Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Greetings from Charlotte, NC! How much longer? How much longer can this sick society continue until the Creator has to intervene? All around us we see confused, disillusioned and discouraged people—far more than at any other time in my 82 years of life! Virtually every thinking person seems to be aware that “something” is going terribly wrong in this world’s society!
But practically no one has any real understanding of the genuine cause of this universal malaise.
Why?
The true answer—if you are actually willing to believe the Bible—is that the Eternal God is not now “trying” to save humanity. Otherwise, everyone would understand why we were born, what is the real purpose for our lives, etc. But the Creator is now allowing humanity to “go its own way” for a period of around 6,000 years. Then, He will send Jesus Christ back to this earth to truly “save” humanity from destroying itself (Matthew 24:22). Right now, however, God reveals in His inspired Word, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). In order to allow humanity free rein to experiment with its own humanly devised systems of government, religion, education, etc., God is allowing mankind to go its own way—and eventually come to realize the utter emptiness, the suffering, and the mental, physical and emotional agony that a world without God produces.
Also, of course, God is allowing Satan the Devil to exacerbate the sufferings brought about by man’s rejection of God’s way. The Bible reveals the battle for your mind being waged by Satan the Devil, “…the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:2-3).
Indeed, we have all been “children of wrath”—sinful human beings cut off from God. However, within a comparatively few years, God Almighty will intervene! As God’s inspired Word tells us again and again, the true Christ of the Bible will return to save humanity from itself: “And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15).
Until that happens, however, those people who have had their minds opened to God’s precious Truth should be realistically preparing for the soon-coming Government of God to be set up on this earth under the returning Jesus Christ. Over and over, my friends, God’s Word makes it very clear what we should be doing right now.
In the famous “Parable of the Pounds” in Luke 19:11-27, Jesus Christ clearly describes how His true servants ought to grow in their capacity to serve until He returns. For the faithful Christians who truly “overcome” and grow, Christ promises the opportunity to rule in His coming Government. To the person whose pound or “mina” increased tenfold, Christ states, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (v. 17). To the one who was also faithful but only increased half as much, Christ stated, “You also be over five cities” (v. 19).
As Jesus Christ directly states in Revelation 2:26-27, “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father.” Again, in describing the inspiring “Song of the Saints,” God’s Word reveals, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
Could anything be more clear? True Christians in the Church of God today are called by God not only to obtain personal salvation. Rather, we are charged by Jesus Christ to do two major things:
I. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). As all of you Tomorrow’s World readers should know, the true “Gospel” is the Good News of the coming Kingdom or Government of God. As Jesus explained, “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
II. The second thing all genuine followers of Christ are instructed to do is to become those “overcomers” who will assist Christ in ruling over the cities and nations of this entire world upon Christ’s return. Remember, Jesus Christ is the “King of kings and the Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). True Christians are right now supposed to be “in training” for that awesome responsibility. That is why the Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).
My friends, are you personally really studying the inspired Word of God regularly? Are you meditating about your God-given purpose in life? And are you fervently praying for God’s help in overcoming your own weak human nature, overcoming the distractions and temptations of this world, and overcoming the constant bombardment of Satan’s attacks with his input of wrong attitudes being pushed at you continually?
Truly, we are in a genuine spiritual “battle” in all of this. But our Almighty Father loves us and He intends that we become overcomers—if we are truly “stirred up” to do our part with zeal. Yet, with Jesus Christ living His life within us through the Holy Spirit, we can and we will make it! As the Apostle Paul stated, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
Please be totally honest, my friends! Recognize the fact that it is only through this Work that most of you have become fully informed about the true understanding of why you were born, about what your real purpose is, and how to achieve that purpose! We are doing everything we can to strengthen you, to encourage you and to inspire you to achieve God’s great purpose for your very life! In turn, thousands of you have already been helping and supporting this Work in a wonderful way for which we thank you very much! Your fervent prayers and encouragement, your faithful tithes and generous offerings have made it possible for us to accomplish a great deal this past year in spreading the genuine truth of Almighty God. Our television programs are now regularly bringing in five to seven thousand responses almost every single week—some responses coming in at even eight thousand for one week’s program! Recently, we have added a number of new television stations including: KPXB in Houston, TX, airing Sunday mornings at 10:30; Beaumont, TX, has KBTV airing Sunday mornings at 6:30; WZME airs in New Haven, CT, at 11:00 Sunday evenings and reaches the New York and Long Island areas as well; WPXW in Washington, DC, airs Sunday mornings at 10:30; KPXC in Denver, CO, airs Sunday mornings at 9:00; and KCWI in Des Moines, IA, airs Sunday mornings at 7:00. We are also working on more opportunities and pray that we will have the opportunity and the income to begin to reach far more millions of our fellow human beings with this end-time message as God makes possible. Again, none of this could have been accomplished without God’s guidance and without your dedication and your financial backing. Thank you!
My dear friends, most of you—as well as we here in Charlotte—realize we are really near the “end” of this present age. God is watching as to how stirred up we are about reaching our fellow human beings before it is too late. We all know that only God will be able to truly bless and to reward us in the magnificent way He promises. In His inspired Word, our heavenly Father promises, “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:36). The great God of the universe indicates that He will give “wages” leading to eternal life for those who help reap this spiritual harvest at the end of the age! Let us all get truly excited and energized with the opportunity we have been given to be a direct part of His Work at the end of this age.
Even now, at 82 years of age, I am going “all out” in trying to reach this world with Christ’s message while I have the strength and the opportunity. I am far from perfect, but I am earnestly trying to give my life to the God who gives me breath and do His Work while there is opportunity. May God inspire us all to be energized and absolutely zealous in preparing for His coming Kingdom and therefore have the privilege of being rewarded forever in the very Kingdom and Family of the great God who gives us life and breath! God’s Work does need your help now. Our income has fallen somewhat at the beginning of the year, and I personally ask you to be unusually generous as best you can. Let us truly go “all out” in honoring our great Creator, dear brethren, and letting God know exactly where we stand by serving Him with all of our being.
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith