THE CHURCH
For accuracy Bible translations recommended are Authorized King James Version or the New King James Version. It is advised you read the scriptures listed in this article in your own Bible
What is the nature of the Church? Where is the Church? Who is in the Church ? For the answers we go to the Bible, which is the authority on the subject.
1. The Church is the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12th chapter, note verse 27).
2. The true Church is made up of those who have the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Christ living in them. Romans 8:9 " But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ , he is none of His."
3. The Church is obedient to God. Now none of us is perfect. None of us has all knowledge. We may interpret some parts of scripture differently, because everything is not clearly black and white. There are grey areas of the law and Bible doctrines, subject to individual interpretation. Still, it is vital there be a clear understanding of the basic fundamentals of the faith, like the necessity of belief in Jesus Christ for example. These are areas that are clearly black and white. The Church isn't made up of spiritually perfect persons. It's a growing process.
Nevertheless your Bible says the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32). God the Father and Christ only reveal themselves to those that love them, and you prove your love for God by obeying Him (John 14:21) (1 John 5:2-3).
4. Those in the Church have repented of their sins and must develop a repentant attitude, because true Christians are not perfect, and are not without sin (Acts 2:37) (1 John 1: 8-10). The Church does not consist of perfect, sinless persons. They make mistakes. Probably most of them have serious spiritual problems to overcome. They may not understand a lot of the Bible and may even believe doctrines that the Bible doesn't teach. They fall down and don't hit the high standards God has set for them. However, they pick themselves up out of the dirt and keep at it. It is a growing process. It is a learning process. Thus the need for a repentant attitude.
What is sin ? Sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4).
Also we are to repent of our sinful natures, and symbolically crucify that old carnal nature on the cross with Christ (Romans 6:6-11) (Galatians 2:20) (Galatians 5: 24). Christians have also symbolically buried the old nature at baptism (Romans 6: 1-5) (Colossians 2:10-13). Coming up out of the water at baptism is symbolic of a new life beginning - the spiritual life. The Holy Spirit is now within the person and they are to learn how to follow that new nature, rather than being motivated by the old carnal mind.
A spirit lead Christian is involved in a spiritual struggle within themselves. The struggle is to no longer be motivated by the carnal mind. To not be motivated by greed, selfishness, lust, hatred, jealousy and other works of the evil human nature (Galatians 5:19-21) (Ephesians 5: 1-8 ). Rather they are instead to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and bear the good fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives like love, joy, peace, self-control, temperance and faith (Galatians 5:22-26) (Colossians 3: 10-15).
It is a spiritual struggle. A new spiritual life has begun after baptism, but the person is just a baby Christian. They have to grow up spiritually. In the process many mistakes are made. They stumble and fall. There are many bumps and bruises. There is much to be overcome. The Apostle Paul explained that struggle within himself in Romans the 7th chapter. This was many years after his baptism. He was still having a hard time. It is a lifetime struggle.
Baptism is important and it is directly connected with repentance and the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-38). There is also the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17) (Acts 19: 1-6).
5. Those in the Church believe in Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16) (John 3:14-18). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We are saved through faith. We cannot save ourselves. The wages of sin is death and all have sinned (except for Christ) . Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Those in the Church trust and believe in Jesus Christ to wash away their sins. However, we are living in such faithless times.
6. Those in the true Church produce fruits for God, but sometimes the fruits are slow to grow - just give them time and have patience (Matthew 3:10) (Luke 13: 6-9) (John 15: 1-8). There are the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). People are so cynical these days and so ready to condemn and judge those who profess to be Christians. Remember the Church is not made up of perfect persons, with perfect character. And we can't see into another person's heart. So don't be too eager to judge others. They may be doing much better spiritually than you may think.
7. God's servants do God's work here on earth and are invariably persecuted, sometimes sooner and sometimes later (Matthew 20:1-16) (John 17:14) (2 Timothy 3:12). The real thing - the real servant of God is different from the world - they stick out in some way. God's servants have always been persecuted throughout the ages. It comes with the territory. Of course some are persecuted more than others. And certainly professing Christians shouldn't go around deliberately provoking persecution.
So hopefully this has shed a little more light on a very controversial subject. Where is the true Church today ? Well the true Church is a spiritual organism made up of those who have the Holy Spirit living in them. So where it is - is where the true believers are. And they may be scattered throughout the earth as far as we know . Yes perhaps scattered like salt (Matthew 5:13). But we can get more understanding by studying the prophecies regarding the Church in the last days.
GOD'S CHURCH IS IN A PRECARIOUS SITUATION
Many prayers have gone up to God regarding the state of the church. We happened to take a trip out to Cypress Hills in the summer of 2005. While driving north to connect with the Trans Canada we happened upon an old abandoned church building. We stopped and went inside and took some pictures.
There were many pigeons living in the attic. The inside of the old church was full of pigeon droppings. We could hear the loud cooing coming from the attic.
Could it be that God's church is something like this old church building - neglected and virtually abandoned ?
And the countryside was so still, except for the song of a meadowlark. So very empty of people, and with an old cemetery near the church.
Genuine Christians are very important to God. They are described as the salt of the earth. The presence of true Christians on this earth are salt or seasoning to make this world tolerable to God. Otherwise God just isn't interested.
