Sabbath 04/13/28/120
Dear Friends.
This the second message for the Sabbath. It is simply a repeat of a message that was given in 2004.
Please consider this in conjunction with what Alan has said in his message regarding your contract..
Dear Friends,
This New Moon I thought it appropriate that we discuss the matter of our collective
beliefs as the body of Christ. We in CCG are dedicated to the restoration and
teaching of the true faith, which is the faith once delivered to the saints
as we see from Jude 3 and for which we contend.
For us to demonstrate the true faith we must be able to demonstrate a collective
body of beliefs that has remained unchanged for twenty centuries. There are
minor differences but by and large the body of beliefs are, like the moon, waxing
and waning examples of a common faith. To that end we have reconstructed the
faith once delivered in a clear historical perspective. We have recently published
this doctrine in the paper The Original Doctrines of the Christian Faith up
to the Quartodeciman Disputes of 154-192 CE (No. 88) at www.ccg.org/english/s/p088.html.
You will also see the historical doctrines in the paper the Role of the Fourth
Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170) at www.ccg.org/english/s/p170.html.
The common doctrines of the Churches of God, which are Unitarian from the beginning,
are these:
1. We believe in God the Father Almighty;
2. And in Jesus Christ His only son our Lord;
3. Who was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mariam (wrongly termed
Mary);
4. He was Crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried;
5. The Third Day he rose again from the dead;
6. He ascended into heaven,
7. He sits on the Right Hand of the Father;
8. Whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead,
9. And in the Holy Spirit;
10. The Holy Church;
11. The Forgiveness of Sins; and
12. The Resurrection of the Body.
We believe, and the true body of Christ has always believed, that Christ was
the Great Angel of Yahovah that gave the Law to Moses at Sinai.
We believe that Christ will return to rule this planet at Jerusalem, and that
the Temple will be restored and refurbished, and that the elect will rule with
him for a thousand years; after which the General Resurrection of the Dead will
occur in which all mankind will be given the chance to repent.
We provided this information to the Roman Senate by way of our official declaration
of the faith in 154 CE through the Church of God in Rome, and we have not changed
that belief or hope of our faith. In our declaration of the faith to the Roman
Emperor we showed that Christ was the Great Angel at Sinai, and in our apology
to the Senate we said that if they came across anyone claiming to be Christians
who said that when they died they went to heaven they were not to be believed
in that they were not Christians. We have never changed our faith. Since that
time over the centuries, the church at Rome has become an apostate immoral farce
but the body of Christ has not changed.
Over the centuries the church has been penetrated by fifth columnists from the
false system and paganism. They have instituted false doctrines and sought to
destroy the Churches of God wherever they could penetrate them.
In the twentieth century they have been very successful and the Churches of
God have been broken down as foretold by the prophet Daniel. And when they have
made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the Holy People, all these things
shall be finished (Dan. 12:7).
The fifth columnists in these latter days came in various forms with the power
of Satan. Some came from the Trinitarians. Some came from the secret societies.
Some came as long-term sleepers and penetrated the ministries, and others established
families as power groups. When they were successful in destroying the doctrines
on the nature of God they followed on to attack the things that flowed from
that position. They established Ditheism, and then Binitarianism, and then finally
when they were able to do so they established Trinitarianism and all that flows
with that system, as we saw initially from the Sun cults and Sunday worship
with Easter and later Christmas, from the second to the sixth centuries. Most
of us are aware of these activities but many are not, and many do not recognise
how these people operate.
The bulk of the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God were broken down in the twentieth
century. Many of their own people do not realise how late it actually was that
they became apostate. For example, the Seventh Day Adventists do not realise
that they were only officially Trinitarian finally in 1978. Up until 1931 they
were entirely Unitarian and would have dismissed anyone who denied that Christ
was the Great Angel of the Old Testament. The Seventh Day Baptists were undermined
from their United States Churches, and their International Confession is still
Unitarian to this day. It is so also with the Church of God (Seventh Day) in
its branches. The other heretical aspect has come in with the Radical Unitarians
who deny the pre-existence of Christ and do as much damage in their teaching
as the Trinitarians do in theirs.
The WCG system was broken down systematically with error and ignorance and fraud
on the part of its leadership. The fifth columnists divided into two groups.
One penetrated the ministry and the sleeper families tried to hang on to the
organisation. When it became apparent that could not be done then it split into
two groups. One remained with the Trinitarian heresies. The other major section
formed around the old but nevertheless corrupt older teachings. What also happened
was that a number of these sleepers and a large number of unconverted fellow
travellers formed around the anti-organisational structure to stop the reorganisation
of the body of Christ as a true working body. A number of people also formed
into groups so that they could justify their own indolence and inactivity. Many
of these people sought to use the doctrines of the faith but make them easier
so that they could act as a silt trap and catch people being called by God in
the last days. Many would not realise what it was that they were doing however.
It was in the light of this background that Christian Churches of God formed
and organised its structure to prevent the fifth columnists from doing to us
what they had done to the others. There is a streak of naivety that runs in
the Children of Light. Many do not realise what is being done to them, and the
Holy Spirit often protects us from the results of our own collective stupidity.
