Dear Brethren and Friends,
Greetings from San Diego! This recent Feast of Tabernacles was truly memorable and inspiring! All the reports I have heard and read indicate that it was an outstanding Feast in nearly every way.
I will leave the exact attendance figures and other facts for others to fill in—although we certainly did have a fine increase in attendance for this year’s Feast of Tabernacles in the Living Church of God around the world. But the spiritual aspect of the Feast—the part that counts most with God—was especially uplifting. The depth and understanding and the inspiration in the sermons was most encouraging. The past few years, an increasing degree of love and unity was felt in nearly all of our Feast sites. This year, that warmth and unity continued. Also, as Mr. Charles Bryce expressed it: “The brethren seemed to be even more focused on moving forward.” No doubt most of you have sensed that the end of this age really is drawing close and the move of the Church Headquarters to Charlotte, NC, will be the beginning of a much more powerful Work.
So all of us need to review our Feast notes and grow and move forward. We all need to study God’s Word more profoundly, pray more fervently and—as I explained—begin to truly “fellowship” with God and Christ in a more profound way than ever before.
And all of us need to be inspired about the Headquarters move to Charlotte and be fervently praying for God’s guidance and blessing in this move! For this move, I feel, is being made at the right time, and for the right reasons. As I may have explained in some sermons, I have no close friends or relatives in Charlotte. None of our leading men do, so far as I know. We are moving there even though most of us like the climate in San Diego much better. And there are certainly more recreational and interesting things to do in San Diego. But, if it will enable us to do a much more powerful work, most of us are more than willing to move to another location. It appears that God’s face is already shining upon us because of this.
Doors are opening that never seemed to open in the same way in any other place we looked. And we have been enabled to buy a Headquarters property for about three million dollars less than we would have had to pay out here in San Diego for a similar property. This will free up hundreds of thousands of dollars each year—once we have moved and settled in—to go on more television and radio stations, publish more magazines and booklets, hire more ministers, hire more Headquarters employees, and to do the Work more powerfully in every way. And if all of us—including you dedicated members and brethren—are really zealous about this, then God will pour out His Spirit and help us to have an even deeper spiritual understanding and a much greater impact as we do His Work around the world.
It is vital that each of us realize that this world desperately needs what we have to give. No, we are not the only ones who have any of the Truth. But, in His mercy, God has made us more willing to hang on to the full Truth than any other Church of God group on earth. We are practicing the government of God more fully—certainly better preparing us to assume positions of leadership in that same kind of government! And by devoting a much larger portion of our resources to actually “doing the Work” instead of taking care of ourselves, we are going to be enabled to have an increasingly large impact on a sick and confused world out there that desperately needs God’s Truth, and desperately needs to be warned before the full-scale Tribulation begins.
As we plan and prepare to make this move to Charlotte, I hope that every one of our dedicated brethren will join us in drawing closer to God and praying that God will indeed “pour out His Spirit” upon us in a special way so we can have the kind of impact on the world that the Church of God has not had for many years. As I have often cited to you, Jesus Christ told His followers: “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 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’” (Matthew 24:7–9).
Not long ago, Hurricane Lili devastated a number of cities and small communities in Louisiana and Texas. Drought is still affecting the American and Canadian farmers and causing food prices to rise, and as disease epidemics increasingly appear even here in North America, we must all realize that the stage is certainly set for the final prophetic events of this era to take place. But Jesus said that—no doubt as our prophetic message increases in power and focus—“You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake” (v. 9).
At this point, dear brethren, not one of the various “splits” from the former Worldwide Church of God is having a significant impact on the world. The world cannot “hate” us if they do not even know we exist! However, as we boldly preach the true message of Jesus Christ and powerfully warn modern Israel of the coming Tribulation, we will undoubtedly step on many toes. We must not be focused on simply “attacking” other religions because of their obvious errors. Nor must we be focused on simply “attacking” the world with all of its problems of homosexuality, abortion, fornication, adultery, drunkenness, drug abuse, pornography, crime and such. Nevertheless, we must and will need to mention these as living examples of what we are talking about. This will certainly not make us “popular.” It will bring upon us enormous persecution before our work is ultimately finished.
