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God started the present continuation of His Church for the
Philadelphia era through me. It really made no difference in what
country. I happened to be living in Oregon in America. The only way
it made any difference which country Christ started this generation
of His Church out in, is that America is the only country where the
common poor people could afford to START the Work of God, and where
one was free to take money from that country and go to other
countries to spread that wonderful Message.
I had to suffer hardship, persecution, opposition, even from
the time of my conversion. It was a long, hard struggle for years.
I had no SELF ambitions. I had no ideas of becoming a world
leader. I DID have what Christ had put within me, a desire to GROW
in grace and His knowledge--and I wanted the Work to GROW--not
stand still or go backward. He had called me as His servant in
building HIS KINGDOM. And in Isaiah 9:7 is the prophecy that of the
INCREASE of Christ's GOVERNMENT there shall be NO END. It will
increase gradually more and more until it fills the WHOLE EARTH.
And then? Then it will INCREASE into other planets outside this
earth, through the entire UNIVERSE--throughout endless space FOR
EVER AND EVER. But it must grow GRADUALLY!
So, though I was converted and my mind opened to God's TRUTH
in 1927, the present era of His Church was not raised up until
1933. And the Work did not expand beyond the United States until
1953, when it leaped to Europe and England over Radio Luxembourg.
It was 1955 or thereafter before it went on the air in Australia.
But now, today, God has several churches in Australia. Satan
is ON THE JOB! He wants to SPLIT you people there. He wants you to
get your minds on "THE AUSTRALIAN WORK" as if you are a SEPARATE
work CUT OFF from the REST of God's Church. Satan wants you back
into his way of carnal, selfish, worldly antagonistic and hostile
thinking and prejudices where I was before Christ changed me, and
you were before CHRIST reached over there into Australia and
changed YOU. Satan wants to change you back into CARNAL attitudes.
He wants to cut us off from being ONE FAMILY. He wants to DIVIDE
US. He wants to UNDO all that Christ has done in YOUR hearts and
mine--to weld us TOGETHER IN CHRIST as ONE FAMILY bound by the LOVE
OF GOD!
Well, Brethren, as for me, I will not let Satan take out of
my heart my LOVE FOR YOU. I want to stay in GOD'S FAMILY, and I
want YOU to stay in GOD'S FAMILY, and I want all of you and all of
us here and all of us in Black Africa and in Asia and Europe who
are in GOD'S FAMILY to REMAIN TOGETHER IN CHRIST and in HIS LOVE
AND PEACE!
Now what does God, through His Word, instruct us about our
relationship together IN HIS CHURCH?
He explains that, in overview, in the chapter I quoted
above--Ephesians 2. Verse 1, we--you and I--were spiritually DEAD
in trespasses and sins. But He "quickened" us--changed OUR WAY OF
LIFE--CONVERTED--put HIS SPIRIT in us--after (verse 2) we formerly