CHAPTER III

THE REVELATION OF GOD'S LAW AND HIS PLAN OF SALVATION

Even though they did not know it, the people were about ready to have revealed to them the revelation of God's Law and God's Plan of Salvation. Since these people were not converted, not having the Spirit of God, and since God's Law and Plan are spiritual, the people did not really comprehend what was happening, but could see the physical part of it then. Actually, these things all happened for our instruction.

Since the people were not converted, but were carnal, even though they could listen to God, hearing what He said, they couldn't go up near the mountain. The mountain was Holy because it had God's presence on it. The people were not Holy because they did not have His Spirit. Also, the door to salvation had been closed, except for a very few, because of the sin of Adam and Eve at the foundation of the world. Man had then cut himself off from God, so man, unconverted, could not approach God, but they w re to be His chosen people, so God intended them to hear His voice directly.

Actually, from the foundation of the world, God's intent had been to communicate with man directly in person. Adam and Eve, though unconverted, had been permitted to ACTUALLY WALK WITH GOD. However, this was BEFORE THEY SINNED. Sin is such a serious matter that it builds a wall between man and God. MAN, NOT GOD, had built this wall of separation, later pictured in the tabernacle and the temple by the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It had been man's choice to cut himself off from God. However, despite this barrier, God decided once again to try dealing with people directly.

The people were told to prepare themselves for this "close encounter with the almighty God. He came down upon the mountain amid smoke, and lightning, and the sounding of the trumpet. After this tremendous show of splendor and power, WHERE GOD HIMSELF LITERALLY BLASTED OUT HIS TEN COMMANDMENTS, it was once again the PEOPLE, not God, who decided that they didn't want to personally see or hear Him. He made them feel uncomfortable. He frightened them. In Ex. 20:19 it is recorded: "Then they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' Moses tried to talk the people out of this attitude, but the Bible simply says in vs. 21 that they just stood afar off.

This is the sad truth. Mankind, since the time of Adam, has stood afar off, and has hidden from God. Therefore, God drew away from man, simply giving him his wish. Only in the New Testament Church was direct, personal contact once again offered between man and God, yet even that was on a limited basis.

Therefore, the people got their wish, and God began to speak only through Moses. He continued this pattern throughout the rest of the Old Testament, speaking only to the very few He needed to in order to work out His purpose in man.

At this time, then, God gave His Ten Commandments. He also gave Moses other instructions, called statutes and judgments, although the judgments developed throughout Israel's history becoming a body of case law such as exists in almost every country, which are merely INTERPRETATIONS of the law, and not the law itself. Ceremonial laws were also given concerning the Tabernacle and its service.

The Jews, by the time of the New Testament, had taken this

CEREMONIAL LAW, AND THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS TO AN EXTREME!

The Pharisees had compiled a huge book called the Talmud, which covered in detail every human activity, giving a JUDGMENT as to whether the action was lawful or not. One of the biggest areas covered was on how to observe the Sabbath. There were literally thousands of do's and don't about how to observe it. It is this so called law, bound up in the Talmud that Christ did away with. Also, the ceremonial laws of the Temple were also done away. Christ said that the Pharisees made HIS LAW, which is embodied in the Ten Commandments, OF NO AFFECT BY YOUR TRADITIONS (the judgments that made up the Talmud).

Christ didn't even do away with the Temple law immediately.

While the Temple stood, those laws could be observed. When the Temple was destroyed, the ceremonial laws about the Temple ceased to function.

We are left, then, with the Ten Commandments. This is the Royal Law Paul talked about. The Ten Commandments WERE NOT DONE AWAY, but instead, these laws are now to be written on our hearts as Christians. No longer are we obliged to obey the mere letter of the Law, but the spirit as well.

From a legalistic standpoint, this would tend to make the Law more binding, rather than less. It is much harder to obey the spirit, or intent of a thing than the thing itself. However, the New Testament is written with two understandings of God's nature that were not understood by carnal man in the Old Testament. Converted Christians are given this deeper understanding into God because, having the Holy Spirit joined to their human spirit, creating the "New Creature in Christ helps us to understand more about what God is doing through man. It is through this understanding that we know how to work with Him to build His Holy Righteous character in our lives.

Those two new understandings about God revolve around God's grace and God's love. The New Testament reveals that GOD IS LOVE, and that it is by grace that we are saved through faith -- not by works. However, as the apostle James wrote, "Faith without works is dead. Therefore, the Christian must arrive at the proper understanding of what these two seemingly contradictory concepts mean.

God never intended His way to degenerate into some legalistic code of dos and don'ts. He also never intended the Christianity "turn grace into license. It seems that human nature wants to go to one extreme or the other, not coming to a proper understanding of what God really wants.

For all of their other problems, though, Pharisees (or legalists) try their hardest to get to a proper understanding of what God wants them to do in their lives. However, when they turn religion into an endless series of "thou shalt nots, they become preoccupied with PHYSICAL OBEDIENCE, missing what God is trying to teach us through His Law. It can be said, though, that legalists are so concerned WITH GETTING EACH POINT RIGHT that they tend to be able to reveal to us MANY THINGS FROM GOD'S WORD THAT WE SHOULD BE DOING, BUT MAYBE AREN'T. The licentious Christians, on the other hand, can't really understand what God wants for their lives because they reject the idea that He might want them to do something. People learn by doing, and God knows this, ergo, if man refuses to obey God in his life, he can't come to an understanding of what God is doing in his life, and therefore builds no character. He is, therefore, THWARTING THE VERY PURPOSE FOR HIS EXISTENCE.

Sometimes full understanding of why God wants us to do a certain thing doesn't come until we actually do it. Therefore, to carelessly trod underfoot God's Law is thwarting God's purpose for our existence, and making a mockery of the sacrifice of Christ.

In this end time, just before the second coming of Christ, God has RESTORED GREAT TRUTHS TO HIS CHURCH. The Church that Jesus built has been in existence since the Day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. But, almost throughout this time, the Church has been small, scattered, and persecuted. Sometimes the true Christians had to hide so much from public view that they left no traces. But, Christ said that they would always be there.

"But, you might be asking, "do you mean to tell me that all of these big churches are wrong?

Let me ask you something. Don't you think that the true

Church of God would be DOING WHAT CHRIST AND THE EARLY APOSTLES DID? Don't you think they would be PREACHING THE SAME GOSPEL JESUS TAUGHT? If you answer yes to both of these questions, most of present day Christianity can be eliminated.

First of all, as we saw earlier in this book, the Sabbath was established at creation. This was the Day of Rest that God established for man. He made it Holy by putting in that DAY His presence. No other day of the week can be Holy, because there is no other Day that He blessed. The Sabbath was repeated in the Ten Commandments, BUT IT HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE CREATION. The Sabbath is a memorial of creation, and, as such, IT POINTS THE WAY TO THE CREATOR GOD. Thus, it is a sign between man and God. It identifies God to man, and God's people to God.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not

just go around establishing something just to UNDO IT LATER. The problem Christ had with the Pharisees of His day was not with the Sabbath at all -- it was with all of the dos and don'ts that MAN

HAD PUT ON THE SABBATH, MAKING IT A BURDEN TO KEEP. When man's

regulations and customs were stripped away, the Sabbath once more became a delight, rather than a burden.

Many of God's people today have fallen into a trap like that of the Pharisees. They concern themselves with what they CAN'T DO, rather than with WHAT THEY SHOULD DO. Cant’s create all kinds of rules and regulations, degenerating into a PHYSICAL RELIGION. We should focus, instead, on WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE US DO ON HIS DAY.

God wants us to assemble ourselves together on His Day for instruction, just as He commanded the ancient Israelites. This is so that He might instruct us through His ministry, giving us the necessary spiritual food we need. He also wants us to draw close to Him in personal prayer and Bible study. Also, since the Sabbath is a memorial of creation, it would not be wrong to appreciate His creation on Sabbath, though the things mentioned above should come first, of course.

By filling one's mind with what one SHOULD BE DOING on the Sabbath, there is virtually NO NEED FOR INSTITUTING PETTY DOS AND DON'TS. The Law of God is POSITIVE, not negative. The Ten Commandments were given in negative form because they were given to a carnal people who couldn't understand the Spirit of the Law, but converted Christians should be able to apply the Commandments positively in one's life. We will discuss more about the sacrifice of Christ and its application in our lives later.

The Sabbath is just one example of what God's true people and His true Church would want to do. There are many other examples. Christ said one would know His disciples (students -- meaning His people) because they would love one another. True Christian love and fellowship is a hallmark of Christianity.

The true church of God will be preaching the Gospel of the

Kingdom of God, just as Christ did. This shall be discussed later in this book, as well, when we discuss the life, work, and ministry of Christ.

So far, with what we have discussed, most churches are eliminated. There is room for variations on some of the details of Christianity within the general Biblical framework. In fact, in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, SEVEN CHURCHES are discussed. These are each part of the Body of Christ, BUT EACH HAS ITS OWN MESSAGE, PROBLEMS, STRENGTHS, AND WEAKNESSES.

