Sabbath 12/11/33/120                                                                                                   

Dear Friends

This week we will look at the rifts and schisms in the Churches of God and the struggle to find the faith and to follow it diligently both in the corrupted elements of the faith that stem largely from the US groups and the Trinitarian system itself which was allegedly attempted to be reformed but which in fact was simply a pretence at Reformation so that these hypocrites could prevent any true restoration and stop the Sabbatarian system from converting the world before Satan’s rule was finally terminated. The Churches of God have been seriously corrupted by these false doctrines throughout what is in effect the entire Sardis system from the Sabbatarians of the Reformation through the Anabaptists and the Seventh Day Baptists and the Churches of God (Seventh Day) to the multiple offshoots of the WCG system and its corrupt doctrines. These churches are the Sardis system down to the last formed church which is identified by Christ in the book of Revelation as having the name that it is Living but is dead. The collapse of that system is underway. It has more funds than those outside of the US but that will prove transitory.

They are collapsing because they have no sound doctrinal base and they become reactionary when asked to genuinely examine the Bible teachings against their false doctrine. The same occurs either with Trinitarian or Binitarian/Ditheist doctrines (see also the paper Binitarian and Trinitarian Misrepresentation of the Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127B)).

We are all held responsible to perform according to Christ’s instructions regarding the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

Matthew 25
[14] "For it [the Kingdom of God] will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; [15] to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. [16] He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. [17] So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. [18] But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. [19] Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. [20] And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, `Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' [21] His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' [22] And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, `Master, you delivered to me two talents; re I have made two talents more.' [23] His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'  [24] He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, `Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; [25] so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' [26] But his master answered him, `You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? [27] Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. [28] So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. [29] For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. [30] And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'

In the paper The Commission of the Church (No. 171) the meaning of this text was explained. It refers to a number of elements of the faith within the Churches of God. The larger numbers of talents refer to those given the greater gifts of the Holy Spirit and charged with greater authority. They are given tasks and resources at a greater level and perform at greater levels. It is often from these levels that the officers of the church are drawn. The example of the two talents is of the general operations of the elect of the Body of Christ that are given the base levels and develop those base levels to reach others of the elect over time. It is these combined with the five talents that make up the seven elements of the Spirits of God. They were less diligent in the performance of their duties but nevertheless added to the power of the church and helped to enable its performance.

The single talent people who hid their talent were those who were the called but not chosen. They buried their talent and failed to perform in the service of the Churches of God. They are rejected from the Body of Christ because they had insufficient oil of the Holy Spirit, as did the five foolish virgins. They are rejected from the marriage supper of the lamb because they failed to perform in the faith and buried their talent. They were without a garment and had not enough power in the Holy Spirit. They begged for the Holy Spirit but went home and failed to perform.

Opposition from the false ministry

The following was a message from a pastor in Cameroon who was faced with the struggle to come to the faith and the opposition he faced from the paid ministry that had a vested interest in the false teachings of the Triune structure. These people teach for hire.

“It is with a lot of joy that I read your answer. I look forward to contacting Cyril. Since the Lord gave me to really examine the place of the Sabbath in the worship, it brought me to re-study what the Bible teaches about [the nature of] God. My first surprise was to notice that the Scriptures do not use the word "person" in Greek psyche for God, in my concordance, I searched all the entire New Testament in particular Hebrew 1 where Segond [a famous Translator of the Bible in French] translates "he is the imprint of his person", this led me to realize that the heresy which had [occurred] within [the] churches coming from [the] Reformation is from deep roots… the fact that there is[‘nt] any example of prayer or worship addressed to the Holy Spirit… I recognize that it frightened me.  Was it possible all these great reformers were able to make a mistake.... To realize that I was myself a defender of the religion, I wanted to stop my investigations but later I got back; how to explain that Moses who was familiar with the origin of the creation and the pronouns "we" and "our", the use of El, Elohim, the tetragrammaton, can in Deuteronomy 6.4 assert, that God is one ; what Jesus of Nazareth does not contradict at all… I believe that I finally found those who kept the teaching of the apostles. I look forward to meet Cyril. Pray for my wife, so that she can become attached only to the truth, we have already lost many friends and it is not easy… I drew her attention on the last Sabbath on the incoherence of some of the hymnals concerning the divinity in relation to the trinity… in brief let us pray.

Soon the Sabbath will start, Shabbat shalom!”

You can imagine the shock of this man when he found out that he was himself part of the problem and he was in fact an advocate of the false system of the Triune God. He had to repent and get out of it quickly. He was attacked because of the faith by these false teachers who misuse Christ under the false doctrine of the Binitarian system of Attis and the mystery and sun cults. The world has been deceived into thinking that Christ is a threefold aspect of God, which is a false doctrine and strikes at the very nature of the elohim and our destiny. The view that God is Binitarian is just the same doctrine in its early stages and is just as false and deceitful. They are ALL supporters of the mystery cults and the daughters of the Great whore that is Mystery Babylon. They purport to keep God’s feasts but their calendar is based on the Babylonian Calendar with its false system of intercalations that throws the feasts out not only by the days because of the postponements but a large part of the time it also throws them into the wrong months and dislocates them from the true Temple Calendar most of the time, and it is only very rarely when their system cannot avoid coinciding with the Temple Calendar that they get it correct. These people are not keeping the commandments of God and do not worship him in spirit and in truth.

