good news 1957 (vol vi no 10) oct.pdf

8/10/2019 Good News 1957 (Vol VI No 10) Oct.pdf

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VOL.

VI, NUMBER

10

OCTOBER, 1957

A N O P E N

L E T T E R

to our

newly

begotten

brethren

recently baptized

by Herbert W . A m s t r o u g

REETINGS

newly baptized Breth-

G

This year again there is joy and

rejoicing among the angels in heaven

over your repentance and having been

begotten to a lively hope as

children of

God thru Jesus Christ our Lord

And there is new joy in the hearts

of A L L our true brethren and co-workers

in Christ over your recent conversion

from the desires and will of the flesh

and the ways and customs of the world,

to

the government of God in your life

now, that you may have reward in His

Kingdom at the coming of Chr ist, in

the World l'omorrow

You

will Meet Trials

You have entered upon

a

new

life--a

life of great happiness and joy-a life

to continue FOREVER-yet, in this

present evil world it will not be an easy

life.

A s

a matter

of

fact y o u have left be-

hind the "easy way"-the populnr,

broad road that Icads to destruction.

Y o u

have passed the cross-roads

and

turned off onto the narrow, rutty, bumpy,

rocky and H A R D and D I F F I C U L T

r o d

\xrhicli very few people in this

worlJ

ever are willing to enter-but which

leads to SIJCCESS,

t 0

CiSEFULNESS, to

HAPPINESS,

JOY,

?nd E T E H N A L LIFE.

ren i n Christ Jesus:

It leads to rewards-not of idleness

and ease, but to usefulness and service

and accomplishment and success-so

grear that

I

know your mind can't pos-

sibly grasp it, now. BUT YOU'LL HAVE

It won't come easy All your temp-

tations, trials, persecutions and hard-

ships will come from other people-or

from the devil-or from the conse-

quences of sin, which means violations of

God's

laws and ways.

Y o u

must rcmcm-

ber you still have to live IN a world

organized and living in disregard of

God's laws-a world governed by the

sway of Satan, and according to the im-

pulses of pride and vanity, the lusts of

the flesh, and the greed and tempers of

hiiman natnre.

I f you were

still

O F

this

world, the world would love its own.

But

because you have renounced this

world and its ways, and are no longer

OF it, the world will hnte you, perse-

cute you, turn against you, even as it

hated and persecuted your Saviour be-

fore you.

Why You

Must Suffer

TO PAY THE

PRICE

"My

PEAC E 1

give

un[o

you

. . .

tlxit m y J O Y

might remain in y o u , a ? i c

[ i d

y o u r

j i y

migh t he

fit//," said Jesus.

"'l'hesc things have

I

spoken unto you

that 2 7 1

? ~ z e

ye might have PE ACE .

In

the world ye shall have tribulation: but

be of good cheer;

I

have overcome the

world."

You

will meet many afiictions-trials,

tests, troubles-even more than before.

But, if you trust in H im, the Eternal will

deliver you out of them A L L (Psalm

34:19 . L L who will live Godly in

Jesus Christ shall

suffer

persecution (11

Tim.

3 : 1 2 ) .

But

WHY?

Because God has called

you to surrender your life to Hmr-to

G I V E your life into HIS HANDS-that

He may transform you into a perfect,

holy, righteous

CHARACTER.

God is

CREA TO R

And now, with your consent,

according to your own free will, you

have placed yourself in His Hands to

CHANGE

you-to

CREATE

out of you

the Supreme Masterpiece of all His

Cieation

What

Is

Character?

And

C H A R A C T E R

means

SE L F- D I RE C-

TION, WITH GOD'SHELP, INTO GOD'

WAY

OF LIFE.

You'll find it is

a

new

and different way of life from the way

you have lived up to now. It means

SELF-DENIAL It means SELF-DISCI-

PLINE It means resisting all

that

is

evil

01 wrong in your naturc. It nie~ iis

r.md-

iiig

up w r o n g hnbits-rooting them out

of your life-and instill ing into

your

life


2/12

Page 2

T h e

GOOD NEWS

October, 1957

International magazine

of

THE C H U R C H OF GOD

ministering to i ts members

scattered abroad

VOL. VI NUMBER 10

Herbert W. Armstrong

Publisher and Editor

Executive Editor

Roderick C. Meredith

Garner Ted Armstrong

Assoc iube

Editors

Herman

L. Hoeh

ddress communications to the Editor,

Box

111

Pasadena, California.

Copyright,

October,

1957

By

the

Radio Church

of

God

NEW habits-ad

making

these

neicer

right ways fixed HABIT.

Th is is not easy. It takes WILL

POWER.

It

requires DETERMINAIION.

Besides all this, God will permit trials

and tests to come upon you-severe

problems. H e will permit

C I R C U M -

STANCES to drive you to HIM or HELP

-for deliverance You may soon think

no on e in the w orld is troubled like you

arc.

Yo11will begin to wonder why you

have greater trouble to face than any-

one else on earth-not realizing that

all

other real Christians are going thru

the same tests Perhaps closeb~ elatives

will turn against you, probably because

of the Word of God-the T R U T H you

have embraced and started to live.

But, if you learn the lesson of FAITH

-and if you have

PATIENCE-YOU

may

KNOW that you will be delivered out

of

every trouble that comes up.

God

has PROMISED

to

deliver you from every

trial--if you obey and trust Him.

You

see, you are now His very own child-

actually begotten of Him just as much

as you were begotten of your human

father. W he n G od gave you the precious

gift of His

Holy

Spirit-placed His

Spirit within you to renew your m ind,

give you a sounder, more understanding

mind,

fill

you with His love, faith, pa-

tience, power, goodness-His ow n char -

acter. In short, YOLI became an actual be-

gotten SON-or daughcer-of GOD.N o t

merely a creature or being He created-

b u t H i s very own child, actually begot-

ten of Him by His seed,

so

to speak-

H i s SPIRIT, enterin g within yoii. H e is

now

y 7 u

FATHER

hro t

figuratively, but

Now you can

go

to

Hiin

just as any

child can go to his father, for counsel

2ictLlally R E A L L Y

and advice,

for

wisdom,

for

direction,

for HELP

in any t im e of need. Would a

good human father deny his own child

any good thing the child might really

nrt-d?Neither will your heavenly Father

deny you anything that is really for

your good. If a human father heard the

screams of his child, ran and found his

child imprisoned in a burning building,

would he break inside and rescue his

child from danger? Your heavenly

Father has given

you His

writ ten

PROM-

ISE to deliver you from every danger,

trouble, or trial-if you call on Hi m ,

obey Hi m an d RELY on Him

Since

you

arc now a real begotten

child of God-now on e of the

FAMILY

of Go d, which is H is tr ue Church-you

are one of His heirs. Angels are not

sons, but servants. And a servant is not

an heir like a son.

You

are now a co-heir

with Chris t , to inheri t , with Him, ALL

THINGS-eternal

life, this earth as an

everlasting possession, eternal happiness

and joy

Think

of

what that means

But

we are

now

only heirs-only

bc -

gotten sons. And just as it was necessary

for

us

to

grow

physically from the time

we were begotten in our mothers wombs

until we developed reaay to be born,

finally separated from the dependence on

the mother for nourishment and suste-

nance, and coming into individual and

separate existence, so the begotten spir-

itual infant must grow and develop

spiritually, being fed the spiritual food,

the W o r d

of

God, by the Mother of us

all, the true Church, until, at the com-

ing of Christ

we

shall be CHANGED,

finally BORN of God,

to

have eternal

life inherent in ourselves, and to be

actual

INHERITORS

and

POSSESSORS

of the wonderful Kingdom

of God

In order to GROW in grace and in the

knowledge of our Lord ( I1 Peter 3: 18)

in order to develop spiritually and over-

come, and have perfected in you the

CHARACTER

of God ready to

be

fully

BORN of God, yo must

do

two things

daily without fail

YOU

must not only read, but eagerly,

earnestly STUDY t h e W o rd

of

God to

learn how to live-you mu st live accord-

ing to Gods teachings in His Bible-

you must make it your guide for every-

thing you do. In this way,

God

talks to

you

But you must also talk to Him

You

must go to a private place, alone with

God, and have long talks with Him-

yes, EVERY D A Y Unburden your heart

to Him. Take all your problems, your

interests, your plans, your troubles to

Him. Talk over everything with Him,

continually. Then,

even

w h r u going

about your work-when walking down

the street-when drivi ng your car, or

wherever you are or whatever you do,

talk with God as you work, or as you

drive

or

walk along.

Go

to

a

private

place, and kneel in prayer ( o n both

knees) as often as you can, and at least

once every day. But talk with God often

in between.

