CEM’s Ron Dart Mentions “Gather My Saints Together”

Some Christians “Gathered Together” in Tobago

In his latest online commentary this week, Christian Education Ministries’ Ronald Dart began with the following:

In reading through the 50^th Psalm this morning I was struck by the short section that begins with verse 5: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself.” I think the sense of v. 5 is “Those who have made a blood covenant with me,” and the Christian covenant is surely a blood covenant. The blood was not that of animals, but of the Lord himself. The concluding statement calls to mind an old controversy. Jesus said plainly that the father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son (John 5:22).

While his commentary focus was essentially on the blood of Christ and the revealing of the Father, I was struck by the “gather my saints together” concept as I first started to write about another aspect of that at least ten years ago.

In the NKJV, the English expression “gather together” appears 25 times. And “gathered together” appears 96 times.

There are a couple of passages concerning be told to “gather together” that I would like to quote and comment on.

The first, as regular readers may recall, I have mentioned here before from Zephaniah:

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the LORD’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you!
3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the LORD’s anger (Zephaniah 2:1-3).

Comment: I believe that both Zephaniah 2 and Psalm 50 are telling the people of God that they need to gather together, BEFORE it is too late. And if they do this properly that they may receive protection from the wrath to come. More information on this is included in the article There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra .

Now notice another two verses that discuss being gathered together:

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, ‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6 Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the north,
And great destruction.” (Jeremiah 4:5-6)

Comment: The above passage is suggesting that there will be a time that will come that those in Judea and Jerusalem will have to flee into a place of defense–possibly Petra. This is consistent with what Jesus told His followers to do in Matthew 24 :15-16 when they see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. And Jeremiah is basically warning that disaster will come from the north–in this case apparently the King of the North.

Jeremiah is apparently talking about the same events that are to occur around the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11;11:31. Events that did not happen on March 18, 2008, which once again demonstrates why those associated with Ronald Weinland (who falsely prophesied that the 1290 days began on March 18, 2008, but then said that it was fulfilled that day by something spiritual, please see the news item Ronald Weinland: Nothing Happened March 18th Because What Happened Was Spiritual?).

Anyway, my point is to tell readers that God does expect His saints to “gather together” (Psalm 50:5) and that this needs to be done before the decree at the end is issued (Zephaniah 2:1-3) so that His people will be able to flee from the disaster that will come from the power from the north (Jeremiah 4:5-6). And they should be “gathered together” with the actual Philadelphia remnant of the Church of God.

And although Ronald Weinland’s timing and prophetic interpretations are in error (he and his followers seem to have relied too much on him and not enough on what the Bible actually teaches) and CGPFK is not Philadelphian, the fact is that the end will be coming, and it will be sooner than most think.

As far as I can tell, the Bible teaches that the true and most faithful Christians do need to be “gathered together” where the work of God is mainly getting done today, and not be out on their own or ineffective, non-Philadelphian, groups.

Articles of possibly related interest may include:

Independent Members of the COG: Herbert W. Armstrong Comments, Plus Questions and Answers What did Herbert W. Armstrong teach about being independent of the organized Church? Should independents who claim to accept Herbert W. Armstrong’s teachings be part of LCG?
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from evangelists?
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory.
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?This is an article for those who wish to easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.