Kingdom of God

See Things as God Sees Them

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Whose opinion is most important and influential in this present, evil world of today?

Is it the opinion of the liberals or the conservatives of today’s politics? What about the talking-heads of social media and internet video websites? Is it the clearly prejudiced opinion of one of these self-proclaimed experts on all things – biased in their assessment of religion, the weather, medical concerns, world politics or anything else, for that matter?

Should it be any of these?

As a part of the historic, prophesied true Church of God today in the 21st Century… we genuinely need to see things as God, the Father and Jesus Christ see them!

During His ministry on earth some 2,000-plus years ago Jesus Christ personally instructed His twelve disciples to always strive to see things as God sees them (Acts 4:18-20, Matthew 6:33).

This is one of the great keys of spiritual understanding. Thus, the disciples became apostles and the brethren in that era were more spiritually focused on God’s truth and way of life and work. They felt an urgency in their calling and desired to see a world ruled by God’s vision, but the fulfillment of that vision would take longer than they understood at that time (1 Peter 4:7).

Modern brethren

As modern, historic brethren to the faithful ministers of Jesus Christ – we also need urgently to be watching for and anticipating the prophesied world events that will occur (and have occurred) in our time, in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

We have witnessed a political pendulum swing in the recent U.S. election, and it can be tempting to assume that this will precipitate widespread repentance and moral reform, but America’s moral sins have become too deep set. God will still call America to account for those sins.

Instead, remember, we – as members of God’s true Church today – are being called to repentance now. This is our day of salvation! Keep your eyes on preparing for God’s Kingdom!

Watch, hear and heed

Jesus repeatedly admonished His disciples – to personally repent and preach the true gospel as a witness to the world (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 2:38-39). At times the preaching of the true gospel was powerful, but we have always had an adversary: the Devil. Therefore, some historic eras of God’s true Church were more faithfully effective than others in preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Whatever the case, proclamation through the efforts of God’s historically small flock was delivered to the world as a witness. Many who are alive today observed, first-hand, the powerful message that was delivered by Mr. Herbert Armstrong in the 20th century, augmented by doors that were clearly opened through God’s divine intervention.

The True gospel and false gospels

However, even the apostles had to carefully watch world events (in the light of Bible prophecy) as Jesus had taught them. They had to listen carefully to any who claimed to teach God’s truth — and then compare it to Jesus’ in-person instruction (Matthew 7:21, 24:23-25). Even then, they had to evaluate the conduct, honesty and personal faithfulness of any who claimed to teach the truth (see 1-3 John, Jude). We need to be just as watchful in our modern era!

The historical record of God’s work being done by His true Church is easily trackable at times and somewhat less so at other times—often due to persecution by pagan and other false-Christian denominations who sought to eradicate even the historical records of the true brethren.

Yet God has always continued to do His work, to proclaim the coming Kingdom of God, through the agency of God’s Church. He promises that there will always be a remnant of that true Church (Romans 11:5, Matthew 16:18, Luke 12:32)

Don’t be thrown by the swinging pendulum of politics in America or abroad. Our focus is on God’s Kingdom, not, ultimately, on the kingdoms of men. A false sense of security is a spiritual danger zone. Times may get a little better, but they will most assuredly, finally, get worse.

Our personal responsibility is clear: “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).      

–Randy Stiver

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Seek Peace – Pursue It Earnestly!

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Who today genuinely, vigorously seeks peace with all other people? The pathetically sad answer: precious few!

This is all too sadly true among the modern descendants of the historic, biblical 10 Tribes of Israel plus, of course, the tribe of Judah. These peoples include the bulk of the northwest European nations, Canada, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, parts of South Africa, and, of course, the nation-state of Israel.

Sad to say, the rest of the world is in no better condition peace-wise.

Representatives of many nations talk about peace—even about actual world peace. But when push comes to shove, few are willing to turn their words into action. The net result is that life goes on tenuously, with conflicts escalating in Europe and the Middle East. And various governments, growing increasingly bloodthirsty, keep sharpening their swords—figuratively speaking—and preparing for war on all sides.

One can’t help but wonder what sadness God the Father and Jesus Christ the Savior must feel when they behold the lack of true brotherly peace on the planet. If we think about it, perhaps we can better understand the disappointment the God Family (the Father and the Son) felt in the days of Noah when mankind was “only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5-8)

Word pictures of peace

“For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 8:11)

It can be depressing – this quest for true, world peace. We know it’s a godly peace we seek and apart from that, no human orchestrated solution will deliver sustained peace. The best humanity can achieve is to temporarily cease fighting. But resounding, stabilizing, enduring peace for all the nations will be established only in the soon-coming Kingdom of God on earth.