Many in history have gotten the idea that these seven churches somehow comprise seven successive church eras throughout history. This may to some extent be true, because three of the churches discussed, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, do not mention directly the return of Christ in the message given to them. It would therefore appear that these three churches had disappeared before modern times. However, four churches have a direct reference to the return of Christ written into their messages: Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. I will not discuss this subject in detail here because it is very complex (and somewhat speculative), but suffice it to say that it looks like there are four churches at the end of the age that fit within the definition of the Body of Christ. It says in the Bible that Christ's Body is not divided. And this is true, because the church is a spiritual ORGANISM, not a carnal organization of men with artificial barriers and divisions. In fact, these four so called churches could merely be four broad approaches, within which could be many different organizations of men, but all qualifying as being part of the Body of Christ because they have the basics correct. In fact, it is entirely possible that a church could have almost all of the doctrines correct from the Bible, but still be spiritually "dead because they do not have the love of God as their driving force, but instead are looking to Pharisaical works to save them more than their real Savior, Jesus Christ.

Indeed, there is one branch of the church today that is dangerously "off the track because of first extreme Phariseeism followed by a libertine lack of care in the application of scripture correctly, as well as a perversion of the Gospel message.

As I started to say earlier, God used a great end time servant, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, to restore many of the truths the church had lost down through history. However, contrary to his categorization of the church he cam out of as a "dead work , that organization has clung tenaciously to the truth that they do have, and has continued to grow to this present day. Far from being dead, they are still, in their own way, a living part of the Body of Christ.

However, at the same time God was using Mr. Armstrong to restore once lost truth to His church, He also allowed Mr. Armstrong to make mistakes, like any other human being. Only God is perfect and infallible, while humans are weak and prone to make mistakes. I only wish that the church Mr. Armstrong founded would abandon one of the greatest false doctrines of all ages, and thus be able to look at the truth of God without the blinders of the heinous apostacy that created the greatest apostate church of all times!

The organization that sprang from the early church quickly

changed to a different kind of church from the one the apostles founded. Within a very short time, this false gospel, along with the false doctrine I will soon discuss, had supplanted the true Gospel, becoming a gospel of men about the person of Christ, mouthing sayings of love, instead of the Gospel that Christ died bringing to this earth. He was martyred for proclaiming the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God, as were most of the original apostles. As the gospel of men about Christ gained ascendancy, along with permissive lawlessness, the true Christians were forced underground. Finally, by the time of Emperor Constantine, the apostacy was in complete control, and true Christians were accused of Judaizing, and declared anathema from Christ, which was tantamount to a death sentence. The two pivotal issues at this time were the Passover/Easter controversy and the Sabbath/Sunday controversy. These are also two of the pivotal issues, along with the true Gospel, that differentiate those who follow the example of Christ and the apostles from those who follow men and human tradition. One is true, the other is false.

It is indeed ironic that the very man God used to restore much truth to God's church in this century should fall into the same doctrinal error that gave rise to the great apostate church and its daughters. Perhaps this is a test from God, to see which people are truly being led by the Spirit of God, and which are being led by men.

I am discussing this doctrine now, because many Old Testament passages are used to "prove what form the organization, or government within the Church should take. Many of the Old Testament scriptures so used are twisted and MISAPPLIED. One of the pivotal incidents happens right at Mt. Sinai in the wilderness, which is why we are going to discuss this issue now rather than later.

The false doctrine I am referring to is the Primacy of Peter doctrine. This doctrine simply states that Christ established His Church, putting Peter in charge as the chief apostle. All other apostles, ministers, and members are, according to this doctrine, obliged to do what this "Peter tells them to do. Everyone is to do what the one above them tells them to do, without question. Even if the one above them is wrong, according to this doctrine, the person will be blessed anyway for following goyernment and authority, which is really the Government of God on this earth. Further, the Church, since it is the only place where God's Government functions today, is, in fact, either the Kingdom of God in totality or embryo. Rebellion against this government is, therefore, rebellion against God. Since God is testing us, to see if we can follow His Government for all eternity, we must follow it now where it leads or be lost forever.

That is a brief summation of this heinous doctrine. Let us look, now, at the fruits borne by this doctrine. This doctrine has allowed a man, in the person of the Pope, to declare himself infallible. This has allowed several churches to, in effect, call themselves infallible. Using this reasoning, the Roman Catholic Church OPENLY ADMITS that IT, NOT THE BIBLE, is the source of authority for the change of the Sabbath to Sunday, and of the elimination of the New Testament Passover that Christ established and the substitution of Easter, which the Bible does

not command. In fact, the Catholic Church states that its traditions, along with the pronouncements of the Pope, hold equal weight with the Bible. THIS DOCTRINE HAS CHANGED WHAT WAS ONCE A CHURCH OF GOD INTO A GREAT APOSTATE CHURCH, AND THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING TODAY TO THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, BECAUSE THIS DOCTRINE IS SO EVIL. SO SATANIC. AND SO SUBTLE THAT IT WARPS. TWISTS. AND PERVERTS EVERY CHURCH THAT ACCEPTS IT. CHANGING IT INTO AN ORGANIZATION OF MEN. RATHER THAN THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM OF CHRIST'S BODY!

Many in the Worldwide Church of God will not believe that the above is true, but I am going to give a few quotes from the church's founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. And it should be noted that despite all of the current changes and "liberalizations, the church has not renounced THIS DOCTRINE! If it is like the Catholic Church, it never will, because once man is given such sweeping POWER, he becomes corrupted and cannot give it up, no matter what the costs -- and the costs are always dire indeed! This doctrine cuts off individual church members from a proper relationship with the Creator God, putting a man, or MEN, between them and God.

Here, then, are some quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong:

But, if you have proved this is, indeed, God's true Church for this present time, then you MUST BELIEVE that if and when I make a mistake, the LIVING CHRIST will correct me! Indeed HE HAS DONE SO! (Good News, April, 1979, "Personal, p. 23). Then, incredible as that may sound to someone from outside that church, Mr. Armstrong went on to say this on page 24: "If I make a mistake, it is CHRIST'S responsibility to set me straight! But DO YOU BELIEVE CHRIST IS STILL ALIVE AND WILL DO IT?

Now suppose a member thinks he or she has found error in our doctrines. How must you proceed? . . .Take it to your local minister or write to headquarters. What must a local pastor do? Send it to headquarters. If it is felt to be a valid truth, it will be brought to me personally, and the LIVING CHRIST will make it clear to my mind!

"I have said through the years, over the air and in print and before audiences, Don't believe me because I say it -- look in your own Bible and believe what you find there!'

"But I do not -- or, at least, SHOULD NOT HAVE ever said that to our own brethren!

I realize that the normal person, not ever associated with that church, will find the above hard to believe. But that is the infallibility doctrine as stated in the Worldwide Church of God. It is only one step from the above statements to saying that whatever pronouncement you make must be followed, WHETHER

THE BIBLE SAYS TO OR NOT. THIS IS ALSO THE UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT EXTANT IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH! This hideous doctrine DESTROYS EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES, GIVING HUMAN REASONING FULL REIGN, AND THE CHURCH LEADERS THE RIGHT TO ABUSE THEIR POWER WITHOUT RESTRAINT FROM THE BRETHREN. Christ said that His people were not to be rulers like the gentiles, and yet, a gentile style of government has been instituted.

The Roman Catholic Church used the Roman Government as their model for church government (stamping them as the image of the beast, as the Roman Government was the government of the Beast that then was). The Worldwide Church of God claims to model their church government after the New Testament, using the Primacy of Peter doctrine to say that there was one chief apostle then who made all of the rules, and so there is today. Unfortunately, they go even further and say THAT THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE APOSTLE TODAY -- THUS ELEVATING THEIR CHURCH LEADER TO A POSITION CLOSE

TO THAT OF BEING A POPE. THEY SIMPLY DON'T HAVE ALL THE POMP,
CIRCUMSTANCE, AND IDOLATRY SURROUNDING THAT OFFICE YET. UNLESS

THEY ABANDON THIS FALSE DOCTRINE, SUCH IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME, BECAUSE IT IS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE!

Even now, the Worldwide Church is telling people to be loyal to the church, follow the church leadership as it makes doctrinal changes, etc. They have even went so far to say that those who don't "understand the changes simply aren't being led by God's Spirit, or they would "see the new truth. Members are told that even if they don't see the new doctrines, they must humbly pray about it, asking for God to show them the truth (the implication is that the church leadership can't be wrong -- only members or other individuals can be wrong -- which raises the leadership to the level of infallibility. Those who do dare to openly question the changes, or those ministers who refuse to teach the changes, or who dare to speak on certain "forbidden subjects no longer accepted by the hierarchy, are disfellowshipped on the spot without question.

I know of one incident where a longtime minister, with over 25 years of loyal service to the church, called up the son of the apostle'' (even though his son has only been a full time minister since 1987 he was put in charge of all United States ministers, most having much more experience) and asked to resign from the ministry because he could not teach the new doctrines in good conscience. He said that he would like to simply become a lay member and would keep quiet. Rather than accept this long time servant's dignified exit, the "instant leader of the ministry, the son of the "instant apostle (I use the word "instant to denote those who take to themselves lofty titles or offices without first proving, by their fruits, whether they fit into that office; apostleship is an appointment of God, manifested by its fruits -- IT IS NOT SOME OFFICE THAT ONE MAN CAN APPOINT ANOTHER MAN TO, NO MATTER WHO THAT MAN IS!) disfellowshipped him instead. When his wife called back a few minutes later to protest this scandalous injustice, she was put out as well. From this recent example of only two months ago, it is quite clear that the one "sitting in Peter's seat intends to stay right there, and will brook no resistance.

Rather than follow men wherever they lead us, Paul tells us in I Thes. 5:21: "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. CKJVJ There is no direction here to follow church leaders NO MATTER WHAT. And the Bible most certainly doesn't tell us that there is one man who can make all doctrinal decisions facing your life. WE ARE TO EACH PROVE FROM THE BIBLE OURSELVES WHETHER SOMETHING BE SO.

