Worldwide Church Of God All Over Again?
When Herbert W. Armstrong died, Dr. Herman Hoeh declared that the seventh candlestick had been lit. That means Laodicea officially began immediately.
Nearly four years later, Malachi’s Message to God’s Church Today by Gerald Flurry began to sound the alarm: something wasn’t kosher in the Church of God! It exposed a corrupt ministry intent on destroying the foundational doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God, and urged the brethren to hang on for dear life to what God had given us through His end-time Elijah. We were encouraged to get a grip, while others were losing it (Revelation 3:11).
Those who were of God heard what the Spirit said to the Churches through Malachi’s Message. Those who weren’t of God quickly lost it (God’s truth) and slipped further and further into darkness. That darkness was disguised as a "new light of understanding" (2 Corinthians 11:14). The true members of the Church of God responded to His call and came out of that decadent organization. Those who remained behind became the SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN - just like the original apostate Christianity (Catholics and Protestants) that has deceived the whole world.
They were no longer God’s Church! You can’t reject God’s truth for demonic doctrines without becoming a part of "Mystery Babylon" (1 Corinthians 10:21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). All this has been quite revealing (1 Corinthians 11:19).
Knowing the Truth
God knows the end from the beginning (Acts 15:18). He prophesied a great falling away that would leave few standing. The BIG ONE has hit and shaken the Church of God to its core! But isn’t it possible to know the truth without knowing the Truth? (2 Timothy 3:7).
God’s calling us to a deeper love and conversion (1 John 3:18). Isn’t God’s truth a means to an end? Didn’t Herbert W. Armstrong fear some just "DON’T GET IT?” That too many were only converted to our doctrines? The doctrines are meant to help bring us closer to God by having a better understanding of His Will, but only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will save us! We need Christ’s teachings, but we need God the Father and Jesus Christ even more. Only they can establish us and secure our salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17). You can have all the understanding in the world and still fall short (1 Corinthians 13:2).
Remember Solomon? Just because you know God’s truth, doesn’t mean you know Him (Job 42:5; 1 John 2:4). You’re not going to be judged by how much you know, but by HOW MUCH YOU GROW! By how much you apply what you know, becoming more Christ-like, more Godly, more representative of the Kingdom of God, here and now (James 1:22; John 13:35). A system can’t save you and ritual is no substitute for a relationship (2 Timothy 3:5).
Malachi’s Message Still Applies!
Whereas the Worldwide Church of God was physically rich, aren’t we in danger of feeling spiritually rich and self-complacent (Amos 6:1)? Ancient Israel had God’s holy days; didn’t eat pork, etc. But it didn’t keep them from going into captivity! (Amos 5:21). It wasn’t enough. Worldwide doesn’t feel sufficient, they feel so impoverished they go to Babylon for help! We’re the ones who feel safe and secure. Who said we can let our guard down? We’re commanded to REMAIN ON HIGH ALERT until Christ comes (Luke 21:34). Yet some are failing to continue to apply Malachi’s Message (Romans 2:17-21). God’s refining process isn’t over (Daniel 12:10; Isaiah 48:10).
Let’s see to it that Philadelphia Church of God (Judah) doesn’t go the way of the Worldwide Church of God (Israel). These biblical principles still apply: don’t put undue trust in men; work out your own salvation, it’s not a group affair; beware the scholarly approach that demands you rely on men - not God’s Spirit or personal Bible study. And God help us to look past Petra (though it’s important), to focus on His Kingdom (Luke 21:36; Isaiah 33:17). To survive the coming Holocaust is one thing, to enter the Kingdom of God is everything (2 Peter 1:10-11).
Beware of Emperor Worship!
What’s the greatest false doctrine to come out of Babylon? The nefarious idea of a DIVINE EMPEROR! Nimrod had put himself in God’s place. He had people depending on him for all their answers and protection. Today, we have such MEN "playing God" in the Church! (Nahum 1:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:3). There’s nothing new under the sun. Unlike Moses, who wished that all God’s people were prophets (Numbers 11:29), Nimrod felt threatened by any "competition." He dealt cruelly, in a jealous rage, with those who opposed his haughty position. God used Shem to put him back in his place! Leaders are ordained of God; they do have a definite place, but it’s NOT in the Holy of Holies (2 Chronicles 26:18). They’re intruding in God’s business, and trespassing on His sacred ground, when they get out of line and overstep their bounds (Zephaniah1:9; Exodus 19:12; Colossians 2:18).
Away with emperor worship! It’s soon to sweep Europe, but we don’t need it in the Church of God. Not if we want to remain the Church of God!
Didn’t Gerald Flurry warn that we were slipping into a Laodicean attitude when he had his unfortunate incident with alcohol? Didn’t he say, after prayerfully wracking his brains to understand why God had allowed that to happen, that we have to be careful not to get proud due to our abundance of revelation (2 Corinthians 12:6-7)? Have we learned that lesson? Has he? With his preoccupation with all his religious titles and self-promotion, we really have to wonder and be most concerned!