Prophecies like these and many others will then come true:

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’” (Luke 2:13-14)

Goodwill between men is decidedly lacking these days. Indeed, it will take Divine ‘goodwill’ toward men to sort out the conflicts and establish peace as the reign of Christ as King of kings begins.

“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:7)

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:1-2)

Dwelling in peace is a frequent biblical theme, and it continues infinitely well beyond Christ’s second coming.

Seek and pray for true world peace

Every year we rehearse the events that precede and establish true international peace when we keep the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day. Obeying God is part of the solution that leads to ultimate world peace.

Christ also reminds us to stand fast, even in an unpeaceful world: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The peace that passes understanding…is coming (see Philippians 4:7)! Soon! In the meantime, in all your interactions, in God’s church and outside it…seek peace and pursue it earnestly (Psalm 34:14)!

And pray daily: God’s Kingdom come!

~ Randy Stiver

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How God ‘Trains’ His Children

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It was my great pleasure and God’s blessing that enabled me to attend a small private college just outside London, England for four years in the early 1970s.

Located in the beautiful English countryside within the county of Hertfordshire the British campus of Ambassador College was about a mile’s walk from the small train station in the village of Bricket Wood. From there one could take the local commuter train to St. Albans for shopping and meals out.

Significant history was made there. During the early centuries A.D., St. Albans was a strategic Roman city called Verulamium, and may well have been visited by certain of the twelve Apostles according to church histories of the first century.

The Bricket Wood “Bomber”

As students we affectionately nicknamed this local train the “Bricket Wood Bomber.” The moniker had to do with the rocking rhythm the train carriages produced as they rattled down the rails.

It ran only from Watford to St. Albans with several other stops besides Bricket Wood along the way. Via its main connection in Watford, this rail line could connect you to the fast train bound for the British capital of London or elsewhere.

Thanks to modestly priced train travel in the 1970s, as students we had remarkable opportunities to travel both directions many times.

This English campus of Ambassador College (funded and administered by the then, Worldwide Church of God) was one of three that existed at that time, the other two being in Pasadena, California and Big Sandy, Texas. With doctrinal confusion and departure, overtime, these one-time purposeful places of education in God’s way (summarized in the motto: “Recapturing True Values”) dwindled and then diminished until they no longer existed.

Just like that spur of railroad from one village to another only lasted so far, so then did God’s people have to choose to get on the right track moving forward.  

Similarly, in the Church of God today, we must remember that we have purposefully chosen to live God’s way of life. We, by personal conviction, have committed ourselves to reject the false, sinful and evil ways of this world. We – even today – must strive to recapture those same true values (condensed in the Ten Commandments) in our thoughts, words, and actions.

Back to the Ambassador campus

Though now gone, the many decades-long tradition of Ambassador College (and later University) has still left a spiritual educational trail for our thoughtful consideration.

By being fully invested in the true faith of Jesus Christ we are, along with our fellow brethren in the faith, continuing that tradition of educating those who are seeking the truth of the Bible. But that collective commitment only comes as we personally stay focused on our calling and living by God’s instructions.

Let’s recommit our lives daily to God our Father and to Jesus our Savior. Pray fervently that God’s work of spreading the true gospel – the good news of the soon-coming Kingdom of God – be completed before Christ returns!

– Randy Stiver

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Fishers of Men

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Sea of Galilee, from Nof Ginosar Hotel, Israel.

People love to fish. That certainly includes America as well as many other countries.

Fishing has also been a high value activity for many faithful brethren in the true, historic Church of God. Many of Jesus Christ’s disciples then, as well as some today, actually exceled at fishing, giving the rest of Christ’s brethren something to stive for.

The apostles Peter, Andrew, James, and John, as well as their fathers, were professional fisherman at the Sea of Galilee. A region located in the interior of what had been the nation of Israel but was by this time, a few hundred years later, simply known as Galilee, the northern section of the Roman province of Judaea.

In fact, Jesus challenged His original disciples to excel in a special type of fishing, recorded in Mark 1:16-20 (see also, Matthew 4:18-20). Christ called these four to leave their fishing boats and follow Him to become “fishers of men.” Along with the rest of the twelve apostles—they became the leaders of a new kind of fishing industry, one that drew thousands to the knowledge of the true God and proclaimed the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

Sea of Galilee boats, from Ginosar, Israel.

Organizationally and personally, how can we be “fishers of men” in this end-time age?

The answer: See things as God sees them.

Study God’s Word well, and methodically, so that it comes out naturally and confidently in conversation. Strive to be a faithful, living example of God’s true way of life.

Watch world events and be aware of the signs leading up to Christ’s coming. Be alert for deception as it affects the culture we live in, and also, the greater Church of God. Learn to give an answer regarding the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the hope that lies within you. Explain the truth simply and clearly, so that a child could understand it (but don’t engage in angry or fruitless arguments).

Make the gospel of the Kingdom come alive in your mind and, by extension, in the minds of others. Christ, through His church casts a wide net, but we each, as we have opportunity, can plant a seed that may later lead to a greater catch.

-Randy Stiver

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D-Day to Today: Why Are -You- Here?

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Chief Photographer’s Mate (CPHOM) Robert F. Sargent, U.S. Coast Guard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, American armed forces and their allies stormed the beaches of Normandy on the west coast of France.

These sunny and beautiful beaches had become the western frontier of the Nazi army. Land which had been forcibly snatched from the hands of France by Germany in the early stages of World War Two.

Much like World War One before it, this second world war marked Germany’s second attempt in the 20th Century to conquer and carve a vast German empire out of Europe and wherever else it could reach. The fanatic Fuhrer’s end game was no less than world dominance… that is, until he died at his own fanatic hand.

40 years later

In June of 1984 American President Ronald Reagan spoke to an august gathering of U.S. and other World War 2 veterans at Pointe du Hoc along the Normandy coast where the American Rangers established their first European continental foothold. It was 40 years from the day of that famous Allied landing—leading to the freeing of Europe. The battle is often simply called “D-Day.”

D-Day today, 80 years on…

America, England, France and Germany, the rest of Europe and all other nations on earth are facing a dramatic potential for far flung war once again… potentially world war… fought with widespread use of nuclear weapons—and whatever other high-tech armaments that yet another team of scientists here or there can “cook-up.” A time of great trouble is brewing.

“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. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).

Laing A (Sgt), No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The upheaval described by Jesus in this prophecy which He delivered to his disciples from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is referred to as the “Olivet Prophecy.” But with its parallel accounts in Mark 13 and Luke 21 it is the premiere prophecy of Christ’s second coming. Further, the prophetic details describe the conditions of our world and time today!

When President Reagan spoke on D-Day’s 40th anniversary he expressed the ideal of a lasting peace achieved by the sacrifice of WW2. However, those dynamics have changed. We are now forty years closer to the second coming – the frictions that portend world war have crystallized considerably. The immorality level of society approaches that of Sodom and Gomorrah of old.

The final war of all the nations is also forty years nearer. It brings the words of a great hymn into dramatic focus:

“How long Eternal hide Thou away? When will Thy wrath not burn like a fire? Wherefore hast Thou made all men in vain? Thou, God, remember, fleeting is life.”

Why Are You Here?

The world (that is, the Devil’s world) is sucking the power of God’s Holy Spirit out of the minds and hearts of the true brethren. It is destroying those who don’t resist. What can we do?

President Reagan asked the rhetorical question of the veterans on that D-Day anniversary in 1984: “Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs?”

We, too, must ask ourselves, why am I here? To what have I committed my life?

You are here because you have been personally called by Jesus Christ to know and understand the plan that God is working out here below.

What next? Read the Bible!

Find those passages in Scripture that explain God’s process of calling and salvation for those He is calling now—which means you and me. Rediscover why you are here in the true Church of God now—today! Remember that “why”! Go back and do the first works!

The Kingdom of God is our goal forever and always! 

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The Lesson of the ‘Kamikaze’ Mama Robin!

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As I walked out the front door there came a loud screeching as something airborne hit the top of my head, knocking my cap to the ground! Small bird sounds accompanied the airborne attack. What bird would actively engage against a human-height invader of her nest and babies?

It turns out it was a female robin defending her tiny home against all comers – and you can’t help but admire her put-your-life-on-the-line moxie!  Over and over, she screeched and dived at any-and-all comers, particularly us, as we entered and exited through the front door. The only time she sat quietly in their nest of twigs atop the joint of a downspout was when her mate took over the defense of their babies.

