God’s reckoning upon a wayward world

For years, Israel has had to live with existential threats from Iran and its neighbors, yet hardly anyone has done anything about it. The world seems to take for granted that Israel must live with such threats without ever doing anything about it either. Imagine what would happen if Russia, or China, made such threats to America, or vice versa.

A few years ago, when the media went into another one of those cyclical frenzies with the notion that Israel was about to attack Iran and destroy that nation’s nuclear facilities before it developed nuclear weapons, we said that according to biblical prophecies it is Iran who will attack Israel, not the other way around. Our prediction has proven true. In February 2012, Iran attacked a number of Israeli missions abroad – in Georgia, India, and Thailand, to mention those that made it into the media. From there, attacking Israel itself is only a short step away.

Iran has shown that its threats to Israel are not mere talk; that it is prepared to act on them. This has changed the name of the game. Israel is now entitled to reply and take action before a greater disaster hits the nation.

This is not going to make Israel many friends. On the contrary, biblical prophecies tell us that this tiny nation will face the wrath of the entire world. We have said much about those prophecies in the past, and may yet say more in the future, God willing, but for now we will only post this prophecy as a reminder.

Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:

Zec 12:2 "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

Zec 12:3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces,

Zec 12:4 though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day," says the LORD, "I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

Zec 12:5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.'

Zec 12:6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.

Zec 12:7 "The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.

Zec 12:8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.

Zec 12:9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zec 12:10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Zec 12:11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself,

Zec 12:13 and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;

Zec 12:14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Many times in the past we have said that the world is in ‘the preceding stages to the Great Tribulation.’ We amend that now to read, ‘the preceding stages of the Great Tribulation.’

The Arab revolutions, the fall of the Libyan dictator and Assad massacring of his own people in Syria, while the world stands paralyzed in the face of Russian and Chinese vetoes in the Security Council, Europe’s and America’s monumental debt burdens, the acute shortages of water, food, energy and resources around the world, and starving millions in Africa, have well and truly set the Apocalypse in motion.

This is exactly what we have warned the world about for two decades. But the world has not listened to us. It listened instead to its own prophets who have opposed us in every way and at every step. Now let them get their nations out of this predicament. God is very angry with this wayward world, and about to unleash His terrifying vengeance upon it.

Isa 63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?— "I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

Isa 63:2 Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

Isa 63:3 "I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes.

Isa 63:4 For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.

Isa 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me.

Isa 63:6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the earth."

Now consider what Jesus Christ said in His famous Mount of Olives prophecy about the end time.

Mat 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. . .

Mat 24:21 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.

Mat 24:22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.

Unless those days are shortened, no flesh would be saved alive. It is the elect of God that will keep alive some people in some nations, for many nations will vanish from the face of the earth altogether.

Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

So few people will survive this worldwide catastrophe that EVERYONE is expected to come to Jerusalem, to keep what? Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays, Saints Days? No, they come to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. I am sure the prophets of your church will be able to tell you what that is and when to keep it. Happy Feast of Tabernacles!

Prophetic developments that

portend catastrophe in our time

The wizard if ID, looking into a crystal ball:

“I see a time when peace will reign throughout the whole world”.

Interlocutor: “I bet people are happy”.

The wizard: “I don’t see any people”.

Scientists, politicians, even comics, are now contemplating the possibility that this world may have no future. Yet although the notion of an end to this world is on many a people’s lips, there is universal rejection of the one and only way by which humanity could be saved.

Mal 4:4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Mal 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse [utter destruction, Tanakh].

When God says that unless the world changes its ways and keeps His Commandments He will destroy it, He means it. And what does He expect from human beings above all?

LOVE! Love of children, love of parents, and especially love of our heavenly Father.

This kind of love is possible only in the context of the Ten Commandments – the first four regulate our relationship with our heavenly Father, while the last six regulate the relationship between human beings; the fifth one dealing specifically with love between parents and children.

