Does the Church of God need to reunited into one group or organization in order to do a powerful work of preaching the gospel to the world and the Ezekiel warning to Israel?
No, and I think there is Bible evidence and evidence from our history that we will NOT unite into one group before the return of Christ. Yet, I believe, and am hopeful, that a powerful work will be done by the Church before the tribulation begins.
Why will we not unite?
The last era of the Church of God is Laodicea. But the Philadelphia era is promised protection and is given an open door for preaching the gospel to the world, which has yet to be completed with power. This means that right before the tribulation begins, there will be both Laodicean members and Philadelphian members in the Church of God, with Laodiceans being the majority and Philadelphians being relatively small in numbers. The Philadelphians are given an open door and they complete the preaching of the gospel to the world and the Ezekiel warning to Israel as a witness, and then God sends them to a place of safety for protection from the tribulation. The Laodiceans then go through the tribulation (Revelation 3:7-22).
Will Laodicea and Philadelphia be reunited into one group? I doubt it. They are too different. Read the descriptions in Revelation and ask, do these messages describe people that will unite with each other and function harmoniously?
Part of the reason the Church is scattered and divided now is because the Laodicean attitude is the predominant attitude in the whole Church of God. Laodicea is the last era, and that means they will be the majority right up to the end. Yet, they are still part of the true Church of God.
Rather, I think Philadelphian Christians will be more effective and more powerful when they are NOT merged with Laodicean members of the Church. Sometimes separation is better than unity if unity means being forced to compromise with a Laodicean majority (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Some think that the Church must reunite before we can do a powerful work because they are looking at the SIZE of the Church, not the spiritual condition. They are looking at human power, not God's power, to do the work.
But that is false reasoning. God did more with Gideon's army when it was small than when it was large because God wanted to show HIS power to do a powerful work with limited human instruments. God made Gideon limit his army to only 300 men before God used him. There may be a lesson for us today (Judges 7:1-7).
Besides, when it comes to human power, we don't have the power to warn 400 million people about the tribulation even if we are united. If you put all the Churches of God together, you would not have the numbers we had when Mr. Armstrong was alive, and even at that time we could only reach a small number of people with the true gospel.
We have to rely on God's power, and God will make that power available to us based on our faithfulness and zeal to believe and obey Him, not on numbers. It is the Philadelphians that will be given that power, not the majority of the Church of God, not Laodiceans.
I do not think the Church of God will unite into one organization before the return of Christ. If anything, there will be more division as God separates Philadelphia from Laodicea in preparation for Philadelphia finishing the work and going to a place of safety.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household' " (Matthew 10:34-36).
Each of us needs to strive to be faithful to God, to be Philadelphians in spirit, attitude, and character, and then God, in His time and in His way, will gather us together, separating us from the Laodiceans, to finish preaching the gospel to the world and the Ezekiel warning to Israel as a witness and then go to a place of safety before the tribulation begins.
And even when Philadelphia is separated from Laodicea and given power by God to finish the work, they may not be part of one organized, incorporated fellowship of the kind we tend to see today. It could be two organizations, or three, or maybe just one. BUT, if it is more than one organization, those organizations will cooperate with each other in harmony and love, as much as if they were one organization. Just as Peter and Paul had separate administrations, yet cooperated with each other in dividing up the responsibilities (Galatians 2:7-9, 2 Peter 3:15), so Philadelphians, even if making up more than one corporation, will cooperate with each other and not compete with each other.
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7 comments:
I agree that division is getting worse, but the work of God must push forward as God directs and supplies the ability to do so. It seems to me that few members have the zeal to support an effective work today. There is no question that coming together for unity sake may only lead to greater problems in the long run. The example of Gideon was an important lesson for us today, that God often works with small faithful groups to accomplish great things for His purpose.
What I find curious is how one's relative zeal for the preaching of the Good News has been construed as determining if one is a Philadelphian or not, as opposed to the definition of the word Philadelphia itself.
But one thing is historically consistent in the preaching of the Word of God: organizations haven't been very effective in the spreading of the word, but rather chosen individuals.
Of course for every 1000 or so false prophets there may be one True prophet, but in the Scriptues the Word has most effectively preached by individuals.
The end time Gospel will be preached by the two witnesses according to the Bible. Organizations tend to be infiltrated by ambitious carnal minded people and so much nepotism.
And one thing that also has been historic is the use of miracles to validate the Word. The book of Daniel is clear that "the people that know their God will do exploits", and I expect most of those doing so will be those that are least esteemed among the Converted.
"What I find curious is how one's relative zeal for the preaching of the Good News has been construed as determining if one is a Philadelphian or not, as opposed to the definition of the word Philadelphia itself."
The reason zeal for preaching the gospel to the world is construed as evidence that an individual or group is Philadelphian is that Christ promised Philadelphia an open door, and zeal for the gospel is part of that open door. If it was just a matter of physical opportunity, all groups and individuals have about the same opportunity - it is zeal that makes the difference, that opens the door. It is those groups that have zeal that are able to preach the gospel effectively, in proportion to their zeal.
"But one thing is historically consistent in the preaching of the Word of God: organizations haven't been very effective in the spreading of the word, but rather chosen individuals."
It wasn't just Mr. Armstrong that preached the gospel effectively, but the organization he built, the Radio/Worldwide Church of God. That whole organization preached the gospel. All Mr. Armstrong did was speak the words and do the writing, but without the organization and the tithes and offerings of the members, his words would have gone no further than the four walls of his office. The whole Church of God, as an organized body, preached the gospel, and did it more powerfully and effectively than it had been done for almost two thousand years.
Love for people(Philadelphia love) is preaching the Gospel, or sharing the truth of God. Individuals lack the resources that God gives to His organized church to preach to the world. The New Testament church was well organized and proclaimed the truth in their known world very well. That's a great example the early church left us.
Anonymous 10:48 PM wrote: "...The end time Gospel will be preached by the two witnesses according to the Bible..."
There are so many "gospels" in existence today. Which gospel do you think those two witnesses will preach?
No doubt the two witnesses shall prophesy about something:
Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall PROPHESY a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their PROPHECY: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
And their testimony shall come to an end:
:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
I suspect those two witnesses may even announce each of the first 6 Trumps, which will reveal/expose what Satan has been doing with his governments on this earth in preparation for that vile, evil, thing to go into the "bottomless pit."
Time will tell...and we'll eventually come to know what "good news" they will preach.
John
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