Reading PCG's Booklet, The Royal Book of Revelation

Let us now read Gerald Flurry's booklet, Unveiled At Last: The Royal Book of Revelation. This booklet was first released in 2001. However after reading this booklet I strongly suspect at least parts of this booklet was written as early as 1998. It was later revised in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2011. For this post I am reading through the 2005 version. You can read the current 2011 version of this booklet at their website.

Chapter 1

If you have the spirit of prophecy, that means you are given new revelation by God—to build on the old revelation. You must keep what God has already revealed, or you will be given no new revelation. (p. 5.)

Then why has Flurry changed so much? HWA's WCG taught that the Laodiceans would not be made manifest until the moment when the worthy WCG members flee to the place of safety (Petra, Jordan) so any left behind would be the Laodiceans. But Flurry changed this to say all WCG members are Laodiceans unless they join his PCG.

Gerald Flurry's PCG has even changed HWA's book, Mystery of the Ages, the book PCG claims to love and adore so much.

You can find where Jesus Christ is by finding the only group of people on this Earth who understand Bible prophecy! You can’t separate the two! Where you find one, you find the other. (p. 5.)

Where you find the group you find Christ. The two are not to be separated. So we see that PCG members are taught that Christ can only be found within PCG. Leaving PCG is viewed as being the same as leaving God. Some wonder why so many PCG members remain there despite the many problems there. Partly it is because they read words like this and believe them. They have some residual doubts and unease but in order to stay they learn to ignore such feelings.

The spirit of prophecy reveals the course of future world history! That means you understand world news in advance! You grasp exactly what is happening on the world scene. You can fit it all into a time frame with the book of Revelation. (p. 6.)

Then why did Gerald Flurry complain that America was far too pacifist in his booklet Winston Churchill: The Watchman? 

We can’t afford the pacifist attitude we had before World War-II [sic] and survive nationally. Yet our pacifist attitude today is far worse than it was then. (Gerald Flurry, Winston Churchill: The Watchman, 1999, 2002 version, Chapter 1, p. 2.)

Also in 2001 Gerald Flurry claimed the United States were much more isolationist then it was in the days before World War II. He said this in his booklet, No Freedom Without Law.

Even one of the most diabolical leaders in history, Adolf Hitler, could not rouse us to fight until we were bombed by Japan. And we are much more isolationist today. We are not prepared to die to defend our security, as we were in our past. This is the supreme sign that our will has been broken—and that our republic cannot stand. (Gerald Flurry, No Freedom Without Law, 2001, Chapter 3, p. 24.)

Also Ron Fraser said America was becoming isolationist just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was clearly mimicking Gerald Flurry.

Of course 9/11 happened and the United States then proceeded to enter into war in Afghanistan and later Iraq. Clearly Flurry and Fraser were completely wrong on this topic. Clearly Flurry does not "understand world news in advance" and neither is he able "grasp exactly what is happening on the world scene" as he claims to be able to.

What a far cry from what Flurry promised above: "That means you understand world news in advance! You grasp exactly what is happening on the world scene."

If only his readers knew about such things.

The book of Revelation is about His Second Coming. Our lives must revolve around that great cause—to the extent that we would die for it if necessary. (p. 7.)

No wonder so many PCG members fiercely believe what they are told. Unfortunately when one makes his or her life revolve around an organization it causes such persons to become dependent upon the group.

The very elect follow His example. It is conceivable that you could also become a martyr, though God promises protection to His Church overall in this end time. All of God’s lukewarm saints are to be martyred in this end time. God told us it could happen (Luke 14:26-27). (p. 8.)

PCG has never had to endure martyrdom of this sort. This is simply an induced phobia designed to make followers afraid of leaving PCG. Flurry is artificially creating a sense of crisis among PCG members so that they are fearful of outside non-PCG forces so that they will rally under the leadership of PCG.

All of these martyrs were “under the altar.” That refers to the altar of burnt offering where the animals were sacrificed in the temple. Today the temple is God’s Church, and those sacrificing their lives are God’s lukewarm saints—not animals! (p. 9.)

In the second half of this chapter Flurry loads the language to say that certain Scriptures talk about HWA's God Family doctrine. Certain verses are presented as proof texts supposedly proving HWA's God Family dogma. Frequently any opposing view contrary to the God Family dogma is demonized as being of Satan the devil. Of course it is all nonsense.

Isaiah 42:8: "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Isaiah 44:6: "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God..."

Isaiah 44:8: "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (From Mike of Mike's Enlightenment Page.)

Here are some other posts that discuss the God Family doctrine.