The problem is that mainstream churches – Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc. – have been preaching for centuries that the Commandments of God have been done away with and are no longer relevant for daily life or needed for salvation.

Fundamentalist churches on the other hand, while preaching that the Commandments of God are needed for salvation, have put so much emphasis on the Law, they have forgotten about grace. They fail to understand that while the Law is required of all human beings, grace and salvation is granted only to those who overcome their carnal nature and place their life in God’s hands, allowing Him to create in them a character suitable for His eternal Kingdom.

As Jesus Christ said in one of His prayer to His Father and our Father (John 20:17):

Joh 17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

Joh 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Before a human being can become One with God he must present his body as a living sacrifice to Him.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

Rom 12:5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Jesus Christ could not be more specific about the importance of God’s Commandments in our struggle for salvation.

Mat 19:16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"

Mat 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Mat 19:18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,' 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,' 'YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,' 'YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,'

Mat 19:19 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER,' and, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "

Mat 19:20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"

Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Mat 19:23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

He went on to say the following to His disciples:

Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Now all these things Jesus Christ said during His ministry on earth, but for those who say that the Commandments of God were nailed to the cross at the time of His crucifixion, here is the glorified Christ speaking to us from heaven, not once but twice

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.

Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

Rev 14:3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

Rev 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Anyone who loves God and Jesus Christ keeps the Commandments; anyone who does not keep the Commandments will not receive the Holy Spirit and cannot be saved.

Apostle John, the youngest of the Apostles, who received the book of Revelation, put a cap on this discussion with the following unmistakable statement.

1Jn 2:4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Many Christians make a virtue of going to church with a Bible under their arm. They read from it with their preacher, and then go home where they are supposed to continue to study it and meditate upon it. Well, they are supposed to read and meditate upon it, but it is doubtful that many do it. How else can one explain the fact that although they all read the same Book, they end up believing different gospels, and following churches whose doctrines are diametrically opposed to each other?

What happens is that they are conditioned to read the Bible not to discover its truths and the mysteries of God, but rather to confirm the gospel preached by their minister.

Four decades ago, while member of the Worldwide Church of God, I was encouraged to do the same. However, it seems that I took the leaders’ advice too seriously, for instead of confirming what the ministers were preaching, I discovered that their gospel was quite different from the one preached by Jesus Christ and His apostles.

I learned English studying the Bible. I used to have a dictionary on my left, the Bible in the middle, and a notebook on the right. Yet even in my rudimentary English, after a couple of years, I could see that the gospel of the Worldwide Church of God was different from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That disturbed me enormously, for the implications were horrendous. When one became a member of that Church, he had to leave behind everything, every aspect of his previous life, including friends and relatives.

I did not want to come in conflict with the leaders; I liked being a member of that Church. Aside from the fact that they convinced me they were the ‘one and only true Church of God in the world’, and that our destiny was God’s paradise, I began to make friends and was contemplating marrying one of the girls from the Church.

However when doubts arise in your mind, you can only bottle up for so long then you have to speak up, risking all you have achieved, including losing ‘God’s paradise’.

I raised the issue with the minister, and the conclusion was exactly what I expected. No sooner did I finish speaking that he said, ‘if that is what you believe then you are out’. And out of that Church I was, but not out of God’s grace, as I would discover later on.

For a short while I was both angry and unhappy about it, not so much about what I was losing, but about their hypocrisy and their un-Christian methods. I wanted them to hear what I had to say, what I discovered in the Bible, but they would have none of it. That was a blatant disregard of Jesus advice on how to deal with such situations.

Mat 18:15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.'

Mat 18:17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

It did not take me long to realize that what they did to me was a blessing in disguise.

You would not believe the burdens the members of the Worldwide Church of God had to bear; far greater than the ones the Pharisees were putting on their people.