P R A Y

WITHOUT

CEASING

Keep close to Him. You cant afford

to be without the SECURITY of His con-

stant guidance and protection.

Bestion

Box

I

our guestiorts answered in ~ h e ~ eokmtz s

Y o u r

opportatzit] t o h a t e

discussed those problems pertailzing directly to members

of

Gods Chzwch.

I

Shou ld You Spend Your Second

T i th e a t H o m e ?

If for some unforeseen circumstance

you are unable to attend the Feast of

Tabernacles, what should you d o with

your second tithe? Many that we have

met on the baptizing tours, and others

by letters, have asked about this prob-

lem.

First, let

us

understand the purpose

01 the second tithe. God, in His W o r d ,

commands us to assemble at His set

feasts. In order to make our at tendance

possible, God ordained that we set

aside a sccond tithe to cover expense to

and froin the festival ( D eu t. 14:23-26;

16:

13- 15 ) .

In ancient times, when travel ex-

penses were of little consequence, the

tithe was

used

to cover food expenses

primarily. But today, since the

p z ~ r p o s e

of

the second tithe

is to

enable

us

to

attend the festivals, much more of it has

to be spent for transportation than for

food.

Now le t us notice where the second

tithe was to be spent. Thou shalt truly

tithe all the increase of thy seed, that

the field bringeth forth year by year.

And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy

God , in the place which he shd l choose

to place his name there

.

that thou

mayest learn to fen? the Lord thy God

always. An d if the way be too long for

thee, so that thou art noc able to carry

i t ; or if the place be too far from thee,

which the

Lord

thy God shall choose

ta set his name there, Then the Lord

thy God hath blessed thee: then shalt

thou

turn it into

mo i ze l . . . nizd

shnlt

GO m t o t he

place which the Lord th j ,

God s h d choose

. . .

and thou shalt eat

(Please

contiiicie

o n ptrge 1 0 )


3/12

Whose Opinion Counts?

We

huve all been

reared

with the modern concept that in religious

nzatters

a

m a n

should

be

governed Primarily by what H E

th inks .

by

Roderick

C . M er ed i th

FTER

years of study and prayer,

Mr.

Armstrong has come to

A ee that this

is

b ind ing on

US

today, I said to Mr. Brown. T he Bible

reveals it, and as Christians we must

obey.

Well, heres the way

I

look at it ,

he began, and then continued to give

his

personal

opinion based on

h u m a n

yeason with

very

little knowledge

of

the

Bible to guide him.

As

a minister

of

Jesus Christ,

I

was

trying

to

show him--not

m y

w i l G b u t

GODS

will. I

was

pruvirig

my points

right out of G od s word.

I

had men-

tioned the opinion and belief of

Mr.

Armstrong to show that

a

more experi-

enced servant of the t rue God was per-

suaded of this same truth.

Was Mr. Brown impressed?

N o t a t all.

On

the

contrary,

he pro-

ceeded to

put

his

human reason

and

feeling on the same plane as

our

studied belief on Gods word. In his

own mind,

Mr. Diuwii reasorled

thar

his

opinion was just as good as o w

opinion.

But was it a matter of tw o differing

opinions

of

equal value?

Or

do Gods

true ministers carry

cluthority to

speak

in His name? If

so,

how much is that

authority

to

be

rercected?

These are questions that every true

Christian should understand. Mr. Brown

was supposed to be converted. Is such

an attitude as his the mark of a truly

converted person?

Author i ty of Ministers

In M atthew 16:15-20, we read the

account of Christ bestowing on Peter

the keys of the kingdom

of

heaven.

Nearly all commentaries agree that the

principal meaning of these keys in-

cludes the zouy of salvation which the

apostles were to proclaim to the world.

Based on the principles

of

this

way

the

apostles, through whom Christ governs

His

Church, were given authority

to

make decisions which would be bound

in heaven. They could bind,

or

forbid

certain things; and they had authority

to loose,

or

permit certain things. In

other

words,

they

were

given the

nzh-

t b o r i t ~

o make biudiizg

decisioias-

based on Gods word and t he keys of

salvation they had received. These de-

cis;ons involved fiermittin? or forbid-

dinx

certain things-defining wh at

is

right and zorong

Matthew

18:

15-20 clearly shows that

this authority was conferred

on all

the

apostles-not just Peter. lh ey were all

with Jesus for over three years, learning

f rom H i m t h e

way

of salvation

so

they

could preach it to the world.

Jesus had shown them in dozens

of

places that all decisions must be con-

formed to Gods will and His

law

(Mat t .

5 :17-19). In their judgments , they

were to follow Christs example when H e

said, I can of m ine own self d o noth-

ing:

as I

hear, I judge: and my judg-

ment is just; because I seek not m i n e

o w n will ut the will of the Father

which hath sent me (John

5 : 3 0 ) .

Go ds true ministers will be yielded

and submissive

to Gods

will. They will

seek His will in diligent study and

ear -

nest prayer. They will confer with other

true

ministers and Bible scholars

for,

in mult i tude

of

counsellors there is

safety

(Pro.

11:14). In every way,

they will seek Gods will and Hi s guid-

ance through the Holy Spirit.

But when Gods true servants do make

a decision based on His word, it i s t o

be respected, for it is b o l d

in

heaveiz.

Y o u

are not showing respect to the

man and his opinion, but to the

ofice in which God has placed His

ministers, and by which Chris t

r u l e s

His Church.

W he n the Israelites refused to heark-

en to Gods servant Samuel, God said,

. . . they have not rejected thee, but

they have rejected

ME,

that

I

should

not reign over them ( I Sam. 8 :7 ) . If

you take the decisions

of

Gods minis-

ters lightly,

y o z ~are disrespecting God

Himsel f

Be

Sure

of

Ministers

All

of

your respect to any minister

should be based upon the fact that you

have first

proved

to yourself that he

really is

a true servant of God.

Jesus continually warned: Beware of

fa lse

prophets, which come to you in

sheeps clothing. but inwardly they a r p

ravening wolves. Ye

shirll

k n o w t h e m

by

their fraits (Mat t .

7 :

5 -1 6 ) . Yo u

need to look at the f ruit, the results

in proclaiming thc true

g o r p e l , in

leu&

ing the flock into the truth and ways

of

God, in healing the sick-the

accom-

plishments in the work of the ministry,

carrying out the commission

of

Christ.

Notice that Jesus went

on

to

say

(Mat t . 7 :21-23) tha t mmy would

pro-

fess

to do good

works

in His name,

but H e told them, depart from me, ye

that work iniquity, or lawlessness. he

word iniquity is more correctly trans-

lated LAWLESSNESS. Jesus was showing

t h a t professing

ministers who

break

Gods law

are

not

His miizisters

at all

I never

knew you, Jesus will tell

them. And Gods word shows

t h a t

these

law-lrmkiug ministers never really

knew Christ either

( I

John 2 : 4 ) .

Satan and his

ministers

appear as

angels

of

l ight (I1

Cor. 11:1 4 ) .

But

they teach that you are free to disobey

Gods law.

Another way to examine their fruit

is to see if

they

are

willing

to

GROW

in

grace, and in the knowledge of our

Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (I1

Pet. 3:

18).

Some Christians-even

JUT^ who profess to

be

in t he Church

of

God-REFUSE

to g r o w into more

truth

Jesus told the disciples that the

Holy

Spirit, will guide you

iizto

all truth

( J o h n 16:13 ). Spiri tual

change,

growth,

and development is one of the impor-

tant

signs

that

a

person

is

really guided

by

Gods Spirit. N o m a n gains all of

Gods truth at once. W e must all g r o w

in knowledge. Some churches and some

ministers have knuwn

a

portion of

Gods truth. But when they became

unwi l l ing to grow into more truth

through the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

they soon began to twist and pervert

what little truth they had, and to

spiritually

rot away

and

die

T o prove whether

o r

not

a

man is

truly Gods servant, look to the fruits

of submission to all of Gods commands,

of a

real

understanding of

Gods word,

uf a

willingness

to grow

in grace and

knowledge, and of the underlying mo-

tive of l o w behind every thought and

deed.

God will reveal to you who His true

ministers are

if

you study, pray, and

look at their fruits. Once you know,

should you respect them and the ofice

in which

G o d

h a

set t h e m ?

Y e s , y o z ~ hould

Gods

Responsibility

Once God has revealed to you by

the fruits who His true servants are,

you should recognize the resDonsibi1-

ities and duties which God has given

them. Wh en a matter

of

church govern-

ment

or

policy comes up, realize that


4/12

Page 4

they have the

azbthority to

decide the

issue.

They do not have the r ight to exer-

cise that authority according to their

own human reason, Jesus Christ is the

living

HEAD of

the

t rue

Church of God

-the body of Chris t (Col .

