TRUTHS LOST IN LAODICEA
I'm not aware of anyone compiling a list of the truths that were lost in the Laodicea era under Herbert Armstrong, so I've made such a list here.
1) At the time that Herbert W Armstrong (HWA) first came into contact with the Church of God (COG) in the 1920's, its general belief was that they had long been in the Laodicea era. However, he refused to accept this and instead proclaimed it to be the Philadelphia era, causing a crucial truth to be lost.
As a result, many of God's people for the best part of a century have been oblivious to the fact that the Laodicea message specifically applies to them. Since HWA's death, subsequent Church leaders, employing a variety of narratives, have continued to deny that the final Church era message applies to their teachings and practices. Consequently, the severe rebuke God is giving them is not being taken to heart. This may well prove to be catastrophic.
2) The Church of God in the Philadelphia era (mid-1400's until mid-1800's) knew that one man government in a Church was one of the major tenets of what was then commonly referred to as "Popery". Herbert Armstrong acknowledged this in the early days of his ministry, but then amazingly had a total change of mind and went on to implement "one man" government in the Church, thereby displacing the true Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, and causing another great truth to be lost.
This autocratic form of government sees the person at the top as the sole conduit of God's teachings to the Church. In previous eras however, it was understood that God works with and teaches Christians on an individual basis, just like human parents do with their children. As any serious student of Scripture knows, God does not filter the teachings of the Bible through one man, or even a group of men at the head of the Church.
On the contrary, in the message to Laodicea, Christ exhorts individuals to go against the flow of the many erroneous teachings of the Churches of God in this final era and be taught by Him directly from the Bible.
3) God's people in the Philadelphia era, though often likely to suffer persecution, were far more dedicated to keeping God's Sabbath day holy than most Church members are today. If we look at the quotes from Henri Misson and George Carlow from the 1600's and 1700's, as shown in the article "THE TRUE CHURCH ERAS", we see at that time a "Nehemiah" level of dedication (Neh 10:28-31; 13:15-22). This is far removed from the casual attitude displayed in our present Laodicea era Churches of God, where the practice of keeping the Sabbath to Biblical standards has been largely abandoned. The example set by HWA of doing business on the Sabbath has been instrumental in this decline.
4) Up until the 19th century, the people of God generally explained prophecy according to the school of interpretation known as Historicism. The departure from this method has been catastrophic for the true Church, leading to the loss of much understanding.
For example, the seven trumpets of Revelation 8 to 11 were understood as seven major events in history, from the first coming of Christ until His return. They were considered to foretell such things as the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem, the fall of pagan Rome, the "Christianisation" of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages and the Crusades. In other words, these prophecies were seen to be a sequence of historical turning points throughout the fifth and sixth millennia, which together with the rest of the Scriptures cover the first 6000 years of God’s dealings with man.
However, from the middle of the 19th century, Seventh Day Adventist leader Ellen G White and subsequently Church of God (Seventh Day) leader Andrew N Dugger, began to derive some of their prophetic interpretations from Futurism, a Jesuit/Catholic school of thought which puts off the fulfilment of the prophecies in the book of Revelation until the very end time.
In the 20th century Herbert Armstrong introduced even more Futurist explanations, and as a result most COG's today teach that the majority of the prophecies in Revelation are yet to be fulfilled. The same treatment is also given to many other Biblical prophecies.
It is a fact that literally hundreds of HWA's prophetic pronouncements throughout his long ministry were erroneous, so it is surprising to say the least that most of his Futurist ideas are still adhered to by the Churches of God, and have never been re-examined.
Sadly, this has led to the fulfilment of Revelation 3:17 which says that the final era of the Church will have become "poor" and "blind".
Consequently, most of the Churches of God are still waiting for the arrival of an Antichrist, a "Great Tribulation", a "ten-toed" European power, Two Witnesses, the battle of Armageddon etc. Additionally, they have fanciful explanations for the prophecies concerning the 1260, 1290, 1335 and 2300 days found in the book of Daniel, mostly pertaining to the times just prior to Christ’s return, when wiser students of Scripture from previous eras could see that these numbers refer not to days, but to years, and therefore concern major long-term events.
This is perfectly logical, as the main purpose of prophecy is to prove the existence and power of God, who alone can fulfil prophecies over long stretches of time. As God Himself states in Isaiah 46:9-10, "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done".
For more information, please read this very enlightening history of the origin of Futurism:
https://www.gospeltruth.net/futurismandthebible.htm
5) The Church of God before Herbert Armstrong's time believed that ministers ought to live a simple and non-extravagant lifestyle. However, this knowledge was totally lost by him in the latter decades of his reign.
When HWA was a Church of God (Seventh Day) minister in his early days in Oregon, he argued against tithes being received centrally at its headquarters in Stanberry, Missouri. Later however, when he was in charge, he implemented the exact opposite.
The dangerous result of this practice is that one person, or a group of people, come to be in control of large amounts of money, and are therefore able to set their own salaries and determine their own expenditure. This has sometimes led to great excesses, including in the case of HWA himself who was likely the highest paid minister of all time in the Church of God.
The practice of receiving tithes centrally is now commonplace in the end-time Churches, and is one of the reasons why so many Churches of God exist. Gaining a portion of the market share of tithes has proved to be a great motivating factor. Well does Scripture prophesy: "they shall with feigned words make merchandise of you" (II Pet 2:3).
In ancient Israel there were 48 Levitical cities (four in each of the twelve tribal allotments) where the priests and Levites lived and received the tithes locally. Churches of many persuasions have historically operated along the same lines as ancient Israel, providing for the needs of congregations locally.
From the last century onwards however, due to technological advancements, the world has witnessed significant numbers of people becoming exorbitantly wealthy through preaching "Christianity" and soliciting money. In many ways their practices and mindset have rubbed off on the Churches of God.
6) In the early years of his ministry HWA correctly taught a 7000 year plan of God, including the physical resurrection of all who have ever lived, during the Millennium. He had learned this in the Church of God (Seventh Day). However, after being challenged on the meaning of Revelation 20:5, he changed his teaching to an illogical 7100 year plan which maintains that all who have ever lived are to be physically resurrected after Christ's millennial rule. Alas, another truth was lost to the Laodicea era.
7) The Church of God in the Philadelphia era had a better understanding of I Corinthians 14 than we mostly do today. They realised that as God works with all His people, different men may "prophesy" (speak by inspiration) in the Church congregations (or publications) and so add to the overall fund of Church knowledge.
8) The Church of God already knew in the time of the book of Acts that physical circumcision was a symbolic rite that has been done away with under the New Covenant and therefore should no longer be practised. Herbert Armstrong strangely recommended physical circumcision to the Church, and consequently some COG brethren still practise it today.
From the above examples we see that significant understanding has been lost in the final era of the Church of God. Although Christ’s warning rings loud and clear throughout Revelation 3:14-22, it has not been heeded by most brethren. The consequences are foretold by Christ in the same passage of Scripture.