Let's look, now, at the roots of this doctrine. The scripture that APPEARS to give this doctrine credibility is Mtt. 16:18-19: "And I say to you that you are Peter (translated from

the word petros, which means pebble], and on this [Christ probably first pointed to Peter when he said pebble, and to Himself when He says rock, because CHRIST WAS THE ROCK OF AGES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT! see Deut. 32:18; II Sam 22:2; Ps. 31:3; 94:22; Is. 17:10; I Cor. 10:4] and on this rock [the word here is petra, which means crag or cliff] I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades (the grave) shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

This "binding and loosing by "Peter is the basis that both churches use to justify a ministerial dictatorship. We shall soon see what Christ really meant by these words.

Turn now to a similar account in Mtt. 18:15-20. At first it won't seem to be the same, but the wording is almost identical by the time you get down to verse 18. Starting with verse 15:

"Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. [Here we have a personal dispute between two church brethren. The ideal situation is to resolve it between the two brothers, but, if it can't be settled this way, this passage shows how to go about solving the problem, with increasing degrees of resistance from the brother who is wronging the other.) And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church [right here the Worldwide Church of God makes another unbiblical blunder: the Greek word for "church is eklesia, which simply means a group, or assembly of people. When in the context of the church, it simply means, throughout the New Testament, the body of believers. This is unfortunate for those who hold the Petrine concept, because they must twist the word church, and make it mean "ministry. Such an application is nowhere found in the New Testament. In fact, careful reading of the Book of Acts will show that in most cases, ALL OF THE BRETHREN WERE ASSEMBLED IN ONE PLACE AND AT ONE TIME TO DISCUSS MAJOR CHANGES. EVERYONE WAS ALLOWED TO GIVE HIS INPUT, UNENCUMBERED BY FEAR OF RETRIBUTION. IN FACT, THERE IS EVEN ONE CASE WHERE PAUL OPENLY REBUKED PETER, THE SO CALLED CHIEF APOSTLE, FOR HYPOCRISY. UNLIKE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE WCG TODAY, PAUL WAS NOT DISFELLOWSHIPPED, ALONG WITH THE CHARACTER ASSASSINATION CAMPAIGN THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT. INSTEAD, PETER HUMBLY ADMITTED LATER THAT HE WAS WRONG.

Thus, it can be concluded that disputes between brethren of a very severe nature should somehow be handled by the church as a whole.]. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax collector (notice that Christ does not necessarily say to even put him out,'' or excommunicate him). Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (This is exactly the same "binding and loosing wording used in Mtt. 16, on which the Petrine doctrine rests. Based on an understanding of the proper context, then, this simply means that the church has the power to bind and loose a determination as to which brother is right, and which one is wrong in a personal dispute. This says nothing about fixing

doctrine in the church. Secondly, this also does not say anything about THE MINISTRY TAKING THIS DECISION ALONE, UNILATERALLY, as this passage talks about the church as a whole, with all of its members. This theory is further supported by the following verse.] Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (This final verse shows that this "ecclesia, or church, will be wherever two or three are gathered together in His name. This most certainly DOES NOT imply a gigantic hierarchical structure.)

In relation to this same point, about the church deciding personal disputes, Christ said in Jn. 20:23: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. The Greek word translated sin means merely "falling short of the mark. Therefore, in translating anything into English, we have to hope that the translators understand what is meant. In this case, they probably should have used the word "transgression, which is a sin against one's brother. This certainly does not mean that the church has the right to retain and forgive spiritual sins, as that is only God's perogat j ye.

In Acts 15:7 we see Peter rising up to give his argument in a dispute over doctrine. Then, we have James giving what appears to be the final judgment (read verses 13-22). This and a few other scriptures from the New Testament are the only clues given as to the kind of church government we should have. It looks as though God gives us, the church, broad discretion in this matter, JUST AS LONG AS WE DON'T GO INTO THE HERESY OF THE PETRINE DOCTRINE.

This whole issue may seem very small to many, even some of those suffering under an oppressive church government. But this issue is very important, because without a proper understanding of this issue, we can't have any proper idea of how the Kingdom of God will function. An understanding of God's way of governing His creations will give us an insight in how to build Godly character. This problem of controlling personalities is not new. God has encountered it throughout history.

If you will remember our discussion of how God dealt with the first man and woman, you will recall that God always intended to deal directly with man. It was man who cut himself off from God, not the other way around.

If you will remember what happened at Mt. Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given, you will remember that God wanted to speak directly to the people, but they were too afraid. They told Moses to have God speak to him, and then they would listen to him. God grants man his wish in such situations. He will never force man in this age to have unwanted contact with Him.

Israel in the wilderness is called "the church in the wilderness. (Acts 7:38] Therefore, many of the things that happened to them are for OUR INSTRUCTION. However, it must ALWAYS be remembered that this was a physical nation only. They were not offered salvation. God is Holy. Carnal man is unholy. The two do not mix. For this reason, then, God set up a priesthood under Aaron, with the Levites performing functions of the Taber- 33

nacle. Only the High Priest could go into the Holy of hoIies to meet God -- and then ONLY ONCE PER YEAR ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. We in God's New Testament church are ALL PART OF GOD'S PRIESTHOOD, AND HAVE ACCESS TO GOD'S THRONE EVERY DAY! We can enter the Holy of holies any time because the veil of the Temple was torn at the time of Christ's death. It is important to bear in mind THESE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES when one looks at some of the things that happened to these people because we could otherwise be drawn to some hasty conclusions. WHEREAS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT THERE WAS A RIGID PRIESTLY HIERARCHY WITH CLOSELY DEFINED DUTIES, THAT IS NOT THE CASE TODAY. God's New Testament church is not like this "church in the wilderness because we, unlike those people, have DIRECT ACCESS TO GOD! It must be remembered, though, that this separation between man and God was MAN'S DOING, NOT GOD'S. Man had separated himself from God, so God was honoring man's original request through Adam, the founder of this present evil world. Many of the things instituted under Moses, then, was simply a way for the Holy God to deal with an unholy, carnal people SEPARATED FROM GOD. It must be remembered that those people WERE NOT THEN CALLED TO SALVATION.

Those who espouse the Petrine doctrine seize on the Old Testament examples of Moses and the priesthood to justify their rigid, hierarchical structure -- but these models are not appropriate for today, as we shall soon see.

One of the first incidents given by the Petrine advocates to support their position is the situation where Miriam and Aaron, Moses' brother and sister, chastised him for marrying an Ethiopian woman (someone outside his race, which was forbidden in Old Testament times). The account of this fills the entire twelfth chapter of Numbers.

There were two things that Aaron and Miriam did wrong: 1. they spoke against Moses concerning this matter -- they JUDGED HIM, and 2. they were presumptious by saying "Has the Eternal indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also. (vs. 2]

Let's first deal with issue number one. God considers judging others to be a very serious offense. The only reason people judge another is because they have a smug feeling of spiritual superiority very common among pharisees and hypocrites. Judging another person reeks of the most disgusting human VANITY, and God HATES VANITY, because that leads to pride, and we have seen earlier what the end result of that it. This feeling of spiritual superiority and SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS blinds the person so afflicted from SEEING THEMSELVES AS THEY REALLY ARE. No matter how "good we might think ourselves to be, if we stop comparing ourselves to others and compare ourselves only to Christ, as we should, then the bubble of human pride and vanity is burst, and we see just how wretched we are compared to the divine standard.

To get a crystal clear picture of this, let's read what Christ Himself said about this behavior: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye....Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye. (Mtt. 7:1-3,5]

We would do well to remember this passage every time we are tempted to open our mouths and criticize others. We should first look at SELF compared to God before we dare to say a word. And, if we do open our mouth, then we should also remember that the same standard ( measure " ) that we use on others will be used on us as well.

Paul gives an even stronger rebuke in Romans 14:4: "Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

No matter what sin we may think we see in another, it is none of our business. We as individuals are responsible ONLY TO GOD, NOT TO SOME MAN, OR GROUP OF MEN, as certain religious hypocrites would have us believe. Those who judge another because they think they are a "dirty rotten sinner had better watch out for their own selves! They have no idea HOW FAR THAT PERSON HAS ALREADY COME IN GOD'S EYES -- ONLY HE KNOWS IF THEY ARE OVERCOMING, NOT MEN. This self righteous hypocritical vanity is exactly what Miriam and Aaron were guilty of in this incident. They had the gall to judge the servant of God, and therefore they judged GOD! The same thing that happened to them WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO MOSES WERE HE GUILTY OF THE SAME PRESUMPTUOUS, JUDGMENTAL BEHAVIOR! God STRICTLY FORBIDS US TO JUDGE HIS SERVANTS, WHICH ARE HIS PEOPLE.

Miriam and Aaron were also great servants of God. They were RIGHT in that Moses had broken the law against interracial marriage, BUT THEY WERE DEAD WRONG in chastising him for it. If God could accept his wife, and him, then WHO WERE THEY TO DO ANY DIFFERENTLY?

The second way in which Miriam and Aaron were wrong was that they questioned the authenticity of what Moses said God told him to say. Moses had a special relationship with God. God had originally wanted to communicate with the people directly, but, AT THE REQUEST OF THE PEOPLE, God spoke almost EXCLUSIVELY to Moses at this time. In verses 6-8 of Numbers 12, God mentions the manner in which he communicates with other prophets: in a vision or a dream, usually, but, GOD SPOKE WITH MOSES FACE TO FACE. So, God was telling them that He spoke plainly with Moses, so it was presumptuous of them to claim to have the same contact with God when they knew that they DID NOT.