1

I S ) . W h e n

H e was ins t ruct ing the disciples on how

to

exercise their authority to enforcc

church discipl ine (Mat t . 18:

1 5 - 2 0 ) ,

H e

said that if two or more of t hem would

agree on anything, God would

bind

it

in heaven.

For,

Jesus said, w here two

or three are gathered together in my

name, there am I in the midst of them.

Christ himself will in Spirit be with

and

guide

His servants in making r ight

decisions. These words of His have

meaning Jesus said that H e WOULD

guide His servants in di rect ing thc

Church. He said that they

SHOULD

mak e decisions-based o n

Gods re-

vealed wi l l and guided by His Spirit .

These decisions were to include church

discipline and what is to be bound

or

loosed-defining what

is

permi t ted

or forbidden to G o d s p e op l e b y R I G H T -

LY

dividing the word of truth.

Ch rist Himself-the He ad of the

Church-has

promised

to guide His

ministers

in di rect ing the Ch urch. Thc ir

decisions, then, will also

b e Gods de-

cisions. They are

B I N D I N G

on Gods

Church. His

tribe

Church will be OB EDI-

~ N I t is government b y G o d , through

His servants.

I t

is

Gods RESPONSIBILITY to chasten

His Servants if they abuse their author-

i ty.

YOU

cnnt

r e d

their hearts.

But

G o d CAN Their authori ty came from

H i m ,

not from some board

of

men.

God sets

or

d p p o i r t t ~ he true

minis-

ters and teachers to guide and rule His

ChLirch ( I Cor.

1 2 : 2 8 ) .

H e

alone

h i s

t h e

power to remove them from office.

H e c an d o

i t

by circumstances, by afflic-

tion-by

DEATH

if need be

Remem ber that even though Samuels

sons

w e r e

abusing the ir office ( I Sam.

8:7 ) ,

the people had

no right whatso-

ezer to put them out It was up to God

to decide if, when, and how this was

to be done. In taking this authori ty

in thei r own hands , the people re jected

the R U L E OF Gow-the Kinpdom of

God If you p la a t o en te r that Kingdom,

learn

nozu

to

OB EY

those whom

G o d

sets in authority.

Your P a r t

Chris t ians must be a ler t to the Dronh-

ecy that

e v e n f rom among t he i r lead-

ers some would arise sDeakinq perverse

things-tzuasting

Gods word

(Ac t s

In order to recognize perverse teach-

ings, and in order

to

grow in grace

and knowledge, you need to pray and

to s t d y Gods

word continually. If you

do this intelligently you will never be

20:29-31 ) .

The

GOOD NEWS

October,

1957

deceived. Remember the important test

Christ gave was to examine the fruits

in a ministers l ife and work.

A

false

minister simply cannot produce the

friiits-penple con verted in obediartco

to Gods law and His way.

So respect and obey Gods true

ministers, but constantly study to ac-

quire the iiiirid of Christ (Phil.

2 : 5 )

and to perceive

a

deceiver who might

arise.

A good example is the Bereans whom

Paul commended because they re-

ceived the word with all readiness

of

mind, and searched the scriptures daily,

whether those things were

so

(Acts

17:

11).

They respectfully listened with

open and ready minds. Then they

senrched the scriptures to prove whether

those

t h ings were

so.

The Apostle James tells Christian

believers to receive with

meekness

the

engrafted word, which is able to save

your

souls

( J a m e s 1 : 2 1 )

.

Once God

reveals to you who His true ministers

are, listen respectfully and with

opeiz

m i d r

to

their instruction.

Then you need to study to show thy-

self approved unto God, a workman that

needeth not to be ashamed, rightly div id-

ing

the wuicl of

t ru th

I1

Tim.

2 : 1 5 ) .

The more you

s tudy,

the more you will

understand and agree with the instruc-

tions of Gods t rae servants.

Prove

all things; hold fast that which

is good

( I

Thes . 5 :2 1 . But prove it by

the Bibk-NOT by what you t h ink , or

7 c h d

s om e dsnom.indtion tetzrhes

Re-

member Jesus said, Thy

WORD s

TRUTH

( J o h n 1 7 :17) .

In all your study, however, you should

keep an c*ttitude u / respect

for what

Gods ministers have said.

You

shouldnt

g o

to

the Bible with the idea of

refating

what they have taught, or

of

justi fying

your own ideas. But search the scriptures

(Acts 17:11) whether those th ings be

so-the thin gs God s servants have

tazight.

The respect to Gods ministers is re-

spect to God himself who calls any

trire minister to that office, and it is

rcspcct to the IIoly Spir i t

thruugh

which

God will inspire and direct His servants.

U n i t y i n

the

C h u r c h

hiany of you brethren have had to

come out of this Babylonish system

and its churches.

You

have been regard-

ed-2nd perhaps

hni,e

regarded y o n r -

self-as an independent

or

radical in

matters of belief.

Many of you, having been disillu-

sioned

by

false miriiscers, have come

to feel that you could place no reliance

on

anyone

or

anything except yourself.

You have been in the habit

of

studying

the Bible and accepting

yonr

conclusion

as final. It was between you and God

alone. Me and God, said the German

Kaiser. That is the way some

of yo11

have felt and acted-perhaps without

realizing it .

But

should

you be an independent?

Didn t

Jesus

build

a

Church which

wil l endure

forever?

Havent we jus t

shown you that G ods true ministers-

whom H e sets in His Church-speak in

His name with authori ty?

If you have really been converted,

you have been bapt ized or p u t into

Gods Church by receiving H is S pir i t.

You are then no longer an independ-

ent , but a m ember of the t rue Church

of God-the body

of

Christ.

God is not the author of confus ion,

but of peace, as in all churches

of

the

saints

( I

Cor.

14:33 ) .

Even though

you may be separated from local church

fellowship, you belong to Gods Church

which has

order

and

g o v e r n m e n t

in it

-not confusion.

Th e apostle Paul commands us t o be

humble, Endeavoring to keep the unity

of the Spiri t

in the bond of peace

( E p h .

4 :

3

)

.

Some minis ters quote this

text to persuade their congregat ion to

blindly follow them in a

false

unity,

NOT of the Spir i t . Th e z k t y

of

Gods

Spiri t is that mutual harmony and love

which ir produces because we will all

be seeking Gods

will.

It is not a uni ty

based on

m ad s reasoning

swayed by the

devil

God gave some individuals positions

of preaching and teaching,

Till

we all

come into the uni ty of the fa i th (Eph.

4 .12 -13 j .

His minis ters

are res9olzziblo

for teaching and guiding the f lock in the

right

way as Gods Spirit reveals

anti1

they com e into the unity of the faith.

We

are

all xi11 human and have

a

lot of growiizg to do. We wont all see

eye to eye on every point of doctrine at

first.

Gods

chi ldren are kni t together

-not in doctrine-but in

LOVE

(Col .

2 : 2 ) .

But God has set His minis ters in the

Church to preserve order, and to teach

and ins t ruct the brethren with azthori ty

so that each one may finally come to

have the mind of Chris t (P hi l .

2 :5

) .

T h e Fina l Author i ty

In Hebrews

13:17,

Paul gives an in-

spired command to,

Obey

them that

have the rule over you, and

s u b m i t

yourselves:

for they watch for your

souls, as

t hey t ha t mast give account,

that they may do i t with joy, and not

with grief : for that

is

unprofitable for

you. Here, and in verse seven, God is

commanding obedience to H is M inisters.

It is

the?)

who mu st give account. They

are responsible for teaching you the

t ru th . W h en there is a doubt as to the

meaning of a scripture, or when there is

a Church policy to be decided upon,

Gods ministers are given the

AUTHOR-

(Please cont inue o n page 1 2 )


5/12

P r o v e

Gods CALENDAR

C o r r e c t

ProiJeall things G o d co m m a n d s us

to

Against what wil l w e check

t h e NEW MOON dates of Gods Sacred Calendar

to

be certain they

are correct?

b y

Kenne th

C.

Herr inann

LMANAC DATES

for the new moon

sometimes disagree with those on

A he Sacrcd Calcndar. Here

is a

point that has in years past caused some

church members

to

become upset, to be-

gin to stumble.

One member will look for the first

faint crescent

of

the new moon in

our

western sky and actually see this new

moon a day or two ahead of t h e

date

dicinely appo in t e d as

indicated on our

Sacred Calendar. Another will look on

the Roman Calendar

or

in an almanac.

Are these individuals justificd in bc-

ing skeptical of

our

work in publishing

this calendar? Or have they failed

to

read

the instructions that go with i t?

