The End of the Church Age

My first request of all is not to trust me, but also not to trust anyone. I mean this letter as a help. I'll show why I've come to the conclusions I've come to, but you need to come to your final conclusions on your own. Because God does not bless sin, and God tells us not to trust anyone. This doesn't mean you shouldn't ask other people who profess salvation what they think. I ask my father what he thinks, I sometimes listen to a fellow named Mr. Camping whom at the very name many of you will assume is a false prophet because "he wrote a book called 1994 and the end didn't come" ... yet you probably don't realize that his book was not an actual prediction, it was called 1994? or the care with which he wrote the book. I ask my friends who profess salvation what they think, and try to get them to look into it for themselves, also, because I certainly don't like to know that God is judging the churches and people are insisting on staying there. So go ahead and ask people what they think. Just don't trust their conclusions or their accusations. An attack on someone's character is not an argument when they insist something is true that you don't want to believe. It's an excuse. Please be sure to trust God far more than you trust them. I Corinthians 2 insists, "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (vs. 10) and "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (vs. 13.)

"Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity." Jeremiah 9:4-5

"Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house." Micah 7:5-6

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes." Matthew 24:15-18

(How many times did Jesus say He spoke in parables? We recognize parables when He tells us straight out what they are, but God doesn't spoonfeed us.)

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Revelation 18:2-8

I noticed while studying the passages in Revelation and with some hints from other people also, and the more I do searches on the on-line Bible I use, that the phrases and parallels in Revelation are all in the Old Testament. Several of them are in Isaiah; several are in Jeremiah. The OT is more relevant to today than most of us would like to admit. If we are Christians, we should be reading it and comparing scriptures with scriptures the way the Bible is meant to be read, instead of ignoring things that bother us or trying to convince ourselves that they may not be true--remembering to "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

I John 4:1 and be a Berean--"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17:10-11

You don't test the spirits by assuming one is a false prophet just because you don't like what they have to say. Jesus also said, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." Luke 6:26

National Israel is not in the Bible so we can look at how God treated her as if she has nothing to do with us. In every act of God's judgement, we really ought to see ourselves, because we are no better than they. The Bible also explains that there is a spiritual Israel; the OT was filled with 'shadows of things to come'.

Some verses from Jeremiah that fill my heart with sorrow (this is right after God is talking about the judgement He will bring upon her) "Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Jeremiah 8:19-22

Just as a little help... harvest is a picture. Look up every way the word harvest is used in the Bible. Same with famine. It's related to the spreading of the true gospel and how God saves people. Consider also "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable." Psalm 25:2-3. Remember I Corinthians 2:3. Every single scripture in the Bible fits perfectly with every single other chapter. Don't ignore any of it--the whole Bible is the gospel of Jesus.

And here are a couple of verses that are severely misinterpreted:

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." I Timothy 3:5

This verse is not saying that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Whoever says it is is making a very revealing statement about how much people idolize the church and think the church, rather than Christ, is the foundation of the truth. Rather, it is saying God is the pillar and ground of the truth. "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of ((((the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.))))" I Timothy 3:5

"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18

The Roman Catholic church makes this verse mean that Peter is the first pope and Peter is the rock on which Christ is built. The Protestant churches go in the other direction and say that the church God is talking about is the corporate church--as in, the church institutions. The flaw in this argument is that there are several unsaved people within the churches, and the Bible insists that everyone in God's (true) church is saved, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If this verse applied to the corporate church, then the 7 churches of Revelation never would have ended--which they did. There is no guarantee in scripture that the churches will last until the very end

The idea that the NT church "saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. " ...an institution that will last forever is absurd, since there are several unbelievers in the corporate church. It is the bride of Christ that is eternal--not the outward visible church. Compare to this scripture: "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked." Jeremiah 23:16-19

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. of time; whereas there are several guarantees that the true church--the bride of Christ--will never lose her salvation." I Thessalonians 5:2-5

How many times do people who profess salvation quote verses 2 without quoting the next two verses! God insists that those who are truly His will have a pretty good idea of when the end of time will be. "And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Daniel 12:9-10