Holy, righteous CHARACTER is more important to God than all the revelation in the world! We definitely need the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but God says we should want the FRUITS of his Holy Spirit even more. GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT (1 Corinthians 14:1). I’m convinced God’s about to empower His people like never before, but wants us to be spiritually ready (having learned from the Corinthians’ mistakes), and our ministers mature enough not to get in the way (Joel 2:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
As far as revelations go, God can inspire unconverted men like Caiphas and speak through donkeys! All truth is from and belongs to God, so why should some become puffed up with pride that they're something special rather than just an instrument serving God's purpose? And why get bloated with self-importance when God can quickly pop that balloon (1 Corinthians 4:6-7)?
Warnings from History
If what happened in the Church during the 70’s was a warning of what could happen in the 80’s what about now? Having survived our Worldwide Church of God ordeal, are we now home safe (Jude 5)? Let us pray and examine ourselves this new century: Do we love God or fear men (Acts 5:29)?
God has an ordained government for His Church, but it can gradually fall to Satan - made over in some man’s image - if we blindly follow it and forget that it’s also a means to an end, and not and end in itself! Isn’t that how the Church of God got off track? The Mother spoon fed the brain-dead! We need the Father! When Church government stops directing us to God and substitutes doctrines or a personality cult instead (3 John 9), and refuses correction, God’s glory has left such a bankrupt administration! Will God destroy the very government He’s installed because we’ve failed to use it properly? Some are actually worshipping the government rather than the Governor!
Didn’t God level His Temple, stop the sacrifices, and disband the priesthood? Didn’t he empty the House of Israel and scatter Judah? Wasn’t Jerusalem-headquarters forcibly shut down? Even Hezekiah had to destroy the brass serpent God told Moses to make, because they had perverted its purpose (2 Kings 18:4).
Too often, that which God had intended to become a blessing, became a curse! Such historical warnings don’t curry favor with "the top brass, " but it’s evident God would rather work through a very faithful few than let many misrepresent Him (Jeremiah 26:18; Ezekiel 5:3-4).
Worldwide Church Of God All Over Again?
What have we learned from our WCG experience? Haven’t some since scrambled for positions of power, while others claim we’re all equal? (Numbers 16:3; 1 Timothy 1:7; James 3:1) God isn’t an anarchist, and neither should we be. We mustn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, just because of abuses of power. Proper leadership encourages us to "be all we can be," within God’s law; it encourages us to think and become like our leaders, and able to teach what we’ve been taught—after all we’re PRIEST-KINGS IN TRAINING (Matthew 10:25; Hebrews 5:12; 2 Timothy 2:2, 15).
The proper use of God’s government never plays politics or acts jealous, but truly has everyones' best interests at heart (1 Cor. 14:26). We’re all members of God’s Royal Family, therefore we ought to respect each others’ part in God’s plan and place in God’s Church (1 Corinthians 12:18).
I truly believe in GOVERNMENT FROM THE TOP DOWN —- and it starts with GOD THE FATHER! That’s why we must always OBEY GOD, even if it means we must disobey men. Wasn’t it ministers who told you to throw Malachi’s Message away? Wasn’t it Church leaders who threw out the faithful? Didn’t we just take their word for it, rather than check out what GOD had to say?
Don’t be fooled again! Do you now CONSULT CHRIST, or are you still playing "follow the leader?" Which is truly learning how to follow God’s government? Have you finally learned this lesson? Or did you ask your minister for permission to read Beyond Babylon? Worldwide all over again? Not if you continue to read and apply Malachi’s Message to yourself. That’s the only way to prevent a "repeat performance." Hopefully, once was enough.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Copyright Philadelphia Church of God
Copyright Philadelphia Church of God
Following the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, a new host of leaders took over the worldwide church, media and humanitarian religious empire God had used him to build from scratch.
Mr. Armstrong’s successors indicated they would follow his teachings and traditions. However, almost immediately after Mr. Armstrong died, the church’s new leaders began subtly altering Mr. Armstrong’s writings.
Changes to Mystery of the Ages, Mr. Armstrong’s crowning work, began to surface quickly after the book was released in September 1985, when Mr. Armstrong emotionally presented first copies of the book to students at Ambassador College, urging them to study it alongside their Bibles in order to help make the meaning of the Bible clear.
Church leaders put the book “on hold” in the spring of 1988, supposedly for minor reasons and for a short period. The Worldwide Church of God would never publish it again.
In 1989, church member and pastor Gerald Flurry was summoned to Worldwide Church of God headquarters in Pasadena, California, along with his assistant, John Amos. There he was fired for continuing to adhere to the teachings of Herbert Armstrong and for contesting the repudiation of Mystery of the Ages, which the administration told him was “riddled with error,” even while the membership at large was led to believe otherwise.
Immediately afterward, the Philadelphia Church of God was founded, and those who continued to believe in God’s teachings through Mr. Armstrong began to join.
In 1997, the PCG printed Mystery of the Ages under the copyright of Herbert Armstrong, advertising the book through its media and distributing it for free to anyone who requested it: the “largest audience possible.” The Worldwide Church of God countered by suing.
A six-year legal battle ensued. The Worldwide Church demanded the PCG cease from disseminating Mystery of the Ages or any other books by Mr. Armstrong, while the PCG contended that the WCG’s new administration had abandoned the copyrights in every sense of the word.
The PCG won on the district court level in 1999, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals eventually overturned the lower court opinion in a split decision the following year. The PCG subsequently stopped printing distributing the book.