What saved me was the fact that my love of the Bible was not affected by their act. I spoke to them only after I became convinced that I was right. Such being the case, I could not see how God and Jesus Christ would support them and condemn me for raising important issue of salvation and morality.

Time passed, I emigrated from Canada to Australia, I carved myself a new career, and I settled down to what I hoped would be a long and comfortable life. My life was comfortable all right, until that Church caught up with me again. Nearly two decades after we parted company, I saw posters about an evangelistic campaign in Australia. I joined them briefly to see whether they were preaching the same old, false, and ruinous doctrines, and when I discovered that they did, I determined to do something about it. So in 1990, the first edition of The Christian Herald made its appearance. Little did I know then that what started as an attempt to expose fundamentalist hypocrisy and falsehoods would soon turn into a cry against the sins of the whole world.

When I left the WCG, and saw that those who claimed to be true ‘Christians’ were in fact a ‘synagogue of Satan’, to use the words of Jesus Christ, I began a search for the ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ over which ‘the gates of Hell shall not prevail.’

Luk 12:32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Mat 16:18 “and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

So I devised a test which I used to determine whether a church or religion was, or held in its ranks, that ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ. Here is that test.

1. No idolatry;

2. No doctrines of demons;

3. Sabbath keeping;

4. Passover observance.

It is a simple test – and one could add countless more points to it – but it was enough for me to determine relatively quickly whether I was on the right track or not. Let us have a brief look at each point to see how this applies to the flock of Jesus Christ.

1. No idolatry.

This is the second of the Ten Commandments.

Exo 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

Exo 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exo 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

When I walked into a church and found it to be adorned with statues and images of heavenly things, icons as they like to call them these days, I knew that the ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ would not be there.

2. No doctrines of demons.

Hard to believe, but I could not find a single church, mainstream or fundamentalist, that does not observe doctrines of demons. What are these?

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

1Ti 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,

1Ti 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;

1Ti 4:5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

1Ti 4:6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

Old Testament forbade interracial marriages because that was designed for one nation only, but the New Testament is for the entire world. This is why Christians could not say to converts from other nations that they could not intermarry because they are of a different race, color or culture. Remember also what Jesus Christ said before He rose to heaven.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

And this is what the apostles preached.

Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In regard to abstinence from foods, the same principle applies. Old Israel had many dietary and sacrificial laws, but these were designed to ‘bring us to Christ’, then finished.

Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.

Gal 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Gal 3:25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

It is these laws that Jesus Christ put an end to with His sacrifice, not the Ten Commandments. Those who keep dietary laws forget what Jesus Christ said about food too.

Mar 7:15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were considered defiled if they so much as even touched an ‘unclean’ animal, let alone eat it. In the New Testament, however, nothing that enters a man from outside defiles him; buy the words that come out of his mouth defile him.

False ministers have added a new twist to this question. They ask their followers: ‘does God care about your health?’ The answer of course is yes. And how does He show that care? By telling them which animals are good for food, and which are not! Naturally, they never discuss these Scriptures.

Mar 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

Mar 16:18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Nothing hurts the true believers, not even deadly poison. Apostle Paul certainly believed that when he said the following.

1Co 10:25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no question for conscience' sake;

1Co 10:26 "for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it."

1Co 10:27 If any of those who do not believe invite you to a feast, and if you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake.

3. Sabbath keeping.

The Sabbath has been the sign between God and His people since ancient times.

Exo 31:12 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Exo 31:13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Exo 31:14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

Exo 31:15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Exo 31:16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.

Exo 31:17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”

Exo 31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Is this sign still valid in the New Testament? Absolutely! Israel according to the flesh lost the status of ‘chosen people’ because they could not keep God’s Commandments. And why could they not keep them? Because they did not have the Holy Spirit! In the New Testament, however, there is no longer such an excuse.

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Joh 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

Joh 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Joh 16:14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

Joh 16:15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Joh 16:20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Joh 16:21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

Joh 16:22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

Joh 16:23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

Joh 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Joh 16:25 "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.

