Basic HTML Version
pened between John 1: 1 and Gen–
esis 1: 1, filled in from other places
in both Old and New Testaments.
Truth Revealed Slowly
But God was revealing His truth to
me. At first 1 had to learn a doctrine
a t a time. In other words,
if
the
whole truth were a jigsaw puzzle of
100 pieces,
1
found the Church of
God of the Sa rdis era, even though
God's Church, had lost about
75
of
the pieces , though so rne were
among the important pieces. But it
was impossible to fi t them together
so as to produce the WHOLE and
FULL
PICTURE, plain and clear.
God was inspiring me to fi!J in the
gaps.
With what they had- which God
made clear to my mind were TRUE
doctrines- the picture was all dis–
torted. lt did not show why humans
were put on earth.
Jt
did not show
what was God's purpose that caused
Him to decide to create humanity in
His likeness, and put them on earth .
There plainly was a devil called
Satan, but where did he come from?
Did God crea1e a devil lo 1ormen1
us? One of their prominenl minis–
ters, because they had no answer to
this, preached that no such thing as
a devil exists.
Why is the human mind so supe–
rior 10 the animal brain, when there
is virtually no difference qualita–
tively and quantitatively? They had
none of these lruths. Where was the
United Sta les identified in proph–
ecy? They did not know this, and
therefore had prophecies of the
"beast" and those of Daniel and
Revelation all in error-even as the
Adventists. They did not under–
stand that God is not trying to save
the whole world now- or why. lt
was my understanding that they
looked on this world as God's world,
and God was trying desperately to
save it, but the devil was winning
tbe battle.
What is man's real potential?
Aside from being resurrected im–
mortal, which they believed for the
saved-then wha t? What was the
real purpose in putting humanity on
earth, after a ll? If the "saved" are
resurrected, where do we go on from
there? What sha!J we be doing for
42
all eternity? Wi!J we get bored with
nothing to do?
Fllllng In the Gaps
Litt le by little, God revealed to me
more and more TRUTHS-additional
pieces of God's revealed KNOWL–
EDGE that filled in the gaps- an–
swered all the questions.
Why is the human brain able to
invent such intricate mechanisms, to
fty to the moon and back, and yet be
utterly helpless to salve man's prob–
lems- to live at peace with his
neighbor? They could answer ,
vaguely, "Because man is unwilling
to keep God' s commandments."
And that's true- but why? Why is he
unwilling? The re is so much more
that needs to be known than the
limited truths they possessed.
God revealed to me the truth
about Israel and Judab- the divided
kingdoms, and the Birthright prom–
ise to Ephraim and the Sceptre
promíse 10 Judah . They understood
none of this, and, though their edi–
tor and leader wrote me that this
was a truth revealed from God to
me, he fil ed it away and the Church
(Sardis) never got it!
The truth of how God is repro–
ducing Himself was revealed to me.
God's master plan could never be
understood by them, sínce they re–
jected the annual Sabbaths and fes–
tivals that reveal and picture the
master plan.
Restorlng Baslc Knowledge
To sum it all up, God raised me up
and used me in RESTORING the basic
knowledge that had been los t
througb the generations since the
churches turned
lO
ANOTHER GOSPEL
(Gal. 1:6-7) in the very first century.
God led me not only to recognize
and accept what truth the Church of
the Sardis era retained, but to re–
stare what God's Church through
the many generations had lost- and,
in addition,
1
think, to reveal
through me additional vital knowl–
edge from God's Word, possibly not
even understood b:Y the apostle
Paul.
Danie l foretold that in OUR
TIME-this time of the end- just at
the very END of this 6,000-year "day
of man," wit h mankínd generally
cut off from God, that "knowledge
sha!J be increased ." Undoubtedly he
referred to God's revealed knowl–
edge- but it is significan! that even
in man's world, cut off from God,
technological , "'scientific," and phys–
ical knowledge has greatly in–
creased. In the decade of the '60s
the world's fund of knowledge dou–
bled- though man's troubles and
evils also doubled.
God's Ultlmate Purpose
God has gracíously opened my
mind (not for my benefit, but for
His church) to much
1
believe to be
NEW KNOWLEDGE. God has blessed
His Church with stupendous knowl–
edge which
1
believe no man- not
even in God's Church- ever under–
stood befare! How wonderful! What
a blessing! How we should shout for
joy!
Do we rea!Jy realize this? Do we
appreciate it? Do we del ight in it?
Or are we like the sow which would
trample in the mud precious dia–
monds, rubíes, emeralds and sap–
phires. on her way to eat slop?
Do we recognize the true values?
Finally, God has revealed to me
His ultimate grand and awesome
purpose- what is man's real poten–
tial - what we wi!J be doing through
aU eternity. Never bored. Always
joyfully accomplishing new stu–
pendous a nd super-wonderfu l
achievements. Always looking for–
ward to still greater designs ; always
looking back on great accomplish–
ments, on a nd on throughout the
whole vast endless universe !
How wonderful ! G od has re–
vealed His wonderful , awesome
truth to His Church, the Worldwide
Church of God- God's Church for
this time.
But now a few words about the
rise and es tablishment of today's e ra
of God's Church.
Fellowshlp Wlth the Sardls Era
During my initial in-depth study of
the Bible,
1
carne to know of the
"Sardis" era (Rev. 3: l -6). It was a
member of it that had shown my
wife the truth about the Sabbath
question. They were a small group
meeting in a country schoolhouse
south of Salem, Oregon.
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1978