Good News 1969 (Vol XVIII No 08) Aug

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The

GOOD

NEWS

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BE

S U R E TO NOTIFY

us

I M M E D I A T E L Y of an

change

in

your address. Please includ e both ol

a n d ne w ad d re s s. I M P O R T A N T

August , 196

M o r e A b o u t O u r C o v er + +

T h e F ea s t

of

Taberna cles is nearly here Pictured is one

of

two new Feas t s i tes i n N or th America

f o r 1969,

t he

L a ke

of

t he Ozarks ,

in

Missouri . T h e other new site will be

in

Pent icton, Bri t i sh Columbia. Brethren will gather in both these si tes

and in the other areas around t he world t o observe wha t ma ny th ink

of

as Old T est am en t feast days. Read the article beginning on page

7 and l earn tha t , I t DOES Mat t er which Days

W e Observe.

Ambossodor Co l l ege

What our READERSSAY.

Scattered Brethren

Being one of the scattered brethren

who is not able to meet with other

brethren under the true ministers of

God, I really devour all

of

the mag-

azines and literature. The article about

the Transportation Department revealed

to me more fully the many tasks that

they perform. I am wondering now if

similar articles might be written up on

different departments at Headquarters,

showing us their part in Gods great

endtime work, that we might pray more

specifically

Tor

thcin.

Mrs. Erma W.,

Springfield, Colo.

From Last Years Feast of

Tabernacles:

After the Feast of Tabernacles, I

went back to work to find many sur-

prises in store for me. My boss called

.me into his office and began telling me

the changes he was going to make.

He said, John, I am going to put

you in charge of the workshop and you

will take over the responsibilites of

teaching and guiding the other Jewel-

lers, wherever you can. And with this

I am going to increase your salary

because I think you have deserved and

earned it by your hard work and en-

thusiasm. You can imagine what the

look on my face was like

The One I can thank for this is God

who showers blessings upon those who

follow His Laws and this has proved

to me

that there

is

a Crrator arid

Pro-

vider who is caring and looking after

us.

Mr.

J.

0 .

K.,

Durban, Natal, South Africa

Money

I just have to tell you y husband

(not in the Church) heard about the

money crisis in the Work and the lack

of

increase over May of last year and on

his own decided to send back the 7-piece

dinette we had ordered and put the

monthly payments for it into the Work.

It never ceases to amaze me how God is

working through my husband. Hes

Catholic. He also plans on paying third

tithe this coming year 69 70. Isnt it

wonderful ?

Nadine Sue R.,

Kingsport, Tennessee

I lost my job

during

the Feast of

Trumpets and Tabernacles. When I

came back and talked to all of my

supervisors to no avail, they said they

would let me know something in a

short w hile, so I found a

job

elsewhere.

It didnt pay much. It kept dawning on

my mind to

go

and talk to the president

of the company. Well, he said he

thought they (the other supervisors)

had already put me to work, so within

three days I had a job with the Sabbath

and all the Holy Days off

I

know it

pays to tithe, and to trust God.

E. G., Bluefield, Virginia

Good

News

International magazine of

THE

CHURCH

OF

GOD

ministering to i ts members

scattered abroad

August, 1969

olume XVIII Number

8

Pub l i shed mon th ly a t Pasadena , Cal i fo rn ia

0 769 Wo r ld u id c C h u r c h of God

EDITOR

H E R B E R TW. ARMSTRONG

Garner Ted Armstrong

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR

David Jon Hill

Roderick C . Meredith

Herman L. Hoeh

Associate Editors

ilbert

J .

Portune Ronald Kelly

Contributing Editovs

SENIOR EDITORS

>avid L. Antion Ernest L. Martin

l b a r

K.

Apartian Leslie

L.

McCullough

rank Brown Bil l L. McDow ell

1. Wayne Cole Raymond F. McNair

taymond C . Cole L. Leroy Neff

William

Dankenbring

Richard F. Plache

tona ld

L.

Dar t John E. Portune

lha r les V. Doroth y Paul S. Roye

lack R. Elliott Norm an A. Smith

jelmer

1

Hp qvnlrl T.ynn F Torranre

lha r les F. Huntin g Gerald Waterhouse

Paul W .

Kroll

Dean R. Wilson

iobe rt Kuh n Basil Wolverton

3ennis G . Luker Clint C. Zimmermar

Foods Consultants

Rose McDowell

Mary E. Hegvold

Isabel1 F. HoeF

Editorial and Production Assistanis

Steven

J.

Gray

P a ul W .

Kroll

Donald G. McDonald

BUSINESS MANAGER

Albert

J.

Portune


3/20

From the Editor

N TEN YEARS the world has experienced a KNOWL-

EDGE

EXPLOSION

I ts fund of knowledge s-

pecially in technological, scientific, and medical

fields as D O U B L E D . The worlds TROUBLES also

have doubled in the same decade.

But what about GOD-revealed knowledge?

Th at knowledge nowledge new to us as

burst on our consciousness like a shocking EXPLOSION

God said, at the time of the end, many shall

run to and fro, and KNOWLEDGE S H A L L BE INCREASED

( D a n .

12:4) .

Do you iealiLe HOW MU CH vital knowledge,

revealed by GOD,has come to Gods Church in the

last two decades? When I look back on it, in retro-

spect, it is AMAZING

Many in Gods Church ctually more than 99%

of

you, have

comc

into the C h u r c h in that last 20

years. Probably you have never realized b o w THE

TRUTH

was revealed. Most of you have been put into

Gods Church by the living Christ with THE TRUTH

all laid out in order for you. When yozl came in, you

came into a Church that already possessed the Truth.

You were able to learn it , and come to full under-

standing, in a very short time, comparatively.

T h a t is not the way Mrs. Armstrong and

I

came

in

We

dont have

A L L

the Tru th

Gods

revelation

(the Bible) holds for us, even yet.

I

believe we now

have MOST that is vital to us at this particular time

B u t I had to come into Gods Truth a single doctrine,

or a single bit of T ruth , at a time. It was not all laid

out

in

order,

in a clear-cut, plain, well-organized pat-

tern s it is today for YOU

So I though t it wou ld be interesting nd

profitable-to you, to start at the beginning and

give you, briefly, the story of HOW God pu t His Tru th

into His Church

of

this Philadelphia era.

The Philadelphia era of Gods Church had not

come into existence when God first called me.

Im sure most of you know something of h e

early background: of my early life in the advertising

I

profession, having my business taken away by nation-

wide conditions beyond my control three times f

being angered into my first actual STUDY of the Bible.

Mrs. Armstrong had been,

iri

my view, deceived

into taking up with religious fanaticism. She had be-

gun keeping what

I

then called the Jewish Sabbath.

Unable to argue her out of it, I started to study the

Bible to find where the Bible commanded Thou shalt

keep SUNDAY

Of course

I

couldnt find it. But the study widened

in scope and lasted about six months, before Truth

began to clear before my mixed-up and befogged

vision. I was simultaneously challenged on the theory

of evolution.

Both challenges he Sabbath and evolution

ook me to the first chapter of Genesis. The

simultaneous study of the evolutionary theory brought

on an intensive study into the question: Does GOD

exist? For evolution is the atheists attempt to explain

the presence of a CREATION without a Creator.

Th at six-months study proved these BASIC Truths :

1

God does exist.

2 ) Evolution stands Drsproved n error

false theory.

3 )

T he Bible (in its original writings) is the in-

spired INSTRUCTION BOOK of the Creator GOD to

mankind nfallible.

4 )

The SABBATHs binding today, the

SIGN

that

identifies GOD o us, and identifies us as HIS PEOPT.E.

5 ) At the very last of this study, the fact that

the annzlal Holy Day s and Festivals of Go d are also

binding bccame apparent.

6)

Also

I

had learned that the wages of sin is

DEATH, not eternal life in hell fire hat it is eternal

punishment, not eternal punishing.

7)

I

had learned also that eternal life is Gods

GIFT by His grace, imparted to us by His Holy Spirit.

Brethren, do you see, from this, HOW METHODI-

CALLY God began revealing

His

Tru th to me ? Those

seven points are

BASIC

he FOUNDATION Knowl-

edge of the T R U E God; getting rid of the false god


4/20

4

The GOOD NEWS August

1969

(evolution);

PROOF of

the AUTHORITY of the Bible

- the SOURCE of knowledge; the Sabbath as Gods

SIGN; the annual Sabbaths, picturing Gods PLAN

(though

I did

not

yet t that time nderstand

their meaning); the

PENALTY

for sin; and the need

of Gods Holy Spirit for salvation and eternal life

But now the details had to be filled in.

I

had not y e t received Gods Holy Spirit.

I

was

still searching with

a

carnal mind -b ut , with this

knowledge, I had S U R R E N D E R E D my will, my hostility

against God, all rebellion against

HIS

Law.

