On January 1, 2015, I turned on the TV set and watched the 126th Rose Parade from the warm comfort of my home, while near record-breaking cold temperatures were felt in Pasadena, California, where the parade commenced at 8:00am. Pretty soon, I felt bored and even somewhat offended. While the announcers and local papers commented on the truly “inspirational” floats and the messages behind them, I found myself in disagreement. There was not much inspiration for me. The parade was overshadowed by honoring veterans and soldiers, with an U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber performing a flyover above the parade route, and by portraying many (unscriptural) different cultural and religious facets of American society, including floats representing far-Eastern religious ideas or portraying “biblical” figures in a most ridiculous and juvenile way.

When meditating about God’s point of view, it became abundantly clear that even something so (at times) beautiful-looking as the flower-decorated floats of the Rose Parade present an entirely wrong picture—apart from the fact that the annoying “New Year’s” sign, which was visibly portrayed throughout the TV program, gave the entire broadcast the resemblance of a New Year’s celebration. This brought into focus the dangerous traps which unsuspecting Church members might fall into, when approving, applauding or even engaging in worldly activities which are contrary to biblical injunctions.

“Honoring” veterans and soldiers and supporting their conduct has no place in the Christian mind set. God is against war in every shape or form. We do appreciate the zeal with which many are fighting for their country, but we must never forget that their zeal is misguided, futile and in opposition to God’s commandments. In war, human beings are killed—including innocent civilians and children, who are labeled as “inevitable casualties.” In addition, our wars will never bring lasting peace. Church members are conscientious objectors for a reason—their conscience objects to and prohibits them from fighting in war, because they are convinced that war does not reflect God’s way of life. Since this is so, they are not to give the impression to others that they approve somehow of war activities. They are not to stand up to applaud veterans; they are not to post pictures on Facebook which celebrate veterans—in short, they are not to engage in hypocritical conduct.

But this godly injunction of giving a clear and consistent picture of ourselves runs much deeper. True Christians who are opposed to war are not to vote in governmental elections to give their support to a presidential candidate of their preference who will become the Commander in Chief. Again, to do so would manifest hypocritical and inconsistent conduct and question the sincerity of a person who votes for a candidate to become President, while refusing to serve under that elected President.

Not voting in political elections and refusing to serve in the military are to be seen in conjunction with refusing to serve on the jury. These three activities are intertwined elements of the same package, as they all manifest our understanding that we are not to be part of this world, but rather, that we are Christ’s ambassadors for a better world to come—when the Kingdom of God will be established on earth to rule all nations. Then, people will not learn war anymore; then, there will be no more political campaigns and elections; and then, there will be no more jury trials.

Many seem to have doubts today about the long-held doctrine of the Church of God in this regard; and quite a few who once knew better have now begun to participate in jury trials and to vote in governmental elections. They may be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. Our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?” explains in detail the biblical teaching on the inseparable connection between military service, voting and jury duty.

Whether there will be something like “rose parades” in the world tomorrow, we do not know; but if that was the case, we suspect that they would not be held on January 1, and we know that they would not focus on foreign and unbiblical religions and philosophies or on soldiers and veterans. No U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber would fly over any parade route, and no one would rise to honor those who, in their misguided zeal, felt that they had to fight and kill in war in order to bring peace.

What a different world it will be!

Many are celebrating this new year with hope that it will be more fruitful. While people promise to make a change for their own betterment, real and lasting transformation often doesn’t occur. The reason? We have become a society that focuses on symptoms instead of fixing the root cause of our problems.

According to one poll, the top resolutions people often make are: get a better job, quit smoking, save money, eat better and drink less. It’s easy to develop unhealthy habits and difficult to remove them from our lives. Do we vow that “This will be the year I make a change!”, but soon fall back into the same comfortable ruts? Jesus warned against this mindset of reliance on our own authority. “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:34-37).

While changing one’s life isn’t bad, we must ask ourselves “For what purpose am I doing this?” For a Christian, change is essential and must occur in our lives daily—not just once a year.

The willingness to make true change is the basis for living a Christian life. God’s angels rejoice when they see us repent, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

But true repentance requires God’s Spirit working in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit, we are blind. Jesus warns: “…And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14). Those of us who were properly baptized made a commitment to God the Father with a promise of true change. Let’s be sure we are always found doing just that.

