Audio Version

I first heard of Charles Taze Russell and his book, Millennial Dawn in December of 2024, and have been studying his writings ever since. What I am discovering is a connection to the knowledge I received; the teachings of two revelations, which will expose the error that Russell carried over from the Church, and stand witness to the truth, bringing divine revelation to what Russell deduced through reason.  As he said, “the truth is progressive, shining more into the perfect day.” He understood that “a direct revelation of the plans and purposes of God,” was necessary, because without it, “men could only approximate the truth, and arrive at indefinite conclusions.” Through these two end-time revelations, the “perfection of knowledge” that Russell speaks of, is attained, which would start with identifying the error or sin of the Church— the purpose of the first revelation (1960-1974). 

Russell understood that the Christian religions of his time were in error, the first revelation serving to expose the error in the doctrines of these religions, which were founded upon the teachings of Paul, not upon the teachings of Jesus. Pastor Russell may have left the building by leaving the Church, but he would take one “soul-destroying” belief with him.  Russell was attempting to build spiritual truth on a carnal foundation, which Paul laid through his carnal-minded teachings. “Paul was a liar”— a teaching of the first revelation. And what he lied about was our salvation. The physical death or blood of Jesus does not atone for our sins, as Paul teaches. That is carnal thinking, which is “enmity against God.”  What atones for our sins or iniquities is the spiritual death or blood of our spiritual beast of false beliefs— the error or sin responsible for the death of truth that has taken place in our heart. Our beast of false beliefs is consumed through the fire of a spiritual judgment (Matthew 19:28), which the followers of Jesus’ teachings will execute upon themselves— teachings of the second revelation.  

Paul perverted religious law when it came to blood sacrifice, replacing the beast with a human. When the children of Israel broke God’s spiritual law by worshipping the beast, they placed themselves under the carnal law, under which they were to sacrifice a carnal beast until they fulfilled the carnal law by sacrificing their spiritual beast. It’s beast for beast, not human for beast! Paul not only perverted religious law when it came to blood sacrifice. He supported it through his mistranslation of one word.  The word “for” in “Jesus died for our sins” does not mean “in place of,” as Paul’s doctrine would have us believe. It means, “because of.”  

“He was bruised for our iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus, the seed or word of God made flesh, died because of man’s sins, not in place of them, not to absolve them.  Russell concluded that the “coats of skins” given to Adam and Eve represent the covering of our sins through the blood of Jesus. But if the premise is in error, which it is, so too will be the conclusion. What covers or pays for our sins is not the physical blood or death of the physical Jesus, but the spiritual blood or death of the false religious and personal beliefs that crucified the spiritual Jesus— crucifying the truth that wants to live in our heart, through which we acquired a spiritual debt. Jesus did not pay our debt by dying on the cross, which is what Paul would have us believe. We pay our own debt by doing the works, following Jesus, who instructs us to “believe the works” (John 10:38), the word “believe” meaning “to obey, put action to.”  The works are synonymous with the judgment, through which we overcome our word of false beliefs, our spiritual debt paid in full through the blood or death of our beast of false beliefs. 

The “coats of skins” given to Adam and Eve were not animal skins, as the Church teaches, but flesh bodies— a teaching of the first revelation. Notice it says that God gave them coats of skins and clothed them (Genesis 3:21)— two separate things.  When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s word by believing the word of the serpent, which they demonstrated by acting on it, flesh was added. They were ashamed, and so they hid themselves.  “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Genesis 3:11).  As God’s word of truth was made flesh, so too is man’s word of error made flesh— a spiritual or invisible flesh formed inside of our physical flesh, which can only be removed through a spiritual circumcision— circumcision of the heart, which the prophet Jeremiah spoke of (4:4), and which Paul plagiarized, failing to credit the source of such a profound spiritual concept— a concept Paul did not understand. Spiritual circumcision (the removal of our internal flesh) is the result of the spiritual judgment— a spiritual fire that consumes the flesh, which if not removed, will cause us to see ourselves as naked in the spiritual realm. “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:18). The gold symbolizes purity, the result of the judgment.   