Joh 16:26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;

Joh 16:27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."

Such promises were never made to Israel of old. In the New Testament, however, Jesus Christ is creating a new Israel, for a different world. Remember what He told Pilate about His Kingdom, and what He told Peter about the twelve apostles?

Joh 18:33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"

Joh 18:34 Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"

Joh 18:35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."

Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Mat 19:27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?"

Mat 19:28 So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

If the Sabbath was a sign between God and people whom He knew would fail, how much more is it a requirement for people who have been granted the Holy Spirit in order to overcome the weaknesses of their human nature?

The Old Covenant was made with carnal human beings for a purpose – to show them that they could not keep it and they need a New Covenant.

Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

Jer 31:32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

Jer 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Jer 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Therefore the Sabbath is more a sign between God and His people in the New Testament than it ever was in Old. Remember also that when Jesus Christ returns to this world He expects to find His disciples observing not Sunday (which was never sanctioned by God or Jesus Christ to be a Holy Day), but the Sabbath.

Mat 24:20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

Mat 24:21 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.

They must pray that their flight may not be in winter because it is cold and they may freeze in the mountains or wherever they flee, and not on the Sabbath because, even in the Great Tribulation, they are not allowed to carry heavy burdens on that day.

4. Passover observance.

This is what Jesus Christ said about the Passover, and how the apostles observed it.

1Co 11:17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

1Co 11:18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

1Co 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

1Co 11:20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

1Co 11:21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

1Co 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

1Co 11:27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

1Co 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

1Co 11:30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

It is clear that failure to observe the Passover brings about God’s judgment. Yet most members of mainstream churches have not so much as even heard of Passover let alone observe it in the manner prescribed by Jesus Christ.

This then was the test with which I search the world for decades for the little flock of Jesus Christ. In the end, the result was as astounding as it was unexpected.

Surprise result in the search for

the ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ

After parting company with the Worldwide Church of God, and armed with my simple test, I set out to locate the little flock of Jesus Christ among the many denominations of this world. I was convinced that Jesus Christ would lead me to His people, but after a long and unsuccessful search, I began to have doubts; something was not right, but what?

Had God and Jesus Christ changed policy and decided to accept the almost unrecognizable and diluted versions of the true Gospel that are being preached in the world today? If so, the early Christians, and thousands after them, endured extreme persecutions and died unnecessarily for their beliefs. I could not accept that this would be the case, especially since I could not find anything in the Bible that would remotely justify this fact.

I never stopped studying the Bible, even during my university days, and when I could not get results among Christian congregations, I wondered whether Jesus’ disciples could be found among other religions. So for a while I shifted my attention back to Judaism, as distinct from the Old Testament, then I looked at Islam, and after that I looked at eastern religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, and others, and when I did not get results among them either, I returned to Christianity.

I remember how during my university days, the head of the Religious Studied Department wondered where I was heading with my studies. After satisfying the requirements for one major in biblical studies, instead of enlarging and deepening those studies for the required second major, I shifted my attention to eastern religions. He thought I would have a good future in biblical studies, and without saying so directly, I felt he thought I was making a mistake. I could not tell him why I was doing it, or that I had a better knowledge of the Bible than all my lecturers and tutors in those subjects. I had a hard time abstaining from shouting aloud that they were wrong in what they were teaching, but that would have put an end to any hope of me obtaining a degree.

Shifting my search for the little flock of Jesus Christ to eastern religions was not based on a whim but on long introspection. The Bible says that people will be judged on their works, and that transcends the boundaries of religion. My problem was on how to reconcile good works with the beliefs in Brahma, Vishnu, Buddha, or any of the myriad of eastern gods.

In the end, I had no choice but to return to the Bible and pure Christianity. This is what the apostles believed and there is no argument, or possibility of any derailment from it.

Act 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

And this is what Jesus Christ said of those who want to follow Him.

Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'

Mat 7:23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Now the will of Jesus’ Father in heaven is unalterable:

Exo 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.”

If eastern religions are good at anything, inventing gods is one of them. There is hardly an animal or a dead person that is not a god with them. I trust the God of the Bible who says that those who obey Him will be blessed and those who disobey Him will be cursed. One only has to look at the world and its history to see which God has proven to be beneficial. So coming back to the Bible and Christianity was inevitable.

Looking at religions from all angles, I concluded that anyone can put on a good show for a while, or show acts of kindness and charity under ideal situations, but few do so under extreme conditions. There is a reason why the disciples of Jesus Christ are subjected to extreme trials and tribulations, and why only those who overcome to the end attain eternal life and make it into the eternal Kingdom of God. This is what Apostle Paul said.

Act 14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening

Act 14:22 the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

And this is what Apostle Peter said.

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

2Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

One cannot escape the pollutions of this world except through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that knowledge can be obtained only through the study of the Bible, not through the myriad of commentaries and ‘Bible studies’ that have filled this world.

It seems that everyone who had spent a little time on the Bible feels that he can write a commentary on it and teach others on how to study it. What they teach instead is how to conform to the doctrines of their particular church. How can one explain the fact that hardly anyone puts the Commandments of God at the centre of the Christian faith?

Here is Jesus Christ again.

Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Joh 14:28 You have heard Me say, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.

Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Salvation is not possible outside the framework of belief and obedience to God and His Commandments. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, cannot arrive in any other name but Jesus Christ, and without the Holy Spirit there is no salvation, no eternal life, no Kingdom of God.

Works cannot be separated from faith; the two, plus overcoming to the end, create candidates for the Kingdom of God. Out of this pool of people, God is exercising His grace to choose whomever He wants for His Kingdom. As Apostle Paul explained:

Rom 9:13 As it is written, "JACOB I HAVE LOVED, BUT ESAU I HAVE HATED."

Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!

Rom 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION."

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

Rom 9:17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I HAVE RAISED YOU UP, THAT I MAY SHOW MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MAY BE DECLARED IN ALL THE EARTH."

Rom 9:18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Rom 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?"

Rom 9:20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"

God does whatever He wants with His creation. Everyone can obey God and accept the faith of Jesus Christ for salvation. Most people, however, would rather have a good life in this world than overcome trials and tribulations necessary to bring human nature under control and qualify for the grace of God.

Eastern people may have works, some works, but they do not have the faith of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and without them overcoming this world is not possible.

So unhesitatingly I returned to the Bible and to Christianity, but still without fellowshipping with anyone in the name of Jesus Christ. I never got this promise out of my mind that He would be with His disciples to the very end? So where were they?

My colleagues at work, at university, everywhere, found me friendly but distant and absent minded. I just could not tell them what was in my mind, for they would have thought me crazy as well. How could I tell people who hardly believed in God that I was meditating on the Law of God and on deep biblical mysteries? For me, the words of Jesus Christ were unshakable, and since He said that the Word of God is true, I unquestioningly believed it.

Joh 17:8 I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

Joh 17:9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.

Joh 17:10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

Joh 17:11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Joh 17:13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

Joh 17:14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Joh 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

So I kept searching and looking at the Bible from every possible angle, always trying to see whether I as missing something, or making a mistake somewhere.

Then, after two decades, I had a new encounter with the Worldwide Church of God. Their inroads into Australia with their old, false, and ruinous doctrines could not go unanswered, hence the decision publish The Christian Herald.

That decision would turn out to be as momentous for my life as the decision to join that Church in the first place. It was like a window opened in heaven. Not only did I see a myriad of Bible prophecies unravel before my eyes, but I finally had the answer to my years of search for the ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ.

There was no ‘little flock’ of Jesus Christ in the world anymore.

That discovery was as astounding as it was frightening; astounding because it was totally unexpected; frightening because it had extraordinary end time implications.