When the Supreme Court declined an appeal by the PCG, both churches turned their focus to the damages trial and the PCG’s counterclaim for the rights to produce 18 additional works by Mr. Armstrong.
An article covering the litigation appeared on the front page of the February 21, 2001, Wall Street Journal, and a criticism of the Ninth Circuit’s opinion was published in the April issue of the Harvard Law Review the same year.
As high hopes for the damages trial dropped lower and the thorny counterclaim issue complicated the WCG’s legal position, the Worldwide Church of God approached the PCG offering to sell Mystery of the Ages. After a series of counteroffers and finally insisting that any arrangement include all 19 works as well as the court documents obtained during the lawsuit, the PCG purchased full copyrights to Mystery and Mr. Armstrong’s other works and retained the discovery documents uncovered during the lawsuit. The PCG now prints and distributes all of these materials for free.
A book written on the basis of those documents, Raising the Ruins, chronicles the history of the WCG leading up to the copyright battle, as well as court case itself and its outcome. Raising the Ruins is also available in serialized form in the Philadelphia Trumpet magazine.
Following the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, a new host of leaders took over the worldwide church, media and humanitarian religious empire God had used him to build from scratch.
Mr. Armstrong’s successors indicated they would follow his teachings and traditions. However, almost immediately after Mr. Armstrong died, the church’s new leaders began subtly altering Mr. Armstrong’s writings.
Changes to Mystery of the Ages, Mr. Armstrong’s crowning work, began to surface quickly after the book was released in September 1985, when Mr. Armstrong emotionally presented first copies of the book to students at Ambassador College, urging them to study it alongside their Bibles in order to help make the meaning of the Bible clear.
Church leaders put the book “on hold” in the spring of 1988, supposedly for minor reasons and for a short period. The Worldwide Church of God would never publish it again.
In 1989, church member and pastor Gerald Flurry was summoned to Worldwide Church of God headquarters in Pasadena, California, along with his assistant, John Amos. There he was fired for continuing to adhere to the teachings of Herbert Armstrong and for contesting the repudiation of Mystery of the Ages, which the administration told him was “riddled with error,” even while the membership at large was led to believe otherwise.
Immediately afterward, the Philadelphia Church of God was founded, and those who continued to believe in God’s teachings through Mr. Armstrong began to join.
In 1997, the PCG printed Mystery of the Ages under the copyright of Herbert Armstrong, advertising the book through its media and distributing it for free to anyone who requested it: the “largest audience possible.” The Worldwide Church of God countered by suing.
A six-year legal battle ensued. The Worldwide Church demanded the PCG cease from disseminating Mystery of the Ages or any other books by Mr. Armstrong, while the PCG contended that the WCG’s new administration had abandoned the copyrights in every sense of the word.
The PCG won on the district court level in 1999, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals eventually overturned the lower court opinion in a split decision the following year. The PCG subsequently stopped printing distributing the book.
When the Supreme Court declined an appeal by the PCG, both churches turned their focus to the damages trial and the PCG’s counterclaim for the rights to produce 18 additional works by Mr. Armstrong.
An article covering the litigation appeared on the front page of the February 21, 2001, Wall Street Journal, and a criticism of the Ninth Circuit’s opinion was published in the April issue of the Harvard Law Review the same year.
As high hopes for the damages trial dropped lower and the thorny counterclaim issue complicated the WCG’s legal position, the Worldwide Church of God approached the PCG offering to sell Mystery of the Ages. After a series of counteroffers and finally insisting that any arrangement include all 19 works as well as the court documents obtained during the lawsuit, the PCG purchased full copyrights to Mystery and Mr. Armstrong’s other works and retained the discovery documents uncovered during the lawsuit. The PCG now prints and distributes all of these materials for free.
A book written on the basis of those documents, Raising the Ruins, chronicles the history of the WCG leading up to the copyright battle, as well as court case itself and its outcome. Raising the Ruins is also available in serialized form in the Philadelphia Trumpet magazine.
Philadelphia Church of God Doctrines
Church Doctrines
Here is a brief summary of the main doctrines of the Philadelphia Church of God, along with the key scriptures on which each is founded.
Each doctrine maintained by the Church is provable from the Holy Bible.
We believe in one God, eternally existing, Creator of the heavens and Earth and all that is in them (Genesis 1:1). The Godhead is actually composed of two personages: the God who became the Father of Jesus Christ, and the Word who was made flesh and became God’s Son (John 1:1-14).
We believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the Christ, the divine Son of the living God, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born in the human flesh of the virgin Mary. Christ came to Earth the first time to qualify to replace Satan on the throne of the Earth (Matthew 4). He also came to establish and build His Church (Matthew 16:18) and to train those who would rule under Him in the Kingdom of God. He proclaimed the gospel: the good news of the future establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth (Mark 1:14-15), which will be made up of the family of God, administering the government of God, based upon God’s law. We believe the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and of Christ Jesus--the power of God (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:19) by which all things were created and made.
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God’s revelation and complete expressed will to man, inspired in thought and word, and infallible in the original writings; that they are of supreme and final authority, and the source of truth (2 Timothy 3:16). We believe all teachings contrary to the Holy Bible are false.