Let me explain something right here. Moses was given both civil and religious authority over these people. Both authorities had been given by God -- HOWEVER, IT WAS ONLY IN THE CIVIL AREA THAT GOD HAD GIVEN HIM THE POWER TO USE HIS OWN DISCRETION!

In Exodus 18, starting with verse 18, Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, gives advice to Moses on how to handle the civil governance of Israel. Apparently God had not Himself given directions in this area, BUT LEFT IT UP TO MOSES TO DECIDE HOW TO GOVERN THE CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL! At first, Moses decided all of the civil matters ("disputes among brethren, as Matthew 18 renders it) himself. But, unfortunately, there were so many problems to be decided that there were long lines waiting for an audience with Moses. Jethro pointed out that this procedure was wearing both him and the people out.

He then gave his suggestion to set over the people captains of 1,000, captains of 100, captains of 50, and captains of 10. Cases were to be decided at these various levels, depending on the complexity, and only the MOST DIFFICULT CASES WERE TO REACH MOSES. This seemed good to Moses, so he implemented the plan.

Some church leaders look at this example, and they go to far with it. THEY FAIL TO NOTICE THAT THIS WHOLE SYSTEM WAS SET UP AT THE SUGGESTION OF ONE MAN, JETHRO, WHO TALKED ANOTHER MAN,

MOSES, INTO ACCEPTING IT. GOD SIMPLY ALLOWED THEM TO DO IT, BECAUSE HE DOES NOT LEGISLATE DURING THIS TIME HOW MEN WILL

GOVERN THEMSELVES CIVIL.

As far as the religious duties, God Himself established a flawed system because the people were flawed -- they were carnal, unconverted people with whom God did not intend to have direct contact. However, when we reach the New Testament, we are under a new dispensation, and things are put back closer to what God had intended from the beginning. But, one must note THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT GIVES HINTS ONLY AS TO HOW GOD'S CHURCH IS TO BE STRUCTURED. Since God is not personally leading anyone like He did Moses, or some of the early apostles, the civil administration of the church is in our discretion, JUST AS THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF ISRAEL WAS IN MOSES' DISCRETION. God simply cautions us that we should be wise in how we set things up. Jethro gave Moses wise counsel then, so we should think long and hard about what we do now.

As far as theological, or religious matters, this is something God reserves for Himself. He is not currently speaking through any prophets, but is speaking through His Word in print, the Bible. We are cautioned to neither add to nor subtract from that Word. Therefore, if we cannot prove anything out of the Bible, we should not say anything about an issue. Pharisees develop elaborate extrapolations from the Bible, creating a burdensome yoke for the people that God condemns. We should think twice before attempting to make up doctrines that can't be proven from the Bible, BECAUSE SUCH DOCTRINES ARE ALMOST ALWAYS PROVEN FALSE.

As we shall see later in our discussion of the New Testament church, the function of the ministry is evangelical and consulta- tory to God's people. They are NOT APPOINTED AS POLICEMEN, but as HELPERS, guiding the people under their charge with love in the right direction of life. Whether people listen is a matter between them and God alone. Ministers are not appointed OVER PEOPLE IN SOME VAST HIERARCHY -- rather, like Christ, they are the humble servants of all. There have been those throughout history who have abused some so called authority that they thought they had over people. Using the Primacy of Peter heresy, they have justified bossing people around, bullying them, and threatening them with DAMNATION IF THEY DID NOT OBEY EVEN THE SMALLEST SUGGESTION FROM THE MINISTRY. This is how GENTILE RULERS RULE -- NOT HOW CHRIST OR HIS MINISTRY RULES! We will return to this subject shortly, after blowing the remaining underpinnings from underneath the heinous Petrine doctrine.

I would like you to now pause for a few minutes and read Numbers 16 and 17. We will see the same type of thing repeated as happened when Aaron and Miriam confronted Moses in chapter 12.16

In chapter 16, Korah and 250 leaders of the congregation (no doubt these were many of the captains that Moses had earlier appointed over civil matters only) came to Moses and accused him of "lording it over them. In another passage later on, after God's judgment came down on Korah, they accused Moses of setting himself up as a "prince over them. They further went on to claim that the entire congregation of Israel was holy. Further, they claimed that God could speak to them just as much as He spoke to Moses.

One of the accusations was the same raised by Miriam and Aaron, namely, that God spoke equally and dealt equally with all His "holy people. As discussed earlier, this simply was not the case. Not one line of the Bible had yet been written. Moses was used to write the first five books of the Bible. Unlike most other prophets and servants of God, God spoke face to face with Moses, instead of in a dream. As we learned earlier in this book, this member of the Godhead that spoke to Moses was the Word, Logos, or Spokesman of the God Family. The Word is THE VERY WORD OF GOD, and He was giving His instructions DIRECTLY, PERSONALLY, TO MOSES. It must also be remembered that it was the people who had made the request that God not speak directly to them, as He had done at Mt. Sinai, but that He speak through Moses. This meant that the people asked for SEPARATION FROM GOD, WHICH HE GRANTED. Therefore, it shows lack of memory and presumption to accuse Moses of TAKING THINGS UPON HIMSELF WHEN IT WAS AT THE PEOPLE'S REQUEST FIRST, AND GOD SIMPLY GRANTED THEM THEIR WISH! It must also be remembered that Israel WAS NOT A HOLY NATION, OR PEOPLE -- but simply a carnal nation God was working with to forward His purpose or plan.

From this analysis, we can see that Korah's assertions were false for at least the two reasons sighted above. God had called Moses and spoke with him face to face. Therefore, for Korah and these other CIVIL LEADERS of Israel to elevate themselves to a spiritual plane of having direct contact with God like Moses had is ridiculous and untrue. They should have known better, as Moses was the one who went up on Mt. Sinai to commune with God. Also, after the people turned down direct contact with God, at their request, God set up a system of priests and Levites to represent the people before God. Korah was a Levite, but this status WAS NOT A PRIESTLY FUNCTION. This rigid caste system was established by God for the duration of His dealing with the carnal nation Israel. It must be noted, though, that the New Testament re-established the High Priesthood of Melchizadeck, and, with the renting of the Temple veil from top to bottom, gave Christians DIRECT ACCESS TO GOD AS A NATION OF PRIESTS [I Pet. 2:5,9: we as Christians ARE A HOLY NATION, Korah's claim to the same status WAS UNTRUEJ. This was not so in the Old Testament, where God dealt directly with only a few.

It is, therefore, incorrect for some to draw too many analogies between the Old Testament Priesthood and the New Testament Church administration. It is like comparing the proverbial apples and oranges. MANY OF THE EXAMPLES CITED TO JUSTIFY A RIGID, PRIESTLIKE STRUCTURE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, AS WELL AS COMPARING A CHURCH LEADER TO MOSES, ARE MOSTLY INAPPROPRIATE ATTEMPTS TO SUPPORT A DICTATORSHIP UNDER A PRIMACY

OF PETER DOCTRINE.

Korah and the elders of Israel with him also judged Moses as having impure motives, by saying that he was making himself out to be a prince over them. We have already discussed what God thinks about one person judging another.

One other example that the Petrine apologists use to "keep people in their place is the example of Uzzah in II Sam. 6:6-7. And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Eternal was roused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error (margin says irreverence, there is also an indication that there might have been some carelessness involved here, such as perhaps letting the oxen go to fast; finally, the regulations concerning the ark mention the ark being carried on POLES by four MEN, not on a cart by an ox, so this might be a situation where Llzzah was not following directions in two respects: both concerning the mode of transport AND the fact that it was not to be touchedJ; and he died there by the ark of God.

Some Petrine apologists claim that this is saying God struck Uzzah because he was not the designated person to transport the ark, for which there is no evidence. Some try to claim that the fact that God struck Uzzah shows that we should not put forth our hand against God's government on earth today, namely, His Church, and that for a lay member, for example, to do the job of a minister would be inappropriate, or for a minister to do the job of an evangelist, etc., because God would not be pleased that they weren't "staying in their place just like Uzzah didn't stay in his place here. Some claim that a certain minister who has been disfellowshiPPed from "God's church is acting in the role of Uzzah, trying to keep the church, symbolized by the ark, from falling to the ground or into a ditch of error. Such assertions have no basis in fact, and are wild extrapolations on this story as sighted above. This event was simply a matter of carelessness and irreverence for the holy things of God. As stated above, the people were not to come into contact with holy things then, because they themselves were not holy, or set apart by God. One could not touch the ark for the same reason that an Israelite could not set foot on Mt. Sinai -- because God was there right therv. The ark symbolized and represented a "portable throne of God on earth. It was therefore holy, and the "unholy could not come into contact with the holy. As cited above from II Pet., the entire New Testament church is a holy nation and a holy priesthood. Therefore, these examples, where the unholy comes into contact with the holy with deadly results, do not apply.

As far as using the Old Testament to try and say that the New Testament church "has to be so patterned after the Old Testament pattern, there has also been much misunderstanding in this area, too. Some have pointed to the kingship of Israel as an ideal government example, trying to put their "apostle on the level of a king. Such reasoning is also faulty. First, it must be pointed out THAT THE KINGSHIP OF ISRAEL WAS NOT THE WAY GOD INTENDED TO ORGANIZE THE GOVERNMENT OF HIS PEOPLE, THUS, TO USE THIS ANALOGY TO JUSTIFY MODERN DAY ACTIVITIES IS ALSO FAULTY.