I

had

R E P E N T E D , and

I

had come to BELIEVE in Jesus Christ

as personal Saviour.

But

I

was still puzzled about water baptism. My

parents, and ancestors for

200

years and more, had

been Quakers.

I

had been brought up in that church,

though I didnt know much about what they believed.

I

did know they did

NOT

believe in water baptism.

So

I

next studied that question diligently, in the

Bible.

I

went to four preachers for help, but relied

solely on the Bible for final decision. A Seventh-Day

Adventist preacher seemed coldly legalistic, lacking

spiritual warmth. A Church of God (seventh-day,

Stanberry, Misso uri) preacher didnt wan t to be

bothered and was insulting. A Quaker minister was

friendly, but had to admit, finally, that he himself

questioned his churchs doctrine o n this point and

only went along with it because other holy men of

God (as

be

called them ) in his church did. A Baptist

minister had the best and clearest explanation, and was

warm and friendly and, I felt, more spiritual in a

sane and sensible way.

So I

asked him to baptize me,

not into his church, but into Christ. For this

I

had to

obtain permission from the rather august and digni-

fied Board of the Church. On being baptized

I

knew

God then and there gave me HIS HOLY PIRIT

N o w

I

had added one technical doctrine to my

spiritual knowledge.

Very soon after this my wife was taken ill with

multiple acute conditions under which she could not

have lived another

24

hours. She had blood poisoning

from a rosebush thorn, moving toward her heart; a

dog bite that was acute; quinsy with

a

big hard lump

completely blocking her throat so nothing could pass;

and lockjaw. She had not had a bite of food, a dro p of

water, nor a wink of sleep in three days and three

nights. Th e doctor could do nothing aid she could

not live anothei 24 hours, without sleep and t he blood

poison moving rapidly toward her heart.

A neighbor lady asked

i f 1

would allow

a

man

and wife to come and pray for her. Reluctantly, and

embarrassed, I consented. They came about seven

in the evening. I questioned a nd cross-examined them.

I didnt want any fanaticism. They answered all

questions with the Bible. They read Scriptures new to

me. My wife and I both began to believe. They knelt

by her bed, anointed her, and the man just talked

quietly and carnestly to God, reminding God He had

P R O M I S E D

to heal, saying we

EXPECTED

Him to keep

His promise, and then thanking Him for it.

I

had

never heard a prayer like that.

The couple left quietly. My wife asked me to

walk her out to the street sidewalk and back. The

lump in her throat had disappeared-her jaw was

unlocked. She laid down in bed again, went soundly

to sleep, did not awaken until eleven next morning-

completely healed of

E V E R Y T H I N G

After that I pursued

3n

intensified study into all

that the Bible revealed about

HEALING

of sickness and

disease.

Now came a study about heaven and hell. Then

a more intensified study of th e Kingdo m of G od , an d

the coming millennia1 reign under Christ a thousand

years on this earth.

Meanwhile,

I

was pursuing an intensified study

of PROPHECY.he prophecies about a beast or the

four beasts of Danie l

7

were

a

problem. read

many booklets and pamphlets on the subject ll

clearly in error. Finally,

I

began putting down in chart

form on paper %all he Bible reveals on it, and the

meaning cleared up.

Also, even durin g th e initial six-months study

before baptism, a minister in Florida I had contacted

by mail, wrote saying that unless

I

knew of t he identity

of the United States and the British as the Birthright

people of Israel eading the so-called Lost Te n

Tribes, I was IGNORANT o

I

obtained all the litera-

ture

I

could find o n th e subject, comparing every point

with the Bible.

I

foun d many errors rrors in every

book or pamphlet

I

could find on th e subject. But wha t

I

did find in the Bible

PROVED

our identity. This was

the needed K E Y to unlock all the prophecies

I studied seventh-day Church of God literature,

and Seventh-Day Adventist literature. I found the

Adventist doctrine about going to heaven for a thou-

sand years completely unscriptural. T h e Church of

God taught correctly a millennium on earth, but didnt


5/20

August

1969 T h e GOOD NEWS 5

seem to

k n o w

much about what will happen during

that time. So I delved deeper into those details.

I studied the popular rapture theory about the

second coming of Christ, found the Bible proved it

false ug out the TRUTH from th e Bible. Then came

such subjects and doctrines as th e Ma rk

of

the Beast,

law and grace, Bible teaching about angels. Another

subject that had come up during the very first year

was the origin of Satan, and the true meaning of

Genesis

1.

The true meaning of the Old Covenant ,

and the New Covenant, and many similar doctrinal

questions continued to clear up.

Little by little, a doctrine at a time, a question or

subject at

a

time, TRUTH was emcrging. But the Bible

is like a jigsaw puzzle.

One must get all the individual pieces put to-

gether in their right relation to other pieces before the

WHOLE

PICTURE

comes clear

You brethren today get the

TRUTH

al l put

to

gether in ORDER . ou get the WHOLE picture. I had to

study, and grope, and search, and study, and discard

error, day by day, month by month, year after year.

I had to

R E A L L Y

WORK AT IT

It was a continuous process. By the time Am-

bassador College was founded, in 1947 (20 years

after my conversion),

I

fe l t tha t we had the Truth

rather thoroughly. I did riot then realize HOW

MUCH

MORE

was still to come. W h a t has come since is like

a

B O M B

ontaining the

MOST

IMPORTANT

knowledge

ad suddenly exploded, opening up the BIG TRUTH

I

had tried to fellowship with the Church of G od.

which, in my early days of conversion, was located at

Stanberry, Missouri. But their ministers fought me, did

all they could to discredit me, break up the broadcast,

hinder and stop

THE

V E R Y WORK OF GOD Soon they

became divided, with one gro up making headquarters

at Salem, West Virginia.

Then they split and re-split until I lost all knowl-

edge of

HOW

M A N Y splintering groups there are. On e

established headquarters at Denver, Colorado, another

in Los Angeles, another in

a

town near Jefferson,

Oregon, another in Stockton, California, and another

in or near Nampa, Idaho, and the man who headed

it when

I

first came in contact with them went to

Jerusalem, Israel, which he calls world headquarters.

Even though they fought me, and very unfairly,

I do not wish to impute motives or speak disrespect-

fully of them, because we find them described and

identified in Jesus own prophetic message in Revela-

tion

3 .1 - 6 .

Everi though

it

describes them as spiritually

dead, they are the remnant of what is, or H A S

BEEN,

one of the seven sucessive eras of

GODSRUE

CHURCH.

As we are, and are doing the Work of, the Philadel-

phia era (Rev. 3:7-13), so they were the Sardis

era.

I

never became a member

of

that church, though

I was ordained by a gro up who had been in it, locally

organized and incorporated as the Oregon Confer-

ence. But when I had contact with them they refused

to correct error or

to

accept any truth new to them.

They ceased to GROW spiritually and IN KNOWLEDGE.

And, of course, what has

THE N A M E

of the living

Church, b ut ceases to GR OW , oon DIES ( R e v . 3 : l ) .

I do not rejoice in that, but say it in sorrow, because

there were many in that church that 1 loved.

But in my days of trying to work with them, be-

tween 1927 and somew here around 1941 to 1947, there

was so much curitrvversy over what constituted Gods

CHURCH GOVERNMENT that

I,

myself, became com-

pletely confused on that point.

I

could see that their

systems were so wrong that I assumed that Gods

Church is a S P I R I T U A L ORGANISM, and not a church

ORGANIZATION.did

not want

to assume

m y

rule

or

authority that I ought not, and consequently when

troublemakers and wrong attitudes came into our little

Church in Eugene, Oregon, I wielded no authority

whatsoever, and the result was a church split in two.

Perhaps the

beginning

of

the Biblical

KNOWLEDGE

EXPLOSION

we have enjoyed since the college was

founde d was th e clearing up of th e Biblical teaching

on

CHURCH

G O V E R N M E N T .ersonally I had gotten

so

CLOSE to all the errors among the Sardis people

ith a General Conference type government at

Stanberry, and a

12

apostles even deacons nd

70 elders type at Salem, West Virginia, that I was

like the man so rluse to one tree he couldnt see the

forest.

Ambassador College started with only

FOUR

stu-

dents. The three male students were Herman

Hoeh (now Dr. Hoeh) , Raymond Cole (now Dis-

trict Superintendent

of

the New York Dis tr ic t) , and

my elder son Richard Da vid. T h e second year there

were added Raymond McNair (now Deputy Chan-

cellor of Ambassador College in England, a nd Director

over the Work in Britain), his brother Marion, and

Kenneth Herrmann

(now

Registrar of Ambassador

College, Pasadena campus). Perhaps my son Dick

and Raymond Cole had been, like myself, too close to


6/20

6 The GOOD

NEWS August

1969

all the confusion in Oregon. But the others were free

from that, and God was able to reveal clearly, through

them, precisely what is His form of Church Govern-

It3lt.

