Over the years since Mr. Armstrongs death, there has been little new knowledge put into the church. That is because  this church has become the Laodicean Era.

This is now the Laodicean Era, this is the church which will witness the time of Jacobs Trouble and the Day of the Lord. This is the church on whom the ends of the age will come. These are very serious times we live in. At any time the work as we know it could come to an end. We have very little time left to warn the world, and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

This is Gods last era of the church before the time of the end comes. Remember how the church felt when it was  thought the end of the work was coming in 1975 and how the church were all going to flee in 1972. How did the church feel. Everybody was fervent about study and prayer, members were zealous, on fire, because they thought the end was very close. This is  years later, why don't we feel like that now. 
We don't know exactly when Christ will return, but we know it is closer than when we first believed. Why have we just gone off to sleep. 
Why dont we get interested in our calling, are we waiting for world events to wake us up. 
What about the fact that God will close the door on some of His people before the obvious signs of the time of the end come about.

This is made obvious in a number of places in scripture. The 5 virgins, were too late, God said He did not know them. Seek the Lord while He may be found.

This is serious lets look at this warning from Christ:

MATT 24 V 43-44

43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

We do not know when Christ will return. Now lets see the remainder of Matt 24

MATT 24 V 45-46

45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

1972 has come and gone, but that does not mean that Jacobs Trouble and the Day of the Lord will not come. They are still going to come. The scriptures still stand. Now we are getting very close to that time now. There are some very serious things which we need to do before that time comes.

We must get close to God. We must be without spot and blemish, get serious about our calling. Try harder to please God. We must be about our Fathers business forget what this world is offering us in the way of T.V. etc. the world is perrishing...Gods word is forever.

We must believe God, we must be able to stand up and be counted before the terrible events depicted in the pages of scripture, roll on into our lives and catch us unaware.

Brethren this is not some fictitious story, this is fact, these events are going to happen. The world as we know it is going to perish, the greater majority of mankind will perish in Jacobs Trouble and the Day of the Lord. 
Wake up this is real, God wants us to be on His side, He wants us to be in His kingdom. 
DO WE WANT TO BE THERE.

It is not very popular to say we are the Laodicean era of the church, but like it or not that is what we are. We are not concerned with saying smooth things, we are saying Gods words, which are the truth to the last era of Gods church.

Lets look at the description of the Laodicean Church in the Book of Revelation.

REV 3 V 14-15

14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

In the opening verse here we see Christ described, it is interesting to see that the fact that Christ is the beginning of the Creation is addressed in the opening stanza. This brings to mind this wonderful scripture "Christ is the firstborn of creation" This is showing that this era of Gods church, would have this precious knowledge of the Father and the Son restored at this time. How exciting.

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

What a tragedy, this era of Gods church is neither cold nor hot. They are not cold because they still love God. They still do a work, they still keep the Holy Days and the sabbath, but they are not hot, they are not on fire for God. They have gone to sleep. This church has been fast asleep since the death of Mr. Armstrong.

We are too busy sleeping. When we go to church, God is rarely mentioned in our conversations before and after church. How much prayer and study and meditation do we do. When was the last time we had a fast day. How serious do we take our calling. Is God first in our lives, or just shoved in somewhere for appearance sake.

BE CAREFUL GOD SAYS .....I KNOW THY WORKS.

MATT 25 V 1-13

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Notice verse 5, they all slumbered and slept.

This is the end time church, waiting for the return of Christ. They all slept.

1 THES 5 V 7-8

7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation

We are told not to sleep, but be sober.

ROM 13 V 11

1And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Note these points, knowing the time, we must know what time we are at, this is the end time, and note: awake out of sleep

At the time of the end, we must wake up.

To be cold, is to turn away from God completely, this is not the case for some in this era of Gods church, We are still doing a work, we keep the Sabbath, Holy Days. We love God, we are faithfully fulfilling our commission, but some are lukewarm.

MATT 24 V 12

2And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

But the church is not cold, it is lukewarm.

Lets look at what it means to be Hot for God.

MATT 22 V 37

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

To love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, would mean we would have to be Hot. We would want to devote a lot of time in prayer, bible study and meditation, and good works.