Another important point is that if there are no true servants of God left here on earth then Jesus Christ will not return to cut short the days, and He will just let mankind destroy all human life through their nuclear weapons during the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22). It says very clearly in Matthew 24:22 " And except those days should be shortened , there should be no flesh saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." The " elect " refers to genuine Christians.
If all Christians have fallen away then there is absolutely no hope for this world. Very major prophecies would not be kept ! Christ won't rule the earth for the 1,000 year period, which is referred to as the Millennium. Christ would not step in to stop mankind from committing mass suicide with their nuclear weapons. God would simply move right on to the new heaven and the new earth. There would be the resurrection of the saints of course, but massive numbers of mankind would never be given their first opportunity for salvation !! This is serious business here.
And if you think it is not possible for the Church to be so decimated that there is not a single Holy Spirit led Christian left here on earth - well then you don't comprehend the reality. It certainly is a possibility, if no one really cares !
Let us examine the prophecies regarding God's true church. These can be found in Revelation Chapters two and three. There are seven different eras or phases of God's true spirit led Church of God listed in Revelation ; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These are prophecies regarding the church through the ages and are in chronological order. Ephesus for example consisted of the early church. People like Peter, John, Paul, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and those in the early years. That era gradually faded away and another one arose. Very often it arose in a new location. This process continued on throughout history up to our time now.
It is very important to remember that the Bible makes a clear distinction between the true body of Christ - the true spirit led Church of God - (which is very, very clearly identified to us in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3) - versus the Great False Church Mystery Babylon the Great and Her Harlot Daughters in Revelation Chapter 17. God's true Church is described in Rev. Chapters 2 and 3. Mystery Babylon and Her Harlot Daugters are described in Revelation Chapter 17. They are not the same.
We are now living in the last days. A time of almost universal corruption. A very wicked age where it is very difficult to be a real Christian (2 Timothy 3:1-7, 13). Conditions today are like those in the days of Noah, when almost all of mankind had corrupted their ways and the earth was filled with violence (Matthew 24:36-39) (Genesis 6: 5-8, 11-13). The 20th century was the bloodiest in all of recorded human history ! The last three eras of God's church(Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea) have been and are exposed to these corrupt end times.
The first four eras are no longer with us and you will find Christ had a lot of good things to say about them. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos and the Thyatira eras of God's true New Testament Church of God are long since past.
In Revelation chapter three we are given a picture of the spiritual health of the last three phases of God's church in the last days. Except for the Philadelphia Era the health of God's true church is terrible - just plain awful. Let's examine them in order. Remember this is God's true church being described here. For the most part it is not a very pretty picture.
Revelation 3:1-6 is Christ's message to the Sardis era:
Revelation 3:1-6 " (1) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (2) Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.(3) Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (4) Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (5) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (6) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. "
They are described in verse one as appearing to be an alive and active church, but spiritually they are dead ! They bring no works to perfection and are on the verge of death - verse 2. Only a few of them (verse 4) qualify to enter God's Kingdom!! So you look for a church era that appears very active, that seems alive and doing God's work, but after closer examination you find them to be virtually dead spiritually. They precede the Philadelphia era, but probably continue to exist in their spiritually deadened state right through to the present times (2013) and perhaps even up to Christ's return.
Revelation 3:7-13 is Christ's message to the Philadelphia era.
Revelation 3:7-13 " (7) And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; (8) I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
(9) Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (10) Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.(11)
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (12) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (13) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. "
They are of little strength, but have kept God's word and haven't denied His name (Verse 8). Little strength is clearly referring to either the numbers in that era, or their lack of material wealth, or both. It cannot be referring to the spiritual, because they try to obey. So here is a small, materially weak church. However, a door is opened for them to do some kind of work for God (verse 8).
This is the phase of God's church that is accounted worthy to be taken to a Place of Safety during the Great Tribulation (verse 10). They are protected for 3 ½ years in the wilderness from Satan and this is a place somewhere here on earth (Revelation 12:13-17). They are persecuted, but patiently obey God in spite of it (verse 10). So very clearly they exist right up to the time of the return of Jesus Christ, which is still a ways off.
So you look for a small, materially weak, despised, persecuted church in these Last Days that somehow has a door opened for them to do some sort of work for God. They are protected in the wilderness from Satan and from the Great Tribulation and the world government. They do not deny God's name. There is some kind of connection with the wilderness.
Revelation 3:14-22 is Christ's message to the Laodicean era.
Revelation 3:14-22 " (14) And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (21)To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (22) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. "
In verses 15 - 16 they are described as being spiritually lukewarm. Christ spits them out of His mouth, which symbolizes rejection ! Here is a church phase in the Last Days, which is spiritually smug and apathetic.
In verse 17 they are described as being spiritually wretched, spiritually miserable, spiritually poor, spiritually blind and spiritually naked ! This is an era of God's true church that is in absolutely horrible spiritual condition. Spiritually blind and spiritually naked - a very powerful condemnation indeed. What a horrible spiritual mess.
Why are they in such awful spiritual shape ? Here is the key.
Revelation 3:17 " Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;......."
They are rich in something. Obviously they are not rich spiritually. So what are they rich in ? It seems that what they are rich in has served to blind them spiritually. Now this era is obviously a contemporary of the Philadelphia in these corrupt Last Days. They both survive up to the return of Christ.
