By, Oscar Pimentel, General Overseer
INTRODUCTION
“After having fought our way through another year, we are either stronger and more determined than ever or we are tired and weaker. Which is it?” These are the words of A. J. Tomlinson to the General Assembly of 1927. What does the General Assembly of 2023 say? Do we feel stronger and more determined in our spirits than ever before, or are we tired and weaker? I feel confident that a great many of you feel stronger and more determined than ever. I hear it in your voices; I see it on your faces. There is the witness of your spirit that says, “I’m pressing on!”
Doubtless, we were tested during the last 11 months, and we went through moments of heaviness of heart that were brought upon us by the enemy of our souls. Many of you went through some fiery trials, and your faith was tried. There were moments (perhaps seasons) when we felt “troubled on every side,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “cast down,” but thanks be to God, we were never in distress, never in despair, never forsaken, and never destroyed! (See 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9.) By God’s grace, we endured all temptation and have been kept by His power through faith, and here we stand, “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). There is a deep sense of appreciation toward God because we can each state that, as good soldiers, we continue to fight “the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).
On this journey, it is imperative to keep our eyes on Jesus, or we risk sinking into the sea of life’s troubles. Our eyes must be fixed and kept on the Master who endured much more than we have and was able to declare, “…I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The instructions of the Bible tell us to consider Christ who suffered greater “contradiction of sinners against himself” (Heb. 12:3), and yet was able to report to the Father of His work and course on the earth, “…It is finished” (John 19:30). When the final curtain falls, it is our ardent desire to say with the apostle, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day…” (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). So let us keep Him in memory “lest [WE] be wearied and faint in [OUR] minds” (Heb. 12:3). “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).
Someday, all our battles will be over, and we will have to fight no more. Someday, all our troubles will be past, and all our burdens will be lifted. Someday we will know no more griefs and sorrows. Someday, all our labors will be finished. I look forward to that day. Whatever we will have gone through as we journey from this earth to heaven, will not so much as be a distant memory because “the sufferings of this present time” shall be completely overshadowed by “the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18) when we see Jesus!
120 Years—Keeping it The Church of God We are the continuation of the Church that Christ established on Mt. Hattin in A.D. 28, which He purchased with His own blood. The selfsame Church that arose out of darkness on June 13, 1903, when a group of honest-hearted worshippers gathered in a place known today as Fields of the Wood in Cherokee County, North Carolina. They were there to study the Bible with the understanding that they would search it to see if they could find The Church of God. God’s set time for prophecy fulfillment had arrived, as has been written: “The crossroads of the Holiness Church at Camp Creek, A. J. Tomlinson, and God’s revelation would meet” on that memorable occasion.
God revealed His Church to A. J. Tomlinson that day while prevailing in prayer on Burger Mountain. Coming down from prayer, he entered the meeting where questions were asked, and Bible answers were given. The group declared that they took the whole Bible rightly divided as their only rule of faith and practice. Brother Tomlinson said, “Well, if you take the whole Bible rightly divided, that makes it the Church of God…You agreed that this that I have said makes it the Church of God, and will you be willing to take it and keep it the Church of God?” They said they were willing.
To take it and keep it The Church of God was a pledge made in the home of W. F. Bryant by those men and women, and one they meant to preserve. The The Evening Light 4 September/October 2023 importance of this pledge would be impressed upon succeeding generations until the Lord’s return.
One hundred and twenty years have passed since the Arise, Shine of the Church. Today, we continue standing squarely on the Bible, rightly divided, and holding to the New Testament as our rule of faith and practice, government and discipline. The years have not been without conflicts in spiritual warfare contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints by those to whom it has been committed. Although the Church has been through some unpleasant paths and trying battles since the day she arose out of the Dark Ages, laboring with enormous difficulties under great, strenuous pressure from internal and external forces that have attempted to sidetrack her, we can joyously and boldly proclaim today, “…Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12)! Oh, yes, God’s grace and power have been more than sufficient to undergird the Church time and time again!