However, Mrs. Robin had well and truly earned her nickname: “Kamikaze Mama.”

The actual Kamikaze

The original kamikaze were Japanese fighter pilots in World War Two. After the tide had turned and America and her allies had fought the Japanese armed forces in many countries and islands, the allies were ready to attack the Japanese mainland to finish the war.

In their effort to thwart the inevitable invasion of their island nation the Japanese air forces trained a host of young pilots to sacrifice themselves and their aircraft as flying bombs. This last-ditch force was called “Kamikaze” which means “divine wind.” They flew into battle not to possibly die, but to specifically die—and kill as many of their enemies as possible by crashing their planes into the Allied naval ships beneath them.

One can’t help but admire the tragic bravery and determination to preserve their national “nest” on the Japanese islands—as well as note their fearlessness in the face of the Allied counterparts they would meet in battle. War is a sad contradiction; sometimes the highest human ideals are employed for the worst possible outcomes, the destruction of one’s enemy.

Time perfects all weapons

Since then, many generations of nuclear-based and other advanced weaponry have been built and “perfected” for this awful purpose. If we were to figure the cost of World War Two fought today with our modern “death to all” weaponry – the toll would be even more appalling and staggering!

But all aspects of human warfare are profoundly sad. And this chapter was especially so. The Pacific land, sea, and air battles of World War Two ended by the deployment of atomic bombs on Japan.

Jeremiah, another of God’s spiritual battle-hardened prophets was inspired to precisely summarize humanity’s core failure:  “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

In the near future, Jesus Christ at his second coming will intervene to block mankind’s self-destruction. He will initiate a new government called the Kingdom of God. He is inviting us to help oversee the making of new and wonderful history in the world tomorrow!  

What lesson for us today?

What can our little, self-sacrificing Robin family teach us in relationship with the calamity of war?

God called us out of this present, evil world with its wars and tragedies, and into the knowledge of His great, soon-coming Kingdom and true way of life. We “signed up” through repentance and baptism into the true faith and service of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We fight against the evil of war by faithfully following God’s Law and becoming a living example of God’s way that is the precise opposite of war, destruction, and hate.

Even as our faithful birdy friends, Mr. and Mrs. Robin, are dedicated to giving their avian lives to the future of their babies… so, too, have we committed our lives to our Savior—who is also now our Lord and Master, high priest in heaven and soon-coming King—and to our eternal, spiritual Father in heaven! Treat that calling with the same intensity and protective self-sacrifice exemplified by this small aspect of God’s creation!

–Randy Stiver-

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What’s Your Thorn in the Flesh?

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The young, South Dakota farm boy raced across the prairie to catch a long fly ball. But he tripped, as boys do, landing hands first in a prickly pear cactus. That time he ended up with more than a hundred tiny thorns shed by the cactus into his palms and forearms. Most were carefully tweezered out, but those remaining sharply reminded him of their presence every time he picked up the baseball or his bat for the next several days!

Have you ever had an actual, physical thorn in the flesh? How about a spiritual thorn?

Paul

One of God’s early church leaders had such a thorn. Listen to the apostle Paul tell his story.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure” (2 Cor. 12:7).

What was Paul’s thorn? Did he get it at birth, childhood or perhaps as an adult? The fact that it was “given” to him indicates that Jesus Christ personally gave or allowed Paul to receive this very, pointedly trying “gift.”

Early Paul

Remember, Paul started out as a Pharisee, a sect of the Jews that chose to be an enemy of God’s truth. Paul epitomized the sect as a “fire-breathing persecutor of the Christ’s brethren. He infamously presided over the trial and execution of Stephen, one of Christ’s original deacons in Jerusalem (see Acts 6:8-15, and chapter 7).

Paul further organized a sort of secret police among the Jews to seek out, arrest, try and then beat or imprison numbers of true Church brethren—men and women—in and around Jerusalem (see Acts 8:1-3).

The road to Damascus

Not satisfied with that, Paul obtained letters of extradition and pursued church members on the road to Damascus in Syria. There he planned to personally lead an arresting posse to capture and take them back to Jerusalem for harsh punishment. And for why? They were punished for their “heresy” of repenting and believing what the Bible taught about the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth and subsequently spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, Jesus Christ struck Paul blind on the road to Damascus and calling Paul by his Jewish name, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:3-8). This dramatic event motivated Paul’s repentance and conversion, leading ultimately to his service as an apostle in the ministry.

