CONCISE HISTORY OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH

Part 8

The English Apostles kept maintaining their standpoint re not filling up the Apostalate, in spite of the fact that their number became always smaller. In 1865 died Francis Sitwell, the Apostle for Spain and Portugal; in the same year John Henry King-Church---(the Apostle for the Netherlands and Denmark)--- was taken away by the death. In 1871 the Apostle for France--(Dallon)--died, Unexpectedly passed away on July 18, 1877 the Pilar-Apostle John Cardale who had commemorated four days before in London in the assembly of the seven parishes in London the solemn sending out of the twelve Apostles in 1836 and at the end of the service had to leave the church ill. He reached the age of 75 years. Two years later,l879,died,78 years old the Apostle for Ireland,Greece and the churches of the Orient,Nicholas Armstrong,who already for many years was unable to do service anymore.As such there only remained one Apostle of the twelve,Apostle Woodhouse.

In a council meeting which was held in the winter after the decease of apostle Armstrong, Mr.Woodhouse spoke about the situation of the Apostolic work.During that occasion a remarkable prophecy came which said that because Jesus is unalterable,no modification in the direction and ordination of His house can take place up to the moment that He would have taken to Him the last of His servants.

How dreadful is it that this word could not be understood, because the human view with regard to the non-replacement of the Apostle now just darkened the sight. This word of the prophecy of course said that the original standpoint that the Church of Christ had to be guided and organized never different than is the correct one in the beginning, in the time of Peter and Paul, for where the head Jesus did not aller, also His body, the Parish, ought to be allered; the starting point of the Testimony and so many other writings. How must also indicate the slowly dying away of many ministers that people had sentenced the Church to death by the human point of view.

Till 1891 Apostle Woodhouse still executed all his official activities, but then he had to hand over a part to the Coadjutors.His strengths declined and that pointed out the possibility which at last probability, finally became certainty that Mr.Woodhouse would die before the return of the Lord.

In this the Apostles Schwartz, Menkhoff and Krebs found in 1884 reason to press Mr.Woodhouse for coming to reunion.They did not receive a reply, not anymore than Apostle Schwartz received reply to his letter of May 2nd, l887 to Apostle Woodhouse in which he acknowledged that he should never have accepted Rosachaski as his Apostle.

Mind you,he does not say that the calling of Rosachaski was false,but only that he should never have placed himself under him,because he writes literally to Apostle Woodhouse: "Have I acted wise and with sense? I answer no.! Yes,if I had had then my spiritual well-being kept in mind,then I would have said to Geyer and Rosachaski:I have an Apostle-- (Woodhouse)--and do not need a seeond one.Just you go to Russia where your field of activity has been shown by Geyers prophecy". "But alas, I lived in the prophecies and I was too simple in the faith". Somewhat further he continues: "The schism was necessary, even decided by God". Then Schwartz informs something about the blessing which he and his co-Apostles saw on their labour, in preaching, in signs and wonders, in prophecy as fruit of the laying on hands by them and finalises than his letter as follows: "Treat this letter like you wish. The responsibility is yours and not mine. My writing is not for the purpose that I wished to return as Assistant-Angel, however, only to place the matter of the schism, as well as so much wrong that has taken place from both sides, in the true light. We are not children anymore, but became old and grey. I am over 72 years and you are even older. By acting as such I kept myself obliged to the end of all things. Your still always loving and honouring (was signed F.W, Schwartz. "

Nothing might avail.Finally after 1896,Apostle Woodhouse was entirely unable to do any service.He passed away on February 3rd,1901 in the old age of nearly 96 years.

"With that the Apostolic work of the last days in the mortal flesh has strictly speaking come to an end",says Ludwig Albrecht in his mentioned sermon.We notice from this pronouncement,however the terrifying fact of the death of the last English Apostle has still not opened the eyes,and it is now tried to satisfy the followers with all kinds of excuses.A nice excuse was for many years the misused scriptural passage from the Revelation of John where he speaks about a silence in heaven for about half an hour--Revel.8:1--.

However the calculation failed.The time set was over and the Lord had not come,and had also not brought relief.A large demolition could,however, be observed,because the death took away and takes away inexorably one servant after the other.The last years of life of Apostle Woodhouse the sealing was consecrated by the two Coadjutors,Capadose and Dr.Heath.But these were only allowed to do this,as long as they replaced a living Apostle so that after 1901 no sealing took place anymore.

Because only adult persons were sealed,the youngest sealed are already more than 50 years old. Likewise no priest have been called anymore, and the youngest of them are also already above 50 years. Most of the servants are old people, weak and in bad health. Various parishes have been abolished and the care for the members is sometimes given to one or another Church. Other parishes are united with nearby sister-parishes.