Over the years in the church we get to see various types of individuals who start attending Church services with us. One in particular is what I call a “Flash in the Pan.” People who have cooked have at times experienced this and that is when oil in a pan, unattended for whatever reason, reaches its flash or ignition temperature and catches fire. These are usually small fires, easy to extinguish.

There are some individuals who are this way. When we first meet them, they are bubbling over with enthusiasm and are all fired up about the new truth they are learning. Later their enthusiasm wanes, usually when facing a trial in regard to obeying God or perhaps some persecution from family members, so they begin to waffle a bit.

Christ warned us about some of the problems we would encounter. They are outlined in Matthew 13:3-8:

“Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

The flash in the pan is described in verses 20 -21:

“But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”

Notice, they endure for a little while, and like a jet when it flames out, crashes and burns, they are suddenly gone. We have to have a certain degree of toughness and ability to endure in order to stay true to the course. When we have to make those tough decisions in regard to obeying God, we must do the right thing, and God will support us.

I remember so well how happy I was when I came to the knowledge of the Sabbath. What did not dawn on me at first was that I could not work or earn a living on that day.

What was I to do? I had a government job that required me to work on the Sabbath on a rotating basis, and there was no practical way around it. I had two children and one on the way, and a mortgage to pay. I was working in a prison hospital at the time on the second floor, by myself, pacing back and forth, realizing I could not work on the Sabbath coming up in a few days.

I decided then and there that I was not going to work that Saturday, regardless of the consequences. In less than ten seconds my boss came up the stairs and told me that a fellow worker who was scheduled to work that afternoon phoned in sick and that I could work a double shift that day to cover for him. I immediately said I would if I could have Saturday off, which he agreed to give me.

I later had to resign my job and I worked for several months at several jobs before I eventually got a good job–a month after I was baptized. I worked at that company for more than 38 years, until my retirement in 2007.

I reflect on this incident at times and it reminds me of what Christ said about never forsaking us. If we step up to the plate with faith, not wavering, we can hit a home run. When we are called, we are called for the duration and Christ never said it would be a slide downhill into the Kingdom. If we endure to the end, we will be saved and receive the reward.

The one thing we don’t want to be is a “Flash in the Pan.”

For the past decade, I have always had some kind of active project to make improvements to the Church websites. The kinds of projects have varied widely, from modifications so minute that they’ve largely gone undetected, to projects that are so huge that they could never realistically be completed. Most of those projects fell into the latter category and, as a result, also fell to the wayside.  However, for the past two years those miscellaneous projects have converged, becoming focused on the coordination of a comprehensive overhaul of our Church websites. Recognizing that such an undertaking would require a lot of effort, a technical team formed to accomplish the huge goals entailed. This team has worked very hard over the past two years to bring a vision to fruition.

The replacement of our old website has an impact on many of the ways that the Church of the Eternal God communicates the message of the Gospel to the world. The technical team, with guidance from the ministry, has had to consider how all of our Church websites will be designed. This updated design brought every visual element under examination, including the Church logo. As a result, redesigning the website led us to update the Church logo as well. With a new logo design, we have had to consider the impact on the design of every piece of material that makes use of it. In general, with visual consistency being one of the key objectives in the work we’ve done, we have had to evaluate every inconsistency. And where there are inconsistencies, we have had to figure out ways to resolve them so all of our digital destinations convey a clear and consistent message. The work involved in this redesign has followed this pattern over and over again, opening virtual cans of worms wherever we went. The work has certainly been complex, but now that our major goals are complete, we have plans to launch this new website very soon.

As exciting as the launch of a new website is, it is important to understand that this is not the final product of my work, the work of the technical team, nor the work of the Church. The fulfilment of God’s plan to establish the Kingdom of God is the final goal. All of us work to that end. This newly designed website is merely a tool that works toward that end. We are reminded of the importance of working toward the Kingdom of God in Christ’s words recorded in Matthew 24:45-46, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.” As God’s faithful servants, we must never think that the Work is done – we must always be doing, fixed on seeking the Kingdom.

The growth of the Church over the past 14 years has brought us to the point where we manage a large amount of information and deliver it through a wide variety of channels. Many of the tools that we use today seemed unattainable to us in the past. Even though much has changed, and more will continue to change, there is one thing that remains the same since our establishment as a Church, and that is the unwavering commitment of the Church of the Eternal God to not compromise the Truth of God.

