Sabbath Message 22/4/33/120B

Dear Friends,

We are always intrigued by the desire of the people who claim a belief in God to want to see all others that are not part of their sect or group or even family to be destroyed by God as though God has some thought process that mirrored the human frailties and hatred and petty jealousies of humans. It is as though they have made God in their imperfect image and that their God is every bit as soiled and corrupt as their strange views of His plan of Salvation.

They seem unable to read the Bible and put it together and understand the sheer power and love and mercy of the One True God and the obedient self-sacrifice of the Christ whom God has sent to lead us.

Many texts of the Bible reflect this Love of God and the Universal Salvation reflected by His plan and the destiny of the creation that He put in place.

Most of the sects calling themselves Christian seek to take out of God’s hands His power and control over their destiny.

The Trinitarians invented the doctrine of the Immortal Soul so that their destiny was not in the hands of God as an immortal, omnipotent and omniscient Being, and they were not destined to be Resurrected and totally reliant on God in that Resurrection. We knew that when anyone said that they were Christians and said that when they died they went to heaven that they were not Christians but Gnostic imposters.

This was true even in the church at Rome:
 (cf. Justin Martyr, Dial. LXXX).

This is what Justin said and this is what is the test of a true Christian.

“For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines[delivered] by Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this[truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians, even as one, if he would rightly consider it, would not admit that the Sadducees, or similar sects of Genistae, Meristae, Galilaeans, Hellenists, Pharisees, Baptists, are Jews (do not hear me impatiently when I tell you what I think), but are[only] called Jews and children of Abraham, worshipping God with the lips, as God Himself declared, but the heart was far from Him. But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.”
 
The Bible is very clear as to what happens and this text of Justin was based on Revelation 20.

Revelation 20
[1] Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. [2] And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, [3] and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.  [4] Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years. [7] And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison [8] and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. [9] And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, [10] and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. [11] Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. [13] And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. [14] Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; [15] and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This is fairly clear and shows that all humans are subject to a second chance at salvation. Indeed God is logically required to provide such a chance for all the creation to be given the chance of redemption.

Every single being ever created as a son of God either spiritual or physical must logically be given the chance of repentance from error and an opportunity of salvation or God is logically impugned and is an unjust God and Father and cannot logically be perfectly good and not in respect of persons.

The Churches of God have always understood this most important aspect of the perfect goodness of God until the 20th century under firstly the Church of God Seventh Day elements that emerged as the Adventists, and secondly the Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God under Herbert Armstrong. The two great False Prophets of the 19th and 20th century corrupted the understanding of the SDA and WCG systems,

The first major problem comes from the failure to understand the Nature of God and the elevation of Christ above the other sons of God as an uncreated being as one of two true Gods. This is contrary to the Bible and is Binitarian/Trinitarian heresy.

The process of the error in these churches is explained in the papers: Ditheism (No. 076B); Binitarianism and Trinitarianism (No. 076); Binitarian and Trinitarian Misrepresentation of the Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127B) and Origins of Radical Unitarianism and Binitarianism (No. 076C).

It was the heresy of Ditheism and Binitarianism that paved the way for the Trinity to be introduced and it leads to the destruction of the theology of the Church of God as declared in the Bible. 

The text at John 6:37 states simply: “All that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.”

Christ was given people on a progressive basis over two thousand years and one of the first things he did on his resurrection was go and preach to the Fallen Host in Tartaros.

This key fact is overlooked by those who would rather see others die than be saved. They argue that Gehenna Fire has been created for a purpose and assume that the purpose is to kill and torture those in the creation of God. They attribute to God a mindset of depravity and raving insanity that is on a level of their own.

The text in Mathew 25:41 states: Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

So the ones not repentant are sent in to the aeonian fire or, “fire of the age” prepared for the diabolo and his angels.

The fire of the age is made up of the spiritual power of Satan and the Spirit of False Prophecy and the Beast which is a system of government. So also are the spirits of the demons removed and used in this fire but the Bible is quite clear that the fallen Host are reduced to human form (Isa. 14; Ezek. 28) and are subject to judgment by the elect. Is it not written: Know ye not that you shall judge angels.  If in this great judgment of krisis or correction which is the second resurrection where we shall judge these angels, where is the justice of a god that has already condemned them to a lake of eternal fire?

That is no god but a sadist in respect of persons and injustice and one that deserves to be fought with every bit of power and strength that we possess.

The process of the Judgment of the demons and their redemption is covered in the paper The Judgment of the Demons (No. 080).

Some of those who deny such a power of salvation by God using Christ then go on to quote the Bible text that says: "...God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (2Cor.5:19).

God does that reconciling for the world, and not just for those few (John 6:44; 17:12; 6:37) drawn by the Father.

It was Christ who reconciled all of the creation both in heaven and on earth to God. The physical and the spiritual are reconciled to God in Christ; how does that exclude the Fallen Host?  Are these people of the Churches of God mad? Do they think that Gabriel and the entire loyal Host need to be reconciled to God? Do the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures around the throne of God need to be reconciled to the God they worship and adore every moment of their existence; are you all mad? This insane reasoning is only possible in a mind like the Armstrong ministry.

Ephesians 1:10 as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Colossians 1:20  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

1Peter 3:18  For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; [19] in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, [20] who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

Is this text not clear that after being put to death and made alive in the spirit Christ went to the spirits in Tartaros and preached to them who formerly did not obey when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah? Salvation was waiting to be offered to them in the patience of God and could only be offered to them after the resurrection of the Christ. 

2Corinthians 5:15  And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. [16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer.
[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. [18] All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Are the 20th century trained Churches of God unable to comprehend such simplicity of reasoning and such mercy and grace through the love of God? Why do the Churches of God attribute sin to God and then wonder why they are being destroyed for that stupidity and sin? Repent of your stupidity and hardness of heart and love your neighbour as yourselves. How can you seek the death of the creation and say you love your Father who created them all?

Wade Cox
Coordinator General