The close of a year and the dawn of another cause pause as time is given to reflect on what is past and anticipate what is to come. The year 2019 was fraught with challenges, tests, and opposition, and it leaves no soul the same. The year 2020 will also present unique trials, but God is endeavoring to prepare his people for a particular moment and place in time. If we are honest, obedient, and courageous, we will take hold of God’s vision and walk accordingly irrespective of the required decisions that must be made and the inevitable cost of making them. God is taking extreme measures to reveal himself and his will at a personal level, and he is faithful to every soul. May God help each one to not shrink from the great responsibility that is placed on the person to whom God grants light. Ultimately, the time at present is no ordinary time, but we are assuredly standing at a prophetic hour.
Reflecting on 2019 there are grave conclusions to be drawn - one of which is to understand that the “fellowships” of the Church of God circles are no different than the sects of the Protestant Era. The message of the seventh seal is not a different message than that of the sixth. In a sense, the audience to whom the message is sent may be surprising. The only people worth calling out of Babylon in the 1800s were God’s people who were trapped down in confusion. However, because they were not Babylonians in heart, those saints of the sixth seal period came leaping and shouting home to Zion when they heard the glorious message of the one church. Countless souls trapped in Methodist, United Brethren, and other denominational camps heard that call and took their stand. When they came home to Zion, they needed not to repent of sins, for they were God’s people who walked in the light of the truth. Where are God’s people at present who need to be called out? I say they are not in the denominational camps of yesteryear, but they are trapped in denominational camps who call themselves the Church of God. In all of these fellowships, there are saved and sanctified saints of God who are not enjoying the freedom and liberty that Zion produces because they are under the political systems of men who hold people under their sway through fear. The alarming conclusion of 2019 is that these “fellowships” - all of them, are Babylon, and God is calling His people out of them.
While it may seem harsh to label such systems as such, I remind the reader that Laodicea received not one word of commendation in the third chapter of Revelation. There are multiple “fellowships” across the land, and each person seems to have good reasons as to why they are the right one. However, their similarities abound much more than they would like to admit. The equality in production across these fellowships is startling if we are awake enough to grasp it. Consequently, one fellowship will point to great manifestations of God’s power in their history and even today, while the other does the same. Each one claims to have some unique doctrinal stance or position on a standard that makes them the exclusive camp of God. Yet there is one identifying marker they all possess - none of them is able to produce at such a level that eradicates the doubts as to who stands as the chosen camp of the saints. Underneath the surface lies the awful stench of corruption from the pulpit to the pews. Summarily, God only has one message left for those in these “fellowships,” and it is for God’s people to flee to the top of the mountain where God’s house is established.
God is going to have His church before he returns. The continual establishing of the status quo is ending, and God is going through Jerusalem with candles seeking those who are worthy to take part in this last great operation. The true colors of ministers and fellowships are being revealed, and God is preparing a ministry who will sound the trumpet clearly, boldly, and unsparingly. The seventh seal ministry will proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without reserve, and that message will produce the right results. Furthermore, God is preparing a people who shout while Babylon burns and will rejoice in the preaching of the everlasting gospel. If there is one apology to make to False Church of God, it is for being much too mild. We are praying to God that he turns up the heat.
Throughout the course of the gospel day, it has often seemed as if evil prevails for significant periods of time. The long reign of Papalism lasted for over a thousand years and even Protestantism enjoyed a few centuries of great influence. Yet there comes a time when God responds, and the light overpowers darkness with a rapidity that could only transpire by the power of the divine. As we look at the present time, we are sometimes left to wonder what is in store for this hour. I believe the response from God is coming and to a degree has come. Essentially, we are standing at a prophetic hour. Each soul will fulfill the scriptures in some way, whether it be positively or negatively. At this hour, at this precise moment in the gospel day, God is gathering his people for the last great conflict of the ages. When the conflict is over only the Church of God will be left standing - the true Church of God.