We believe Satan is a spirit being and, as the devil, is the adversary of God and the children of God (I Peter 5:8). God has allowed Satan dominion over the world for 6,000 years, leading the children of Adam into rejection of God’s law and rebellion against God. Satan’s power is merely to influence and lead, not to force humans arbitrarily against their will. He has ruled by deception (Revelation 12:9) with the aid of a host of demons which are rebellious angels, spirit beings, who have followed Satan in his rebellion.
We believe man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and is wholly mortal, subject to corruption and decay, without eternal life inherent in himself, except as the gift of God under God’s terms and conditions as expressed in the Bible. Adam and Eve sinned, thereby incurring the death penalty without having received eternal life. God then allowed Satan to sway all their children, influencing mankind to sin, thus bringing upon themselves the penalty of death (Romans 6:23).
We believe sin is the transgression of God’s law (I John 3:4); that the law is spiritual, perfect, holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), summed up in the word love (I John 5:3); that it involves the two great principles of love to God and love to neighbor, and that the Ten Commandments compose the ten points of that law (Matthew 22:37-40). We believe this fundamental spiritual law reveals to us the only right and true way to life-the only possible way of happiness, peace and joy; that it is immutable and binding throughout eternity; and that all unhappiness, misery, poverty, anguish, and woe has come from its transgression.
We believe God so loved this world of helpless sinners that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), who, though in all points tempted as we are, lived without sin in the human flesh (Hebrews 4:15) and died for us as a substitutionary sacrifice (Hebrews 10:12). This made it legally possible for man’s sins to be forgiven and for God to release him from their penalty, since Jesus, whose life was of greater value than the sum total of all other human lives (because it was He who brought them into being), has paid the penalty in man’s stead.
We believe Christ was raised from the dead after His body reposed three days and three nights in the grave (I Corinthians 15:3-4), thus making immortality possible for mortal man; that He thereafter ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate (Hebrews 8:1; I John 2:1-2).
We believe that all who truly repent of their sins in full surrender and willing obedience to God, faithfully accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior, are forgiven their sins by an act of divine GRACE (Ephesians 1:7). They are justified, pardoned from the penalty of past sins, reconciled to God (Romans 5:9-10) and given the gift of the Holy Spirit upon baptism (Acts 2:38) into the body of Christ, which is the true CHURCH OF GOD. The Holy Spirit abides within such a person, effecting a true change in life and attitude, supplying the divine LOVE which alone can fulfill the law and produce righteousness. At baptism a Christian is begotten of God and will be born into the family of God at the resurrection (John 3:6; I Corinthians 15:52). We believe God’s greatest purpose is to expand His family.
We believe that from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, the seventh day of the week, is God’s Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). On this day we must rest from our labors, following the commands and example of the Apostle Paul, the New Testament Church and Jesus. The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people (Exodus 31:13).
We believe the seven annual holy days, as given to ancient Israel by God through Moses (Leviticus 23)--kept by Christ, the Apostle Paul and the New Testament Church--are to be kept today. These festivals picture God’s plan and purpose for mankind. The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread occur every spring; Pentecost is observed in early summer. In the fall, we observe Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. The sacrifices, which were added and later superceded by Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22-10:10), are no longer to be kept on those days nor at any other time.
We believe Christians are forbidden to kill (Exodus 20:13) or in any manner directly or indirectly take human life. We believe bearing arms is contrary to this doctrine; we therefore conscientiously refuse to bear arms or to come under military authority. Christians are, in fact, citizens of another government (John 18:36; Hebrews 11:13-16).
We believe the PROMISES were made to Abraham and his “seed,” Christ (Galatians 3:16), and that the covenants (including the New Covenant) and the promises pertain to ISRAEL. The national phases of the promises--MATERIAL blessings--have been given to the modern physical descendants of the Israelites (Genesis 22:15-18), but the SPIRITUAL phase of the promises-salvation-is through Christ alone, and is freely open to Gentiles also who, through Christ, become Abraham’s spiritual children and heirs according to the promises (Galatians 3:7-9, 29).
We believe the Church is that body of believers who are being led by the Holy Spirit; that the true Church of God is not a denomination; that the inspired name for this spiritual organism is “THE CHURCH OF GOD” (Acts 20:28); that the mission of the Church today is to preach the gospel of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD to all nations as a witness (Matthew 24:14), with emphasis on the warning to America and Britain of the prophecies pertaining to them (Ezekiel 33:7); to reconcile to God, and to save, through Christ, such people as are now called (John 6:44); and to minister to the Church of God. Members of the Church are being specially trained in this life to rule with Christ in the Millennium (Revelation 20:6).
We believe the only hope of eternal life for mortal man lies in the resurrection. At the end of the Millennium, ALL who have lived not knowing God will be raised to physical life and given the opportunity for salvation (I Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 20:5). We believe that there shall be a resurrection of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15; Daniel 12:2)-the just to eternal life as spirit beings upon Earth, the unjust to the second death in hell (Gehenna) fire in which they shall perish in eternal punishment (Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rule the Earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16); that at that time He will sit upon the throne of David, restoring all things during a thousand-year reign upon Earth and establishing the Kingdom of God, forever to be headquartered on Earth.
Here is a brief summary of the main doctrines of the Philadelphia Church of God, along with the key scriptures on which each is founded.
Each doctrine maintained by the Church is provable from the Holy Bible.
