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licve rs resulted from Chri st's
3Y2
yca rs proclaiming his go pel. Chris t
bcgan his Church by sending the
Holy Spirit into the 120. His Church
Started VERY SMALL. but C hri s t
added
to his Church "and the same
day there were added unto them
about three thousand soul s" (Acts
2 :41 ). "And the Lo rd ad ded to the
church daily s uch as should be
saved" (verse 47).
But beginning A.D.
33,
the per–
secution se t in. Simon the Sorce rer
(Acts 8 :9-23). head o f the Babylo–
nian Mystery religion in Sama ria.
appropria ting the NAME of Chris t.
began calling his Babylonian Mys–
tery re ligion "Chri tianity.' ' and
started circula ting a counterfeit gospel.
By A.D. 58. Paul wrote to the
Churches a t Galatia: " 1 marvel tha t
ye are so soon removed from him
that call ed you into the grace of
Chris t
unto another gospel "
(Ga l.
1:6).
At tha t time
a di.lferent gospel
~ras
proclaimed to rhe world.
Before the
end of the first century " the Wo rk"
had s to pped . The true gospel of the
kingdom of God was th e reafter
taught secretly. but no t proclaimed
to the world for
I8V2
centuries.
Our Time Today
Ma lachi , however, fo re told tha t a
human "messenge r" wou ld prepare
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1975
the way befo re the coming of Christ.
But. beginn ing with verse 2 o f Ma–
lachi
3,
he foretell s a lso
Chrisr 's sec–
ond coming, now imminenr.
He is
now oon coming
toser up
the king–
dom of God, to res tore the gove rn–
mcnl o f God o n ea rth , and to rule
a ll na tio ns.
The human messenger preparing
the way before his
firs r
appearing o n
ea rth was John the Baptist. But be–
ginning with verse 2. the prophecy
speaks of Chris t's second coming.
ye t future but now immincnt.
Notice: "But who may abid e the
day of hi s coming? And who shall
s tand when he appea reth? For he is
like a refiner's fire. and like fullers'
soap : And he shall it a a rcfiner
a nd purifier of s il ver: a nd he shall
purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold a nd s ilver ..." (Ma–
lachi 3:2-3).
All this is referring to acti viti es of
Christ at his second coming - now
imm inent.
one of this refers to
a nything Jesus did when here be–
forc.
Continue. verse 5: "And l will
come near to you to judgment; and
1 will be a swift wi tness agai ns t the
sorccrers, a nd against the adulterers.
and aga ins t false swea re rs, and
agains t those that oppress (defraud]
the hire ling in his wages, th e widow.
and the fatherless, and tha t turn
as ide the stranger from his right.
a nd fear not me, aith the Lord o f
hosts."
All this refers to Chris t's second
comi ng
in our time!
So when the
pro phet foretold the huma n messen–
ge r. preparing the way before
Chris t's coming, he referred to John
the Baptist ( ee Mark 1: 1-3) on ly
typically as a forerunner or type of
one ro prepare the way before Christ 's
second coming!
This leads directly to J esus· grea t
pro phecy in Matthew 24.
lt
refers to
REVIVING the great commissio n -
the
true
gospel message o f the com–
ing kingdom of God . Chris t 's sec–
ond coming is to res torc th e
government of God a nd e tablish
the kingdom of God on earth! And
the way
!S
JNDEED
even now being
prepared before Chris t's return to
ru le .
That. co-worke rs and bre thren. is
what the living Chris t is doi ng right
now thro ugh me. through Garner
Ted, a nd through His co-workers
a nd church which stands loya lly be–
hind us in this tremendo us age-end
comm iss ion!
Jt's time we a llowed the li ving
God
ro open our eyes
to thc
awesome
commis ion he has committed to us.
It's the most importan! Wo rk given
any human beings in the past 1900
(Conrinued on page 30)
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