Q. Is it true that your Church has prophesied that all Church denominations will disappear in the last days, including your own? Does this mean that there will be no organised Churches when Christ returns?

No, we have never taught such a doctrine though some have misinterpreted one of the revelations received by the Church to mean such a position. The revelation in question reads:

"It shall come to pass in the days of the desolator that there will be no church organisations that belong to Me, saith the Lord, save the New Covenant [Church of God], but My people shall fellowship in small groups in secret like unto the first Church of Christ in the days when she was persecuted. They will no longer be divided by crede and doctrine but will be united in the love of Christ, saith the Lord; and by this love and holiness will they know and be known, for each saint will be taught by the Holy Spirit and will not stand in need of human instructors" (NC&C 345:12-14; 18 February 1992).

• 1. The time being described is not the "last days" in general but "in the time of the desolator", in other words, during the last three-and-a-half years of the Great Tribultion when the Antichrist persecutes and murders the people of God;

• 2. The only organised body of Christians at this time will be the New Covenant Church of God [the contraction "New Covenant" is used almost without exception to refer to the visible organisation called the "New Covenant Church of God" in the Church's revelations, and not to the invisible New Covenant made by Christ with all true believers, as the context makes clear];

• 3. When the early Church of God was persecuted, especially in the time of Nero, it went underground in the catacombs of Rome. Under such circumstances organisation was minimal as a fully functioning visible Church was impossible. When the Church is severely persecuted the credes that divide different groups of Christians become unimportant and people are forced to depend 100% on the Holy Spirit and live simply. In such circumstances human instructors are not needed in the same way as a visible Church interacting peacefully with the world requires them. This is only too apparent in the sub-apostolic epistles (which are regarded as secondary scripture by this Church) where, because of terrible persecution, only the tenets of faith that would secure salvation in the next life became important;

• 4. The time alluded to when the saints will not need human instructors is one in the distant future during the Millennial Kingdom when Christ has returned, and is the time referred to by the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, which will begin to take shape in the three-and-a-half years before Christ returns to set up His theocratic Kingdom (Jer.31).

The revelation cited also says: "The truth will endure fire, saith the Lord, but that which is of man will pass away and be forgotten." Time is the acid test of truth.

Historical Footnote

[1] It remained a purely family affair and eventually split three ways so that one cannot even speak of there being a "group" any longer either (980508).

This page was created on 8 May 1998 Last updated on 8 May 1998

Copyright © 1987-2008 NCCG - All Rights Reserved