Our trailblazing Church forefathers moved slowly and steadily on their knees in prayer, their faces to the ground in humility, in their search for biblical government, doctrine, tools, and methods. In so doing, they cleared a path for the generations to come. We feel it is a privilege and a responsibility to have received such an inheritance. It is with our whole heart that we embrace all God has given us.
Like those before us, we “take it” but equally important is to have a determination to “keep it” The Church of God as we continue in the fulfillment of the Great Commission in these last days. We are closer to the Lord’s return, but we don’t know how much longer He will take. While signs seem to indicate sooner rather than later, we are still here now. That being the case, we must go unto the uttermost parts of the earth, preach the full gospel, save the lost, and be a beacon of light to God’s sheep that are scattered abroad—all while sticking to the doctrine, holding the line, and keeping it The Church of God.
WONDERFUL PROPHECIES
“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” (Isa. 54:7, 8). That “small moment” was 1,578 years from the time the Church Jesus organized fell into apostasy until its resurgence or arising out of darkness on June 13, 1903, in Cherokee County, North Carolina, in the United States of America.
God had spoken in times past by the Old Testament prophets that His Son would come to organize and build His Church. Isaiah declared, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa. 2:2). (See also Micah 4:1.) In the spirit of prophecy, David wrote, “There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth” (Psa. 72:16).
The aforementioned prophecies were fulfilled after Christ arrived in the world but before He returned to His Father. The Bible tells us of the moment, during His earthly ministry, that Jesus Christ organized God’s Church on a mountain known today as the Horns of Hattin in Israel, near the Sea of Galilee. In the Gospel that bears his name, Luke writes, “And it came to pass in those days, that he [Jesus] went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles” (Luke 6:12, 13). The Gospel according to Mark gives a similar account, “And he [Jesus] goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils” (Mark 3:13-15). It was with this “handful of corn” (the twelve disciples), that Jesus Christ organized His Church in A.D. 28. Said Church shook the then-known world with a sound like that of the mighty cedars of Lebanon when the wind blows upon their branches and they knock one against the other, causing a thunderous echo. And the Church “flourished like grass of the earth” until A.D. 325, when it fell into apostasy with the acceptance of the Nicene Creed.
The Church that was organized by Christ Himself and purchased with His own precious blood upon Calvary was fulfilling prophecies written about it, and not just the good and glorious ones, but also those one might consider dark and gloomy. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians who awaited the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gathering of all God’s children, that they should not be “soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” (2 Thess. 2:2, 3). The utterances of the prophetic voices had already foretold the falling away or apostasy of the great Church of God when spiritual darkness and lethargy would cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. However, Holy Ghost-inspired prophets of the Old Testament declared that God’s divine institution, The Church of God, would arise out of spiritual darkness, out of apostasy, and out of its dormant state in the last days.
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away” (Isa. 49:13-19).
Although the Church was covered over for 1,578 years, the Lord had not abandoned her, and she had not been utterly annihilated. God’s comfort for His people was on its way! By the mouths of the prophets, her reappearance would be a sight to behold and the location of the arise of the Church out of the Dark Ages would be in a land far away from where Christ had organized her on Mt. Hattin in Israel.
Ezekiel gave a prophetic parable to the house of Israel, “… A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs” (Ezek. 17:3-6). Through a prophetic lens, the prophet was able to see an eagle that was to take the young twig of the uppermost part of the cedar and transport it to a humble place that was a place of merchants. That eagle is representative of the eagle which is a national symbol and an integral part of the United States of America’s identity and pride.
Looking back to Isaiah’s prophecy regarding those who swallowed up the Church and them being “far away” at the time of her resurgence, it is significant to note that the distance between Israel and the United States is about 6,762 miles. God had predestined that His Church would be transplanted to a nation not yet in existence (represented by an eagle) that He would raise up for His eternal plan to come to fruition. That nation would come to be recognized as the most powerful military might and economically influential nation in world history. One of her cities (New York), a city of merchants, would house the World Trade Center complex, where much of international trade between nations would take place—two of her most well-known buildings that at one time made up the complex were called the Twin Towers.
