When analyzing the recent apostasy in the Worldwide Church of God after Herbert Armstrong’s death, why was Satan’s first attack on the Church directed towards the true teaching about “being born again”?

Satan is not stupid and his agenda and desires are and were to be worshipped as god and to replace the one true God as the supreme Commander of the universe. Satan is very subtle and an expert in deception and lying.

The commission of the end-time Church is to preach and publish the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness, and to feed the flock and baptize those whom God is calling and to help the Body of Christ, collectively and individually, to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

At the very core of this gospel is the correct knowledge and understanding about “being born again” and that God is reproducing Himself through mankind. When we receive the Holy Spirit at the time of our true baptism as adults, we become “begotten” members of God’s Family, but we are not yet born. Once we are born again, at the time of Christ’s return, we will be God and enter the Kingdom and Family of God as immortal Spirit beings.

The dismantling and/or changing of this understanding was crucial in Satan’s eyes to corrupt the Church, since that knowledge also includes the fact that Christ will come to establish God’s rule on this earth and to replace the rule of Satan and the demons over this present evil world, and that we, as God’s immortal sons and daughters, will be ruling mankind under Christ in the world tomorrow.

Corrupting this understanding was similar to placing a virus in a computer. Christ is the Head of the Church and if we think of the Church as a body, it stands on two legs. Applying this spiritual analogy to two legs of important doctrines, Satan proceeded in attempting to cut off one leg–that being in our case the doctrine of “born again.” Those who adopted this false understanding became inhibited, but they were still able to “stand” to an extent. To completely make them fall, Satan had to cut off both legs. And so, Satan proceeded in trying to cut off the other leg—again, in our analogy, this second leg being the doctrine about the nature of God.

The knowledge that God is a ruling Kingdom and Family, currently consisting of two members, is crucial to the true gospel, since it also helps us to understand our ultimate destiny.

Slowly turning that correct understanding to the pagan and unbiblical doctrine of the Trinity was like cutting the second leg from the body which caused the body to fall, and our former Church organization and its “obedient” members have never recovered from that fall.

These two doctrines are crucial for us to stand as a Church, and they are also crucial for the gospel message to be properly understood. In order to survive spiritually, we must never let go or compromise in any godly teaching, and that is especially true in regard to these and other foundational doctrines.

Our former Church association once had the knowledge of God’s truth, but they forsook virtually all of it through compromise and deception, and unfortunately, many members followed that corrupted path of their deceived and deceiving leadership, and much confusion and splintering have been the consequence ever since. This must serve as a warning for all of us, not to fall again for Satan’s evil devices.

Years ago there was a character in the pages of the funnies, called “Dennis the Menace.” Some of us may remember that character. Around Christmas time, they had a cartoon of him, sitting on a pyramid-shaped six feet high pile of toys and gifts, saying: “Is this all?” This typifies the slogan that “greed knows no bounds.”

When is enough of anything enough? 

Imagine for a moment that God gave you eternal life, perfect conduct, wisdom and beauty, and the possibility and ability to carry out your responsibilities. Would that be enough for you?

It was not enough for Satan.

Ezekiel 28:12-17 tells us this: 

“Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

“By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.”

Something happened to the symbolic “king of Tyre”—none other than Lucifer, the bright star of the dawn, who became Satan, the prince of darkness. Along the way, he became corrupted by pride and as a result, his position and what he had been given were not enough for him. He not only wanted to possess and rule the whole physical universe, but also the spirit realm where God dwells. He convinced 1/3rd  of all the angels to follow him and went up to heaven to overthrow God. This attempted coup did not work, and he and the demons were cast back down to earth.

Isaiah 14:12-14 informs us of this:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

When his mind became corrupted, he felt dissatisfaction with his lot in life, and he wanted more. This whole attitude of craving for more permeates this holiday season.  People receive gifts and think they should be bigger, better and more expensive. They may also feel they deserve additional gifts. Not that the custom of giving gifts at Christmas times is anything biblical to begin with, but the accompanying attitude of many of those who receive gifts is even more telling.

No one seems to think about the admonition from Paul, as we read in Philippians 4:10-13:

“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

What Paul is saying is that there are good times and not so good times, but he learned to be content with what he had, and he looked to Christ. What a lesson for people in the world today who never seem to be content with their physical possessions, who suffer from greed and who never know when enough is enough.

So we are left with this question: When is enough–enough?

We have just returned from the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. During those eight days, all of us received a spiritual diet to carry us through the coming winter months.