There comes a time in the history of the world when every church in the world, including the Churches of God mentioned in the book of Revelation, fall away from the truth of God.

2Th 2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,

2Th 2:2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

2Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

2Th 2:5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

2Th 2:6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

2Th 2:10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2Th 2:11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

2Th 2:12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,

2Th 2:14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Th 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

2Th 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,

2Th 2:17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

The lawless one, who has been at work deceiving the world ever since, will be revealed just prior to the return of Jesus Christ, and destroyed by none other than Jesus Christ Himself. This realization was as frightening as it was full of hope. I realized then that I was never alone in my search, that God and Jesus Christ were directing my every step and leading me to this conclusion. That changed the name of the game. My initial intention to focus my attention on the Worldwide Church of God and its daughter churches would now shift to the whole world, crying out its sins and trying to bring it back to God before it was too late.

The death of its founder, Herbert W Armstrong, in 1986, started a slow process of decline of that Church. Some two decades later, the Church ceased to exist as a single entity. A mad scramble for its members ensued among its evangelists, with the result that more than three hundred new ‘Churches of God’ made their appearance.

Most are a carbon copy of their mother Church, but some have swung the pendulum to the opposite extreme, from deep fundamentalism to extreme liberalism.

Now even though I had little connection with them, from the beginning of this work some of have never ceased harassing and defrauding us, trying desperately to derail us from our mission. Here is a typical exchange of emails with one of them.

Anthony Buzzard, December 27, 2009

Grigore, Is this a sabbatarian (saturday sabbath) movement?

Yes, Anthony! G.S.

Thanks, but I wonder why Paul then in Col 1:16, 17 states that the trio of observances is a shadow now superseded by Jesus who has come: Let no one tell you what to do in relation to holy days, new moons and sabbaths, which are a single shadow, but the substance is Christ's. Anthony

Hello, Anthony!

I can see that you are in a mood to argue a little here. Normally, I do not bother answering people that have lapsed from the truth, as the Scriptures tell us that it is impossible to bring them back to it. However, since I am not quite sure where you stand and where you are heading, I give you the benefit of the doubt. I presume you come from the stable of H.W. Armstrong, for you seem to struggle with the same doctrinal points that have divided that community for decades. I was once part of that stable too, but I left it behind long time ago.

First of all, I think you mean Col. 2:16,17, and not 1:16,17. "Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in respect of a feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths. For these are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ".

Assuming that this is the case, the answer can be found just a few verses later: Col 2:20 – 22. "If then you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to its ordinances: touch not, taste not, handle not; which things are all for corruption in the using, according to the commands and doctrines of men?" This goes well with Gal. 4:10 "You observe days and months and seasons and years"? Therefore my answer will cover them both.

The operative words here are, "according to the commands and doctrines of men". Apostle Paul was not referring to the Commandments, statutes and judgments that God gave Moses at Mount Horeb, but to "commandments and doctrines of men", of which the Jews had a lot. Remember what God said about the mission of Elijah:

Mal 4:4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Mal 4:6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

The Law that God gave to Moses in Mount Horeb with the statutes and judgments, will be valid to the very end of this world. And just the same, remember what Jesus Christ said about the Jews?

Mat 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,

Mat 15:2 "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."

Mat 15:3 He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Mat 15:9 AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.' "

In Colossians and Galatians, Apostle Paul was not preaching against the Commandments and the Holy Days that God gave Moses, but against the "ordinances" that the Jews had added in the course of time. I can give you two examples that prove this fact. In the book of Acts, Apostle Paul directed his followers to the "oracles" that God gave to the Jews. Look carefully at what he said:

Act 7:38 "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give us,

Act 7:39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.

What happened when the Jews rejected those "oracles"? They turned back to Egypt; in other words they went back to paganism. It is the same these days: those who reject God's "oracles" are left with nothing but paganism.

The second proof comes from 1 Cor 11:20 - 30. Here it is: