The Only Guaranteed Way to Escape End-Time Catastrophes

CHAPTER 11

PHILADELPHIANS DO NOT LET ANY MAN TAKE THEIR CROWN

By Following Tares Out of the Church due to Friendship

The third reason Church members may lose their crown is by leaving God’s Church by following tares or infiltrators out of the Church. Since Jesus Christ Himself gave the analogy of the tare weed in the wheat field to describe Satan’s agents as infiltrators in God’s Church, it is very important to understand the nature of the tare weed. The tare weed when it grows out of the ground in a wheat field is indistinguishable from the wheat. So if we try to pull it out when the wheat is sprouting in the field, some wheat sprouts will also be pulled up. But later as the tare weed grows in the wheat field, the root system of the tare weed becomes thoroughly intertwined with the wheat roots. If at this stage we try to pull the tare weed out, when it can be distinguished from the wheat, because of the closely intertwined root system, some wheat will also be uprooted. So the best strategy to deal with the problem is to let both the wheat and the tare grow together till harvest when both can be easily distinguished. Then the tare weed is harvested first to be bound and burnt in the fire and then the wheat can be harvested. This is exactly how Jesus Christ described the parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). This is also how it works in practice.

Tares or infiltrators planted by Satan in the Church grow together in faith with true members. The tares can be ministers as well as lay members. Over time the tares and genuine members develop close relationships and their family lives become deeply intertwined. Members begin to discuss issues with the tares, rely on them for counsel and begin to consider the tares as their best friends whom they can trust and rely upon. They can then never believe that their best friends would ever be engaged in deceiving them.

These tares are totally obedient to Satan and the demons. They literally listen to and obey their every word and command. Satan and the demons then begin to use the tares to raise some doubts about God’s way of life, doctrines or other issues. They use every possible diabolically cunning argument to deceive. When they have convinced genuine members that the Church is in error, or is not the true Church, they then suggest and convince genuine members into leaving the Church. Some members who do not distrust their best friends may then follow the tares out of the Church, thus losing their chance for eternal life.

The deception is carried out by ministers as well who are infiltrators. The lay members who are tares may get their arguments and teachings to deceive from such ministers and use them to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of genuine members. These infiltrator ministers then lead the tares lay members out of the Church, who because of their friendships (intertwined roots) built over decades take genuine members out with them.

Now see how this tactic has worked for Satan in the history of God’s Church since the Philadelphia era was founded through Mr. Armstrong. The author’s first contact with the Church occurred in 1972 when he became a coworker. So he received Mr. Armstrong’s coworker letters around 1973-1974 when men like Charles Hunting, Richard Plache, Albert Portune and others left the Church. These men were Satan’s agents who went out of the Church at Satan’s signal. They were leading evangelists and ministers who were followed out of the Church by members who were also tares, who took some genuine members out of the Church because of their friendships. The same happened in 1978-1979 when about 35 ministers left the Church and took a few thousand members, including some genuine members out with them. Most of these ministers were Satan’s agents who were acting on the express orders of Satan. Then after Mr. Armstrong’s death, the Church was completely taken over by Satan’s agents to fulfill Bible prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4, and many followed their tare friends out of the Church without joining any Church of God organization that had split off, or have remained in the WCG which is no longer God’s true Church.

These have been the main three times that tares have led genuine members out of the Church. But there have been single or a couple of ministers who have been regularly leaving the Church almost every year, followed by their tare lay members who would have taken some genuine members out of the Church along with them. Satan has been following this strategy ever since the beginning of God’s Church in 31 A.D. In fact, Satan had developed this strategy even before man was created. He used this strategy first with the angels under his rule on earth and led the entire one third of them into rebellion against God. And he will continue to use this strategy in the Church right till the return of Jesus Christ to earth and setting up of God’s Kingdom.

If you were one of those in God’s Church in this situation and were led out of it because of your friendship with someone else, or you followed a particular minister or evangelist out of the Church, you can still repent, join God’s Church again and renew your chance for eternal life. With his messages and in this book the author has provided sufficient guidance to make the right decision.

A person has to be in God’s Church to receive his gift of eternal life. Such a person can still join any of the Church of God organizations among the larger four groups: the UCG (of which the author is a member), the LCG, the PCG or the RCG.

This is what current members in God’s Church need to pay heed to. While Paul admonished ministers in Acts 20:28 that they were to take heed unto themselves, and to all the flock, over the which the holy spirit had made them overseers, he told all Christians in Philippians 2:12: “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Thus our salvation is our own individual responsibility. We cannot blame a minister or another member for leading us astray. That excuse cannot get any one of us into God’s kingdom. We must seek answers for all decisions individually from God. While ministers’ duties are to guide the members in all spiritual matters, individual members cannot solely rely on ministers to get them into God’s kingdom. Their very minister on whom they have relied upon could be Satan’s agent as a tare in God’s Church. Therefore, our ultimate reliance has to be upon God for answers to all questions and issues. However, God has provided us the safeguards already mentioned in making decisions in the critical end time when Satan and the demons will pull out all the stops in order to deceive.

Again, if you are a former member of God’s Church who left the Church because of the advice or discussion with a friend, or because you followed a particular minister out of the Church, you can still repent and rejoin God’s Church. You must take responsibility for your own eternal life. You have to make the decision yourself to break with your friends or stop following a particular minister.

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