. But Jesus said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). He did not say denominations, sects, cults, branches or a church divided against itself. Rather He said a house divided against itself cannot stand. There is one true Church and one only. The apostle Paul pictured humanly self-appointed "branches" when he said to the elders of the local church at Ephesus that some of their own selves would depart to draw a following after themselves. …. “The Church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner stone; in Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord" (Eph 2:20-21). Note, the Church is organized and fitly framed together, not organized with competing and differing branches.” And I may add, this includes lay-members who left the Body of Christ in rebellion against God's government and now try to teach and write articles to the church on websites or blogs on the internet! It would also include deacons and local elders doing their own thing, such as building websites and leading church groups; taking tithes and offerings with absolutely no authority from Christ to do so. Paul admonished the ministry and wrote... “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” Why? Why be so determined to preach the word by telling members their faults (rebuke), why encourage them (exhort), and why persevere in doctrine? Because in verses 3-4 Paul wrote “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their–members–ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim 4:2-4). Yes an unfaithful ministry has caused this confusion in the Church of God by turning away from the truth which was inspired and revealed by Christ to Mr. Armstrong. The word fable is the Greek word: muthos and it means a fiction, an invention and a falsehood. And today, the fable that has deluded many lay-members is the fact that they think they have the authority to teach and preach in the temple, outside of the Government of God. The actual fact is their rebellion against God's Government has placed them outside of the body of Christ and in serious danger of hearing Jesus Christ say to them... Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen (Mat 22:13-14). These despicable people need to realize that God changes not (Mal 3:6) and He is the same today as He was yesterday (Heb 13:8)! Do you think, oh man or woman, who despise God's servants, those who represent His government, that He will treat you any different than he did Miriam, Aaron (Numbers 12) and to Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their families (Numbers 16)? All these men and woman, despised God's servants! Be careful that you don't. Shrouded In Darkness Its amazing, the one central point, that caused the death of thousands of Israelites in Numbers 16:3 was this attitude... “And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?” This same despicable attitude, has infected the church of the Laodiceans, today they say... “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” (Rev 3:17). Their self-aggrandizement, their self-sufficiency and self centered attitude, toward Christ and his rule over them, causes them to say, “we do not need anyone to tell us what to do, we can rule and teach ourselves”. They do not hear Christ saying to them, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (verse 18). The eye salve they need to open their eyes, is to be washed by the Holy Spirit and get back to the understanding that Christ sent an apostle with a message about the restoration of the GOVERNMENT of God – the Gospel... more later. How often have we heard it said by lay-members, deacons and local church elders in this age! “Who are you to tell me, that I'm wrong, I have the Spirit of God!” If YOU have that attitude, you would do well to HEAR what Jude has to say... “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, (through the spirit in man) as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core (Korah). These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear (of God): clouds they are without water (no Holy Spirit), carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1:10-13). Influenced by the prince of darkness, they have allowed their minds to become darkened and are so deceived, they cannot see the light of the glorious gospel. As soon as the last apostle died, Jesus Christ closed the door to the work of the Philadelphia era, this action–the end of an era–resulted in dramatic changes in the THINKING of both the membership of the Church of God–The Worldwide Church of God–and the world at large, the world took upon itself the life-style of Sodom and Gomorrah and the attitude of violence, that prevailed during Noah's time, and the church took rulership to itself. End of the Philadelphia Era The end of the Philadelphia era resulted in the earth once again being shrouded in darkness (Gen 1:2), because that which had brought light to a darkened world, the message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, was fulfilled! As an organized work, Philadelphia was over, there was no group of people being led by a true apostle of Jesus Christ, doing a worldwide work. Soon after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Church of God became confused and the leaders in the church at that time, did not explicitly comprehend the gospel message. BLINDNESS began to cover their minds and soon afterward, they led the Church of God astray through a scattering. And Jesus said... “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). It is only the true gospel that brings light, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor 4:4). These scriptures and many more, give vociferous testimony to the fact that Satan has deceived not only the entire world, but the entire Church of God... “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5-7). When you reject the authority of the Government of God over you, YOU become blind once more! And if you say, “I see”, while rejecting God, “your sin remains” (John 9:41). All the Laodiceans can see, are themselves and the physical things, that surround them. They have forgotten that they were once purged of their sins by Christ and enlightened by the one sent by Christ in the 20th century–the last apostle. Jesus, through a graphic healing of a man blind from birth, reveals how the spiritually blind can once again be enlightened. Jesus...“When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing” (John 9:6-7). Jesus illustrated rather clearly, that mankind's eyes have been blinded, to their selfishness and their vanity, since the creation of Adam–the clay–and to remove the blindness, it took the washing of their eyes by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:10), which is symbolized by water (John 7:38), to enlighten them. This blind man, was told to go wash his eyes in the pool Siloam–which means sent! Only an apostle filled with the Holy Spirit, and sent by Christ, can reveal the true gospel and thereby once again enlighten those in the Church of God, who have become blind to the real meaning of the gospel. Miriam, Aaron, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their families, were all blinded to the understanding of the Government of God, therefore, it was natural for them to despise Moses' leadership. You see, the central message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, is the GOVERMENT of God. Even though God miraculously intervened in Num 16:6... “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.”