In previous Q&As, we have pointed out THAT God has given His end-time Church—the Body of Christ, consisting of all Christians in whom God’s Spirit dwells—the commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness unto all nations, which includes the proclamation of a warning message of impending disaster and the possibility of worldwide destruction in a prophesied nuclear war.
Before answering HOW the Church can fulfill that commission, let us quote some excerpts to show THAT it will be accomplished.
We say the following in our Q&A, “What is the Work of God? (Part 3)”:
“But after the death of Paul and the other early apostles, the preaching of the gospel to the world would gradually stop, and so, as we have said many times, for over 1900 years, the gospel was NOT preached to the world, until God began to motivate His church and giving it the strength and opportunities to begin so again. This way, that worldwide proclamation would become the sign of the end—of the return of Jesus Christ. This proclamation would continue during the Great Tribulation as well—including through the preaching of the Two Witnesses. As God’s prophets (Revelation 11:3, 6, 10), they will of course warn the nations and proclaim what will happen—including, what has been written down in the Bible…”
We also say in that Q&A that the proclamation will produce fruit, in God’s due time:
“When we do the Work of God by preaching the gospel message, we do not do it in vain. It will produce fruit, even though it may not be obvious right away. Notice Isaiah 55:10-11: ‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’ What the gospel message contains will be accomplished, in God’s due time. This is also confirmed in Jeremiah 1:12, where God says: ‘You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.’…”
We also state in our Q&A, “What is the Work of God? (Part 5)”:
“… the Work of preaching the gospel to the world as a witness and the warning message to the end-time nations was decisively given to God’s end-time Church, because it was to be THE sign of Christ’s speedy return, once that aspect of the Work was fulfilled (Matthew 24:14). Today, this preaching has been made possible through the invention of the internet and many other means of electronic communication….”
The use of social media worldwide might be a major asset in proclaiming the message. The mobile phone is owned by huge numbers around the world, enveloping every country and continent, and could well be a significant part of how the gospel message will go out and be received by the world.
We continue to state the following in the above-mentioned Q&A:
“The Work of God will be short in these end times, and God says that He will finish the Work and cut it short in righteousness (compare Romans 9:28)…”
In addition, we state this in our Q&A, “Who is to warn the leaders of the world? (Part 2)”:
“A warning must be given, and God expects and requires of His Church to do so… Today, the task of the watchman has been given to God’s Church, and we had better fulfill God’s command to warn the leaders and the people of coming disaster, unless they repent. This warning is being proclaimed today for everyone who is willing to see, hear and read… This end-time commission to warn the leaders and the people has been given to God’s Church today. But of course, it is prophesied that most will not listen, as they refused to listen to the prophets of old in ancient times.”
That the Church WILL indeed fulfill God’s commission to preach the gospel, which includes an emphasis of keeping His Law, and to proclaim a warning message of disaster to the rulers and nations because of their sinful conduct can be seen by the fact that the Church will be hated by all the people in the entire world.
Christ told us in Matthew 10:22-23:
“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Christ repeats this end-time prophecy in Matthew 24:8-13:
“All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
When we are hated by all nations for Christ’s name sake, this implies that the Church has become known to all nations for it to be hated by all of them.
At the time of Paul, certain Jews claimed that the Church, through its teaching, had “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6), and that “concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere” (Acts 28:22). Paul says in Romans 10:18: “Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.” He says in Colossians 1:23 that the gospel “was preached to every creature under heaven.” It was even said by Christ’s enemies about Him that “the world has gone after Him!” (John 12:19).
At that time, this had not literally occurred, but these are also prophetic sayings, which would be fulfilled in the future, and especially in our time.
We also read that the Apostle John, while being imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, was given a little book in a vision with the command to prophesy again about or to many peoples, tongues, nations and kings. There was no practical way for John to actually go to all those nations to proclaim to them God’s Word. Similar commands had been given to the prophets of old. While Ezekiel dwelt with the other Jews as captives in Babylon, God told him in a vision to go to the House of Israel to proclaim to them God’s Word.
By that time, the House of Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrians many years before; Ezekiel would have been unable to travel to Assyria to bring God’s message to the House of Israel. Similar commands were given to ancient Jeremiah and ancient Isaiah. It would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to physically deliver God’s message to all those nations.