God-Given Oracles

How did the men of Berea prove the

words of Paul and Silas? First-and this

is

important--they listened w ith all

readiness of mind. They paid close at-

tention to the instructions given. Then,

they searched the scriptures dai ly

whether those things were

so.

Again and again they compared with

Gods Word to see

if

the testimony

of

those men were true. The Scriptures were

the standard against which the testimony

of

Paul

and Silas would stand

or fall.

Withozit such a standard to compare

with, any attempt to prove a thing be-

comes futile, subject to all th e weakness

and vanity of human nature and subject

to hum an m isinterpretation. Think for

a

moment Ho w would you prove that a

rug you bought was 9 by 1 2 feet? You

would need a ruler,

a

standard to meas-

ure by. How would you know the ruler

to be correct? The final word on the

matter would come from the Bureau of

Standards in Washington which keeps

masters on hand for every weight or

measurement.

Now how will you check the new

moons? Are you certain the first day

of

the month is in the correct place or

should it be a day or two ear l ie r? Where

is

the master, the stand ard to g o by?

Here

is

the answer W ha t advantage

did Paul have being

a

Jew? U nto them

[the Jews) were committed the oracles

of

Go d (R o m a n s

3 :

1, 2 )

.

Oracles are

communications from God. These must

be our final authority in the problem

with regard to new moon dates. The

question now arises, where is the oracle

which will solve the problem of new

moon

dates? Is the Jewish calendar such

an oracle?

Who gave the Jewish people their

calendar? Suppose you found it to be the

sam e

Person wh o preached

for 395

years,

chose 1 2 disciples to be apostles and

then gave His l i fe

on

the cross, to be

resurrected three days later. Would you

be w il l ing

to

hear Him?

Notice Stephens testimony to the

High Priest concerning Moses and

Christ, Th is is

lir

[Mux>f , cllar:

was in

the church

in

the wilderness with the

angel [or messenger-Chr i s t ) wh ich

spake to h im in the moun t

Sina,

and

with

our

fathers: who received the lively

oracles to give unto

us

(Acts

7: 38).

How

to P ro v e I t

Now consider this:

The One who became Jesus Christ

spoke to

Moses

and Aaron (not to the

cntirc congregation) saying, This

month shall be unto you the beginning

of months: it shall be the first month

of

the year to you. These

two

men were

ts

instruct the people to use this Sacred

Calendar.

G o d gave the Calendar. M a n

is

to

m e

i t . Is man to s tand in judgment of God

as

to whether this divine communica-

tion, this oracle, is prop er or not? H ardly.

The knowledge of the inner working

of

the Calendar was retained by Gods

appointed physical priesthood until the

year

360 A.D.

In rhat year the Jewish

leaders published th e inform ation for all

to know,

so

the broken and scattered

Jewish nation (and Christians as well)

would be able to continue the observance

of

Gods Feast Days

in

nccordmzce

with

the

new

moons as calcitlilted

f rom

] e m -

salenz

.

Jerusalem was always the point from

which the new moons wcrc obscrvcd

and sanctified. It was the Sanhedrin,

the Supreme

Court

in Jerusalem, that

determined when the new moon was

apparent.

And i t

was t he t r responssbzlzty

to notify the Jewish communities

of

the

beginning of the months.

However, by

360

A.D. when oppres-

sion and persecution threatened the con-

tinued existence of the S anhedrin, the

Jewish leaders took

an

extraordinary

step to allow the scattered Jews to keep

the new moons, festivals and Holy Days

always at the same time. They then m ade

public the system of calendar computa-

tions that hitherto had been an appar-

ently guarded secret of the priesthood.

Thus, all Jews (a nd Christians)

throughout the world could know when

the new moon would occur according

to Jerusalem time and consequently they

could celebrate the same day

all

over

the earth in unity.

It

should be obvious now how to

prove

all

things. Check them against the

Oracles

of

God. W ha t are these Oracles

preserved by God through the Jewish

people? Thre e: The Scriptures, The Sab-

bath, and T he Calendar.

It

was Gods prerogative to give these

communications and commands. It was

Gods

responsibility to see that they

were preserved dow n to our time. It was

Gods judgment that

a

stiffnecked,

re-

bellious, unchanging Jewish people

should be given the assignment to pre-

serve His Calendar, His Sabbath, His

Scripture. W ith God behind them you

may be sure that they carried out this

task.

It is o ur responsibility as Gods people

to search out these Oracles, to study and

obey them.

Do the Jews Obey?

Th e matter of w hether th e Jews have

obeyed these Srripiures,

r a t ed

OII rhis

Sabbath, kept th e correct days in the

correct manner

on

this Calendar, is

a n

entirely different question.

Ther e is no need to follow the Jews in

their rebellion. Stephen continues, Our

father s would not obey, but thrust him

from

t h e m ,

a n d in

their hearts turned

back again into Egypt. In rejecting

Moses, they rejected Christ whom he

represented.

If

you reject Moses today, if you reject

the Oracles given through Moses, you

also reject the One who sent him. The

overwhelming majority

of

those of you

who read this had ancestors who did

re-

ject Moses and Christ as their leaders and

were condemned to die in the wilder-

ness.

Th e real reason now becomes apparent

why it is so hard for us to turn our

hearts and minds to the true way that


6/12


7/12

Local Assemblies

Are

NOT Social Clubs

Bel ieve it or no t , assembl ing together

in

local gro ups or churches may

lead t o loss of salvation t o many-unless these pit fal ls are avoided

by Herbert W . A rms t ro n g

E RE

is what our newly converted

brethren need to know.

TRU E, we are commanded not

to forsake assembling ourselves together

-and

so

much the more in these last

days, as we appr oach th e D ay of the

Eternal and the second comi ng of Christ.

But

there are pitfalls. Th ose ine xperi-

enced and unlearned in all the instruc-

tion of God to H is m inisters would nev-

er see them. They would trap the

unwary and the innocent. But pitfalls

are there. And they are

a

very

real

and

potential danger

You have

hea rd me say

often that

m o s

of the worldly churches have de-

generated into SOCIAL CLUBS.

Most of us probably would never be-

lieve

that

coulcl Iiappe: tu any of

as

W e just dont think of ourselves in that

language. Yet some of those oldest in

our fellowship have actually fallen into

that snare w i t ho i b t

reulizing it

When the

PURPOSE of

assembling in

a

local group de parts fr om Gods purpose

-when the m e t h o d of conducting the

local assembly departs from the Bible

instructions and example, members often

are driven

a i o q

from God and into loss

of

ctcmal life

For

rhe safety and welfare of

all,

I

must spcak plainly and candidly. God

commands His true ministers: Them

that sin rebuke before all, that others

also may fear. I charge thee before God,

and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect

angels, that thou observe these things

withozLt

f i re f e rr inn

one

b e f o r e

m o t h e r .

doing nothing by partiality

( I

Tim:

5 : 2 0 - 2 1 )

.

An U n s c r ip t u ra l A t t i t u d e

Some, who have attended

a

local con-

gregation of Gods Church for years,

have gradually succumbed to the in-

fluence

of

Satan and the pull

of

the flesh,

until they have come to look on the

purpose and func tion of the local church

something like this (and I summarize

their unscriptural view as

a

warning to

A L L :

We

just

want to

hnvc

pcacc,

they

protest, justifying their departure from

the BIBLEways. W e just want to at-

tend church every Sab bath, and enjoy

the fellowship, without having an?

preacher lambast us,

or

tell us whats

wrong with us, or use the Scriptures to

hit at

us.

W e w an t

a

pastor who will

show LOVE toward us, by letting us do

as

we please, and

as

each of

us

sees it

for

himself.

We

dont want

a

pastor

to

use the Bible to strike out a t us, and

tell us were wrong, and make us feel

uncomfortable.

And another thing, this attitude

continues, w e wa nt to have th e say-so

in what we do, and how our services

are conducted. W e dont want any part

in w hat o ur pastor calls Gods work

-thats just

his

own personal work, and

were not interested, and we dont want

to hear abou t it-we want

no

part in it.

W e dont care anything about going into

all

the world and proclaiming the Gos-

pel. W e dont care anything about

whether people in Florida or Maine or

Britain are being brought in to the

truth and converted-they live

too

far

away for us to enjoy fellowship with

them, and

so

we have

no

interest in

them, and dont wan t to be bothered or

made uncomfortable even hearing abour

them.

Rathe r asronishing, isnt it , that peo-

ple

who have heard Gods

TRUTH

preached for many years-people wh o

at firx

accepted it in the love

of

God,

professed it, started out practising it-

should, through the years,

fall away

f rom

the truth, reject

n e w

t ruth as it is un-

covered, begin

to

embrace false doc-

trines and errors, and finally come to

such an attitude

as

above quoted?

It Has

H a p p e n e d H e r e

But I assure you, my brethren, that

such has happened I do not here accuse

any individual.

I

say tu those concerned,

look

down deep into your own hearts

If the

shoe

fits, either put it on and

wear it-INTO

THE L A K E OF FIRE,

TO

BE

BURNED -or

else REPENT

before

it

is

everlastingly

TOO LA TE

But to those

who do

n o t

share this degenerated carnal

attitiicb, 1

s a y ,

I

dont

mean

you

But thats not all. Hear some mo re of

this attitud e into which

ANY ONE OF

US

might degenerate, unless we are AW AK E

to

the

dmzger

These people, if they express how

they really feel, would continue to say:

W e just wan t to

ENJOY

this fellow-

ship and Sabbath service each Sabbath.

W e wan t i t to b e a

change-a

rest from

our weekly wo rk and routines-a place

where we can come for diversion and

ENJOYMENT, and we want it

to

be up-

lifting and encouraging, so that we can

go lioirie feeling better pleased with

ourselves. W e dont want

a

pastor get-

ting us all upset by showing

us

oilr sins

-telling

us

t h a t because we were di-

vorced and remarried we are living in

adultery-telling us we are robb ing God

if w e don t pay tithes. W hy , we don t

think

God

wnuld

be fair if

He

split up

families just because one mem ber hss

a

former living husband

or

wife-and we

dont want any of

OUR

money to go into

a work we dont consider

is OUR

work,

and we dont want any of

OUR

money to

go to the preacher, eithe r. Just because it

is taught from Pasadena that divorce and

rem arria ge is adultery-just because

Armstrong and his worshippers say its

a sin if we don t pay tithes-well, if we

disagree with what is taught R r P as a -

dena, thats our God-given right W e

want the right to believe as we

reason

it out for ourselves. W e want a preacher

to show

LOVE

toward us by telling us

hGw good we are, and sending us home

better pleased with ourselves, feeling

good, encouraged for the week ahead.

Perverted Love

To these people, the minister who

properly uses Gods Word as God com-

mands, to correct and reprove, is not

showing love. The preacher who will

twist the Word of God to

lull

them to

sleep

in their sins-actually condemn-

ing them to everlasting DEATH-is

showing what

they

call love

Some of them derive

a

certain satis-

faction out of

a

disagreement with

Gods chosen servant. Instead of feeling

guilty where the BIBLE condemns what

they are doing or believing, it seeming-

ly elevates their ego. If they can con-

vince themselves th at Gods chosen serv-

ant is wrong, and they are right in

various points of Scrip ture, then they

feel

superior. This helps them ride right

over their sins. But they are riding

straight into the jaws of ETERNAL

DEATH

W e might th ink: W hy, that couldnc

happen to any of

OUR

people who have

heard the

TRUTH?

But I

assure

you,

brethren, it has happened already, to a

small few Tha nk God -only a few

( P l e a e c o n ti n ue

o n

next p a g e )


8/12

Page

8

T h e GOOD

NEWS October,

1957

What is Gods sentence upon them

Listen

It is

IMPOSSIBLE

for those who were

once enlightened, and have tasted the

heavenly gift, and

wcrc

madc partakers

ot

the Holy Spirit,

and have tasted of

t h e g oo d W o r d of

God

. . .

if they

shall fall away, to renew them again un to

repentance; seeing they crucify to th em-

selves the Son

of

God afresh (Heb.

6 : 4 - 6 ) .

Let it be

a

warning to

A L L ,

and let all

PEAR, nd

T R E M B L E

before the all-pow-

erful

WORD

OF

GOD

Wh y, we would not be the true

Church

of

God , unless a few had turned

away from the truth

It happened in the churches God

raised up thru the apostle Paul. Leaders

rose up and turned brethren against

Paul. To the elders from Ephesus, Paul

said:

For

I

know this, that after my de-

parting shall grievous wolves enter in

among you, not sparing the flock. Also

of your own selves shall men arise,

speaking perverse things,

to

draw

away

disciples after them (Acts 2 0 : 2 9 - 3 0 ) .

I t happened to Paul. It has happened

in our experience. But never fear All

such shall be dealt with, by the power

of God. God is showing His servants

what they must do. And we shall know

by

th e fruits-th e RESULTS-whether

the power an d the auth ority of GO D in

His chosen min isters is the stron ger, and

master of the situation,

or

whether per-

verted and disgruntled human self-will

can triumph God will

DEMONSTRATE

His power thru H is servants Th e gates

of hell shall not prevail against GODS

Church

Purpose

of

Churches

Brethren, if we are

to

continue to

grow-and to gro w

S P I R I T U A L L Y G S

well

as

in numbers-we must rememb zr

that the

PURPOSE of

the Church is, first,

to

G O

INTO A1 . i . T H E WORLD

and preach

Christs

GOSPEL.

T h e

F I RS T

commission

to the Church is just that. Anyone who

looks on that Great Commission of

Christ as Armstrongs private wurk is

just not

a

member of GODSone, true

Church.

Anyone who does not have his whole

heart in that work

IS NOT

A

MEMBER OF

GODS

T R U E

CHURCH, and has no right

whatsoever to attend or fellowship in

a n y

of

its local congregations. The very

FIRST

purpose, then, of each local con-

gregation is the FIRST purpose of Gods

Church as a whole-to encou rage, pray

for , heal i r p u i i ~ boiii,

aiid

lielp

iri-

in whatever manner may be possible-

the great work

of

God of preaching and

publishing the true

GOSPEL

to

all

the

world.

After that comes the SECOND conimis-

sion Christ gave His ChurCh--FEED

THE

FLOCK

For

this

purpose, GOn

has set some in His Church, first, apos-

tles, then preachers, and then teachers,

to be

HIS

instruments in feeding the

local flocks each Sabbath.

No Elections

or

Polit ics

Yes, it is GOD who has set apostles,

evangelists, pastors and teachers in His

Church. The call must come from

GOD.

These men are merely

HIS INSTRU-

MENTS.

H e trains them and prepares

them.

And

WHY?

To F E E D the Church

of God,

as

Paul told the elders at Ephe-

sus (Acts

20). For

the PERFECTING

of th e saints, write s Paul in Eph .

4 :1 2 -

13;

for the

WORK

of the ministry, for

the edifying of the Body of Christ,

TILL

we all come in the unity of the faith,

and of the

KNOWLEDGE

of the Son of

God, unto

a perfect man,

unto the

meas ure of the st atu re of the fullness of

Christ.

And

HOW

does God instruct His

ministers

to

preach? Does He say,

Dont te l l them their sins?

Does

God

say to the ministers,

You

are sinners

yourselves,

so

you cant tell others their

sins-instead, show love by

E N C O U R A G -

I N G

them

in

their sins?

He does not

Gods C o m m a n d

God commands, CRY ALOUD, and

SPARE

NOT, and

SHOW MY P E O P L E

THEIR

SINS.

Gods instruction

to

ministers

of

local

churches is this:

I

charge thee therefore before God

. . .

PREACH

THE

WORD; keep at it in

season, out of season; REPROV~,k-

BUKE ,

EXHORT with

all

patience and

doctr ine ( I1 Tim .

4:

1-2 ) . H e sa id the

time would come when some in con-

gregations ministered by GODS

TRUE

MINISTERS

will not endure sound doc-

trine; but after their own lusts heap to

t h ems eh es teachers-turning away their

ears from th e TRUTH.

Brethren, do

you

realize what that

means?

In Gods true Church, Gon has set

HIS

ministers in charge. H e has given

them

AUTHORITY.

H e has authorized

them

to

bind and

to

loose. H e has told

them to

RULE-to

preach the

WORD

which, like

a

sharp two-edged sword

cuts bo th ways-is profitab le for cor-

rection, reproof, instruction. But this

shows the people would try to

S E L E C T

T H E I R OWN

pastor-heap to

them-

selzres teachers. Not the teachers God

ser

uver

them-those

of i H E m

choosing,

who will show their kind of perverted

lol-e by tu rnin g the m away from the

TRUTH,

pleasing them with what they

i u n i i t

to hear

Gods true ministers

will never d o

thnt.

Gods minister< will

never allow local

assemblies to become mere social clubs

Should the b rethren

HATE

Gods min-

ister when he properly uses Gods W or d,

and declares it boldly?

If he dues

this,

God will

CHASTEN

many in the congre-

gation thru him.

True, God says, Now no chastening

for the present seemeth to be joyous,

but grievous.

W h a t s Love?

But what is GODSkind of

LOVE

i n

this regard?