• The God Family discusses how I first learned of this doctrine and how Roderick C. Meredith claim it was 'revealed' to HWA's group.

• A Problem in the God Family Doctrine discusses how HWA taught that humanity was simply Plan B for God. According to HWA God originally intended to have Angels govern the Universe but Lucifer's rebellion forced God to create Humanity instead. This aspect of HWA's God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Called to the Truth? Will all in the God kingdom be Equal? discusses how the COGs teach that those who become God Beings at the return of Christ will be superior in rank then all other people who become God Beings afterwards, even though all are supposedly as fully God as God is God. The COGs nevertheless teach that there will be ranks and that the God Family will be divided into an elite (the deified church) while the rest will be inferior in rank. This aspect of the God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Why I no longer believe in the God Family doctrine (and never will) (offsite article by Felix Taylor Jr.) discusses how the God Family doctrine is simply not in the Bible.

• Reading PCG's Booklet, God is a Family discusses Stephen Flurry's booklet (1995) which teaches the God Family doctrine. It also discusses how Stephen Flurry misleadingly uses a Protestant commentary to insinuate the Bible teaches the God Family when the author of this commentary never taught the God Family doctrine at all.

 The God Family doctrine is not supported by Scripture.

Chapter 2

They stoned Stephen to death. His only “crime” was preaching God’s truth! Let’s remember, these were religions that talked much about love! May God protect us from such “loving” religions! (p. 17.)

Flurry is alluding to the "Laodiceans" here. Flurry often says that the Laodiceans talk about love but do not do what God says.

Later Flurry recapitulates the dark century dogma, that shortly after the time of the Apostles the church fell away from the truth and became apostate until HWA came upon the scene.

Herbert W.Armstrong's dark century dogma is nonsense. It was an idea he imposed upon history and he deceptively quoted historians who never said there was a dark century.

Chapter 3

In this chapter Flurry insists the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3 are seven church eras.

The history and prophecy of the great false church is included. Then doesn’t it seem logical that God would also reveal the far more important history and prophecy of His true Church in this book? (p. 26.)

Do not doubt Flurry's words or else you will be far from God. Flurry is merely trying to intimidate the reader into submitting him or herself under PCG's control.

The magnificent and powerful God is in the midst of the churches (verse 13). So we ought to have faith and should not deal in could be’s. We ought to know whether or not the Church eras are successive if this great and powerful God is in our midst! If we don’t, isn’t that an indication God is not in our midst? God reveals our own history and prophecy! God intends that we know! Not wallow around in the darkness of could be! (p. 26.)

Be completely sure that Flurry is correct or else you will not be in contact with God.

In fact the seven church era doctrine is also nonsense. Bruce Renehan in his book Daughter of Babylon proved that the seven church era doctrine is complete nonsense. Here are some of the facts that are presented in that book.

• Claim that Waldensians are of great antiquity has practically no evidence.

• Waldensians themselves say that they merely date from Peter Waldo. 

• Waldensians and English Lollards denounced tithing and observed Sunday. (Bet that was not mentioned in the musical PCG made recently.)

• Armstrongism has no historical link with the Seventh Day Baptists. (That really shocked me when I first read Renehan's book.)

• Seventh Day Baptists only used Church of God as a generic name and more often used other names.

• HWA acquired the seven church era doctrine from G. G. Rupert.

• G. G. Rupert taught that the Adventists in 1799 till the Great Disappointment of 1844 was the Philadelphian era and everything after that was the Laodicean era.

• HWA and Hoeh imitated their "history" of a Sabbatarian, non-Catholic group of believers dating from Apostolic times from Andrew Dugger and C. O. Dodd's 1936 book, A History of the True Church. (It also fabricated their false historical link with the Seventh Day Baptists.)

• C. O. Dodd admitted much of what he and Dugger wrote were simply not true.

• Bruce Renehan also presents evidence that by the 1990s WCG leaders knew this "history" was largely fake. (Chapter 10.) Does this apply to Gerald Flurry and those who joined him from WCG?

So it can be seen that the seven church era doctrine is nonsense. Flurry's claim that only PCG members are the Philadelphians is thus also revealed as nonsense. This also destroys his claim that the other COG groups are Laodiceans. He bears false witness whenever he demonizes the other COG groups as Laodiceans.

Both Sardis and Laodicea said The U.S. and Britain in Prophecy was in error. Both reject it. Soon everybody shall know that the God of Revelation 1:13-18 is the author of this inspiring truth! (p. 27.)

The other COG groups do not regard that booklet as in error. Why does Flurry say untrue things? For someone who claims to love the truth so much why would he write so vaguely.