Our batteries were topped up through inspiring messages; the rejoicing in fellowship with friends and family (some of whom we have not seen for a year); restaurant meals we were able to enjoy with friends; and our participation in the social activities and planned and prepared meals.

All these blessings, and many more, had a positive effect on us, as we were charged up spiritually, before entering a long period of almost six months until the arrival of the next commanded annual Holy Days in the spring.

It’s important to stay fully charged. Even a high-powered automobile, with an alternator not working to keep the battery charged up, will eventually come to a complete stop.  A transmission in neutral will not move a car forward; it must be engaged, and so must we in order for our spiritual battery to remain fully charged. We ensure and demonstrate this during the winter months by the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, as outlined in the letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Notice, against these there is no law; that is, if we are walking in the Spirit and live righteously, without sinning, the penalty of the law has no negative effect on our lives.

We must be zealous in our involvement of being engaged in the Work that God has given us to do, just like Christ was, even at an early age, as outlined in Luke 2:49: “And [Christ] said to [His mother Mary and Joseph], ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’”

Christ was not distracted or out of focus as to what His role was, even at this young age of twelve (compare verse 42).

His example should inspire us to have zeal to be engaged in and focused on the job we have in regard to our Father’s business; and that is, to complete the Work and the responsibilities given to us by Christ, the living Head of the Church. That Work includes, amongst other things, to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness to this sick world, prior to Christ’s return to establish the previously announced government of God here on earth–because this is where the problems are. And the immortal saints will rule here as well, with Christ and under Him.

Nothing is presently more important for God, and it should be equally important for us. God in His wisdom and mercy has given us the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day to ensure that our spiritual batteries are fully charged, so that we can and will be focused on the completion of our God-given responsibilities.

We must not neglect our spiritual responsibilities and tools that we have been given, to keep our batteries topped up. Only then are we true followers of Christ to be engaged in our Father’s business.

You may have heard the expression that a person has a kind heart, which indeed some people do, and that others are somewhat calloused and hard-hearted. We know that the carnal unconverted mind is enmity against God, as stated in Romans 8:7- 8:  “…the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Not only is the carnal mind at odds with and hostile towards God, it is not pleasing to Him either and does not want to be in subjection to God.

On the other hand, we are admonished to have the mind of Christ in us; that is, His Spirit, dwelling in our minds. This, in turn, makes us pleasing to God as long as we are in an obedient state and submit to His Will. Philippians 2:5 says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

So we have to ask ourselves the question, what should our priorities and heart be, if the mind of Christ is in us?

For the answer we have to look at some of the statements of Christ.

In John 4:34, Jesus said to His disciples: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

Notice, Christ’s heart and desire were to do God’s Will and to finish the Work which God had given Him to do.

Did He accomplish that task?

John 17:4 quotes Christ’s own words, as follows: “ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

We see that Christ fulfilled the task given to Him by God, and He finished the Work that He had been given.

Christ’s Work, amongst other things, was to preach the gospel or good news to His disciples and those in Judea and other regions. But His disciples and His Church  were to go further and carry that message to the entire world (Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8).

Although Christ finished His Work, the Work of preaching the gospel to all nations is the ongoing responsibility of the Church and the members which compose the Church. This ongoing responsibility will continue until the return of Christ, and even in the Millennium and beyond.

In Matthew 6:21, Christ tells us: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The hearts and treasures of those who have the mind of Christ in them and seeking to do God’s Will should be to zealously doing or supporting the Work of God in this current phase of God’s plan.

Our determination to actively be involved in the Work set before us is an indicator to God as to where our hearts and treasures are. So the big question now is: Where is your heart?

At times, people may refer to the patience of Job–how he endured hardship and punishment from God and never complained. Of course, that is not true, because Job complained quite a bit. A deeper and more accurate analysis reveals that there are lessons for us to learn from the story of Job, even though Job had a hard time in learning these lessons himself.

Job is dead and the record of events is in the Bible for us to glean from it. Job suffered from two problems which are not as overtly evident as other sins one may have.  He was self-righteous, and he was also proud of his righteousness.  This is most likely why Satan did not see Job’s problems, because he allowed the same kinds of sins to overcome him.

Ezekiel 28:15-17 shows us why Lucifer fell and became Satan the devil. God said to him: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.”

It’s interesting that Satan corrupted his wisdom and became proud and self-righteous. Once the mind of a spirit being or a human being is corrupted with sin, it cannot think right.  It is like a virus in a computer. If you do not deal with it early, it will corrupt the whole computer.