These end times are very corrupt times. Countries like Canada and the United States are very rich materially. This materialism is also present in other lands as well, but it is especially strong here. Canadians and Americans are living in perhaps one of the most materialistic societies in all of human history ! We are witnesses to the triumph of capitalism. The me generation.
There is an odd marriage between the idolatrous worship of the almighty dollar and professing Christianity. A sort of throw back, or remnant of Calvinist, where it was believed that material prosperity was a sign of Godliness. A sure sign that God was with you and pleased with you. Poverty being a sign of God's disapproval. You see it everywhere. The poor are despised here in Canada and no doubt also in the U.S.A. Poverty is a sin against the god of money, and a sure sign of laziness and indolence to many, many people. The Laodiceans have gotten caught up in this idolatry.
Also there is very much knowledge of the scriptures these days, so a church group can easily become smug and conceited due to their rich knowledge of the scriptures. Knowledge of the scriptures and prophecies is fine, but it is useless if it doesn't include obeying God's laws.
The Laodicea era of God's true church is suffering from an extremely serious spiritual disease. It's the disease of conceit, smugness and apathy. Doesn't that describe American and Canadian society to a tee? Canada is one of the most smug, self-satisfied, conceited, hypocritical nations you will come across. Obviously the church is influenced by the general society it lives in.
The church is supposed to resist the corrupting influence of the world. Real Christians are not supposed to be part of the idolatry of the greater society they live in. Something has gone seriously wrong in God's true church.
Can you now understand how real Christians are an endangered species ?
My Experience With The Worldwide Church Of God
When around 14 years old I became very interested in religion. Had read some Plain Truth magazines that my brother had left behind, and became a regular subscriber to this publication put out by the Worldwide Church of God. At this time also began tithing my income and sending it to them. Also enrolled in their free Bible Correspondence Course. At around age 23 began attending some of their Church services, occasionally.
My experience with them was mainly through the literature and the World Tomorrow radio broadcast. Was very impressed by Herbert W. Armstrong's knowledge of the scriptures and his sincerity. Have always followed H.W. Armstrong's advice - " Don't believe me , believe your Bible."
Was baptized at age 30, after an extended period of careful, personal study and preparation. The Worldwide Church of God teaching on salvation was rather confusing to me, so followed the procedure mentioned in the Bible and used what information I considered useful that the Church provided. Found Mr. Armstrong's teachings on the subject quite useful.
Was looking around for someone to do the physical ceremony of baptism , and the only logical place to look for me was to the Worldwide Church of God. Pastor Norm Strayer along with his assistant Paul Majeau performed the ceremony on a farm not far from Westlock, Alberta.
After baptism it was very strange, but a lot of scriptures that before were rather puzzling, now became clear. This was amazing, so I just sort of dropped other things and concentrated on spiritual matters. When I read the Bible - God the Father and Christ were speaking to me. Then I could talk to God through prayer. Then God would teach me lessons through everyday experiences and through the Bible. A relationship was formed. Very amazing spiritual lessons were learnt. There were tests of faith - some very severe. And God punished and corrected me.
Was baptized in the early fall, and spent that autumn, the winter, the spring and most of the following summer on the farm in deep study of the Bible, and concentrating on spiritual matters. This was because I was just literally learning so much. There was farm work to do, but a large percentage of the best hours of the day were spent in Bible study, prayer and thinking about and documenting the amazing things God was showing me. God and Christ were teaching me, and I was a very eager student.
Anyways prior to baptism and for years after, attended services held by the Worldwide Church of God fairly regularly and continued tithing. Had very little contact with the brethren socially, except at Church services.
Especially after baptism it became clear to me that there were doctrinal errors in the Worldwide Church of God. Yet, agreed for the most part with the sermons and almost always found them interesting and useful. Of course often did not agree with some things said, but kept it to myself. None of us is perfect. Ministers need to grow in knowledge too.
Had a disagreement about their policy of insisting men wear ties to services. Told one Minister very clearly that I thought it wrong. A tie is one of the most useless garments invented. All it does is choke you and make you feel uncomfortable. " It is just part of the corporate uniform, " I told him. Sure we should wear our best dress clothes to services. But why a tie ? So what I did was to put my tie on just before entering the Church and take it off very quickly after leaving the building.
Increasingly found myself in disagreement with more of their teachings and the excessive power ministers had over their congregations. But was sort of on the fringes and almost never came in contact with any of the brethren outside of the services. So my heretical views were known to almost no one in the Church.
Mr. Armstrong believed some interesting things regarding prophecy. His teachings concerning the identity of Israel in the last days were in my judgment fairly accurate. There are powerful proofs that the English speaking peoples, like Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States are indeed part of the lost tribes of Israel. Yes Canada is part of the tribe of Ephraim and the United States is Manasseh - together we are the tribe of Joseph. Yes we are brothers. We are the recipients of the birth right blessing given to Joseph. Queen Elizabeth II does indeed sit on the throne of David.
Where H.W. Armstrong and the Church went off the track was in the interpretation of some prophecies, especially regarding Israel. He believed that prophecies about Israel in the last days in books like Ezekiel, referred to the tribe of Joseph namely countries like Britain, Canada, Australia and the USA. We were supposed to be ravaged by drought. A United Europe was supposed to arise and turn against us. 1/3 of the population was to die by famine and pestilence, 1/3 was to die in the war and 1/3 of the population was to be taken captive by this Holy Roman Empire and scattered around the world.