According to Russell, and I quote: “Paul had more abundant revelations than any other apostle. These revelations he was not allowed to make known to the Church, nor fully and plainly even to the other apostles.” The problem is, he is using Paul’s own words to support his conclusions, which will not stand up in a court of law. Russell goes on to say that Paul’s visions and revelations were “a value to the entire church.”  Then we have Peter, the rock upon which Jesus said he would build his church (which is spiritual) who writes in his letter to Clement, that Paul is the source of the error in the early Church, and that his visions deluded him. The Church was founded upon the teachings of Paul, so you can see why the Church needed to hide these records. Fortunately, for the people of religion, the truth about Paul would come to light with the unearthing of “The Dead Sea Scrolls” between 1946 and 1956, it’s contents not widely known until the first documentary came out in the mid to late nineties. In that first documentary they said they found written, “Paul the Liar,” which was left out of subsequent documentaries. I did a deep dive into the scrolls years later. That is when I learned about the letter Peter wrote to Clement, and about this person referred to as “the Spouter of Lies,” who is described as a madman who attacks “James the Righteous” while he is teaching in the temple.  In the “Homilies and Recognitions of Clement” is written, “Therefore, above all, remember to shun any apostle, teacher or prophet who does not accurately compare his teachings with James…the brother of our Lord…and this, even if he comes to you with recommendations…” And when it comes to our salvation, the teachings of Paul do not agree with the teachings of James. Paul’s salvation without works compared to James’ salvation through works. Is it reasonable to think that Jesus would choose Paul to carry on his spiritual teachings? A man who teaches salvation through carnal blood, and who claims that the saved will be lifted up to meet Jesus in the literal air.  And then, not allow those spiritual teachings to be shared with the Church, or with the Apostles that Jesus himself chose?  Paul was chosen Apostle to the Gentiles for a reason. The date that Pastor Russell predicted for “the end of the Gentile times” (Luke 21:24) was October 1914.

What took place in October of 1914 was the birth of Gilbert Loman Stiles, a man of no religion, and very little knowledge of the Bible, having no “veil of religious iniquity” to distort the knowledge of a 14-year-long revelation, which he began receiving in 1960, at the age of 46 (a temple measure). That same year he had a vision of a church, where he was instructed to go and be baptized. It was a Pentecostal Church, the last of the three Gentile nations, to which the true baptism was revealed. What happened to him that night, which Stiles referred to as “getting the seed,” had the elders asking him to come back and speak from the pulpit. But what he taught did not match their religious image, so he and his teachings were quickly rejected. 

The Church, founded upon Paul’s doctrine, teaches that one receives the Holy Spirit after one is baptized, which Pentecostals refer to as “getting the Holy Ghost.” This was the great lie that Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, spread when he was in Ephesus, perverting the words of Peter in Acts 2:38, which has prevented Christians from obtaining true salvation. It is not the Holy Spirit ones receives following baptism, but the “gift” of the holy Spirit, which is right in the plain text, yet required revelation to see.  Mr. Stiles illustrated it this way. There’s a knock at the door. You open the door. A man hands you a gift. The man is not the gift. The man delivers the gift. The holy Spirit is not the gift. The holy Spirit delivers the gift.  The Gentiles, according to Russell, are “the nations of the earth in general.” The Gentiles, according to the revelation, are those that follow the three main Christian religions: Catholic, Trinity, and Pentecost, all founded upon the teachings of Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles. These three religious nations make up the Gentile Israel and Judah, which the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah pertain to. Russell takes us to the words of Peter, who takes us to what the Prophets were told, which was that the prophecies were not for them, but for those of the “Christian Age,” as Russell refers to it. That is because the prophecies reprove the doctrines of the Christian Church.  Isaiah speaks to the absurd Christian notion of being born again. And according to Jeremiah, Christians will come to know that they are not saved. Born again and saved— two very destructive beliefs that spread like wild-fire well after Russell’s time here on earth.  The Gentile Israel is Catholic and Trinity (Moab and Ammon), the doctrines of which Russell rejected, except when it came to sacrifice for sin. The Gentile Judah is Pentecost (Edom), which Russell may not have been familiar with, seeing as the United Pentecostal Church only became organized in 1905. They were given 70 years to make reconciliation for their iniquity, which the 70 weeks in the book of Daniel represent. Paul was Apostle to the Gentiles. The word “Paul” means “to come to an end.” The Gentile times did not come to an end until the three main Christian religions preaching Paul’s doctrine were cut off, which took place in 1975. 