To help us identify His Church from all man-made churches, God continued to speak through His prophets and said, “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Song of Sol. 2:10-13). What is found in Songs of Solomon has often been described as the ongoing dialogue between Christ and His Bride. Here we find the Bride of Christ mentioning her Love, Jesus Christ, and Him calling her to “Rise up” and follow Him. Where must she rise from? She must rise from a dormant state. She must rise out of spiritual lethargy. She must rise out of darkness. She must rise out of obscurity! Christ announces to her that the winter months have passed and the rainy season is over. The beautiful spring and summer flowers have appeared on the earth and the voice of the turtledove can be heard.
According to prophecies, the arise of God’s Church out of the darkness would not take place in the winter, nor would it happen during the rainy season of the nation she was set to reappear in, but at a time when the turtledoves can be heard singing. How marvelous it is that God narrows it down for us by the words of the prophets to see her in Scripture, and, by divine revelation, identify her in the world today amid the labyrinth of denominationalism. The Lord spoke of her ARISE, SHINE and said it would not be in Israel but far from that country. He said it would be in a humble, but merchant-filled nation represented by a great eagle. He said it would be after winter and the rain but at the time of the turtledove’s voice—this is at a very specific time of the year in the prophesied nation. The month of June is easily identified as the one that meets all the mentioned criteria for the specified time.
Turtledoves visit England for the breeding season, arriving in late April and May and leaving again between The Evening Light 6 September/October 2023 July and September. Turtledoves appear in Judea early in the spring, when the leaves are coming out, when the flowers are opening, and everything looks lovely and beautiful. They remain until summer is gone; and then fly away to a warmer climate to spend the winter. These doves are commonly found in southern Canada, the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. Today, the turtledove holds the distinction of being the only native North American bird to breed in every state, including Hawaii.
Nahum, speaking of “the day of his preparation,” told of “chariots…with flaming torches” that would rage in the streets and justle one against another in broad ways. He said they would “seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings” (Nah. 2:3, 4). What Nahum saw could only be described by him in this way, but we are living on this side of his prophecies and recognize these chariots with flaming torches running with lightning speed as the automobile that was first produced by Ford Motor Company, in 1903.
The call for The Church of God to come out of obscurity and darkness came ringing on June 13, 1903, in fulfillment of Isaiah 60:1-3 which states, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
Shortly after this utterance by the prophet, he makes an interesting observation and presents a question in verse eight of this same chapter, which is often overlooked by Bible scholars and theologians. “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” What could Isaiah have seen during his time other than clouds and birds that occupied the skies? But he was not looking through natural eyes when he spotted something out of the ordinary, something other-worldly among the clouds and doves of the heavens. He may not have known what it was, and some scholars and theologians may be slow to give an answer to what he saw, but it was the airplane. Six months after the ARISE, SHINE of the Church, the Wright brothers made their first successful controlled air flight in the “Wright Flyer,” on December 17, 1903, and the modern aviation age was born. Isaiah saw that the Church would reappear at the time of the invention of the airplane. Nahum saw her reappearance at the time of the invention of the automobile.
Now listen to the Psalmist David speaking in the spirit of prophecy. “Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood” (Psa. 132:6). You see, this real and powerful message of Christ and His exclusive Church was first announced and heard of in Ephratah (which is the name of Bethlehem), but was lost and neglected until it was discovered again by a man who was guided by God to a place known today as Burger Mountain in Murphy, North Carolina, U.S.A. It was there in the system of wooded mountains known as the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, that Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson discovered—not founded, not organized, not established—but discovered The Great Church of God of the last days at God’s appointed time according to prophecies. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes!
(to be continued)