Sabbath Message 5/6/33/120 A

Dear Friends,

This aspect of whom we worship and when we worship should be examined by us all. This message was written for the Church some time ago. It is a logical basis for the Church of God and its calendar. It formed the basis of a Sabbath Message in December 2004. It is now expanded to deal with more aspects. There is a chain of irrefutable logic that runs along these lines.

It is appropriate that we examine some basic premises upon which Jesus Christ and the Church of God operate and have operated over the last two millennia.

The basic truths are fundamental to the operation of the Church of God and its identification over the centuries.

Axiom 1. There is One True God, the only God, who alone is eternal, immortal and invisible (1Tim. 1:17; 6:16).
Axiom 2. God is immutable or unchangeable as is His counsel (Heb. 6:17-18).
Axiom 3. The One True God no man has ever seen or ever can see. No man has heard His voice or seen His form ever (Jn. 1:18; 1Jn. 5:20; 1Tim. 6:16).
Axiom 4. Jesus Christ, the one being in the bosom of the Father, spoke or declared Him (Jn. 1:18).
Axiom 5. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Heb. 13:8).
Axiom 6. Jesus Christ came to do the will of the Father and finish His work (Jn. 4:34).
Axiom 7. God is the God and Father of Jesus Christ and also the elect (Jn 20:17; Rom. 15:6; 2Cor.1: 3;
11:31; Eph. 1:3,17; Col. 1:3; Heb. 1:1ff.; 1Pet. 1:3; 2Jn. 3; Rev. 1:1,6; 15:3).
Axiom 8. Eternal life is given to the Church and this is conditional on them knowing the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17:3); and continuing in patient well doing (Rom. 2:7).
Axiom 9. Scripture cannot be broken (Jn. 10:34-35).
Axiom 10. The Holy Spirit is the power of God that God uses to empower the people He chooses, calls, justifies and glorifies through Jesus Christ (cf. Jn. 20:22; Acts 2:1-47; Rom. 8:28-35).
Axiom 11. Not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law of God until heaven and earth pass away (Mat. 5:18).
Axiom 12. Christ kept the Temple Calendar and was without sin. Therefore the Temple Calendar is the correct Calendar.

It follows that:
Premise 1 (Axiom 5). If Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and does the will of God (Axiom 6); and
Premise 2 (Axiom 2). God is immutable; then
Conclusion 1: Both continue in the tasks God determined and set before them.
Premise 3. If Christ was sent to establish the Church in immortality, which was to be extended to it as it was extended to Christ (Axiom 8); and
Premise 4. Christ is the same over time continuing in the will of the Father; then
Conclusion 2: The Church, under the direction of Christ, continues in those teachings and the Laws of the Father, being added to according to the will of the Father.
Premise 5. Christ said that the gates of death would not prevail against the Church; and
Premise 6. Scripture cannot be broken (Axiom 9); then
Conclusion 3: The Church must have been alive for 2000 years from the time Christ established it under the apostles.
Premise 7. If God has been working through Christ using the Holy Spirit (Axiom 10); and
Premise 8. Does not change and Christ continues in that will; then

Conclusion 4: The Church does not change but rather waxes and wanes in knowledge as the Spirit is used and directs it.
Premise 9. If God and Christ do not change; and
Premise 10. The Church does not change being based on the Law of God, which also does not change (Axiom 11) proceeding through the Holy Spirit;
Conclusion 5: Then the Church is an identifiable body of believers that must adhere to the original teachings of the Church in varying degrees and is present on the planet to this very day.

From Conclusion 5 we are simply faced with the task of identifying the faith once delivered to the saints (cf. Jude) by identifying the Bible teachings and the doctrines of the early Church, and chart the course of those beliefs through history.

This line of reasoning is irrefutable as the axioms are biblical truths, and the premises are biblically true, and the logic is valid, therefore the conclusions are true.

We can also deduce that God and Christ are not the same Being, they are two separate beings, and that God is the God and Father of Jesus Christ. We know that Christ was granted immortality by God who alone is immortal (Axiom 1). We know that it is God’s plan that we are all to be granted immortality (Axiom 8) and that this immortality is dependent upon the obedience of the brethren to the will of God, and the Law and the Testimony or faith of Jesus Christ (cf. Rev. 12:17; 14:12; Axioms 8 and 11).