As the nation started out, GOD, NOT SOME MAN, was their

King. If one wants to look at God's government in operation on earth, it would make more sense to look at the JUDGES RATHER THAN THE KINGS. God sent a series of judges to get His people back on the track. As soon as the judge died, though, the carnal nation Israel vent back into paganism again. This went on and on over hundreds of years.

There was much chaos involved in this system, because the judges apparently exercised very little civil authority. This would fit in with God's concept of free moral agency, though, where He gives us the CHOICE OF RIGHT OR WRONG, BUT WE MUST CHOOSE, AND LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES. Carnal Israel handled this freedom very badly, though, as would any people without the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. I think that this is the point God was trying to make. As a summary to the Book of Judges, it simply says: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25] Converted people have a hard enough time keeping themselves under control, with carnal people a huge problem can result.

However, instead of seeking God, asking Him for His solution to the problem, and for His Divine help in implementing the solution, carnal Israel came to the wrong solution from the wrong source. Rather than looking to THEIR KING IN HEAVEN, they looked to the nations around them, and saw that they had HUMAN KINGS who kept things in order. They thought this would be a nice change from having this faraway God as King. One couldn't even see Him, anyway. At least you could see a human king. He would be something tangible, something real.

Samuel, the last of the judges, was very upset at this demand of the people. He thought the people were insulting him personally, as well as God. Let's see some of Samuel's words concerning this event. Please note that at every turn, the nation Israel got further away from what God wanted, yet He still let them have their way, and carried out His plan with this new twist downward in mind. God's purpose will not fail. He can take whatever curves humanity throws, and make them come out His way in the end. The only thing is that it would be better for man to go God's way in the beginning.

"Now Samuel said to Israel: Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you... .Witness against me before the Eternal and before his anointed (Saul had just been anointed king]: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes [the wicked sons of Eli had taken bribes]? I will restore it to you.

" And when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, when the Eternal YOUR GOD WAS YOUR KING.

"Then Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. YOU HAVE DONE ALL THIS WICKEDNESS (the setting up of the KINGSHIP IN ISRAEL IS CALLED BY GOD WICKEDNESS!] yet do not turn aside from following the Eternal, but serve the Eternal with all your heart.' (I Sam. 12:1,3,12,20]

Since the judges were God's inspired form of rule, and since the judges ruled with a "light hand, giving the people maximum freedom to exercise their free moral agency, then if we are to look to any part of the Old Testament for a pattern for church government today, wouldn't it make sense to look to the judges rather than the "wicked kingly dynasty? It seems that for those looking for any excuse to lord it over people, they will go to any lengths to twist, wrest, and misapply God's Word.

Looking at the record of the kingship, it was even worse, spiritually, than the record of the judges. While it is true that in between judges Israel slid into idolatry, at least most of the judges were true to God, pointing the people towards His ways while they were alive. It was not so with the kingly dynasty. The very first king, Saul, went bad. That was followed by the righteous David, but then Solomon his son had a long period of straying from God. After Solomon, the kingdom was split into the northern ten tribes of Israel, and the southern tribe of Judah. NOT ONE OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL FOLLOWED GOD, and only a very FEW of the kings of Judah did! So, from Gods s point of view, the record of the kings was spiritually much worse than the period of the judges. This shows the truth of the old saying that "absolute power corrupts absolutely. With very few exceptions, whether it be in an earthly kingdom, or IN A CHURCH, this saying proves true. As a pattern for church government, then, the kingdom of Israel certainly is not the right pattern.

Now that we have seen WHAT GOD'S WILL IS NOT, let's turn to the New Testament for guidance. Unfortunately, the evidence for what God intends is very sparse in this respect, leading one to the conclusion that BY AND LARGE GOD LEAVES IT UP TO THOSE IN HIS CHURCH -- THE MEMBERS -- TO DECIDE BY AND LARGE HOW THE BUSINESS OF THE CHURCH IS TO BE HANDLED. We are, though, supposed to be WISE in how we set this up, for it is the VERY WORK OF GOD, and not a matter to be taken lightly.

Matthew 27:51 shows the veil of the Temple being rent from top to bottom, showing that a new age, the church age, has begun in which the rules are changed: God is ready to deal directly with individuals once again, and the door to salvation is now open to those He is calling now.

God does not expect His people to be on "power trips and to lord it over each other. The disciples got into occasional disputes into who was greatest among them, and Christ did not approve of such discussions. He tried every time this happened to drive home the point that he that is greatest should be the servant of all: "But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.~~~ (Mtt. 20:25-28]

How different this idea of service -- even to the point of becoming a SLAVE OF OTHERS -- is from so many churches today. Sad to say, even a church that in many ways can qualify as a church of God can fail on this point. My own personal experience in a church that claims to be God's church today, and presumes to think of themselves as the "only ones shows how we must forever

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keep these words of Christ in mind. A New Testament minister, if he is anything, IS THE SERVANT AND SLAVE OF HIS PEOPLE. Servant does not mean to RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, EX'COMMUNICATING PEOPLE FOR JUST DISAGREEING WITH YOU -- ESPECIALLY WHEN HE CAN'T POINT TO THE PLACE IN THE BIBLE FROM WHERE HE GETS HIS SO CALLED COMMAND OF GOD.

I had one experience where I handed a written Bible study to a minister of this church. In actuality, this Bible study was on some of the same verses from Matthew 18 quoted earlier showing what one brother should do if he had a dispute with another. People in this church are used to running to the minister immediately when they have a problem with someone else, rather than following CHRIST'S PROCEDURE. I was simply appealing for him, as a pastor in God's church, to address this subject from the pulpit, or show me where I was wrong. He read the article, and then said to me some of the most ASININE THINGS I HAVE EVER HEARD.

Rather than addressing the clear Biblical issues, he simply told me that I had no business even suggesting that he do something, or that maybe my article should be considered for publication by the church. He told me that I had no right to do anything like this, and that to do "write ups like this was "dangerous because I, in my low position, could not possibly have the right perspective.

He then further commented that studying the Bible without the church's literature at hand was also dangerous, because even the Bible could lead people astray. He told me that God had appointed the men in the editorial department to guide the church in the way it should go. He said if I stuck to that I would be fine. He went on further to state that if God wanted me to do any writing, He would have put me in the church's editorial department. He had not, so I should just run along and mind my own business. End of interview.

I realized at the time the stupidity, narrow mindedness, and assininity of these statements, but I believed at that time, as Herbert Armstrong had wrongly taught from the Petrine doctrine, that I would be blessed by God for just shutting up and accepting these flagrantly wrong statements. The doctrine assures that our main test on earth today is whether WE SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY. As I have now come to see, this is totally wrong, and this should have waked me up to this false doctrine then, but it was not God's time.

This doctrine sounds so righteous, saying that God's people should be meek and humble like lambs and simply accept what their leaders tell them today -- unfortunately, this approach is TOTALLY UNBIBLICAL, AND LED TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. IT IS LEADING THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH INTO GRIEVOUS ERRORS RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, AND ONLY THE REJECTION OF THIS SATANIC DOCTRINE CAN BRING GOD'S PEOPLE BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DESTRUCTION. The Bible warns us, as we shall soon see, that we are EACH INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CHECKING ON WHAT THE LEADERSHIP TELLS US. If it is true according to the Word of God, we accept it. If it is false, we must r~ject it. We EACH STAND AND FALL BEFORE GOD INDIVIDUALLY. Obeying some government is not the test of this human life -- in

fact, UNQUESTIONING OBEDIENCE TO THOSE "OVER US IS EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE TO LEARN. We are learn to follow GOD, NO MATTER WHAT.

Acts 5:29 tells us to "obey God rather than men. Romans 3:4 says to "let God be true, and every man a liar. Thus, when we see men going astray from God's truth once delivered, even if it has been a church God has used for many years, and when this sin is continual and willful, twisting, wresting, and distorting scripture to come out to say what some MAN or men want it to say, then we must take note and follow God rather than man. We must withdraw from such men and their organizations so as not to let them pervert our minds with their false reasonings, and then let God work through us to do as He wills.

It seems like every time God does things through a human organization, that organization eventually goes astray. If it goes far enough astray, God must abandon it and raise up another organization to do His will. GOD'S WORD -- GOD'S GOSPEL MESSAGE

-- WILL BE PROCLAIMED NO MATTER WHAT MAN DOES. EVEN IF HE HAS TO START OVER AND REBUILD HIS CHURCH FROM SCRATCH, THAT IS WHAT HE WILL DO.

This book is actually a brief synopsis of the Bible. It hits the highlights of what He wants to say to man today, revealing His plan for mankind, and the ultimate destiny of man. As

such, THIS IS THE SAME GOSPEL MESSAGE THAT JESUS BROUGHT SO LONG AGO.

God inspired this gospel message to be summarized in a book by Herbert Armstrong, The Incredible Human Potential. In the last years of his life, Herbert Armstrong proclaimed THIS SAME MESSAGE ALMOST EVERY TIME HE GOT UP TO SPEAK TO THE CHURCH. HE SAID WE WEREN'T GETTING IT -- AND WE WEREN'T. IN FACT, HE HIMSELF, BECAUSE OF PERSONAL PROBLEMS THAT LED HIM INTO THE PRIMACY OF PETER FALSE DOCTRINE, DID NOT HIMSELF TOTALLY "GET IT.