CCG also has been protected from destruction by these known, and sometimes unwitting,
fifth columnists.
From the outset it was obvious to us that if we were to survive and to fulfil
the commission of the Church we had to protect ourselves from those who claimed
to be our friends and brothers. In the past we were often underground and mostly
outlawed and persecuted into extinction in many places. That very persecution
made us cautious but in these days we became vulnerable through our own complacency.
CCG saw that they must have a legal documentation to protect themselves from
litigation against their members as a whole and to operate within the society
under law. This fact necessitated a constitution. Some silly people think that
they don't need to be incorporated. The fact is simply if you are not incorporated
with a written constitution, then common law supplies the missing details and
it must be litigated and all members are subject to the costs of the litigation
to the extent of their estates. If you think you are safe and smug in a house
church that is not registered, wait until the first accident and watch the litigation.
The courts are littered with the case law of unregistered bodies of religious
believers. Also if you have a leadership that is unincorporated, who keeps the
books and how are they accounting for the funds? The fact that some do not tithe
prevents a work being done. Incorrect accounting of any funds opens any group
to fraud and misuse. Many people who think this way are usually either traumatised
by bad leadership or simply bone idle.
The second arm to the CCG armour was that of the Statement of Beliefs. We have
seen people counselled for baptism and been totally unready to make such a commitment
because of the requirements and yet these people have been baptised elsewhere
and then claimed their Statement of Beliefs is the Bible. We have found this
amusing, as when we are invited to speak at these groups, as has been the case
in the past, for fifteen people you will have some sixteen opinions on the faith.
One for each of them and the one the Bible actually says.
How did CCG develop its position? I have seen some of the disorganised rabble
that attack us claim that the Statement of Beliefs is actually the beliefs of
Wade Cox and that I insist on making everyone agree with the Statement before
they can attend. The fact is that some of them have tried to penetrate us and
attend in various places but have been asked to agree with and abide by the
Statement and the Constitution. Their purpose is to penetrate us and find out
who and where we are so that they can break us up. However, given this requirement
they are then exposed and open to removal and even litigation in fraud so they
refuse and then attack us.
The fact is that the Statement of Beliefs was drafted by the executive of CCG
and vetted by a team. It was then passed by referendum of the entire voting
membership of the church. It cannot be changed except by referendum of the Church.
It has been so amended according to law. It is double entrenched by the Constitution,
which was drafted and adopted in the same way. It is no more "anyone's"
Statement than the Constitution of Australia and the USA are the Constitutions
of the people who helped with drafting those documents. To say it is, is a breach
of the Ninth Commandment. A false witness will not go unpunished. The Statement
of Beliefs is the formal declaration of the combined beliefs of the entire body
of the Christian Churches of God. It is also more than just that. It is the
historically provable basic statement of the faith once delivered to the saints.
The coordinators of the CCG are required to enforce it and protect it so that
we who gather under its premises may do so without hindrance from those who
believe contrary to that document. If it is wrong, then tell us how and where
and we will change it.
The fact is that the Statement is never attacked on matters of fact. It is always
attacked as being an unnecessary document or the beliefs of one person. Our
people are isolated and attempts are made to persuade individuals that they
really are somehow ineffective because they agree and follow it. The pattern
is familiar and we should be able to recognise it for what it is. Usually these
people are those in the groups that do nothing and tithe to no one and do no
work. Sometimes they are part of something more organised. For example if, as
has happened, an officer of CCG has his family on a full-time scholarship from
a religious or other organisation that is dedicated to our total destruction,
then some serious questions should be asked about his loyalties. If someone
in the Churches of God sends their children to another church schooling system,
then their loyalties and judgment need to be called into question. We have seen
the results of both types. Remember the maxim: Just because you are paranoid
does not mean someone is not out to get you. Whenever you forget that fact,
go and look at the timeline (The Timeline of the Churches of God (No.30) at
www.ccg.org/english/s/p030.html.
Remember we are all sinners. If I am attacked as a sinner I will be the first
to agree with my detractors. God only deals with sinners, as we are the ones
who need Christ the most. Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to us but
rather than our names are written in heaven.
Remember that this is our first commission now, and making disciples of all
men is our second commission.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world
for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.
Remember that we are doing this job and we are doing it in all languages as
fast as we can. When the witnesses get here they will take up much of the work
but we still, even then, have a work to do as far as we are able. We are required
to work. If you do not have a job to do, then get one and give your talent to
those who can make it productive. A threefold cord is not easily broken. Work
together with others but work and don't be idle, either in the faith or with
your tithes and the assistance of others. If you don't work you don't eat and
that is both physically and spiritually.
Do not be discouraged by those who would attack and denigrate us. Stand for
the faith and give an account of the hope that lies within us all. Love one
another and protect them from attack and the darts of the enemy.
Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for another. Defend the faith
and pray for each other. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your strength; and love your neighbour as yourselves.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
© Copyright 2006 Christian Churches of God, All Rights Reserved