For

whom the Lord

LOV-

ETH H e

chasteneth

( H e b . 1 2 :6 ) . M y

son, despise

NOT

thou thc chastening of

the Lord,, nor faint when thou a rt re-

buked of Him , says God (verse

5

) . If

ye are without chastisement

. . .

then

are ye bistards, and not sons (Ve rse

8 )

What about those few disgruntled,

unhappy and rebellious ones who twist

the truth into believing

a

preacher shows

LOVE

by condoning them in their

sins? Notice the inspired definition of

love:

For this

is the LOVE of

COD,

hat

wc

keep His commandments ( I John 5 :

3 .

And we break one of Gods com-

mandments when we live in adultery.

And when we

STEAL

f rom God by em-

bzzzling

HIS

TITHE, we break another

There are

TEN

Commandments-not

just one about the Sabbath

God has given instruction in

HIS

\WORDas

to how H is ministers whom H e

has set in authority shall deal with those

who have thus departed from

HIS

LOVE

and who stir up dissension among b reth-

ren.

Author i ty to Ac t

W e learn by experience. In past years

your Pastor tried t o show love by not

acting drastically

or

harshly with such

people. God has punished him, and

brought him to see how such people

MUST be dealt with, for a little leaven

will leaven the whole lump. And here-

after Gods ministers will dem onstrate

IN POWER, if neces sary, the autho rit y

God his given, and carry out His in-

structions, that the love and the spiritual

growth of THE

M A N Y

shall not be per-

verted and destroyed by

FEW

If, in any local church, one member

or

a

few, offend and endanger the spir-

itual health of the whole body, Jesus

teaching is to

CUT IT OUT,

for it

better to enter into the Kingdom with

one arm,

or

one foot, than to perish in

gehenna fire

In this way, it shall be possible in the

fu ture for

AL L

the membership to be

F I L L E D

with the true

LOVE

and the

J O Y

of Go d the Father-and, rejoicing

together, we may

PRESS FO RWA RD

to-

ward the mark fo r the prize of the

HIGH

C A L L I N G

of

God in Christ Jesus


9/12

Should

Y o u

ASSEMBLE

Without a

Minister?

W e n o w you b r et h ren l o n g f o r lo ca l ch ur ch f e l l o w s h ip . W e k n o w

you need

it.

B U T should you assemble by yourselves without a

minister w h om Go d has sent t o fee d the local f lock?

by H e r m a n L. H o e h

UNDR EDS

OF new members have

been added

to

Gods Church this

H

past summer. Many wil l at tend

the Feast

of

Tabernacles this year. They

will return hom e from the holydays filled

with the joys

of

per5orial fellowship.

Soon they begin

to

visit with nearby

bre th ren . Wi th social fellowship comes

the inevitable desire to assemble on the

sabbaths for round-table discussions.

Many feel the necessity of social con-

tact with brethren. The y equally desire to

learn more about the Bible. What could

be better than meeting each sabbath for

Bible study, it is reasoned And thin k

of

the

social

fellowship

Immediately

some

will think of He-

brews 10:25. W e should assemble our-

selves together, they will say.

But what happens?

Wherever groups gather together

a

dominant individual inevitably arises.

By force

of

personality others begin to

look to him-even thou gh he may

not

understand the Bible as well as they.

He

becomes a leader. Yet he may

n o t

be

capable of keeping order. H e is usually

the center of

arguments,

doubts and

divisions. Dissension and err ors gra d-

ually arise. Some brethren leave in dis-

gust-soured on the truth.

Is

this

Gods wuy of

feeding the

flock?

N e w T e s t a m e n t E xa m p le

There are two methods by which we

can LkAKN the solution to this problem:

1

) by New Tes tamen t

extmple,

2 ) by

Jesus

ins truct ion.

First, let

us

understand the exam ple of

the Bible i tself . W e are experiencing

today the same problem which con -

fronted the early, inspired, Spirit-filled

Church of God. Th e apostolic Church

was a scattered

Church (Acts

11: lg ) .

So

are you brethre n today But what did

that early scattered Church do?

Op en you1 Bibles to Acrs

11.

Not ice

that som e which were scattered abroad

(verse

1 9 )

came to Antioch . .

.

and

a great number believed, and turned

unto the

Lord.

Then t idings

of

these

things came unto the ears of the church

which was in Jerusalem. Wh at did

they do? Notice i t

They sen t for th

Barnabas, that he should go

as

far as

Antioch (verses 2 0 - 2 2 ) .

Barnabas was a trained teacher (Acts

13:

1 . Barnabas

also

sought out

Paul

(verses 25- 26 ) , who had already been

trained personally by Jesus Christ (Gal.

3:

17-18).

They w ere eminently qualified

to feed the flock.

Jesus Christ directed His apostles at

Jerusalem to send pastors lest the Anti-

och brethren would assemble without

leadership. The S ME example occurs

in Acts 14.

The apostles, Barnabas and

Paul,

fled

the

c i ty

of Iconium because

of

persecu-

tion (verses

1- 5 ) .

They came to Lystra

where the Jews soon attacked them as

they were conducting their evangelistic

work. Thereupon they

fleJ

LO

Drrbe

(verse

20).

In each of these cities the

apostles were prevented momentarily

from continuing their ministry. They

soon returned, however, to confirm the

disciples in the faith (verse

2 1 ) .

N o w

observe verse 23: And when they had

ordained them

elders

in

E VE R Y

church,

and had prayed with fasting, they com-

mended them

to

the Lord.

Paul did

not

establish churches with-

out pastors EVERY loca l church had

its

pastor. Jesus called His people sheep.

They need a shepherd. Paul therefore

gave them pastors,

or

shepherds, who

would feed

tlic

flock. W e are

N U

dif-

feren t today. Go ds people still need pas-

tors to lead them into truth.

And notice, too, that they were

07

dained,

with prayer and fasting,

by

the

upostles.

God did not leave i t to the

brethren to gather together and to fol-

low

anyone who had

a

desire to become

an elder. In these cities, where hu ndreds

were being converted. Paul established

local churches and ordained elders for

EVERY

church But beforc ordain ing

elders, Pauls practice was to teach them

personally, both in public and in their

homes. H e said

so

in Acts 20: 17. 20.

This

is

Gods pattern-Gods

WAY

If we are to enter the Kingdom of

God ,

w e

must come under the govern-

men t of God. W e mus t l earn

to

conduct

ourselves Gods WAY. Christianity is a

WAY of

life.

Jo ined to Chris t

To many people, a local congrega tion

becomes a place of sorial rather than

spiritual

fellowship. People join theni-

selves

togrthrr,

instead of

being joiited

t o Christ.

In Jo hn 15 :5 , Jesus said: I

am the vine, ye are the branches. What

would you think if the branches would.

say to themselves, let

us

bundle our-

selves together? Yet that is exactly what

you are doing when you meet

of yonr

own

accord ui thou t

ministers

T o b e

a

Christian you need to abide

in Christ-you need to by His in-

struction.

Do

the branches

of

a grape-

vine receive their sap from each other?

Or do they receive it from the central

stump You need to.receive your spir-

itual power from Christ-the vine. No t

f rom

a

branch-an individual who

thinks he would like to hold a study

group on the sabbath.

Your spiritual fellowship is not mere-

ly with one another, but with the

Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ

through the Holy Spiri t

( I

John 1:

3

)

.

Notice what John wri tes

in verse 6: If

we say that we have feilowship wirh

Hi m , an d walk

in

darkness, we lie, and

do

not

the truth.

If

you claim to have

real felloGship with God, and walk

in darkness-disobey the instruction

of

the Bible-you are not doing the

truth. You are actually cut off f ro m red

fellowship with the Heavenly Father.

B ut if we walk in the light-if we

obey the Biblical instruction--we have

fellowship with one another (verse7

) .

H ow plain In order to have real fel-

lowship with one another, you need to

nbide

in the teachings of Jesus and His

apostles-you need to follow the exnm-

ple and the instruction of the Bible,

which is ABSOLUTE and

FINAL AUTHOR-

ITY

New T es t am en t In s t ru c t i o n

Now le t us turn once again to He-

brews

10:24-25 .

What i s the purpose

of assembling in local churches? To

provoke u nto love and to good works . .

exhor ting one another.

Notice carefully that Paul explains

the

purpose

of our assembling, but he

does

?pot

explaiu

HOW the local assembly

should be conducted. T o understand thir,

we must

turn

to other verses which

es

plain this phase fully.

In Eph.

4:lI -17

Paul explains that


10/12

Page 10 The GOOD NEWS

October,

1957

Christ gave evangelists, pastors and

teacheis

a i d orher m inisterial offices fo r

the perfecting of the saints

.

. . for the

edifying of the body

of

Christ: t i l l we

all come in the unity of the faith, and

of the knowledge of the Son of God,

unto a perfect man .

.