Nearly everywhere there is the greatest difficulty to keep regular service.In March 1929,I heard in Hamburg personally Mr.Ludwig Albrecht making a very faithful report of the situation as it was then.In one word it was deeply sad.Everywhere decline and extinction.And now there was again another excuse at hand:--(the half hour silence could not avail anymore).Now the heavenly Canaan is nearing the Tabernacle and its utensils are being packed up.His subject that evening had been taken from 2 Cor. 4:16.And now it was argued that the Church would increase in spiritual growth,where her outward property became less.A little thinking shows how woeful such a preachery is.

Can,for instance the lonely living members in Russia,who cannot be taken care of anymore,then always without the Holy Supper?

Are the words of the Lord with respect to that not anymore valid for to-day?.

And by such a foolish preaching there comes into being terrible consequences.The members who cannot be sealed anymore,are comforted with the expectation that,before the Return of the Lord the risen Apostles will seal them.!! As if,still apart from the foolishness of that standpoint,the now living people can live on consequently without the comfort and the strength of the living in Holy Spirit without spiritual damage.!! But as such it goes when pride prevent,us to avow a made mistake. Then we are always being forced by the pressure of the not to wipe off facts,to look for other excuses.The history has put these people in the wrong.They are unable to defend themselves,and by this they feel ashamed and embarrased;and cut themselves off ecclesiastically entirely from the world.Extension of belief by public propaganda does not exist anymore. Publications are not anymore published publicly.The existing publications cannot be obtained anymore in the usual way.New members are not be accepted anymore;unless people have relatives who belong to them,strangers are advised to let themselves taken care of by other Churches.I personally am prohibited the entrance to their church in Hamburg out of fear that I would act against them.In such a way;the proud and enthusiastic testimony has been killed.What remains shining as a beautiful light are their publications from former days,but these are of course not reprinted anymore and if it happens with a single one it is kept from the bookshop with the crafty care. Poor decayed work.The Church,however,will testify and teach the people to maintain the commandment of the Lord. There she stands now,the by God founded;but by human considerations almost killed Church.

How correct was the image that the Lord showed in our midst: "a churchyard with bare trees where complete calm reigned and thick snow-flakes felt down.On the background between the trees a chapel was perceived." When ample time thereafter the person who had received this revelation,set eyes on a photo of the Apostlechapel at Albury;the chapel appeared to be the one from the revelation.And as such is the situation,a churchyard where the life has disappeared;only the memorials from former time speak from former greatness and power. No wind of the Spirit is observed anymore;everything has been covered by the shroud of the cold snow which falls in the period when the sunlight is hardly observable.

There are many who are dissatisfied about the present situation;many leave this Church which gives evidence of having left her own foundations. One moans and awaits passively.I heard in October 1931 an old priest breathes the lamentation: "Why would the Lord not be able to still give us Apostles anymore,whilst we still have so many capable evangelists and deacons in our midst?".

From this lamentation it appears how it is regretted that the Apostolate has not been filled up.

A word of prophecy;brought in our midst in 1928,named the Church of the English Apostles the old Samaria which as a dead one had no power anymore to give birth but where the calves were already thrown on earth.

The calves of Samaria,the capital of the empire of the Ten tribes were the means by which the inhabitants were prevented to worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. As such the human opinions have enriched the Catholic Apostolic Church with calves by which the true worship is not possible anymore.The sigh for change in that situation the prophecy called the throwing down of the calves.That same word said,however,that the two candles would not be united.

And the hostile attitude which is taken against us,will remain to exist so that we will never come to a reunion.

A great loss was the death of Mr.Isaac Capadose,one of the two coadjutors.The other one,Dr.Heath,still lives as far as I know,but is already more than 80 years old.

This Church now stands there for all of us as a buoy in sea.Her history urges us to remain always faithful to the Holy Scriptures so that human wisdom never leads us away from the right path,but even more she can warn us to always ask:"Lord what do you want us to do?".

And then His Word gives us the simple answer:"Believe likewise the Scripture says".

Now we want still briefly to inform something about the work of God that in Hamburg has found his source.It is a pity that from that work no orderly history has been written and that there are hardly any reliable written sources of the many things that have happened.Here and there it is possible to find something and some ear-and eyewitnesses have dug up a few remembrances from their memory so that not all has gone lost.

What we know and what gives us complete certainly,we want to let follow.

