Church of God International (CGI) Toronto, Canada Congregation

The Trinity Doctrine: Is it Biblical?

Church of God International, Toronto — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:28:02 +0000

How did the doctrine of the Trinity come about?

It was formulated several hundred years after the birth of the 1st century church at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and became part of the Nicene Creed. The vast majority of over 2 billion professing Christians around the world today uphold the Trinity as the central doctrine of Christianity. According to Trinitarians, anyone who is wrong on this issue is not a Christian. Yet, the New Catholic Encyclopedia in its article on the Trinity acknowledges that the Trinity is an idea of the Roman Catholic Church and it is not found in the New Testament?

The fact that the Trinity cannot be proven from the scriptures has serious implications for all Protestant churches. You need to know the truth! The formulators of Trinitarianism have stated clearly that the Trinity does NOT have a biblical foundation. Yet Protestants regard the Trinity as a fundamental doctrine. So what must Christians believe? If not the Trinity, what does the Bible teach?

On May 27, the church of God will observe Pentecost: the birthday of the Christian church. It also represents the coming of the Holy Spirit, (the Comforter), as Christ promised in John 15:26. But what is the true meaning of Pentecost? Did you know it is also one of God’s seven annual festivals outlined in Lev. 23? These seven festivals have largely been ignored by Christians today. Here’s an opportunity to learn more about the Trinity, the Holy Spirit and the true meaning of Pentecost.

You are invited to an eye-opening presentation on

Saturday May 26, at 11:15 AM,
at the Trinity Presbyterian Church,
2737 Bayview Avenue, Toronto
(one block south of Hwy. 401 with entrance on Truman Road).

Learn the truth about the Trinity, as Pastor George Ramocan explores the true nature of God and mankind’s ultimate destiny to be born into the family of God, and hear as Pastor Charles Groce expounds the true meaning of Pentecost. Please click here for more details.

We look forward to meeting you and we’re confident you’ll be inspired by these insightful presentations!

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Church of God International, Toronto — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:43:09 +0000

We Are a Kind of Firstfruits?

Church of God International, Toronto — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:52:16 +0000

We have entered into the fourth week of the Feast of Weeks which begins and ends with a firstfruits harvest. Why are there two harvests with the same name, one at the beginning and one at the end of the Feast of Weeks? What do they represent? Is there more God wants us to understand about ourselves and His great plan of salvation through these feasts? You will be amazed to learn about the role of the saints as firstfruits.

In Lev 23:9, God instructed His people Israel to observe the Feast of the Firstfruits. He said to Moses in verse 10, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (11a) He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. … 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God.

Before Israel could eat any of their harvest, they had to give the first reaping (the firstfruits) to God. What was the significance of giving the firstfruits of the harvest to God? Notice, God required the firstfruits (which is the first reaping of the harvest) before the crop could be owned by the people. The people were prohibited to eat any portion of the crop before they handed over the first reaping to God. The firstfruits of the harvest was therefore the purchase price paid by the people to God for the harvest. So that by giving God the first fruits of their harvest Israel could now own the harvest. They could now eat all they wanted because the price was paid.

You know the value of an item can be measured by the price paid for it. Jesus Christ as firstfruits is the price God paid to purchase us. What a value God has placed upon the life of each of us! If only we knew our worth! Jesus said in Mark 8:36-37 36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” The greatest tragedy of human existence is that man has not come to know his worth and his potential. We squander our time our energy and intellect pursuing the material things of this world not realizing that the whole universe combined is not worth a single one of us.

The apostle Paul who caught the vision of this worth God has placed on us said in Phil 3:8 … I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. He says in 1 Cor 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own ; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The Firstfruits Guarantee the Harvest

1 Cor 15: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Rom 11:16 tells us that the harvest attains to the status of the firstfruits “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches” Christ says in John 17:19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Why is There a Second Offering of Firstfruits?

The apostle James says in James 1:18 “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures”.. Why are Christians called “a kind of firstfruits?” To understand this term let us go to Leviticus 23: 15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD.

Notice, this is a second offering of firstfruits. The difference with this second set of firstfruits are:

It is offered fifty days after the first set of fruits
The bread is baked with leaven added
There are two loaves of bread instead of one
The harvest is wheat not barley as is the earlier harvest.

The clear explanation is this: Christians are imperfect firstfruits because we sin even though we strive to live upright Christian lives. We are therefore the firstfruits of an imperfect harvest – the harvest of the people who will come up in the second resurrection in their sins. This contrasts with Christ the firstfruits who was sinless when he was in the flesh. Christ, therefore, could not be the firstfruits of the second harvest because the second harvest is an imperfect harvest. We, on the other hand as imperfect firstfruits, represent the second harvest. At our resurrection, we will attain to the status of Christ. At their resurrection, the rest of humanity will attain to the status we as Christians now have. That is, they will have received their calling. Like us they will have to be taught and learn to live faithful, righteous lives through God’s Spirit. Many will enter into God’s Kingdom while others will refuse to obey God and will be condemned (Matt 25:. 31-35).

As Firstfruits, We Become to the World What Christ is to the Church

James 1:18 “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” The second set of firstfruits guarantees the second harvest of humanity – that is, those who will come up in the second resurrection. What an honour God has bestowed on us! Christ is the firstfruits that guarantees the resurrection of the saints. The saints are the firstfruits that guarantee the resurrection of the rest of humanity.

The Role of the Firstfruits in the Millennium

The firstfruits of God’s harvest, will come up in the first resurrection to reign with Christ on earth as kings and priests so many others can enter God’s Kingdom (Revelation 5:10; 20:6). Jesus promised that “he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26). These nations over which the resurrected saints will rule are nations that are ignorant of God’s truth, and will need to learn the truth about God for the first time. The firstfruits will work with Jesus Christ to bring the nations to God. God is depending on you! The world is depending on you! Let us be faithful to the end!

Lest We Forget

Church of God International, Toronto — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:48:27 +0000

Is It Wrong to Judge Others?

Church of God International, Toronto — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:43:53 +0000

Some people believe that it is wrong to judge whether someone else is a Christian. This belief is based on the view that God alone knows the hearts of people and therefore God alone has the right to judge. Does God empower His people to judge others? Does He empower us to judge whether or not they belong to the truth or to error? The scriptural answer is a resounding YES!

In Matt 24:4-6 Jesus warns against the deception of false teachers and false prophets. He says “Watch out that no one deceives you for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”. How can one guard himself against deception without knowing the difference between what is true and what is false? Judging requires the ability to discern between truth and error.

1 Corinthians 2:15 tells us that the spiritual man makes judgements about all things. In Acts 17:11 the Bereans …examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true and in Rev 2:2 the brethren in the Church of Ephesus tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and found them liars. Here is evidence that the people of God are empowered to judged others to see whether they are in the faith.

Testing the Spirits

In 1 John 4:1-6, The apostle John tells us to test the Spirits to see whether they are of God. Why? Because Jesus warned that many false prophets have gone out into the world. “Test” here means “to prove or examine.” Christians must not only test and examine others they must also test and examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

How does one test the spirits?

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. The spirit of the enemy is the spirit of deception. We test the spirits by the word of God because in John 17:17 Jesus says thy word is truth and 2Tim 3:16-4:5 says “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. The scriptures also test our hearts, minds and conscience. Heb 4:12-13 says For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Mark 12:24-25, Jesus used the scriptures to judge whether the people knew the truth or were in error. He said to them “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

Judge by their Fruit

But there is another means by which God empowers us to judge others. He says in Matt 7:16-20,

“By their fruit you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

Test the lives of those pretending to be sent by God. Are there inconsistencies in their lives? Are their lives in agreement with God’s Word? Are they receiving glory for what they do, or is God receiving glory? Are they relying on God only for direction or are they basing their teachings on writings from men? Are they or their followers putting their word above the Bible?

