Here is another example showing God is not now calling the world to understanding and salvation. Jesus spoke to the world to understanding and salvation. Jesus spoke to the uncalled world in parables to hide the meaning (verse 13). He explained the parable to his called disciples (verses 18-23). Some who are called in this Church age hear the Word of God when preached, but do not understand, and Satan catches away that which was sown in their hearts. Some receive the truth when preached with joy, but lack the depth of mind and character; when persecution comes, they are offended and turn away. Others hear and initially respond, but are so encumbered with earning a living and pleasures of the world they produce no fruit--like the one who received the one pound but did not grow in spiritual character and knowledge. But, of the others called out of the world and into God's Church, some produced spiritual fruit 100 fold, some 60 and some 30. They are saved by God's free grace, but in the next life in God's kingdom, shall be rewarded or given positions of responsibility and power according to their works.
 That means according to fruit borne. And fruit borne means more than regular Bible reading, prayer, church attendance or volunteer church duties. It means "the fruits of the Spirit" as explained in Galatians 5:22-23--showing more love or outgoing concern toward others, growing in joy, which is happiness running over, in peace with you own family, with neighbors, with all others. Growing in patience, being more kind and gently toward others, goodness and faith, as well as meekness and temperance.
 The CHURCH, then, is that body called out from Satan's world being prepared to restore, with and under Christ, the GOVERNMENT of God. That shall be a time when Satan shall have been REMOVED. It shall be a time when all living shall be called to repentance and salvation with eternal life through the Holy Spirit of GOD! The CHURCH, immortal, shall be RULING with Christ--replacing the present rule of Satan!
 The CHURCH, then, is that body of called-out-ones, who at the resurrection shall form the FIRSTFRUITS of God's harvest. That harvest is the reaping of physical flesh-and-blood, matter-composed humans converted into divine immortal GOD BEINGS--those in whom God actually has reproduced himself!

Church Still Carnal

WHY has God in wisdom gone slow--a step at a time? Few realize HOW GREAT is God's PURPOSE!
 After all these years of sinning, human life CUT OFF from God, even with God's own Holy Spirit given to those changed by initial conversion, those in the Church are initially "babes in Christ"--still far more carnal than spiritual.
 UNDERSTAND THIS!
 The CHURCH, as initially called in this life, is NOT YET capable of RULING the earth--of sitting with Christ in the THRONE where God originally placed Lucifer--of administering THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
 And THAT IS WHY God has placed HIS GOVERNMENT in his Church. That is WHY God's Church government is theocratic instead of democratic. That is why God has set ranks of government in his Church, apostles, evangelists, pastors, elders, both preaching and nonpreaching, "till we [in the Church] all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). It is not a matter of having "made it into the kingdom" upon being baptized, but a matter of spiritual growth and development in knowledge and in righteous character. That is WHY it is hierarchical in form--government from GOD at the top on down, not from the bottom up. Otherwise those at the bottom would be ruling GOD!
 It is the SAME government by which Christ shall rule all nations beginning with the millennium!
 And that is WHY Satan has subtilely influenced dissidents in God's Church to become resentful and bitter over God's government--why some have gone out of the Church!
 The churches of the world--"traditional Christianity"--DO NOT speak of the government of GOD. They do not picture Jesus as coming world RULER. They do not preach Jesus as coming KING--but only as Savior. They overlook--reject--scriptures speaking of Christ as King and coming Ruler, and government rule in the kingdom of God. And that is to say, they deliberately REJECT and OMIT the gospel MESSAGE of Christ in their teaching and preaching! They teach that one is already saved on "receiving" (GETTING) Christ!
 I repeat, the individual whom God calls and adds to his Church is not, at initial conversion, remotely capable of being given POWER of rule over nations!
 He is called a "babe in Christ." He has, if repentant and really converted in this preliminary human state, actually received a portion of the Holy Spirit of God. Indeed in Romans 8:16 we read: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
 But we need to grow spiritually before we are qualified to rule over cities and nations and teach those being converted.
 As the apostle Paul said to those in the first century Church who were not growing spiritually: "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee" (Heb. 6:12-14).
 We are already, though yet unborn, the begotten children of God. By direct comparison the impregnated embryo or fetus in a mother-to-be's womb is already the child of its parents, though not yet born. Therefore I remark, in passing, abortion is MURDER!
 But this brings us to a most important PURPOSE and FUNCTION of the Church!
 Beginning verse 22 of Galatians 4 is an allegory about the two covenants--the Covenant made with national Israel at Mount Sinai and the New Covenant to be made at Christ's return. However, ministers in the Church are "able ministers of the new testament" (II Cor. 3:6).
 The CHURCH is a part of, and preliminary to the final making of, the NEW TESTAMENT.
 In this allegory of the two covenants, the Church is called "THE MOTHER OF US ALL"--that is, of those in the Church.
 So notice the direct comparison. God is reproducing himself through humans. He endowed us with power to reproduce ourselves. And human reproduction is the exact type of God's SPIRITUAL REPRODUCTION!

How Human Reproduction Pictures Spiritual Salvation

Now see and UNDERSTAND how human reproduction pictures spiritual SALVATION!
 All human life comes from a tiny egg, called an ovum. It is produced inside the human mother. This ovum is about the size of a pin point. Inside it, when highly magnified, can be seen a small nucleus. But this ovum has a very limited life, of itself! Some doctors and scientists believe it has a life of only some 24 hours, unless fertilized by a sperm from a male.

 But human life may be imparted to it by a sperm cell, produced in the body of the human father. The sperm cell is the smallest cell in the human body--about one fiftieth the size of the ovum. The sperm--technically named a spermatozoon (plural, spermatozoa)--on entering an ovum, finds its way to and joins with the nucleus. This imparts life--physical human life--to the ovum.
 But it is not yet a born human being. Human life has merely been begotten. For the first four months it is called an embryo. After that, until birth it is called a fetus. This human life starts very small--the size of a tiny pin point--and the sperm that generates it is the smallest cell in a human body!
 Once begotten, it must be fed and nourished by physical food from the ground, through the mother. From this physical nourishment it must grow, and grow and GROW--until physically large enough to be born--after nine months. As it grows, the physical organs and characteristics gradually are formed. Soon a spinal column forms. A heart forms and begins to beat. Other internal organs form. Then, gradually, a body, a head, legs, arms. Finally hair begins to grow on the head, fingernails and toenails develop--facial features gradually shape up. By nine months the average normal fetus has grown to a weight of approximately six to nine pounds, and is ready to be born.
 A human has to be BEGOTTEN by his human father. To be born again of the Spirit--of GOD--one must first be begotten by the SPIRITUAL FATHER--Almighty God.