Chapter 4

In this chapter Revelation 10 is specifically interpreted as referring to PCG distributing Mystery of the Ages. This appears to be a new teaching Flurry unveiled to the PCG members as "new revelation" around 1998 according to this booklet.

Until people remove the mystery from the Bible, their lives are meaningless. (p. 35.)

Devaluing the individual. Life outside PCG is vilified as not worth existing in.

The whole vision of chapters 10 and 11 revolves around Mystery of the Ages, not the little book. The little book just tells you what happened to God’s Church and Mystery of the Ages. It’s not about the little book; it’s about the great mystery of God which this world must be taught. (p. 35.)

That is quite a change. Back in 1992 Flurry proclaimed the Little Book to be Malachi's Message. That doctrine is one reason why PCG reveres it so much. Now Flurry pretends to be humble and says Revelation 10 is all about Mystery of the Ages. This reminds me of PCG Information noting that some in PCG seemed to think Mystery of the Ages was the Little Book. Is Flurry somehow trying to integrate that idea here? 

We know most people are not going to respond until they’re in the Great Tribulation. But if we do our job, I know what the buzz word will be in the Tribulation—people will be talking about Mystery of the Ages. That book is the hope of this world. There isn’t any other hope. Mystery of the Ages has the answers to this world’s problems! (p. 37.)

Strange. I thought Christ was supposed to be our only hope. Now it is Mystery of the Ages? Why do PCG members even pretend to be Christians when their leader says things like this? Maybe they should name themselves after Mystery of the Ages.

We may ask, Why didn’t God reveal this BEFORE we printed that book? Well, this is just another case of God waiting and testing, wanting to learn more about His people. If we would have understood this before, there would have been no doubts about publishing and freely giving Mystery of the Ages. But God wants to know if we are going to step out on faith. And now look what He does if we do! How encouraging! (p. 40.)

The real reason why PCG's God did not reveal this "new revelation" before is because Flurry did not think of it then.

Chapter 5

In this chapter Flurry talks about how great Mystery of the Ages is. That it is the world's only hope.

Paul didn’t have the complete picture like Mr. Armstrong did. So God wanted Mr. Armstrong to write the book Mystery of the Ages. (p. 41.)

So HWA had a much better understanding of "the truth" then even the Apostle Paul. Well, why do PCG members even call themselves Christians and claim to be the true heirs of what Paul wrought? Clearly HWA is superior. Is it really so terrible to call people like this Armstrongites?

You can see it when individuals leave this Church: They are with us and then gradually or suddenly they have a mind change. One minister vigorously supported Mystery of the Ages and then left, and now his crusade is against Mystery of the Ages. How do you explain that? It’s easy to explain—lose the Head and it will happen to you too. (p. 44.)

There is this delusion widely present within the COGs that if you leave "God's Church" you will be blinded by Satan and forget "the truth". Flurry is trying to teach this delusional belief to PCG members so that should anyone talk about things that are wrong in there or doubting that PCG's leaders are correct the PCG members will simply ignore them and not give heed to their warnings. This is called thought stopping.

I wonder which minister Flurry is alluding to here. It is good he at least got out of PCG. It must have been hard for him.

Our goal is not just to make it known to all nations. Paul says we’ll teach those people how to keep it in faith. It’s not just a matter of merely saying, “Here’s Mystery of the Ages.” The hard part is obeying it in faith. That’s what king-priests do today. (pp. 45-46.)

So PCG members are told that PCG will make Mystery of the Ages "known to all nations." It is amazing how Flurry talks of Mystery of the Ages in such an adulatory way.

“Most of you don’t get it!” said Mr. Armstrong. I was told by one minister that, at one time, Mr. Armstrong wondered if even 5 percent of the people got it. Is 1 Kings 19:10 a prophecy of an end-time Elijah, surrounded by all these Laodiceans, perhaps for a moment, thinking, Am I the only one who gets it? (p. 46.)

As shown in a previous post the sermon Flurry alludes to here and frequently elsewhere does not mean what Flurry says. You can read or listen to HWA's sermon for yourself online. That 1985 sermon was discussing a particular doctrine regarding why church members are called before Christ returns while the rest of humanity have to wait till later and only get a position of lesser rank.

HWA was complaining that WCG members and even ministers thought this selection was simply random. That is what he was complaining about. It was not some sort of miraculous premonition foreseeing the Tkach changes. That just simply is not true.

Beginning in verse 7, God speaks to the Philadelphians. Notice verse 9: “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” You could say, “People from the synagogue of Satan right in the midst of Philadelphia? How discouraging!” But God doesn’t look at it that way. This is the way God fashions and molds king-priests! He says you will be at the top of the heap if you can conquer, and remain loyal to the Elijah work from beginning to end. (pp. 48-49.)