We already have informed,how in Hamburg after the schism the stillyoung priest Preusz had been called to Apostle,and that shortly thereafter the assistant-angel F.W.Schwartz chosen for the same office was sent out to the Netherlands,where he arrived September 24th,1863 in Amsterdam and started his work.

There arose in the parish of Hamburg a lot of struggle whereby unfortunately the prophet Geyer played a very nasty role.He started to teach all kind of fantastic matters,for instance,that all the believers were first born people and that therefore the sealing was superfluous. All the believers formed according to him the Woman clothed with the Sun and had to flee for Brasil.

A man who shared his feeling,a certain Guldner,was secretly called by him as Apostle.When Apostle Preusz died,Geyer wished to present this man to the parish as his successor.He has detached himself and founded in Hamburg the "Allgemeine Christliche Apostolische Mission" of which after some time nothing was left anymore.

There arose in the parish of Hamburg a great confusion to which was made an end because the Apostles Schwartz, Menkhoff and Hohl interfered powerful.

Finally in June 1880 F,Krebs was called as Apostle who initially has served very diligent and faithful,until he felt into the dreadful false doctrine which was preached as "New Light" and was the cause of much misery about which we unfortunately still have to write later on.

Apostle Preusz has,next to Hamburg,worked a lot in Mid-Germany. Especially the Harz mountain range was a fertile area.In Hamburg a young man joined the parish who returned in 1865 to his birthplace,Schladen am Herz.Three men were among the first followers who all have become afterwards Apostle,the already mentioned Krebs,and then Ruff and Niemeyer.

The section of the Harz where was worked firstly,be longed to the then Kingdom of Hanover,where did not exist freedom of religion.

Apostle Preusz was arrested on the evening when he wanted to held a service and had to spend three days in prison in Wollingerode.As usual the persecution was also here a powerful means of propaganda,and many joined the Work of God.The parishioners had a lot to suffer from other sides;because especially the Harz-farmers have severely been afflicted with prejudice.It was in the end not possible anymore to come together somewhere,so that true hedge-sermons had to be held.The first sealing service was even held in the open air during the night.Apostle Preusz fiery prayed the Lord to relief on which the word of prophecy spoke: "A kingdom will fall,and My people wilt become free"

In what way this word was fulfilled?

In 1866 a war between Prussia and Austria broke out.This latter country was helped by many German states,but when Prussia came out the battle as conqueror,Hanover that had battled an the side of Austria,was declared Prussian territory and by this the parish in the Harz abtained freedom of religion,at least as far this existed in Prussia.It was very limited so that in the first period of time,for instance,baptism,consecration of marriages and confirmation of parishioners was only allowed to happen by servants of the State Church--(in Germany the Lutheran Church)--.

From the Harz it was worked further and by this came into being parishes in Brunswick and in Wolfenbuttel.In this period the Apostles Hohl who served the work of God in Hessen and Boseke who served the work of God east of Elbe were called.The work of Apostle Stechmann in Hungary and of Hoppe in America has remained rather unfruitful and has perished finally.

I am unable to inform much about the activities of Apostle Hohl.He worked in Giessen and Frankfurt am Main from 1877 till his death in 1885.

Apostle Boseke who was called to his office in 1864 in the parish of Hamburg,worked firstly in this city and its surroundings;but went later on to Silesia,where he founded some parishes and thereafter he was active in Berlin.

The evangelist Richter from Australia,known to us,has served with him and praised his simplicity and devotion and his faithfulness to the doctrine of the Bible;He died in 1866.

A pupil of Apostle Boseke,Ernst Obst,was called after the death of the afore-mentioned to his successor in the office,and although he in the beginning acted entirely on his own,he joined in 1888 the Apostles Schwartz, Menkhoff and Krebs.He practised his office till 1907 when he was hindered by illness and weakness to still take an active share in the service of the Lord.His year of death is unknown to me.

I already mentioned from the first period of time of Apostle Preusz the name Ruff.After his calling to the office of priest,he went to Worms and worked with a lot of fruit.After the death of Apostle Hohl in l885 he was called in the next year to his successor.He founded thirty parishes and died in 1906.