Throughout the time since the Church of the Eternal God first began (July 2, 2001), along with our affiliates, the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship (Canada), the Global Church of God (United Kingdom)—now including Die Kirche des Ewigen Gottes (Germany), we have endeavored to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world.

We have emphasized explaining the fulfillment of prophecy—especially those things Jesus revealed to His disciples which would indicate the close of this Satan-ruled age and God’s powerful intervention to save the world.

We have come to a point in human history in which biblical prophecies are being fulfilled before us, and it appears that the generation which will witness the end times spoken of by Jesus Christ has arrived! Importantly, Jesus gave us key signs to watch for, and He very specifically declared, “‘See, I have told you beforehand’” (Matthew 24:25).

What we now see is the emergence of the final resurrection of the Roman Empire—the European Union led by and already ruled over by Germany. We see that the Catholic Church has survived worldwide condemnation for abusive priests to once again become the dominant religious voice in the Western nations. These two conditions which we are watching are foundational to the next occurrences in biblical prophecy—the revealing of the persons who are identified as the “beast” and the “false prophet” (compare Revelation 13).

In fact, the Bible shows that we should be watching for a man who will exert tremendous political and military control—even noting that he will be uniquely identified by the number “666” (See the Q&A in this Update). Furthermore, we understand that one in a religious office will be able to show great and deceptive miracles.

We have also been told to watch for other events:

“‘But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near’” (Luke 21:20);

“‘Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be’” (Matthew 24:15-21).

Most people in the world are ignoring the events of our time (compare Matthew 24:36-39); however, we must not allow ourselves to become blinded to the reality of prophecy being fulfilled! Rather, we are to be diligently watching and prepared with all readiness for not only these events, but for the promised return of Jesus Christ! Here is the sobering warning given to His disciples by Jesus:

“‘Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man’” (Luke 21:36).

In my previous Editorial, “Are We Easy Targets?,” which was published in Update #662, I made the following observation: “Thinking that we can solve or ignore our personal problems by just changing church organizations (even within the Body of Christ) is also useless and futile, because our problems will accompany us, no matter where we go. Unless we are willing to focus on, face and overcome OUR problems—not the problems of others—we are and will continue to be easy targets of Satan’s craftiness and deception.”

In this Editorial, I’d like to say a few more things about this common mistake. Far too many think that they can escape reality and live in an illusionary dream world by just changing locations.  But we do not meet our God-given responsibilities by just changing our jobs, leaving our employers, moving to another town or turning our backs on our Church congregation, while avoiding to deal with our own personal problems. This will never work, “because our problems will accompany us, no matter where we go.” When God led Israel out of Egyptian slavery, “Egypt” went with them; their hearts never left it.

Of course, if a job requires of us to break God’s law, or if a Church organization begins to water down or change God’s truth, then it is time to flee (Revelation 18:4). But to run away strictly for personal reasons, because we do not want to deal with our personal challenges, is never a solution. In fact, it is sinful conduct because God commands us to face and overcome our problems, where we are. Trying to flee from our problems by changing locations is, in fact, attempting to flee from God, who wants us to confront our challenges head on—and it is futile and foolish to think that we can flee from God’s presence (Psalm 139:7). Jonah was unwilling to fulfil his mission. He thought he could “flee… from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:3). But God saw to it that Jonah became obedient—even though it was a long, laborious and thorny path.

Proverbs 27:8 tells us: “Like a bird that wanders from its nest Is a man who wanders from his place.” Trying to escape our God-given responsibilities by just changing our status quo is tantamount to wandering “from the way of understanding” and resting “in the assembly of the dead” (Proverbs 21:16). It is the “foolishness of man” that “twists his way” (Proverbs 19:3). A person who “isolates himself” for improper reasons from his co-employees or Church brethren reveals a lack of love and shows that he only “seeks his own desire” (Proverbs 18:1).

It did not happen because of time and chance that we found ourselves in a particular Church organization. Rather, God placed us there. If we truly believe that God works in our lives, then we will not flee when we are facing problems. Isaiah 28:16 says: “He who believes need never run away again” (Living Bible). It is the uncommitted “hireling” who does not care for others and who flees when he is confronted with challenges (John 10:12-13). Rather than fleeing from our responsibilities, we are to submit to God and resist the devil, and it is Satan who must flee from us (James 4:7).

