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An Open Letter To the true and
faithful members of God’s Church --
Worldwide -- Dear Brethren in Christ Jesus, Time
is running out! What
we have lived and struggled for over the years is now at the very
door! Soon the faithful will be gathered together by Jesus Christ,
through whomever He chooses, to depart for the place He will have
prepared for all who have been tested and proven themselves faithful
to God’s teachings as once delivered to the saints.
Once
there the elect will wait until Christ is seen by all of mankind as
He descends from heaven above to set foot on the Mount of Olives in
Jerusalem. It
will be at that time that God will grace His faithful people with a
new birth into His Divine Family to live in eternal joy and
happiness. At
the same time, we are living in the most chaotic and dangerous
period of time in our very lives for Satan is becoming increasingly
active in trying to destroy each one of us before that time comes.
He is entirely focused on robbing each of us of our place in
God’s Kingdom. His
primary tactic is deception, and he is continuing to use it widely
and very effectively within the corporate Churches of God. Satan’s
destructive heresy began after the death of God’s true apostle,
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, who stood in his way! Like a very tiny
cancer it subtly began its deadly growth toward destroying the very
Body of God. It
continued growing and spreading like leaven over time in the same
manner as does cancer or gangrene within the Church until it was
fully revealed in December 1994. For
many thousands -- it was then too late!
The spiritually fatal disease of heresy was running rampant
and had been accepted by thousands of members! Notice
a parallel from the early Church that fits perfectly with our
time today: “You ran well, who hindered you from obeying the
truth? This persuasion
[from false ministers] does not come from Him who calls you.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:7-9). In
the same way, deceptive heresy, like cancer, always spreads until it
KILLS a
person, unless it is caught in time!
Note
the warning from Paul: “But shun profane and vain babblings, for
they will increase to more ungodliness. AND
THEIR MESSAGE WILL SPREAD LIKE CANCER, … [by those] who has STRAYED concerning the truth, … (II
Timothy 2:16-18). Shortly
before the return of Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul was led by God
to write of a falling away that would take place (apostacia
– ‘a defection from the truth taught by the apostles’
-- II Thessalonians 2:3; Daniel 12:7).
To
avoid the growth and spreading of this cancerous heresy, he makes
known that to receive healing that leads to salvation one must have
a ‘love of the truth’ and a ‘belief
of the truth’ (verses 10, 13). The
falling away has taken place precisely on schedule and for the same reasons, a lack of love for and the
absence of a firm belief in the truth of God. And it continues
to take place wherever there are those who are sleeping spiritually,
who do not grasp the life, or death, importance of remaining
faithful to the vital truth God led His late apostle to restore
within His Church – again, precisely
on schedule
-- the end-time! (Malachi 4:4-6; Matthew 17:11). To
avoid the contracting of the cancerous heresy, and the laborious
process to remove it, God commands us to AVOID apostates and
heretics (Titus 3:9-11). Satan
well knows he is running out of time! As we draw ever closer to the
end of this age, he is working very hard through willing and known
respected leaders of the past who have become apostate. Leaders
who profess to be the true ministers of Jesus Christ, while
preaching just enough of the core restored doctrinal teachings
to deceive the membership! This
is the same exact ploy we have experienced in very recent years. Even
some of the same old sayings are still being used by these men as
they were used by the apostate leadership after the death of
God’s late apostle to deceive us. Remember
-- “1. This change is not a change 2. It’s a matter of semantics
or re-wording 3. It is only a clarification 4.
It is only a change in explanation not in doctrine 5. Mature
Christians will see it 6.
We are just putting the emphasis where it always should have been 7.
Be patient with the weaker brethren who can’t see it yet 8. The
change has nothing to do with salvation 9. Most scholars agree the
change is correct 10. The
change will help to avoid unnecessarily offending the world 11. God
is leading His Church to see these changes must be made
12. This change is made by the authority of Jesus Christ 13. Anyone
who cannot accept the changes isn’t satisfied with the leadership
God has provided for His Church 13. Anyone who resists these changes
is “spiritually rich and increased with goods” 14. We should not
reject a point just because it is Protestant
15. Mr. Armstrong would have agreed with and made these
changes himself 16.
Mr. Armstrong said privately before his death to make this
change [healing] 17.
Mr. Armstrong was not a scholar
18. Mr. Armstrong always secretly believed this change 19.
Anyone who resists these changes is only interested in glorifying
the memory of a man. 20.