Once clearly seen, it was put in operation. I had

to repent of neglecting to assume the responsibility

God had charged me with in Oregon. Gods govern-

ment is always government from the

TOP OD

he

Father . on down. Christ is the living IIEAD of this

Church. There is authority in the Church. Trouble-

makers, bent on dividing and breaking up Gods

Church, are not tolerated.

THERE

S

NO

DIVISION, but

happy harmony and order, in LOVE

Many N E W truths have come to light in the past

twenty years. Some has been revealed through various

of Gods ministers-my son Garne r Te d, M r. Rod-

erick Meredith, Dr. Herman Hoeh, Mr. Raymond

McNair, Mr. Albert Portune, Mr. Charles Hunting,

Dr. E r n e s t M a r t i n , n r . Charles Dorothy, and others.

And also God has continued to reveal important and

basic truths through me.

Among these have been the TRUTH about the

P U R P O S E of hum an life he fact tha t G od is not

merely one Person, or

a

t r in i ty ,

hut

the divine

F A M I L Y o r KI NGDOM.he truth that we are now only

BEGOTTEN, and that being BORN

AGAIN

is to be actually

BORN

into that very F A M I L Y , as sons

of

God, even as

the living Jesus Christ is a divine Son of God. THAT

Truth

is B A S I C - and

I

did not understand it until

after the college was founded. I could see it, even

up in Oregon, but was AFRAID to accept it t seemed

like blasphemy to assume we humans could become

members of the D I V I N E F A M I L Y tha t

IS

God But

finally

I

had to accept it, when faced with the fact

that i t is taught throughout the New Testament

Another BIG Truth is the final

COMPLETE

knowl-

edge of wha t man IS This came through my year-after-

year perplexed search to learn the difference between

human MIND and animal brain. The fact that there

is a human spirit

IN

man spirit that imparts the

pow er of intellect to th e hum an brain onverting

it from pure physical B R A I N

to

human MIND.This

makes clearer than ever the need of Gods HOLY

SPIRIT,which bears witness with our

spirit

that we

are, indeed, the

CHILDREN

OF GOD

Another is the knowledge that human nature is

NOT,

after all, as I believed and taught for years, a

mixture

of

good and evil. It is A L L bad. Human nature

wants to CONSIDER ITSELF

GOOD,

while doing evil. It

is a pu ll like gravity in the direction of evil EL F

Another is the origin of what the world regards

as the Christian Church, by the Simon referred to in

the 8th chapter of Acts he fact that the Christian

churches of this world are not, and never were, the

same Church Jesus Christ founded in

31

A. D. Th e

knowledge

of

the lost century 9 to about 170

A . D .

And now that God has placed HIS COLLEGE

in

Jerusalem, preparing the way for the coming Messiah

to sit on Davids throne t the very place where

that throne o r i g i n a l l y w a s l o c a t e d , opens up a whole

new labyrinth of prophecies concerning Jerusalem and

events to occur in the next three

to

ten years

Yes, the WOR LDS knowledge explosion may

have resulted in

DOUBLING

the worlds ills an d troubles

and problems. But our own

KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION

of GOD-REVEALEDNOWLEDGE is opening before our

eyes the WHOLE FUTURE GODH A S

P R E P A R E D

FOR

THOSE WHO LOVE A N D

OBEY

HIM.

The Bible Answers Your Questions

Please address any ques t ions YOU would l ike answered

in th i s co lumn

to

the Ed i to r .

Many have asked if it is al l

are not to be mixed together. But many

r igh t to wear a g a rm e n t m ad e

of

do not realize that these verses do

.~~ ~

myxed fabrics. Thvey wonder about

t h e m e an i n g of Levit icus 19:lY

an d D e u t e ron o m y 22:

1 1 .

allow a number of

m i xt ur s

and

binations that are within Gods laws.

Lets understand what they are.

Notice that these scriptures contain

the basic principle that materials of

widely different character and texture

There are two basic kinds of natural

fibers f rom which todays garments are

made. T he first is plan t cellulose fiber.

It produces fabrics such as linen and

cotton. The second

is

animal protein

fiber. Materials such as wool and silk

arc in this category. Bccause these two

basic kinds of fibers differ markedly in

stren gth, washability, absorption, etc.,

they should not be mixed.

However, a garment made of various

combinations of cellulose material

for example, a mixture of cotton and

linen s acceptable since it is a

combination

of

fibers which are basi-

cally similar. Likewise, garments made

(Continued on page 1 7 )


7/20

It DOES

Matter

Which Days

We

Observe

Here is an astounding

p r o o f ,

making p la in which days the in-

sp ired N e w Tes tament Church

o

bserued.

Qv

Y DOES Gods Church to-

day observe Old Testament,

so-called Jewish Feasts and

Holy Days?

I he New Tes tament P roofs

The Church of God i s t he New

Testament Church. Its Head, Jesus

Chris t , preached the New Testament

Gospel . Nowhere did

Jesus

dur ing His

entire New Testament ministry ever

observe the temporary customs of the

law of Moses.

Christ never once offered an anim al in

sacrifice.

Yet Jesus kept Gods annual Holy

P a y s . Read it, in John 7 :2 , 10, 14 and

37.

Jesus set us an example that we shou ld

fol low His s teps Th e Apostlc John was

inspired to wri te : H e that sa i th he abid-

eth in him [Jesus Christ) ought him-

self also so to walk, even

as

He

[Christ)

walked ( I John 2 : 6 ) .

Dont let anyone carelessly say: I

dont see as it makes any difference. It

does make a difference o Go d

Now look at I Corinthians 5 : 7 - 8 .

Here we have a New Testament com-

mand to a church congregation pre-

dominan tly of Gen tile orig in. N otice

Pauls instruction. Purge out therefore

the old leaven, that ye may be a new

l u m p .

.

. . W hy ? W hy put ou t leaven,

the type of sin?

For even Christ our passover is

sacrificed for

us.

Sin has been paid for.

Chris t paid for and conquered s in in the

flesh There fore, says Paul, let us keep

sin out of

our

lives How? By what an-

nual reminder? Here is the apostles an-

swer:

Therefore let us

k w y

t h e feast, not

with old leaven hat is, pu t away

leaven, a type of sin, out of your houses

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

each feast neither with the leaven of

malice and wickedness, but

keep the

feaJt with the unleavened bread of sin-

cerity and truth.

No Easter here. No Lent here. But

instead the Ne w T estament Passover and

F a s t of Unleavened Bread.

In I Corinthians 11 :18 -34 he apostle

explained in detail how to keep the Pass-

over in the local congregation.

Now turn to Acts 20:6. And we

[Luke and those with him) sailed away

from Philippi [a Geizti le city] after the

days of unleavened bread. . . . Notice.

Luke did not sail after Easter or some

other pagan holiday of the R oman calen-

dar. They sailed

away aftcr

thcy had

observed the Days of Unleaven ed Bread

Example of t he Colos s i an Church

But the strong est proof of all is

found in Pauls letter to the Colossian

Christians. It is there and yet you may

never have noticed it Th e very scripture

most often quoted

ugaiizst

Gods t ruth

is, in fact, the strongest proof that

Gods festivals were being kept

Th e G entile converts at Colossae, l ike

the T hessalonians, hecame followers of

the churches of G od which in Judaea are

in Christ Jesus I Thess . 2 : 1 4 ) . T h e

Churches o f God in Judaea kept Gods

festivals. They followed the example of

the Headquarters Church in Jerusalem.

And the scattered Churches of God in

the Gentile world followed their ex-

ample

Notice Pauls commendation of thc

converts at Colossae. For though I be

absent in the flesh, yet am

I

with you in

the spirit , joying and bcholding

your

order, and the steadfastness of your

faith in Christ (Col. 2 : 5 ) .

Thc Church of Gud at Colossae was

fol lowing Chris t oing the things H e

did, keeping the days He kept . They had

ceased their pagan customs. They had

quit their heathen practices. And

you,

that were sometime alienated and

enemies in your mind by wicked works,

yet now hath He {Christ] reconciled in

the body of His flesh through death, to

present you holy and unblameable . . . if

ye continue in the faith grounded and

settled, and be not moved away from the

hope

of

t h e g o s p e l . .

.

(Col.

1 : 2 1 - 2 3 )

These Gentilc convcrts, verse

27,

had

been called out of the world alled to

separate from the traditions of the

wor ld ut thcy still lived in a

world

steeped with pagan superstition and cus-

tom. They were under pressure from

theii nrigl i luis tu give up their new-

found faith. Their Gentile neighbors

did not l ike them taking up with Bib-

lical practices. They did not want any

Jewish practices developing in their

comm unity They wanted everybody to

continue with the traditions and doc-

trines of the pagan philosophers, whom

the world respected. They werent about

to have their pagan holidays replaced by

Gods holy days, or their sun-worship

rites superseded by the weekly sabbath,

or

the pagan Roman calendar replaced

by Gods calendar.