. that we hence-

forth be no m ore children, tossed

to

and

fro, and carried about with every wind

of doctrin e, by the slight

of

men, and

cunning craftiness .

. .

but speaking

the trurh in love, may grow up into him

in

all

things.

What is the purpose of the ministry?

T o ins t ruct the brethren to grow in

love and in good deeds-exactly as Heb.

10:24 mentions. Then

God

intends t he

pastors to set the r ight example and to

instruct the flock which should assemble

with

a minister.

I F

BRETHREN COULD

ACCOMPLISH THIS BY ASSEMBLING

WITHOUT A

MINISTER,

THEN JESUS

WASTED

HIS

TIME

TO

TRAIN INDIVID-

UALS

TO

BECOME PASTORS

O R ELUEKS.

Th en H e was mistaken in t ra ining the

disciples to preach and to feed the flock,

if th e flock could feed itself

T he very fact that the ministry is FOR

the edifying of the church is

PROOF

POSITIVE that assembling without a

shepherd will NOT l e d

to

u n i t y and

perfect ion in knowledge. Without a

pastor, disunity, contention and error

will inevitably arise in

a

local group.

Hx sricncc p r o v e s it

Where T w o o r T h r e e G a t h e r Together

But didnt Jesus promise that w her-

ever

two

or three brethren gather to-

gether , H e will be in thei r mids t?

Th e common misapplication of this

text comes from careless reading. Christ

was discussing with His apostles the

matter of making binding decisions in

the church (M at.

18:17).

H e promises

to back every decis io n-e ven where only

two or three are gathered together IN

HIS N A M E

W hat does in H i s name mean?

It means by His authority W e bap-

tize in the name

of

Jesus Christ-by

His authority. But Jesus never gave

authority for Hi s converts to hold m eet-

ings by themselves without a pastor

Any who do so are not acting according

to Jesus commands. Th ey are go ing con-

t rary to Chris ts authori ty. I I e

does

not

promise to be in their midst. Besides,

according to the pattern laid down in

Lev.

2 3 : 2 - 4 ,

God

orders His

ministers

r o

convoke assemblies-to orde r me et-

ings. God tells us upon which days we

must m eet , and H e orders His minis ters

to tell the people when and

whpre He

wants the assemblies held. It is Gods

doing, not mans. Ministers are Gods

bond-servants and the shepherds of the

flock

N o w

w e

can also understand clearly

other New Testament passages. In writ-

ing to Phi lemon, Paul spoke of the

church in thy house (Philemon

2 ) .

This is not speaking of brethren ga ther-

ing for discussion groups or Bible stud-

ies. It is speaking of a rhwch-an or-

ganized body of saints-over wh om

Philemon presided. Notice that Paul

addressed h im as fellow-laborer (verse

1) . In verse 24 Paul lists Mark, Aris-

tarchus, Demas, Lucas, my

f e l l ow- la -

borers.

These men were elders and

evangelists laboring with Paul in the

ministry. Philemon was also a fellow-

laborer-a minister. Paul even calls him

a

partner (verse

17) .

The church

in his house was NOT without a pastor.

Be

T H A N K F U L

Another important cons iderat ion

many brethren still overlook is rlydt the

local church is for the instruction of

those who are converted. I t is not t h e

place

t o

conver t

oatsiders Yet it seems

that some, not understanding this im-

portant principle, want to hold sabbath

study groups to convert outsiders. And

sometimes the unconverted are the very

ones who dominate the meeting

Mr. Armstrong has learned

by

ex-

perience that every group needs compe-

tent spiritual leadership. It cannot be left

to zealous, but unwise, desire to have

Christian fellowship. True fellowship

comes by obedience t o

G o d s WAY.

Even

though many of you are scattered and

have no regular sabbath service, yet be

thankful that you are being instructed

through two magazines , The PLAIN

T R U T H a n d T h e G O O D N E W S , a n d

The Ambassador College Correspond-

ence Course.

You can hear the daily broadcasts-

you actually hear Mr. Armstrong on the

radio in your o w n homes W h e n t h e

W orld Tom orrow Broadcas t

is

on the

air, you are attending, in

a sense, a

church service with

a

minister . This is

how God is feeding His flock

Lets realize our blessings and be

thankful, no matter where we are. But

lets be obedient and doers of Gods

WAY. H e knows best

Instead of murmuring about thc lack

of trained min isterial help-we are try-

ing our best to train those whom God

gives-why no t do as Jesus said: The

liarvest indeed is plenteous, but the

la-

borers few: PRAY therefore the Lord of

the Harvest-Jesus--that he send

forth laborers into his harvest?

(Luke

10:

2

)

. Tha t

is

your duty, brethren

Question

Box

(Continned

from

p a g e 2

there before the Lord thy God, and thou

shalt rejoice (Dew. 14:

2 2 - 2 7 ) .

Th e second tithe-the tenth that God

wants

us

to

l i s p

which

is

another and

separate tenth from the first t i the that

H e reserves for Himself fo r

t h e

carry-

ing ou t of the gospel-the second tithe

we are to usc iu attend t he fes t ivals .

But let us read further: Thou mayest

NOT eat within thy gates the tithe of

thy cor n, of thy wine

. . .

but thou

MUST eat them before the Lord thy God

in the place which the Lord thy God

shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy

daughter (Deut

12:17-18).

Here is a positive command not to

use the second tithe at hom e if you are

unable to attend. You mast use it to

enable you to attend

tlie

festivals at the

place which G od chooses. If the m oney

is spent for any other purpose, then you

are breaking

a

command of God-you

are not learning to fear His authority-

and you are cheating yourself of the

wo nd erfu l blessing of fellowship with

others of like faith.

If for unforeseen circumstances you

are unable

to

attend the festivals, and

if

you are prosperous, it would be the

right and brotherly duty to ellable others

to use your tithe. It can be sent to Pasa-

dena, with an explanation that i t is to

enable others to attend the festival. But

if you are like most of the brethren,

not having many worldly goods, and a

small income

or

none at all, and if you

are unable to come

to

t h e festival,

you

should save it until the next year or for

two years, if necessary, when you will

then have enough to assemble where

God has chosen

to

place Hi5 name.

Meantime, you will be observing the

festivals at home

just

as you would at

the feast.

In many cases we try to aid the po orer

brethren through the extra second tithe

of those

f e w

who have more than

enough. But only those who have faith-

fully saved their insufhcient second tithe

deserve the extra help. If you havent

tried to save your little, God cannot

deem you w orthy

of

His extra assistance,

C LEND R

( Con:inzLed

f r o m

page 6

N o w W e

Ask

You Questions

Now i t is our turn to ask

y o z ~

o p r o v e

all

thingr. Have y o n already proved that

the Sacred Calendar which we publish

is identical with that preserved by God

through the Jewish people?

Ale tlie iiiiiiisters in the Church of

God able, in due time, to clear up puz-

zling questions and seeming contradic-

tions abou t the calendar? D o they read

in th e book of th e lam

of

God distinctly,

and give the sense and cause the people

to

undcrstand the reading?


11/12

D o e s the O l d

Authority

Over

T h e

Old Covenan t is

abolished.

Tcs tament H a v e

Christians Today?

d

T h e n

w h y turf1 to

the

Old

Testament

to

Learn

which

L Awswe ;t.

to observe?

by Herman

L .

H o e h

HE

O L D

covenant was the mar-

riage agreement that united the

T ORD and the nation Israel in-

to

a

husband and wife relationship.

When Is rael s inaed, the covenant was

broken. Wh en Chris t, the husband,

died,

the co venant ceased

to

be in force. Death

eiaded

the marriage agreement-the old

covenant.

Today the terms and conditions of

a

new covenant-a new marr iage agree -

ment-are open ed to us

as

*Christians.

In the new covenant the laws

of

G o d

will be written in

our

hearts and minds

not on tables of stone

or

in a book

( I 1 Cor. 3 : 3 ) .

Therefore, since the old covenant is

abolished, why refer to Exodus 20-a

part of the old covenant-to prov e that

the ten commandments are stil l in force

today?

And, why refer to Deuteronomy 16

to prove how we ought to observe the

annual festivals? To Leviticus

27:

30 to

prove that t i thing is one of Gods laws

for us today? And why use Deuterono-

my 14 to enumerate which are the clean,

healthful meats?

Y e s , WHY?-since the old

covenant

is abolished

T h e U s u a l A r g u n i e n t

It

is a common assumption-accepted

by the great majority of the Christian-

professing world-that the Ol d Tes ta-

DAY T h e

L I S L I ~ ~

rgument is as follows:

The laws of the Old Testament are

a part of the old covenant. The y

began

with Moses. God never rnnde the old

covenant wi th Abraham ; H e made i t

only with the Jews

a~

Sinai. Besides

that, Christ abolished the law and built

a

New Testament church.