The Amazing Comparison

Now see how HUMAN begettal, period of gestation, and birth is the astounding identical TYPE of spiritual salvation--being BORN of God--being given ETERNAL LIFE in the kingdom of God--the GOD FAMILY into which we may be BORN!
 Each adult human is, spiritually, an "egg" or "ovum." In this spiritual ovum is a nucleus, the human mind with its human spirit. This spiritual "ovum" has a very limited life span, of itself--compared to ETERNAL LIFE--an average of some 70 years. But spiritual, divine immortal life may be imparted to it by the entrance into it of the HOLY SPIRIT, which comes from the very Person of GOD the Father. This divine Spirit of GOD joins with the nucleus of the human ovum, which is the human spirit and mind, and imparts to us also the divine nature (II Pet. 1:4). Heretofore we have had only human, fleshly or carnal nature.
 As the human sperm cell is the very smallest of all human cells, even so, many newly begotten Christians start out with a very small measure of God's Holy Spirit and character. Many may still be, at first, about 99.44 percent carnal! Apparently those in the Church of God at Corinth were (I Cor. 3:1-3). The apostle Paul said he still had to feed them on the spiritual milk--not yet adult spiritual "food." They certainly were not yet "BORN AGAIN."
 Now, as the physical male sperm finds its way to, and unites with the nucleus in the ovum, so God's Spirit enters and combines with the human spirit and MIND! There is, as explained before, a spirit IN man. This human spirit has combined with the brain to form human MIND. God's Spirit unites with, and witnesses with our spirit that we are, now, the children of GOD (Rom. 8:16). And God's Holy Spirit, now combined with our human spirit in our MIND, imparts to our mind power to comprehend SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE (I Cor. 2:11)--which the carnal mind cannot grasp.
 Now we have the presence of ETERNAL LIFE--God-life--through God's Spirit. In like manner the human embryo was an actual human life as yet undeveloped. But we are not yet immortal spirit beings--not yet BORN of GOD--just as the human ovum was not yet born of its human parents--not yet inheritors, and possessors, but physical HEIRS (Rom. 8:17). But IF God's Holy Spirit dwells in us, God will, at the resurrection, "quicken" to immortality our mortal bodies BY his Spirit that "dwelleth in us" (Rom. 8:11; I Cor. 15:49-53).
 Now we see how the astonishing analogy continues!
 As yet we are not born divine beings. We are not yet composed of spirit, but of physical matter. The divine life has merely been begotten. This divine CHARACTER starts so very small it is doubtful if much of it is in evidence--except for the glow of that ecstasy of spiritual "romance" that we may radiate in that "first love" of conversion--spiritually speaking. But so far as spiritual KNOWLEDGE and developed spiritual CHARACTER goes, there is not much, as yet.

The Spiritual Embryo

So now, once spiritually begotten, we are merely a spiritual embryo. Now we must be fed and nourished on SPIRITUAL food! Jesus said man shall not live by bread (physical food) alone, but by EVERY WORD OF GOD (spiritual food)! This we drink in from the Bible! But we drink in this spiritual knowledge and character, also, through personal, intimate, continuous contact with God through PRAYER, and through Christian fellowship with God's children in his Church. And also by the continual teaching imparted by the Church.
 Now the physical embryo and fetus is fed physically through the mother. God's CHURCH is called Jerusalem above "which is the MOTHER OF US ALL" (Gal. 4:26).
 Notice the exact parallel! The CHURCH is the spiritual MOTHER OF ITS MEMBERS. God has set his called and chosen ministers in his Church to FEED THE FLOCK--"for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body [CHURCH] of Christ: TILL WE all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13).
 It is the duty of Christ's TRUE ministers (and how scarce today) to PROTECT the begotten but yet unborn saints from false doctrines, from false ministers.
 The HUMAN mother carries her unborn baby in that part of her body where she can best PROTECT it from physical harm; and that protection is part of her function, as well as to nourish the unborn child! Even so, the CHURCH, through Christ's ministers, instructs, teaches, counsels with, advises, and PROTECTS from spiritual harm the unborn members! What a WONDERFUL picture is human reproduction of spiritual SALVATION!
 Continue further! As the physical fetus must grow physically large enough to be born, so the begotten Christian must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ (II Pet. 3:18)--must overcome, must develop in spiritual CHARACTER during this life, in order to be BORN into the kingdom of GOD!
 And as the physical fetus gradually, one by one, develops the physical organs, features and characteristics, even so the begotten Christian must gradually, continually, develop the SPIRITUAL character--love, faith, patience, gentleness, temperance. He (or she) must live by, and be a DOER of the Word of God. He must develop the divine CHARACTER!

Finally--Immortality!