Gentle Coloss ians Were Ascetic

Colossae was 1 w r y ascetic cornmu-

nity. The people there did no t believe in

enjoying pleasurc. They believed in a re-

ligion of severity. They believed in rig-

idly suppressing the body in order to

purify the soul. They thought that ariy

indulgence of the senses was wrong.

They fasted often, punished themselves,

were

vegetarians in part, refused to eat

even those clean meats God created for

us, and thought drinking wine was ter-

rible

T o keep everybody in line they

brought social pressure, and instituted


8/20

8

The

G O O D

NEWS

August 969

local blue laws

(see T h e C h u r c h in by relatives and neighbors f o r doing the

prided themselves on being racially sepa-

the

Romari

Empire before A . D . 170, by

things Jesus did. Judged for keeping rate from the world. So these traditions

W.

M . Ramsay, chapter X ) . These holy the days Go d made holy Notice were Gentile traditions which Paul

pagan ascetic beliefs were commonly

with your own eyes this startlin g proof warns us

to

beware o f

Now verses 9 and on: For i n H im

nown to the heathen by the name ph i- here revealed

{Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the

Godhead bodily. God dwelt in Christ ,

losophy. Paul used this very word in

Colossians

2 : 8 :

Beware lest any man

spoil you through PHILOSOPHY and vain

the rudiments [or basic concepts] of the

world, and not after Christ.

could pay for his own sins by denying

himself the pleasures of the body. It was

of a Saviour. It was called philosophy

because the pagan philosophers were re-

sponsible for its intrbduction.

writers Ised

this

same expression in their day to mean s-

ceticism. Read it fo r yourself: It was

very common. . . o call an ascetic made abolished the se? Look at the

of l i f e ~hi osophica l~ r the life of a

phi losopher. . The

merit had i ts

roots

partly in the pre-

vailing ideas of contemporary philoso-

strongly the dualism of spirit and mat-

ter .

.

. . The Neo-Platonic philosophy

f o r w e ~ J ~ a l lll stand be-

Of the

through

i ts doctrine Of

the

fore the judgment seat of Chris t . . . s o

puri f icat ion

Of the

by its liberation then

every

one of us

shall

give account

of himself to God (Romans 14:10,

rom the body

or

sensuous things,

taught celibacy and ascetic practices gen - 1 2 ) ,

God is the

judge.

Not 11x111.

It

is by

rally. (From

pp.

2 5 2

and 546 of Ni

ceiie and Post-Nicene Fathers of the

the Word of God that we are going to

Christiaii Chr/rrh, second series, edited

be judged, not by the ideas of

( John

12 :48 ) .

Since we are to live

as

y Schaff and Wace.)

Those who followed this philosophy those who are to be judged BY

THE

were stern ascetics. They were the oppo-

OF G ~ ~ ,hen

we

have to go to Sin, Not Law, Blotted Out

site of many others who loved pleasure

othe r passages of scripture to find how A nd you, Pau l continues, being

and indulged in the sins of the flesh,

Go d will judge us with reference to dead in your sins and the uncircumcision

whose motto was Let US eat and drin k, meats, drin ks and festive occasions. It

of

your

flesh hese people were,

for tomorrow we die. doesnt ma tter wh at hum an bcings prio r to conversion, uncircumcised Gen -

N o t so the Grecian Gentiles at Co-

think, but it does matter what

G O D

tiles hath H e {the Fath er] quick-

lossae. They severely judged their Chris- T H I N K S .

ened together with Him {Christ), hav-

tian neighbors

f o r

the

least

infraction of

Now

consider

Col.

2 : 8

again. Be- ing forgiven

you

all

trespasses (verse

ascetic behavior. They did not like to see

ware lest any man spoil you through 1 3 ) .

the Christians freely eatin g meat goo d philosophy and vain deceit- it does

God forgives sin. These Gentile con-

for food, or drinking wine moderately,

not

say

the law of Moses. It does speak verts had sinned. The y had been follow -

or keeping the weekly sabbath and the

of pagans who adhered to philosophy. ing the fou l, heathenish practices of the

annual festivals. Tha t is why Paul Continu ing: Afte r the rudiments world about them. They had been trying

wrote: Let no man therefore judge you [fundam ental beliefs] of the world, and to

pay

for thcir own hurt conscicnces

by

for eating

or

drinking,

or

in connection not after Christ. Th e evil doctrines penance, by asceticism. Bu t they hadnt

with the observance of an holyday, or of Paul is condem ning were of the world. foun d forgiveness.

the new moon, or of the sabbath days

The wor ld then was a GENTILE orld. Now things were different. They had

(Col . 2

:

1 6, margin)

.

It was a pagan Roman world, filled with really been forg iven . Th ey were no

Here were Gentile converts, judged

foolish and vain traditions. T he Jews longer boun d to their past sins. They

Let No M A N J u d g e You. . .

In ColoSSiafIS 2:16, Paul iS thought by

to have abolished the days God

not i n t h e p h i ~ o s o p h e r s ~ < A n dye are

complete in Him, which is the head of

eceit, after the tradition of men, after

made holy.

all principality and power (verse lo ) .

We are made perfect in Christ , not

that have

commanded

the through asceticism and human traditions.

Christ is the Head over all. He is the

serve Gods festivals

(I Cor.

5:7-8), and one e

must look

to,

not to

the highly

then contradict himself by telling the vau nted philosophers.

In w hom [Christ} also ye are cir-

most churches wo uld make Pau l just that cumcised w ith the circumcision made

inconsistent

without hands, in putting off the body

The t ruth is so plain here in Colos- of the sins of the flesh by the circum-

sians. W ha t is Paul writing to the saints cision of Christ>? verse

l l .

paul else-

in Colossae? Let no man therefore where reveals

we

are

to

be circumcised

judge

y o u .

.

U D~~~

his say


9/20

August,

1969

The GOOD NEWS

9

had no longer the guilt of following

human customs, human ordinances,

human decrees and vanity. Their sins

had been blotted out; Christ had taken

them away.

W h a t W a s N a i le d

to

t he Cros s?

Notice that Christ was nailed to the

stake

or

cross.

He

bore our s ins . When

He shed His blood in our stead, He

thereby blotted out all

our

sins by pay-

ing for them in full with His own life.

It is SIN which was blotted out. Notice

Acts 3:19, that your SINS may be

BLOTTED

OUT.

Have mercy upon

me, cried David, blot out my

T R A N S G R E S S I O N S .

.

Hide thy face from

my

SINS,

and

BLOT

OUT all mine

INIQUITIES

(Psalm 1 1, 9 ) .

Now we all can better understand Co-

lossians 2:14. Notice this verse as it

stands in the King James Version.

Blvt t ing out the handwri t ing

of

ordi-

nances that was against us, which was

contrary to us, and took it out of the

way, iiailiiig i t to His cross.

Havent you assumed this v erse to

mean Gods law? But look at the verse

again.

W hat is blot ted o ut? Sin I t does not

say the Ten Commandments. It does

not read

law of Moses

1 works of

the law. It reads handwriting of ordi-

nances.

What ordinances wcre these ?

Sinfu l Pagan Cus toms

Let the Bible answer. Paul tells

11s

in

verses

20

to

2 3

of this same chapter

W herefo re if ye he Gen tile

converts be dead with Christ from

the rudiments [fundamental principles

or ideas] of the world, why, as though

living in the world, are ye subject to or-

dinances? (verse 20).

ORDINANCES

Notice it . But which ordinances?

The answer is in the next verse:

(Touch not ; tas te not ; handle not ;

which are all to perish wi th the us ing;)

A F T E R THE

COMMANDMENTS AND

DOCTRINES

OF

M E N ?

The re you are They were hum an tra-

ditions Ways of s in Cont inuing:

Which things have indeed a shew of

wisdom in ?d

o r ~ h i p

agan ascet-

icism and humility, and neglecting

of the body ppea ring outwardly

humble an d self-denying , but inwardly

self-righteous hut dye of

t in

d u e

agaitzst indulgence

of the pesh (Last

part f rom Panin t rans .) .

Di d you catch i t ? The se evil practices

were pagan ordinances, or customs of

men ased on the commandments

and doctrines of pagan speculative phi-

losophy. They were heathen ordinances,

heathen customs forbidding people

from touching, tasting and handling

those things God allows. W e see the

same customs today: dont dance, dont

drink, etc., in todays Christianity

So the original inspired Greek for

handw riting of ordinances

is

not even

referring to Moses laws In fact this is

not a proper translation Th e original

Greek reads cheirographon tois dogma-

sin It does not mean a code of laws.