Time for the thorn in the flesh

Much later as one of God’s great apostles, Paul reflected on a thorn in the flesh gifted him by Christ. It was a thorn from which he sought relief… “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor. 12:8-9) 

Although we can’t precisely pin down Paul’s poor eyesight as his “thorn in the flesh,” but a true scholar like him needed to read books and people. Before the age of corrective lenses bad vision could be seriously humbling. At the merciful hands of Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul the Pharisee learned a massive lesson of true humility to help him become Paul the Apostle.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

As we approach the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, ask God to show you how to use your thorn in the flesh for growth and overcoming. Learn from Paul’s lesson and you, too, can become stronger! 

Originally written: January 2, 2021

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Be a Wise Son or Daughter of God!

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Are you a wise son or daughter of God? And likewise, are the organizations of God’s true Church collectively wise sons and daughters of God the Father?

Sometimes, we claim the title of God’s children simply because we have the knowledge base of God’s Word. But is merely claiming that knowledge enough?

Remember, “…to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin,” (James 4:17). A truly, biblically wise person would recognize and embrace the responsibility to constantly reflect the goodness and kindness of God’s way of life by faithfully living it!  

Ultimate insight

The tenth chapter of Proverbs launches the third collection of God’s shorter statements of wisdom that form the Book of Proverbs. Commentators usually recognize nine of these proverbial collections.

Very often the Proverbs refer to God’s faithful followers as His sons and daughters. The historic, true Church of God is certainly the vital part of God’s true children in this age of history.

Blind to true wisdom

Yet traditional Christianity and Judaism also lay claim to the Proverbs and God’s Word generally. Although they are closer than the rank and file of pagan or secular mankind, they presently, and quite frankly, greatly misunderstand the eternal aspects of God’s wisdom.

Now this misunderstanding or “blindness” will be taken away by Christ at His second coming, but until that happens only the relative few of the spiritual Body of Christ actually have clear-minded access to the profound wisdom of God!

The veil of spiritual blindness refers to the Israelites of old who carnally rejected God’s way: “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:14-15).

To the vast bulk of mankind, the true wisdom of God is simply not understood yet!

Of course, that’s obvious to us who have been (or are being) called by God to true repentance, baptism and spiritual conversion. We know that because we know God’s truth, we are divinely expected to obey and live by it!

Great expectation

It is a wonderful calling, a great calling and great expectation that God has given us!

We, by our actions, words and very thoughts represent the Kingdom of God on earth. God the Father expects us to be wise sons and daughters in the true faith of His Son. Seek the fathomless wisdom of God to truly be a spiritually wise son or daughter of the Most High God!

Originally written: March 6, 2021

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YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A LAODICEAN!

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If you haven’t recently read about “endtime” prophecy in the Bible, it’s high time and beyond to do so.

Why? Because the culturally and morally destructive end of this age of human history is set to soon receive its most powerful, proverbial bombing run!

Those prophetic “bombs” have already shattered and weakened the morale – and worse yet – the spiritual and moral fiber of mankind for nearly all 6,000 years of human history.

When Adam and Eve began to heed the slithering lies of Satan the Devil masquerading as a talking serpent in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis chapter 3), they cut the dye for carnal (physically oriented but not God-oriented) human nature ever since. 

God specifically defines human nature through the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:7 – “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” This is the physically oriented, carnal human nature we seek to overcome!

Seven historical eras of God’s Church

The final book in the Bible is Revelation. It’s about, then future, prophecies of the endtime and beyond. We are – today – actually living in the endtime just prior to the prophesied second coming of Jesus Christ!

Between 90 to 100 AD, Jesus Christ inspired the apostle John to name in Revelation, the mostly future, historical eras of His true Church, known as the Church of God – after seven cities in northwestern Asia Minor. Those cities, now in modern day Turkey, were then part of the Roman Empire.

In Revelation chapters two and three Christ inspired John to prophesy about each of these congregations, assessing their spiritual strengths and weaknesses. They were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Linked together on a Roman mail route, the apostle John was, most likely, their overseeing pastor.

Jesus then prophetically addresses the future eras of God’s true Church – admonishing them to overcome their faults and remain actively faithful to His truth and to doing His work in their respective historical times.

The Ephesian era of the early apostles lasted until the death of the apostle John (the last of the original twelve). Each successive “church” of the seven then progresses down through the roughly 2,000 years of history since the time of Christ—right down to today!