I hope and pray that all of you are “ready” for this—willing to trust God to take care of you and give you eternal life, even if some of us have to suffer a premature death in the service of Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus’ prophetic commission and warning to His disciples—which applies to us today as it did to His original disciples: “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 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” (Matthew 10:21–23). Again, in this passage, God indicates that we will be hated by “all” for Christ’s name’s sake. Only those who “endure” to the end will be saved.
We must constantly be drawing closer to God—making God more “real” in our hearts and minds—in order to faithfully go through the traumatic years ahead. We must always remember what Jesus told His disciples: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24–26).
There is, in all of us, the normal desire to “save” our lives in this world. But Jesus tells us: “Whoever loses His life for My sake will find it” (v. 25). Our constant communion with God—our “fellowship” with God and Christ through profound Bible study, meditation, prayer and fasting—all of this will enable us to focus on God’s Kingdom and not be drawn into this world in the selfishness, worldliness and confusion that is rampant throughout our entire society and even among many of God’s people today.
As I cited to you in my sermon during the Feast, let us remember the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1–4). We must indeed “set our minds” on what Christ and the Father are planning up in heaven. We must mentally picture the coming Kingdom, the glorious rule of Christ over a reconstructed world of prosperity, peace and love. We must picture the magnificent opportunity to serve right along with Jesus Christ, in helping millions of human beings reconstruct their own lives and come to know God during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment. These things must become the ultimate reality in our minds and thoughts. For, dear brethren, they are the ultimate reality!
As I explained during the Feast, a number of us may die before the Tribulation begins or Christ returns. For those events may still be a number of years away—and thousands of our members are already in their 60s, 70s and 80s! Remember that King David, the “man after God’s own heart,” died “old and full of days” even though he was only 70 years of age! And many of us are already beyond the age at which King David died some 3,000 years ago. Yet, even in the next few years, most of us will have the opportunity to genuinely prepare in a positive way for the return of our Savior as King of kings. We will truly be “laying up treasure in heaven” by helping and serving in the very Work which Jesus Christ is doing through His Church today. And, again, by teaching and practicing the correct form of government in the Church—trusting Christ as the living Head of the Church to guide and lead—we will be preparing more than any other group for significant positions of authority, rule and service in Christ’s soon-coming government.
So let us continually pray for one another. Let us encourage one another—and be constantly aware that some may at times become discouraged or downcast as they grow older, as human weakness and sickness sets in and Christ “still doesn’t come” as soon as we, humanly, would like. Yet, if we are truly converted, in our heart of hearts we know that this extra time may be needed by our other brethren to overcome and grow, and for God to be genuinely sure that conditions are fully “ripe” before He intervenes and brings on the horrifying Great Tribulation. We would not want to press God to “hurry” the Great Tribulation, would we?
Brethren these things are on my mind because of a dear elderly lady in the Church who I learned has recently died. She was a faithful and “gutsy” lady filled with enthusiasm and courage. As I was visiting her a couple of years ago, just before she underwent a serious operation, she told me: “Mr. Meredith, I may not be alive at this time tomorrow afternoon. But let’s talk about the resurrection! I am interested in the resurrection and plan to be there! Could we discuss this for a few minutes?” She was focusing on what Paul said. She was setting her mind “on things above, not on things on the earth.” All of us need to do this more than we probably now do. For, as the Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:19–20).
The genuine hope of all Christians is the resurrection of the dead. Let us all plan to do all we possibly can in this life to prepare for God’s Kingdom, to help others while we have the opportunity, and still prepare ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the resurrection from the dead. If we truly “walk with God” in this way in our thoughts and prayers, God will bless us. We will soon become His full sons in the resurrection. We will—in the resurrection—have the magnificent and exciting opportunity to literally “interact” with Christ and with the Father in planning, preparing and executing wonderful projects on this earth and perhaps later throughout the universe. We will literally “fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
May God Himself help all of you to catch this vision and to make the Kingdom of God and the Work of God a more vital part of your lives. Then, we will soon be part of the extended family of God and share eternity with Him, with Jesus, and with one another in a Kingdom based on love, joy and peace.