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" I Peter 4:17

This passage cannot mean that at the end of time, God will begin with judging the true believers, because He has said, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1; also "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" I Corinthians 6:1-3

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. II Thessalonians 2:3-4

The man of sin is Satan (see Isaiah 14 where God calls Lucifer a "man"). The temple can be no other place than the church that we call the "house of God." This does not mean churches are or were from Satan. It simply means that if the churches refuse to remove their high places, (false doctrines), God will bring His judgement upon them with Satan. But the Bible is clear that God is gracious. "Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?" Joel 2:12-14

If you think leaving the church will cause you to lose your salvation, perhaps you are putting too much faith in your church rather than in Christ. Because God has promised, "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" I Peter 3:13; also "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." John 10:28-29

The more I study this, the more I see that most people I mention it to do not actually study it thoroughly for themselves. Before they have done it, they assume I have been most likely be deceived just because the idea of Satan ruling in the churches seems so unthinkable. I see them go straight to their teachers, before they go to their own Bibles, and go along with what people they trust too much say. Or if they are already leaders in the church, they tell me to trust them even if they cannot refute certain scriptures in any way, and yet tell me that I believe this because my father does (which is not true). This is clear evidence to me that people do not consider verses like Jeremiah 9:4-5, I Corinthians 2:13, and Micah 7:5-6; or try to fulfil I John 4:1. It is very sad.

A single warning I will give: if you begin to believe that the church age is over as I do, it will be no easy thing. And if you believe I am mistaken, I want you to show me where instead of saying in your mind that you think I am deceived. I do not think my knowledge of the scriptures is perfect, and can believe I may be misunderstanding something--but I just think this is so clear. If I went with my feelings, I would certainly still be going to church, because I love the people from my congregation dearly and it would be easier for me to not have people get offended with what I say and accuse me of certain terrible things that I don't think are justified. But I cannot stay if God has told me to leave, just like He told the Israelites to flee into Babylon in the OT days. A couple of more scriptures that people use but don't match up are these:

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25

You do not need a church to assemble together with other believers. God says, "all the more" you are to seek out fellowship with other believers as you see the day approaching.

"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." I Corinthians 11:25-26

In the OT, God commanded the Israelites to perform very specific sacrifices. When God told the Israelites to flee into Babylon, there was no temple for the few Israelites who obeyed God to perform the sacrifices, so they could not obey it.

Read Jeremiah and the other OT that we don't like to read because we naively think they do not apply to us, and see yourself. It's easy to think and know in our hearts that "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:6-7 applies to us, because it's a gracious offer. And it's one we also ought to heed--today--it's a cry to the churches. God is gracious. So we ought to heed His call, and realize what passages like these are used in relation to. Consider this passage:

"20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." Ezekiel 18:20-21, 23, 30

God is talking to us--today. If we don't repent, then He will judge us. You should read the whole book. The whole Bible is the gospel of Jesus--not just the New Testament. God wouldn't have given us the OT if He didn't mean to speak to us through it, also. A true believer delights in God's law (Psalm 119). And God's law includes the OT, too.

I wrote this yesterday, also. I'm not perfect and make no claim to be, but I am getting rather sick of being accused (is this sinful? I'm not sure, but I hope it isn't sinful to be frustrated with people who do this, I probably should be more gracious with them, actually) of being arrogant because I absolutely believe that I would be disobeying a command of God by returning to church. Nor would I accuse someone who insisted that if the Bible seemed very strongly to be saying that it would be disobedience not to go to church of arrogance. Whether or not a thousand people who claim to be Christians agree with me makes no difference whatsoever. God's people often stood alone. When Joseph told Potiphar's wife, "There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Genesis 39:9 he was not being arrogant. He was being stubborn about insisting on obeying what he strongly believed to be the Godly thing to do. Also I am not the only one who believes the church age is over in the first place.

P.S.

I have only read some bits and pieces of Mr. Camping's article on The End Of The Church Age
...but what I said in this letter is not based on his article. I have not even read the whole thing.
The only real hint I obtained from Mr. Camping was simply the idea that God just might not use the corporate churches forever. He didn't use national Israel forever. She didn't obey Him; we have no right to say that God won't do the same to us if we don't obey Him.

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