That is when a very small group of people were gathered together, seemingly overnight, myself included. We spent the next nineteen years taking in the teachings of the fourteen year-long-revelation, which we called “Bible Study,” much like the “Bible Students” that were drawn to Russell’s teachings. Another thing we had in common was the Greek Diaglott, a must-have for the serious truth seeker.  It was in 1975 that Mr. Stiles heard the word “Ichabod,” repeatedly. Not sure how to spell what he was hearing, he searched Strong’s Concordance of the Bible, and found it. After reading the story in which the word appeared, he told us that Israel and Judah of the Gentiles were cut off.  The time of the Gentiles would come to an end, just 61 years later than Russell had predicted. God had a relationship with Israel, Judah, and Zion. The power that departed from Israel and Judah in 1975 moved on to a new people, which explains why Mr. Stiles referred to us (on a couple occasions) as “the daughters of Zion.” The word “daughter” means “to build upon the family name.” The NAME is extremely important, as Russell attests to, bringing our attention to the name “JEHOVAH.”  The NAME is our salvation. We are to be immersed in it.   

Before the teacher passed away in 1994, he told us not to limit ourselves to what he taught us. There was a deeper level that we were to tread out, which brings to mind the words of Russell, who said, “the truth is progressive, shining more into the perfect day.” But after the teacher’s passing, our little group began to look more and more like religion— a stagnation that after two and a half years left me with no choice but to move on from the people with whom I had spent half my life. To quote Russell, “we must walk in the light, continue to make progress, else the light, which does not stop, will pass on and leave us in darkness.” And once I left, they would have nothing to do with me— a religious response generated by fear, which was quite painful, bringing to mind the words of the prophet Zechariah”— “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (13:6). What followed, in the spring of 1997, was what I can only describe as a tearing down process, through which the error added to the foundational teachings was made clear to me.  With the foundation restored, it was time to obey the teacher’s final instruction, which I had completely forgotten about until it was brought to my mind in the fall of 1998. What was this deeper knowledge, and how does one go about treading it out? I had no clue, so I called upon the Lord, and what I received over the next seven years was revelation of the symbolic code of the Bible, which was needed to spiritualize the teachings of the first revelation.

The spiritual truth of God’s Word is revealed to us through an understanding of its symbolism. It is why Jesus, the orator of spiritual truth, spoke in parables— a language that only those whose motivations were pure understood. When Russell speaks of “the perfection of knowledge,” he is speaking of the spiritual knowledge that those of religion, who identify as God’s people, lack, as we learn through the prophet Hosea— “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (4:6). The destruction is spiritual, on a soul-level, as the healing or salvation of our soul requires us to follow the spiritual instruction of God’s Word, which is why we have been given revelation of the symbolic code. Case in point: Jesus instructs the hypocrites of religion to clean the inside of the cup and the platter so the outside of them becomes clean. The inside of the cup symbolizes the thoughts of the mind. The inside of the platter symbolizes the emotions of the heart. The soul, by definition, is the vital principle in man credited to the faculty of thought, emotion, and action. When our thoughts and emotions are made pure through the conception of truth, so too will be the actions of our body, requiring no external law to govern them. Righteousness, doing the right thing, becomes a law unto itself. The second revelation arrived in the dawn of the new millennium, marking the beginning of the 7th day; the beginning of the seventh-thousandth year since the fall in the garden, symbolizing the spiritual decline of mankind. The word “seven” means “to be complete,” the definition of “perfect.” The 7th day is the “perfect day,” the new millennium coinciding with the thousand-year-reign of Christ.  Pastor Russell was correct!

