God’s Church Through the Ages
Dr. Douglas Winnail guided us this past Thursday through the proofs of God’s existence and the hardship God’s Church has faced since Christ’s death. He began by explaining what the Greek root word for church means. The Greek word is “Ecclesia,” meaning an assembly of people, a called-out group. It is not a physical building but a spiritual collection of God’s remnant, His people. Dr. Winnail showed us how to trace the true church through the name provided in the New Testament. He turned to 1 Corinthians 1:2, Acts 20:28, and Galatians 1:13, which all have this phrase in common; “the Church of God.” Connecting these dots and realizing that God’s true church is called the Church of God is not complicated.
Dr. Winnail then detailed several doctrines that define the Church of God. Mark 1:14-15 says they, God’s early church, preached the good news of God’s coming kingdom. John 14:15 discusses keeping the commandments, and Acts 17:2 clearly shows that the apostle Paul kept the Sabbath day!
What happened to the New Testament church?
Dr. Winnail explained the timeframe of the seven church eras found in Revelations 2 and 3.
- Ephesus 1st century-135 AD
- Smyrna 135-325 AD
- Pergamos 325-1100 AD
- Thyatira 1100-1500 AD
- Sardis 1500-1930 AD
- Philadelphia 1930-1990 AD
- Leodecian 1990-present
He explained events and characteristics from each era. We were eager to receive this since we were just at the Waldensian Trail of Faith learning more about the Thyatira era of God’s church.
Mission for today
Dr. Winnail closed out his forum by reminding us all, with scriptural evidence, what we are to be doing. From Ephesians 5:15, he emphasized that we need to make sure that we make the most of the time that we have, and from 1 Peter 3:18, he said that we need to be continuously learning and growing. Finally, Revelation 5:10 shows we must prepare to rule at God’s side in his soon-coming kingdom. We are grateful for the history Dr. Winnail provided us with, realizing how important it is for us not to become part of the Laodicean Era. We may be living in it, but we must strive to be Philadelphian spiritually!