This didn't seem logical. I pointed out the impracticality of such a prophetic scenario to a friend in the Church. Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States had at that time (in 1983) a population around say 360 million. 1/3 of that comes to 120 million. Why would any enemy be stupid enough to try and take captive 120 million people - even if they were to overcome us militarily ? It would be a complete logistical nightmare. There would be no practical reason to do it. You wouldn't have enough ships, trains and trucks to haul away all those slaves. And how on earth would the conquerors feed all them millions of slaves ? And where would they deport all of them, in an already overcrowded world ? Yet my friend was a true believer and no practical obstacle stands in the way of such people's cherished delusions. The whole idea didn't make sense to me.
Now if you apply the same prophecies to the land called Israel in the Holy Land then it does make sense and it is practical. Israel in Palestine is about the size of Vancouver Island and the population in 2010 is around 7.5 million. About 75 % of the population is Jewish. There could be perhaps up to 9 million people when these end time prophecies come to pass. It is probably likely that mostly only the Jews would be deported. It is entirely feasible for an enemy force to take captive and exile to slavery 1/3 of around 6.75 million which comes to roughly 2.25 million people. The land is tiny. The military and practical logistics in rounding up and deporting 2 to 3 million people in a small land like Israel are not insurmountable.
One year (around 1982 or 83) just prior to Passover - was attending services at the Edmonton North congregation, and being my quiet, unobtrusive self, as usual. Apparently the Ministers had arbitrarily decided to assign a place for single members to go and keep the Night To Be Much Observed. I was single and apparently had been assigned a place to go without my knowledge or consent.
Didn't understand much about what this Night To Be Much Observed was about, except that they washed each other's feet. From my understanding I felt and still do that this foot washing ceremony was not something we are commanded to perform literally each year, but it was symbolic of how we in the church should love each other and serve each other. In Christ's time in Judea there was a practical reason for Christ to wash His disciples feet. They wore sandals and had to walk a lot and the roads were dusty. Felt that if I were to go along with the foot washing ceremony then would be bound to keep it up for the rest of my life. And would feel that my salvation would depend on me doing this ceremony each year. Other than the foot washing business understood very little about what that church did on this Night To Be Much Observed.
Was always prepared to go along with teachings and doctrines that made sense and agreed with the Bible. Was never prepared to go along with false teachings and things I didn't understand. Being indomitable I was also not going to let anyone bully me. Not you typical true believer !
Well this guy comes up (he was a man in the Church I had seen, but never knew personally, not even his name) and asks if I wanted to come to his place to keep this ceremony (to keep this ceremony and to no doubt wash the feet of someone I did not even know). Even Christ during the Last Supper did not wash the feet of strangers, but of His 12 disciples, whom He knew well and spent over 3 years with. Well I just blurted out, " No! " He was not pleased. So he reports this to the Ministers. Doug Smith was the head Pastor and Gordon Graham was the assistant Pastor - this was in the Edmonton North Church. So I am called to the carpet like a little kid. They both meet me behind the stage in the school gym, where the Church Services were being held. Why do Ministers, like Police, always seem to go about in twos ? Is it to intimidate people ?
Smith begins asking me questions like at a trial. Smith had just been transferred from Ontario to Alberta and to my knowledge was originally from there. I'm getting real defensive, but was not abusive. However, cannot tolerate anyone trying to dominate me.
Pastor Doug Smith begins questioning me about my baptism. I believe he mentioned something about a second baptism. Now this is getting really, really serious. He was beginning to question the legitimacy of my baptism ! There is no such thing as a second baptism in my books, Ephesians 4:5 " One Lord, one faith, one baptism. " If I were to submit to a second baptism this would have meant to me the loss of salvation, because we are saved through faith. This would display a tremendous lack of faith on my part in my first baptism, and a lack of faith in Christ that He forgave my sins, and a lack of faith in God the Father that He gave me the Holy Spirit. We are saved through faith.
It is a very, very serious sin to question someone's faith and undermine their simple trust in Christ (Matthew 18:1-7,10).
He asks me " Who baptized you ? " - I answered Jesus Christ did ! And this is true ! The persons doing the baptism are only doing it in the name of Jesus Christ. Men cannot wash away your sins. Man can't give you the Holy Spirit. They are only servants. The baptism ceremony itself does not save you. These ceremonies are just symbolic of what is going on inside in the heart - in the spirit.
So I was not going to put up with anymore interrogations, and just walked out.
A few weeks later phoned up Pastor Doug Smith and ask , if it was okay to attend Sabbath services again ? No it wasn't ! He wanted to talk privately first.
Smith also said in our subsequent conversations, that if I were to attend Sabbath Services without his consent, he would have the police remove me from Church Services ! So he is even prepared to call the cops on me ! What was my crime ? All I ever did was attend church services fairly regularly, faithfully send in tithes for almost 20 years, sat quietly and listened with interest to the sermons, and peacefully socialized a bit with the brethren at church. A real dangerous man eh ?
Well I want to get back to attending church, because I felt it important. So keep at it and arrange for some more private discussions with Smith. Then he begins insisting I acknowledge that the Worldwide Church of God was the only true Church on earth. This was a doctrine of theirs that I had not accepted. My heretical ways are now becoming known.
They claimed to be the only true Church on earth, and so if you separated from them you couldn't be fruitful for God, and would eventually lose your salvation. That is basically the way their reasoning went. Now many in the Worldwide Church of God had accepted that doctrine and really believed it. Can you imagine how vulnerable such people were? How fearful and afraid to offend the hierarchy. How easy to control, intimidate and manipulate. A Minister in that kind of belief system has an enormous amount of control and power over individual members of the congregation. An excessive control.
Well kept quoting to Smith this scripture Romans 8:9 " But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, If so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."
Told him that this scripture shows us that the true Church is a spiritual organism made up of those who have the Holy Spirit living in them. So it was not possible for me to know for sure whether the Worldwide Church of God was the only true Church or not, since I didn't know how many professing Christians in the world had or did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. This response was not acceptable to him. Yet Armstrong himself had said that the church was a spiritual organism, in a radio broadcast I had heard ! Yet Smith insisted that the true Church is also a physical organization.
If I had given in and agreed with him then this would have given the man almost complete power and control over me. Also it would have been very dishonest on my part. And anyways the position I held then is the same I hold today. Am not in any position to judge which professing Christian has or does not have the Holy Spirit in them. There are well over 7 billion people on earth in 2013. There are probably almost 2 billion or more who are labelled as or identify with the Christian faith. There are over 1.1 billion Catholics ! God is the one who knows this stuff, not me.
So he won't let me attend services. I also talked to Assistant Pastor, Gordon Graham privately about this situation, but there was no resolution. I was never abusive during all this. Never swore at anyone. Never made threats. Never even hardly raised my voice. Man alive we are talking about persecution here. This is serious persecution, and it was coming from inside the Church, and from the Ministry !!
During this process I contacted the Canadian Head Office of the Worldwide Church of God . Told them that Smith would not allow me to attend services. Asked them for support, and help in dealing with the problem. They wrote me back and said they felt that Minister Smith was handling the matter properly in their judgment, and that he had their support. They simply washed their hands of the matter, and just delegated the matter to the local ministry, which in my case was Doug Smith.
Since I got no support when contacting the Canadian head office, I began to mull over the idea of contacting Herbert W. Armstrong personally. I never even tried to do this. The reason was because I felt that the way the Worldwide Church of God was organized, back in the early 1980's - there was no way in hell Mr. Armstrong's handlers would allow me to get through to him. Maybe that was the wrong attitude and approach on my part, and maybe I should have tried to make this matter known to Mr. Armstrong. However, my hunch was that the church hierarchy, would simply close ranks to protect themselves. H.W. Armstrong at that time was very old and feeble. In my judgment it would have been virtually impossible for just an ordinary, little church goer, like me to break through the layers of handlers, hangers on and church bureaucracy, that surrounded H.W. Armstrong.
What's the use I figured. And anyways Armstrong was instrumental in setting up the hierarchal system in the Worldwide Church of God. Their basic doctrine on the matter was that Armstrong believed they had structured the church in harmony with God's government and will. The local ministry had a lot of authority from head office, over their congregations. It was basically a top down sort of structure. In fact in his later years Mr. Armstrong repeatedly referred to himself as God's Apostle in his dealings with the brethren.
Heard with my own ears one of the churches evangelists , Gerald Waterhouse, preach that H.W. Armstrong was the one who was to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ. Once during the Feast of Tabernacles in Calgary, where he went into great detail, and said the place of safety was to be Petra, and H.W. Armstrong and his son Garner Ted Armstrong were the ones, who would be the Two Witnesses just prior to Christ's return. Also heard Waterhouse say pretty much the same thing when he came through our little community during an evangelical tour. He pounded on his Bible, and shouted out that he could see those things in the Bible !! I took these things in without judging them. Did not leap to condemn, nor did I stand up to applaud. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If the message is from God then it will come to pass, if it isn't then the preacher or prophet is just blowing hot air.
So very clearly there was a strong belief within the main hierarchy that they were God's exclusive chosen ones. So what's the point of trying to convince the top leaders in Pasadena that the hierarchy had erred, and I was being treated unjustly ? The leadership mostly had already presumptuously concluded their own little group were God's special ones, and Armstrong was God's end time apostle, and that the ministry was feeding the flock in harmony with God's government.
And there was absolutely no mechanism set up in the church, for people who felt they had been wronged to appeal to, except the organized hierarchy. There was no panel of independent elders, one could appeal to. Their rigid, inflexible hierarchal system would never had allowed a collection of elders, and brethren in the church to independently judge these matters. This brittle hierarchy, and bureaucracy left the Worldwide Church of God extremely vulnerable to being broken. It left the brethren too vulnerable and exposed, because to question the leadership was labelled as heretical. They would just kick you out in the end. The hierarchy had brainwashed very many of the brethren to believe that their church was the only true church on earth, and if you separated from them you would eventually lose your salvation. So there was no system set up in this brittle organization to protect the brethren from a leadership that might lose its way and go off into idolatry, false doctrine and excess. So what's the use of appealing to head office ?
Finally called up Smith and we had a final meeting. I wanted to move on. We are called to peace. So mentioned to Doug Smith that I'd just like to leave this in the hands of God and let Him deal with it as He pleases and sees fit. Smith agreed with the plan, and we parted ways peacefully.