Because of his false concept of government, and his emphasis on that concept, he was blinded from seeing what the character building process is REALLY ALL ABOUT. We are being shaped and molded by God so that, like Him, if we were left to our own devices, with no restraint whatsoever, WE WOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE THE RIGHT WAY OF LIFE -- NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE TO, BUT BECAUSE WE WANT

TO! He also wants us to understand that His way of give is the

ONLY WAY IN THE UNIVERSE THAT WORKS.

Naturally, there is no human alive who could ever measure up to this standard, but God wants His way so ingrained in us that when we are changed into immortal spirit GOD BEINGS, we WILL FOLLOW THE RIGHT WAY OF LIFE ONCE WE HAVE THE STRENGTH.

Part of this way of give is to understand that he who would be greatest must be the SLAVE OF ALL, and not to LORD IT OVER, USURPING TO ONE'S SELF THE POWER, AUTHORITY, AND PREROGATIVES RESERVED ONLY TO GOD ALMIGHTY! On this measurement, among others, the Worldwide Church falls grossly short of what God would have us be.

This is, I am certain, the point that God was trying to make to His servant. God overlooked the personal and doctrinal problems of Mr. Armstrong for years because he was at least proclaiming the gospel message to the world. But, finally, when he failed to grasp this point after over four years of study and two books on the subject, God evidently decided it was time to start with someone else.

Unfortunately, while Mr. Armstrong's successor relaxed many of the oppressive practices of the church, and preached the much needed message to them of Christian love so lacking in that organization, he went into the ditch of spiritualizing away many Biblical principles plainly outlined in the pages of the Bible. He become deceived, thinking that one needed some kind of Bible scholar, filled with the world's false educational ideas, practices, and vanity, to discover Biblical truth. He allowed this scholar to twist the plain meaning of certain scriptures, wrest- ing them through human reasoning into a shape God never intended, with a meaning 180 degrees from what God intended them to say.

This was not bad enough, though. The church has failed to abandon the Petrine doctrine, using it instead to banish true Christians from the church, ruling over the people like an oppressive gentile prince. Longtime church members have been thrown out for the "sin of refusing to aposticize God's truth, when the so called "new understanding could not be demonstrated from the Bible. This reminds one of the behavior of Diotrephes in III Jn. 9-12. He "loved to have the preeminence, or ruler- ship over the church. He threw church members out for holding fast to what the apostle John told them to do. He even stopped John's letters from reaching the church. The true Christians in that church were forced to meet in another member's home. John promised to come and straighten this mess out in person, despite his advanced age. As to whether this actually happened, we don't know for sure.

But, it must be noted that the true Christians were THROWN OUT OF THE CHURCH, forced to form a NEW ORGANIZATION because the apostate minister had USURPED AUTHORITY NEVER GIVEN HIM BY GOD, SAYING THAT HE ALONE SET DOCTRINE, AND THAT IF SOMEONE DIDN'T LIKE IT, THEY COULD LEAVE, AND, FURTHER, THAT IF THEY DIDN'T LEAVE, 1±~. WOULD THROW THEM OUT! How familiar this sad story sounds to me today, after having went through just this experience!

God allowed Herbert Armstrong to go very far in laying the foundation of His restored truth. He allowed him to proclaim the Gospel Message to the world as a witness for many long years FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE APOSTLES! But, the restoration of God's knowledge was NOT YET COMPLETE. God had MUCH MORE TO SHOW, MUCH MORE TO DO! But, before he could go any further, God had to make sure that this FALSE CONCEPT OF GOVERNMENT WAS ELIMINATED. This false concept was dangerous because it turned people into obedient, mindless robots -- SOMETHING MR. ARMSTRONG HAD HIMSELF SAID GOD WAS NOT DOING.

I listened to Mr. Armstrong's sermons in person over a period of about five years. In fact, I was privileged to hear the very last sermon he gave, which was on the Day of Atonement, 1985. Even though sick and weak, Mr. Armstrong felt that it was HIS DUTY TO PERSONALLY TEACH GOD'S PEOPLE AS MUCH AS HE WAS ABLE.

And indeed, that was true. But, he just simply would not throw out this Primacy of Peter doctrine. I believe it was more of blindness than defiant disregard for God's wishes. But, for whatever reason, with this baggage of this false doctrine, God could not let things go on. The church still refuses to admit this grievous error, or to see that it is almost totally devoid of the Godly love and concern that God said would be a hallmark for His church throughout history. What truth that church does still have is now being watered down or tossed out by human reasoning, causing that church to resemble the world more and more EACH AND EVERY MONTH!

I have felt for some time that God was getting ready to do something big. I have felt that His Gospel has not been preached for some time now. THE GRIM REALITIES OF THIS END TIME WORLD ARE FAST APPROACHING, AND NOBODY IS WARNING THIS NATION OR THE WORLD OF THE IMPENDING GREAT TRIBULATION!

I have known for some months that either the Great Tribulation would now soon start, perhaps in a matter of months, or that

GOD WOULD START ONCE MORE HIS FINAL WARNING AND WITNESS BEFORE THE ONSET OF NIGHT! But I also saw that, despite continuous hints by God Almighty Himself, the Worldwide Church's leaders simply were not missing. I have also noted a degeneracy in the brethren, with people who once had a great love and zeal for God's Truth now duped into accepting whatever church leaders passed down from on high through the STRONG DECEPTION OF THE PETRINE DOCTRINE, GIVING THE CHURCH AND ITS LEADERS THE STATUS OF BEING INFALLIBLE.

When the time comes that the leaders of a church and its members can no longer see where the living Jesus Christ is leading, then He simply starts all over from scratch. Such is what now appears to be happening. BY THE TIME THIS BOOK IS IN PRINT, YOU WILL KNOW THAT GOD HAS SHIFTED HIS WORK TO ANOTHER CHURCH -- ONE THAT RESPONDS READILY TO THE LEAD OF JESUS CHRIST!

Since we are now living on the very BRINK OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, I believe that this new Church of God, the Restoration Church of God, WILL GROW AS FAST, WHEN IT IS GOD'S TIME, AS THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH DID AFTER 31 A.D.! At that time, in order to get the work of the Church started quickly from ground

zero, GOD CALLED THOUSANDS AND CONVERTED THEM IN ONE DAY, THE VERY FIRST DAY OF THE CHURCH! That first spurt of growth and zeal LASTED ONLY TWO YEARS, FROM A.D. 31-33, at which time the church in Jerusalem was scattered by persecution. The church still grew rapidly after that, but it never recovered the fire of that initial blast.

I don't know how much time God's new church has to prepare for the short work ahead. It could be just a few months, a few years, or, even, a few decades. Since we are building on a foundation of already established truth, except for a few doctrinal errors, we will not have to spend decades fishing God's Truth out of the Bible as had to be done when Herbert Armstrong started. Once the foundation is laid, the building can go up very rapidly if necessary.

I do not believe that God has given us a lot of time to get the church organization up and running preparatory to the final proclamation of God's warning and witness. The night of the Great Tribulation is ALMOST HERE! But we must use whatever time God has given us to get ready for a GIGANTIC HARVEST. Christ said that the harvest would be plenteous, but the laborers for the harvest would be few. Those God prepares before THE FINAL PUSH OF MASS CONVERSIONS AT THE VERY END WILL BE BUSY INDEED!

But, why would God have mass conversions just before the

Tribulation? This is because there is much work to do, and only moments in which to do it. IN 1989 THE DOOR TO EASTERN EUROPE SWUNG WIDE OPEN. THE CHURCH COULD HAVE WALKED THROUGH THAT DOOR THEN, AS CHRIST WANTED, TRUSTING GOD TO PROVIDE THE MEANS AS HE HAD IN THE BEGINNING. BUT, BECAUSE CHURCH LEADERS LACKED THE

FAITH TO TRUST GOD FOR THE SUPPORT, THEY FAILED TO WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR.

I have come across information in recent weeks that shows that Russian television approached the WCG with an offer of airtime as long ago as 1990. Lacking faith, though, the leaders of the WCG elected NOT TO WALK THROUGH A WIDE OPEN DOOR BECAUSE THEY DID NOT SEE HOW THEY WERE GOING TO FOLLOW THINGS UP. They simply could not understand how the GREAT GOD COULD CALL WHOEVER HE WILLED TO ASSIST THEM IN THIS WORK. Rather than walk boldly through this door, the WCG elected to send a few people over to show Russian television people American broadcasting techniques.

THIS IS NOT WHAT CHRIST WANTED THEM TO DO. HE WANTED BOLD, DECISIVE ACTION!

The door to Russia and Eastern Europe will not remain open for long. But, AS LONG AS CHRIST HAS A WORK TO DO THERE, IT WILL REMAIN OPEN. In Revelation 3, speaking of God's Philadelphia era, God says that He has set before them an open door, that no man can shut. The door has been open for two and one half years, but none of God's churches have walked through that door. BUT THAT JOB WILL GET DONE! Also, a final warning to OUR PEOPLE must soon go out with POWER, WARNING OF THE IMPENDING DISASTER ABOUT TO BEFALL THIS NATION, WITH NATIONAL CALAMITIES NEVER BEFORE SUFFERED BY ANY NATION BEFORE! This will all happen very soon now, WITHIN THE LIFETIME OF ALMOST EVERYONE READING THESE WORDS!

God's commission is to warn the people of the disaster. God's prophets have always been sent just before great national disasters. It will be no different now. GOD LOVES OUR PEOPLE, AND HE WILL NOT ALLOW US TO GO UNWARNED!