As seen in Flurry and Leap's Ezra and Nehemiah booklet (see Part 2 and Part 3) Flurry teaches that Satan sends infiltrators into PCG in order to lead PCG members away from PCG. What a convenient pretext any PCG minister has for casting out any unwanted member out of PCG. 

Your race, your station in life, how poor you may be—these things make no difference if you are a spiritual Jew. God is not even talking about race. People can get hung up on race. God is trying to teach us about spiritual race. We have different races in this Church, but we’re all spiritual Jews committed to this work! (p. 49.)

Maybe if people were treated equally and not discriminated against just because they are defined as being of a different race it would not be necessary to confront and discuss this important issue.

Also it should be noted that PCG teaches that interracial marriage is sinful. This is seen in Flurry and Leap's booklet, Ezra and Nehemiah (See Part 2 and Part 3) and the late Ron Fraser's booklet South Africa in Prophecy. This racist doctrine was inherited from HWA. It is hard too be more "hung up on race" then ordering people not to love each other because of race. Forbidding interracial marriage is racist.

We now continue.

Afterwards Flurry talks about the great glory that supposedly awaits PCG members for remaining loyal to Gerald Flurry all their lives.

Let me give you an expanded vision of that throne—the real, majestic picture of the way God says it will be in His Kingdom and even beyond that 1,000-year period, out into eternity. When I talk about David’s throne, I’m not talking about a little wooden chair with a rock under it. I’m talking about the estate and the meaning behind that throne—the dignity and the character of the God who rules it. Our estate will be the whole world in the Millennium, and the whole universe after the Last Great Day. That is the real estate over which we will rule. It takes a special being to zip out into the universe and back when you have something like 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone. (p. 50.)

PCG members hope to attain this glory and are told this will be denied them should they leave PCG. That is one reason why they stay in PCG despite the many problems there.

There’s a lot of activity and excitement going on there, and those lamps are shining brightly before God’s throne. Today, we have that lamp in the form of revelation. Elisha received two portions of God’s Holy Spirit. We certainly have two portions of revelation today: The revelation given to Mr. Armstrong and the revelation God has given us since that time. Our job is not to try to accumulate buildings or land or things; we are not striving to become “rich and increased with goods”—we are to keep the lamp burning! (p. 51.)

And just a few years later (2007-2010) Gerald Flurry made Armstrong Auditorium sinking more then the equivalent of PCG's yearly income in building that white elephant.

The creatures say to God, “You have created all things.” We are created. Lucifer must have forgotten that. You are created. Keep yourself humble. Remember, you are dirt. And remember what God is! (p. 52.)

Remember that yourself, Gerald Flurry.

This royal book of Revelation has it all. Sure, there are tough times to come, but it won’t be long before we are through those, once we get the rebellious, evil spirit out of man—the spirit that won’t let God the Father and Jesus Christ be his Head. After that, all you have is full, full, full joy everywhere you look! (p. 52.)

So ignore the problems within PCG. Why worry about them? In just a few years Christ will be back and you will not need to worry about these things. In this way PCG members are made to ignore and overlook the problems within PCG.

Chapter 6

In this chapter thunder and lightening is used as a euphemism for the teachings of PCG, both those teachings inherited from HWA's WCG and the "new revelation" Gerald Flurry has introduced into PCG.

God thunders His revelation through His very elect which have the lamp on this Earth! Meditate on that inspiring truth: Having a part in this work makes you very important to God. There is only one lamp on the Earth today. (p. 54.)

Flury likes to tell PCG members that they are the most important people on planet Earth because they are in PCG and believe what PCG tells them.

God wants us to tremble before His Word. Spiritual thunder and lightning should have such an impact on us. (p. 55.)

Note how Flurry is instructing the PCG members to read and accept Gerald Flurry's supposed "new revelation" with great reverence and respect.

Now what was He trying to achieve with the accompanying thunder and the lightning? He was trying to get those people to realize that this was not from a man, but from the great Creator of mankind! Spiritually, new revelation today should have a much greater impact on our lives than physical thunder and lightning. Why? Because it has eternal consequences! (p. 56.)

Do what I say or else you might be cast into the Lake of Fire. That is what Flurry is essentially saying here. He is crudely trying to intimidate the reader into joining PCG and paying the three tithes and extra offerings.

God brings us to the Feast of Tabernacles with spiritual thunder and lightning to prepare to do what Israel failed to do—gather in all the world! That’s why we attend the Feast, as kings and priests in embryo—a kingdom of priests. I hope we never get tired of hearing that. (p. 56.)