It may be tempting to just change Church organizations if we do not like “something,” because we might think that all teach the same thing, and that it really does not matter where we attend, and we might justify our conduct by rationalizing that we will still remain to be part of the Body of Christ. But if Church group and minister “shopping” are being done to escape our God-given responsibilities, then we commit a terrible and tragic mistake and even a grave sin, which might cost us our eternal life. To leave a Church organization within the Body of Christ and “join” another one, which may also be in the Body of Christ, constitutes sinful conduct, if it is being done for unbiblical reasons.

A person who has been validly disfellowshipped by a minister of God within the spiritual Body of Christ is never “free”, in God’s eyes, to just join another Church organization within the Body of Christ, as long as the reasons for the disfellowshipment continue to exist. To do so would heap sin upon sin, and it does not matter whether the other Church organization, for whatever reason, would grant access to their fellowship. At the same time, it is also sinful conduct for anyone, including relatives and friends, to leave their Church organization because of a falsely-perceived “loyalty” for the disfellowshipped person, and to follow the disfellowshipped person into another Church organization—even within the Body of Christ—because such conduct would not be justified in the eyes of God. To do so would show a wrong kind of “sympathy” for the disfellowshipped person, and it would be SIN against God as it would manifest rebellion against God’s Church government and a lack of love for God, while loving a human being more than Christ. If we did this, we would not be worthy of Christ (Matthew 10:37-39).

At this point, I’d like to bring to your attention a previously unpublished article by Herbert W. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Worldwide Church of God, who died in 1986. Mr. Armstrong wrote an article in the early 1980’s, titled, “Clarifying Church Doctrine on Disfellowshipping.” Here is what he said:

“God’s own Biblical teaching for His Church is the necessity of harmony and unity in Christ. In I Corinthians 1:10, all in the Church are commanded to speak the same thing—unity in clear Biblical teaching. God’s Word teaches that God’s Law is LOVE to all—first, love to God, then also love toward fellow human. God’s Law is love toward all. But also God teaches a special fellowship love toward brethren in Christ. In I John 1, we have that special close fellowship not only with one another, but also with God and with Christ. Jesus said of Church brethren, ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.’

“When one deliberately breaks that unity and causes division among brethren, or causes it by deliberate and continuing sin, God commands, ‘Mark those that cause division among you, and avoid them’ (Romans 16:17). The word ‘mark’ is from the Greek ‘skopeo’ meaning ‘look at, consider, take note of.’ The same word ‘mark’ from the same Greek word, in Philippians 3:17, says ‘mark them which walk so as you have us for an example,’ speaking favorably of such a person. ‘Mark’ certainly does not mean ‘brand,’ or ‘stigmatize,’ or ‘condemn,’ but ‘take note of, avoid them.’ This does not violate God’s command to have the attitude of love toward all people. We still have love for those disfellowshipped. But it does mean avoid contact—avoid fellowship—especially avoid contact. Jesus taught us to LOVE even our enemies and those who despitefully use us. To avoid a disfellowshipped one does not mean hold malice toward. It does not mean injure, fight against, or defame. It simply means avoid fellowship or even personal contact. It does not accuse, any more than we accuse, brand, or fight against any or all outside the Church.

“The Church are those ‘called out’ from the world. We do not fight against the world, but merely withdraw from whatever ways in which it lives contrary to God’s way of life defined by His Law. We remain friendly toward those of the world, but do not have close friendship or fellowship with them. But we still do love disfellowshipped former members.”

We ought to take these words to heart. We have to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We must never give in to the thought that we may know it better than God. We are told exactly what we must do. Rather than trying to escape our responsibility by changing locations, we must choose to follow God’s directive, no matter where we are.

Anyone who has been watching news programmes will be aware that the UK has been going through massive challenges with the weather in the last few years.  Tidal surges have caused very many problems with homes, businesses and farms being flooded.   These have been increasing with intensity and 2014 has continued to have its share of difficulties.

Interestingly, in February this year, the Daily Mail reported that “a UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) councillor who said the floods plaguing Britain were caused by the homosexual marriage law, had been expelled from the party after saying gays should repent.   He made national headlines two weeks earlier when he wrote a letter to his local newspaper saying that the deluge of floods was caused because of David Cameron’s successful move to change the law about same-sex marriage.

“At a meeting of the town council he outspokenly called for gay people to seek repentance from God, adding that he stood by his earlier comments in the Henley Standard.   He was suspended and subsequently expelled from UKIP over his letter to the newspaper in which he warned David Cameron that ‘natural disasters’ would follow the passing of the same sex marriage Bill.