Even as I write these lines, I am now beginning to plan a series of prophetic broadcasts such as has not been heard over the airwaves in years. ONLY HERBERT ARMSTRONG EVER GAVE SUCH WARNINGS, BUT MOST OF IT WAS CONCENTRATED IN THE 1950'S. GOD'S TIME FOR THIS MESSAGE TO GO OUT AGAIN HAS COME! YOU CAN HAVE A PART IN THIS FINAL WITNESS. GOD MAY BE CALLING YOU TODAY TO HELP HIM GET OUT THIS WARNING TO A DYING WORLD BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. WHAT WILL BE YOUR ANSWER TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD?

This is a DEADLY SERIOUS BUSINESS, BECAUSE WE ARE ABOUT TO ENTER DEADLY SERIOUS TIMES! This nation must once more be warned from such major prophecies as Deut. 28, Mtt. 24, the book of Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the minor prophets.

ALL OF THESE PROPHECIES, AND MORE, HAVE SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR DAY, AND THAT MESSAGE MUST GO FORTH BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! We have reached God's FINAL COUNTDOWN to the climactic tragedies of the GREAT TRIBULATION -- and this world MUST BE WARNED. THAT IS OUR MAIN JOB AS GOD'S PEOPLE AND GOD'S CHURCH, SO THAT THE BLOOD OF THIS PEOPLE NOT BE ON OUR HANDS.

I do not have time to discuss these prophecies in this volume. The purpose of this volume is to lay the foundation of the true Gospel and the Truth of God so that YOU CAN UNDERSTAND PROPHECY, AND ITS PLACE IN GOD'S PLAN. God's plan of salvation is the most important thing that you could understand. Therefore, this book had to be written first, so that the prophecies of the end time can be in perspective, so that you will understand them better. After all of the disasters soon to come upon this poor planet, it is great to know that GOD WILL MAKE EVERYTHING RIGHT IN THE END!

Having said all of this, it is now time to finish our discussion on the Primacy of Peter doctrine and contrast that with what the Bible says about government in God's church. If we can understand this issue properly, it will help keep us from being deceived as the treacherous very end of this age draws near. Deception will only now grow worse and worse as man slides into total moral depravity under Satan's influence.

We have seen above, then, that the main underpinnings claimed for this doctrine from the Old Testament wilt under the cold hard fact of the Bible. Proper understanding of these scriptures totally obliterates this man made theory. Let's understand, now, what the New Testament says about church government.

In actual fact, the New Testament says very little about church government, so this section will be brief. Let us first turn to Acts 6:1-6, and read this passage from the REV: "During this period, when disciples were growing in number, a grievance arose on the part of those who spoke Greek, against those who spoke the language of the Jews; they complained that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The Twelve called the whole company of disciples (or the church as a wholeJ together and said, It would not be fitting for us to neglect the word of God in order to assist in the distribution, therefore, friends, pick seven men of good repute from you number, men full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will appoint them for this duty; then we can devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.' This proposal proved acceptable to the whole company. They ELECTED Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, along with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antiach, who had been a convert to Judaism, and presented them to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

First of all, let me be the first to point out that the word above rendered "elected is rendered "selected in other versions, and I think that this word just might be an exact fit as to the original intent. However, it should be noted that the LAY MEMBERS SOMEHOW SELECTED THESE FIRST DEACONS, and that the apos- ties did not get up and simply read off a list of men they had already preselected for this duty. It was a COLLEGIAL DECISION MADE BY THE WHOLE CHURCH, WHICH IS HOW THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH FUNCTIONED.

Nowhere in the New Testament do we find ANY JUSTIFICATION FOR A DICTATORSHIP. This chapter of the book of Acts also knocks in the head the idea that there are distinct, stratified offices in the church appointed by church leaders from the top down. Immediately after the portion of scripture just cited, Stephen goes out and DOES THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST. He is so effective in this work that HE IS STONED FOR IT, BECOMING THE FIRST MARTYR OF THE CHURCH.

Modern churches seem to have the idea that for one to become a minister of Jesus Christ one first has to go to a seminary or other college to learn religion. One is then "ordained by the church to be given the "authority to preach. Such authority is, of course, only good within the issuing denomination, but that is the way things are done today. In the WCG, a minister must be chosen by the ministry to join their exclusive "club. If one is a "good boy through years of toeing the line and political maneuvering, he is someday ordained to a pastor or evangelist rank in that church.

Such qualifications and selection processes are not necessarily the way God would have His ministers chosen, BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST ALONE SELECTS HIS MINISTRY, JUST LIKE HE PERSONALLY SELECTS EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF HIS CHURCH! One does not need some special degree or ordination of MEN to serve as a minister of Jesus Christ. Christ will, just as seen in the book of Acts, CHOOSE HIS OWN MINISTERS AS HE, AND HE ALONE, SEES FIT!

Philip, another of the deacons chosen in this sixth chapter is also used to do the work of an evangelist. The Apostle Paul, a man who persecuted AND MURDERED Christians before his conversion, was selected and ordained DIRECTLY BY JESUS CHRIST INTO HIS MINISTRY AS AN APOSTLE. In fact, the church at first would not accept him, but finally they HAD TO ACCEPT THE DECISION OF THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, JESUS CHRIST.

Christ drafts his deacons, ministers, evangelists, apostles, and members of his church in general. NOT ONE VOLUNTEERS FOR THE JOB THEY ARE CALLED TO DO.

But how can we know when God has truly called someone into His ministry? The Bible says that by their fruits shall you know them. If the man's ministry bears the fruit of the function he

is performing, then one knows that one is so called. The man can either recognize the fact of the calling himself, or the church can be the first to recognize it, but, THIS MUCH IS PLAIN, ONE KNOWS WHETHER THE CALLING IS TRUE BY THE FRUITS BORNE!

The WCG has been blessed for years by having a college to train its ministry. Unfortunately, once something like this is institutionalized, the ability of Christ to make His wishes known can become much more difficult. If men take to THEMSELVES THE SOLE DECISION OF WHO IS CALLED TO CHRIST'S MINISTRY, THEN THE ROLE OF THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH IS NEGATED ENTIRELY -- HE IS NOT WELCOME IN HIS OWN CHURCH TO MAKE THE DECISIONS HIS WAY, and

human politics, favoritism, and nepotism can grow like a heinous cancer within the church until the incestuous, SELF SERVING, SELF PERPETUATION PROFESSIONAL MINISTRY MAKES ALL OF ITS OWN CHOICES OF WHO IS GOING TO SERVE GOD, LEAVING CHRIST OUT OF THE PICTURE!

It is evident, then, that having the professional ministry make all of Christ's staffing decisions for Him abrogates His role in the church. But, some will protest that to simply allow anyone'' to lay claim to a special calling can breed chaos and anarchy. This would be true if the MEMBERSHIP OF THE CHURCH IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB! If the membership, though, as well as the ministry is doing their job diligently, looking at the FRUITS of a man's work before God, comparing it with the Holy Scriptures, the wolves in sheep's clothing will be quickly identified and dealt with. (Mtt. 7:15-2O

Should the church, then, have no formal training program for ministers? That is not what I am saying. A formal training program, EVEN AT THE LOCAL CHURCH LEVEL, is vitally important to give those whom God has called the TOOLS TO WORK WITH in becoming what Christ would have them become. There is, then, a role for formal education and training -- BUT THIS MUST NEVER PRECLUDE THE POSSIBILITY THAT GOD WILL SPECIALLY CALL SOMEONE "OUT OF NOWHERE FOR A SPECIAL CALLING OR COMMISSION!

As far as what ministers are to be on the church's payroll, the church must decide what ministers it needs full time to help carry out the Great Commission. We have to trust Christ at all levels to inspire the administrators He has set within His church to RECOGNIZE THE FRUITS AND EVIDENT CALLINGS. This must, though, never become an incestuous, rigid, caste system.

God has not so much set offices of rank within His church in the military sense. Nobody is really over anyone else in God's eyes -- there are just different jobs, different callings, and different gifts. As covered earlier, WE ARE NOT TO RULE AS THE GENTILES RULE, rather, he that would be greatest must be the SLAVE OF ALL.

A thorough study of the New Testament will reveal that God does not mandate a set form for the government of His church. He wants to see if, given all of the facts from both the Bible and secular sources, we will be wise enough to make the MOST WISE CHOICES. There must be administration and order. The politics of party spirit engendered by pure democracy must be avoided, yet the pitfalls of dictatorship must not be fallen into either. It takes God's own wisdom and understanding to strike a balance. We have striven to strike that balance in the Restoration Church of God, but it is not perfect. But nothing God does through human instruments ever is. He only asks that we do the best we can, and then He promises to help with the rest.

As to whether the entirety of God's church is encompassed by one single organization, the Bible seems to indicate that that is not the case. Christ said He is the true vine, and we all individually, are directly branches of that vine. (Jn. 15:1-6) We bear fruit by ABIDING IN HIM, NOT AN ORGANIZATION OF MEN! The church is an aide, of course, and it has a commission to preach the gospel, but no one human organization can be said to be "the only one.

In fact, in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 we are shown seven churches. Revelation is a book of prophecy, most of it aimed at this end time we are now living in. Some have thought that these seven churches are seven successive church eras throughout history. They have went out in history looking for groups to put "peel and stick labels on, to "prove that, not only has the church existed throughout history, it has also went through these distinctive eras or phases. Such arguments do not have solid, documented fact to back them up, and are sheer speculation. Just because one peels off a label and sticks it on a church's forehead does not mean that it matches the label, just as taking a label with the word "cow and sticking it on a donkey does not miraculously turn the donkey into a cow.

