Day of Trumpets 1/7/27/120
Dear Friends,
Today is the Day of Trumpets. It is both a New Moon and a Holy Day. We have kept the day throughout the history of the Church. In the time of the Reformation we kept the day with the hymns of the New Moon. The Church has diligently kept the faith for two thousand years and looks towards the new system at the coming of the Messiah that this day symbolises.
In these last days, as we progress further toward the Return of the Messiah and the final Restoration of the Laws of God, we are often faced with the problems and trials that are sent to remind and correct us in the path that we should go.
This week, when I arrived in the US, I visited the Church in Los Angeles and was able to visit the WCG Ambassador site at Pasadena. I was struck with the way that God had dealt with this system. The auditorium in Pasadena is now the property of the Harvest Rock Church which worships on Sundays, and the forum contained numerous works by Benny Hinn. The Administration building was open and still occupied by WCG but we were informed that it had been sold and was under lease back, and that they would soon be vacating and moving to another nearby location in Glendora, with a smaller building and no grounds.
The Bible tells us that we are to be careful as to how we build, as God tests the building of men as to its worthiness, and what is not soundly built on the foundation of God is destroyed.
In 1987, Joseph W Tkach announced that the WCG was being measured in accordance with the prophecy in Revelation 11:2. This whole process was dealt with in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137). That measuring process was to see the disintegration of the WCG, and that process of measurement was to extend to the other churches of God also. The world is not under judgment at present, and the religions of the world are not dealt with by God through Jesus Christ as yet. However, the churches of God are under judgment and they are dealt with at present on an ongoing basis.
In a very short time, God will send Jesus Christ to the earth to restore the planet under the Laws of God and the government of God, with the replacement host of the elect who are the Temple of God.
That is what we should focus on today. We should look towards the return of the Messiah with hope and fervent expectation. Do not expect the world to share our views and our aspirations. Indeed, the world has been led to believe that when the Messiah arrives they will be taken away in rapture and the earth will be destroyed.
On this day we should look at the system of the Day of Trumpets with both the Return of the Messiah and the subsequent Marriage Supper of the Lamb (see the paper Trumpets (No. 136)).
It is important that we realise that Christ is coming to save those that eagerly await him, and to establish a system of government on this planet that will be in accordance with the Laws of God and will be sustainable in the long term.
Our task is to publish the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations and then the end shall come. That Gospel is to be the entire true and correct system of the system of worship and the plan of salvation that God has extended to mankind. The system that does that is given an open door that no man can shut. That system will not be given to others to destroy, and it will not be corrupted. Nor will that system seek to claim that the churches of God were silent for the two millennia of the Church in the wilderness. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the church has been alive and seeking to obey God for all those centuries.
It is a matter of tragedy to see deluded ministers claiming that Elijah was already sent in the form of Herbert Armstrong, and that the restoration of all things took the form of that sorry and shattered structure. We have published the paper Elijah? (No. 233) in order to show numerous sound reasons why that could not be the case.
When God does indeed send us Elijah, he will turn the heart of the sons to the fathers and the fathers to the sons, or God will smite the earth with a curse. In that system the original Temple calendar will be a central point, as will the original Unitarian doctrines on the nature of God, and the pre-existent Christ be central to the worship of that God. The entire world will be left in no doubt, and they will be forced to acknowledge and worship Him.
To this end we are called. We are not religious hobbyists, and we are not a social club that seeks to conciliate and entertain those who do not agree, or wish to work, with us.
Count the cost and work for the faith. This year is the Sixth Year and we are in the double harvest process. We have trials but we also are blessed with growth and new strength. Look to the future and the powerful structure that is the Kingdom of God.
Commence this month with joy and anticipation. Progress towards Atonement and the Feast with the anticipation of the hope that lies within us. Round this season out in happiness and encourage those who are ill among us. Use all our resources to work towards the Sabbath Year and the preparation for the New Sabbath cycle.
Let us share this time in love and fellowship in the Holy Spirit.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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