We understand, of course, that the commission was primarily intended for the end time, and that God’s servants in our time were commissioned to proclaim the messages given to the ancient prophets. Still, John, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah did receive orders from God, and they would not have dared not to carry them out. So what did they do, and how did they fulfill their responsibilities?
They WROTE DOWN what God told them, and God preserved their writings so that they could be read by everyone throughout the ages. The Old and New Testament prophets became worldwide “celebrities”—most everyone has heard of their name, but many did not and do not like what they proclaimed.
As we will see, the same applies, to an extent, to the Church of God in our time.
We are told that Isaiah worked as a prophet and a minister for at least 40 years and perhaps as long as 64 years. Jeremiah is assumed to have worked for 40 years, but most do not take into account that he travelled with the daughters of the last Jewish King Zedekiah to Ireland where he ministered; he worked therefore longer than only 40 years. We are told that Ezekiel worked for 22 years. During all that time, they did what God had instructed them to do, and their commission did not last only for a few months or years. And as we said above, their writings are still available today.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, the former human leader of the now defunct Worldwide Church of God, worked as a minister for over 50 years, from about 1933 or 1934 until his death in 1986. He wrote many booklets and books, produced many recorded sermons and radio and television programs, and he visited many leaders and dignitaries. Even though dead, what he did lives on in our memories, and most of it can be found, in one way or another, on the internet.
The Church of the Eternal God came into being in 2001, with the declared goal to uphold and teach that “The major doctrines of the Church are those, which were taught by Herbert W. Armstrong, derived from the Biblical teachings as followed by God’s faithful servants, and originally established by Jesus Christ through the founding of His Church in the time of His chosen early apostles. Since we are to increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are committed to review and alter any of our teachings, if and when proven to be wrong by the Bible.”
We are committed to this goal and have tried to faithfully carry it out. And so, all our literature is posted on the Web; and so are all our audio and video messages. We have been in operation a little bit longer than Ezekiel, but much shorter than Isaiah and Jeremiah, or Mr. Armstrong. The point being, God has given His Church an allotted time to do the Work. And that Work will produce fruit. It always will, if it is of God.
As we stated before, when talking about the Church in this Q&A, we speak about the Body of Christ, consisting of all Christians in whom God’s Spirit dwells. We recognize that in addition to the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates, there are others who also claim that they have continued to uphold the true faith as revealed to Mr. Armstrong. As Jesus said, each will be known by their behavior and works:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
This test applies to all who claim to be doing God’s Will.
People will remember what they might have heard, or they will be led to the Church’s literature and recorded messages at the appropriate time. Word will spread, and many won’t like what they will hear and read. Then it will become true that God’s Church will be hated by all nations in all the world. This does not mean that each and every individual member will be known by everybody, but they will be hated by association when it becomes known that they are part of this “crazy” and unpopular “unchristian” “Jewish” Church—and that especially, since anti-Semitism will reach unparalleled heights.
We also read that in the end time, Two Witnesses will proclaim God’s Truth. They will obviously be part of the Body of Christ, and their teaching will be in line with the teachings of the Church which had been proclaimed before for many years. People will recognize this, and they will connect the dots. Most will hate the Two Witnesses, and as they see the connection between them and the Church, they will hate the Church even more than they had already before.
The Two Witnesses will begin their public proclamations at the beginning of the Great Tribulation which will last for 3 ½ years. There will be those who recognize their teaching as being in line with what the Church had been teaching before, and they will become converted. They will be protected by God from the great and terrible Day of the Lord—a one-year time period which will begin 2 ½ years after the beginning of the Great Tribulation. But realize the impact which the Two Witnesses and the Church will have: 144,000 Israelites will become converted along with a great multitude from all nations “which no one can number” (Revelation 7:9).
Inasmuch as no one can become converted unless God draws them, God is obviously blessing the Church’s labor of the proclamation of the gospel in all the world, and a mass calling will occur before Christ’s return. God has been involved with the Church’s efforts all along. Even just prior to Christ’s return, we see God’s continued involvement, as mentioned in Revelation 14:6-7:
“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth–to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’”
Even then, God and His angels support the proclamation of the gospel message through His Church and the Two Witnesses. The Scriptures are clear that all of that will occur. God will reveal, in due time, how exactly He will bring it about.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link