In this process I had apparently been disfellowshipped, but had never received an official disfellowshipment letter. There was no letter clearly stating the reasons for being kicked out ! There was never any specific sins mentioned that should be worked on, and repented of either verbally or in written form. You would think that people kicked out of a church would be told very clearly why it was being done ! You would think there would be some serious sins involved. You would think they would be given a specific list of things to work on. And you would think there would be some sort of system of follow up. However, in my case there was nothing. Absolutely nothing ! Of course I was not and am not perfect, but was very dedicated and really tried hard to obey God's laws.
Well in 1986 Herbert W Armstrong died. A few years later there are all kinds of people leaving the Worldwide Church of God. It has since split up into numerous different independent groups. The church H.W. Armstrong worked so hard to build, basically just fell apart after his death.
Contacted the Worldwide Church of God around 1990, and explained what had happened and wouldn't it be possible to attend services here in Calgary ? They had Doug Smith call me. He had forgotten why he had me disfellowshipped ! Amazing ! He said that there was no reason why I couldn't return to attending church. A meeting was arranged with a couple of ministers. Did my homework and wrote out a long list of their doctrines I agreed with. The one older Minister was rather rude, but he was impressed by the long list and he said I could attend services.
There was no apology. There was no remorse shown by anyone responsible. There was no justice for me. Nobody gave a hoot about the way I was persecuted for no reason. Was looking for the fruits of the spirit in that organization, but found none.
Did attend one Sabbath service here in Calgary. The brethren that day seemed tense and unhappy. The Minister that day mentioned something about rumours of a staged walk out by some of the brethren during Sabbath Services. Deep divisions were very evident. I have not returned once since, and probably never will. Have faithfully kept the Sabbath since having been kicked out, and teach my family almost every Sabbath (the weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). It is a tiny group, but it is the real thing. Have pretty well given up on organized religion. There are too many control freaks in organized religion.
Major Changes in Worldwide Church of God Doctrines
Since then the Worldwide Church of God has watered down and changed a number of major doctrines. They have publicly discredited and rejected a good number of Mr. Armstrong's teachings.
Actually they have even officially changed their name. They now in 2013 call themselves the Grace Communion International. In Canada they call themselves Grace Communion International Canada. Naturally the church leadership justifies all these changes.
I wrote the Canadian head office of the Worldwide Church of God a letter, and asked them why all the changes since the death of HW Armstrong. I got a letter back dated June 18, 2010 signed by a Mr. Gary Moore the National Director of the Grace Communion International Canada. I am not sure whether this is just a form letter or not.
Here was his explanation as to why there were so many major changes, and allow me to quote directly from the letter:
" You are right our church has certainly experienced enormous changes since the days of Herbert W. Armstrong. However, we firmly believe these changes were necessary to correct errors in out teachings. Perhaps the greatest positive heritage Mr. Armstrong gave us was a deep respect for God's word - and a willingness to follow where it leads regardless of the cost. This desire to teach what the Bible teaches is the reason these changes were made.
" As we have changed so significantly - there arose a growing desire to change our name to reflect the fact we are such a different church. There is certainly Biblical precedent to change a name when major course change took place in a person's life. We can think of how Abram's name was changed to Abraham; Jacob to Israel; Saul to Paul. The name of our church is Grace Communion International. Here in Canada we are now Grace Communion International Canada. "
Allow me Ray Wegner to comment on these matters. From my personal long time familiarity with the teachings of H.W. Armstrong I will tell you clearly he would have never, ever have approved of most of the major changes in doctrine, or in the name change. Regarding the name he would have said that this isn't our church - it is God's Church. So we have no business changing the name, since it is the Church of God, not the church of men. It is not our church - it is God's church.
What I want to do now is to show readers some of the major teachings of the former Worldwide Church of God - now officially called Grace Communion International that are not scriptural, and which are not based on the foundation of the true church, which is the apostles, prophets and Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:18-22 " For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. "
The foundation of the true new testament Church of God is the Bible - the inspired writings of the prophets (like Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc) and the apostles (like Peter, John, James, Paul and Matthew) and with Jesus Christ being the Chief Cornerstone - the one who completes the foundation. That is where we get our church doctrines from. The foundation of God's true new testament church has been laid down already, and no one has any authority to add to that foundation. We must build upon that foundation. If we or our church group decides they want to add their own church doctrines and traditions to the foundation - then they are building a different foundation and are really not part of God's building.
Major Doctrinal Errors of Worldwide Church of God - now called Grace Communion International
This is taken straight from the official statement of beliefs of this church, which was sent to me and which I have read for myself. These doctrines are false doctrines, and not based on the scriptures.
1. The trinity false doctrine. They teach the Holy Spirit is one of three Gods. " We believe in one holy, all-powerful Creator God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "
The trinity false doctrine is an extremely serious false doctrine. For the truth on the matter go to my article on the false doctrine of the Trinity.
2. They now teach the false doctrine that we are saved through faith alone, and there need be no works added to our faith, that prove our faith. Basically they teach the same dead faith doctrine that much of mainstream professing Christianity teaches.
Here are my views regarding this matter of salvation and faith, which I believe are biblically based.
