Church of God News

Gerald Weston

COGwriter

In the current edition of the Living Church News, Gerald Weston, Presiding Evangelist, of the Living Church of God (LCG) had the following:

What was the Apostle Paul telling us when he said the coming of Christ would not happen until “the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)? Several ideas have floated about in recent years. Some Church of God groups, and many brethren throughout, see the apostasy in the Worldwide Church of God as fulfilling in full the “falling away” part of the prophecy. More recently, the Living Church of God has taught that it refers to a broad rebellion against God at the end of the age. But, while the rebellion against God in our world is indeed broad, is that interpretation the accurate one? For context, here is the relevant passage:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [the return of Christ] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).

There is no doubt that what occurred in the Worldwide Church of God was an apostasy from truth. And, truly, those who fell away in that organization “did not receive the love of the truth” (v. 10). But was that what Paul was describing? Or was he referring to something larger? …

But when Jude urged the people to get back to the faith once delivered, he was referring to the faith of Christ, His apostles, and early first-century Christianity (Jude 3–4). That kind of Christianity has very little resemblance to trinitarian “Christianity,” no matter the century. Did people have more respect for the Bible in times past? Without a doubt. But, as we know, most of those people were not true Christians. …

When Paul wrote that the mystery of lawlessness was already at work, he pointed to the origin of the falling away—and to the source from which the man of sin would arise. That falling away began early, …

While the great rebellion and apostasy set in as far back as the first century AD, there is also a latter-day fulfillment that is yet ahead. It is clear that the prophesied man of sin will not appear until shortly before Christ’s return. This final head of a satanic system, one that has made the world drunk with the wine of its fornication, will take to a new level the claim of divine status. When we read of how he will perform signs, wonders, and deceptive miracles, this is not hard to understand. The world will worship this man. …

As God’s Church has long taught, one of the keys to understanding prophecy is to recognize prophetic gaps in time. The rebellion against the truth set in early and took time to fully develop. …

We must not confuse the prophesied falling away from truth with mankind’s prophesied coming to the fullness of iniquity—the time when God will intervene powerfully to stop our madness. Both are important, but they are not the same. When Paul wrote of the “falling away,” he wrote prophetically of the apostasy that false Christianity represents. (Weston G. What is the Falling Away? Living Church News, January-February 2024)

Gerald Weston is correct on that last point. Yet, officially in 2012, there was a Living Church of God must-play sermon from Dr. Douglas Winnail where he basically confused “the prophesied falling away from truth with mankind’s prophesied coming to the fullness of iniquity.” It is good that Gerald Weston has essentially tried to correct that.

When Dr. Winnail’s doctrinal heresy was formally introduced, I strongly objected to it (at the time I was in the unpaid position Dr. Meredith appointed me to as “Advisor to the evangelists on Doctrine and Prophecy”). But I was told that ALL the members of LCG’s Council of Elders, except Mario Hernandez, accepted Dr. Winnail’s heresy. That also would have included Gerald Weston, who went along with the change.

It is good that Gerald Weston has finally and publicly essentially pointed out that Dr. Winnail’s position was in error.

As far as what Dr. Winnail taught would happen with his change, he asserted the following in an official LCG ‘must play’ sermon:

Falling Away – Implications
Clarifying this issue and powerfully delivering this prophetic warning about a universal falling away from the fundamentals of biblical Christianity, led by a Beast, a Man of Sin and Miracles will clearly set the Living Church of God apart from false prophets and false apostles who preach the falling away has already occurred in WCG…

This is why a correct understanding of the Falling Away is important!

* Enable LCG to deliver a powerful warning about a major prophetic end time event that is coming in the years just ahead!

* Will set LCG apart from false teachers who are saying this event has already occurred.
(Winnail D. The Falling Away. Must-Play DVD DVE704, June 1, 2012)

And, no, nearly 12 years later that powerful warning, etc., did not happen with that change–Dr. Winnail’s falling away position  was not successful. It was when he taught this heresy about how LCG would be set apart and succeed that caused me to start to separate myself from LCG. When he was teaching that his doctrinal error was setting LCG apart and defining that church, that was not acceptable. And Charlotte leadership would not accept the truth on this, despite my efforts to explain and document why Dr. Winnail’s position was in error.