It follows then, as the night the day, that the Church has been operational and continuing in its various facets for two millennia and is not the product of some new teachings by organisations that appear from time to time. The early Church was entirely Unitarian. The Ditheist/Binitarian system was a pagan doctrine of Attis that entered the Church in the second century. This doctrine resulted in the Binitarianism of the Council of Nicea and the Trinitarianism of the Council of Constantinople in 381. It has penetrated the Churches of God on and off for centuries. The last time it entered the Church of God was under the Armstrongite ministries and then later through infiltration into the other Churches of God. To this extent, the Churches of God are rotten with this heresy to this very day and have to be cleansed of it. The way this error could be infiltrated into the Churches of God was by cult indoctrination, and the false idea that the Church had been sleeping from Paul to the twentieth century. It was allegedly suddenly given this new truth by Ellen G. White, or Armstrong, or any number of false prophets claiming to lead the Churches of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The very last sermon Herbert Armstrong gave was to reinforce the heresy of the Ditheism he introduced to the Church as the lasting error of his ministry.

The fact is that, from the above, the Church must be alive and must be operational on the same doctrines of the Laws of God, or God and Christ are both liars. Baptism is conferred by the Church on repentant adults and with that conferring comes the Holy Spirit. Each of us has an obligation to find that Church, and be baptised by its officers into the body of Christ, and to work for that body until we die or the return of Messiah, whichever comes first.

The fact is that it can be identified by its historical doctrines and it is not idolatrous. It adheres to the Laws of God. The Church of God in Europe is recorded and their beliefs are also recorded. We have a record of the Church from the fifteenth century onwards and there is no difference between them and CCG doctrines at all (cf. Kohn, Sabbatarians in Transylvania, CCG 1998).

Premise 11. The Churches of God vary and fluctuate in their understanding but never cease to exist.
Premise 12. From Axiom 3 the church must exist today.
Conclusion 6: There must be a church existent today with a set of doctrines according to the doctrines set down by Christ in some degree.

Premise 13. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 show that these churches over time carry authority by exercise of the lampstand (incorrectly termed candlestick).
Premise 14. These churches exercise doctrinal authority in worship of the one true God.
Conclusion 7: Somewhere there must be a church with doctrinal authority exercising power as originally directed and as delegated by Jesus Christ.
Premise 15.  Each person baptised into the body of Christ has an obligation to work to and for the body of Christ as organised into the Church of God wherever it is.
Premise 16. From Axiom 2 there is one faith delivered which therefore must be identifiable.
Conclusion 8: It must be possible to identify the historical church and work for that Church.

Premise 17. From Paul: There are many organisations or administrations but one Lord.
Premise 18. The various administrations are all part of the Church of God.
Conclusion 9:  Administrative difference does not disqualify one from the Kingdom.

Premise 19. Some churches are doctrinally different.
Premise 20. Doctrinal error disqualifies some churches from the kingdom of God.
Conclusion 10: There are some doctrines that disqualify and some that do not disqualify individuals and churches from membership.

Premise 21. God tests the works of all builders of the Temple of God.
Premise 22. Doctrinally and spiritually unsound Churches are unable to stand tests.
Conclusion 11: The Churches broken down in the 20th century were doctrinally and spiritually unsound.

From the axioms and from conclusions 6, 7 and 8 and previously there must be a church today that has the most clearly identifiable historical doctrines.

That church must hold the lampstand (termed erroneously candlestick) of Christ.
That church must be supported by the elect.

Now as all these are valid arguments from true propositions they are both valid and true conclusions.

It behoves us therefore to identify the church on the planet with the doctrines of the faith once delivered to the saints and work with them.

If it is not the Christian Churches of God then it must be found and our weight thrown behind it. If it is the Churches of God then all the elect have a responsibility to work to that organisation.

It is not a matter of faction fighting and failure to work to organisations due to administrative infighting in those purporting to be the Churches of God.

The Worldwide Church of God was overthrown because it was doctrinally and administratively aberrant. The United Church of God was a reproduction of the same abusive doctrinally incorrect system. All offshoots using the same doctrines from the WCG system as invented by Armstrong and the ministry of the 1970s are incorrect and part of a system that God has already tested, rejected and has broken up or is breaking up. This system was the Sardis system by the same process of reasoning or logic we see above.

Argument re Sardis
Axioms
13. The Sardis system is a dead system.
14. There are some in Sardis who are not dead as per Revelation.
15. It has the name that it is living but it is dead.