The Greek word for handwri t ing

originally referred to a note of hand,

or writing in which one acknowledges

that money has either been deposited

with him or lent to him by another, to

be returned at an appointed time

(Prom Thayers

L e x i c o n ) .

It came later to refer to any acknowl-

edgment of debt . W e al l owe a debt to

God because of sin. That is the meaning

of the word handw riting here n

acknowledgment of debt.

But how was it originally incurred?

What did the Colossians do that

brought on that debt of s in? Th e answer

is in verse

1 3 .

What was blotted out

were trespasses (verse 13, last part) in-

curred through following sinful ordi-

~imces believing lying dogmas ike

the doctrine of the immortality

of

the

soul,

which was at the root of pagan as-

ceticism

Nothing is said here about any law

of Moses. Those Gentiles had never

hcard of or kept that law

So the written record of sins which

were blotted out involved the frightful

practice of evil pagan ordinances

for

which Christ paid the penalty and God

forgave us.

How

t he Colos s i ans OBEYED

The Colossian Christians had been

taught Christs gospel. They believed

and obeyed. Christ was living His life in

them

as

they yielded to Him. They were

being knit together in love (Col.

2 : 2 ) .

Love

is

the fulfillment of the Law

(Romans

1

3 :1 0 ) . The Colossians were

keeping Gods law. Like othcr Ccntiles

they had not heard of

Gods

law before

it was preached to them. (See Romans

2:12, 1 3 . ) They did not know the

way

of love. But now they not only knew it,

they were practicing it

They were no longcr ascetics, trying

to conquer the flesh by themselves. They

were conqu ering themselves through the

Holy Spirit . But God gives His Holy

Spirit only to those who obey Him

(Acts 5 :32). Because the Colossian

Christians were obeying God, it made

their neighbors feel self-condemned

and inferior. Their neighbors began

sitting in judgment

of

them-condemn-

ing them -for following the ways of

Christ which they had newly learned.

And what were these Christians being

judged f o r ?

Notice it It was not for keeping

Christmas and Easter and Sunday

~ ~

pagan holidays ot for total ab-

stinence from meats and alcohol N o

indeed But

Let no man therefore judge you for

eat ing and drinking (margin) he

Colossians were no longer ascetics

or in connection with the observance

of an holyday, or of the new moon, or

of the sabbaths.

That is why they were being judged

in connection with the observance

(as Moffatt translates it) of

Gods

festi-

vals, His calendar measured by the new

moon, and the Sabbath

T he once-pagan C olossians never k ept

these days before The y were heathen

prior to conversion. Now that they had

learned the Gospel, they were keeping

holy the days God made holy. And Paul

is warning them not to return to or be

influenced by their old pagan ways

the ways of their relatives and neighbors

who hated Gods law and His festivals.

The original Greek in verse

16

e n

broosei and e n posei eans in eat-

ing and in drinking. It does not mean

meat and drink offerings. Every com-

. petent scholar acknowledges this to be

the true meaning.

These verses are speaking of thc

Christian liberty to enjoy life Jesus

came eating and drinking (Matthew

11 :19 and Luke 7:34). Jesus set us the

examp le. H e was no ascetic An d nei-

ther were the Colossian Christians any


10/20

10

The GOOD NEWS

August,

1969

longer They were daily enjoying the

Christian life in temperance and self-

control, and especially in connection

with each Feast, every new month and

the weekly Sabbaths

And what does the apostle mean

when he tells the Colossians not to let

any MAN judge them in respect of an

holyday, or of the new moon,

or

of the

sabbath days?

The phrase in respect of, as found

in the common versions is ambiguous. It

is rendered in part of in the margin

of the King James Version.

Now what is the real meaning of the

ambiguous phrase in respect of? T h e

Greek word translated respect literally

means a part or a portion. See Lid -

dell niid Scotts Gseek-Engl ish Lexicon.

It was in connection with the

sacrificial part or portion that the carnal

Gentiles were judging their converted

neighbors. They reasoned s many do

today hat one cant keep Gods days

holy withoiif the Mosaic sacrifices

Non-

sense. Dont let any man sit in judgme nt

of this matter. Let God speak out

God commanded no sacrifices except

the Passover, which is still continued

under different symbols today, when He

revealed the holy days to Israel.

(See

Jer. 7 :22-23.)

The weekly and annual Sabbaths were

not instituted

for

the purpose of

sacrifice. God says: For I spake not

unto your fathers, nor commanded them

in thc day that brought thcm

out of

the land of Egypt, concerning burnt

offerings or sacrifices:

But this thing

commanded I them, saying, Obey My

voice, and I will be your God, and ye

shall be My people: and walk ye in all

ways that I have commanded you, that it

may be well unto you (Jeremiah 7 : 22 ,

2 3 ) .

So

we sce that Paul is telling the Co-

lossians to know the word of Go d so

thoroughly that they could refute any

MAN who w ould dare to s i t in judgment

of them for trusting in the sacrifice of

Christ.

W h a t W a s F o r e s h a d o w e d ?

Now notice Col. 2:17. Which are

a shadow of things to come.

. . . Or,

better translated, which foreshadow

things to come. Did these Scriptural

days foreshadow things to come? In-

deed

Do the weekly Sabbaths foreshadow

good things to come? Indeed they do

Not only is the weekly Sabbath

a

me-

mo rial of creation ut it also fore-

shadows the seventh

1000

years, in

which man shall rest from his labors

of sin.

In speaking of the seventh day of the

week, in Hebrews 4:4 he Apostle Paul

goes right on to show that the seventh

day foreshadows Gods thousand year

millennia1 rest. But does that do away

with the weekly Sabbath N ot at

all

There remaineth therefore

a

keeping

of a Sabbath to the people of Go d

(Hebrews 4 :9 , margin). Sabbath keep-

ing is a TEST

OF OBEDIENCE.

N o o n e

shall enter into an eternal rest unless he

first, here and now, is willing to enter

into the rest

of

each Sabbath, each sev-

enth day

of

the week. And that

is

ex-

actly what the Colossians were doing

observing the weekly Sabbaths.

In like manner the annual festivals

were instituted as memorials of events

which also foreshadow the plan of G od .

They were given to the Church in order

to keep the Church in the knowledge of

that plan.

Only one festival has been entirely

fulfilled in type he Passover. Ye t

Jesus said that each year we are to cele-

brate it again: DO

THZS

in remem-

brance of Me.

Some claim that Colossians

2

:1 6

refers to annual feasts, new m oons, and

annua l sabbaths ot to the weekly

Sabbaths.

This

is

iiot tszie Whenever the ex-

pression Sabbath days is used with

holy days and new moons, the

weekl y Sabbaths are always meant

There is no exception. Read I Chron.

23 :31 ;

I1

Chron.

2:4 ;

31:3; Ezra 3:5;

Neh . 10 :33 .

All annual holy days A R E annual

Sabbaths

No tice that in all these verses the

weekly Sabbaths are referred to

IN

THE

PLURAL just as in Colossians 2:16 Col.

2:16 includes

BOTH

weekly

A N D

annual

Sabb aths If it abolishes one , it abolishes

the other. But as it establishes one,

so

it

establishes the other as New Testament

practice.

T h e

Body of

Chris t

Let no man therefore judge you. .

.

in these matters, said Paul, but

[rather ) the body of Christ (C ol.

2:17, las t part) .

This verse has troubled many. Yet it

should not. Notice that the word is

in the King James Version is in italics.

It does not appear in the original. The

original Greek says only: the body of

Christ. W ha t is the body of C hrist?

How does Paul use this expression in

Colossians

Turn to chapter

1.

In verse

18

we find

that Christ is the Head of the body,

THE CHURCH. See also Col. 2:19.

The true Church of God is the body

of Christ. Just as the Spirit of God once

dwelled in thr earthly body of Jesus

Christ, so now the Holy S pirit dwells in

each member of the Church and to-

gether we constitute one body, doing the

very work Chris t d id . W e are therefore

Christs body today An d Christ is the

Head as the husband is the head of the

wife (Ephesians 5:23).

N o man is to sit in judgment of our

Christian conduct, Paul

is

declaring in

Colossians 2:1 6-1 7. Ma n does not deter-

mine how we should live. But it is the

rezponsihility

of

the Church he body

of Christ o determine these matters

The Church is to teach how to observe

the festivals o explain the meaning

of se lf-con trol, etc.

So these little-understood verses

ought to be translated clearly: Let

no man therefo re judge y o u . . .b u t

[rather) let the body of Christ [deter-

mine it). Greek scholars recognize that

the first expression let no man de-

mands that there be a subsequent ex-

pression which tells who is to do the

judging of the matter

How plain these verses are. How clear

that the Colossiaris were keepirig holy

the time God made holy

Let us now keep the Feasts this

au-

tumn with real deep joy, thankful that

the great God of Heaven is our Judge

and not

atzy

man. Let

us

also keep

the

Feast with deep appreciation of the

wonderful world tomorrow it pictures

when all of todays j udg ing fel low

humans will be

KEEPING

THE

FEAST

with us


11/20

Have

You

Had the Mumps

Yet?