In his must-play sermon, Dr. Winnail said that what he was teaching in that sermon was “the position of the Church.” By Church he meant the Living Church of God, which I am no longer a part of as I could not accept this heretical teaching and certain other errors.

Dr. Winnail talked about holding fast, referred to Titus 1:9, and wrongly claimed that Herbert Armstrong did not apply the falling away to the Church of God (which obviously he did in The Incredible Human Potential and his coworker letter of February 21, 1974). Notice also something that Herbert Armstrong wrote about it:

To Peter and the others, He said: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat. 16:19). But He prophesied apostacy. “Many false prophets shall rise,” He said, “and shall deceive many.” Paul foretold the great “falling away” from God’s Truth and Christ’s Gospel, turning unto FABLES (I1 Thes. 2:l-9; II Tim. 4:l-4). It had even begun in Paul’s day (I1 Thes. 2:7). (Armstrong HW. Seven Keys to Understanding the Bible. Good News, July 1949, p. 3).

Dr. Winnail also stated, while showing 1 John 4:1-6, 2 Peter 3:17-18, and Luke 21:36, that:

You must be able to discern the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

…do not be led by the error of the wicked…These are admonitions we find in the scriptures…Jesus said you will know the truth and the truth will set you free…

Watch and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

The above seemed to be teaching that those who disagreed with him were following the spirit of error, and hence not Christians (he also made other comments between those shown above that did so as well). This is what most concerned me about this sermon, and that combined by a similar statement Dr. Winnail made in a sermon DVE727 titled Watch and Get Ready, got me to seriously question if LCG could be Philadelphian.

After referring to why Protestant commentaries support his position on the “falling away,” Dr. Winnail stated that those who do not agree are “blinded to the reality” of what he is teaching. The repeated statements suggesting that one is being influenced by Satan or not part of the COG made it clear to me that if this was his church’s position, that this was not appropriate for me. And various others have also began to realize that.

LCG seems to have finally seen some of the errors in its falling away position and presumably does not identify itself by that doctrinal heresy that Dr. Winnail officially said LCG did.

Anyway, eleven plus years after I left that group, it is good that LCG’s top leader has basically written I was right about this.

Now, let’s also look at some of the other points that Gerald Weston wrote, such as:

But when Jude urged the people to get back to the faith once delivered, he was referring to the faith of Christ, His apostles, and early first-century Christianity (Jude 3–4). That kind of Christianity has very little resemblance to trinitarian “Christianity,” no matter the century.

Yes, that is true. To support what Jude wrote regarding contending for the “faith once delivered,” we in the Continuing Church of God put out the following highly referenced books: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? and Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism.

That said, Gerald Weston also wrote:

There is no doubt that what occurred in the Worldwide Church of God was an apostasy from truth. And, truly, those who fell away in that organization “did not receive the love of the truth” (v. 10). But was that what Paul was describing? Or was he referring to something larger?

There is a prophecy in Zechariah that may be relevant here. Notice:

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
Against the Man who is My Companion,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered;
Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

While the above seems to have other applications, the fact is that two-thirds of those in the old WCG accepted total apostasy after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, and about one-third did not, makes the possible application of the Tkach apostasy seem to fit.

Could there be another falling away?

Yes.

Will there be another falling away?

Yes.

Will it be larger in terms of number of people who left the true faith after the Tkach Administration?

For that we will have to wait and see–but right now there are not enough people in the real COGs to match or exceed that falling away.

When the Beast has risen up, there will be a falling away, as that also seems to be alluded to in Daniel 11:32-35–though the size is not clear in scripture.

The fact is that there will be some type of future falling away by believers in Daniel 11:29-36. Herbert Armstrong, when citing Daniel 11:33-35, stated:

These are the people of God  (Armstrong HW. Falling away, part 2.  World Tomorrow radio broadcast, HA5406.rm).

If one or more of the COGs does balloon up in membership right before the end (as some have thought, and which may be consistent with certain Roman Catholic prophecies as well as how the late LCG evangelist John Ogwyn seemed to interpret Romans 9:28), then it is possible that a larger falling away from the Church of God will appear right around the time that the man of sin is somewhat identified by associated signs and wonders. And if those two events are supposed to be concurrent, then this may better fit 2 Thessalonians 2:3 than the Tkach-apostasy.