Then in God's due time--though the person may die meanwhile--by a resurrection, or by instantaneous CHANGE to immortality at Christ's coming, he shall be BORN of God--into the KINGDOM OF GOD--because GOD is that kingdom! He is no longer material flesh from the ground, but composed of spirit, even as God is a Spirit (John 4:24).
 HOW WONDERFUL is the TRUTH OF GOD!
 Yet, by his dastardly deceptions Satan has DECEIVED THE WORLD--has blinded humanity to the fact that God IS this KINGDOM Jesus proclaimed--and that WE may be born as spiritual individuals--as part of that divine FAMILY--as part of the GOD KINGDOM!
 How precious is GOD'S TRUTH! God designed reproduction to picture his truth in physical manner and to KEEP US CONSTANTLY IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WONDERFUL PLAN OF SALVATION!
 It is the function of the CHURCH--as the spiritual MOTHER of Christians in it--to develop holy, righteous and perfect godly CHARACTER in those God has called--those God has added to the Church.
 Remember, none CAN COME to Christ, except called and drawn by God the Father (John 6:44). Newly converted members are not brought to spiritual conversion by "salesmanship" of human evangelists--are not "talked into" being "converted"--are not emotionally high pressured by high-powered evangelistic oratory or fervor--or by emotion-packed "altar calls" in evangelistic crusades to the moanful strains of a choir singing, "Just as I am, I come, I come."
 You cannot find that sort of MODERN "Old-Fashioned Gospel" crusading either taught or used to set us an example in the New Testament! Yet people today suppose falsely that is the way Christ intended--the way Jesus initiated.
 Jesus DID NOT come on a "soul-saving crusade!" to try to save at that time all those in SATAN'S world. He came to call out of Satan's world a people predestinated and specially called and drawn by God. Jesus said it was impossible for others of SATAN'S WORLD to come to him for salvation unless specially called by God to become kings and teachers when God's WORLD TOMORROW has replaced SATAN'S WORLD. NEVER did Jesus beg or plead with anyone to "give one's heart to him." At Jacob's well in Samaria Jesus spoke to a woman about the Holy Spirit in terms of "living water."
 The woman said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not." Here was a direct request from an unconverted woman for salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit. BUT JESUS ONLY TOLD HER OF HER SINS--OF WHAT SHE HAD TO REPENT OF! He did NOT say, "Come to me, just as you are, in your sins."
 None CAN COME to Jesus except God the Father draws him! All have sinned. Sin is against GOD the Father. Sin must first be repented of--turned from! It is much more than remorse for guilt. It is a matter of being sufficiently SORRY to TURN FROM the sin, overcome the sin. This reconciles one to God on faith in Christ. It is GOD the Father who adds to the Church such as he calls to be saved (Acts 2:47). It is GOD who sets members in the Church (I Cor. 12:18)--not the emotional oratory of the evangelist in the emotional altar call!
 God sets individual members in his Church in order that his holy, righteous perfect CHARACTER may be developed in them. And WHY? To prepare them to become GOD BEINGS in the KINGDOM (family) OF GOD, to GOVERN and RULE the whole earth with the government of God!
 But HOW does the CHURCH as the spiritual MOTHER of its members DEVELOP THAT SPIRITUAL CHARACTER?
 This brings us to the real PURPOSE of the Church. This brings us to an UNDERSTANDING of WHY one cannot be BORN AGAIN outside the CHURCH.

Real Purpose of the Church

NOW MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL--what is the REAL PURPOSE for the Church? WHY did God have Christ raise it up?
 The CHURCH is the spiritual MOTHER of human converts. They are the spiritual embryos and fetuses as yet UNBORN, although begotten by God's Holy Spirit--already children of GOD.
 The CHURCH is God's spiritual ORGANISM, well organized, for feeding on spiritual food, training and developing in spiritual righteous CHARACTER the future GOD BEINGS--sons of God the Father!
 For that training--that spiritual development of God's CHARACTER, God has given his Church a DUAL responsibility:
 1) "Go ye into all the world" and proclaim the GOOD NEWS--announcement--of the coming kingdom of God.
 2) "Feed my sheep."
 But in FEEDING the "sheep," developing in them God's spiritual CHARACTER, God has given them THEIR PART in supporting, backing up, the great commission: "Go ye into all the world."
 This first and great commission was given to the apostles. To a lesser extent evangelists were used in carrying forth the message. Other leaders--ordained ministers--were stationary, yet even the local pastor of a church may hold evangelistic services in his area--not the "soul-saving crusade" type, but lectures ANNOUNCING and PROCLAIMING as a witness the coming KINGDOM OF GOD (the true gospel)!
 This ENTIRE GREAT COMMISSION--proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of the coming kingdom, and "feeding the sheep"--is a COMBINED administration and function of the Church.
 The individual lay member HAS HIS VITAL PART in proclaiming the GOOD NEWS (gospel) to the world. HOW? Not by going out and himself proclaiming Christ's message to the neighborhood or to the world. That is done primarily by the apostles, to some extent by evangelists, and to even a lesser extent in local areas by local pastors. (The chief responsibility of local pastors is supervision of and preaching to the local church.)
 But the ENTIRE CHURCH OPERATION is one WHOLE, organized into various operations and administrations (I Cor. 12:5-6).

Part of the Lay Member

For example, what part does the individual local member have in taking the gospel message to ALL THE WORLD? This is done primarily and directly by the APOSTLE. In this latter half of the twentieth century it is done also by radio, television and in PRINT!
 In the first century it was done by personal proclamation. Then WHAT PART did the individual lay member have in it?
 MUCH! Without this larger body of lay members the apostle could do nothing!
 Notice a scriptural example: Peter and John had been proclaiming the message at the Temple in Jerusalem. A miracle had been performed by Peter a large crowd had gathered. As a result Peter and John were thrown in prison overnight, and severely threatened. Their lives were in danger. They were unnerved.
 They went immediately upon release to the lay brethren (Acts 4:23). They needed the backing, support, encouragement of the brethren. They fervently PRAYED! Peter and John sorely NEEDED this loyalty, backing and the prayers of the lay members. THEY WERE ALL A TEAM TOGETHER!
 Take a recent modern example.
 The office of the attorney general of America's most populous state--California--had made a sudden, unexpected massive armed assault on the headquarters of the Worldwide Church of God at Pasadena, California. They claimed, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, that all church property and assets belong to the State, and a court had secretly appointed a receiver to TAKE OVER, RUN AND OPERATE the Church of the living GOD!
 But when the receiver was about to enter with his staff and deputy sheriffs the Hall of Administration and other headquarters buildings, some 5,000 lay members, with children and babies, crowded these buildings in extended and continuous prayer services. The doors were locked. The armed officials did not quite dare to break down the doors and disturb these massive and orderly prayer services. After three days they gave up. The receiver, an ex-judge of a non-Christian faith, resigned. The civil lawsuit went on "the back burner." And the OPERATION OF THE CHURCH CONTINUED! The higher appellate court later ruled that this lawsuit was without foundation and never should have been started.
 The author, Christ's apostle, can say emphatically that the apostles, evangelists, pastors and elders could not carry on the work of God without the loyal backing and continual encouragement of the lay members.
 Neither can the individual lay member develop and build within him God's holy, righteous and perfect CHARACTER without the operations of the apostles, evangelists, pastors and elders. All these various members GOD HAS SET in his Church are interdependent--mutually dependent on one another. They form a TEAM--an ORGANIZED SPIRITUAL ORGANISM--utterly different from any secular and worldly organization!
 How, more specifically, does this mutual dependency operate?