Vaccination is

th worldy . most

potent wenpon to fight

agaimt

contagious diseases. But

what

is yours?

o

you know?

by Dibar K. A p a r t i a n

AVE YOU

had the mumps

yet? Ghas t ly What a question

You

may expect to be asked if

H

you

have had your mor nin g cup of coffee

yet-ot eveti perhaps your daily vitamin

C

supply. But m m n p s ? Really hats

unorthodox.

Mumps is said to be rontagious-

and it is . But what does contagious

mean? Are we supposed to catch any-

thing and everything which is con-

tagious?

Is

this automatic?

Is

there such

a law in the Bible?

Mumps is also said to usually attack

children between five and fifteen years

of age unsequently, we expect our

children to catch it . This

is

considered

normal, conventional. In fact, we some-

times go as far as to h o p e

lmost

prayerfully hat our children will

come down with their childhood

diseases aJ J O O ~

s

possible Th e reason,

of course, is that as children, they do

usually get over them very rapidly,

whereas quite the contrary is true so far

as adults are concerned.

W h a t C a u s e s C o n ta g i o u s

Disease

?

This type of reasoning is rzutiiral

and makes sense. Nevertheless, some-

thing is lacking in it ; something is mis-

leading. If we only catch contagious dis-

eases because

they

are contagious, then

where is our share in the sin which pro-

duces them ? If chi ldren are

bowzd

to

catch a childhood disease ecause

of contagion hen just wh ere does

SIN

fit

into the picture?

In accordance with the Bible, sickness

is a result of s i n . Contagious diseases are

NOT exempt from this law. Nor are the

childhood diseases. But then, doesnt

i t sound rather s t range when

you

s3y, I

hope my children will catch measles

or

mumps before they grow older? I t s

like hoping that they would sin r

have their share of the sin J

sooii

us

possible so that the ensuing punishment

will be milder.

Of course, we never think of it that

way; we dont think of sill when

our

children r we ourselves ome

down with a contagious disease. Some-

how, even though we ask to be

anointed, we consider that, in this par-

ticular instance, the sin really wasnt

oz~rs ,

ut

partly

or

even

mostly someone

elses erhaps the very ones through

whom we were contaminated.

A contagious disease IS contagious,

thats for sure, yet,

when

properly un-

derstood, we are ?rot at all guilt less in

succumbing to it . Such a happening is

not merely or necessarily a question of

time and chance. Moreover, you cant re-

pen t of someone elses sins ut only

of your own.

The ques t ion then is to know where

jiou

have sinned,

or

what

is

y o f i r

share

of the sin which made you succumb to

contagion.

Any Par t i cu la r S in?

Last Friday afternoon, returning

homc from work, I told my wife that I

had a strange sensation un der my left ear

ossibly even a swelling.

Oh, dear, youre not coming down

with the mumps, are you? she

chuckled. Youll never live it down

Its going to be

embarrassing.

It

was But not quite the way

I

had

expected it to be. My embarrassment was

not only before men ut be fore G O D

You see, I had never thought of i t be-

fore, hut i t suddenly occurred to me that

if something is embarrassing before

men, it must first of all be embarrass-

ing before God. Truly, I did feel em-

barrassed before God for having caught

the mum ps or the way I took the

disease for granted or my lit t le un-

derstanding of the necessary repentance

at the time I was anointed for it.

A s I

tossed around in my bed. deep in

thou gh nd my jowls practically

han ging over my shoulders asked

myself what i I nrt i iu l l j ,

o

to catch

the mumps,

h o w

come I got it If, as

a general rule, mumps is for kids

and grown ups only occasiunally catch

it hat then, I wond ered, is the

particular sin children must commit

more often than adul ts ,

to

make them

susceptible to the mumps?

You

would think I was delirious, but

I wasnt, really W h en you have much

time to think, you try to be philosoph-

ical about things nd you follow a

certain line of thought which somehow

seems quite logical to you

S in Is Sin

You

cant categorize sin, except

for

the

fact

that

it

ran

he

phyricnl

or

~ p i r i -

tiial. But it is useless and nonsense to try

to pinp oint any particular sin spe-

cially in thc casc of a contagious disease

nd label it as the cause of mumps

or

measles or whooping cough. It just

doesnt work that way. Even though sin-

f u l

actions produce obvious results (for

instance, if you have

a

bad fall, you may

break a bon e) evertheless, sin is sin;

whatever its extent, it still represents the

traiispessioiz of Gods laws.

In my particular case,

I

could think

of

a number of reasons why

I

should be

down with the mum ps and each one,

indiv idnally , would be valid, because

each one, i ~ ~ d i v i d m l l y ,epresented a

transgression uf Guds laws. Granted,

our human bodies are pitifully degener-

ate ut don t I have my uvz .rhare of

responsibility in the matter? Dont I

contribute to the general degeneration

by the very life

I

lead in this present


12/20

12

The

GOOD

NEWS

August 1969

corrupt world? And dont

o u r

bodies

i f they are properly taken care of

have the right amount of antibodies to

fight against any contagious disease?

Did I-a nd do I- take care of my

body just the way God intended me to?

In all this, havent I fallen short?

Havent I sinn ed? Wou ldnt you con-

sider it sin if you have allowed your

body to be in a rmdown condition,

susceptible to catching any kind of

disease ?

And how about the fact of being care-

less es, just pla in

CARELESSNESS

in

following faithfully all of

Gods

l aws?

Thin k seriously Dont

you

really

consider such things as si n?

Any human being, anywhere and any-

time, is liable to catch any sickness (in-

cluding, of course, the contagious

ones ) , if he has been careless of his diet

areless

of

his sleeping

habits

careless of his physical exercise are-

less of the wles of hygieiie areless

of . . .

(You

know, this type of enumer-

ation reminds me of the amusing rec-

ord I once heard at Mr. Herbert

Armstrongs home-on that record, for-

mer President Johnson was naming ad

infinitrm

all the medical doctors who

were consulted when he suffered a

simple cold How ever, if Mr. Johnsons

list, by the laws of mathematics, is

bound to come to an end , the list of ozir

hnmaii care1eJsnes.r never can and never

w i l l . . . . ) .

Carelessness Is Sin

It is high time we begin to associate

carelessness with sin, because to be care-

less

in keep ing Gods laws means plainly

not keeping the m. N o justification or

compromise is possible; its like being

half alive

Of

course, it is

so

easy

o

very easy

o be careless: all it takes is not to

use

your head

or

to neglect doing what you

ought to do.

If you took time to think about these

things, to meditate seriously on w hat sin

and its ramifiratinns a c t u a l l y

are,

you

wouldnt first of all ask yourself, as

d id , Where d id

I

g e t th e b u g ? W h o

gave it

to

me ? Wasn t

I

bound to catch

the disease because of its contagious na-

ture? Rather than seek the answers to

such questions. or blame someone else,

you would search your heart to know

where you have gone wrong, where you

have failed in doing your share, where

you have been careless and negligent in

taking prope r care of Gods temple.

And then here is another phase.

In case of sickness whe ther con-

tagious or no t fter we repe nt of it,

after we are anointed, w e wrnetirries

tend to believe that if God, in His

infinite mercy, allowed our plans to be

changed, i t was

to

protect us perhaps

from another calamity or accident, a

more serious one, which otherwise

would have been our lot.

Let me explain this.

Did God

Really Cause This

Have you ever wondered when

sick or undergoing some hardship

just what is the underlying lesson God

wants you to learn? Y o n shodd, because

theres always a lesson f or each on e of

us

to learn in all the occurrences in life.

But in so doing, have you also assumed,

subconsciously perhaps, a somewhat

self-righteous atti tude, seeking first wh at

other calamity you were spared of, or

the meaning of the adverse circum-

stances ather than admitting you

brought them on yourself?

I am sure you get the point. There

is

always or each on e of

us

lesson

to learn in whatever happens to us. But

all the changes brought in our lives as a

result of such circumstances are not nec-

essarily of Gods doing r a divine

s ign of His intervent ion. When

our

plan s are upset nd they always are in

such circumstances e tell ourselves,

it must be

Gods

will. This way of

thinking is rather convenient since it

makes us de-emphasize our

sin

In other

words, in

our

eagerness to rationalize

the divine intervention, we forget

that th e mess we are in is because of sin.

No doubt,

God

can and does hen

HE so chooJes ntervene in a dra-

matic way in our lives, causing our plans

to be upset,

OUK

decisions to be reversed,

trips and appointments cancelled, and

all sorts of such things. However, more

nften than not, such upsetting of our

plans is most often imposed on us by

o w

ins nd not necessarily by Go d.