You have heard this argumen t before.

What is zivong with i t?

First, did Gods law begin

at

Sinai

with the old covenant? No Lets notice

when it r e d l y commenced.

The Sabbath-which is par: of the

In\v--hegan

a t

the close

o f

the six d a y s

of physicnl re-creation-not in th e days

of

Moses.

God bi/ loi[,rd he seventh day.

H e made it l ioly time

2500

years before

Afuscs

R ~ i dt in Genesis 2 : 3 . It is siii

IO

profane whatever God hallows or

makes holy. Th e heathen-from their

ment H A S N O A U T H O R I T Y F O R U S TO-

own historical records-knew

of

the

Sabbath long before the days

of

Abra-

hi m . Therefore Gods

law

existed before

Abraham . Thats why Abraham had to

O BEY Gods law (Ge n. 2 6 : 5 ) .

Another point of the law is Thou

shalt noL cuiiimit adultery. H o w could

it have been

a

sin against God for

Joseph to commit adultery, if the ten

commandments were not in existence

prior to Moses? (G en .

39:

9 1

Second, how could Abraham keep

Gods commandments,

if

they did not

exist?

( G e n

2 6 : 5 ) .

The

undeniable

fact

remains that it was SIN to break

every one of t h e teiz comnznizdmeizts bs-

fore Moses.

Here

is what iiiosc people dont re-

alize. Gods inexorable laws have been

in active force from the beginning. The

fact that God wrote them down on

tables

of

stone merely means that God

ca:aloged

them f o r

ZLS. Men wri te down

laws of physics, chemistry, and mathe-

matics in

a hook

T h e y catalog these

laws for ready reference, but their writ-

ing the natural laws does

c o ~

riginate

them anymore than Newtons lam,

of

gravity brought gravity inro being

WE T U R N TO EXODLTS 20,

not because

the old covenant is binding, BUT BE-

C A U S E IN T H E O L D C O V E N A N T IS

F O U N D T H E O N L Y P O R TI O N

OF

SCRIP-

T U R E W H E R E

A L L

T H E C O M M A N D M EN T S

A RE LISTED SYSTEMATICALLY. Lets re-

naenzber

that

Th e ten comm andments are not bind-

ing because they were written in stone,

but because they are Gods law from cre-

ation. Only in Exodus 20 do we have

all the p0int.r of the law. James, the

bishop

of

Jerusalem, quoted from Exo-

dus

20

when he wanted to enumerate

the points

of

the

Inn.

of

liberty-the

ten commandments (James 2 :

10-1 .

W e

aye

t o

f o l l ow

J m z e s

c s m i p l e t o i l q

when quot ing the commandments .

T h e

Book of

t h e C c i . e n a n t

The same pitiful argument util ized

against the ten ~ U ~ I I I I I ; I I I ~ I I I ~ I ~ ~ S

s

rc-

peated concerning

Gods

statutes anti

judgments. Scriptiire prows the statutes

m c l l?ws o f

God

were binding principles

I~L:I:OKP inai (Exodus 1s:16) .

If they were not in force, how coulcl

God

have told N o d l

B E F O R E

THE FLOOD

that certain animals were clean and

others unclean? (Gen.

7 : 2 ) .

If the

statutes and

the

laws began only when

they were recorded in the book of

the covenant by Moses, wha t right could

God have in taking t i thes of Abraham

and Jacob 400 years earlier? (Genesis

1 4 : 2 0 ;

2 8 : 2 2 ) .

Now consider this: Even though the

distinction between clean and unclean

meats was known

to

Noah, yet he did

not tell us which the clean are

WE

C O U L D

NOT

K N O W

unless they were

latcr

recorded

lor

us. And we f ind that

record in the statutes and judgments

(Lev. 11 and Deut . 1 4 ) which God

commanded Moses to write.

No

law

written by Moses could

make

an animal

unclean (unhe althful for fo od ). Moses,

unde r inspiration, merely codified the

laws for

s

Moses

and the prophets

re-ezz.ed the lively oracles

TO

GIVE TO

US (Acts 7 : j S ) .

The prophets receiced the laws

from

God. Cod,

nor man,

i i ixicuted them.

We

r-ceived

t he

laws of God through the

wricten record

of

the prophets who re-

corded them for us when the Old Tes-

tament was+still n force.

Incorpora ted in to t h e Bible

You

will remember that the ten com-

mandments , as originally given were

written in tables of stone by the finger

of God . The lesser laws were written

as

a

civil code in thc letter s of die He-

brew alpha bet.by Moses in a book. How,

then, did the ten commandm ents come

to be written in a boo k today-the Bi-

ble?

Jesus said man shall live by every

word

of

God. God

has

commit ted His

revelation

of

essential knowledge to u s

in the form of

a

book-the Bible. H e

therefore caused the old covenant with

its commandnients, statutes and judg-

ments

to

be

incorporated inro the Bible

so we would have

a

systenzntic f o r m

of His laws. We refer to the Old

Testa men t fo r Gods laws-mt BECA U S E

t b q m e

I p i i ~ t of

t h e

old coz e i zm t ,

w b i h

is

a o

loiages

ia

force-%uT

BE-

BLE, the very W o r d of God

In thz New Testament, P~itilquoted

twice from the book of the law of

Moses (Deut. 2 5 : 4 )

to

prove his doc-

C A U S E T H E Y A RE A P A R T OF T H E

B I -


12/12

Page 12

trines

(I

Cor.

9 : 9

and

I

Tim. 5:18 .

Jesus used the old covenant as the basis

for His New Testament teaching in

Matthew 5 :

17-48.

Jesus recognized

that the old covenant was the only por-

tion of scrip ture where G ods laws were

systematically arranged. Instead of de-

stroying G ods law, he came

to

magnify

it and make it honorable (Isaiah

4 :

21 ) . H e said:

If

you

believed Moses,

you would believe me

. . .

( John

5 :

4 6 ) .

In place

of

the letter of the law,

Jesus restored its spiritual principles-

ar

it

was in the

BEGINNING

Jesus

and the New Testament Church con-

stantly referred to the

Old

Testament

as

FIN A L AUTHORITY. Let

us

do the

same TODAY

The GOOD NEWS

October,

957

Whose

Opinion

Counts?

(Cont inued f rom page

4 )

ITY

to make those decisions to be based

on His revealed will. And H e holds

them

RESPONSIBLE for seeking H i s will

This

of

course

applies

olzly to

those

whom you

know

by the fruits are

G o d s t rue ministers.

And even then, if there is ever a

case when you have a real conviction

tha t one of Gods ministers is teaching

something contrary to His will, you

ought to, obey God rather than men

(Acts

5:29) .

But k n o w i n g that any

true minister of G od will be honest in

seeking the truth, be sure to discuss

the matter privately with him. Remem-

ber that you are not to rebuke an elder

or minister, but intreat

him

as

a

father ( I Tim.

5 :1 ) .

Then, any

t w e

minister of God will stady and pray over

the matter, and in due time will either

show you your error-or he will confess

his mistake and be thankful to find and

teach the trath.

Go d himself has chosen ministers who

are still quite human. But His ministers

will remain yielded

to

Him and be will-

ing to grow.

It

is

HIS

responsibility to

remove them if they dont.

In

all matters, then, its

Gods

opinion

that really Goants

God has specially called His minis-

ters

to

act as His spokesmen-teach-

ing the people H i s will. Christ set the

cxamplc

(Matt.

7 : 2 9 ) when

He

astoii-

ished the people

by

teaching with

AUTHORITY.

That authority is to be re-

sfiected

It

is not respect to the man, but

t u

the o f i c e , and to God who placed him

in the office.

Gods ministers need your prayers,

and your l ove and co-operation in carry-

ing on this great work H e has com-

mitted to all of us. M r. Armstro ng has

set a wonderful example by his love,

humility, wisdom, zeal, and his

constant

willingness to grow into more truth as

God reveals

it.

Gods t rue ministers will

continue to seek and to teach H i s will

-not their own.

We

realize the great responsibility

we have as Gods ministers. W e pray

that you true brethren will respect the

aathority

God has given us with which

to

carry on His work. This work of G od

is

rapidly growing T o accomplish our

mission successfully,

we

need to practice

the way of

order

and

charchgovernmerzt

which God has commanded. This way

of God will be

a

great blessing to

us-

and to the

mil l ions

who will hear the

t rue

gospel

because we have been

will

i ng to set aside our selfish interests and

to work together in hflmony-under

Gods guidance-in carrying ou t H is

great work.

Let us

all

submit ourselves

to Gods

government

good news 1957 (vol vi no 10) oct.pdf

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