The Watch Tower Society predicted 1975 as a possible year for the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign, but it would take 40 years (1960-2000) for the  knowledge of the first revelation to the reach the perfection associated with the “Millennial Age,” which we find in the story of Elijah and the juniper tree. He arose and went in the strength of that meat for forty days and forty nights— meat that is given to the faithful and wise servant “in due season” (Matthew 24:45). Russell teaches that the return of Christ is invisible.  We have Jesus’ own words standing witness to this truth— “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not” (Matthew 24:23).  Why not believe it? Because christ is not a person, christ is a healing power that is activated in a person— in the faithful and wise servant. Up until such time, we are considered antichrist, working against this power. How do we activate this healing power of the heart? By following the instruction of Moses, which was given to the children of Israel, chosen out of all the nations of the world to represent us the people— “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…” (Exodus 14:13), the word “still” meaning “be silent, quiet self.”  It is in quieting the mind that we activate the power of the heart, through which we see our salvation— a process that unfolds through our sincere desire to be healed on a soul-level.  “And when he had opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour” (Revelation 8:1). There was silence in heaven when the seventh seal was opened because silence in the mind opens the seventh chakra, connecting us to the divine power, through which we experience true enlightenment through the conception of truth— the return of the spiritual Jesus to that spiritual earth called the heart.  Whether we speak the language of the east or the language of the Sacred Text of the west, the instruction is the same.

Jesus instructs his followers to judge the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). The number 12 represents judgment. Judging the 12 tribes of Israel formulates to 12 x 12, which equals 144. This is not a literal number, but a spiritual measure— “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel” (Revelation 21:17). One enters the 1,000 year reign of Christ (not to be taken literally) through the judgment that equates to the measure of 144; when that which constitutes the Christ (Love and truth) rules our mind and heart, which adds up to 144,000. Russell is correct in equating the “little flock” with the 144,000 “who are exalted to a spiritual nature,” to quote Russell. Yes, they are exalted to a “spiritual nature” through the spiritual measure they reached by judging the 12 tribes of Israel, which are the 12 sons of Jacob (Genesis 49:28). “We must travel from Reu to Ben; from Reuben to Benjamin”— an instruction that came by revelation to Mr. Stiles. Reuben means see ye a son. Benjamin means a son of the right hand, the right hand symbolizing power. It is through the completion of the salvation or healing process (encoded in the 49th chapter of Genesis) that one becomes a son of God.  This is what Pastor Russell is unknowingly referring to by “THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD.”  

This instruction to travel through the 12 sons of Jacob is the same as Jesus’ instruction to judge the 12 tribes of Israel, which is to overcome the unholy spirits working in our mind and heart— the reason for the second revelation and a second book. Russell refers to the “little flock” as the “body of Christ” or the “body of The Seed,” to whom God is pleased to give the kingdom (Luke 12:32).  In 1977, our small group took a road trip to Independence, West Virginia, Gilbert’s hometown, less than two hours south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Charles’ hometown, which I find very interesting. On 7-7-77 Gilbert had a vision of God’s Kingdom— ” It is made up of 7 levels, the kingdom being the 8th, at the top. The land at the top is very flat—7 rings around the mount. As you go up, each one is smaller and higher than the last. The city is the smallest, which rests on the flat land at the very top (Benjamin’s inheritance was the smallest, but the richest)… The new Jerusalem will come down and set itself on the very top of the mount. All life comes from the kingdom—all healing power, all foods, and all drinks… Jerusalem is Joseph and Benjamin. People that come out of the tribulation are right outside Joseph…The city is sitting on twelve columns. The separation on the mount is the separation between carnal and spiritual. They’ll never see the glory of the city…”  