ECC 9 V 10

0Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

We must put all our efforts into this precious calling, and do it with all our might.

The Laodician church is not Hot for God.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Christ says He will vomit this era out of His mouth.

We are about to be rejected by Christ.

HOS 4 V 6

6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;

I am rich........

MARK 10 V 24-25

24And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

MATT 6 V 19-21

9Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This scripture is saying to spend our time on the treasures in heaven, not the material things on earth, how can our heart be on the things of our Father, when we have money matters on our minds all the time. Where is our treasure???..

Increased with goods and have need of nothing....

PROV 13 V 7

7There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches

PROV 11 V 28

He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

The Laodicians trust in their wealth and say they dont need anything....but we should know that we need God desperately and riches can disappear very quickly.

And knowest not that thou are wretched and miserable.....

They dont know that they are in this condition. We must be aware of our spiritual condition. If we are not close to God then we will be miserable, if we are close to God we will be happy.

PSALM 16 V 11

1 Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Poor blind and naked.....

LUKE 12 V 20-21

20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

God says we must be rich toward Him, these are the true riches in life, all material things will perish, but riches toward God are eternal. The Laodicians are poor.

MATT 23 V 24-25

24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

These people were only concerned with outside appearances, worrying about small things that mattered not, the big things, and the inner man were left undone. These people were blind...spiritually, so is the Laodician era.

REV 19 V 7-8

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Instead of being naked we must be clothed with the righteousness of the saints. The Laodicians are naked.

18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich,

MAL 3 V 2-3

2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap: 3And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Gold tried in the fire is righteousness And white raiment that thou mayest be clothed...

REV 19 V 8

8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The Laodicians need to be clothed with righteousness, they have not got it, they are not righteous, And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear....

2 COR 5 V 1-4

1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

We need to have the desire to be clothed with eternal life And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see

LUKE 10 V 23-24

23And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Christ wants us to see the spiritual truths which He reveals, and unfortunately the Laodicians cannot see these revealed truths. So they are told to anoint their eyes. God reveals these truths, but we need to ask Him.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent

PROV 13 V 1

1A wise son heareth his fathers instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

We must listen when God rebukes us, it is not easy but leads to our ultimate salvation.

DAN 10 V 12

2Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

This is the attitude we need to be looking for, Daniel chastened himself, and examined himself thoroughly, and God called him much beloved.

God rebukes and chastenes us in the hope that we will repent and be zealous.

TITUS 2 V 14

4Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

We must be zealous, God demands this attitude of us

MATT 3 V 2

2And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

We are in the last days, now is the time to repent before it is too late for us, God wants to see this repentant attitude in us, but soon it will be too late, God will not wait forever for us. These are the last days.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Behold I stand at the door and knock.....

God wants to come in to our lives, He is telling us that He is at our door. He is very close and can be found easily, but sadly most of us are just too busy to open our bibles and invite Him into our lives.

If any man hear my voice...

MARK 4 V 20

20And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Addressing the Laodicians, God says IF any man hear my voice, unfortunately it seems many do not hear, but if they do then they will bring forth fruit. This is what God wants of us, we must hear Him And open the door, I will come in to him...

Once we hear God, we have to do something about it, we must respond, we must open the door and then God will come in to us, open our minds, believe God, open our bibles, listen to God talking to us.

JOHN 14 V 23

23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

God wants to live within us, but He wont force His way in to our lives, He will only come if we want Him we have to show Him we want Him to live in us. We must believe Him, we must act on what we know.

And will sup with him and he with me.....

God wants a friendly relationship He wants to really get to know us, and for us to really get to know Him, this can only happen by way of a lot of time spent in bible study, prayer, meditation and fasting, we need to get really close to God.

This is the main meal that we want to share with Christ, notice the following scripture.

REV 19 V 9

9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

We all want the wedding invitation, but would anyone be invited if Christ doesnt know them? Lets get close to God while there is still time.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Look at the fabulous reward that awaits the ones who overcome, they will sit on thrones, what a great reward of authority. This is certainly worth trying for.

MATT 19 V 28

8And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The disciples were also given thrones, so what a great reward this will be.