God Has Provided Modern Methods

In general, the whole operation of the Church costs money in this late twentieth century world. Facilities and methods are available to the Church for performance of its commission that did not exist is the first-century world. Without the tithes and generous freewill offerings of lay members the Church commission could not be performed in today's world.
 Without the fervent and prevailing continual prayers of all members the work could not be accomplished. Without the continual ENCOURAGEMENT of lay members and those over them locally, those of us operating from headquarters could not bear up under the persecutions, oppositions, trials and frustrations.
 Also in reverse, the lay members need just as urgently the encouragement, teaching, counseling and leadership from headquarters and local pastors.
 An example of the former: I frequently receive large cards--often beautifully illustrated or decorated--signed by the hundreds of local members of churches, giving encouragement and assurances of loyalty, backing and support. Lay members scattered over the world simply cannot conceive fully how much encouragement and inspiration this gives the one Christ has chosen to lead this tremendous worldwide activity, God's CHURCH! The assurance of the earnest PRAYERS crying out to God continually from these thousands from al parts of the earth inspire the confidence of FAITH to persevere in the direction and oversight in this great work!
 Specifically, HOW is God's Church organized today--HOW does it operate in this modern late twentieth century?
 Christ's gospel message--the kingdom of God--goes out worldwide in dynamic POWER by radio, by television, and by the mass-circulation magazine, The Plain Truth. This unique magazine of more than seven million copies monthly, in seven languages, is full color, effectively and interestingly carrying Christ's gospel. Then, sent free on request are millions of copies of dynamic full-page messages appeared as advertisements in leading newspapers, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and other daily newspapers. Large space has been used in the London Times.
 Then to encourage local church members and the ministry, a 14-to-20-page mimeographed Pastor General's Report is mailed from headquarters weekly to all ministers. Twice monthly a tabloid newspaper The Worldwide News goes out to all members. Monthly a handsome full-color magazine The Good News is sent to al lay members, ministers and near-member co-workers. And finally, Christ's apostle sends out monthly a mimeographed Co-Worker letter to all members and co-workers reporting on progress in the work, current activities and needs.
 And we must not overlook a very important department, the Bible Correspondence Course, sent free on enrollment to lay members, and the public, giving monthly lessons in-depth of basic subjects covered by the Bible.
 The author's personal travels to all parts of the world, representing Christ's message personally before kings, emperors, presidents, prime ministers and leaders under them in numerous nations perhaps ought to be mentioned.
 All this is a well-organized operation carrying out the PURPOSE of the Church, 1) proclaiming the coming kingdom of God to the world and 2) feeding the flock.
 The "loner"--the "individual Christian," who wants to climb up into the kingdom some other way than by CHRIST and HIS WAY through his CHURCH--is not being trained in CHRIST'S MANNER OF TRAINING, to rule and reign with Christ in his kingdom!

Individual Christians"--Ex-Members

Now what about the "private," or "individual Christian," who says, "I don't want to be a part of the Church--I want to seek my salvation direct and alone with Christ."
 The answer is this: God himself laid out the plan and the method by which humans may be, after begettal, trained and prepared to become part of the divine personnel of born GOD BEINGS that shall form the KINGDOM OF GOD!
 The kingdom of God will be the GOD FAMILY--a superbly and highly trained and organized family of GOD BEINGS. The Church is God's special school for training those he has selected and called to be trained in his Church--to be kings and priests, to rule and to teach--for their part in that kingdom. Only those so trained in the Church will be kings and priests in the kingdom of God.
 The person who says "I will get my salvation alone, outside of the Church" is totally deceived. This is not the time when salvation is opened to those in Satan's world. Those called now, I repeat emphatically, are NOT CALLED just for salvation. They are called for a special training provided only in God's Church.
 Those in Satan's world cannot train themselves outside of the Church for the special calling of being rulers and teachers in God's kingdom when Satan is removed and the world has become God's world.
 The Church is ORGANIZED on GOD'S pattern of mutual teamwork and cooperation to function perfectly together. They shall become the GOD FAMILY as it shall exist at the time of Christ's Second Coming. Remember God IS that divine faMILY!
 Take an analogy from Satan's world, A football player says: "I want to play in all of the games, but I'll train alone. I don't want to be part of the TEAM until the games start." Would the coach let him be part of the team in the games, without having learned TEAMWORK during practice season? Neither will God let one INTO his family at the resurrection who refused to be part of it now--in the CHURCH--in the spiritual "training season."
 To those chosen to be apostles in the start of the CHURCH, Jesus said, speaking of the CHURCH:
 "I am the vine, ye are the branches." Those not joined with others of the branches, all joined to the main vine, were NO PART OF THE CHURCH, and God the Father will cast them away as DEAD branches. The LIFE (spirit life impregnated now) is received along with all other "branches" from the main vine--Christ, the Head of the CHURCH!
 What about one who has been IN Christ's "spiritual BODY"--the Church--and is PUT OUT for cause (causing division or rebellion or opposition to Church government)? The CHURCH is like a human mother who is pregnant. If there is an abortion, the HUMAN LIFE departs totally from the fetus. There is, however, perhaps one difference in this analogy. A human who goes out, or is put out of God's Church, could, on repentance and renewed belief, be admitted bach into the body again.

What About the World's Churches?