“He added that his aim had in fact been to criticise the Government for passing the Bill and ignoring ‘the national textbook, the Holy Bible.’  ‘I have read that I am barmy to connect this to the weather – if that is the case then I am in good company,’ he said, citing senior bishops blaming floods on ‘abandonment’ of bible teachings.  In 2007, The Right Reverend Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, argued that the floods that year were a judgment on society’s moral decadence and the fact that ‘every type of lifestyle is now regarded as legitimate.’”

A few days later, the weekly BBC “Question Time” programme had a UKIP member on the panel which comprised three politicians, one scientist and a journalist.   The chairman of the panel asked the UKIP member whether she agreed with the councillor who made these remarks and she distanced herself and there was much derision and amusement from other members of the panel and some in the audience.   Such derision will be wiped off the face of detractors when the time of great trouble starts.  The Guardian newspaper reported that UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, launched “a clear out of ‘extremist, nasty or barmy’ views from his party ahead of the polls in May.”

In an ever increasingly secular society, the Bible is seen as outdated, irrelevant and of no value, which is hardly surprising when we understand who is the “god of this world” (see 2 Corinthians 4:4) and how he (Satan) influences society and its leaders.   Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 clearly outline blessings and cursings for obedience and disobedience.   The law of sowing and reaping (compare Galatians 6:7) is not taken seriously and man, in general, relies on his own abilities to introduce laws and govern countries in what their carnal mind thinks best.   However, it seems that believing what the Bible says is seen by many as “extremist, nasty or barmy”.

Jesus upbraided the Pharisees when He said: “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind.   And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).    Jesus also called the scribes and Pharisees “blind guides” (Matthew 23:24).  Our political leaders today, without using the teachings of the Bible and without the power of the Holy Spirit, are blind leaders (or guides) with almost all of the population just following blindly.  Mainstream Christianity, in general, remains fairly quiet on such issues.  

Apart from the Church of God, there are only very occasional lone voices in society which sound a warning noise but, generally, society accepts change in whatever shape it comes in altogether too easily.

God only allows disobedience to go on for so long.   We read in the Old Testament many cases of Israel and Judah pledging obedience to God and then going back on those pledges and then, later, repenting with this cycle of behaviour repeating itself many times.   They never seemed to learn from history but neither do we today!

We know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah when it was destroyed for its sexual depravity (compare Genesis 19 and Jude verse 7) together with other sins as we read in Ezekiel 16:49-50:  “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.”

When the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are in full swing, will everyone appreciate what is happening and repent?   Sadly, just like today, most will not.   In Revelation 16 verses 9-11 we read: “And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.  Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.  They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.”

Just like today, so many will ignore God or blame Him for all their woes and problems, never thinking that they might be self-inflicted.

One day, they will come to realise that just doing their own thing was not sensible or healthy and neither did it bring real happiness and fulfilment.  They will know that the pages of the Bible were the words of life and some might even remember what this beleagured councillor said when he connected the dots and stated that immoral behaviour was bringing about the inevitable punishment of those who ignored God’s way.   They will have help as it states in Isaiah 30:21: “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.  Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.’”

And that will be the time when Jesus Christ returns and sets up the Kingdom of God on earth and blind guides will be no more!

Many in this world believe that they are “saved” when they merely “believe” in Christ.  They take one of the most, if not the most popular Scripture in the Bible, John 3:16, and justify themselves by simply reading it, thinking that this is all one needs to do in order to be saved and have everlasting life.  They fail to recognize the true meaning behind that verse and ignore the other vast amounts of Scriptures in the Bible.  Does the world love Christ?  Do they keep His commandments?  We can only love Christ if we keep His commandments–EVERYTHING that Christ commands (John 14:15, 21-24).

We are to be followers and doers of what He requires, and this involves action.  We will not be saved and have everlasting life if we only “believe” in Him.  To have any part of Christ, we first of all need to repent, believe, be baptized and receive God’s Holy Spirit.  Without this process, it is impossible to have everlasting life and to be in the Kingdom of God, for Christ says in John 3:5: “…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

We must also understand that no one can come to Christ, unless that person has been called to the truth by the Father (compare John 6:44,65).  So are we then automatically saved and have we obtained eternal life when we were properly baptized and were given the Holy Spirit?  Of course, as long as God’s Spirit lives within us, we have the guarantee of eternal life. But can we lose it again?