My Plans

TJpset

The same was true, to be sure, in the

case of my mu mp s.

(For

once, I hate

h i t

adjcctive my; in this particular

case, i t is most appa lling to me ) Never-

theless, in my vanity, I in turn seemed

more preoccupied to know just why

God allowed the sudden changes in my

plans and schedule than the part my sins

played in the matter. For one thing, this

sickness would set me back in my work;

i t would prevent me from making new

broadcasts to the French-speaking people

for a certain length of t ime nd would

upset, of course, my regular schedule as

well as all of my im mediate plans. W hy

-oh , why did Go d allow this to

happen? I asked myself, as though H e

were responsible for it, quite oblivious to

the reasons for my catching the mumps.

Incidentally, we were expecting a vis-

itor from Europe, the teen-age daughter

of close friends from Belgium; both she

and we specially our children ad

been looking forward to her visit . In

view of the fact that she speaks only

French, my children would be forced to

converse with her in that language.

What an excel lent opportuni ty for

them

But we had to postpone her trip; just

a few hours before her departure, we

contacted her parents to call it

off,

at

least temporarily.

N ow as this necessarily Gods

will? I t could have been, of course. But

was it really? I presume you can be

philosophical about it and reason your

way around, looking out for all kinds of

plausible arguments to prove that such

was indeed the case. But would that nec-

essarily be true ?

You might say perhaps that God

stopped her from flying that day because

her plane might have crashed. Actually

it didnt. The plane landed very safely

nd there were no airplane crashes

reported anywhere in the world that

day You might think of numerous

other reasons. But please try to see the

point: whatever the circiimstances,

even

though all things work together for

good to them that love God, to them

wh o are the called according to His pu r-

pose, nevertheless, when our thinking

(Cont inued

on

page 16


13/20

B

Are YOU Guilty of

BLASPHEMY?

Dont be too sure youre not. Read

this

article

to

check up

on yoursel f .

by D a v i d L. A n t i o n

- A S P H E M Y is

a

most dangerous

s in. Yet many who would not

think of blaspheming

may be at

this precise moment committing this

great

sin

Blasphemy is NOT just swearing or

taking Gods name in vain. There are

many form s of blasphemy, and

some

of

these ways of blasphemy

h r i n g

dire con-

sequences. Dont be ignorant. Study this

article and be sure you stop every form

of blasphemy now

D e f i n i t i o n

Notice this Bible

p r o o f

that blas-

phemy and swearing or cursing are

?rot

the same thing. In Lev. 2 4 : l O - 1 6 , we

find the account o f the Israclitish

womans son who s t rode through the

camp and got into

a

fight with one of

the men of Israel. And in the fight,

the son of the Israelit ish woman, whose

father was an Egyptian, blasphemed

the name of the Eternal, and

cursed.

Notice that he did two things . He

blasphemed

AND

cursed. For this ter-

rible sin he was put to death. And this

is the word that came from God:

Whosoever cursetb his God shall bear

his sin. And he that

blasphemeth

the

name of the LORD, he shall surely be

put to death, and al l the congregat ion

shall certainly stone him: as well the

stranger, as he that is born in the land,

when he blasphemeth the name of the

LORD, shall be p ut to death (verses

Again, in this law it

is

made clear

that cursing and blaspheming are two

separate offenses. Notice too, that

blasphemy is an offense punishable by

15-16).

DE AT H.

Websters dictionary defines blas-

phemy as indignity offered to God

in words, writing, or signs Blasphemy

applies strictly to any intentional ut-

terance defying or offering indignity to

the Supreme Being. Impious or

irreverent speech is also blasphemy. It

also includes swearing and profanity.

However, the Biblc dcfinition cuvci>

much more territory than Websters.

And the real t ruth

as

to the spirit of

the law is

going

to surprisc you.

The Hebrew word translated blas-

phemy in Leviticus 2 4 means to violent-

ly poke hules through, to jab at

or

perforate. Other words translated blas-

phemy concur with the English defi-

nition

o f

the word.

P r o p h es i ed f o r E n d T i m e

The God-given prophecy written by

the Apostle Paul of these last days

reveals the fact that blasphemy would

abound. This know also that in the

last days perilous times shall come. For

men shall be lovers of their own selves,

covetous, boasters, proud, BLAS-

PHE ME RS, isobedient to parents , un-

thankful , unholy (I1 Tim. 3 :1 - 2 ) .

Yes, our world today is filled with

blasphemers. This very country which

writes on its currency, In God We

Trust is filled with blasphemers.

Notice the prophesied condition that

would exist now.

Now therefore , what have I here,

saith the LORD, hat My people is taken

away

for

nought They that rule over

them make them to howl, saith the

LORD;and My name

contimially

every-

day

is blasphemed (Isaiah

5 2 :5 .

H o w

many millions of times each day do you

think Gods name is taken in vain, used

in gutter filth, cursed as a means of

vent ing anger?

God says through Ezekiel, And

thou shalt know that I am the LORD,

and that I have heard

all

thy

blas-

phemies

which thou hast spoken against

the mountains

of

Israel saying, they are

laid desulaltl, they are given us to con-

sume. Thus with your mouth ye have

boasted against Me, and have multi-

plied yuui wurds against M e : I have

heard them (Ezek. 3 5 : 1 2 - 1 3 ) . This

was a prophecy against Mount Seir, but

G o d

is

the >uiie in His dealing with

nations and He has also heard the great

blasphemies spoken against Him in this

nation.

Of this land today God says, For

the land is full of adulterers; for be-

cause

of

su,earz?zg the land rnourneth

(Jer. 2 3 : l O ) . Even the very land

mourns underneath the mountain of

sin caused by swearing. In the next

verse God tells us that even the

prophet and priest are profane in this

land. Yes, even many

of

them swear.

Swearing even occurs over television,

in churches, in the so-called high

society of nice people. And even

some in Gods Church today are swear-

ing and do not realize it . And remember

that swearing is a form

of

blasphemy

T a k i n g G o d s

Name

i n V a i n

One would think he would never

hear swe aring over television, espe-

cially over the nicer shows. However,

one night on the show LA SSIE, he

little boy in the show swore several

t imes . He did no t say the name of God

directly, but he swore nevertheless.

Brethren, it is time many of you knew


14/20

14

The

GOOD

NEWS

August 1969

calls

i t

GlaJpPJrmp. IF

YOU

BLASPHEME

GOD,YOU

WILL

P AY FOR IT

UNLESS

YOU

REPENT

Those participating in

pagan holidays arc having

a

part in the

idolatrous worship condemned in Ezek-

iel 20:28 which God labels as a form

of blasphemy.

Blasphemy

by

Hypocrisy

Another form of blasphemy brought

out is in Revelation 2:9. I know thy

works, and tribulation, and poverty,

(bu t thou art r ich) and I know the

blasphemy of them

which

say they are

Je ws , arid are rzot, but are the syna-

gogue of Satan. Notice that God con-

siders it blasphemy for people to say

they are Jews piritual Jews. W ha t

is a spiritual J ew ? According to Ro-

mans 2 : 2 9 it is one who has been

circumcised in the hea rt hat is,

has received the Holy Spirit and is,

therefore, a Christian. There were

people then saying they were Chris-

tians rue spiritual Jews ut

who were not. God calls this blas-

phemy. Therefore to profess to do

what is right and not to do it is

blasphemy according to this principle.

How many are doing this very thing?

Are you one who by your attendance

in a local church profess to be keeping

Gods comma ndments and Sabbaths

and yet are not doing it at a ll? Are

you claiming to be a member of Gods

true Church laiming to be

a

true

Christian and follower of Jesus Christ;

yet constantly putting up with sins that

you know you have, never bothering to

overcome sins and weaknesses? Are you

just content with the same faults day

afte r day et all the time claiming to

be a spiritual Jew. THIS

S

BL A SPH E M Y

Another way to blaspheme God is

shown in Acts 13144-45.And the next

Sabbath day came almost the whole city

together to hear the word

of

God.

Let us note right here that they were

coming to hear Gods Word. Jesus said

the word of God was truth in John

17:1 7. But notice verse 45, Bu t when

the Jews saw the multitudes, they were

filled with envy, and spake against those

things which were spokeii by Paul,

contradict ing and blasphemirzg. W h e n

they spoke against the things spoken

by the apostle Paul, they did two

tliat such wurds

as

Gee, Gush,

Golly, darn, and various combina-

tions of these words are actually swear-

word dcrivativcs of thc names of God,

Jesus Christ and of the word damn.