What about the millions of members of other churches or religions?
 SATAN is the great counterfeiter. Satan has his churches, his religions, and his ministers in those religions and churches (II Cor. 11:13-15). What about the millions of people in traditional established "Christian" churches? In the book of Revelation, the TRUE Church is pictured in the 12th chapter as the persecuted "little flock," many martyred--put to death for their faith--having to FLEE for safety from persecution, torture and death. In chapter 17 is pictured the big, politically and worldly powerful churches, headed by "mother" "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (verse 5). In other words, the ancient "Babylonian Mystery" religion, out of whom have gone daughter churches in protest. This politically great church was the persecutor of "the saints" (verse 6). This false church, politically great, sits astride a "beast" pictured in chapter 13 as a government ruling by power of "the dragon" who (Rev. 12:9) is Satan the devil.
 This is shocking, but plainly revealed in God's Word!
 What about those, in such churches, who profess being "born-again Christians"? They are DECEIVED! They may be ever so sincere. They do not know they are deceived and wrong in their beliefs. But they are not now being judged! They are neither condemned to the lake of fire nor "saved." They are among the WHOLE WORLD, swayed by the deceptions of Satan, CUT OFF from God!
 It must be repeated--they shall have their eyes opened to God's TRUTH if still living after Christ comes and Satan is removed--or, if dead before then, resurrected and called to truth and salvation in the Great Throne Judgment resurrection (Rev. 20:11-12).
 Again, the reader is urged to read Just What Do You Mean--Born Again?
 Yes, the whole world is DECEIVED. But praise GOD! Satan soon shall be removed from earth, eyes shall be opened to ASTONISHING TRUTH, and ultimately EVERYBODY who ever lived shall have been called to salvation and eternal life! But when called, each must make his own decision. Sorrowfully as I say it, some will not repent, believe, and be saved. This book emphatically is not teaching a universal salvation. Some are going to finally perish in the lake of fire.
 Meanwhile God's GLORIOUS PURPOSE must be worked out here below according to God's wonderful MASTER PLAN--a step at a time!

Teachings and Beliefs

Now we must summarize the teaching and beliefs of God's true Church.
 This, naturally, is related directly to the purpose of the Church--to call out of Satan's present world disciples (students, learners) to be trained to become kings and priests (teachers) in God's world tomorrow when God will open the tree of life (salvation, immortality) to all flesh.
 But doctrinally, remember what the Church is called to help restore--the kingdom, government and character of God. What was taken away? God's law, the foundation of his government and the very essence of God's character and divine life.
 In other words, the pivotal point is the SIN question. Sin is the transgression of God's spiritual law (I John 3:4).
 Satan has deceived this world's churches into the belief that God's law was done away--that Jesus, rather than paying the price in human stead for transgressing the law, did away with it--"nailing it to his cross."
 The expression used by Protestants "nailing the law to his cross" can mean only one thing. This is Satan's teaching that by being nailed to the cross, Christ abolished the law, making it possible for humans to sin with impunity. What actually was nailed to the cross was Christ our sin bearer, who took on himself our sins, paying the death penalty in our stead, so that we are freed from the ultimate penalty of sinning, not made free to sin with impunity.
 The very basic teaching, belief AND DOCTRINE OF God's true Church therefore is based on the righteousness of and obedience to the law of God. That law is LOVE. But it is not human love. Human love cannot rise above the level of human self-centeredness. It must be "the love of God...shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy [Spirit]" (Rom. 5:5). Ancient Israel could not really obey God's law--they could have kept it according to the strict letter of the law. But since love is the fulfilling of the law and they had only human self-centered love, they could not have kept the law according to the spirit--because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.
 This basic teaching includes, therefore, all the "fruits of the Holy Spirit"--love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, fait, meekness, temperance, etc.
 The teachings of God's true Church are simply those of "living by every word" of the Holy Bible.
 The first man, Adam, chose to decide for himself right from wrong--to decide his own teachings, beliefs and ways of life. The world has followed that same course for 6,000 years. The Church is called out of the world to live the way God, through the Bible, teaches.

Synoptic History of the Church

Finally, we come to a brief history of the Church from its foundation in A.D. 31 to the present.
 The Church started on the day of Firstfruits called Pentecost, in June of A.D. 31. The Holy Spirit came from heaven upon the 120 disciples assembled in Jerusalem with a miraculous display such as has never before nor since occurred.
 The 120 were all of "one accord." Suddenly "there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2). Have you ever been in a tornado or a hurricane? I have. Wind can make a very loud sound. This sound filled "all the house where they were sitting." Next "there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy [Spirit], and began to speak with other tongues [languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance."
 Never has such a supernatural display occurred before or since. Yet the modern sects calling themselves "Pentecostal" claim to repeat this experience.
 But in their meetings no such sound comes form heaven. No supernatural divided tongues of flaming fire sit on their heads. Some do break out in a kind of gibberish supposed to be some foreign language, but emphatically not anything like that happened on this day of Pentecost in A.D. 31. Notice what kind of languages were spoken at the Church's inception. Many besides the 120 were present from many countries speaking different languages. Notice particularly, of these strangers, "every man heard them [the 120] speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying to one another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
 Now notice carefully. Every man--that is, each individual--heard them, the 120, all speaking in his own native language. The Greek heard the 120 speaking the Greek language. The Parthian heard the same 120 speaking in the Parthian language. The Mede heard the 120 speaking the language of the Medes. They understood what was being said. They got the message!
 Today, in "Pentecostal" meetings one person may break out in a kind of gibberish that others in the meeting do not understand (I Cor.14:28). It says if one speaks in a foreign language there must be an interpreter so the others can understand. "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God." In verse 33 it says God is not the author of confusion. In verse 19, God shows the relative unimportance of "tongues" by saying: "Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."
 When I speak to an audience in Japan or some other country, I always have an interpreter who will interpret into the language of that country, every few words, my message in their language. When I speak in this kind of "tongues" I speak with understanding, and the people get the message.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