Getting back to Gerald Weston, again see something that he wrote:

As God’s Church has long taught, one of the keys to understanding prophecy is to recognize prophetic gaps in time. The rebellion against the truth set in early and took time to fully develop.  …

It is clear that the prophesied man of sin will not appear until shortly before Christ’s return. This final head of a satanic system, one that has made the world drunk with the wine of its fornication, will take to a new level the claim of divine status. When we read of how he will perform signs, wonders, and deceptive miracles, this is not hard to understand. The world will worship this man.

As far as the man of sin goes, LCG still needs to realize that he is the first beast of Revelation 13:1-10 and not the second beast (Revelation 13:13-17). The second beast is the one who gets the first beast worshiped–that first beast is the man of sin as other scriptures make clear (see also Who is the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2?).

As far as when the identity of the man of sin NOT being the second beast, but the first beast of Revelation 13 was taught, I helped reveal that to LCG when I was part of it (which was many years after the Tkach-related falling away). The leadership there in Charlotte that I consulted with agreed with me then, as did a top leader in the United Church of God who I also discussed that matter with. Yet, despite having that revealed to two of the largest x-WCG churches, neither organization has yet fixed its official position on this.

Related to timing and the falling away, here is something I wrote over 11 years ago that is in my article The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings:

The Context and Timing and Apostasia

The written portion of the presentation, which Dr. Winnail also orally mentions, states:

The content of II Thes. 2:3 indicates “the great rebellion against God” will occur in conjunction with the activities of “the man of sin” at the end of the age, just before the return of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Winnail also then states that it is an assumption that the falling away could come well before the revealing of the son of perdition.  Yet, the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 states that the falling away comes first, then the man of sin is revealed and it is not until verse 8 that signs and lying wonders are specifically mentioned—Dr. Winnail’s use of the term assumption seems to be odd .  Again, notice what Herman Hoeh wrote:

“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day”-the time of God’s  intervention in human affairs when Jesus Christ will return to rule the nations–“shall not come except there come a falling away FIRST” (I1 Thess. 2: 3 ). The wholesale departure of Christians from the truth was the FIRST event prophesied to befall the true Church.
(Hoeh H.  Why So Many Denominations?  Plain Truth, September 1953, p. 3)

The falling away is not specifically listed as happening after the signs and lying wonders, but according to the Bible, before.  Though, another could come closer to it if the future falling away in Daniel 11:32-35 is the same one that Paul was referring to in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

The written portion of the presentation, which Dr. Winnail also orally mentions, states that the context of 2 Thessalonians 2 cannot refer to events that are decades before Jesus returns.  Dr. Winnail stated that the Tkach-era falling away occurred in 1995, and the falling away could not be 15 or 20 years later.

Yet, Jesus’ own words state the signs that Christians should watch out for will happen during the time of a particular generation:

34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  (Matthew 24:34)

Jesus probably would not have used the expression generation if all the events were quite imminently closely connected.  While Jesus’ words above do not prove that the Tkach-era falling away is the one of 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and perhaps it was not, they most certainly do not disprove it as Dr. Winnail seems to be teaching.

However, even if the events of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and the miracles associated with the son of perdition are as closely tied together as Dr. Winnail insists, this does not preclude the possibility that the falling away will not mainly be from the Church of God.

Dr. Winnail, while claiming that parts of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 cannot have a time gap of any significance based upon some Protestant commentators, then goes out and essentially states that these two things dominate the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

But, the position of the Church of God has been that the Day of the Lord lasts one year (Isaiah 34:8; 61:1-3) and happens 2 1/2 years after the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  Thus, his words seem to be contradicting that COG teaching—unless Dr. Winnail means that it happens during the Day of the Lord.  It is unclear to me if LCG changed its Day of the Lord teachings on this as well as this was not answered.  If not, it is confusing as to why parts of his position shared as part of the Council of Elders’ meeting in May 2012, an article placed in the TW, and this “must-play” sermon put together for all to watch.