Church eras six and seven

In our own historic memory, we have lived during the sixth era named after the 1st century city of Philadelphia, thus, the Philadelphian era. The church in ancient Philadelphia was one of the most productive when it came to preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to that part of the world as a witness in that day.

And, so too, the Church of God in the twentieth century, starting in the early 1930’s, rapidly grew in size, but it’s reach in proclaiming the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God was even greater, through God’s blessing and the advent of the new technologies of radio and television.

Yet there is a seventh era when God’s work is concluded prior to Jesus’ second coming. Based on historical markers, we are living now in that ominous seventh historical era. The name of the city and the era is Laodicea!

Christ labelled this final era the “lukewarm church”…

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…” (Revelation 3:14-17).

Laodicea was prophesied to be (as a congregation—and an era) self-satisfied, self-righteous, proud, wealthy, and arrogant. If you watch world trends and attitudes, you will see and hear that self-centered reasoning echoing through modern secular society. Not surprisingly, and sadly, it also echoes through much of the organized elements of the true Church of God.

Beware! A culture – especially an arrogant culture tends to rub off on young and old, male and female. It’s very tempting to give in to things that are “woke” or currently approved by the society we live in, but God determines what is acceptable, not us or the world around us.

There is only one true antidote to self-righteous, Laodicean arrogance and that is submissive humility before God. “Remember your Creator…” Ecclesiastes 12:6. We aren’t self-sufficient, our lives continue, day by day, through God’s mercy.

The seven congregations listed in Revelation 2 and 3 were prophetic of God’s true Church during each respective era. And each era would have some spiritual strengths to build on… and each would have spiritual weaknesses to overcome.

The last – Laodicea can be spiritually deadly. But remember, you don’t have to be Laodicean!

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

**All images are property of Amanda Stiver, unless otherwise noted. Please do not re-use without permission.

2024 – THE WORLD, MORE LIKE IT IS NOW THAN EVER BEFORE!

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

Of course, the world is more like it is now than it’s ever been before! Wars and rumors of wars. But the question is why the world is in the miserable condition it’s in now?

Sunrise, sunset… a day, a week, a month, a year has always led to another ever since creation. Even the events of those weeks, months, years, decades, and centuries bear similarity – and that’s due in great part to the worldwide continuity of selfish human nature. History repeats itself!

The corrupting influence

God inspired the apostle Paul to pen this passage of Scripture: “…the carnal [that is, physical] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

Add to that the passage in Genesis 3 where evil thinking was taught to the first human family – Adam and Eve – through the slick enticement Satan’s lying lectures. Never underestimate the overweening, destructive influence of that evil, fallen angel and his demonic cohorts!

From the time God specially created that first human family humanity has lived an up-and-down, often chaotic, mostly selfishly motivated history. We see this today in the war in Europe, the horrific attacks on Israel this past October, and now the war in the Middle East. These aren’t the first, or even yet the worst wars, the world has ever seen, but they remind us that humanity hasn’t overcome anything that was instigated from that first deception.

Sin’s tragedy compounded

At the evil instigation of the serpent (Satan the Devil in masquerade) our first parents, Adam and Eve, ignored God’s loving command to eat specifically from the Tree of Life.

Instead, they chose to listen to the Devil’s evil prompting and ate fruit from the specifically forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That wrong choice bore continuous, negative fruit, in effect initiating what has become “this present, evil age” (see Galatians 1:4).

Every generation from Adam to now has essentially perpetuated the sins of disobeying the loving commands of our Creator. And our society continues to reject the 10 Commandments right into our day now. Perhaps saddest of all, is that most of the Christianity of our age, and several centuries past, has systematically rejected God’s law as well (particularly the Sabbath command), proclaiming it “done away with”. If “Christianity” cannot respect God’s way, how can the rest of the world have any hope to do so?

But what about you?

Do you have to perpetuate the sinful mistakes of Adam and Eve?

The answer is a resounding NO!

Forget the old, physical world and its evil ways! Systematically seek a closer relationship with God our Father and His Son – our Savior, Jesus Christ. Request a daily progress report of yourself: Am I keeping God’s law and upholding His way of life? As the Passover approaches in a few months, it’s a good time to start examining ourselves in light of our baptism covenant with God.

As every other human who has or will ever live, we owe everything, including life itself to Jesus Christ our Savior and to God our Father! Live your life dedicated to that dynamic destiny offered by our Savior in the soon-coming Kingdom of God!

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.