They are the more polite forms of

SWEARING And evcn members of

Gods Church use these words in their

speech. W e need desperately to eradi-

cate thcsc words from our conversation

and stop this form of blasphem y

It is easy for

us

to swear or blas-

p hem e. W h y ? W h y is it not as easy

to praise God and bless His holy

nam e? The reason is h ima i i ~ ia t i i re .

God has put i n human nature the

downward pulls of sin. And one of

these pulls

is

blasphemy. Jesus said,

For from

tifithitij

out of the heart of

men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,

fornicat ions, murders .

. .

[and]

blas-

p h c t n J , , (Mark 7321-22). I t is part

of human nature, then, to blaspheme.

But, it is a part that must be ovcrcome.

Paul says, But now ye also put off

all these; anger, wrath, malice, blas-

phenzi,, filthy communication out of

your mouth (Col. 3 : 8 ) .

Examples

of

Blasphemy

When Hezekiah was king of Judah,

Sennacherib planned to invade and con-

quer the nation of Judah. He boasted

against Judah thus: Let not Hezekiah

deceive you: for he shall not be able

to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah

make you trust in

the LORD, saying,

T h e L O R D will surely deliver us: this

city shall not be delivered into the

hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken

not to Hczckiah: for thus saith the

king of Assyria.

. .

Beware lest Heze-

kiah persuade you, saying, The

LORD

will

deliver us. H a t h a n y of

the

gods of t he

iiatioiis delivered is land out of the

hand of the king of Assyria? W ho are

they among all the gods of these lands,

that have delivered their land out of my

hand, that t he

L O R D

shozild

del iver

/Prurdlem o u t

of

my hatid? (Isa. 3 6 :

14-16, 18, 20.)

Here the king of Assyria challenged

God.

He

tried

to

bring God down to the

level of an idol, to that of physical

things. He spoke out intentionally

defying God and His power to deliver

Judah and Jerusalem. God called it

blasphemy.

Aiid Isaiah xiicl

uiitu tlirm, Thus

shall ye say unto your master, Thus

saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the

words that thou hast heard, wherewith

the servants of the king of Assyria

have B L A S P H E M E D me (Isa. 37 :6 ).

Again in verse 10 of this same chapter

the king of Assyria blasphemed God.

He accused God of trying to deceive

His

people. God labels this accusation

blasphemy in verse 23.

Do men or nations get away with

blasphemy against the Most High God?

God said He would defend Jerusalem

and He accepted the challenge given

by

the king of Assyria. Wh o wo n?

Notice: Then the angel of the LORD

went forth, and smote in the camp of

the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore

and five thousand: and when they arose

early in the morning, behold,

they were

all dead corpses (verse 36) .

Notice that this was blasphemy but

that the king of Assyria never did

curse Gods name. But he did show

irreverence and indignity to God. He

did chal lenge God and His power.

O t h e r F o r m s

of

Blasphemy

Here are other misdeeds that God

labels blasphemy in His Word. Let

us

look at them and let each analyze

himself in the light of G ods W or d.

Think over your own actions of late and

see if you are blaspheming.

In Ezekiel 20:27 we read, There-

fore, son of man, speak unto the house

of Israel, and say unto them, Thus

saith the Lord

ETERNAL;

Yet in this

your fathers have blasphemed me,

I N

PASS AGAINST

M E. They blasphemed

God by trespassing or sinning against

Him. And this particular sin that they

did was to pervert the way of wor-

shipping God. They sacrificed to idols

and established their own religion after

God gave them the blessings of the

land. This is happening today in the

United States of America. This people

has polluted the true religion of God.

Those of

us

in the true Church of

God must be careful that we do not

detract from

or

add to Gods Word.

W e must be careful that we d o not

participate in idolatrous worship. For

that is what the Israelites did and God

T H A T T H E Y H A V E C O M M I T T E D A T R ES -


15/20

August

1969

things. They contradicted and blas-

phemed

It follows then, that when we speak

against the things spoken by one of

Gods ministers that we are blasphem-

ing the very God we profess. When we

speak against the doctrines of Gods

Church which are truths of Gods

Word, we blaspheme. Brethren, some

of you are guilty of this very thing.

You dont agree with a doctrine of

Gods Church and you speak out

against i t . Perhaps you just cannot un-

derstand it at the time. It does not say

that it is blasphemy if you dont agree

or

cant understand. BUT

IT IS BLAS-

PHEMY

TO S P E A K

AGAINST THE WORD

When you blaspheme you border on

the most dangerous sin of all . You are

getting close to the cliff that will

topple you into the lake of fire. If you

dont understand something spoken by

a minister, then ask the minister about

it . Pray about it . Search your own

heart to make sure you are not deceiv-

ing yourself. Bict

above all,

dont speak

agaiizst

it. To

do this IS BLA S P H EM Y

Caus ing Blasphemy

Y o u may be one who is not blas-

pheming directly yourself. But you may

be the cause of blasphemy to God and

H i s W o r d .

If

you are, then you are at

least

5091

guilty of the sin of blas-

phemy. If by your actions you cause

others to blaspheme the name of God

perhaps you are more guilty than they

of this sin.

The Apost le Paul condemned the

Jews for this very thing. You w h o

boast in the law , do you dishonor

God by breaking the law? For, as it

is writtcn,

THE

NAME OF GOD IS

B L A S P H E M E D

AMONG THE GENTILES

B E C A U S E

OF YOU (Rom. 2 :23 -24 ,

RSV). Yes, the Jews werc responsible

for causing Gods name to be blas-

phemed. With their bad examples and

sin-filled lives they caused the Gentiles

to blaspheme the very name of G o d

Almighty.

Lct

us look at ourselvcs tuday. How

is your example in front of uncon-

verted neighbors and relatives W ha t

kind u l

cxit~~lpleid

you set the world

on your way to the Feast of Taber-

OF GOD,

SPOKEN BY

HISMINISTERS

The GOOD

NEWS

15

nacles A nd while

you were 3t

the

feast, many of you stayed in private

homes in surrounding communities.

What kind of example did you set

Were you clean? Or did you leave the

place dirty an d filth y? Some stayed in

rented trailers. When you returned your

trailer was it dirty and messy inside?

Did you give it back in better shape

than you had taken i t?

Many of those from whom you

rented trailers and rooms knew that

you were going to

a

religious festival.

Some even knew the name of the

Church. Did you by your example

cause or give occasion for those people

to blaspheme the God we worship

the only t rue and l iv ing G od ? Were

you impolite to the unconverted people

in nearby towns or to the merchants?

Did you give occasion for them to

speak against the Church of God-

the very Body of Jesus Christ?

If

you

SIN OF B L A S P H E M Y

Notice what i t cos t King David, a

man after Gods own heart , for doing

what some of us have done. After

being told of his terrible sin of adultery

and murder, David said, I have sinned

against the LORD. And Nathan said

unto David, the

LORD

also hath put

away thy sin; thou shalt not die. H o w -

beit,

because by this deed [his sins)

thou hast given great occasion loppor-

tunity} to the enem ies of the LO RD o

blaspheme,

the child also that is born

unto thee shall surely die (I1 Sam.

1 2 : 1 3 - 1 4 ) . It cost David his son be-

cause he participated in this sin of

blasphcmy by giving the enemies of

God the opportunity to speak against

the religion and way of God. What

will some of us have to pay to learn

this lesson?

Let us set a right and holy example

before the world by keeping Gods

comm andmen ts. An d also by being

polite, thoughtful, kind, neat, and clean

in all our ways. Why do we always

insist on paying a dear price to learn

the consequences of sin ?

did, YOU HAVE

P AR T IC l P AT E D IN

THE

W o m e n B l a s p h e m e

Here are two specific Bible ways in

which we can cause others to

blaspheme. First , for the women in

Gods Church. Here are

Gods

instruc-

tions and the reason for them. God says

to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,

good, obedieiz t t o their own hziSbmdJ,

THAT

THE

W O R D OF G O D

B E

NOT

B L A S P H E M E D

(Ti tus 2 : 5 ) . If you

dirohey your husbands, if you are not

discreet, chaste,

keepers

at

home,

good

mothers and wives, you are causing

Gods W or d to be blasphemed ndeed

you are blaspheming it yourself

Through this whole article so far we

have also been showing the punishment

that one will reap when he blasphemes.

W e will reap

what

w e s o w .

Women who have husbands who are

not members have a great responsibility.

If you are not the right kind of wife, if

you are disrespectful,

sloppy,

and other-

wise setting a bad Christian example

ou are giving great occasion for

your non-member husband to speak

blasphemously against Gods Word, and

Church.

Has your husband ever said, Why

dont you throw that Bible away? And

dont ever talk to me about God, Jesus

Christ or religion. I dont want any

part wi th

God

or religion i THATS

the

way Chtirtiaizs

act.

Actually those

are words

of

blasphemy, said in igno-

rance, of

Good News 1969 (Vol XVIII No 08) Aug

Documents