This entire modern "Pentecostal" movement is based on a total misunderstanding and a deception of Satan in relation to the true meaning of the baptism of--or, more correctly, by--the Holy Spirit. Christ said through the apostle Paul that by one Spirit are we all baptized into the one body--the Church (I Cor. 12:13). The word baptize means "immerse" or "plunge into."
 "Pentecostal" people have been deceived into thinking that one is what they called "saved" when one receives Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. They consider "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" evidenced by speaking in "tongues" as a subsequent imbuement of power. I have had a great deal of experience with these people. This "baptism" as they call it seems to loosen their tongues in what they call an "imbuement with power," which, in practice, means power to speak emotionally, often braggingly.
 The above explanation will not change those already hooked on this deception, but hopefully it will prevent others from becoming misled by this counterfeit emotional "spirituality."
 Today's customary gospel about Christ believes that simply "believing on Christ," which is professing Christ as personal Savior, means that one is already saved. Yet Mark 7:7-9 shows that many even go so far as to worship Christ, and all in vain because they do not obey God's commandments--especially the Sabbath--but follow the traditions of men by which Satan has deceived the whole world.
 In John 8:30-44 the Jews who "believed on Christ" but who did not believe Christ or keep his commandments were called, by Jesus, the children of their father the devil. In I John 2:4 it shows that he who claims to know Christ as Savior, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.
 On the original day of Pentecost, of these Jews from other countries, some three thousand were baptized after a real repentance and belief in Christ and in his Word, on that same day. A day or two later, after Peter had healed the lifelong cripple at the gate of the Temple, 2,000 more were baptized. The new fledgling Church grew, not merely by addition, which God added to his Church, but by multiplication.
 But this phenomenal growth was not to continue long at such an amazing rate of growth.
 Remember, these in the Church were being specially called by God out of Satan's world. Satan was sitting on the throne of this earth. He fought fiendishly to protect his reign and upset God's purpose to redeem mankind. Satan had sought to kill the Christ-child. Satan tried desperately to tempt and disqualify Jesus at age 30. Satan did not give up, nor has he to this very day. He now sought to destroy the Church and if he could not destroy it, at least counterfeit it and deceive his world into a false Christianity.
 At the very outset Satan moved on Jews to fight the Church by denying Jesus as the prophesied Messiah. At the first the Church was almost wholly Jewish. The unconverted Jews fought to retain the physical rituals and animal sacrifices of the law of Moses.
 Very soon, while the membership in God's Church was being multiplied (Acts 6:1), there was a great persecution against the Church (Acts 8:1). Members were all scattered abroad throughout Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

False Gospel Proclaimed

Soon a violent controversy arose over whether the gospel to be proclaimed was the gospel of Christ (which was Jesus' gospel or good news about the kingdom of God) or whether they should preach a gospel ABOUT Christ, merely preaching the acceptance of Christ as Savior. As apostasy from Christ's truth gained momentum, much of the Church was turning to a different and counterfeit gospel, proclaiming Christ as Savior, but omitting entirely that sin is the transgression of God's spiritual law, and the good news of the kingdom of God, removal of Satan, and restoration of the government of God over the earth and the final opening of salvation to all of humanity, who, when judged, would repent, believe and receive eternal life as sons of God--as actual God beings.
 The apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds [those in the early Church] should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
 Then Paul goes on and describes the false preachers as stated previously, that were coming and changing the gospel of Christ right at that time.
 Then we turn next to Galatians 1:6-7. Paul wrote: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from his that called you [you had to be called to become a member of the Church--no one can come to Christ, except those that are called] into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." The gospel of Christ was the message about the coming kingdom of God. They were already turning to a different gospel.

Counterfeit Called "Christianity"

Already the curtain was rung down on the history of the true Church. You read of it in the book of Acts, but it doesn't go much beyond that. But the curtain seems to lift, and we begin to get a little bit of the history in about A.D. 150. There we see a church calling itself Christian, but it's a totally different church, as different as night is from day, down from up, or black from white. But it called itself Christian.
 Now we quote from a book of history, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I and chapter 15: "The scanty and suspicious materials on ecclesiastical history seldom enable us to dispel the dark cloud that hangs over the first age of the Church." I have often called it "the lost century," because the history of that Church was lost at that time.
 Scholars and church historians recognize that events in the early Christian Church between A.D. 50 and 150 can only be seen in vague outline--as if obscured by a thick mist.
 The noted English scholar Samuel G. Green in A Handbook of Church History wrote: "The thirty years which followed the close of the New Testament Canon and the destruction of Jerusalem are in truth the most obscure in the history of the Church. When we emerge in the second century we are, to a great extent, in a changed world."
 In Lectures on Ecclesiastical History William Fitzgerald wrote: "Over this period of transition, which immediately succeeds upon the era properly called apostolic, great obscurity hangs...."
 In The Course of Christian History William J. McGlothlin wrote: "But Christianity itself had been in [the] process of transformation as it progressed and at the close of the period was in many respects quite different from the apostolic Christianity."
 In History of the Christian Church Philip Schaff wrote: "The remaining thirty years of the first century are involved in mysterious darkness, illuminated only by the writings of John. This is a period of church history about which we know least and would like to know most."
 But if we look closely through this mist, we can begin to see what was happening.
 The world in which Christ founded his Church was the world of the Roman Empire--the greatest and most powerful empire that has ever existed. It stretched from Britain to the far reaches of modern-day Turkey, encompassing peoples from many different background and cultures under one system of government.
 Rome's ruling hand was firm but the subject peoples enjoyed considerable freedom, within the compass of Roman law. Providing all citizens and conquered peoples paid due homage to the Roman emperor, they were also allowed to practice their religious beliefs and worship the gods of their ancestors.
 After the day of Pentecost, the apostles began to follow Christ's instruction to go to all the world preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Once Christianity spread from Judea to the gentile lands to the north it began to encounter those who practiced the pagan religions of Babylon, Persia and Greece.
 The apostles came in contact with Simon Magus, a self-proclaimed leader in a cult that was deeply rooted in the mystery religion of ancient Babylon.
 Simon Magus' plot to buy himself a position of influence in the early Church was foiled by Peter (Acts 8). But other false teachers soon followed.
 In his early epistles, Paul warned the fledgling churches of Greece and Galatia that they were in danger of turning aside after another gospel--a false concept of Christ and his message.
 The gospel of Christ was being diluted as false ministers with their teaching, heavily influenced by the beliefs of Babylon and Persia, steadily infiltrated the congregations.
 As the first century wore on, the original apostles encouraged the members to stay faithful.
 Jude, the brother of Jesus, urges the membership to strive for the faith that was once delivered (Jude 3).
 The apostle John warns the brethren to have nothing to do with those who are bringing in false doctrines (II John 10).
 Many who called themselves Christian had not been truly converted. But throughout this period, all who called themselves Christian suffered greatly from the Roman authorities, because they refused to worship the emperor.
 The mad Nero in A.D. 64 blamed the burning of Rome on the Christians, and persecuted them savagely. Thousands suffered martyrdom.
 Shortly afterward, the Jews of Palestine rose in rebellion against the Roman authorities. The rebellion was suppressed and Jerusalem destroyed in A.D. 70.  A small number of true Christians in Jerusalem fled over the mountains to the safety of Pella.

