We are also in the time of JESUS' prophecy: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, SAYING I (Jesus) am Christ; and shall deceive many. ... But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. ... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:4-5, 13-14, 24).

Also it seems highly possible we are entering the very beginning of John's prophecy of Revelation 12: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon (Satan); and the dragon fought and his angels (demons), and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: ... Woe to the inhabiters of the earth...for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman (Church)..." (Rev. 12:7-13).

Also, just as the Apostle Paul foretold, speaking at Miletus to the elders (ministers) of the Church at Ephesus, "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, also of your own selves (ministers in God's Church), shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). This happened then. It has happened NOW!

Many times I have told you, dear Brethren, that when God first called me, beginning in the autumn of 1926, that the living Christ brought me into His truth a step at a time. YOU have not had to learn the truth so slowly -- Christ used me to do it for you. And one of the very last truths He opened to me was that of CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT! There was a reason for this.

For some years I worked in cooperation with the Church of God we have come to regard as the "Sardis era" (Rev. 3:1-5). When I first came in contact with them, starting 1926-27, their headquarters was at Stanberry, Missouri. They operated under a General Conference type of organization. Early in my acquaintance with them, their head man had refused to correct admitted error, or to accept an important and admitted truth. Partly for this reason I never joined them -- never became one of their members. I had learned in my earliest study of the Bible that GOD'S Church would be keeping the Commandments, including the Sabbath, would be kept in the name of GOD, and have Biblical TRUTH. Several religious organizations had the name Church of GOD. But this seemed to be the only one keeping the Sabbath. While they certainly did not have all Biblical truth, they did, beyond question, have more than any church I knew, and less error. So I did continue to fellowship with them. I finally preached my first sermon, probably midsummer, 1928, in an old former country store building at Dever, near Jefferson, in Oregon.

In the autumn of 1930 -- probably late autumn -- the members in the Willamette Valley of Oregon split, and one group incorporated as the "Oregon Conference of The Church of God." I was ordained by this Conference in June, 1931. I was employed by them as a minister, holding six-nights-a-week evangelistic meetings on a salary of $20 per week. But the salary was dropped at the end of November, when their treasury went dry. This was in the depth of the Great Depression. In February, 1933, there was enough money in their treasury to pay me $3 per week, with farmer members supplying vegetables, etc.