Taking into consideration that the bulk of the Book of Revelation is for the end time, it would therefore make sense that the BULK of these so called church eras applies to our time now. In fact, by examining the statements to the churches, IT WILL QUICKLY BE NOTED THAT CHRIST MENTIONS HIS RETURN TO FOUR OF

THE SEVEN DIRECTLY, AND HINTS AT IT IN AT LEAST ONE OR TWO MORE.

Therefore, being very conservative, it would appear that there are AT LEAST FOUR SO CALLED "ERAS IN EXISTENCE AT THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST.

Thus, one can see that there may be AT LEAST four DIFFERENT CHURCHES qualifying as the church of God at the time of Christ's return. There is a certain "lowest common denominator that a group must meet to be part of the Body of Christ, but as long as a group meets that, it is part of the Body as far as God is concerned, no matter what walls of division man might set up.

It is not the purpose of this book to discuss how to identify a true church of God -- that subject alone could easily take up over fifty or a hundred pages -- so that will be left for another book or booklet.

To give you a clue, though, the last four eras are the most likely ones to be around at the end of the age: Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each one of these groups has its own job, function, and way of doing things. If we apply the scripture of "by their fruits you shall know them, we can at least speculate on which era most closely fits each body.

Without going into a thorough explanation, I would guess that the Seventh Day Adventists JUST MIGHT BE part of Thyatira, and that the Church of God (Seventh Day) is also part of this era.'' The majority of the people in this church followed a Jezebel, or false prophetess, who led them into such deception that they almost lost out on being the true church of God. In fact, the Church of God (Seventh Day) split with the main body over this controversy, and maintains a separate work to this day. However, there is something strange about this era: unlike all of the other so called eras of God's church, the LATTER WORKS ARE GREATER THAN THE FORMER WORKS of this organization. Every other church era started out with zeal, excitement, and a bang in the beginning, and began to "lose it towards the end. This era does the opposite. It is an interesting fact that many Seventh Day Adventists are now questioning the writings of Ellen G. White. There is a good chance that her writings will someday be thrown out of the church entirely. If this were to happen, and her heinous heresies rejected, what would be left would be mostly Bible truth. If the church then accepted truth from the Bible as revealed by God, they could become a great work of God before the end of the age. The Church of God (Seventh Day) could also experience a revival, accepting more of God's truth from the Bible, thus invigorating them just before the curtain comes down on history. THIS MAY BE A WAY THAT GOD DOES HIS GREAT WORK OF PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL AT THE END, BY HAVING THIS LARGE BODY BECOME INVIGORATED AND HEALTHY!

By looking at the description of the Sardis church, especially in light of recent events, it becomes clearer and clearer with each passing month that the Worldwide Church of God fits that description. Since this is the church with which I am most familiar, I am going to illustrate my point in a little more detail here.

I am going to quote once more from the REV, which makes a few points plain that are obscured in other versions: ~ To the angel of the church at Sardis write: . . . I know what you are doing; people say you are alive [spiritually), but in fact you are dead. Wake up, and put some strength INTO WHAT YOU STILL HAVE, BECAUSE OTHERWISE IT MUST DIE! For I have not found ANY WORK OF YOURS BROUGHT TO COMPLETION in the sight of my God. Remember therefore THE TEACHING YOU RECEIVED; OBSERVE IT, AND REPENT! If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, AND YOU WILL NOT KNOW THE MOMENT OF MY COMING. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not polluted their clothing, and they will walk with me in white, for so they deserve. [Rev. 3:1-4)

Let us examine closely what we have just read, comparing it with the history of this church. God raised up Herbert Armstrong to restore much knowledge that had been lost to God's Church down through the ages since the time of the original apostles. Throughout his life, THERE WAS A GREAT RESTORATION OF KNOWLEDGE. Mr. Armstrong was a very thorough man at his Bible study, and he was like a pit bull for the truth most of the time. However, his tendency to hold tenaciously to what he understood was sometimes a bad point when what he was saying was not necessarily what the Bible said.

Mr. Armstrong became convinced early on that the Church of God (Seventh Day), from which he learned much of God's truth as he started his Christian walk, was a dead work. He didn't see them producing what he thought to be much fruit, spiritually. He failed to take into account at least two facts: the Church of God (Seventh Day) was merely what was left after those members split with the Seventh Day Adventists went after Ellen G. White. As only a small part of this "era, then, they could be expected to be small and relatively impotent. Mr. Armstrong failed to notice, though, that this church was actually experiencing strong growth in the 1920's. It had division and doctrinal dispute in the 30's (including those inspired by Herbert Armstrong himself), and so did not grow in that decade. When the church reunited about twenty years later, though, it started growing again, until today it has over 40,000 members. This is not bad, considering that they aren't part of the "electronic church, and that they started with only the smallest splinter from the SDA's.

Another thing he failed to take into account was that Thya- tira was prophesied to have a very slow start. This once again labeled them more as Thyatira than Sardis.

Herbert Armstrong had many personal problems, as does any human being. Even though he thought he saw them well, he was still blind to some of them. Mr. Armstrong, because of his huge ego, simply could have never accepted the fact that the church he was used to found could be SPIRITUALLY DEAD. THIS CONDITION OF SPIRITUAL DEADNESS, THOUGH, I RECOGNIZED ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING OF MY ASSOCIATION WITH THAT CHURCH, STARTING IN 1977!

Here was a church that claimed to have a "Philadelphia spirit, meaning that it, above all other so called church eras, was a church of "brotherly love. Rather than love, it seemed to me that this church was STERILE -- MORE LIKE A BIBLE LECTURE SERIES ATMOSPHERE OR COLLEGE CLASSROOM THAN A SPIRITUALLY LIVING CHURCH OF GOD. This group did seem to come the closest of any I had found to keeping the revealed truth of the Bible, but everything seemed so intellectual. I had even found more loving people in WORLDLY CHURCHES than in this so called church of brotherly love.

I didn't understand it until recently, but, at the back of my mind, I have been thinking "Sardis, Sardis, Sardis.

As to the rest of this passage, if one has an understanding of the recent history of this church, one will note that now THEY ARE ABANDONING, WHOLESALE, THE TRUTH GOD HAS REVEALED TO THEM!

With each passing month, a so called "new understanding comes out that only serves to distort the Word of God, not make it plainer like in the past.

This fits in well with the admonition to hold fast to the teaching they received at first, because "otherwise it must die! This death is quite plain when one considers that ALL FIVE OF MR. ARMSTRONG'S MAJOR WRITINGS ARE NOW OUT OF PRINT. The truths taught in these books are being either watered down with worldly philosophy, or thrown out entirely. True, they have recognized some real errors of Herbert Armstrong -- BUT, BY AND LARGE, THEY HAVE THROWN OUT THE TRUTH HE TAUGHT AND KEPT THE ERROR! These events of OUR MODERN DAY are a plain fulfillment of this prophecy.

I would also like to note that Christ says if they won't wake up He will come upon them like a "thief. A thief comes under cover of darkness, while everyone is asleep. This church was given the precious MASTER KEY TO PROPHECY, which tells us that this is the end time. Without this key, prophecy becomes unintelligible. They have discontinued the book in which this key is revealed -- therefore, they are forgetting and falling asleep! There is a great deeniphasis of prophecy in that church

now, BECAUSE THE LEADERS SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND IT VERY WELL ANYMORE -- THEY ARE ASLEEP.

Finally, it must be noted that these people are polluting their garments at the very time when they should be cleaning them. They are polluting their garments by rejecting God's truth, turning to the world instead of the Bible for guidance and knowledge. They have also DISTORTED THE VERY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, PREACHING INSTEAD A GOSPEL OF MAN ABOUT CHRIST INSTEAD OF THE GOSPEL HE PROCLAIMED! It says in Gal. 1:6-9 that if one comes bringing another gospel than the one Christ brought, we are not to receive him or listen to him. PAUL INCLUDED HIMSELF IN THIS WARNING.

The REV clarifies what is meant by this by saying: "Not that it is in fact another gospel; only there are some who unsettle your minds by trying to DISTORT the gospel of Christ. [vs. 7] This verse shows THIS OTHER GOSPEL DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE AN OUTRIGHT FALSE GOSPEL, BUT SIMPLY A DISTORTION OF THE TRUE GOSPEL!

God revealed plainly through Herbert Armstrong what the true gospel was. There was no qualification, or intellectual "mush, or claims that the ordinary man was "not qualified (too dumb) to understand any aspect of this gospel. It is not some mystery, hard for the converted mind to understand, but crystal clear AND PLAIN! Certain WCG scholars and leaders are now telling the

people that the very HEART OF THE GOSPEL, that of being BORN INTO THE VERY FAMILY OF GOD is not exactly that, but something between angels and God, that the exact state of man in God's Kingdom is a mystery too hard to understand, and that we must believe it anyway. They go much further, but that is all the further I am going to go here. I will discuss the Gospel Jesus brought later in this book. Suffice it to say, though, that these men have DISTORTED THE TRUTH AND GOSPEL OF GOD, and the Bible says plainly NOT TO LISTEN TO SUCH. They are putting a whole church of God to sleep, so that they will no longer have a firm grasp on God's Truth, or even the fact that CHRIST IS RETURNING IN THEIR LIFETIME. They are told to repent, but it appears that they will not.

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