It is very important to understand that we cannot earn our salvation through our own efforts to keep the law. Salvation is a free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Only through Christ and our faith in Him, can we be saved from sin and death. This is because sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and all except Christ have sinned (Hebrews 4:14-16) (2 Corinthians 5:21) (Romans 3:23) (Galatians 3:22) (1 John 1:7-10). So all we earn through our own feeble efforts to gain salvation through our good works and our own righteousness of keeping the law is death, because we cannot keep the law perfectly - we make mistakes and we sin.
And to make matters worse all human beings have inherited the death penalty, because of the sins and rebellion of our ancient ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15-17 and 3:17-24) (Romans 5:12-21) (1 Corinthians 15:21). We cannot save ourselves on our own - that is why we need a Saviour and that person is Jesus Christ. He is our Living Mediator and Living High Priest in heaven - Christ is not dead He is very much alive.
We are saved through faith, but that must be a living faith- not a dead faith. We need to add to our faith works - that confirm our faith, because faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). Even the devils believe in Jesus Christ and God the Father.
James 2:17 " Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. "
James 2:19-20 " Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know O vain man, that faith without works is dead ? "
James 2:26 " For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. "
Go to my article Living Faith
3. They have rejected the weekly Sabbath - the true Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, which Christ and His disciples kept.
Here is a direct quote from their Statement of Beliefs:
" The Christian Sabbath - The Christian Sabbath is life in Jesus Christ, in whom every believer finds rest. The weekly seventh-day Sabbath, which was enjoined upon Israel in the Ten Commandments, was a shadow that prefigured the true Reality to whom it pointed - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "
4. They now teach the extremely dangerous false doctrine that salvation is assured for all believers in Jesus Christ. However, they teach a dead faith - rather than the living faith we must have for salvation. Therefore people who follow this doctrine can very easily feel they don't have to do anything more to be saved - other than believe in Jesus. This is an extremely deadly false doctrine, because people are lulled into a false sense of security - and can easily assume they need do nothing more to be saved except believe in Jesus - so they don't produce fruits for God, they don't work on their sins and spiritual faults, they don't work to overcome. Because they have been brainwashed into believing that Jesus has done everything for them, and all they need do is believe in Him to be saved.
Let me quote their exact doctrine on this subject from their Statement of Beliefs:
" Assurance of Salvation - The Bible affirms that all whose faith remains in Jesus Christ will be saved, and that nothing ' can snatch them out of His hand. ' The Bible emphasizes the infinite faithfulness of the Lord, the total sufficiency of Jesus Christ for our salvation, the dynamic love of God for all peoples, and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Having such assurance of salvation, believers are urged to remain firm in the faith and to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "
The facts are that Christians can still fall away and lose out on salvation, if we don't work at it, and don't produce fruits, and fall away and put something or someone else ahead of God in our lives, and don't work to overcome. God will not play second fiddle to anyone - we must have God the Father and Christ first in our lives, and if we have something or someone else first then we are involved in idolatry, and must repent of this sin. Both God the Father and God the Son are part of the Godhead.
Salvation is not guaranteed for us, if we don't take it seriously, and don't work at it. We can still fall back into sin, and become unfaithful to Christ, if we become spiritually apathetic. However, if we remain faithful to God and Christ, and work at it, and do our best - then God will never give up on us. Christ will never leave or forsake us, as long as we don't leave and forsake Him. True Christians can still lose out on salvation, if they stop trying, and other persons and things take over first place in their lives, and if they do not overcome until the end.
Christ's message to the seven eras of the true Church through the ages explains it perfectly. This can be found in Revelation Chapter 2 and 3. At the end of every message to the seven different phases of the true church Christ refers to the necessity of continuing to overcome right to the end. Continue the spiritual struggle. Don't give up spiritually. We may not overcome everything, but we are admonished to keep overcoming unto the end.
Christ's message to Ephesus era - Rev. 2: 7 ....to him that overcometh.....
Christ's message to the Smyrna era - Rev. 2: 11 .....He that overcometh ......
Christ's message to the Pergamos era -Rev. 2:17 ..... To him that overcometh...
Christ's message to the Thyatira era - Rev. 2:26...and he that overcometh...
Christ's message to the Sardis era - Revelation 3:5 ....He that overcometh.....
Christ's message to the Philadelphia era Rev. 3:12.....Him that overcometh.....
Christ's message to the Laodicia era Rev. 3:21....To him that overcometh...
Go to my article Living Faith
5. They have entered into communion with the great false church and her daughter churches - this is Mystery Babylon and Her Harlot Daughters. Therefore they have become part of this Babylon of spiritual confusion, and have not remained separate from the world.
Let me quote their specific doctrine here:
" We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. "
They accept the Nicene Creed (A.D. 381) as a Historical Document of the Christian Church. However, they omit the original words " Catholic Church " and use the words " apostolic Church. "
They accept The Apostle's Creed (A.D. 700) as a Historical Document of the Christian Church. Once again they have omitted the original reference to the Catholic church, and just use the words " embracing church. "
They accept The Definition of the Union of the Divine and Human Natures in the Person of Christ from the Council of Chalcedon A.D. 451 as a Historical Document of the Christian Church.
Basically what the Worldwide Church of God (now officially called the Grace Communion International) has done is turn its back on Christ, and joined the ranks of the apostate churches that came out of God's true church. Therefore in my judgment this church is among the ranks of the heretics, and are not faithful to Christ and the faith once delivered to the saints.
Jude 3-4 " Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. "
You can read my article called Heresy, which explains in greater detail the following:
The Source of the Doctrines of the True Church of God
What Were the Doctrines of the Early Church ?
