New Moon 1/2/41/120

Dear Friends,

It is appropriate if we are to attain the title of the Church of the Philadelphians or the Church of Brotherly Love we must come to grips with what it means to really love God and to love one another.  It is our charge to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith and Testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 12:17; 14:12).  It is also our charge to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind and all our strength and love our neighbour as ourselves. These aspects are outlined in the papers at The First Great Commandment (No. 252) and The Second Great Commandment (No. 257).

The symbol and characteristic of the Church of the Philadelphians is that of brotherly love and of faithfulness to God and for that God and Christ love us.

The church is not a social club. Nor is it loyalty to any man.  It is loyalty to God above all and loyalty to one another in the worship of God.  If you wish to be in the First Resurrection this fact must be of paramount importance. If you want a social club regardless of doctrine you will be consigned to the Second Resurrection with the people of the Sardis and Laodicean systems. Both are declared dead and spewed out of the mouth of God. Remember this is eternal life that you know the One True God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn 17:3).  It is axiomatic that Christ is not the One True God who sent him.  He gave us a Temple Calendar and He expects us to keep it faithfully on the correct days and in the correct months (see God’s Calendar (No. 156)). He does not allow us to postpone His Holy Days and Feasts like the rabbinical Jews do under Hillel and which will see the Sardis system in the Second Resurrection and He does not allow us to disregard them altogether as the Laodicean system does, which is also consigned to the Second Resurrection. There are two key elements of the faith we must keep or be cut off from our people and they are the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Day of Atonement.  They cannot be postponed or not kept as a Feast or Holy Day. The punishment is the Second Resurrection. There is no negotiation.

Let us look now at what God says of us.

Revelation 3:7-13
7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens. 8 "'I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth. 11I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never [no more] shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

The text actually reads “no more shall he go out of it” indicating that the members that desire access to the church and the First Resurrection must leave the Sardis and Laodicean systems in order to do so.

Questions that arise from this text:

What is the Key of David? – see paper Rule of the Kings Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C).

As we will see, the full outline of the Key of David is contained in Appendix 2 of the paper above. It is important that we understand what is involved in that structure.

What does it mean to not deny His name? See the Names of God (No. 116) and Etymology of the name of God (No. 220). The name of God in the singular is Eloah and it is already being expunged from some of the Concordances by the Trinitarians of the Last Days.

What is the Hour of Trial?  The Hour is the great Tribulation that comes upon the whole earth and the Philadelphian system is spared by the First Resurrection when Sardis and Laodicea will face the brunt of it.

What does it mean to be made a pillar in the Temple? – See the paper Pillars of Philadelphia (No. 283).

The Law of God emanates from His nature and God is Love.  That aspect is explained in the paper Love and the Structure of the Law (No. 200).

In that aspect we are to emulate God and love one another.

This leads us to the next question.

What is Brotherly Love and what does it mean to be part of this Era? It involves also:
            Concern for the welfare of others and then acting on this aspect;
            Prayers;
            Looking for the good in each other and being forbearing of our weaknesses;
            Elevating each other, not self;
            Giving where needed.
Read also Fruit of the Holy Spirit (No. 146).
           
The worst phases of the Churches of God in the Twentieth Century were the indoctrination of the church into defamation and the deliberate character assassination of each other at the behest of the ministry to create division. This aspect is now going on unabated in the 21st century but the modern digital media is making that system completely obsolete and it cannot survive in the Last Days. These aspects are now being exposed for the sham they were and the face is being torn off these elements of the churches (see also Commentary on James (No. F059)).  One cannot love a person and tear them to ribbons behind their back. The churches are destroying themselves because of it.

As we go through the Omer Count remember that we must pray for the repentance of these Churches of God that are in danger of the Second Resurrection because they have two gods and a false calendar.

Wade Cox