Remember the devil is a liar and will mix truth with lies. Any inconsistencies like these will reveal to you if they are from God or not. The Spirit of God always speaks in accordance to God’s Word – the Bible. Anyone putting anything above the Bible or anyone degrading the Bible is not from God.

What about Matthew 7:1?

In Matt 7:1, Jesus says, “Do not judge or you will be judged.” To understand this verse, we must also read verses 2 to 5, which show that God is not prohibiting us from judging others. Instead, He is warning us to judge others righteously. Listen to how verses 2-5 bring out this point.

Verse 2 says, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This means if you judge others harshly, you will be judged harshly; but if you judge others righteously, you too will be judged righteously. In verse 3, God illustrates how we must first judge ourselves before judging others.

By judging ourselves, we will see that we too are faulty, and therefore, we will be more compassionate and just in judging others. Here is what He says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye.”

We should only judge others after we have judged ourselves. If we have not judged ourselves, we will not be able to judge others fairly since we will not realize that we are corrupt ourselves.

Verse 5 explains, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” You will only be qualified to righteously judge others after you have judged yourself. This is the point Jesus made in John 7:24 to His critics who were judging Him. He did not tell them it was wrong to judge Him. Instead, He urged them to judge Him righteously: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Let’s heed God’s word and judge ourselves and others with righteous judgment.

Is Your Salvation Secure? Once Saved Always Saved?

Church of God International, Toronto — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:26:55 +0000

What Is An Antichrist?

Church of God International, Toronto — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 11:03:15 +0000

Sabbath Preparation

Church of God International, Toronto — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:18:06 +0000

The quality of an occasion and the success of it, is often determined by the amount of preparation that goes into it. A perfect example would be an athlete with aspirations to win a gold medal at the Olympics. It would be rather obtuse for an athlete to expect to win a competition without having adequate preparations. Such is the case with Christians who aspire to have a productive, spirit-filled Sabbath, by keeping it holy as we have been commanded to (Exodus 20:8).

In the manna narratives of Exodus the Israelites were instructed by God that they must prepare in advance for the Sabbath Day (Ex. 16:4-5, 25-30). They were given a double portion of manna on the sixth day, known as the “Preparation Day” so that they would have enough food for the Sabbath. Of course they were forbidden from doing their regular activities on the Sabbath Day (Deuteronomy 5:12-15), thus the Lord instructed them to prepare in advance for His holy and sanctified day.

Likewise, Sabbath observing Christians today need to take heed and ensure that we also adequately prepare for the Sabbath Day. Because of the fast-paced world that we now live in, I would highly recommend the use of a “Sabbath Preparation Checklist”; a list outlining the tasks that we should complete prior to sunset on a Friday evening. Some of these tasks may include: Ensuring that all the laundry is done, enough gas is in the car, the dishes are washed, you have all the groceries that you need, and of course the preparation of your main Sabbath meal.

We don’t need to wait until Friday to do everything, Sabbath preparation should start early to mid-week. We need to take the Lord’s Sabbath more seriously and part of taking it seriously is the time and effort we take in preparing for it. And not just the physical preparation, but also spiritual. We should have a wind down period before Friday’s sunset, where we are in a place of peace, reflection and prayer leading up to the Sabbath.

We have an instruction from God to prepare for His Sabbath. Part of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy which is the fourth Commandment (Deut. 5:12-15), is properly preparing for it. If we don’t properly prepare for it, it can potentially cause us to do things on the Sabbath day that we ought not to do.

Here’s a question for prayerful consideration: What can I do to better prepare for the Sabbath Day?

The famous Benjamin Franklin once quoted “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” Let us as God’s children, prepare to succeed. Let us be obedient to the fourth Commandment, by keeping the Sabbath Day Holy which starts with the Preparation Day

God Bless you.

The Problem of Sin

Church of God International, Toronto — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:17:34 +0000

Salvation: Faith by Works

Church of God International, Toronto — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:33:25 +0000