False Teachers and False Prophets - the early source of Heresy and Heretics
Heresy and Heretics
1 John 2:19 " They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. "
There are some more false doctrines of the Grace Communion International to list, but I am tired now and may add more later. I am only one person. Pray that God would send more labourers into His harvest, because we are seriously short of workers.
Can you now understand why the Church is in ruins ?
Am not interested in persecuting the Worldwide Church of God , or any other church. Just want to get the truth out. This is not an attempt on my part to harm the Worldwide Church of God. Their own actions have harmed their church more than anything else. Others were persecuted by them also, and kicked out for no reason. It doesn't make any sense to kick out and disfellowship dedicated and loyal members, just because of a few minor differences. It is ridiculous.
It Is In The Listening
There have been so many people who have been so very, very critical of the Worldwide Church of God and Herbert W. Armstrong. Why there are people who are still persecuting Herbert W. Armstrong yet he has been dead for over 25 years - he died in 1986.
I never persecuted the Worldwide Church of God, and had an admiration for Herbert W. Armstrong - more so at the beginning than later on. I do feel he was a true spirit lead servant of God, but God is the Judge of this matter not me. My opinion really doesn't count for much here - it is God's opinion of someone that counts. H. W. Armstrong had his faults and sins, just like all the rest of us - Jesus Christ will judge those sins as to how serious they were. I was not very happy about some of the things which were going on later on in the WWCG - especially the influence of Stanley Rader, and the excessive salaries of the top people in the church like H.W. Armstrong, and the controlling domineering attitude of the church hierarchy.
I was not happy about the power struggles in the church and about H.W. Armstrong's attempts to manipulate the brethren, and his claim to be God's end time Apostle. We do not need anymore Apostles. I had nothing to do with the power struggle between H.W. Armstrong and his son Garner Ted Armstrong. I found the whole matter rather perplexing - and it was happening a long, long ways from where I lived.
When I was with the Worldwide Church of God prior to being kicked out, I was a really dedicated Christian, and hopefully still am. Truly enjoyed the Sabbath Services I attended - almost all of them. Would usually pray prior to going to church, and would always listen attentively to the sermons, and a lot of times I would sit right in the front row in the church, so I could listen more attentively to the sermons. Read with interest the Plain Truth Magazine and the writing of people like Herbert W. Armstrong, but my interest did wane a bit later on. I enjoyed listening to the World Tomorrow program.
I did not worry myself with the lifestyle of these men. Anyways I was not really very up to date or aware of how these people lived, and never had any personal contact with any of the top people in the church hierarchy. What is important for me is not the messenger, but the message and whether it agrees with the Bible or not. What is important is what you bring to the matter, and how I listened to God and His written word the Bible. So for me what was important was the message (as long as it agreed with the Bible teachings), and how I listened. And anyways these people like Armstrong and the rest of them were living far away in the USA (I was living in North Central Alberta), and I just knew them through the literature they sent out, the radio program, and the co-worker letters, and so on. Had no personal firsthand contact with these people whatsoever.
Take tithing for example. I was a willing tithe payer and enjoyed tithing. Had faith that God would do as He promises in the Bible, and bless me for tithing. And do you know, God did bless me.
I always followed Herbert W. Armstrong's advice - " Don't believe me, believe your Bible. "
As for those who claim the Worldwide Church of God prior to the mid 1980's was a cult. No - not for me. It is what we bring to it. For me, I look to God and Jesus Christ for leadership. They are the leaders. I do not look to human beings - the human teachers are only instruments in God's hands. I was not someone who blindly followed the human hierarchy in the Church. Yes there may have been people in the church, who really did follow blindly. That was not my problem. We should not follow blindly a human church leader, and we should not give up control over our lives to the church hierarchy. I did not automatically agree with everything in the sermons. If it agreed with he Bible - sure. But if it did not agree then no I could not accept it. However, I never caused problems within the church. I always socialized peacefully with the brethren at church. I never publically criticized the church heirarchy or the teachings I felt were in error.
I enjoyed socializing with the brethren before and after sermons and had ministers visit me in my home, and for the most part really enjoyed it. I was and still am not very happy about how the World Wide Church of God treated me. This caused me so very, very much pain
Folks it is what we bring to church and how well we follow God and His inspired and written word the Bible. It is in the listening. It is how we respond to the lessons and sermons. It is not how good or bad, or how righteous or sinful the minister is - what mattered was how I listened, and whether I followed God and His ways or not.
For a better understanding of this matter I like to use to example of little Samuel and you can read about it in 1 Samuel Chapters 1-3. Eli was the High Priest, but Eli and his sons did not please God. Eli's sons were corrupt, and Eli did nothing to restrain them - and so Eli was also sinning very seriously in God's eyes too. So God prepared and trained little Samuel to be His servant and prophet. Little Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. Samuel as a child was obedient to Eli. Eli and his sons were corrupt before God, but Samuel was obedient and faithful to God. God punished Eli and his sons, and promoted Samuel.
This should be our attitude too - to be just like the child Samuel. We cannot do anything much about the sins and corruption around us and of others - but we can be obedient to God and faithful to God in our own lives. God will deal with the sins of others - what is important is for us to try really hard to live close to God ourselves and remain faithful to God ourselves.