Paul understood this when he stated that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  A little sin, not dealt with, corrupts the whole mind, and that was where Job was heading. God had to intervene to break this vicious cycle. Just think of how entrenched Job’s problem was. He lost all his possessions; his children were taken from him; he had sores all over his body; and even his wife turned against him with discouraging words, saying: “Curse God and die.”

Job suffered great loss, but in the end, when he finally saw his problems and repented deeply of them, God blessed him with more than what he had at the beginning, as Job 42:12-17 explains to us:

“Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.”

Job will be in God’s Kingdom because he repented of the corrupting sins, which he, in his self-righteousness and pride, could not see.  He even accused God of unrighteousness, because he wanted to maintain his self-righteousness. But Job’s sins were very evident to God, and had to be dealt with.

The lesson we must extract from this is that we must be very careful to deal with sin early, and not allow it to corrupt our minds, since we also want to be in God’s Kingdom along with Job. And further, if we don’t deal with our sins, God will, because He has called us for salvation and not for condemnation.

One of the major responsibilities which Christ gave His Church is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness. Failing to do so would have devastating consequences for all of us.

We understand that we can only move forward in this task, when God provides us with both the income and the opportunities or open doors. The fact that we are not a large group of tens of thousands of members does not diminish our duty to do what we can with what is being given to us.

This responsibility will be carried forward into the Millennium, after the return of Christ, and we know by what is written in the 14th chapter of the book of Zechariah that some nations will not accept the gospel message gladly and with open arms—because that message includes obedience to God’s laws and the keeping of the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. It will require a change of heart for carnal people to accept God’s law, because the carnal mind is enmity against the law of God, and unwilling and unable to keep it. So, at first, man’s animosity towards the gospel message will continue to exist.

Notice Zechariah 14:16-19:

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”

The gospel message includes a warning to this world, pointing at horrible times to come, before Christ returns. Today, many will not listen, but this must not discourage us to fulfill our commission. The major harvest of the sowing of the seed of God by God’s servants throughout mankind’s existence will come to fruition in the Millennium and during the Great White Throne Judgment period.

Just because we are small doesn’t mean we have no impact. A mustard seed almost looks like dust, yet it grows up to become a large tree. The challenge of proclaiming God’s gospel is before us now in this day and age, and this task will continue in the ages to come. Let us ensure that we are about our Father’s business in announcing to this world the only hope for all of mankind.

Making choices is something we do on a daily basis, and a lot of those choices are made by rote and habit and we don’t think a lot about them or try to analyse them. Minor things like which sock to put on our feet first or which side of the bread to butter first are not crucial choices, so we don’t normally spend a lot of time pondering them.

There are of course other choices that are more critical and therefore we should take more time with those before proceeding.  Generally, the more you are affected personally or how it impacts your family determines how much time you will analyse the potential outcome of a decision.

You would not flippantly go out and buy a car without talking to your spouse about it as to what kind of car, is it the right time, can you afford it–these are all aspects one has to consider prior to making this kind of decision.

God was quite clear on the choices Israel should make, and He tells them about it in the book of Deuteronomy:

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Notice, God calls heaven and earth as witnesses in the choices He wants his people to make and also gives a strong admonition to choose life rather than death.

We in the church have been essentially given the same choices, but our choices have to do with our being called to salvation now!  The big difference is that if we make the wrong choice and choose a way of life leading to death, once having been called and baptized, then we would suffer the second death.

Israel was challenged to choose to obey God. However, most of them did not listen to God, and they will not attain the first resurrection, but they will be resurrected physically in the future and given an opportunity for salvation (compare Romans 11:26).

We, on the other hand, can choose life through obedience once we receive God’s Spirit, which He only gives to those who obey: “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32).

The inverse of this would also be true. That is, God does not give His spirit to those who disobey.

For us the choice to obey God is a rather crucial and important one coupled with the great reward of eternal life if we remain faithful and make those right choices in our lives.

God lamented about the nation of Israel when He asked the question:

“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).

Anguish is shown here over the bad choices Israel was making–which unfortunately would lead to death.

We, at this juncture of history, are faced with the ultimate choices . We can choose to live through obedience and eventually inherit eternal life, or we can choose to  die through disobedience and receive eternal death , the second death from which there is no resurrection!

Life is full of choices, let’s ensure we are making the correct ones and choosing life.