Premise 2-1. From Axiom 15 one of the churches of Sardis must take the name that says it is Living.
Premise 2-2. The last church to form under the WCG offshoot system was the Living Church of God.
Conclusion 2-1: This church system must be considered a candidate for the Sardis system.

Premise 2-3. The WCG system has an offshoot that says it is the Living Church of God.
Premise 2-4. There are no other Churches of God in history that claimed the name Living Church of God.
Conclusion 2-2: The Living Church of God is the only candidate for the demarcation marker of the Sardis system.

Premise 2-5. From Conclusion 2: If it is a true Church of God It must fulfil the prophecy at Revelation forming the Axiom.
Premise 2-6. Living was a part of the ministerial system of WCG taking its ministry and doctrinal position and authority from that system.
Conclusion 2-3:  The WCG system, if it is a biblical system, is the last of the Sardis era.

Premise 2-7. Herbert Armstrong identified the Church of God Seventh Day as the Sardis system.
Premise 2-8. Herbert Armstrong was a paid minister of the Church of God (Seventh Day).
Conclusion 2-4: Herbert Armstrong and his ministry were ministers of the Sardis system.

Argument 3. Eras

Premise 3-1. Revelation says that there will be a number of churches alive at the coming of Christ viz.: Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Pergamum may have some alive but not operating.
Premise 3-2. Revelation says Sardis and Laodicea are rejected from the kingdom of God as churches and only those who overcome are accepted.
Conclusion 3-1: There are at least two acceptable and operating eras alive at the return of Messiah.

Premise 3-3. There are two operating eras and two dead eras.
Premise 3-4. Philadelphia comes after Sardis and comprises the spewed out of Laodicea also.
Conclusion 3-2: Philadelphia is yet to assume its importance after Sardis and may emerge from the failure of Sardis being comprised of the people who go out of the Sardis and Laodicea.

Premise 3-5. Sardis was pronounced dead and rejected. Laodicea is spewed out of God’s mouth
Premise 3-6. Philadelphia is praised.
Conclusion 3-3: Philadelphia is doctrinally and administratively distinct from Sardis and Laodicea.

Premise 3-7. Sardis is doctrinally erroneous and is identifiable as is Laodicea.
Premise 3-8. Philadelphia is biblically correct and can be identified doctrinally.
Conclusion 3-4:  From the axioms above and the premises here the one with the correct historical and biblical doctrine is the closest to the true faith once delivered and that excludes Sardis and Laodicea.

Argument 4. Tithing

Premise 4-1. God says through the prophet Malachi that tithing is a sign of a return to God.
Premise 4-2. Abraham tithed to Melchisedek.
Conclusion 4-1: Abraham showed by his tithing that he was faithful and had returned to God.

Premise 4-3. Melchisedek preceded the tribes of Israel.
Premises 4-4. Levi tithed to Melchisedek in the loins of Abraham before Moses and Aaron were born.
Conclusion 4-2: The Tithing system is not directed at the Levitical priesthood or the Temple system but at the Superior Melchisedek priesthood.

Premises 4-5. Christ was made High Priest of the order of Melchisedek.
Premises 4-6. The Church is the order of Melchisedek, of which Christ is High Priest, as an order of priests and kings.
Conclusion 4-3: The Church has the right to collect the tithes of the Bible system.

Premise 4-7. The Church doing the work of God has the right to the tithe being given the lampstand (Conclusion 4-3).
Premise 4-8. Those of the order of Melchisedek, i.e. the church, must tithe to the candlestick or church doing the work of God at any given time or era.
Conclusion 4-4: The individual must identify the true church and tithe to that Church.

Premise 4-9. Failure to tithe is theft from God under His Law.
Premise 4-10. Failure to tithe to the true Church is theft.
Conclusion 4-5: Failure to identify the true Church and tithe to that church is theft from God.

From Axiom 12 above the Temple Calendar is the correct calendar.

Premise. 5.1 The Temple Calendar was not the same as the Hillel Calendar.
Premise 5.   The Modern Jewish Calendar was introduced in 358 CE, 328 years after Christ and the formation of the church in the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion 5.1: The Church did not keep the Hillel Calendar either in the Temple period or after the Temple period.

Premise 5.3 The Hillel Calendar did not exist until 358 CE, after it was introduced from Babylon.
Premise 5.4. The Hillel Calendar relies on the Babylonian intercalations which do not accord with the correct system of conjunctions and make the Passover occur twice in the one year according to the Conjunctions and the Equinox.
Conclusion 5.2: The assumption and the teaching that the Hillel Calendar is the Hebrew Calendar is false doctrine and ensure that its adherents do not keep the Laws of God.  

Premise 5.5. From Conclusions 5.1 and 5.2 those churches keeping the Hillel system or one based on it and the Babylonian intercalations are not in accord with the laws of God.
Premise 5.6. Those not in accord with the laws of god and not keeping the Passover, or the day of Atonement, or the Sabbath and New Moons and feasts are cut off from their people, which means from the Churches of God.
Conclusion 5.3: Those cut off from their people which are the Churches of God are disqualified from the First Resurrection.
From Conclusions 5.1 and 5.2 and 5.5 above the Church must keep the Temple Calendar and everyone in the faith must identify and keep that calendar with the church keeping it.

The Church of God is to be supported and tithed to and worked for. The organisation that is doing the work and is obedient to the Laws of God in the closest possible degree and sense is that organisation. It is our job to identify the body of Christ each Passover and take the Lord’s Supper with that body. With whomsoever we take the Passover each year is the body we have identified as the body of Christ. If you take it at home alone when you could be with the Church of God, you are saying that you alone are the body and you make God and Christ of no effect and deny the faith.

We see people come into our midst and go out again with one crazy idea after another. The usual reason is that they are not working for the faith and working as part of the body. Most are given strong delusions so that they cannot hurt the work. As John says, “If they were of us they would not have gone out from us.” Each of us should be very careful about what we regard as our role and our responsibilities. Scripture is of no private interpretation. God has not called us as His own special prophets to work alone. Even Eldad was not alone outside the camp. He worked with Medad. The two witnesses are a dime a dozen. We get messages from them often and there seems to be hundreds of them. The US and the British Commonwealth appear to be no longer lands of milk and honey. They appear to be lands of fruit and nuts. If you can’t follow, you are unfit to lead. If your ideas are sound, they will be embraced by the faithful because the Holy Spirit will make it obvious that the matter is correct. If they don’t agree, the problem lies with you generally. That does not mean the majority is always right. Often the majority is comprised of “yes” men and opportunists controlled by the wrong system of government. The Churches of God abounded with them in the last half of the twentieth century.

The Church has set procedures to deal with doctrinal ideas. It has procedures for dealing with dispute, and for handling operational matters and administrations, and a host of matters; and it is through order, and discipline, and loyalty that the work of God is accomplished.

Every single one of us has been chosen before we were formed in the womb and our works were ordained. The demons know us and they know what authority we have or do not have. They work incessantly to undermine us and they try to negate the work of God. You work alone and you will fall.

There is One God who is Father of all who is above all and in us all through the Holy Spirit. There is one Lord Jesus Christ who was anointed by God with the oil of gladness above his partners (Ps. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9) and those partners are the heavenly Host who were all created by their Father. There is one baptism for the remission of sins.

Do not be confused by false doctrines. God allowed the Churches of God to be destroyed at the end of the twentieth century so that these false doctrines could be removed and the faith promulgated correctly. That is our job. As each man builds, it is tested, and what he builds is destroyed or lasts according to the will of God and the perfection of the work.
The power of God is seen in the purity of truth and the small things. God is in the still, small voice in the wilderness.

Loyalty is a precious thing. Abraham was faithful to God even though he was alone. He was faithful and Christ was faithful to He who made him (Heb. 3:2 poieo translated as appointed in the KJV by the Trinitarians).

Christ is a product of the power of God as we all are. He gave up the form he was in and was placed in the form of a man and became obedient. He was loyal and obedient unto death, even death on the stake. So should we all be loyal and obedient.

Of all the Churches in the texts of Revelation, the most loyal and the one loved by Christ is the smallest. That Church is the Church of the Philadelphians.

We should all strive to be as this Church, whose name means the Church of “Brotherly Love.”

Identify the true Church and the true faith once delivered. Work for the faith in loyalty and honesty.

As we say often, “If someone is doing more of the work and the truth than CCG, let us know who it is and we will sell all we have and support them.” If not, we have an obligation to work for the faith once delivered and support one another in the work of God.

Love God with all our heart and with all our mind and with all our strength, and love our neighbours as ourselves. On these two laws hang all the Law and the prophets. Our meat is to do the will of God and finish His work (cf. Jn. 4:34).

Wade Cox
Coordinator General