James 2:14-17 says: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  Hebrews 5:9 also points out that Christ “became the author of eternal salvation to all who OBEY Him.” 

Are we obeying with living faith?

We must continue to work at perfecting ourselves, by using the gift that has been granted to us by our Father through His Holy Spirit.  We are commanded to keep His commandments, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world, to live a righteous and godly life. God expects that from us and He expects us to obey Him!  He has called us out of this world to give us the opportunity to be among the first to enter His Kingdom and to receive everlasting life.  This is still our choice.  It is no guarantee.  Revelation 3:11 tells us to “hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”  And in Revelation 2:10 Christ tells us to “be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

What is given to us can also be taken away.  When we turn back, we will lose what had been offered to us. Only when we overcome until the end, will we be saved (Matthew 24:13; Revelation 2:26).  This is a lifelong process that God requires of us: to be faithful continuously, to pray continuously, to be vigilant and strong continuously, to give comfort and love to one another continuously, to put ALL trust and confidence in Him continuously, and to obey Him continuously.  When we continue to do all of that until the end, then we will be saved. 

We have heard it all before—we have read it all before—we are so familiar with it all—and then, when it happens, we are unprepared, astonished, dumbfounded and dismayed, and far too often, we react in just the wrong way.

I’m talking about Satan’s attacks and his evil devices, as well as our lack of discernment and closeness to God.

In the past, many fell for the Devil’s wrong teachings, which he brought into the Church of God through his human instruments. Unsuspecting and gullible Church “members” forsook the truth and followed errors. After all, how could those gifted and “friendly” ministers teach them anything wrong? So they listened to them and began to believe them—to their own hurt.

Others became upset about imagined or real offenses with their brethren. They did not realize that Satan was getting to them, and that God allowed this to see how strong they were to resist Satan and to stick to the truth and to the One who has all truth and inspires His TRUE servants to teach it in season and out of season. Many chose wrongly, left God’s true Church—the pillar and ground of the truth—and where are they today? Sadly, it is as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Some few recognized the error of their way, repented and returned to the Body of Christ. When this happens, there is joy in heaven! Sadly, such right human conduct does not happen very often.

We can feel so righteous, so superior to others, so holy, just and good, that we can get offended if someone “less holy than us” makes mistakes or transgresses against us. Rather than repenting of our own sin of self-righteousness (which Herbert Armstrong described as the worst of all sins), tolerating and forgiving the other person’s weakness or shortcoming, we become indignant and think that we need to tell the whole world.

And when the “situation” is not “corrected” right away and in the manner in which we desire it, we leave God’s Church with anger and with a bad attitude. In all of this, we have been refusing to see the beam in our eye, while focusing solely on the imagined or real splinters in the eyes of our brethren. The terrible sin of self-righteousness and self-aggrandizement has won, and Satan delights in and celebrates his victory.

It is especially devastating and abominable when any one of us influences others to leave God’s Church with us. Certainly, everyone is responsible for his or her own decisions and ultimate fate, but woe unto anyone of us if we cause just one other person who believes in Christ to stumble. Christ said it would be better for us if a millstone were hung around our neck, and we were drowned in the depth of the sea!

Yes, offenses must come—it is impossible that they don’t—but they had better not come through us. Denying or justifying our bad influence on others (through what we say or what we do) will not save us in the Day of Judgment.

Sometimes people can get so frustrated with their lives and become so depressed that they face the real possibility of committing the unpardonable sin. They don’t seem to care enough to avoid this because they just want to be “freed” from their present distress. This very shortsighted approach is of course terribly dangerous and ungodly, and it is extremely foolish as well. 

When we leave God’s Church, we are cutting ourselves off from the vine—Jesus Christ, the Head of the Body. We will wither away and unless there is true godly repentance, we will ultimately be thrown into the fire to be burned up.

Thinking that we can solve or ignore our personal problems by just changing church organizations (even within the Body of Christ) is also useless and futile, because our problems will accompany us, no matter where we go. Unless we are willing to focus on, face and overcome OUR problems—not the problems of others—we are and will continue to be easy targets of Satan’s craftiness and deception.

We have heard the saying: “Never give up! Never surrender!” Far too many have done this. They have given in to Satan and his evil devices. Don’t you become one of his easy targets!