About Apostle Menkhoff more is known to us. He,born in Wallenbruck, wished to become a missionary among the pagans,but a bodily defect was the cause that he was refused for this.He was now,by the Board of the Missionary Society,with which he had applied himself,sent out to the Netherlands where he worked as itinerant Evangelist among the peatcutters in Drenthe.There he learned about in 1850 to know the distress of these drudges and he became hardened against the struggle which waited for him later on, because more than all the others he had to fight later on in the Apostolic testimony against all kind of difficulties.After his work among the peatdiggers in Drenthe he took up residence as Minister in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel where he entered into matrimony.Here he got acquainted with Apostle Schwartz who finally convinced him,after many discussions,of the true of the Apostolic work.In 1868 he was called to evangelist and left for Westphalia with wife and five children,where he took up residence in the city of Bielefeld.Although he had preached a lot there years before,and was willingly heard,he was not accepted because he came now as a servant of the Apostolic Church.Everywhere he was reviled.However,among the many poor agricultural and factory labourers he obtained hearing and with all the love of his good and childish heart he dedicated himself to their spiritual care.In 1869 Apostle Schwartz came to Bielefeld where the first sealing service was held.In 1872 the evangelist Menkhoff was called on the office of Apostle.He remained mainly active in Bielefeld and surroundings,although he also worked in Westfalia and Rheinland. He had always to contend with poverty,whilst the death took away some of his children.A loyal help he found in his wife who supported him by her childish belief in all distress.Under much struggle of all kinds, partly arisen by the peculiar ecclesiastical relations in Germany,he founded 16 parishes and edited a magazine "Der Herald"-- (the Herald)--by which he spread much blessing and light. After a painful suffering he has passed away in 1895.

During the life of Apostle Schwartz there is still called an Apostle for Australia. Niemeyer, who got to know the Apostolic work in Wolfenbuttel. As a poor emigrant he went to Queensland, where he brought the testimony. Gradually he became prosperous, and let many poor German brethren and sisters come to Australia,so that there came into being a complete Apostolic colony.

When Niemeyer stayed in 1886 in Germany,he was called to Apostle and consecrated by the Apostles Menkhoff and Krebs for the service of the Lord. Later on we have still to write another time about this servant who unfortunately has not remained standing in the truth.

We arrive now to the more personal work of Apostle Schwartz in the Netherlands.Firstly we want to inform that various tribes had been indicated.

As known,the Netherlands are in particular indicated as Judah.The tribe of Apostle Krebs was Ephraim;that of Menkhoff Issachar;that of Ruff Simeon.

Later Dutch East Indies have been indicated as Zebulon.The tribe indication of the other countries from these days is unknown to me.

We want now to start with sketching concisely how the work of God in the Netherlands has developed. The Netherlands,indicated by prophecy as Judah,would have to take a prominent place in the work of God,if it wished to answer to the silhouette which we find in the blessing spoken out by the dying Jacob over his son Judah.

The law would go out from Judah till the Shiloh--(which means: the Hero)--,would come.Historically this prediction has exactly been fulfilled to the people of the Jews.We therefore may already beforehand expect how also Judah will take under the tribes of the New Covenant its blessed place to blessing of all.And the history of the Apostolic Testimony in our country proves it,how the law of the Spirit has gone out and still goes out,to spread light and life over the entire world,where children of God let themselves guide by the servants given by God who all thank their knowledge in the Scriptures to what is preached in Judah as a Testimony of the Truth.

We want to expressively point out here that the doctrine preached in the Netherlands,is entirely the same as that was preached in the work of God that has originated in England and as is also still at present preached there,when we leave out of discussion the desperate endeavours which have to be applied,to explain away the dying out of that work,now, like we have described,a situation of dying has arisen by the lack of the office of Apostle.

Only a few matters,concerning the belief,have been added among us which are entirely supported by the Bible,but to which initially less attention was given,which is also understandable.The laying of the foundation is another work than the building up and the completion of a building.It is, however,a pity,it is even dreadful that thus two Churches testify next to each other which in fact are a unity in doctrine and expectation of the erection of all things.

We therefore thank the doctrine which we acknowledge as the law of the Spirit-,to what the Motherchurch in England has taught which once was indicated as Judah from which the Law would go out.Judah is he who praises God by serving Him according to His Word,the Bible;the English work, however,now stands behind it as a ship run ashore, and is unable to guide the children of God further over the sea of the nations.

Instead of praising there God,it was held up to sing the praise to God and one lament at the with mourning covered and instead from testifying forcefully,it is waited passively as we have already informed.

Isaiah,however,tells us that there is always a faithful seed left.And thus there was in the English work of God a real worshipper of God who in spite of all struggle and trouble,remained to maintain the Law of the Spirit,and who remained faithfully to the biblical truth re the continuation of the four offices in the Church of Christ.

He was a real follower of Judah and thus it is clear to us that the Lord granted now the tribe which he trusted to this servant the name Judah because he taught once more to praise God by exact maintenance of the truths of the Bible.

This servant was Friedrich Wilhelm Schwartz about whose struggle we have already written till the day on which he was cut off from the Church which he had served so faithfully.