Once again Flurry is trying to control the readers own emotions. If members get tired of listening to the same thing over and over again they might allow feelings of discontent to lead to action. Flurry is teaching members to suppress such feelings so that they ignore any problems within PCG and continue paying the three tithes and extra offerings.

Statistics reveal that 25,000 people die of malnutrition and starvation daily. At the Feast of Tabernacles we eat the best foods—things we can’t necessarily afford at other times. Why? As kings and priests, very soon we will permanently remove starvation from this Earth. And not just physical starvation, but spiritual as well. (p. 56.)

Perhaps this happens because PCG members are so busy tithing the rest of the time that they splurge out during the Feast of Tabernacles using the second tithes money they had saved up during the rest of the year.

If you don’t have revelation, God is not with you. Don’t despise the day of small beginnings—whether it’s 12, 19, 900, 10,000 or whatever. If Jesus Christ is there and you have thunder and lightning, stay with Christ. Numbers are irrelevant. Men of stature are irrelevant. (p. 59.)

Aside from his assistant John Amos none of WCG's ministers joined with Gerald Flurry to build up PCG. Flurry often alludes to this issue. It seems to bother him that no other WCG minister chose to join Flurry's following.

When we hear the thunder, we tremble. We’re all under government. I’ve never changed one judgment that Mr. Armstrong made about the law and the statutes. I’m under government. We all are. (pp. 59-60.)

HWA taught that Prophets have no administrative authority over lay members. He taught this from 1953 till the day he died, even restating it in his book, Mystery of the Ages. But Gerald Flurry proclaimed himself to be "That Prophet" and changed Mystery of the Ages and deleted that offending passage in which HWA said Prophets have no authority over members.

All of the lukewarm, rebellious Laodiceans will tell you they don’t believe Mr. Armstrong fulfilled the Elijah office and restored all things. They don’t get it because they refuse to understand. What an indescribable shame! One evangelist said that he would wait and let Christ show him who the end-time Elijah is. So Christ is going to show him the hard way, if that is what it takes. (p. 60.)

Many within the wider COG groups also believe that HWA was the end time Elijah. Why does Flurry say untrue things?

It is true that Meredith chose not to teach that doctrine but Flurry took advantage of this small difference with just one of the major COG groups in order to keep PCG members socially and mentally isolated from the other COG groups.

God is preparing His king-priests now. Look how much thunder and lightning of revelation we’ve had in the Philadelphia era under Mr. Armstrong and now in the PCG. We’re receiving so much revelation! It’s possible we could be lulled to sleep by getting so much. (p. 61.)

Actually from I have read it seems to me that a lot of this "new revelation" is just Flurry injecting the ideas of Malachi's Message onto other parts of the Bible. The ideas are just recycled and reused again and again for the most part.

Also it needs to be stated that it is widely known that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.

We need to be so thankful to God for receiving the old and new revelation like nobody has ever received it in the history of man. Be thankful! Rejoice! Come and see what God has given us in the form of new revelation! Thunder is going to keep coming and coming and coming until we’re sitting on that throne with God. (p. 62.)

And so Flurry promises to unveil "new revelation" until Christ returns, or more realistically for the rest of his life.

Chapter 7

Amaziah was the priest of Bethel—the house of God. So here is a minister from God’s lukewarm, Laodicean Church, somehow getting a message to the leader of the land in an attempt to stop God’s message. This is a confrontation between God’s people, the leaders of the land and a priest of the house of Bethel. Our court case with the WCG was probably just the first stage of that mighty confrontation! (p. 66.)

Here Flurry is essentially repeating what he said in his booklet, The Lion Has Roared. He is insinuating that Tkach's WCG will somehow conspire with the governmental authorities of the United States to somehow silence PCG. All Flurry has done is update this idea to mention the court case. He insinuated that it was "just the first stage of that mighty confrontation". But after PCG payed $3 million for the copyrights to eighteen of HWA's works what happened? Nothing. And it seems very unlikely that anything is going to happen.

“Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there” (verse 12). In other words, You are in this for bread, or money. Go to Judah, go over into that part of the world. So this man seems to know about the place of safety—probably because he grew up in the Church where it was taught! (p. 66.)

Here Flurry is complaining that Tkach's WCG is maliciously accusing Flurry and his PCG of trying to get money. Whatever gave them that idea? Flurry's PCG only demands three tithes from the members. How can monetary gain possibly be viewed as the ulterior motive for PCG?

