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A dual test for God’s
people
Frank Borg
In the late 1920’s, Mr.
Herbert Armstrong came
into contact with the
Church of God
headquartered in
Stanberry, Missouri
(Rev. 3:1-6). Although
he failed to see where
the Sardis Church was
bearing much fruit, he
knew that this was the
Church that had more
Bible Truth than any
other Church he could
find. This was the
‘resting place’ for
God’s people at the
time. It professed the
commandments of God and
had the testimony of
Jesus Christ.
Around this same time,
his mind was being
opened to the
understanding of some
Biblical Truths which
this Church (Sardis) did
not teach or accept. So,
in 1929 he decided to
‘test’ the authenticity
of the Church in two
ways. He wrote about
this dual test in
his autobiography and is
important advice for
those trying to find the
Body of Christ today:
“Now, it was a simple
truism that if each
individual member of the
Church must be growing
in the knowledge of God,
constantly overcoming,
being corrected,
and eliminating error,
then all the members
together, which form the
Church, must also be
CONSTANTLY WILLING TO
CONFESS ERROR AND
ELIMINATE IT, and
to ACCEPT THAT WHICH IS
“NEW LIGHT” FROM GOD’S
WORD to the Church.
I knew of no church or
sect or denomination
that had ever publicly
confessed error or
embraced new truth. Yet,
plainly, THIS WOULD
BE A TEST OF THE
TRUE CHURCH. As a
first step in this test,
I wrote up an exposition
of some 16 typewritten
pages proving clearly,
plainly, and beyond
contradiction that a
certain minor point of
doctrine proclaimed by
this Church, based on an
erroneous interpretation
of a certain verse of
Scripture, was in error.
This was mailed to
Stanberry, Missouri,
headquarters to see
whether their leaders
would confess error and
change”
(The Autobiography of
Herbert W. Armstrong,
pg. 344, Vol. 1).
As outlined by Mr.
Armstrong, following is
the dual test to
prove where God’s true
Church is:
·
It must be willing to
confess error and
eliminate it (Mark 6:12
etc).
·
It must accept New
Truth/deeper
understanding (John
17:17; 2 Pet. 3:18)
As it turned out the
physical head of the
Church at the time, Mr.
A. Dugger, explained
that if he were to
correct a false doctrine
and publicly confess
error, much of the
membership would not
accept it. He feared
people would leave the
Church because of new
Truth and deeper
understanding! Mr.
Dugger believed the
membership would not
allow Christ to correct
error and restore Truth
to the Church! With this
being the case, the
physical leader, and the
membership, looked to
people rather than to
Christ, the spiritual
Head of God’s Church!
This must have shaken
Mr. Armstrong’s
confidence!
After much study on
another topic, Mr.
Armstrong exhaustively
proved that the lost Ten
Tribes of Israel had
migrated to the areas in
North Western Europe and
the sons of Joseph -
Ephraim and Manasseh -
migrated to Britain and
the United States
respectively. He began
to understand that the
British were the
descendants of Ephraim
and the United States
represented modern day
Manasseh. Mr. Armstrong
typed up some 300 pages
explaining this Truth
substantiating it with
Scripture, proving that
this was the key to
understand more than a
third of the whole
Bible! Six months later,
Mr. Armstrong received a
reply saying that
although this was Truth,
the Church could not
proclaim it! This
was outright and blatant
rejection of God’s
Truth! 1929
turned out to be an
important year for God’s
Church! It was during
that year that the
Sardis Church of God
refused to accept,
preach or publish new
truth which came right
out of God’s Word.
Sardis wasn’t submitting
to the Spiritual Head of
the Church, Jesus
Christ, and as a result
(spiritual) growth was
no longer being borne!
From the time Mr.
Armstrong approached Mr.
Dugger, God wanted to
see if the leader of
Sardis would (a) allow
himself to be corrected
and (b) implement New
Truth. Sardis failed the
test on both counts!
Because of this, God had
to move the ‘resting
place’ for His people
and begin working
through another physical
leader who would allow
himself and the Church
to be corrected and to
proclaim His Truth! In
1933, God ignited
the Philadelphia
candlestick through His
humble servant Mr.
Herbert Armstrong. God’s
Church was incorporated
under the name Radio
Church of God.
Throughout Mr.
Armstrong’s ministry,
God was able to restore
much Truth to the
Church. The most
important Truths which
God restored through Mr.
Armstrong related to the
Gospel of the Kingdom of
God. Mr. Armstrong did
make some mistakes
throughout his ministry
– he was not infallible.
But God allowed those
mistakes for a reason:
to see which of His
people will pass the
dual test now! We
must continue confessing
error and eliminating it
when we are shown from
God’s Word that we are
in error (Mk. 6:12), and
we must accept deeper
understanding when He
gives it to us (Jn.
17:17; 2 Pet. 3:18)!
The problem we see
happening in this
end-time is that many do
not apply the
above-mentioned dual
test; as a result they
fail the test on both
counts. Laodicea veered
off track because of (a)
refusing to be corrected
and (b) refusing to
accept New Truth. God
now wants to see who
will hear His
voice and follow Him
(Mal 3:1-3), or who will
instead follow and
submit to a man. Christ
is knocking on the door
of Laodicea (Rev. 3:20).
All of God’s people must
apply the dual test and
respond positively by
following Him and His
Voice!
How can we be
absolutely sure
of where God is working
today?
Mr. Armstrong’s advice,
as supported by
scripture, still holds
true today:
a) The Body of Christ
must be willing to
be corrected and confess
error
(Mark 6:12; p.344,
‘Autobiography of
Herbert Armstrong, Vol.
1).
b) The Body of Christ
must be willing to
accept that which is
‘New Truth’ from
God’s Word (p.344,
‘Autobiography of
Herbert Armstrong, Vol.
1). It will be
set apart by truth
(John 17:17), and
continually growing
in grace and knowledge
as recorded in His Word
(2 Peter 3:18)
God’s Church will not
only keep ‘old’ Truth,
it will accept
where it was wrong and
continue to grow in new
Truth. This
shows a Church that is
humble and submissive to
its Spiritual Head,
Jesus Christ. Which
Church today has these
qualities and lives by
them? Research into the
splinter groups shows
that many keep much of
the Truth which was
restored to the Church
over the earlier years
while others have lost
much of it! In each
of these cases,
whether wittingly or
unwittingly, Christ’s
Voice has been rejected
to a degree or another;
(a) past errors are not
being corrected and (b)
New Truth from God that
can be proved from the
Bible is blatantly being
rejected!
Through prayer and
diligent Bible study,
God’s people will find
the ‘resting place’ at
this time. God’s people
must test their leaders
and prove all things.
This is how the Body of
Christ can truly confess
error and grow in new,
deeper understanding of
God’s Word. Now is the
time to demonstrate
spiritual courage by
continuing to prove all
things and once again
regroup with other
faithful Philadelphians
under the authority of
Jesus Christ, the Head
of His Church!
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