"WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT": The Years That Changed The World

In the 101 years of the Church Of Christ’s history, two particular years stand out:  1914 and 1968.  The first marks its emergence in the Philippines while the latter the inception of its evangelism in other countries, with the Church’s initial gatherings for worship taking place in Hawaii and California.  

It is not only for members of the Church Of Christ, however, that these two years are significant.  A quick survey of an online book store reveals the following titles about the year 1914:  “The Month That Changed the World:  July 1914”; “1914: The Year the World Ended”; and “1914, A World at Crisis”.  

For 1968, the following can be found:  “1968:  The Year That Rocked the World”; “Time 1968: War Abroad, Riots at Home, Fallen Leaders and Lunar Dreams – The Year that Changed the World”; and “1968:  The World Transformed”.   

 Two years stand out in the history of the Church Of Christ that stand out also in world history—two different years in one century that did indeed change the world.  Is this just a coincidence?  What does God want people to know when it comes to the Church Of Christ?  

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PLANNED BY GOD

The apostles proclaimed that God has a plan “when the time is right, … to bring all creation together,… with Christ as head” (Eph 1:9-10, GNT).  Apostle Paul wrote, in the same letter to the Ephesian Christians, that there is one Church that is the body of Christ and therefore has Christ as its head and Savior (Eph. 5:23, Ibid.).  

To be in this one Church is to follow God’s “master plan of salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:21, TLB).  This one Church that has God’s blessings and His promise of salvation is known in the Bible by a particular name, the Church Of Christ:  

“The common object of their labor was to bring the Christians maturity, to prepare them for Christian service and the building up of the Church of Christ” (Eph. 4:12, Norlie’s).

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THE RIGHT PLACES

Identifying the one true Church Of Christ, however, is not by name alone.  As apostle Paul declared, God will complete His master plan of salvation concerning the Church Of Christ “when the time is right” so that all people may know that this is His work.

The prophet Isaiah also spoke of things that God will do that He wants all people to know are the work of His hand:  

“So that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it” (Is. 41:20, NIV).

Among the things that the prophet Isaiah foretold that God would do is the prophetic declaration recorded in Isaiah 43:5:  

“Do not be afraid — I am with you!  From the distant east and the farthest west I will bring your people home.” (Isa 43:5, TEV).  

In the penultimate chapter of the book of Isaiah, the prophet foretells the true home of God’s people, the New Jerusalem, where they can rejoice forever (Isa. 65:17-24).  In other words, the prophecy in Isaiah 43:5 foretells the people to whom God has promised salvation, the people whom God planned to be in the one true Church Of Christ.

In Isaiah 43:5, the Hebrew word translated as "distant east" is "mizrach," according to "Smith's Bible Dictionary" (p. 154). Hence, the translation done by biblical scholar James Moffatt:  

“From the far east will I bring your offspring, and from the far west I will gather you” (Isa. 43:5, Moffatt).   

 The Church Of Christ that began through the preaching of Brother Felix Manalo started in the Far East since the Philippines is “almost at the geographical center of the Far East”(Asia and the Philippines, p. 169).   

This Church also has, in its history, a significant historical connection to the Far West.  According to the “The World Alamanac And Book Of Facts 1976”, two of the states found in the geographical region known as the Far West are Hawaii and California (p. 88).  From late July to early August of 1968, the first gatherings of the Church outside the Philippines took place when the second Executive Minister of the Church, Brother Eraño Manalo, led the worship services in Hawaii and California.   

That the Church has spread now all over the world should surprise no one since the Lord Jesus Himself foretold that God’s message preached by His Church would reach countries around the world:  

“All during this time, the good news — the Message of the kingdom — will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come” (Matt 24:14, The Message).  

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THE RIGHT TIME: 1914

Of particular note are the Lord Jesus’ words “All during this time,… And then the end will come.”  The mission of the Church would take place during a prophesied time when the world’s end is about to come.  After prophesying about the “far east” in Isaiah 43:5, the prophet Isaiah called that period of time “the ends of the earth” in verse 6.  

When the disciples of our Lord Jesus asked Him when that time period would be, He spoke of destructive global events that include wars, famines, and earthquakes (Mt. 24:3,6-8).  While the Church Of Christ has been preaching for the past century that this period of time began with the onset of the First World War on July 27, 1914—the same day the Church Of Christ was registered in the Philippines—recently other biblical scholars have come to the same unavoidable conclusion:  

 “Jesus now tells His followers how they could discern when the world was actually entering into the beginning of the birth pangs ... The approach of the end of the age would see several phenomena on the earth occurring at the same time. Those phenomena, would be: 1. Many nations rising up against many other nations 2. Kingdoms rising against kingdoms 3. Famines 4. Disease epidemics 5. Earthquakes in various places. In Mark 13 the word troubles is used by our Lord instead of disease epidemics … Wars between nations, or even between kingdoms, is and has been a common occurrence. History has recorded famines at various times. There have been times of great disease epidemics. There have been earthquakes in the past, but increasingly so in the present day. Jesus tells His disciples, however, to be awaiting a specific time during which all of these phenomena would be in evidence at the same time. The first such time in world history occurred during the years of World War I (1914) …” (Matt. 24:6-8 footnote, Last Days Bible)

Significant events in the Church Of Christ’s history and earth-shaking events in world history have taken place at the same time—as have times of terrible calamity and confusion and the ascendance of the Church.  The reason for this is simple:  the Lord God Himself wants to show through prophecy that, as the world spirals towards its foretold destruction, this one Church that is the work of His hands soars towards His promised salvation:

“Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, Disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one… Yes, from the east God's glory will ascend. Every island of the sea Will broadcast God's fame, the fame of the God of Israel” (Isa 24:5-6 & 15 The Message).