... the people still rebelled by blaming Moses verse 41... “But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured–they were obstinate–against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.” As a minister, I have witnessed the very same rebellion, time after time in the Church of God. When a member rebels against the ministry, and then when that member of his own accord leaves the Church, in a vitriolic state, there are some members who agree with the rebel and follow him out, yet in their deceived minds they still think they are a part of the Body of Christ! God Does Not Change Notice what God said to Moses in verse 45... “Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.” The rebels in the Church of God have forgotten... “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal 3:6). With that said let us also notice something else, which GOD INSTRUCTED after this terrible incident of rebellion, verses 37-40: "Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.” The Almighty God takes rebellion toward Him in a very serious light, ONLY those duly called and ordained may serve at God's Altar and represent His people! Let me remind you, the reader, of what Mr. Armstrong wrote on pages 48-49 of the book, Mystery of the Ages, about God's Government … “The very fact of law presupposes GOVERNMENT. Government is the administration and enforcement of law by one in authority. This necessitates authoritative leadership-one in command. When the only conscious Life-Beings existed, God was leader-in authoritative command. Thus, even when the only conscious Life-Beings were God and the Word, there was GOVERNMENT with God in supreme command. The government of God is of necessity government from the top down. It cannot be “government by the consent of the governed.” Its laws originate and are handed down from God-never legislated by the people-never dictated by the governed how the government over them shall rule them. Since they created other conscious, thinking life-beings, this very fact of necessity put the GOVERNMENT of God over all creation, with God supreme Ruler.” And you may say, “yes that is right, I agree and I serve Christ”. Well, if you say that, you are assuming to yourself the prerogative of governing yourself apart from God and this is exactly what caused rebellion in Numbers 16, and was causing contention among those in the Corinthian congregation. Furthermore, the same attitude is causing rebellion, division and contention in the Churches of God today... “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ (1 Cor 10-12). Example of King Uzziah I said the following above... “The Almighty God takes rebellion toward Him in a very serious light, ONLY those duly called and ordained may serve at God's Altar and represent His people!" The following biblical example from 2 Chr 26:14-21, will show just how serious God takes it, if a "king", nevermind a lay-person or deacon, assumes the responsibility, to serve at the altar: “And Uzziah [a king] prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land". And those who make excuses, about their claims to be, "preaching deacons", or those who create websites as a “Watering Hole” or as a “Research Center” for the flock of God, I am here to tell YOU, “God is not mocked by your rebellion toward His name nor to His elected servants”. "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chr 36:16). These people have deluded themselves into believing they are still serving God! So...Who FEEDS the Flock of God? So who has the authority to preach and teach the flock of God? According to Paul... “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. "(Rom 10:9-17). BUT! Are these few verses and examples enough for those who have hardened their heart to God's Government? Some will use the following scriptures to condone their actions... "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women"... verse 14 "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit " (Acts 8:5-17). Philip, like most brethren would have discussed the truth with these people. Philip did not preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, but his message had elements of that gospel in it (Acts 8:5) and Jesus Christ certainly is the center of the gospel, being the King that will establish the kingdom of God at His return. The word "concerning" in verse 12 is the Greek word peri which means "around or respect to". Philip understood an apostle was given the responsibility of preaching the gospel (Acts 6:6; Matt 28:19-20; Mark 16:18), nevertheless moved by what was occurring through the persecution by Saul, he did preach a message, with certain miracles, resulting in the conversion of some which of which the scripture does not tell us these people believed his message. And though, as a deacon (Acts 6:5), Philip baptised some, they could not receive the Holy Spirit as he was not sanctioned to lay hands upon them. Later after Peter and John preached the gospel to Samaria (Acts8:25) in verse 26, Philip gets a message to go to Gaza which resulted in the baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch. After the baptism, Philip leaves the eunuch and goes to Caesarea. It seems obvious that Peter and John saw the work Philip did in Samaria, and ordained him and Evangelist... "And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven (Acts 6:5); and abode with him" (Acts 21:8). TO BE CONTINUED...

Your details were sent successfully! Send Vigilant Church of God Postal Address: 3517 Mocha Trail Austin, TX 78728 United States of America Dr. Burrus Smith (U.S.A) Tel: +1 704 467 7743 Email: boomer@gmail.com Mr. Gerhard J. Coetzer (South Africa) Tel: +27 64 248 5710 Email: gcoetzer.vcg@yahoo.com or enter your details in the above contact form and we will contact you.

Booklets My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge... (Hos 4:6) File too large CONTACT US File too large CONTACT US

Sermonettes and Split Sermons Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3). Below is a small selection of our Sabbath Sermonettes and Split Sermon archive messages. Contact us, should you require full access. James 5 Dr. Burrus Smith 00:00 / 34:04 Split Sermon - Lessons from King Josiah LDUB Gerhard J. Coetzer. 00:00 / 32:19 Galatians 2:20 Mike Downing 00:00 / 11:38 Heed Your Spiritual RADAR Gerhard J Coetzer 00:00 / 10:38 Why One Doubts Mike Downing 00:00 / 12:19