To God’s very elect, it doesn’t make any difference who comes with God’s message. They are intelligent people spiritually, and cannot be deceived. That’s why God will put them at His headquarters forever. (p. 67.)

Pay no heed to the fact that only one other minister chose to join Flurry's following out of WCG. Pay no heed to the fact that other more prominent persons associated with HWA's WCG have nothing to do with PCG. Disregard that fear. Join PCG and pay the three tithes to Flurry and his collaborators.

God revealed the book of Amos shortly after the PCG began. Mr. Armstrong admitted that he didn’t understand this book. (p. 67.)

This refers to Flurry's second booklet, The Lion Has Roared. As for HWA claiming not to understand Amos, I do not know what Flurry is talking about.

On page 69 of the 2005 version is a picture of a roaring lion set within a field of starts. This picture has since been removed from the current 2011 version.

Revelation only comes from God’s government! Christ gave us precisely what His Father—the supreme government—gave to Him. Revelation from God also means we have God’s government. In this end time, if you do not have God’s revelation, you are rebelling against His government! Christ gave Herbert W. Armstrong God’s government and revelation. The PCG also has God’s revelation. That means we continue submitting to the exact same government of God that Mr. Armstrong taught us. (p. 70.)

If you are not in PCG paying three tithes and extra offerings you are doomed. Once again Flurry crudely attempts to intimidate the reader to join PCG and stay there.

After this Flurry presents a quote from Roderick C. Meredith and accuses him of claiming too much glory for himself at the expense of HWA. Then Flurry claims he does not do this and boasts that this proves he is humble compared to Meredith. Flurry does this to discredit Meredith to make sure PCG members do not migrate to Meredith's group. (Emphasis in original.)

In the Global Church of God News, August/September 1997, Rod Meredith stated, ... “So Christ was not in any way surprised that this great falling away took place. He knew this would happen and He intended to use it as a test to see if His people would hang on to the basic truths He had placed in His Church through Mr. Armstrong, AND the SENIOR EVANGELISTS  who assisted him for decades in establishing and building a really powerful work.” Matthew 17:10-11 does not say that God is going to send an end-time Elijah and senior evangelists to restore all things, as Mr. Meredith said. God says He reveals truth to holy apostles and prophets—not to senior evangelists (Ephesians 3:5). Mr. Meredith did say they were assisting, but still, he said that God put those great truths in the Church through Mr. Armstrong and the senior evangelists. They are putting themselves on the same level as God’s end-time Elijah, and they don’t belong there! Neither do I. (pp. 72-73.)

So what if Flurry does not call himself Elijah, Gerald Flurry claims to be the "one man" God works through on planet Earth. He says this repeatedly. There is no need for him to be Elijah, when he claims to be the one man through God is working with. Flurry claims he is the "one-man" through whom God reveals revelation and one can only be saved by following PCG.

Flurry is arguing over semantics. Alas, many PCG members seem to find this spurious argument convincing. They do not realize they are being duped.

Also the fact that he cites a 1997 article by Meredith in this booklet indicates to me that this section probably dates to 1997-8. There is also no mention of LCG. So I suspect at least parts of this booklet was originally published as an article in the Royal Vision magazine and then compiled into a booklet.

For one who claims to be the middleman between God and humanity maybe he should avoid fudging facts the way he does here.

But Mr. Armstrong said he finished that specific work. He also discusses in his book the 18 restored truths, with the first truth on that list being government—the same government that they have rejected. (p. 74.)

What list? The one published in Worldwide News several months after HWA's death? But that was not in Mystery of the Ages. HWA did not state what these eighteen truths were in that book. My word! Flurry cannot even get simple details like that right. And to think that so many PCG members trust him with their very lives.

After this is a particularly frightening passage saying that Satan will send infiltrators into PCG and that it is necessary for PCG ministers to cast them out. This merits quoting at length.

If we don’t have God’s government, “wolves” are prophesied to come in and tear the inner court apart and make it the outer court. God says if you have people like that, cast them out (Revelation 11:2). That means using force or power and being decisive doing it. God wants to make sure we keep the inner court holy. If we have somebody acting like a wolf or causing serious problems, we cast them out. That’s what Christ told us to do. Either we cast out Satan or Satan casts out Christ!

That phrase leave out, or cast out, is the same expression you’ll find in Luke 4:29, where Christ was thrown out of the city. We are in a war, and spiritual survival is at stake. If you’re in the outer court, you’re going to be destroyed and trod underfoot by the Gentiles. We get a little insight into that by looking at World War II videos and the concentration camps. But the next war will be much worse. (pp. 74-75.)