Seven Church Eras

The book of Revelation records seven messages to seven churches that existed is Asia Minor toward the end of the first century A.D.
 These churches--Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea--were located along one of the mail routes of the old Roman Empire.
 Riders would follow the route--carrying messages from town to town.
 The messages to the seven churches have words of both encouragement and correction and they clearly show the dominant characteristics of each of the congregations at that time.
 But these messages were intended for a wider audience than the Christians in these small towns.
 They are a series of remarkable prophecies, by which the future of the true Church was foretold in outline form, from the day it began on Pentecost, A.D. 31, until the Second Coming of Christ.
 The history of the Church would fall into seven distinct eras--each with its own strengths and weaknesses and its own special trials and problems.
 Just as a message could pass along the mail route from Ephesus to Laodicea, so would the truth of God be passed from era to era.
 It was like a relay race--in which the baton is passed from runner to runner, each one doing his part, until the finish line is reached.
 Some time during the early decades of the second century, the baton was passed from the Ephesian era to the people that God had called to the Smyrna era of his Church.
 Powerless, often persecuted, and rejected as heretics, the world lost sight of them. Instead, there emerged from the lost century a church that was steadily growing in popularity but growing further away from the gospel that Jesus taught.
 Persecution continued at various times under the Romans until the fourth century, when Constantine recognized the degenerate Church of that period as an official religion of the empire.
 But the Church that he recognized was by now very different from the Church that Jesus founded. The doctrines and teachings that he had taught his apostles were now buried amid the trappings, ceremonies,mysteries and rituals of a church that called itself by the name of Christ. It was essentially the Babylonian Mystery religion, now being called Christian, accepting the doctrine of grace but turning it into license. In other words, it was the old pagan Babylonian Mystery religion wearing a new cloak: "Christianity."
 Once Constantine recognized them, this Church threw renewed energy into taking its message to the world. Teachers and preachers went to all parts of the Roman Empire with a message about Christ. Thousands--maybe millions--heard this gospel and believed it. But it was not the gospel Christ preached--his prophetic message of the coming kingdom of God.

Emperor Decreed Doctrine of False Church

What happened to the true Church during those centuries in which the gospel was suppressed?
 Emperor Constantine died in A.D. 337, just over 300 years after Christ was crucified. He had given his blessing to a church that claimed to be the one that Christ founded.
 Now that they were free from fear of oppression--the persecuted became persecutors. Those of the true Church who dared to disagree with their doctrine were branded as heretics, worthy of punishment.
 In about A.D. 365 the Catholic Council of Laodicea wrote in one of its most famous canons: "Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather, honouring the Lord's Day. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ." This was a virtual sentence to torture and/or death. The false church did not herself put true believers to death, but caused them to be put to death (Rev. 13:15). This decree of A.D. 365 definitely shows that there were true Christians observing the Sabbath.
 The small remnant of Christians of the Smyrna era fled once more--to seek the religious freedom they needed to practice their beliefs.
 They left few records. Occasionally they appear as a footnote of history, rejected as heretics, ridiculed, and hounded by their enemies. But their strongest testimony comes from Jesus himself, in his words of encouragement to the Church that was at Smyrna. "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty....Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer....Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:9-10, Revised Authorized Version).
 And so the baton passed from the Smyrna Christians to those of the Pergamos era.
 These had been called to carry the truth through one of history's most difficult periods--the Dark Ages.
 The power and influence of the great universal church spread far and wide, driving those who clung to the truth of God ever further into the wilderness.
 But they were never far from threat of persecution and martyrdom.
 And so very few of the Pergamos Christians remained faithful.
 One thousand years after Jesus had founded his Church, the exhausted remnant of the Pergamos era handed over the baton.
 The Thyatiran era got off to a vigorous start, preaching repentance throughout the Alpine Valley of Southern France and Northern Italy. Many heard and were converted.
 The religious authorities quickly reacted to this challenge.
 Leaders of the true Church were arrested. Some were martyred.
 After the death of its first leaders, the Church went into a temporary decline--but emerged once more under the dynamic leadership of Peter Waldo. For several years in the 12th century, these Waldensians flourished in the Alpine Valleys, preaching what truth they had. Booklets and articles were written and copied by hand. This was still before the days of printing.
 As Jesus prophesied of the Thyatiran era, they had faith and they worked hard. Their latter works were greater than the first.
 But once again, persecution followed, as the full force of the Inquisition was felt in the peaceful valleys that had once provided a safe haven for the work of God.
 Many that remained began to adopt the customs and traditions of the world around them.
 Europe now had many scattered groups of people calling themselves Christians.
 Meanwhile, the world was changing. Printing had been invented--and knowledge began to be increased. The Protestant Reformation broke the monopoly of the Church of Rome.
 As religious wars swept across the European continent during the Middle Ages, many refugees fled to the relative safety and tolerance of England. Among them were members of the true Church. They brought with them their doctrines and beliefs, especially the knowledge of the Sabbath.
 The strict Sunday-observing Puritans resisted, but in spite of a rising tide of opposition, in the early 17th century, there were several small Sabbath-keeping congregations in England. Jesus was raising up the fifth era of his Church--Sardis.
 Protestant England became increasingly intolerant of dissenters, including Sabbath keepers.
 The true Church in England withered. But across the ocean, men were beginning to discover a New World.
 Stephen Mumford, a member of a Sabbath-keeping church in London, left England for Newport, Rhode Island, in 1664. Rhode Island was the smallest of the American colonies, and had been founded by Roger Williams, a Baptist fleeing persecution from the Puritans of Massachusetts.
 Rhode Island was the first place in the world to guarantee freedom of religion as a basic tenet of its constitution. Finding none who kept the Sabbath, Mumford and his wife began to fellowship with the Baptist church in Newport. He did not proselytize, but quietly maintained his own belief. Several members of the Sunday-keeping congregation became convinced that they, too, should observe the Sabbath.
 They became the first Sabbath-keeping congregation in America.
 At first they met in private homes. In the historical museum at Newport, their record book is preserved--containing names--their contributions--even records of their ordination services.
 Also preserved is the simple, but elegant, meeting hall that they built in Newport in the early years of the 18th century. Others joined them in their belief, as God began to call more to his work in the New World.
 A second congregation was established at Hopkinton. This soon became a thriving church of several hundred. A bridge today marks the spot where their meeting house once stood. Several thousand were baptized here on the banks of the Pawkatuk River. Then spiritual decline set in.
 By the mid-1800s, vigorous new Sabbath-keeping congregations, raised up as a result of the preaching of William Miller, 1831-1849, could be found throughout the American Midwest.
 At Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1860, many thousands were persuaded to accept the beliefs of the followers of Ellen G. White.
 They departed from the true name--the Church of God. Instead of the true gospel, the kingdom of God, they substituted doctrines of Ellen G. White, called "the shut-door policy," "the investigative judgment," a "2,300 day" doctrine and "the spirit of prophecy," identifying Mrs. White as the church's prophet who actually set the church's doctrine.
 They adopted the name Seventh-day Adventists, by which name they are known to this day. But those who remained of the true Church of God refused to accept these teachings and doctrines and restored certain truths that had fallen into neglect in the previous century.
 They moved their headquarters to Marion, Iowa, and then to Stanberry, Missouri. A magazine, The Bible Advocate, was published. Their efforts bore some fruit--small congregations sprang up across the nation.
 And so it was that some time in the 19th century, a small congregation of the true Church of God was established in the peaceful Willamette Valley in Oregon.
 They were farmers, without formal education. They lacked trained ministers to teach and guide them. But they had the name, Church of God, and they faithfully kept the Sabbath day.
 God's Church had come a long way across the turbulent centuries since the day of Pentecost.
 It was weak, and lacked influence. Years of persecution and compromise had taken their toll. Much truth had been lost. But they had stayed the course.
 In the Willamette Valley, they waited. It was nearly time for the baton to change again--into the hands of those God would call to do his end-time work.