Within God’s Kingdom is the kingdom of heaven (the seven levels) and the kingdom of God (the eighth level). Christians want to go to heaven, and they will, where they will experience the judgment. The eighth is reserved for those that have gone through the judgment on this side. Spiritually speaking, the kingdom of heaven symbolizes the realm of the mind and the kingdom of God symbolizes the realm of the Heart. It is the latter that Jesus advocated for (Luke 17:21).  To enter the kingdom of God without (in the spiritual realm) one must first enter it within (in the physical realm).  In 1980, Gilbert moved back to West Virginia, his little flock following. Then one night, he spoke about the Kingdom, which he never did, even after receiving the vision. He said that those in the city were pure spirit. To appear to those on the lower levels (which I now understand to be in varying degrees of spiritual flesh) the pure spirit would pass through the wall around the city, taking on a body, which supports Russell’s reasoning that the “little flock,” the 144,00, make up the “body of Christ” or “body of The Seed.”  The wall measures 144 cubits (Revelation 21:17), “the measure of a man,” which one reaches by judging the 12 tribes of Israel, symbolized by the “twelve columns” in the vision. Mr. Stiles also taught on the difference between the “bride” and the “wife.”  The bride has the name. The wife has the seed. Maybe the bride becomes the wife when those of pure spirit (those truly born of the spirit or born again) pass through the wall—“Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). These are the things that those that are found worthy will come to understand. And according to the teachings of Mr. Stiles, as our understanding is opened up on this side, the understanding of those who have passed on and are worthy, is opened up. Let us remember the teachings of Pastor Russell— “the truth is progressive, shinning more into the perfect day.”  

The creation of heaven and earth took 6 days (not to be taken literally). A day is 24 hours.  6 x 24 equals 144. It is through the judgment that we form “a new heaven and a new earth,” symbolizing “a new mind and a new heart,” our first heaven and earth (formed through false perceptions and beliefs) passing away (Revelation 21:1). All that took place physically in the previous era of Isaac (baptism, anointing, fasting, healing, speaking in tongues, casting out devils, etc.) are now, in what is the final era, to take place spiritually. Any physical demonstrations of these are associated with the negative aspect of the era of Isaac, which is mockery.  If there is no more physical baptism, what happens to the name in which we are to be baptized?  The name of the father is carried on through the son. God the Father has been called by different names throughout the ages, which was appropriate in the “era of Abraham” and in the “era of Issac.” But we are in the spiritual “era of Jacob,” in which we are to be spiritually immersed in the spiritual NAME of the Father, which is TRUTH, carried on through the Son—“And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). The WORD of God is TRUTH.  We are to be immersed in truth. It is God’s word of truth that saves us from our word of error.  

Russell reasoned that Abraham’s sacrificing of his son Isaac was proof that the sacrificing of Jesus to cover the sins of the people was God’s will, part of God’s plan.  But there’s a problem. God did not accept Abraham’s son as sacrifice. It was the ram that God accepted as sacrifice. The ram symbolizes idolatry— the worshipping of false images. It is the false perceptions and beliefs that formed our first heaven and earth that we are to sacrifice, not the truth.  It was Paul who taught that the Son of God was an acceptable sacrifice for sin, that Jesus carried the burden of our sins by dying on the cross. Let’s hear what the prophet Jeremiah has to say about it—  “And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord.  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken? And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God” (23:33-36). Truth carries no burden. It makes us free. Jesus carried the cross to illustrate how man’s word of error weighs heavily upon the word of truth that wants to live in our heart!

To quote Russell, “For God has evidently designed the permission of evil for six thousand years, as well as that the cleansing and restitution of all shall be accomplished during the seventh thousand.” But there’s a problem with this assumption.  It is not God that is permitting the evil, as we learn through the prophet Isaiah— “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (45:7). God created evil, which is the idea of evil, just as God created the idea of the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Nothing has been made or formed yet, as we see in the next verse. It is man that has formed the evil within himself, permitting the evil over the past six thousand years through disobedience to God’s word.  In creating evil, man was given the ability to take in two opposing thoughts and the freedom to choose between them, which is why God, knowing the outcome, but desiring to give them freewill, told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was in the midst of the garden. They have already eaten of the good, having a positive experience. But to eat of the good and the evil is to have the knowledge of both, to experience the negative consequence of accepting the evil, the word serpent meaning to learn by experience. The “thorns and thistles” that grew in the garden after they listened to the lie symbolize the pain and aggravation we bring into our life because we mistook lies for truth, as we learn through the prophet Isaiah— “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness…” (5:20). We have all called evil good, putting darkness for light by mistaking lies for truth, causing us to make wrong decisions throughout our life, which brought woe, meaning misery, grief— the result of our first creation.

What is to take place in this seventh thousandth year, which began with the new millennium, is a new creation— “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”  

This is “THE GROANING CREATION” of which Russell spoke. 

Written by Sandra L. Butler © 2025