Sabbath 25/2/33/120

Dear Friends

It has become obvious that many of the Churches of God, mostly emanating from the US and some Commonwealth countries, have become somewhat discouraged about the church and the capacity of the church to organise and perform its duty in the Last Days. Many are unable to discern what is required of the church and many are confused as to where it is and what its duties are. Very soon there will come a deception that if it were possible will deceive even the very elect. In part it has already been unleashed on the Churches of God and has destroyed many of them. It has taken many out of the churches and that has been assisted by the false teaching of the WCG system and its offshoots.  So also has it been assisted by the apostasy of the COG (SD) and its various groups and also in the Seventh Day Baptists and the Seventh Day Adventists. Between 1978 and 1999 almost all of those churches were penetrated and corrupted and announced Binitarianism and direct Trinitarianism or proceeded from Binitarianism to Trinitarianism. This was made possible in the WCG by the Ditheism of Herbert Armstrong (see the paper Ditheism (No. 076B)).
Satan was able to destroy us using the false doctrines of the system that were originally used to introduce Trinitarianism.

So what should the churches and the individuals do in these sad times leading up to the coming of the Messiah?

The earth is best like a woman in childbirth. There is a new age about to be born and it is not the New Age of these modernists. The Millennial Age is about to dawn upon us.

Firstly we have to stand fast in the faith and work. It is not enough to sit at home doing nothing; that is burying your talent and Christ is very clear about what happens to those who do that.

We must be about our Father’s business. Our meat is to do the work of Him who sent us as it was that of Christ before us (Jn. 4:34).

So that we might understand what is before us let us look at the following seven aspects of the faith in the Last days.

1. Christ will come to save those that eagerly await him;
2. Our Bread and Water will be sure;
3. God does not give us a trial from which we cannot escape or endure;
4. What the Ministry did was an example of what not to do;
5. Herbert Armstrong was not Elijah. He was the Idol Shepherd of Zechariah;
6. God is going to recover the sheep;
7. There is a church that is not paid and has a servant ministry and does not render the sheep to the hooves and God is using them right now.

Point 1: Christ will come to save those who eagerly await him.  Our job is to hold fast until he gets here.

Do not be discouraged by what lies ahead and what it is we have to do. God has set a test before us but will give us the means to survive and complete the task before us.

Point 2: Our bread and water will be sure.

This is an assurance from God that He will make sure we are fed. He may decide to do that as He did in the wilderness and feed us on manna and our clothes and shoes will not wear out.  We will have much to say in this regard in later messages.

Point 3: God does not give us a trial from which we cannot escape or endure.

All of us are sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God but do not worry as to what your trial shall be or what befalls you as you will not be given anything you cannot endure. All of us are able to repent and be restored. CCG has people come in who were baptised sometimes over thirty years ago and were discouraged by the problems in the ministry or by offence among the squabbling brethren. This problem is predominantly in the US but to a lesser extent in some Commonwealth countries.

Our job is to bind together and perform as brethren and be judged now as sheep on sheep and sheep against goats. How well we interact and perform our duties in the faith will determine what happens to us.

Point 4: What the ministry did in the last seventy years of the Churches of God was an example of what not to do.

It should be obvious to everyone that the Churches of God were a disaster of division, false doctrine, respect of persons and racism. It shall not be so with us.

That was why God chose to reorganise the churches as He has and where He has.

Point 5: Elijah has not yet commenced his work.

Herbert Armstrong was not Elijah. (See the papers Elijah? (No. 233) and The 18 Restored Truths of Herbert W Armstrong (No. 233b).) No one need be concerned about him or his ministry as that time has come to an end. God is about to do what He said He would do in Ezekiel 34.

God expects us to get on with doing the commission of the church.

Point 6: God is going to recover His sheep.

Ezekiel 34 is a promise that cannot be broken. God will recover His sheep and place them in His fold and He will judge sheep against sheep and how they deal with each other and how they muddy the waters and pastures. This text has been a great comfort to many in understanding what it is that He is allowing to happen or doing with us.  

Point 7: There is a servant ministry God is now using.

Unlike the previous eras this last era set up in the Churches of God is a servant ministry that is mostly unpaid. Its board of elders is all unpaid. The people of this church and ministry are to be judged on brotherly love and the way in which they treat each other as are all the brethren of that last era. Depending on how they perform is the determining factor on what happens to them.

Rest assured that we all have much to do and many to bring to the faith as the harvest is ripe and the fields are everywhere. How well you work with the brethren determines your place in the kingdom of God.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General