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most of his churches started out as Jewish. The persecution was
not so much from the rank and file of Jewish people, as from their
Jewish RULERS, who held political jobs under the Roman government--
the Pharisees--and also the scribes and Sadducees.
Nevertheless, the EARLIEST opposition and persecution the
apostles faced at the BEGINNING of the church was from these
officials who REJECTED Christ as the promised Messiah. The
apostles
were EYE WITNESSES to His life, death and RESURRECTION. They spent
40 days with Him AFTER His resurrection.
In OUR TIME, God showed me in the New Testament where He sent
His disciples FIRST to the same "lost sheep of the House of Israel"
(Matt. 15:24). And so it was that Christ, the Head of this Work,
caused me during the first 20 or 25 years of this Work, to put
SPECIAL emphasis on Ezekiel's warning to OUR PEOPLE, IN OUR DAY.
(Again, read the above mentioned booklet.)
But in the MEANTIME I was making every effort, as well as
Garner Ted after he came on the broadcast--1955 and after--as my
chief assistant in God's Work, to get the GOOD NEWS of the coming
KINGDOM OF GOD into other countries AROUND THE WORLD--but with
VERY LITTLE SUCCESS.
In those Gentile countries, the government CONTROLS ALL MEANS
OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION OR EDUCATION. They and their forms of
government seek to control the MINDS of their people.
For years I tried to reach countries like India, China,
Russia,
Argentina, Brazil, etc., and even Britain, France, Germany,
Holland,
Belgium, etc. from radio stations OUTSIDE their countries but close
to their borders. But most of these were "fly-by-night"
second-rate
shortwave stations, who really gave us virtually no audience
to speak of in the countries we wanted to reach. The DOORS to
these nations WERE CLOSED TO CHRIST'S MESSAGE.
But Christ said to His Philadelphia era Church, that because
we have but little strength, He would OPEN THOSE DOORS TO US
(Rev. 3:8).
Now I want to take you back to Ezekiel and show you something
I think VERY EXCITING and MOST IMPORTANT!
God said to Ezekiel, "But thou, son of man, hear what I say
unto thee...open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I
looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book
was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written within
and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and
mourning, and woe" (Ezek. 2:8-10).
Continue: "Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that
thou findest; eat this roll, and GO speak unto the house of
Israel" (Ezek. 3:1).