This change will not affect how we worship God
21. A bitter,
satanic mind, does not want to accept these new truths. 22. God’s
word is not black and white, there are many nuances.” The
leading evangelist in the last corporate Church of which we were a
part of said to me: “Mr.
Armstrong changed before he died.”
“Doctrines? They
are only teachings!” In a sermon, he said, “If Mr. Armstrong
were alive he would rewrite the Mystery of the Ages for that is the
way he was!” Consider
the contrast of the following statement by the apostates, “Mr.
Armstrong was not a scholar!” Now note the writing of Mr.
Armstrong as to how he received the true teachings from God:
“Do
you know how I studied this question originally? … I got down on
my knees and I would read it awhile, and then I would close my eyes
and pray to God about it, and ask, ‘Oh God, open my eyes, open my
understanding. Help me
not to be misled or deceived, but whatever is truth help me to see
it and receive it.’ (‘Proving
the Truth’ World Tomorrow Broadcast. #9879). Writing
of the early history of God’s Church that has come to life in our
time today, he wrote:
“Even
in Paul’s day, many among those attending at Antioch, at
Jerusalem, and other places began to apostatize and turn from the
truth and way of life, were no part of God’s true Church,
though visibly assembling with those who were, The ‘mystery of iniquity’ was already working inside
these visible Churches. This apostasy increased!
By the year A.D. 125 the majority
in
most Churches, especially those Gentile-born, were continuing in
many of their old pagan beliefs and practices, though professing to
be Christians! Gradually,
a smaller and smaller portion of the visible Churches … remained
truly yielded to God and His truth, and led of His Spirit.
After Constantine took virtual control of the visible,
professing Church in the early 4th century, this visible
Church became almost totally pagan, and began excommunicating and
persecuting all who held to the true Word of God. [The
same took place with many of us!] “Finally,
it became necessary for real Christians, who, even as scattered
people, alone composed the true Christian Church, to flee from the
jurisdiction of Rome in order to truly worship God (The
Plain Truth, About Easter (1973), pp. 15-16, Mr. Herbert Armstrong).
The
parallel of the early Church and the Church in our time today is
most remarkable! Please
carefully take a very close look at your leadership and the
teachings of the corporate Church of which you are now a part, then
ask yourself: “What are the differences in their teachings from
those revealed by God through His late apostle?” To
help you to know, take the present doctrinal teachings of your
corporate Church and place them side by side with the Mystery of the
Ages and compare the two. What
about: “God’s form of government; Has it changed the gospel to
include Christ – as has the Christian world; How about the
officiating of inter-racial marriages; members who are allowed to
marry outside the Church; makeup; birthdays; changes in prophecy;
Passover on the 15th; the change of the two symbols of
the Passover to be one – effectively eliminating the meaning of
the bread, which symbolizes physical sin, thus weakening one’s
faith in healing by Christ’s broken body; a literal place of
safety; belief that Mr. Armstrong was God’s true apostle; the
Elijah who was to restore all things; the Sacred Calendar?” One
should also beware of any leader who claims lofty titles for
himself! In
this context think about another prophecy that is precisely
on time in its fulfillment -- a lengthy WARNING
for the last days: “For
the time will come WHEN they will NOT endure sound doctrine’ …
but TURN THEIR EARS FROM THE TRUTH, and shall be turned unto fables …” (II Timothy 3:13-4; 4). God’s
late apostle, Mr. Armstrong, wrote: “Rather astonishing, isn’t
it, that people who have heard God’s TRUTH preached for many years
– people who first accepted it in the love of God, professed it,
started out practicing it – should, through the years, fall
away from the truth … [and] begin to embrace false
doctrines and errors … “What
is God’s sentence upon them?
Listen! “It
is IMPOSSIBLE for those who were enlightened, and have tasted the
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have
tasted the good Word of God … if they shall fall away, to renew
them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh’ (Hebrews 6:4-6). “Let it be a warning to ALL, and let all FEAR, and TREMBLE
before the all-powerful WORD OF GOD!” (“Why
Local Churches?” Good News, March 1957, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong). Please
heed the WARNING! Time is running out for all of us! Will
YOU believe FULLY what Christ said Himself -- as well as what He led
His apostles to write, and speak?
I
urge each one to write for our new booklet to the address below, “Just what is an APOSTLE?” For your own peace of mind and stability in the truth of
God, you need to understand the office of an apostle and how God has
used them. This booklet
makes this very plain to the open mind. Let
all of us with love and great concern pray for one another. Don
Billingsley P. O. Box 8819, Modesto, CA 95357 (209) 772-0737. www.cog-ff.com |