"If we have somebody acting like a wolf or causing serious problems". What a vague charge. One could use any incident to cast out someone using words like this. This is not advice. This is essentially a license to PCG ministers to do whatever they think is necessary to make PCG members continuing in the unity imposed upon them by PCG ministers.

Flurry continues.

We don’t want to see anyone trod underfoot. And our leading ministers will cast somebody out if we see that person leading a member or prospective member in that direction. God is going to back us in that. (p. 75.)

I find this assumed pretense of necessary reluctance eerily similar to how Roderick C. Meredith would announce disfellowshipping ministers who had somehow earned the wrath of those in power. Whenever he announced these disfellowshipping he would always say that he regretted it in a desperate attempt to obscure the use of his power and authority in crushing perceived threats to power. It is sad that Flurry appears to have learned this trick.

This casting out is an ongoing process. One minister who left the PCG was upset that we put some people out of the Church. But we use the government of God to keep people from destroying the inner court. The Laodiceans have not learned that. When the Philadelphia Church of God began, God cast out 95 percent of His people! Do you want to get angry with God for doing that? If they don’t change their ways, He’s going to cast them out of the Kingdom. They’ll see people of Sodom and Gomorrah entering in, while they’re being cast out! We must see the big picture. (p. 75.)

That minister is a hero. There is nothing heroic about shunning those ordered to be cast out of the group. To accuse them of trying to destroy PCG is nothing but deceptive rhetoric designed to trick PCG members into thinking it is necessary and good to do what PCG's leaders tell them to do. It is all about power, the ability to use people for their own ends at the expense of the lay members.

It is worth noting how Flurry here claims (PCG's) God has "cast out" all the other COG groups. He is here insinuating to PCG members that God wants them to shun the members of the other COG groups. The real purpose of this draconian demand is to make people dependent upon PCG and try to alienate them from the members of the other COG groups so that they are rendered dependent upon other PCG members. They are socially stuck in PCG and cannot get out.

It is all about making PCG lay members willingly allowing themselves to be controlled by PCG's leaders.

If we don’t have God leading us, life doesn’t work. Man can’t lead himself! We are little children who need to be taught God’s precious and wonderful truth—His royal law which makes us royal. (p. 75.)

Life outside PCG is devalued as not worth existing in. This is what Lifton called the dispensing of existence and is used to induce thought reform in people in order to radically alter how they think. Life outside PCG is viewed as a state of existence not worth living in. The effect is to make PCG members endure any demand placed upon them because leaving PCG is viewed as not an option. And in this way PCG members are controlled and this is why there are so many problems there.

After this Flurry talks about the woman of Revelation 12 who is taught to be the church. Flurry says she is PCG and only PCG. He says that "the Laodiceans" refuse to admit that PCG is the woman of Revelation 12 and that is why they are to be cast out into the Great Tribulation.

Here’s quite a woman! She is clothed with the sun, has the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars—all kinds of brilliant light! And the time setting is right now. If people can see spiritually, there is a woman who is clothed with the sun—led by the Lion of Judah, a type of Jesus Christ—and they have all this light, all this revelation. Everybody should be able to see it, but the Laodiceans are blind. They don’t want to see; they refuse to see. But the light is there. The glory is there, and it’s out of this world. (p. 75.)

Once again the other COG groups are vilified in order to keep PCG members in the fold and continuing to send all that money to PCG so that PCG's leaders have a good income.

But don’t think only about the pain—think about the birth. About being born again. Of course we are going through trials and difficulties. God is getting us ready to save the world. We’re saviors. We must get our minds off ourselves. We must think about saving people by teaching them to follow their Head. (p. 77.)

According to Gerald Flurry Jesus Christ is not our savior. PCG members are the saviors. What blasphemy. If PCG members are the saviors why do they even bother to pretend to be Christians?

It is also needs to be stated that PCG teaches that one is not born again until after death. It is taught that PCG members upon death enter an unconscious slumber and will be woken up when Christ returns and they shall at that instant be transformed into immortal God beings as fully God as God is God though of lower rank. This teaching was inherited from HWA.

After that Flurry fear mongers that the Catholic Church and Europeans will soon destroy the United States and the other COG groups.

He incorrectly implies that only PCG understands the supposed end time role of the Catholic Church.

The scholars can’t figure this out. The religious people can’t figure it out. Lange’s Commentary, which is out of print, is one of the few commentaries that knows this refers to the Roman Empire, ruled over by the Catholic Church. Shouldn’t we be able to understand if we’re God’s Church? The only people who really understand are the people who have this light. We know what is happening in Europe. If the people of this world knew, they would be terrified! We’re going to have to tell them. (p. 77.)