Restoration of God's Truth to Church

From the year 1931, exactly 1,900 years (a century of time cycles) from the foundation of the Church, this small remnant of the original true Church of God began to take on new life as the Philadelphia era. It had come to the "time of the end." A new spiritual vitality was infused into it. The time had come for Jesus' prophecy of Matthew 24:14 to be fulfilled--"this gospel of the kingdom shall be [proclaimed] in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Such vital truth that had been lost was gradually revealed and proclaimed.
 This Philadelphia era is described in verses 7 to 13 of Revelation 3. The Sardis era (Rev. 3:1-6) was by this time spiritually dying and had become impotent in spreading the true gospel of Christ. Indeed they had by this time lost knowledge of the true meaning of that gospel. They knew they were approaching the Second Coming of Christ, but they had no knowledge of what would happen during the thousand years millennium, further than the fact Christ would rule.
 Of the Philadelphia era of God's true Church we read: "To the angel of the church...." This word angel translated from the Greek aggelos means messenger or agent. This is not necessarily always referring to a spirit angel but can refer as well to a human agent. It is possible that God's principle of duality may apply here. It may apply to an actual spirit-composed angel that has been assigned as an overall agent or helper of this particular era of the Church. Or it may also apply to the human messenger or agent God has raised up to lead this era of his Church.
 At the same time another principle of duality may apply to verses 7-13. It may apply to the Church of this era as a whole, and also it could apply to the human leader God had raised up to this era of his Church.
 Continue with verse 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."
 This era of the Church was to produce fruit. To this era--or to its human leader--God had set before it an open door. It is recorded in II Corinthians 2:12 and also Acts 14:27 how Christ opened the door for Paul to go into other countries to preach the gospel. This Church and/or its leader had but little strength. Neither were of great and powerful stature in Satan's world but those of this era were faithful to the Word of God. Though much of the original gospel truth, imparted to the original apostles by Jesus in person, had been lost, it was restored through the Bible to this era of God's Church who were faithful in keeping it.
 It is revealed in Malachi 3:1-5 and 4:5-6 that God would raise up one in the power and spirit of Elijah, shortly prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In Matthew 17:11 Jesus said, even after John the Baptist had completed his mission, that this prophesied Elijah "truly shall first come, and restore all things." Although it is plainly revealed that John the Baptist had come in the power and spirit of Elijah, he did not restore anything. The human leader to be raised up somewhat shortly prior to Christ's Second Coming was to prepare the way--prepare the Church--for Christ's coming, and restore the truth that had been lost through the preceding eras of the Church. Also a door was to be opened for this leader and/or the Philadelphia era of the Church to fulfill Matthew 24:14: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
 It was to be at a time when, for the first time in the history of mankind, the weapons of mass destruction were produced that could erase all humanity from the earth (Matt. 24:21-22). This also was to occur just before the Second Coming of Christ (verses 29-30).
 These prophecies have now definitely been fulfilled. The true gospel has been restored and has now gone in power into every nation on the face of the earth.
 The Church has taken on a new Spirit-empowered life.
 All the technological advances and facilities are being employed.
 First radio was used, beginning on one of the smallest-powered stations in Eugene, Oregon. Then the printing press. This started with an old secondhand Neostyle, ancestor to the mimeograph. In due time the printing press was used. The advent of television came in 1945--immediately after the end of World War II. The Church began using television in the summer of 1955. The true gospel, for the first time in 1,900 years, has finally been proclaimed and published into all nations of the earth. The Church has grown. For the first 25 years it grew at an average rate of 30 percent per year.
 The first apostles would be astonished to see the size and scope of the work now. The means of communications, the technology and the modern resources that God has given to his end-time work would indeed be strange to those men who first received the commission to take the gospel to the world nearly 2,000 years ago.
 But some things would not be strange--the Sabbath and Holy Days, the name, the Church of God, and the gospel of the kingdom--these they would recognize--handed down through the ages from the time of Christ to the time of the end.
 

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