He that hath an ear,let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

We must be able to listen to what Christ is telling us, this is said over and over again to us the Laodician Era of Gods Church, so we must heed this warning if we want to obtain the reward Christ is offering to us.

As was stated earlier, this is the Era of Gods church which will witness Jacobs Trouble and the Day of the Lord. Therefore, there is a parable about Jacobs Trouble  which is applicable to the Laodician Era of Gods church, and will apply to us if we do not heed the wanrings given to the Laodician Era by Christ.

MATT 20 1-16

1For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 8So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

In this parable we see people who have been in the church for various amounts of time, some, early in the morning, could mean as long as 60 years, third hour, sixth hour, ninth hour, eleventh hour, this group of people could be new converts or even people who repent during the time of Jacobs Trouble as is pointed out in the following scripture, remember the reward that Christ spoke of in the Parable in Matt 20 was the same for all of them...eternal life....

REV 7 V 9

9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

REV 7 v 13

13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

REV 7 V 14

14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Here we see a great multitude which has repented during Jacobs Trouble. That is why God sends the four judgments, to cause Israel to see their sins and that they must return to God.

The fact that they have repented means that God can now work with them, and He is pleased with their attitude and gives them Eternal Life. They obviously believe God and realize the error of their ways. They obviously wanted eternal life, and asked God to help them, they turned to Him with their whole heart, it took Jacobs Trouble to bring out the attitude in them but they did eventually have that attitude.

The people going through Jacobs Trouble will be some from the Laodician Era some of them are spued out of Gods mouth. They will be forced to go through the four judgments so they can see the error of their ways, they need to believe God. This  is one of their great sins, they will not believe God .

This is shocking truth here in the pages of our blibles, we can be in the church for many many years and because of our attitude toward God, not believing Him or worrying about what men think instead of what God thinks, being lukewarm and generally going to sleep regarding our calling.

If we are guilty of this attitude in our lives, we will actually not be firstruits but be someone who hopefully repents during the time of Jacobs Trouble.

This is a bitter pill to swallow, but notice how the people in Matt 20 v 11 murmered against Christ, they were not a bit happy when they realized they had failed to become a firstfruit. Even though they had been in the church for years and years and the last group of people had only been in the church a short while.

This is difficult to accept and believe, but it is true, lets look at Verse 16, many are called but few are chosen. We have an article entitled Called Chosen and Faithful, which explains this process in great detail.

Many people in Gods church have been called but not chosen.

This is because they fail to believe God, they worry about what the world thinks of them instead of what God thinks of them, they lack courage to step out and look into their bibles and believe God, they are too busy with this world and what it has to offer, they forget about God, He comes a long way down the list of priorities. They are lukewarm and asleep spiritually.

Wake up, God says the Laodician era is lukewarm, we will be spued out of His mouth, if we dont repent and change the course of our lives, if we want to be a firstfruit, we have to believe God, repent and change our lives. We have to follow God where ever He leads or we will go through Jacobs Trouble.

That is what the pages of our bibles tells us what is going to happen, we either ignore it and find out the hard way, or we believe the bible, and what God is telling us and change our ways before it is too late.

These are the facts in our bibles, We are the Laodician Era of the Church. We can be in the church for as long as 60 years, and not be a firstfruit. We can end up with the same reward as someone in the world who repents in Jacobs Trouble. If we do not change our attitude Christ will spue us out of His mouth and we will go through the four judgments to learn what God is trying to tell us right now. It is us that the parables of the 10 virgins and the workers in the field are talking about. Not people who have gone out from our church, not people who have turned their back on God. It is us right now sitting very comfortably in church every week nodding off in church. We just love to sit there and point the finger and say, these things apply to someone else.....no they dont....Wake up...these scriptures are talking about Gods end time people and these warnings regardless of how uncomfortable, no matter how hard the saying, are about us right now. NOT SOMEBODY ELSE....
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THE WARNINGS. 
WE ARE THE LAODICIAN ERA, WE WILL GO THROUGH JACOBS TROUBLE UNLESS WE REPENT AND CHANGE, WE MUST BELIEVE GOD AND THE PAGES OF OUR BIBLES.