We are also now finding people that are coming to an understanding and are breaking free of the Ditheism or Binitarianism of the WCG and offshoot system and of the other corrupted Churches of God. What is necessary is that we all understand that we have to be able to stand for the faith and we have to know that somewhere on the planet there is a body of the elect keeping the faith. Armstrong taught the great lie that Christ and the church were not working until he came on the scene and his false teachers propagate that lie because it suits their purposes.

The Search in the Churches of God

We can see from the following quote the struggle to isolate the Churches of God that many go through.

“In Russian catalogs of churches I had found a few churches with the phrase “church of God” in their names. Amongst them there was your church – Christian Churches of God. I had looked through all of them and only in your church I had found those teachings that I had already believed (from my Bible studies). Then I began to read your papers. It was in the year 2007, I had emailed your church, stating that your church is possibly the right church, but I must understand it. I had got a response – do I have any questions? But I didn’t have questions, for I understood all in your papers. I might make a choice amongst your church and Church of God (7th day).
 
Then I had thought: “I looked only in Russian catalogs of churches. What if the true church isn’t in it? I must look in worldwide catalogs of churches.” So I had opened Google’s worldwide catalog of churches and had seen a lot of churches with phrase “Church of God” in their names. ‘What if the true church is amongst them?’ I had thought, and I might understand them.

My English was very poor at that time, and I began to learn English, [in order] to read papers of different churches in English. And I read your papers and papers of other churches
 
I had found a lot of churches with teachings that I had already believed. How can I choose the right church amongst such big number of churches? To study the complete teachings of each church? It’s impossible – they are too many. I had understood that I can’t do it. Only God can point me [to] the right church. And I prayed about it, and continued to read papers of different churches.
 
From these papers I had been convinced that the right church was persecuted in Europe and they had [also] left for America. But many churches assert that their church was that church. 
Then I had paid attention that many churches believe in Herbert W. Armstrong as a prophet and I began to read his books. I had read his book “Mystery of ages” and some booklets. Through his books I had been convinced that it is right to keep God’s feasts, because of the same cause that [the] Sabbath [had to be kept]. These feasts were kept by Israel and, as written in Bible, they will be kept on the new earth after Christ’s coming. That isn’t normal for God (Who isn’t a God of disorder, but is God of order) to abolish these feasts only at the New Testament’s period. Church of God (7th day) doesn’t believe in keeping of God’s feasts and so [for that reason] I had stopped reading their papers.
 
I almost believed in Herbert W. Armstrong, but I couldn’t be convinced in Binitarianism [or Ditheism] (as Herbert W. Armstrong asserted). At that time I couldn’t be convinced in Unitarianism, nor Binitarianism, nor Trinitarianism.
 
Then through your papers I had been convinced in the keeping of the New Moons. It was clear to me, that true Christians must keep the New Moons by the same cause [or biblical reason] that God’s feasts [are to be kept]. I didn’t find Herbert W. Armstrong teaching anything about keeping the New Moons, so I had stopped to believe in him also.

And then finally I became convinced in the Unitarian nature of God. By human mind it is possible to make any composition of Father, Son and Hoy Spirit. But is there anywhere in the Bible that we are told that God is a Binity or Trinity? – No. What is said in the Bible about God? – “We have only one God - the Father”. Did Jesus Christ teach that God consist of two or three persons? – No. What did He teach? – That is written in John17:3. All these teachings that I had already believed I found in your papers, and such scientific, logical and Bible based explanations of Christian teachings, that I found in CCG papers, had given me the conviction, that your church is the true Church of God. In CCG’s teachings I had found complete correspondence to the Bible teachings. I no longer had a reason to look for the true church anywhere else. I have found the true church of God; that is the Christian Churches of God. That is my story about my way of searching [for] the truth. I have written about it in this short account. There were many more things to talk about in this way. I can tell you about it when we will meet. I am now sure that the need to find the truth was given me by God, and that I went not by my mind and strength, but God led me and has led me to the truth and your church. To Him belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.”

The reality is that many people are finding the faith in large numbers and churches are joining CCG all over the world. The numbers of SDAs that are returning to the original doctrines they had regarding the nature of God is astounding, and they are joining large numbers of other churches in reorganising into CCG. This rediscovery of the One True God and His Commandments and the Faith or Testimony of Christ is dynamic. It is the sign of the elect of God and it is these that form the body of Christ (cf. also Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 20:4).

These are your mothers and sisters and brothers. These are they of the body of Christ who are to form the sons of God for the millennial system and the Temple of God thereafter.

The last three Sabbath Messages have been combined in the paper Search for the One True Church of God (No. 171C).

Wade Cox
Coordinator General