Reading this it sounds like only PCG knows this. In fact even as early as the Protestant Reformation the Papacy was identified as a creation of Satan. This idea has constantly been within various strands of Protestantism. In the present calm environment inevitably such ideas have tended to fall out of favor. But PCG has no right to somehow claim only they properly understand it. 

After this Flurry claims that PCG members have a great power on their side, God is with them and them alone.

Satan is right here on Earth today. We in the Church will be accused. Satan will use all of his deceitful power to destroy us. But God tells us to look at the strength we have! That means force, or miraculous power. It is the power of Jesus Christ. We’re not pictured here as weak people, but strong, like the Lion of Judah! But only if we hold on to and act just like the Head. (p. 78.)

But this power is only with PCG members if they stay within PCG despite the many problems there and continue to submit to the many demands placed upon them, including paying three tithes and extra offerings.

So why does God not give similar protection to the other COG groups and make it necessary for them to die before they can be saved?

Why do the Laodiceans have to die? Because they’re just not qualified to sit as royalty with Jesus Christ to rule this Earth from headquarters. Christ wants to know that if anybody comes to headquarters with a question, they would get the answer Jesus Christ Himself would give. The Laodiceans are not qualified to do that. They aren’t a loyal and faithful witness to this word. (p. 78.)

This is just confusing jargon. The real reason Flurry demonizes the Laodiceans so insistently is because they do not pay the three tithes and extra offerings to his PCG. Flurry does not control them. Flurry views them as rivals and he is determined to do whatever he can to make sure none of his tithes payers leave PCG for any of them.

Flurry is not thankful that he was lucky enough to build up one of the major splinter groups of HWA's WCG, instead he petulantly demand all of them submit to his authority.

Flurry then talks about how glorious it will be when PCG members are resurrected as immortal God beings.

Here you have these four living creatures and the 24 elders falling down before the Lamb. They are responsible for your prayers. God has specific angels monitoring all of your prayers!

Look at the royal environment in which your prayers are handled. Look at the priority God gives your prayers! You must place the same supreme importance on your prayers! You must remember where they are going. (p. 79.)

And this glory is only available if you stay in PCG despite the many problems there and pay the three tithes to PCG.

Flurry ends this booklet with these words.

Do we see? Do we understand? It’s all there for us. It’s so wonderful that when John saw it, just in a vision, he fainted. This is our future—our transcendent, royal future. No wonder God gives us the job of delivering His message. No wonder we face such obstacles today. God is preparing us, doing everything He can to get His bride ready—because He really does need help dealing with all those billions and billions of people.

Let’s all work together to build that harmony, continually holding to the Head—that powerful Lion of Judah. (p. 80.)

And so this paranoid screed comes to an end.

***

So we have seen Flurry in this booklet

• says Christ is only to be found in PCG. "You can find where Jesus Christ is by finding the only group of people on this Earth who understand Bible prophecy! You can’t separate the two! Where you find one, you find the other." (Chapter 1, p. 5.)

• says that Satan sends in infiltrators into PCG and these must be removed by being cast out of PCG. This refers to and justifies the draconian practice in PCG of shunning ex-members.  

• claims Roderick C. Meredith is pompous for taking some of the glory that rightfully belongs to HWA. So says he who claims to be the "one man" God is working through. (Chapter 7, pp. 72-73.)

• says Mystery of the Ages is the only hope for the world. Not Christ apparently. "But if we do our job, I know what the buzz word will be in the Tribulation—people will be talking about Mystery of the Ages. That book is the hope of this world. There isn’t any other hope." (Chapter 4, p. 37.)

• says PCG is not focused on acquiring property. Very ironic considering how he ordered the construction of Armstrong Auditorium just a few years later. "Our job is not to try to accumulate buildings or land or things; we are not striving to become “rich and increased with goods”—we are to keep the lamp burning! (Chapter 5, p. 51.)

• confuses Mystery of the Ages with the 1986 Worldwide News article that lists the supposed eighteen truths "restored" by HWA. "But Mr. Armstrong said he finished that specific work. He also discusses in his book [Mystery of the Ages] the 18 restored truths, with the first truth on that list being government—the same government that they have rejected." (Chapter 7, p. 74.)

•  says Revelation 10 is all about PCG distributing Mystery of the Ages.

Gerald Flurry is not the "one man" through whom God is working through. That is nonsense. There is no need to go to Flurry's PCG in order to gain God's favor. There is no need to pay three tithes to PCG in order to please God. That is just exploitation. Paying money to PCG only makes them more powerful, it is of no use in getting close to God.