The written portion of the presentation, which Dr. Winnail also orally mentions, states:

NT Scriptures – “apostasia”
“Apostasy” and “Falling Away” are not used exclusively to refer to a falling away from the Truth or the Church

Yet, the only two times a version of Strong’s word 646 “apostasia” is used in the New Testament it seems to be referring to the truth–either the truth as the Jewish religious leaders understood it (Acts 21:21) or as the brethren (2 Thessalonians 2:1,3) were to understand it.  And for the Truth of the Church this can be confirmed by other NT writings, such as 1 Timothy 4:1.

Additionally, it may be of interest to note that there is a related Greek word, apostasion (Strong’s 647), that means something separative, and all three times it is used in the New Testament, it is always specifically translated as “of divorcement” (NKJV).   The relative permanency of apostasion and its close relationship to apostasia suggests to me that the falling away (apostasia) is not a simple rebellion that Protestants/Catholics may decide to change their minds about later (like when some of them respond to the two witnesses), but an intentional rebellion from the truth.

The written portion of the presentation, which Dr. Winnail also orally mentions, states:

The falling away in WCG was significant for the COG, but barely a blip on the world’s radar.

While his sermon makes a big deal of the fact that the world barely noticed this, please understand that not only is the letter of 2 Thessalonians 1:1 addressed to “the church,” but in chapter 2:1 the “brethren”  are specifically being admonished–these words are Christians, not the world.  The world will notice later that they are supporting the Beast/Great Monarch and the False Prophet/Antipope, but most of them will not (probably until sometime after the start of the Day of the Lord) consider that they have fallen away from the Roman Catholic version of “Christianity” when they do so.  Yet, later Dr. Winnail seemingly dismissed the COG falling away because the world did not notice it—but the world will not consider itself falling a religious leader doing miracles as “the falling away” either.

Contrary to what the sermon stated, it matters not that the world did not consider the Tkach apostasy to be much.  Prophecy, according to Paul is for believers, not unbelievers:

22…prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

Non-believers are already deceived (Revelation 12:9) and will also be further deceived during the end times (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

Dr. Winnail, slightly before that, but after the mentioning the “blip,” mentioned Matthew 24 and stated that Jesus was discussing things that would be increasingly happening in the world essentially for most to see.  Yet, he did not quote Matthew 24:12-13 which specifically refers to events affecting mainly the little flock (Luke 12:32) of true Christians:

12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 24:12-13)

Matthew 24:12-13 is clearly speaking about those who had contact with real Christians and had real exposure to the truth.

Raymond McNair’s 1967 writing about Matthew 24:8-13, as was David Antion’s in 1968, is consistent with my own position, as well as that of HWA:

Christ sounded a fearful warning! “All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you [referring to the terrible end-time persecutions, culminating in the Great Tribulation!]; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another. and shall hate one another. . . . And because iniquity shall abound, THE LOVE OF MANY SHALL WAX COLD” (Mat. 24:8-12)! Have YOU taken this warning from your very Saviour personally? Have you made an inventory of your life lately to be sure you are not guilty of this charge? Christ also solemnly promised the overcomers: “He that shall ENDURE unto the end, the same shall be saved” (verse 13). (McNair R.  Will Your Love Wax Cold? Good News, April 1967, p. 7).

Notice His Mt. Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24… Jesus said, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold’ (verse 12)… “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (verse 13). If only we can hold on through this terrible time of persecution, of sin, of false prophets!… Then Jesus says to yon: “And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; AND IT FELL: and great was the fall of it” (Mat. 7:26-27). … Remember, the prophecies say stress and strain will be put on immediate families. This will cause many to fall away from God’s Church.(Antion D. Will You Fall Away? Good News. May-June 1968, pp. 5, 21)

So, the above clearly shows that the old WCG did teach that Matthew 24:12-13 was referring to the church. But Dr. Winnail’s sermon did not discuss that.

Anyway, Dr. Winnail, who (along with Gerald Weston and many others) remains in my regular prayers, was wrong on many points.

Perhaps, Gerald Weston’s willingness to make a correction on the falling away shows he will correct errors about the identity of the man of sin and other matters.

That would be part of my prayer for LCG as well as UCG and others who hold to a number of prophetic misunderstandings (see also  Do You Hold to Any of These Laodicean Prophetic Errors?).

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2024 at 4:00 pm and is filed under COG News.

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