We believe in one God, eternally existing, Creator of the heavens and Earth and all that is in them (Genesis 1:1). The Godhead is actually composed of two personages: the God who became the Father of Jesus Christ, and the Word who was made flesh and became God’s Son (John 1:1-14).
We believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the Christ, the divine Son of the living God, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born in the human flesh of the virgin Mary. Christ came to Earth the first time to qualify to replace Satan on the throne of the Earth (Matthew 4). He also came to establish and build His Church (Matthew 16:18) and to train those who would rule under Him in the Kingdom of God. He proclaimed the gospel: the good news of the future establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth (Mark 1:14-15), which will be made up of the family of God, administering the government of God, based upon God’s law. We believe the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and of Christ Jesus--the power of God (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:19) by which all things were created and made.
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God’s revelation and complete expressed will to man, inspired in thought and word, and infallible in the original writings; that they are of supreme and final authority, and the source of truth (2 Timothy 3:16). We believe all teachings contrary to the Holy Bible are false.
We believe Satan is a spirit being and, as the devil, is the adversary of God and the children of God (I Peter 5:8). God has allowed Satan dominion over the world for 6,000 years, leading the children of Adam into rejection of God’s law and rebellion against God. Satan’s power is merely to influence and lead, not to force humans arbitrarily against their will. He has ruled by deception (Revelation 12:9) with the aid of a host of demons which are rebellious angels, spirit beings, who have followed Satan in his rebellion.
We believe man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and is wholly mortal, subject to corruption and decay, without eternal life inherent in himself, except as the gift of God under God’s terms and conditions as expressed in the Bible. Adam and Eve sinned, thereby incurring the death penalty without having received eternal life. God then allowed Satan to sway all their children, influencing mankind to sin, thus bringing upon themselves the penalty of death (Romans 6:23).
We believe sin is the transgression of God’s law (I John 3:4); that the law is spiritual, perfect, holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), summed up in the word love (I John 5:3); that it involves the two great principles of love to God and love to neighbor, and that the Ten Commandments compose the ten points of that law (Matthew 22:37-40). We believe this fundamental spiritual law reveals to us the only right and true way to life-the only possible way of happiness, peace and joy; that it is immutable and binding throughout eternity; and that all unhappiness, misery, poverty, anguish, and woe has come from its transgression.
We believe God so loved this world of helpless sinners that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), who, though in all points tempted as we are, lived without sin in the human flesh (Hebrews 4:15) and died for us as a substitutionary sacrifice (Hebrews 10:12). This made it legally possible for man’s sins to be forgiven and for God to release him from their penalty, since Jesus, whose life was of greater value than the sum total of all other human lives (because it was He who brought them into being), has paid the penalty in man’s stead.
We believe Christ was raised from the dead after His body reposed three days and three nights in the grave (I Corinthians 15:3-4), thus making immortality possible for mortal man; that He thereafter ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate (Hebrews 8:1; I John 2:1-2).
We believe that all who truly repent of their sins in full surrender and willing obedience to God, faithfully accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior, are forgiven their sins by an act of divine GRACE (Ephesians 1:7). They are justified, pardoned from the penalty of past sins, reconciled to God (Romans 5:9-10) and given the gift of the Holy Spirit upon baptism (Acts 2:38) into the body of Christ, which is the true CHURCH OF GOD. The Holy Spirit abides within such a person, effecting a true change in life and attitude, supplying the divine LOVE which alone can fulfill the law and produce righteousness. At baptism a Christian is begotten of God and will be born into the family of God at the resurrection (John 3:6; I Corinthians 15:52). We believe God’s greatest purpose is to expand His family.
We believe that from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, the seventh day of the week, is God’s Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). On this day we must rest from our labors, following the commands and example of the Apostle Paul, the New Testament Church and Jesus. The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people (Exodus 31:13).
We believe the seven annual holy days, as given to ancient Israel by God through Moses (Leviticus 23)--kept by Christ, the Apostle Paul and the New Testament Church--are to be kept today. These festivals picture God’s plan and purpose for mankind. The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread occur every spring; Pentecost is observed in early summer. In the fall, we observe Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. The sacrifices, which were added and later superceded by Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22-10:10), are no longer to be kept on those days nor at any other time.
We believe Christians are forbidden to kill (Exodus 20:13) or in any manner directly or indirectly take human life. We believe bearing arms is contrary to this doctrine; we therefore conscientiously refuse to bear arms or to come under military authority. Christians are, in fact, citizens of another government (John 18:36; Hebrews 11:13-16).
We believe the PROMISES were made to Abraham and his “seed,” Christ (Galatians 3:16), and that the covenants (including the New Covenant) and the promises pertain to ISRAEL. The national phases of the promises--MATERIAL blessings--have been given to the modern physical descendants of the Israelites (Genesis 22:15-18), but the SPIRITUAL phase of the promises-salvation-is through Christ alone, and is freely open to Gentiles also who, through Christ, become Abraham’s spiritual children and heirs according to the promises (Galatians 3:7-9, 29).
We believe the Church is that body of believers who are being led by the Holy Spirit; that the true Church of God is not a denomination; that the inspired name for this spiritual organism is “THE CHURCH OF GOD” (Acts 20:28); that the mission of the Church today is to preach the gospel of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD to all nations as a witness (Matthew 24:14), with emphasis on the warning to America and Britain of the prophecies pertaining to them (Ezekiel 33:7); to reconcile to God, and to save, through Christ, such people as are now called (John 6:44); and to minister to the Church of God. Members of the Church are being specially trained in this life to rule with Christ in the Millennium (Revelation 20:6).
We believe the only hope of eternal life for mortal man lies in the resurrection. At the end of the Millennium, ALL who have lived not knowing God will be raised to physical life and given the opportunity for salvation (I Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 20:5). We believe that there shall be a resurrection of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15; Daniel 12:2)-the just to eternal life as spirit beings upon Earth, the unjust to the second death in hell (Gehenna) fire in which they shall perish in eternal punishment (Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rule the Earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16); that at that time He will sit upon the throne of David, restoring all things during a thousand-year reign upon Earth and establishing the Kingdom of God, forever to be headquartered on Earth.
Philadelphia Church of God Beliefs
Statement of Beliefs
The Philadelphia Church of God believes and teaches the Bible is the full Word of God, inspired by God, and thereby available for instruction.
Each doctrine maintained by the Church is provable from the Holy Bible.
Only God can cause a person to become a member of the Church; therefore we do not proselytize for members by any means.
The Church’s responsibility is to teach the laws of God to whomever may desire to learn at absolutely no cost.
The Church does not seek financing from the public at large, but depends solely upon the tithes and freewill gifts from its members and co-workers; therefore we do not solicit funds from the public by any means.
The Church teaches its members that the integrity of the family is critical to the health of the nation.
Ministers are to be true servants to the membership and therefore must avoid extremes in lifestyle and lavishness.
All members are to subject themselves to the laws and regulations of the government of the land while following the example and instructions of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is a gift received from God, upon true repentance, which leads to salvation.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, not any man.
All men will ultimately be resurrected and those who are worthy will fellowship with God and Christ forever.
Sin, unrepented of, separates an individual from God and Christ.
Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins so that we may live an immortal life.
We should rejoice in our trials because God is using our trials to build His character in us.
The Church is responsible to inform the public at large of the soon-coming, glorious Kingdom of God.Additional Information
The Philadelphia Church of God believes and teaches the Bible is the full Word of God, inspired by God, and thereby available for instruction.
Each doctrine maintained by the Church is provable from the Holy Bible.
Only God can cause a person to become a member of the Church; therefore we do not proselytize for members by any means.
The Church’s responsibility is to teach the laws of God to whomever may desire to learn at absolutely no cost.
The Church does not seek financing from the public at large, but depends solely upon the tithes and freewill gifts from its members and co-workers; therefore we do not solicit funds from the public by any means.
The Church teaches its members that the integrity of the family is critical to the health of the nation.
Ministers are to be true servants to the membership and therefore must avoid extremes in lifestyle and lavishness.
All members are to subject themselves to the laws and regulations of the government of the land while following the example and instructions of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is a gift received from God, upon true repentance, which leads to salvation.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, not any man.
All men will ultimately be resurrected and those who are worthy will fellowship with God and Christ forever.
Sin, unrepented of, separates an individual from God and Christ.
Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins so that we may live an immortal life.
We should rejoice in our trials because God is using our trials to build His character in us.
The Church is responsible to inform the public at large of the soon-coming, glorious Kingdom of God.Additional Information
The spiritual purpose for the physical Temple
I understand the temple of God to be within, when the Father & Christ make their abode inside each adopted member of the family of God, through their Holy Spirit. - Bernard
Didn't Moses have the Holy Spirit when he oversaw the construction of the holy Tabernacle? How about David when he prepared for the Temple? Or Ezra and Nehemiah? Did that stop them from their holy physical work for the Tabernacle and Temple? Did they feel they were better than that and didn't need to do as God led them to do because they had the Holy Spirit? No.
Clearly the physical building of the holy Temple of God serves as a physical place to physically gather to worship God, as commanded, on the NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL level. The spiritual Temple, that has always been composed of those filled with God's Holy Spirit (and the Prophets had God's Holy Spirit before Shavuot/Pentecost, long before the Church of God was established in Jerusalem), doesn't compete or rule out the physical/national purposes God has ordained for the literal, physical Temple He commands Israel to build. Furthermore, this ought to be evident since the spiritual Temple (the early Jewish Church of God) continued to gladly meet, worship and fellowship at the physical Temple of God until they were warned to flee (to Pella - not stay in their homes) before the destruction, and as Paul proves, even offer sacrifices (with a deeper understanding of their meaning).
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Didn't Moses have the Holy Spirit when he oversaw the construction of the holy Tabernacle? How about David when he prepared for the Temple? Or Ezra and Nehemiah? Did that stop them from their holy physical work for the Tabernacle and Temple? Did they feel they were better than that and didn't need to do as God led them to do because they had the Holy Spirit? No.
Clearly the physical building of the holy Temple of God serves as a physical place to physically gather to worship God, as commanded, on the NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL level. The spiritual Temple, that has always been composed of those filled with God's Holy Spirit (and the Prophets had God's Holy Spirit before Shavuot/Pentecost, long before the Church of God was established in Jerusalem), doesn't compete or rule out the physical/national purposes God has ordained for the literal, physical Temple He commands Israel to build. Furthermore, this ought to be evident since the spiritual Temple (the early Jewish Church of God) continued to gladly meet, worship and fellowship at the physical Temple of God until they were warned to flee (to Pella - not stay in their homes) before the destruction, and as Paul proves, even offer sacrifices (with a deeper understanding of their meaning).
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Obama is a hypocrite!
The Miami Herald:
President Obama should do what he says about secrecy
OUR OPINION: President Obama promised transparency but often sides with secrecy
************
"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"
Why did Obama originally say on his website that he was "governed" by the British Nationality Act? Why does he pay lawyers to work hard to keep America in the dark? Why does he refuse to open up? What's he hiding?Demand your representatives get long overdue, honest answers to these serious questions. America can't afford to wait!
www.davidbenariel.org
President Obama should do what he says about secrecy
OUR OPINION: President Obama promised transparency but often sides with secrecy
************
"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"
Why did Obama originally say on his website that he was "governed" by the British Nationality Act? Why does he pay lawyers to work hard to keep America in the dark? Why does he refuse to open up? What's he hiding?Demand your representatives get long overdue, honest answers to these serious questions. America can't afford to wait!
www.davidbenariel.org
THE COVENANT
The Covenant: God's relationship with Jews, Israelites and Gentiles
Art Braidic (a minister of the Sabbath keeping Church of God) and I have enjoyed a biblical discussion about whether or not God's covenant with Judah is still active. I trust others may glean something profitable from our fellowship. I start with his intial response and add my comments:
My conclusion is that God brought the Jews back to fulfill prophecy, not to re-establish them as a nation permanently.
Thank you, Art, for prayerfully considering all this about Judah's return under Ezra and Nehemiah and taking the time to respond. May God bless our fellowship and inspire us all to a better understanding of this holy subject. Such discussions prove true that "iron sharpens iron."
God did indeed bring Judah back (but not all were willing to return just like today) to fulfill prophecy, but I must question if that was the only reason why did God not only send a scion of David (Zerubbabel), and a governor (Nehemiah), but a PRIEST to instruct the People in the Torah? Ezra had his Work cut out for him and did a marvelous job (Ezra 7:10).
His NATIONAL CONGREGATION repented of their Sabbath breaking (Nehemiah 13:17-22) and mixed marriages and entered into a COVENANT WITH GOD. We have no record of the Gentilized Israelites ever repenting, even in part, or returning and submitting to any biblical instruction (Ezra 10:1-3).
Judah had sinned worse than Israel originally, but THEY REPENTED and were brought back. Israel never repented and was never brought back. Some of Judah remained repentant from THE RETURN to the time of Yeshua, the New Testament bearing them record:
The priestly parents of John the Baptist (Luke 1:6), Simon and Anna - two holy and elderly witnesses and the Torah-observant Yosef and Miriam (Luke 2:25, 36-39).
And Yeshua said of the Gentiles and testified about the Jews:
John 4:22
22 You [Gentiles] worship what you do not know; we [Jews] know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
He couldn't say that about the Gentilized Israelites who had lost it all!
The Old Testament was to have seven eras.
I know the Church of God teaches this and I have shared it with others, but the Church of God isn't consistent when they reject the God-given authority of the scribes and the Pharisees that Christ acknowledged on the matters of the sacred calendar and responsibility to properly proclaim the holy days.
Christ was to come from Judah. All this was fulfilled and then, God destroyed the nation and scattered them exactly like He did their sister Israel.
God had already destroyed the former Judah and Jerusalem and scattered the Jews, but many of them repented and returned (part of true national repentance is to return to the Land, not just the Law). Those faithful Jews, the parents of John, the parents of Yeshua, Simon, Anna, and others like them remained faithful and accepted the Light that God had sent Judah and when the others rejected Him they were rejected.
But the physical and spiritual foundation of converted Jews continued without fail! The early Church of God was entirely Jewish, as you know. That Jewish/biblical foundation was most instrumental in the construction of the spiritual Temple that includes Gentile converts into that holy Branch. Most of Judah were temporarily cut off, just like the Gentilized Israelites, but SOME of them never were and continued right on as pioneers of faith towards the "New Jerusalem!"
Antiocus went through the land devastating it it and putting the abomination in the temple. I submit that if these people were God's people, in a covenant with them, then they would have not suffered so.
Isn't that a gospel of peace and prosperity? Don't true believers suffer persecution? If God wasn't in covenant with Judah, why did Yeshua call the defiled and CLEANSED Temple "My Father's House?" God sent Judah - still His covenant people at that point - the Macabbees as in the days of the Judges, just as the Church also teaches that Daniel prophesied of them as the "people who know their God and do (military) exploits," and they formed part of the seven eras of the Old Testament. Another traditional inconsistency!
To me, after Christ's death, any relationship was completely over.
Yes, I agree that after the unwarranted hatred Yeshua experienced at the hands of His brethren, like our father Joseph did earlier as a type, the Anointed One who came to purify Judah's religion and correct their misunderstandings and rebuke idolatrous traditions (which is why He spent so much time with the God-ordained Pharisees). He warned Judah of the Temple's imminent destruction and their dispersion and they rejected Him and His warning message and many of them paid for it with their lives, God was through - for the most part - with collective Judah. However, as stated above, God kept His Word to be the God of our fathers and our God to a remnant, folks like the righteous I've mentioned whose kind made up the early Church.
As Paul writes... Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
I do know your point, but to be technical, it's speaking of US being dead to sin (and its penalty) and resurrected in Christ, able to now marry Righteousness - it doesn't state that about Christ.
So, in the marriage to Israel, God was married to Judah. Once He died, He was able to remarry. He now is espoused to those He has called, and He will marry them at His return.
I know and have also shared this Church of God teaching, but the Scriptures reveal God saying to physical Israelites in these last days, God pleading with us to return to Him as our Husband, that He never divorced us! Judah and Israel are still married to God even if we've broken our part of the covenant relationship and God has "SEPARATED" us from Him due to our unrepentant sins. But He wants us back! (Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 3:14).
The Church of God, like the Prophets, ought to call our people back to the Law and the Covenant that God made with our Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and confirmed with our fathers at Mount Sinai) and wants to RENEW with us and improve upon it by writing His Torah upon the tablets of our converted hearts and minds, so help us God!
I actually do not know what replacement theology is.
It is denying the spiritual importance of physical Israel to God forever, regardless of our present sins that will soon be history.
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
All this is saying is that race alone isn't sufficient. That a physical Israelite must also have a spiritual Israelite identity or they're nothing more than physically circumcised spiritual Gentiles! And that physical Gentiles can be spiritual Israelites and join the Body of converted Israelite believers: the remnant of physical Israel who isn't blinded!
Rom 11:1
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.
Replacement theology would say it doesn't matter because spiritual Israel has replaced any need for physical Israelites to be in a covenant relationship with God and such a damnable heresy is dead wrong! Paul then stresses his PHYSICAL TRIBAL IDENTITY - he didn't dismiss it as unimportant. God must always have at least a chosen few physical Israelites to keep His Promise to our Fathers to be their God and the God of their literal descendants.
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
So, there is a remnant according to grace, not race. Who is that remnant comprised of?
Not so! The very example Paul used were ALL ISRAELITE. Why speak of a remnant except to refer to the relatively chosen few ISRAELITES who have not gone astray or been blinded? The remnant pertains to physical Israelites who are converted Israelites!
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
The election or remnant of physical ISRAELITES! Just like the vast majority of Jews rejected Jesus but a remnant of physical Jews remained faithful and formed the foundational Church of God in Jerusalem!
Rom 11:16
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree
While not the firstfruits, they are still holy because they are God's people.
It is converted physical Israelites who are the firstfruits, converted physical Israelites who are the roots, a converted physical Israelite olive tree that converted Gentiles can be grafted into! We are the Israelite Church of God, as Herbert W. Armstrong taught, and it is counterfeit Christianity that is a Gentile Church that seeks to replace physical Israelites in every way, physically and spiritually.
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Blindness IN PART, a partial blindness among Jews and Israelites. I really don't understand why God had to blind any of our people, maybe you know? Why couldn't He just work with Gentiles and Israelites at the same time like He does in the Church? Ancient Israel always accepted Gentile converts and they weren't at the expense of any Israelites. I really don't understand this part of the mystery and pray to grasp it better!
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Back to physical Israel, showing their physical descent from Jacob-Israel remains important to God despite "spiritual Israel." Again, it's because of the covenant that God made with our Fathers. That's why the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" will be cut short - mainly for the ethnic election, the physical Israelites' sakes! not the spiritual Church of God alone.
Matthew 24:22
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
Isaiah 1:9
9 Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
Leviticus 26:44-45
44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.
45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.'"
This GOOD NEWS is why the first chapter of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall is gladly called "Survival Guaranteed!"
Rom 11:28
As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Just like Elijah was opposed by most of his nation of Gentilized Israelites, and the 7,000 were the chosen few (COG - Cave of God), all physical Israelites, so most of the nation of Judah rejected My God Yah in the flesh except for the chosen few physical Israelites who became converted and were the Church of God in Judea! The election, the ethnic elect, the Chosen People, will finally respond to our calling to become a Kingdom of Priests, a Light to all Nations, so help us God! Hosanna in the Highest!
Rom 11: 30
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
This is the mystery I wrote of above that I would like to understand better.
As you stated, their time will come again, but I believe it is not now.
I agree that the vast majority of Joes and Jews are presently blinded, but I believe there are individuals with whom God is working, His Holy Spirit is WITH THEM (not yet in them, like with His disciples originally), as part of the process of national redemption, laying the groundwork, preparing the way, for when God chooses to call us all again into a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP with Him, like Gershon Salomon of the Temple Mount Faithful and other faithful Jews, exceptions, just like Simon and Anna.
Even as Herbert W. Armstrong taught the children of Worldwide Church of God members are SANCTIFIED (I Corinthians 7:14), so too are the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ezra 9:2). I believe this revelation needs to be better understood and taught in the congregations.
I love the Jewish people. I find them among the most bright, professional, and talented people in the world.
I know you do. I never doubted it. I also know that Judah offers the best and the worst in this world! We can either become "stars" (as the descendants of Abraham) or so much "dirt" (grains of sand).
May God bless klal Yisrael (all Israel/12 Tribes) to fulfill our incredible NATIONAL potential! (Isaiah 62:1-2, 6-7).
************
The English-Speaking Nations of White Israelites
The Plain Truth about the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel
Israel and Judah Must Get House in Order Before King Messiah Arrives
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
